The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1903-04-11
me-" said Farley to a New York Herald

me-" said Farley to a New York Herald
man, in Waterbury, Conn "It's a
business with my men; that's all there
is to it. 7 don't know how it came to
be my business: exactly; just grew
into it. You see I got a start and
passed from Brooklyn to Philadelphia,
from Philadelphia to say, Cleveland;
Cleveland to st. Louis. then to Lock
pore, around to Providence, Erie,
Scranton and lot of small towns in
the East Of the New England States,
and there was in business with a list
Of the men who were ready to come
out with me for the money or the ex-
element Of the thing"
''How about the strike breakers?'
he was asked.
"You mean the non-union men," he
corrected quickly. "Well they speak
for themselves. How did come to col
lect them? Well, that is easy. You
see, after I had been in two or three
strikes began to meet old friends.
They went everywhere + went and l
came to the conclusion that I would
learn something about them and did.
Then when a company would say,
Farley can you get us some good
men? knew where a telegram would
reach them. The list has kept growing
until now I have about all I need for
an emergency.
"Who are the menu" Farley bit on
the end Of cigar. "That's hardly a
fair question, for some Of them arn't
angels and we shouldn't talk of the
rest. To size them up + should say
that some&of my men are old union men
who lost their jobs in some strike and
at it's end found themselves with a
grievance tor some reason against the
very organization which had started
to redress their wrongs. But the ma
jority Of my men are young fellows,
who really like it for the danger Some
really like it I believe, for the beating
they get. The pay is double that Of
an average trolley employe, the hours
are not long ard there is not a dull
moment.
You'd be surprised at some Of my
men. Some Of them are young fellows
Of good education and good families
who choose this instead Of the army
for an unexplained cause. We have
several former soldiers, we had a doc
tor once, a young lawyer, a couple Of
| college graduates, one Of them an old
foot ball player, and just the other day
banker Of Philadelphia wrote to me
to ask if his nephew was not in Water
bury.
PLENTY OF APPLICATIONS.
"It's surprising how many applica-
tons for jobs the companies get during
strike But only a. very small per-
centage of them are accepted. 1t takes
an unusual man to work during a
STRIKE
when a young fellow comes to me
for a job don't like them very much
more than thirty-the first thing I try
to find out from him is whether he ever
loses his head. It's all up with him if
he does. Then want to know
whether he has any nerves at all. A
nervous man or a man given to weigh
ing his chances hasn't any business in
our line. Why he'd go crazy in q week
standing On the front or back end of a
trolley car thinking he was going to
get it any minute as the car sailed out
along:soa dark country road during o.
nasty .strdke.S A man mustn't think
about being knocked Off the platform:
by a shot from the roadside, or a rock
from the bushes, or else pulled off into
the darkness, like the boys in Cleve-
land, St. Louis or Providence, or up
here, where knives and clubs and feet
do the rest.
Hes got to be a likely boy himself
with his fists and know enough to kind
Of save himself when they get him
down, and above all he's got to be a.
slutton for punishment. Take a man
like Jack Herman, who was with US
at Scranton last year. His car was
blown up five times by dynamite and
he went with it a couple Of times, but
he didn't miss a trip. They call him
Dynamite Jack now
ONE ITALIANS EXPERIENCE.
ork'U isIaaflhetpaYb NE al D,iogg
''Then there's Morissetti, a young
Italian. One Saturday night he was
beaten up here in Waterbury,, pulled off
his car in street Of Waterville, a su-
burb, was in a hospital two days, out
the third and the two days later taken
back, beaten almost beyond recogni-
ton. The doctor said he didn't see how
he could live. His conductor had his
skull fractured.
cleveland was bad strike" Farley
says refectively, land so were those
at st. Louis and Scranton" But he is
almost Of the opinion that Waterbury
is the worst, for several reasons. He
does not care to go into details, but his
men, in their mess hall in the COM
pany's barn say he is thinking of the
night Of Jan. 81 when he says it. Then
great mob, in the early evening,
sweeping supine police force aside,
took possession of the city. Twenty
one motormen and conductors were
dragged from their cars that night in
the main streets and most of them
went to the hospital. -Four Of them
are still under the Doctors care.>
Then the throng rushed for the car
barns. Among the several score men
tn $f14 hos ia