The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-09-11

tn bold artisans tossed their paper caps
in tn air an give three cheers FIR capt.
tai They wurruked until OIL age crept
on thin an thin retired to live on tn
wish bones an kind wurruds they had
accumulated.
Nowadays tbs far diffrert TIL unions
has destroyed all individjool effort. Year
be year tn hours iv tn misguided wur-
ruk.n' man has been cut down till now
1t takes as pitt sicond watch to time
him as he goes throu' TIL days wurruk
l have a gintleman plastherer frind who
tells me he doesn't put in full day
in a year. He goes to his desk livery
mornin' at tin and sthrikes punehooly
at iliven. 9TH wrongs " tn wurrul1in'
man must be redressed. he says. "Ar-re
We interested in thm2' says L 'Ye
niver looked better in yere life Says l.
4 niver felt bet.ner,' he says It's III
out-iv-dure life he says. I haven't miss
ed a baseball game this summer he
says. But he says | need exercise. I
wish labor day wud come around. TIL
boys has choose me to carry a life-sze
model " tn Masonic temple in TIL pa
rade,' he says
IF I was a wurrukin man I'd sigh
FIR TIL good oil days whin labor an capt.
tai was frinds. Those who lived throu
thim did In thin times tn aristocracy
If labor was tn la-ads who r-run TIL rail-
road injines. They were a proud race.
1t was a boast TO have wan iv thin in a
fa- ly. They niver sthruck. Twas again
their rules They conferred with CAPT
tai Capital used to weep over thim
Ivry wanst in a while a railroad prisi-
dint wud grow red in tn face an burst
into song about thin. They were a body
tina. tn nation might well be proud w.
If he had a son who asked FIR no bet
- fate. he wud ask FIR no betther fate
FIR him thin to be a Brotherhood Nv Lo-
cymotive Engineers. Everybody looked up
to thin an thy looked down on VERY
body but mostly on tn bricklayers. Tn
bricklayers were niver tn bulwark iv
tn constichoochin'. They niver conferred
with capital. TIL polls always arrived
just as tn conference was beginnin'.
Their motto was a long life an merry
wan a brick in tn hand is worth two
on tn wall. They sthruck livery time
they thought iv it, They sthruck on TIL
slightest provocation an whir they were
MT provoked at all. If band whit by
they climbed down TIL ladders an follow
ed it, carryin' anners with tn wurruds:
Give us bread or we starve, an walked
tai they were almost hungry 1yry Sat
urdah night, they leld a dance to pro-
fist against their worngs. In TIL sum-
mer time tn walls Nv tn oppressed brick
layers whit up firm countless picnics.
They sthruck in sympathy with anybody
TIL union whit out as wan man because
there was rumor that tn superintindint
Nv TIL rollin' mills was not nice to his
wife Wanst they stnruck because Po-
land was not free.
What was tn raysult? Their unrais
onin dmands fin'lly enraged Capital. To-
day we can go into q bricklayers house
an niver see a capitals. but tn brick
layer himself Forty years ago a brick
layer was certain " twilve hours wur-
ruk day. or two hours more than a con-
victed burglar. Today he has practically
nawthin' to do ar won't do that. They
ar-re out Nv wurruk nearly all iv tn
time an at tn sea shore. Just as often
as you read 'Newpor. colony film up
we read, .Bricklayers sthril1e again. Ye
very sildom see a bricklayer now in tn
city. They live mostly In TIL country
an ony come into town to be bribbed
to go to wurruk. 1t wud pay amy man
who was buildin' house to sind thin
what money he has be mail an go live
in a tent.
AN all this time how about the arrys-
tocracy " labor, the knights iv tn
throttle? Have they beer deprived iv
amy hours Nv labor? On TIL conthry,
today there is not a knight iv TIL throttle
who hasn't more hours iv wurruk in a
day than he can use in a week. In tn
arly mornin' whin he takes his iron
horse out iv TIL stall, he meets tn on
forchinit, misguided bricklayer comm
home in a cab firm a, sthrike meetin.