Arizona republican., 1915-10-24
(By ERNEST DoUeLAs) Special

| CLIFTON, AriZ., oct 23.-What ef- feet has the strike had on the Cliff ton Morenci- Metcalf district? What will be the effect after the strike is over? How does it feel to live in a place where a strike is in progress. 1 These questions, so often asked by 1 the outside world, are susceptible to a variety of answers. Opinions vary widely as to effects, present and pros pectiVe. But everyone here will agree that there is nothing very novel or 1 exciting about this strike. The di- rect effect upon the district is more uncomfortable than interesting.
 Business. of course, is extremely 1 slow. "Paralyzed" is a pretty strong | word to apply to the business situa- l tion but it cannot be denied that the stores and shops of all kinds are suffering a severe slump. Everybody | is saving as much as he can and not l spending a cent unnecessarily. Truth | to tell, many have not cent left to spend.
 Still the two moving picture houses
 of Clifton do a fair business. Ger
 tainly it is not the business of the days when everybody was getting paid twice a month, but a good fea- l d
 theater in Morenci. was closed two weeks ago, but the other one is get 1 ting by in good shape.
 There are a number of new auto
 mobiles in the district Few have
 been sold since the strike began but the Ford agent complains that he
 cannot get enough cars to supply the demand.
 | Apparently the pool halls are pros
 pering The proprietors say that not
 as many nickels and dimes are paid
 for the privilege of knocking the
 balls about as were paid before the strike was called, but they have no serious complaint to make
 l The enterprising young men who drive For Hire" automobiles are ser
 iously affected by the strike, however. 1 Clifton, by the way, has fleet of rent cars that throws the jitneys of 1 Phoenix far into the shade. There was a time when the young men of
 the district-and many men not so | young-thought nothing of hiring
 a Cadillac or a Velie for an hour or a night but now. Every body has plenty of time to walk. 1 Yes. the business men are anxious to see this strike over. And to an outside observer it appears that most of them, with the exception of those in the employ of the copper com panies. are anxious for the strikers to win. They believe that the de- mands of the strikers are just and they realize that the higher wages the miners receive the more money will be spent with them.
 As for tension and apprehension,
 there is none to speak of. In the carly days of the strike the women
 were a little frightened but that feel ing has passed now. Parties of strik- ing MeXicans passing through the streets attract little attention. Only
 the other night word was passed laround the Mexicans that m effort might be made to place strike break CTS at the Arizona Copper COmpany's lnew smelter. over a thousand MeXi- leans, in two or three gangs, passed fright through the center of town and walked out to the smeIter to rein force the picket line. This was be- itween eleven and twelve o'clock, but no one called up the sheriffs office to learn what was the matter. Hard ly a light appeared in a Clifton resi- idencc. Clifton was convinced that the strike was going to continue Ipeaceful and if the MeXicans wanted to spend the night tramplng over the country, that was their affair.
 Children go to school, and return from school, as though everything was normal In fact, a deaf-and- dumb man might remain here for ldays without suspecting that any ! thing was abnormal.
 | But if one can hear he cannot be in town two minutes without know I ing that there is strike. The strike 1 is almost the sole topic of cOnversa- tior. The European war, Mexico, politics the jitney craze are never mentioned. Clifton, MorencI and Met 1 calf have no time to discuss anything except that great problem which is
 of supreme importance to them: the strike.
 Any stranger is viewed with sus- | picion. He may be a spy. If he does not voluntarily disclose his business | he is pretty sure to be accOsted by ! a strike leader before long and asked | why he is hanging around
 Time is the cheapest thing in the \ world. Everybody has plenty of time | to talk to everybody else. And by | this time everybody is pretty well l acquainted with everybody else. Men who worked side by side for years i in the smelters, mills and mines, and were mere working acquaintances, have become friends. They have a
 common enemy to fight, they have a common end to gain. After that enc | my is vanquished and that end is gained they will remain friends and Inei~hhorS Union or no union. they will understand each other better, will trust each other and be in better shape to enforce any demands that l they may make in the future. The strike has developed qualities l of leadership in men who were scarcely known before this trouble came up. < particularly striking in stance of this is quiet, stCdious