The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1915-02-20

Continued from Page 1.

ly been able to hit the hay" in the
last two weeks. u,
1t is distasteful to report ones as
ISOLATION with g. gang of thieves, but
if there be any better guide to sys-
tematic highway robbery, I have been
unable to find it. The scab is never
satisfied. His. energy is devoted to
procuring loop holes for escaping
work and to inventing ingenious
methods, such as these, Of obtaining
unearned money which he wastes up
ON the. saloon and the house of i'll
fame. &C.,,
Something of the. nature of. my
qualifications and fitness for the po-
sition I now held have already been
intimated. What was true in my case
was true for nine-tenths of all who
engaged in the strike: One man to
my knowledge was, a real boiler
maker-a member of the trade UNION
back in Buffalo--and, probably the
tenth that have DIVIDED y from the
remainder were Of this type, namely.
union men depraved enough to sac
rifice, their honor. and pledge to. their
fellows: and to undertake this kind Of
labor in a distant city. for the. sake
of the money there was: in it. The
other helpers and boiler-makers, or
the nine tenths, were the protest. SIGNALS
| regular business to work on any strike
from g. jewelers. to a. cab-driverr's;
! and lastly: stragglers, hoboes, advent
urers,. or college. students, ,,,r . -,
| A Detriment TO-: Employer. g
The employment of such men in
responsible positions is :.,note only
detrimental to the company's interest,
but also dangerous to the public wei.
fare: I was. engaged with . a. boiler
| maker one. evening upon the repair
! of an ash-pan of an engine which was
due to leave the round-house at ten
! o'clock. My companion, J. soon dis
covered, knew little of how to fix the
| rods 50 that the covers of the pan
would close properly. We finally re-
sorted to quick and ingenious way
of solving the problem by obtaining
few sticks and proping up the covers
in a position. 1t was dark; no one
would notice the deception, and the
engine would start on its journey
Yet, after proceeding for only few
miles, the props would become loos
ened, and in consequence the cover:
would drop and fire be scattered al
along the road. AS second conse
Quence, there was extreme danger O.
a railway conflagration with an in
definite loss Of property and life.
A more important piece of seal
labor as regards consequences, which
we were called upon to perform wa
in connection with repairing the flues
To do this work properly an air ham
mer should ordinarily be used. In
Invariably the task was performed
by using a tool called an expander
This was simply a large, iron plul
driven into each flue, thus expanding
the flue and temporarily stopping tn
leak. From my experience with uniol
men later, I found the correct wa
was to use both methods. Extrem
pressure from steam is brought t
bear on flues and boiler. If thes
there may be breaks, leaks, and pos
sibly an EXPLOSIONS wreck.
Strike Called Off.
About the middle OF March tn
strike was called off. At the tur
= of affairs the philanthropic compan
lowered our wages and compelled U
to work every other Sunday nigh
From a clear profit Of $1O231 tn
first month, my wage was lowered
straight $50 a month with no owe,
time. Free board and lodging wer
also cut short: we were compelled
find these now as any other individu: