The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-05-04
NO STRIKERS IN The LIST
Need of Cars Make Call for Shop 10y.
atty Imperative-Men Who Usually
Boss Become Common Laborers -
Kinks in Backs Marks of Honor.

The Kenosha of the olden times had
it's husking bees, its spelling bees and
its kissing bees, but it remained for
the Simmons company to add another
to the list of bees. The company went
back to the old time neighborliness on
Saturday afternoon when it pulled off
the first unloading bee" that Keno
sha has ever known.
You may not know just what an I'M
loading bee is like but a lot of fell
lows who draw big salaries for being
superintendent and bosses and some of
them officials of the big company were
rubbing witch hazel on their arms and
backs On Sunday to get the kinks out
Of them. 1.-THE kinks came from the
activities of the unloading bee which
was pulled off on Saturday afternoon.
The big plant Of the Simmons COM
pany closes at noon on Saturdays and
when the time came to blow the clos
ing whistle on Saturday afternoon there
were some fifty ears of materials on
the tracks which just had to be I'M
loaded. The regular unloading gang
had gone home when the call for the
cars came and superintendent Ferris
was forced to seek aid. He let it be
understood that the forty seven full
cars and the parts of a half dozen
other cars had to be unloaded so that
the cars could be pulled out of the
yards of the company at four clock
He also let it be understood that he
was volunteering as number one to do
the job. The call for volunteers was
sent out. A lot of the men who were
foremen and department. managers and
some who held lot higher offices
heard the call to bend their backs and
strain their muscles to get the cars
emptied. 1t was call to shop loyalty
and before Ferris knew it there were
five hundred Of these men who had
pulled off their coats and were hustling
terials out of the cars. A vice presi-
dent Of the company touched shoulders
with one Of the foremen out in the
shipping room and the transportation
manager solved problems Of getting
the largest amount of scrap iron out Of
car by the shortest possible route in
the shortest possible time. These "big
fellows were not working as "straw
bosses" either, they were working
just like the other men in the gang. In
fact they were not bosses at all for the
regular foremen of the unloading gang
who knew something about unloading
and unloading them quick were the
men who were giving the orders and
about this part Of the big plant, were
laying to and doing the work.
It took four hours to unload tine cars
and while the chatting that went on
made the time go little faster it can
be said that most of the unloading
gang" of FIVE hundred put in about
as hard an afternoon Of work as they
ever did in their life. When the
whistle of the switch engine footed
long about four clock in the after
noon the cars were all unloaded
There was a tired bunch of "big
bosses" standing about stretching
their arms. "My, but that scrap iron
is heavy" suggested one of the men
who was nearly bent double, ct don It
wonder that they have to have crane
to handle it.
1t was great unloading bee, but the
best thing of it all was that it show
ed lot of shop loyalty and that the
old idea of being neighborly was not
entirely forgotten in modern industrial
institutions.
The unloading bee was made neces-
sary on account of the fact that it is
almost impossible to get men in
Kenosha to do this kind of work
and especially to get these men On a
Saturday afternoon.