The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-10

raise as 10 wait Tor you 10 cut US
down.
Mr.. Plummer's smile disappeared at
once His features became very grave as
he said emphatieally: I shall never cut
you down; You may take my word for
that. / don't believe in that method 1
VIII go farther; while I am manager Of
this company your wages will not be re-
duced by anybody. I am satisfied that
the road can be restored to a paying ba-
sis; otherwise I should not have accept
ed the position, and l assure you that,
though / am unable 10 grant your re-
quest just al present, 1 will bear 1t in
mind, and hope ! may be able to before
long l know you are not as well paid
as the employees of some of our competi-
tors, but 1 intend that you shall be. Now,
gentlemen. the company has given me
year 70 show what 1 can do; will you be
equally lenient?'
We were dumfounded; our guns we're
spiked.
%" I promise he continued. that in the
meantime your wages shah be paid reg
ularly- l hope 10 run the pay car over
the road twice a month. until your ar
rearases are all paid, and thereafter with
Uniform regularity. What do you say;
will you give me a year,
We were completely vanquished.
know I echoed the sentiments of the
committee when I replied: Yes, sir; two
Again We saw thar beaming smile. oh,
no. he answered, pleasantly; one will do,
and I thank you for this forbearance. I
know you have been sorely tried, and I
want you to tell the men for me that
hereafter no employee will be discharged
except for cause, and when proven be-
yond a doubt. And now, gentlemen I
wish you good day. Call on me again.
year from now, and hope I may be able
10 do something for you
When we reported we were jeered at
and told that the new manager had pulled
the wool over our eyes. We were accused
Of cOWardice, betrayal of trust and selling
out. Several fights and much bitter feel
Ing grew out of the affair, but l noticed
that no member OF the committee-those
who had seen and heard him-eVer lost
faith in Mr.. Plummer
The new manager took an inspection
trip over the road. He was intensely
practical and saw things the Oldest en-
ploye had never noticed. He reproved the
fireman of his train for throwing off a
shOveful of dirt, saying the company had
paid for it as coal But when shown that
the stun was detrimental 10 the fire, he
said We should have better fuel-and we
did. He spoke 10 the engineer about the
quantity of oil splashed about the ma
chinery, and learned that il was due TO the
want of Wipers. We soon had a full gang
mans attention to numerous broken cast
ings and bits of scrap iron lying about.
saying they should be gathered up and
sent TO the shop. In reply to the excuse
that there were no men to do the work, he
said that should be remedied and ii was.
He went through all the departments,
detecting loose ends everywhere, calling
attention to them ia his firm but pleasant
way that offended no mans self-Tespect.
"A change soon became apparent. The
departments were fully manned and
equipped. Supplies. from being the poor
est in the market, became the best. A
system of cash rewards was offered for
economy and efficiency. The men sheer
ed at it, calling it childish. But when sew
eral. without especial effort earned sub
stantial rewards, the others became inter
ested. Master mechanics Wed with each
other in the matter of mileage records for
their cars and engines and section fore
men received prizs for the best kept track.
las ALI hands pulled together the trains
ran on time. Then the time was short
ened; we were once more proud of our
| road. and we made it. Traffic increased,
| discharged employees were reinstated and
men promoted.
IAN this was not accomplished in a
| year but at the years end we were so
prosperous and contented that we had for
| gotten our grievance. On the second an
niversary of the day notice appeared
on the bulletin board requesting the same
| committee TO call at the general managers
office.
He received us very gravely I pre-
sumo said he you gentlemen understand
! that a request from your superior officer
| is equivalent to a command do you not?"
| Yes, sir j replied, but the order
| was only posted on the board yesterday !;
we came as soon as we could get togeth-
| err
That is not the matter to which 1 re-
| fer he replied. Two years ago I re-
! quested you gentlemen to call on me a
| year later; but l remember now said
| he, as his eyes twinkled good-naturedly,
| that you kindly gave me two years in
| which to accomplish my task. That task
! is now done, and / desire through you.
| to thank all of the employees for their
! hearty cooperation; it has helped me
much-more than you can possibly know.
HE then shook each of us by the hand
| and bade us a cordial gOodday. As we
were leaving he handed me a package OF
! papers, which he said was a set of copies
| of the latest bulletin order, which he
| would thank US to have tackled up on every
| board on the road. AS soon as we got out
| of sight Of the Office we opened the packe /
| and found the order to be a reply to our
discourteously preferred request of two
| years before, granting the increase we hal
| asked for"
| During this long recital net one OF us
| opened our heads, but when Dave finished
we all Slapped our hands like one boy, and
| Tommy sad: My! but that Mr.. Plummer
was nee man"
! Yes, boys" replied Dave earnestly. "he
was the finest man and the smartest "a /
| roader | ever knew. He was too good Tor
the business. I guess for he only lived
| about a year after that"
ibid he get killed."
mo he got pneumonia ana died in his
! bed, and every man on the road wanted to
go TO the funeral but, of course, only a
| few could get off We draped our engines
! and cabooses, stations and the general Of
fees for thirty days and the engineers
and fremen sent an engine nearly as b 3;
| as Old Nance there, Of sold flowers, with
We mourn our loss in big black letters
| On each side"
To be Continued
| Queercst Pearl Ever Found.