Arizona republican., 1911-09-03


sat on the edge of his bed and yawned
His face and neck and arms were
tanned by the furnace glow. but under
the hairy growth upon his chest tn,
skin lay white as ivory. and over Othel
parts of his muscular body CLEANED
| with a satiny sheen. Moreover. his
features were kind and human. with
affection, sentiment and sympathy
written large upon them, large. fol
all about the man was large
But for all his strength he would
not go 10 work. To-day his business
was TO idle. With twelve hundred
! other metal workers, lie was endeavor
ing 10 win an Industrial battle By the
simple process of idling. This was
| his first day. For twenty-nine days
| John Martin was a scab. Doggedly
| in fashion typical of the man, he
| held on his way. Then he saw the
! light all in & moment. while the metal
Kissed and sputtered ready for the
/ pour, saw the light and smashed his
molds and flung down his tools. and
! strobe headlong from the works 10
the union headquarters almost with
| out pausing to take breath.
That, however, was yesterday. To-
day he had a union card but no fob.
To-day strange little whirlpools of
feeling formed in his breast. causing
! alternate areas Of high and low baro-
meter in the atmosphere OF his spirits.
He snatched up the paper from
among the pillows and read again the
triple head on the first column:
Feared Strikers VIII Resort TO Vic
lence,' was what it said. Martin
gazed at it frowningly. and then drove
his great fist through the page, after
which he set about dressing.
They'd better not" he affirmed pres
emily in his deep, steady voice. A
man has a right to work"
He was thinking Of those twenty
nine days
breakfast" called a feminine voice
from the outer room in scmi-cheerful
tones.
John went out. On the oil-cloth was
coffee and hard-toasted bread with
out butter This was their selr-ap-
pointed strike ration. He sat down
sOlemnly. Little Jack, Quivering with
the alert energy of ten sturdy years.
was on one side of him. Tommie. the
siX-year-old, with one leg in a plaster
cast, was on the other Jennie Mar
tin, an intelligent appearing woman
with fair, tired features. sat opposite
her husband, and in a high chair be
side her child of two years piled his
spoon in a bowl of mush with no
thought of famine.
"Hullo, Little Wiggler!" exclaimed
the father, in the cheerful. buoyant
tones with which grown-ups often af
feet to address small children "Hullo
Little Wiggler!" But the little one
while recognizing his nickname and
big, fatherly playfelow. smiled only
with his eyes, for his lips were other
wise engaged.
The man looked about the table with
an eXpectant solemnity on his face
His wife placed a restraining hand
upon the baby's wrist. and all sat
with bowed heads while the father
asked a blessing.
You haven't done that in a long
time before. John" said Jennie with
q pleased look.
We're going to be more thankful
for our grub from this on, | reckon,
he observed soberly.
PA" Jack asked. abruptly. how
much is strike benefits?"
father, stirring his coffee meditatiyelv
"Hully Chez" exclaimed the boy
his teeth crunching industrio.siy. |
while his blue eyes lost themselves IN |
sober ponderings.
Have you thought what we would !
do about the instalments on tho |
house," asked Jennie anxiousiy |
That's twenty-five fifty, and j. |
~ IL
"I1l go and see old Chester" an
swered John, 'and get him to let us |
off with paying the interest while the |
strike is on. That would make a BIG |
difference"
"Strikin', are your" piped the old
cashier Of the Rockport Loan and |
Building Company, to whom John had |
gone first off after breakfast. The |
voice was mean and sarcastic. No, |
I'll not extend you any favors. The |
quicker you fellows are starved ont |
and bet gack to work. the better It'll |
lie for all concerned" he continued
5nappishly.
At union headquarters John found
the rooms full CT anxious-looking
men. He knew as he scanned them
round he had never seen so many
whites of eyes in all his life before.
They're running ia too many scabs
On u.s." one man said to another.
Yes" assented the second; I'VE got
10 rough It up more"
He's wrong-they're all wrong"
John TO himself. Every
man has right to work If he wants
10. We must win fairly"
By five o'clock Of this same day his
on this subject were be-
ng sharply put to the test. At that
lime he had drifted with hundreds OF
others down TO the works where he and
'our hundred of his kind had been
employed before the strike. When the
whistle blew, a score Of men came
imidly out and made for the car line.
A lane formed, almost instantly, of
yaunt desperate faces, and between
hese human walls that growled op- {
'-obrious epithets and darted menac-
- Slances, the workmen hurried
,ver the muddy, slippery cobbles. The
asst of them leaped nervously for the &
ootboard of the already moving car, 6
,ut missed 1t and fell face downward I
nto the narrowing gauntlet, which
losed over him instantly like the jaws |
# some huge, prehistoric crocodile. Z
There was for q moment the sound :
4 a dinner pail Gathering on the :
tones, coupled with the fierce COM
nent of the throng, and then an in ,
erval of silence silence that was :