The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-04-13

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Ing bis poonday meal. There WAS some
thirg wrong with his appetite ths, day, fol
be did very uncommon thlng-he tft h'
second psce Of pie untouched
From where be sat on the q lat roof trus,
the lad could look down on anv side through
= tangled web-work OF steel beams, col
} umts and gifders into the basement in'
s,oIias belos, To ADy one not accustomed
TO elimblng, this would have seemed dz
~ height but TO knocker, who had help
ed to eree, the building, 1t was very un
interesting thiog.
knocker bad won his remarkable name
from u many positions he had held on The
Clsypool Building. Beginning in the base
ment az wsier.boy, he had worked his way
Up duIiag the erection of the building Ia
the dignity OF rivlt heater That Was some.
thing TO be proud Of, thought knocker ;hu,
sfter all, what did II amount to II he could
not become uniln man.
/ That had been the height Of Rockers
ambition, TO b.cDm union man and march
vi b the iror workers In the Labor-dsy
parade. But Labor day had come, and 1t
had fourd Knocker keeping solitary watch
over the building while the union men were
OF el iyirg the holiday.
All on sccount OF not knoNiO how to
tie the square hitch mutt,red the boy to
hin,s.Iy .o ba olooaJ tho ia - hi. dipp.r
basket.
All the long summer kuocker had been
diligently preparing for the examination he
woull have to pass before entering the un-
ion. The day before be had taken the ex-
aninstij IN ard bal failed In 1t. 1t was, as
be said, all on account OF not knowing how
10 tie the square knot.
Big jim, one Of the top men, and the
boys good frierd, had given him lessons In
tying knots snd rigging. Jim had repeat.
6dly waruei his young pupil about that
knot, but 1t seemed so easy and simple to
tie that Knocker had given It slight atten.
tion.
When, however, he appeared confidently
before the board Of examiners, and they
told him to tie the fqqare knot, he became
confused and did the very worst thing pos
sible he Il d a granny
The onlg n renee in these two knots is
that 10 The square hitch the two lines form
log the loop are parallel, while in the gran
ny they are crossed. The latter will some
times slip when placed under a strain.
Perhaps only structural iron-worker or
a sailor wonld have noticed the mistake !;
| but smong these two classes OF men the Of.
fense Of ty z false knot cannot be over.
locked. TIE head Of the examining board,
an old man who lad grown gray in erect
Ing ironworks ssw ''e error Ia an instant,
and kindly bat firmly refused to proc3td
with the examination.
They woul int even give me chance to
show what do know about ironwork said
Knocker, hotly, that evening. as he related
biz failure to Big Jme.
Well, according to rules, you can send in
your application again 10 the three months.
la the meantime learn to tie the square
hitch.
Big Jim meant that for consolation, as
well as advice, but 1t fell short of the mark.
The true cause Of Knockers deep desire 10
enter the union did not come from the dol
lar and half increase in wages.
To Kuocker fearless iron. worker was
hero. What would bis boy friends have
thought when they saw him marching with
such men In the parade? That would In.
deed have been triumph.
Three months Much good 1t will do me
then to be 10 the union was Knockers
mental comment, as he looked round for
some source Of amusement. DONE care
whether ever learn to tie the square knot
or not.
Just then band down the street struck
up tune, and Koocker became all excite
ment. He knew the different unions were
forming for their march, In few mo-
ments the great Labor day parade would
pass the Clay pool Building.
knocker looked round for place from
which to watch Ii. Picking up a long scaf.
folding board, he ran one end Of 1t far out
past the edge Of the building, ard hastily
made the other end fas. to one OF the roof
trusses.
Then be boldly walked out on 1t and sat
down. allowing his feet to daugle over the
edge OF the board.
Although 1t bent 10 manner most fright
full to the onlookers, who were filling the
street below, Knocker knew the plank was
Of yellow pine, and would bear five times
his weight.
A moment later the crowds attention
was attracted toward the street corner be-
low.
Ktocker also looked In that direction and
taw the leading band Swinging round the
corner into the street. Close behind came
company ofperbaps hundred men,
dressed 10 gray caps and blouses. hnock-
er st once recognized them as the IRON
workers who had ilst completed the erec-
tion OF the Clsypool Building.
The boys recent disappointment was In
stantly forgotten as he became flllsd with
enthutissm at The sight Of this company
leading all others 10 the parade Ttese
tutburred men from the Clsypool Building
would have 7, iced sn old erection boss
20 kpocker each one Of them was q hero.
The boy, forgetting where he ws, began
to spring up and d,sn on bis airy seat,
kes piog time 10 the music Of the band ~ be
waved bis bat ard cbtend,
But ali st oree, ~ben The band Wa Dir.
Getty prdsfpss,h ard The csypool company
hal, rquare away, kaocksr pecsme aware
tbs. something was wrorg With bis sesl.
! Letting go bis bat, the boy bent over aud