The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-28


mighty lively dance. From the be-
ginning to the end of the five months
| / was putting down my part of the
trolley conduits I was kept busy hush
ing up the property owners who want
ed to kick about my obStructing the
traffic in front of their places of bust
ness. Next to the labor unions, the
business men made me more trouble
than anything else; they and the
unions together bothered me enough
sight more than the actual work in
hand, and it was absorbing enough,
heaven nows. Let me tell you story
about the bricklayers union to bring
| out my point.
zone day one of our inspectors found
| two bTicklayers asleep in a manhole
| when they should have been at work.
He reported them to the section fore
| man; he reported them to the superin-
tendent and he discharged them, tell
ing them to go to the Office, few
blocks away, and get their pay, at the
same time allowing them pay for an
| extra hour in which to walk there.
That was the last he thought of the
matter, but three days later / was told
| that when union men were discharged
| in New York their pay had to be taken
| to them according to union rules, ana
that these men had been waiting for
their money by the manhole in which
they had slept ever since their dis
| charge.
81 hadn't heard a thing about the
trouble till then, of course, and l
didn't care to go into details. When
| l was told that unless the pay for the
two sleepers was taken them inside
of an hour all the bricklayers on the
! job would strike 1 simply asked how
| much was the hold-up, and forked
| over the money at once. Incidentally,
| 1 may say, that I had to put UP $26
| extra pay for time was counted by
the hour day and night from the mo-
| ment of their discharge to the mo-
ment the money was put into their
! hands. 1 felt that 1 was being rob-
| bed, to be sure, but a strike would
| have meant ruin. The newspapers
would never have got the facts cor
rectly, and 1 would have had the whole
| town on my back and a general strike
would have been extremely probable.
1 still believe 1 was held up outrage
| ously, but $26 is a mighty small sum
| to pay to prevent a general strike
| at such a time and in such circum-
| stances"
The ease with which the public for
| gets it's favorites is admirably Illus
| trated in the case of Frances Hodg-
son Burnett.
| Late in the eighties and early in the
nineties, only a brief ten or a dozen
years ago, when her popularity as the
author of THAT Lass O Lowrie's"
and Little Lord Fountleroy" was at
| it's hight, it was hard to find an issue
of a daily paper that did not contain
story about her or an allusion to
| "Fauntleroy" Anecdotes with her
for their subject were current coin
wherever people of social or literary
tastes were gathered together. To
admit that you hadn't read the book
was to own that you didn't keen up
with current literature. Nearly a
score of children, some of whom have
since won genuine and lasting success
| on the stage, had become famous
through playing the name part of her
play.
It was better and more widely
known than any play since given has
| been. In fact, nothing, either dra-
matte or musical, has ever had so
great a vogue in this country, save
only "Pinafore,' which had its day
years earlier and is occasionally re-
vived even now, while Little Lord
Fauptleroy" is apparently forgotten
forever. AS for Mrs. Burnett herself,
down to few days ago, she was only
memory to all but her personal
friends even among writer's and edi-
tors.
That she means again to try for a
place as a public favorite is shown
however, by the recent announcement
that she has written a new play with
a "girl Fauntleroy" for its heroine
Those who used to worship her pro-
auctions in the old days will wish hel
renewed success. and she will surely
have it If nerve and perseverance car
win it.
To date her professional career may
be divided into three parts. In the
first she was unknown and struggling
against odds. In the second she was
recognized star in, a class of periodi-
Gals (now disappeared forever0 OF
which "Godey's Lady's Book" Peter
sons Magazine" and "BaTlou's Dollar
Monthly" were examples.
Her first success was scored with
the editor of "Godeys Lady's Book,
when that magazine was in the full
tide of it's popularity. She had writ
! ten a story and sent 1t to the editor
of "Ballous.' He liked it and wrote
her that he would publish it, bu
couldn't pay any money for it, assum'
ing that she would be amply recon-
pensed by seeing her name in print.
Perhaps she would have been if hel
greatest need just then had not beer
hard cash. AS 1t was she wrote thu
editor a characteristic note. saying
that what is worth publishing 1!
surely worth paying for ant
promptly got the manuscript back
After that the story went the rounC
of the cheap periodicals and was final
, ly accepted by "Godey's." From tina
time on she had plenty to do but he
work brought no large financial re
turns until the editor of The Century
in an unguarded moment, happened
! to read one of her stories.
That was the beginning of the thirC
. and most prosperous period in he
life. Little Lord Fauntleroy" wa
the most remunerative of all her pro
auctions, and it is doubtful whethe
. it would make a success to-day, eithe
as a book or a play.
Duane.