Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-07


down town in the evening the same
conductor may take his fare, and when
he comes home from the theater II
may be to ride again with the same
conductor. Naturally he wonders when
such men get any time to live. He
learns that, being unorganized, they
are compelled to work at any old hours
which happen to be most convenient
to the Management.
And when the men go on strike
against such unbcarable conditions and
the company imports professional
strike breakers TO take their places,
the sympathetic workingman is en-
ragged. This is the explanation of these
mob violences-this and the rioting
which is directly melted by the COM
pany's importation or hiring of strike
breakers. Ho can any workingman
ride behind such men, when who are
trying to take the bread and butter
from the homes. motormen and con-
ductors who are only asking for a fair
wage for fair days work?
Il noticed in the Courier on Sunday
morning, August G, what Mr. Meals
had to say about me and his denuncia-
ton. l am like the boy that got
kicked by a mule-consider where it
comes from and let IT go by. l note
what he says-is l would leave town.
he, Mr.. Meals, would settle this strike
in a hurry. ., how nice of him; why
cannot he settle it while 1 am here?
Is there niger in the woodpile? If
there is. let him loose, and we will
then know who are our friends.
i would also state that Mr. Meals is
telling something that is untrue, and
that is by saying the longer the strike
is continued the more l make. He
should not judge other people first. 1
will stake my reputation against his
or any other man IN Harrisburg. 1
am not much surprised at the way he
expressed himself in the morning pa
per. / feel that sized him up right
cannot understand what have done.
to the Mayor TO cause him to talk the
way he does. l may become citizen
of Harrisburg, and If I do, watch the
smoke of some of our friends later on.
This may have been Mayor Meals per-
feet day, and he should think of the
friends he has made.
MY attention was called to an ar
ticle that appeared in The Patriot, sup
posed to have come from the Mayor of
the city of Harrisburg, stating that
there is man from out of the city
VINO comes here to try to dictate to
him how to run his office l wish to
emphatically say that this is untrue.
l don't intend to, nor have I tried, to
dictate to the Mayor as to how he is to
run his office. But l do know that
there are hundreds of working people
in the city of Harrisburg who are far
iilO-S SOlHpSleII Oh lllllB the present
office of Mayor than the man who is
now doing so. He says 1 am not a
citizen of Harrisburg. That part may
be true. But I wish to inform Mr..
Mayor that l am a free American
born citizen. and a resident of Pitts
ourgh, and have wife and a family
residing at the same pace. He states
that l may not be a citizen any place
else. ! wish to inform Mr.. Mayor
Meals that he himself may go to the
city of Pittsburgh, where I have been
resident for the last twenty-three
years, and l dare say that 1 am Just
as well, if not better. known in that
city than he is in Harrisburg. I feel
that my reputation and character are
as good, If not better, than his. If
anybody should doubt this, let them
go to Pittsburgh and make an investi-
cation. Or they may go to the State
House and consult with ]. Denny
O'Neil, no has known me for years. I
think that before Mayor Meals talks
about anybody he should begin at
home
He states that if that man Thorpe
had not been here the strike would
have been settled long ago. I suppose
perhaps that is true; that he would
try to settle the strike according to
Mr.. Musser's dictation. He also states
that he is surprised that President
Samuel GomDers. of the American
Federation of Labor. should send a
man like me here to take charge of
the carmen's strike. I wish to state
that President Gompers does not take
dictation from him nor anybody of his
stripe.
Mr.. Meals says if Mr.. Thorne
hadn't come to this city, that the pres
ent strike would not be in existence or
would have been settled. Perhaps that
is true to certain extent, for the
reason that the carmen would NOT
have been organized and they would
have been working under the con-
ditions of slavery that have been exist
ing in this city for the last twenty
years. He also, states that Thorpe
wants the strike prolonged, saying that
the longer the strike is continued the
more money Thorpe GETS 1 wish to
inform Mr.. Mayor Meals that he is
telling something that is absolutely
untrue, and I would advise him to be
a little bit more careful in the re-
marks that he is publishing through
the daily press regarding myself.
AS for Thorpe leaving the city, I
will not lave the city until I am good
and ready to go. I feel that I have as
much right here as has Mayor Meals,
as have not violated any of the laws
of the State Of Pennsylvania and I
pay my way as I go, and have a per-
feet right to remain here"