Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-02-24
An Unofficial
'soq4a Strike /.
) ~ u MA HU D S or
ACopyright. 81. sh9r1 Stories Co.. ILtd5

Dennis Murphy banged his dinner
bucket down on the kitchen table. Il
T T. THE strike Is on" he said. And he
looked hard at Maggie, his wife, for
she had a most unreasonable habit
Of saying disagreeable things when
the, men were ordered out, and the
rent was overdue, and there was no
money to satisfy the demands Of
butcher and grocer. ! II.
But then Maggie was q woman and
could hardly be expected to appre,
ciate the manifest advantages of be-,
longing to. the union .TJShe scowled
fiercely4 over the sum Of money that
Dennis turned into the unions treas
.ury every pay day, and in moments Eot
extreme { irritation she, had even
been known to calculate the pounds
Of meat and potatoes that the money
would buy. And she had limited more
than once that, but for the union, she
could live like lady and hold up
her head with the best of them. AS: II
was she took in, washing to fill up thu
gap in the weekly income. I'll
"An' what's the trouble now?" she
asked with considerable asperity. l..
Dennis shufhed !uneasily." I'll
I'VE want an eight-hour day." he
mumbled. Maggie ironed towel
with short vicious strokes of her fiat
iron, and Dennis wished that the sill.
ver-tongued agitator who had ordered
the strike could be there to convince
her of the business of their cause.
She was so obviously in bad humor
and not inclined to- listen to reason.
An is it eight hours ye want?" she
cried, emphasizing her words with
thpu Y of her, irons Eight hours
work for a strappin' big man like ysr,
self, Dennis Murphy, r. Its lazy W
are. An them unions has too many
grievances altogether, that they have"
Which was not at all nice speech for
the wife Of loyal union%man ito
make. >l@"f u %8s r. e. +
Eight hours work is enough for
any man." Dennis protested. II.
f. An for any woman? How about
the| women Just answer me that. Den
mis- Murphy" -~ """ -,
And Dennis thoughtlessly conceded
that woman should not work longer
than eight hours a day@@Whereat Mar
g1e smiled a calm, wise smile that
should have warned him of trouble
ahead /
AN what'll we live on the time the
strikes on? 1t was question Mag
sic had often7asked in the eight years
of: her married life, and she well.
/ knew Dennis answer, for it had never
varied. Il
Sure. and ,ye wont mind takin' lin
a bit Of extry washin'. Maggie, darlin',
Just to help US ralong till I do be
earnin'' money agih'." + ,
Maggie thought she minded very
much indeed, but she held her peace
And the next morning Dennis, noted,
with great (satisfact5on 9hat the wash.
boiler pile stood o4 the back Of the, stdve
and Maggie SEEMED Y to S'Hbt Be making
|prepafattonsifor al large days work, {
Sure "a and a., I'll not, begin, till, ye,re
out Of the house, Dennis, ;" She said,
TThe{ steam do be tonpleasant' / Z
And Dennis, as he went off to dis.
cuss matters with his fellow strikers,
reflected that If all other wives accept,
ed etne saituation 1tp Az proper a spiritl
ass5Mas giei did the strike was like Ito,
be a huge success. II
~, Maggie I. narshaled Molly and
young Dennis and the baby into the
Kitchen.
The fstrikefiss on she announced
AN it's bath yell be afther havin'!"
And the children gasped, for "strike''
they understood, but to their unaccus
toned ears bath" had a most terri
flying sound. And their mothers
preparations filled their small SOILS
with dread, for she had filled the Biz
wash tub with water, hot and cold,
and she laid violent hands upon her
offspring and stripped them rofs their
Fclothesf IF ~ f17@ III
| AN It's drownded we'll be-" Molly
walled in terror, as she began to com!
prehend her mothers Intentions con.
corning them - II:
Sure" said Maggie in deep dis!
gust, "an'0it's ignorant little) brats ye
are not to know a bath when We see
one There do be people as takes one
livery day" III
And from sheer inability to answer:
49, astounding statement the chil-
dren were quiet while their mother
Esopapeq and y d scrubbed :iandzrubbed ana,
for lack of a bath towel. stood them
TO dry before the kitchen tstoYey And
she combed their hair, not in the
}-sketchy, everyday way,g bpt3 With ID
fthoroughness that brought tears Ito
their eyes, Then, wenderful torelate
| she sewed the rent in Molly's frock
bands aarned the Ahees OF 2 Dennis
stockings and replaced missing bit!
ttorsi II I cff De1iGOcfaFo IT.
! Nov be of wild We" she said, "FoI
oncelYe1F goltp' school Ilookln' las Iye
should" sIi
! i1Tbep <s4as p1ckeM pp dhd baby frbt;
| the kitchen floor. aYel1 MT nlav II