Arizona republican., 1909-10-15
LINED UP AT LAND
 OFFICE THREE MONTHS
Six Men Are Paid Salaries for Holding
 Down Chairs and Doing Nothing.

l DIX Ultu SilllHs tiit NCH ridor in front of the land office are earning a livelihood in about as unique manner as could well be im- agined. Each of these men draws sl5 month for sitting in his chair eight
 hours a day and doing absolutely nothing. To the ordinary observer it looks like the snappiest snap that was ever invented for the man too tired to work Such, however, ap- pears not to be the case.
 The six men. or other men in their places. have been sitting there every day since Col. Bryan came to Phoenix; and they will continue to sit there till December 22. when the land their em- ployers are after will be open to entry. The men are simply holding places in the line, so that the two companies which employ them will be first at the
 land office when the two and a half sections which they are after are thrown open.
 It is generally understood. in spite of violent efforts to keep the matter secret. that Globe mining company with another group of business men from the same town are anxious. very anxious. to gain possession of sections 19 and 30 and the west half of section 2e. 1 north 15 east These sections are located near the properties of the company Just how anxious the com
 pany is to gain title to this land may be seen from the fact that they have placed their men at the land office three months before the land will be open at cost of s40O0 in wages to the men who will hold down the chairs
 There are three shifts of eight hours each. That means that each chair costs them S225 d month. Six chairs cost them s1350 a month, and for three months the ultimate expense would be about s4000. The six men are looked after by seventh, who acts as fore man and sees that the men are on the job.
 A tired Willie Boy strolled into the corridor in the Fleming block a few days ago. He saw six men sitting there doing nothing but reading the magazines. They all looked bored to extinction. Willie boy soon learned that here at last was the one position which he could accept without violat- ing any of-the precepts of the order to which he belonged. He learned that these men were actually paid for doing nothing. In all his long expert ence in all parts of this country he had never been paid for doing nothing He had never in his lie had saiaried position. because all such positions he ha oaf sort of personal discomfort and carried with them the requirement of a certain amount of physical exertion. But this job was different and he felt that he could accept such a position without losing cast in the great organization of the leisure loving to which he be- longed. Willie boy applied for the Job and got it.
 Early the next morning he took his designated place in the line For the first hour he twirled his thumbs, thought of the s75 that would be his at the end of the month, and shook hands with r'-'self The greater part of the next hour was passed in trying to frame up a logical method of ob- taining an advance on his salary The tHIu nouT He rtdu sOiled magazines and got acquainted with the men on either side of him. The fourth hour he slept. He woke up with the back ache. Someone brought him a ham sandwich, which served to divide the day in the middle rather than relieve his hunger. Then his foot went to sleep. After that he began to think about the grass and the palm trees and the generous housemaid with her handouts.
 When o'clock finally came Willie boy asked the foreman for his pay
 Whats the matter with the job" asked the boss
 This doing nothin' all day is too alarmed much like work" said Willie boy