The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-12-03


watching with eager, longing eyes
the shiny sun-kissed hulls. of the /
many ships that were idly laying at
anchor. All was hustle and excite l.
ment. The water front presented a |
busy scene, the rattle: of oars, the t
whistle of winchman as he swung
his load, mingling with the ''shan-
ty" of the crews as they weighed an
Choir and cleared the bar. =. -
For this, reader, was the busiest
port on the Sea of Life. 1t was the !
Harbor of Necessity out of which |
sailed many ambitious youth on his |
Cruise of Life.
The best crews that ever doubled |
the Horn Of Success left this port,
where young men came down to the
shore from the Plain of Want and
sailed away in search of the Land
Of Plenty.
AS the youth stood gazing seward
an old sailor tapped him on the back
and said: "Well, my lad, are your
thoughts seaward?" Eyes, sir, my
thoughts are where I cannot be-"
"And why not?" says the sailor, "are
you afraid to. ship?" II an will
ling answered the boy, "but am
WduC1uS. nave yOu ti10u, odlu
the sailor. "Yes," said the lad. II
| tried to ship on that, clipper out
there, Fine Arts, and could not get
a berth; also on the good ship
Science, where they told me that I
must take cruise on the Intelli-
gence before they could stow away
my ditty bag" 'Never mind" said
the sailor; *you know this is the
Port of Necessity and you must get
| away. I, too, am about to ship
again and will try and take you as
an apprentice boy" Whereupon he
called an oarsman and said: 'tTake
us out to that new ship" and soon
they were on her deck and the old
sailor was talking to her command
err.
''Welcome," said the captain '1
have two good berths for you and
the boy if you wish to ship" "What
ship is this?" asked the sailor, and
the commander answered: '*The
'Non-Union,' Captain Dollar, owned
by the Pay Dividend Co. and bound
for. the Building Trades. Do you
want to ship" The sailor said he
would consult the boy, and taking
him aside, said: 1--WE will take the
berth to get away from Necessity
for the time being, and desert as soon
as possible"
So they sailed away on the Sea of
Life, the youth on his first voyage,
and the old man on his last.
The old man made a confidant of
the boy and told him of the greatest
ship of them all, the Union, how he
used to sail in her crew, Of her great
sailing powers, and the fine money
the crew made and many other bene-
fits her sailors got until he had the
boy dreaming of the. time when he
should be Union sailor, ..
Things were far fran right on the
Non-Union. The crew: were getting
scurVE; the captain was inhuman: IL
| his&treatment of the; men and THE
mates were . only interested r. The
amount of work they could Sforce
| from their ,emaciated carcasses. =.
+ One night as the old sailor (whos<
| name was Experience) lay in his
| bunk below talking to some of the
I crew, the: youth said: 1--WE dom
seem to be making much time; why
is that" and one of the sailors zig
norance) answered and said
| Were doing all right, and an
II satisfied Whereupon Experience
gathered them together and tolt
\ them. about the Union and her crew
! and they grew interested. And tn,
more he told them the more the,
I wanted to know, so he promised t,
talk to them every night down be
low
And talk to them he did, and on
by one he weaned them away from
! the captain until he felt sure he ha,
them thinking for. their own inter
{ est, and then decided on a muffin
when the proper time came H
did not have to wait long. On,
I night soon after, as they lay be
I Gained he got the men below an
! put his views before them in the fol
I lowing words: Men, you are nov
) supposed to be aboard ship tina
( guarantees you equal rights. Doe
! 1t? The answer is yes, they ar
! equal, but what rights have we
- The answer is none;> nor will 70
X ever see land on this Labor Pirate
| this trip to get away from the POI
I suppose you men did likewise. No
1 AAoeoA w AACs l. 144o Only VIC d1C I'll
} bound for Starvation, and we'll
know it. That is the only route tn
pilot knows. He always brings u
there. His name is Greed. Nov
c men, if you would help yourselve
help me seize this ship and we wi
nail the flag of freedom to the mas
head and head her for the Port .
Decency, in the latitude of Fairness
"a And they fell to with will and SOC
= had every sailor aboard in the plo
- and one starry night the muti1
n came and the ship was theirs The
il changed her name to the Union ar
~ changed her course with Experien'
at the wheel
The crew soon experienced I'll
wonderful change, the air got balm
the waters smoother, and everyth,1
r seemed brighter on board.
|Ml One night the crew stood near tt