The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-16

l time. He'll have a strike on his hands
before he quits. It's sure to come, and
Soon
"a striker she gasped, and went pale
and breathless. She was silent for a
moment, and then she reached up and
kissed him with cold lips. Good
night" she said quietly.
A strike, She lay alone i'm the little
bedroom and went over, detail by de-
tail, the horror with which he had
threatened her. God. Could she again
go through that monstrOus nightmare
\ Why, in that other long, bitter strike
she had reached depths of humilia ton
so fearful that the hot blood of shame
| flooded her face at the bare memory of
them. The cold and the hunger had
| been nOthing-more harGshps-but the
| pride-revoiving things that cold ana
hunger mad forced upon them. there
was the blight, Why. she had spent
days at a time along the railroad track
back there, in dirty gown like other
beSSars, picking uD bits of coal that
meant life. quarreiinG with other wo-
men, coarse. ignorant women. and even
lighting, once, for the possession of d
particularly fine lump that a rival had
StriVen to take from her by main force.
From the strike fund had come mea-
gre Dittance each week but there had
I =
furniture insurance. q thOuSand-and-
one things, and no strikers credit was
COOL after a certain period of the long
dTawn-Out battle. Powell unable to
/ find temporary work, had grown Gespe-
rate and sulien, and once he had
| brought home a great hunk of meat
with SO defiant an air that she knew
he had stolen it. 1t was the first meat
they had eaten for many days. and she
I re 1
it had tasted. and how like famished
animals they devoured it, sitting across
| the table from each other with blood
shot eyes. She shrank even now TO re
member tn sse indignities that had SO
scared her soul. ever as she shrank
from the memory of that last final blow
when the baby had died. She groaneG
anew in the anguish of that recolIec-
| ton. A strike, She could not, would
not survive another one
There is no aspect of a continued
strike that is not terrible The Ire
mont. Wells & fremont plant employed.
! when at full blast. 500 workmen To
write the complete history of an i'm
pOrtant strike in that concern would
involve the writing of 500 tragedies. and
the central figure in each one of these
pitifully true tales would be a woman
the woman at home.
If PowelFs wife had good reason to
shuddeT at the thought of a second
siege, Powell had grave excuse for his
apprehension. Young fremont. having
inherited his late fathers controlling
/ interest in the business. found chaos
confronting him. On the one hand he
was faced by powerful labor organi-
cation, on the other by a proposed con-
SOlidatiOn. the Outgrowth Of recent I'M
bearable competition, that offered him
Fns n
humiliation, ard he saw no way but 10
fight
His first disquieting act was the cree
ton of the stockade.. Strong and high
he had It built, surrounding the entire
property, and the move was taken by
the men as one Of open Hostility Mr.
Wells, always timid, was frantic, but
young fremont, by his controlling in
terest, had the whip hand and used it,
The structure was finished and the
grumbllng among the men increased.
They objected to being imprisoned. The
pen" meant a cut in wages and pro-
lection for ''SCabs' in case a strike fol-
lowed. fremont had d sweled head and
wanted TO srOw that he was boss He
was tOO-yOung, anyhow It was all
disquieting talk, the more so because.
based on reasonable premises. and
Powell naturally worried carried il
how bTeathlessly she listened to each
days report. He did notice however.
that she seemed TO take a renewed in
terest in his working life, and it pleased
him. Meanwhile Powell had lost no
time. or The day that the great barred
gates swung upon their hinges 10 let
the sullen workmen in he walked into
the Office with his big roll of drawings
under his arm and asked. to see Ire
mont alone.
Certainly" said fremont cordially.
and led the law into his private office.
He had a great deal of respect for a
workman with drawings under mis-
arms. What is it?' he asked when
they were seated.
The parts that cost the most in the
output of this plant are the small
parts" began Powell, plunging into the
business with directness that warmed
the soul of fremont within him More
than One-half the pieces in every fin
ished article you turn out are handled
one at time. go through a dozen diff
ferent hands, and cost. in Dor. more
than three-fourths of the whole assem-
blage"
Exactly" agreed fremont. with a
smile. That's what Is keeping me
awake nights at this very time
We'll, I've worked out and patented
a machine that will take the rough bars
of steel for these parts and turn them
out i'm gangs ready for assembIage.
without one single handling, except the
first feeding, which can be done by a
boy. One mechanic can run each ma
chine"
fremont frowned incredulouslv. but
gave the drawings slow, careful study. |
With growing interest he asked "A few
direct questions which Powell his |
palms moist and his heart peunding up |