El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-11-04

| men poured up stairs from tie llzC Al re
shop below and, seating themselves at
the tables. began to eat their lunch.
There were perhaps 800 of them. They
had read the superintendent notice.
which he had posted up in various
places. and came largely out of curl
osity
They were favorably impressed The
room was large and airy, free from
smoke and dust and well warmed from
the steam pipes.
About 20 minutes of 1 Alexander
Powers told the men what he had in
mind He spoke very simply. like one
who understands thoroughly the char
acter of his audience. and then intro
duced the Rev. Henry Maxwell of the
First church. his pastor, who had con-
sented to speak few minutes.
Henry Maxwell will never forget the
feelings with which for the first time
he confronted that grimy faced audi
ence of workingmen. Like hundreds of
other ministers. he had never spoken to
any gathering except those made up Of
people of his own class in the sense that
they were familiar in their dress and
education and habits to him. This was
a new world to him, and nothing but
his new rule OF conduct could have
made possible his message and its effect.
He spoke ON the subject of satisfaction
with life. what caused it, what its real
sources We're. He had the great good
sense on this first appearance not to rec
ogniZe the men as a class distinct from
himself He did not use the term
'workingmen" and did not say word
to suggest any difference between their
lives and his own.
The men were pleased. A good many
of them shook hands with him before
going down to their work, and Henry
Maxwell. telling it all to his wife when
he reached home, said that never in all
his life had he known the delight he
then felt in having handshake from a
man of physical labor. The day marked
an importan, one in his Christian ex
perience. more important than he knew.
It was the beginning of fellowship be-
tween him and the working world. 1t
was the first plank laid down to help
bridge the chasm between the church
and labor in Raymond.
Alexander Powers went back to his
desk that afternoon much pleased with
his plan and seeing much help in it for
the men, He knew where he could get
some good tables from an abandoned
eating house at one of the stations down
the road, and he saw how the coffee ar
rangement could be made a very at
tractive feature. The men had respond
ed even better than he anticipated, and
the whole thing could not help being a
great benefit to them.
He took up the routine Of his work
with glow of satisfaction. After all,
he wanted TO do as Jesus would, he said
to himself.
1t was nearly 4 o'clock when he
opened one of the compapy's long envel
opes which he supposed contained or
ders for the purchasing of stores He
ran over the first page of typewriter
matter in his usual quick, businesslike
before he saw that he was read
ing what was not intended for his office.
but for the superintendent of the freight
department..
He turned over II page mechanically. |
not meaning to read what was not adj
dressed to him, but before he knew it |
ne was in possession of evidence which |
proved that the company
was engaged in systematic violation |
If the interstate commerce laws of the |
United States. 1t was as distinct and
breaking of law as if pri
rate citizen should enter a house and
'ob the inmates The discrimination
hown in rebates was in total contempt
# all the statutes. Under the laws of
he state it was also a distinct violation
# certain provisions recently passed by
he legislature to prevent railroad
rusts There was no question that he
iT1h Soia TO |
onvict the company of willful, intelli-
;ent violation of the law Of the COM
mission and the law of the state also
He dropped the papers on his desk as
they were poison, and instantly the
uestion flashed across his mind, "What
would Jesus DOR He tried to shut the
question out. He tried to reason with
imself by saying it was none of his
ess indefinite way, as did nearly all of
he officers of the company, that this
ad been going on right along in nearly
II the roads. He was not in a position,
wing to his place in the shops, to prove
nything direct, and he had regarded it
IL as matter which did not concern
i'm at all. The papers now before him
evealed the entire affair. They had
trough some carelessness in the address
ome into his hands. What business of
is was it? If he saw a man entering
is neighbor's house to steal, would it
OF be his duty to inform the officers of
lie law2 Was railroad company such
different thing? Was it under a diff
rent rule of conduct, so that it could
ID the public and defy law and be I'M
isturbed because it was such a great ,
-ganization? What would Jesus dor
Then there was his family OF course
he took any steps to inform the COM ]
ission it would mean the loss of his