Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-01-02

Vee AseHrSHe& tnS EAse. Tney e6Ae
singly not n groups they eane IN
numbers, and yst saeh nan seemed 10
be alone numbered byhis long day
OF toll too tired or dfsinterested to
talk. The avenue became filed with
tramping feet. watched then as
they trndged up the street unconscious
OF their power as a mass. conscious
only of individual WEAKNESS and hun
geF-dump sheep withouta shepherd.
sHow silent they arei" exclaimed
to the policeman.
They're all kinds, you see," nesex.
plained. tits Europe YOU see walk
ing. WE'VE got Y Turks, Russians,
Poles, Italians, Germans, Slavs, Cali
clans, Dalmatians, BuIgarians, Spanish
oh, all kinds. It don't make any diff
ference to US so Ions, as. they're will
ing to- work, and WE pay good wages"
He filled out his glittering chest and
swung his stick.
f"How long do they work?"
''Well, these mem hs waved an
other majestic circle with his scepter
= II these men, laborers. all work
twelve hours, but it doesn't hurt them"
he FASTENED to add; they're strong!"
do they stay strong?"
t"You Bet!" he laughed. They're like
horses"
The stream of men still poured in.
poured out. Somewhere back in the
twinkling town doIorous bell rang.
Six o'clock! And these men-I mean
these horses-had been up by ave
o'clock, while it was yet dark, had
MOI hYno III oct nd
to the furnaces, had been swallowed
in that yawning gateway with its re-
mark about Careful men being eff
cient!" and now it was dark again!
Their life seemed to me to be like a
shuttle moving, between darkness of
early morn and darkness of twilight
darknessi and the glare Of furnaces
By day. But then they were only
horses!
I'VE did It all in six years! Think
Of It! Nothing here before WE came!
Just sand dunes! And now look at
real estate!" said the policeman. 1--WE
got lot worth ten times what / paid
for it, and there's another plant COM
ing and real esate will BOOM"
I thought of the other side Of this
boom-of the high rents and terrible
crowding, Of death and disease,
M - u
+ We moved over toward. Q lighted
window, through which the men who
were coming in and going out handed
slips Of paper. | asked the policeman
what they were doing.
"WE have system here, to keep
tab on the men-Ilo one goes In lor
out without a pass. Otherwise they'd
be running in and out all the tine."
It seemed to me as IL Law itself
was speaking-laW and order and au-
thority and government keeping
tab" on the workingmen, seeing that
they gave the full twelve, hours Of
service, pressed down and running
over Keeping tab on the horses!
As twilight deepened The windows
in the nearby hospital stood out in
blocks Of light. | spoke Of the near
ness of the hospital to, the steel yards,
just stones throw.
eyes. WE take care Of those as get
hurt"
do many get hurt z"
"Only themss as -carelees!"
was going to ask him if early
death due to exposure to excessive
heat in front OF the glariHg furnace
was carelessness" if death due to
fine particles of, steel in the lungs
was "carelessness" if old age att 40
was stscarelessness' If the entire list
Of killed and injured in the steel
yards, reported by the, Commissioper
Of Labor, was all due to- careless
ness" I. suppose so. The careless
ness of. the horsesl But i didn't ask
/ him these questions. What's the good
Of asking such things Of man who
says of his masters, "WE"!
"You ought to see OUR own" ad-
vised tile policeman. Some. town!
Only si1, years old, too!'' .y
Il turned toward the town in the
direction which these. scufing feet
[ were moving l. wanted to- see where
1.-THE horses, lived where they ate and
slept where their babies were born;
| I wanted to see the Steel Trusts little
toy city by night larry he .precocious,
that had sprung full grown from the
brains. of Capital. Sci said goodnight
| to the policeman, left his tWtrling his
scepter, went toward town.
Once turned back saw the light.
ed gateway, the men appearing ana
| disappearing saw the outline of the
tall policeman, a, spot oof light on his
breast where the arc-Aght, above MIN
REFLECTED on his star--I-sawr the great
smokesfaeks poking their black noses
into the black 7blouds; while pulsdnlg
against the sky, writing the story Of