The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-11-25

and avoid violence and rough work And
then got arrested.
Arrested Oh, John! You7"
eyes, arrested"
;, "What for2"
"Talkin to q man."
4 Talking to a mana" Jennie asked in
amazement.
! Eyes. l met man coming out of the
; works at noon--fellow named Carr. |
asked him not to come and take my Job,
and they arrested me and took me to Jail
for twenty days. That's when you didn't
get a letter from me. was determined
my wife should never have letter from me
written while l was in jail"
"But, dearl Surely this is a free country.
They couldn't arrest you and put you in
jail Just for talking to man and asking
him not to come and take your job away
from you" ss 44ye, I,
That's just what they done, though.
Some kind of new law they got out,
called picketing ordinance Well, and
when was in jail got to worrying about
the house, and the minute | was out ] went
to see the man that was going to lend me
the money; but when we come to look it up
the house was gone already They claimed
they had the right to foreclose when l
missed the first installment, and after the
second one was missed and / never come
around nor anything, they went right TO
work and cleaned me out. Done it while |
was in jail"
rl"But, John," she sobbed, brokenly,
that wasn't fair Couldn't you 60 to law
about it, or something3 They took advan-
tage"
ooh, don't know that they took advan-
tage," groaned John, bitterly. 81 didn't
keep my contract and they went ahead and
protected themselves. 1t was my misfor-
tune. / lost on account of the strike A
man forgets himself when he goes into
strike like this the way have. The in
dividual is nothing The union is every
thing
ooh, this dreadful strike" the woman
sobbed, dropping her head upon her hus-
bands breast, and standing there picture
OF distress and helpless misery so moving
) that little Tommie buried his face in her
skirts and himself began to cry.
"I don't blame the bosses, so much and
Z don't blame the bank" John went on
absently, "for takin' my house. played
and lost on that blame the damned
place-takers."
"The scabs7p asked Jennie.
eyes" answered John with the hardness
of an eternal and implacable hatred in
his heart. "Place-takers; that's what they
are. The man that's workingman just
the same as | am and comes in here and
takes my place in the foundry and takes
my pay envelope. He robs me Of my job.
He robs me of the fruits Of my own sacri-
flee, and he even robs himself He's a
Judas without remorse. Instead of gettin
sore on himself and goin' out and breakin
his own neck, when the place-taker has
betrayed the cause OF labor, he takes his
dirty silver and buys grub and clothes with
it and struts around in comfort while me
and my family walks the streets"
"The streetsl'' exclaimed Jennie, sud
denly recalled to herself. "Why, here we've
been all this time, right in the street, talk
ing and crying, and | don't Know what not
right out under the sky"
"By heaven, that's the only place we got
to talk 'em out, answered her husband.so-
berly. "Theres nothin' between you and
me and the ground, tonight, Jennie, but the
pavement. Nothin' between us and the
heart of God but the sky up yonder. The
empty streets the only room that walls in
. our misery. But, shucks, he added, no
body's paying any attention to us, That
policeman over there's been looking at us,
but we haven't done anything. l got put
in jail for talking to a man, but you won't,
/ reckon" and John tried to ohuckle
over his ghastly attempt at light-hearted-
ness.
~ /" John" exclaimed Jennie, "do you know,
/ Just can't somehow feel that our home is
lost 1t can't be more'n a block or two.
Couldn't we just walk around and look at it.
I've got to have something more than just
you telling me before can realize it. May
be if stand outside and look at il few
minutes, and see it all dark, and the doors
locked, and know | can't get in, I'll be
able to sense ii better"
~ don't want to &c" replied John, with
sullen reluctance.
"Come, dear" she pleaded eth be
kind of like goin' to the cemetery to see
Little Wigger's grave"
wJohn Martin WINGED Little Wiggler was
another cost of the. strike to him. The
: cheerful toddler had fallen in the early days
|, nearly six months before, slain by the inn
proper milk which was yet the best which
, strike benefits could buy. The thought Of
the baby melted the man and he followed
I. unresistingy. AT the corner of their own
old street they paused to look in at the little
xnyhara ri