The silver lance., 1899-01-27
sTORY OF A STRIKE.

oI prominent horse car railroad. His
brow was overcast with many troubles.
His telephone was constantly pouring
IN unintelligible messages from all
quarters. His office boy had started
two hours before for the next block.
and being largely of the opinion that
the of1ce should seek the office boy and
not the Office boy the office, his return
was as uncertain as result of a base
ball match. His cashier had just
eloped with a considerable sum OF
money intrusted to him to pay a bet
which the president had lost to a prom
inent city official, and three hundred
and seventy-nine answers to an ad-
vertisement for successor to the de-
parted one were strewn over the pres
ident's desk. They were all unsatis-
factory. Many of the applicants
wanted as much as eight dollars a
week; some of them did not know
more than seven languages, and could
not speak all of these fiuently; some
were ignorant Of stenography, type
writing and telegraph operating, all of
which were sine qui non; and even OF
those who could write shorthand many
could only write $50 words per min
ute; and of the few who met the re-
quirements as to efficiency, some were
sunday school superintendents.
Turning aside from these applica-
tons, the presidents eye rested 1pon
a statement of receipts and disburse-
ments for a week past, and he saw
with sorrow that even on very wet
lays the receipts were not equal to the
counsel fees. He sighed wearily, and
was just about to aff1x his signature to
number of bonds which he knew
nothing about. although he supposed
they were all right, when the door
opened and a driver Of Boodleopolis
Horse Car Railroad company stood
before him. Having ascertained that
the man was only using the twenty
minutes allowed by the company to
eat dinner lin case he felt like indulg-
ing in such extravaganza, he gracious
ly consented to hear his story. 1t was
touching one, told frankly and sim
ply. The driver loved the old mans
laughter. Frequently did she ride on
his car and drop a counterfeit nickel
In the box, and, as he himself was de-
voting all the energy Of a brilliant in
tellect to the same object Of getting
ahead Of a soulless corporation, bond
Of sympathy sprang up between them.
Two souls with but single thought.
Two hearts that beat as one."
He was not as wealthy as she, but.
noble girl, she cared not She would
marry him If her father would but
consent. Would he consent? A dol
lar and a half day was, as the old
man had stated in many a public doc
ument, a magnificent salary. Any
body ought to be satisfied with 1t. En-
lnent statisticians had proved that a
family of eleven or less could easily
live on 20 week. Then deduct nine
dollars a month for rent ION the top
door Of a seven-story fiat, occupied
only by six families on a floor, and
forming a secluded retreat for the
beautiful bride of told, and SO for
beer; there would still remain a heavy
surplus, which, accumulating at COM
pound interest for q sufficient time,
would be enough to wipe out the na-
.ional debt. Would the old man con-
sent?
Silence gives consent, but not when.
as in the present case. It is accompa-
aied by hurting an ink bottle at the
head Of the party who has last spok-
IN. The driver lodged the missile.
vowed vengeance and left the room.
Ten days later the employees of the
Boodleopolis horse car railroad struck
They demanded one dollar and seven
ty-five cents a day and a reduction of
he hours Of labor from seventeen to
fourteen. The directors replied that
they considered dollar and half an
sxtravagant sum for days work, and
could not possibly pay any more; and.
with regard to the demand for shorter
hours, they had already conceded the
men seven hours out of the twenty
four, and thought 1t quite sufficient,
but candidly confessed that their chief
objection to allowing more leisure time
was that 1t would be spent In beer
saloons II the men would spend their
leisure time in excursions through the
.ity as passengers on the Boodleopolis
horse car railroad there would not be
10 much objection, but the beer sa-
Don obstacle could not be overcome.
Two days afterward they agreed to
pay one dollar and sixty cents per day
,or fifteen hours work, and the cars
started, every one with new broom.
A week later, instigated by the re-
yengeful driver, they struck again to
obtain the discharge of two men who
lid not belong to the union. The
struggle was very obstinate, but (this
vas in Boodleopolis) the men were dis
charged. Elated by this victory, they
Ioon afterward struck again. Their
demands were-first, that the fare bell
,hould be abolished, and that any one
Who, with the existence Of the bell
,taring him in the face, should contend