Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-01-17
amount lost by the enforced ldleness


There were enough hard thinking,
sensible men in the audience that night
to see the force of his argument. The
majority, however. were In favor of @
general strike to gain their point In
regard to the scale Of wages. When
Philip went home, he carried with him
the conviction that a general strike In
the mills was pending. In spite Of the
fact that it was the worst possible sea.
son of the year for such action and In
spite of the fact that the difference de.
manded by the men was trihe com
pared with their loss Of wages the very
first day of idleness, there was q deter
mination among the leaders that the
$1,000 men in the mills should all 60
out In the course Of a few days If the
demands Of the men In the Ocean mill
were not granted.
What was the surprise Of every one
in Milton. therefore, the very next day
when it was announced that every mill
In the great system had shut down
and not q man Of the 5000 laborers
who marched to the buildings in the
early gray of the winter morning found
entrance! Statements were posted up
on the doors that the mills were shut
down until further notice. The mill
owners had stolen a march on the en-
ployees. and the big strike was on; but
It had been started by capital, not by
labor. and labor went to it's tenement
or congregated In the saloon, sullen
and gloomy. and as days went by and
the mills showed no signs Of opening
the great army Of the unemployed
walked the streets of Milton in grow
ing discomfort and fast accumulating
debt and poverty.
Meanwhile the trial of the man ar
rested for shooting Philip came on, and
Philip and his wife both appeared as
witnesses In the case. The man was
convicted and sentenced to Is years
Imprisonment. 1t has nothing special
to do with the history of Philip Strong,
but may be of interest to the reader to
know that in two years time he was
pardoned out and returned to Milton to
open his old saloon, where he actually
told more than once the story Of his at
tempt on the preachers life.
There came also during those stormy
times in Milton the trial Of several Of
the men who were arrested for the as
sault on Mr.. Winter. Philip was also
summoned as q witness in these cases.
AS always. he frankly testified to what
he knew and saw. Several Of the ac-
cused were convicted and sentenced to
short terms But the mill owner, prob
ably fearing revenge on the part Of the
men. did not push the matter, and
most of the cases went by default for
lack Of prosecution.
Mr.. Winters manner toward Philip
underwent a change after that memo
rable evening when the minister stood
by him At the peril Of his own life.
There was n feeling Of genuine re-
spect. mingled with fear, in his de-
pertinent toward Philip. To say that
they were warm friends would be say
Ing too much. Men as widely different
as the minister and the wealthy mill
man do not come together on that
sacred ground of friendship, even when
one Is Indebted to the other for his
life. A man may save another from
hanging and still be unable to save
him from selfishness. And Mr.. Winter
went his way and Philip went his on
different basis, so far as common
greeting went. but no nearer in the
real thing, which makes heart to heart
communion impossible. For the time
being Mr. Winters hostility was sub
merged under his Indebtedness to Phil
ip. He returned to his own place in
the church and contributed to the
financial support.