Denver labor bulletin., 1917-05-12
Especial Correspondenee.)

| PORTLAND, Ore, May Sister
! Agnes"-as she was called by thou
sands-is dead. All thru the West,
| Agnes Thecla Fairs name is known
to the workers in almost every min
| ing and lumber camp. Wherever un-
ion men needed help, Agnes was there.
I Wherever they had a particularly
difficult job, Agnes was there. Wher-
ever the victims of Mammon endured
| especially trying hardships, Agnes
was there with a helping hand. She
was rare character. She went to
hundreds of cities via the box car
route. On such trips she wore over
| alls.
| The following appreciation of "The
| Good Angel of Labor" appeared in a
recent issue of the Oregon Journal of
Portland. Agnes was killed under
train:
Agnes Fair has gone again, this
time never to return. She was a frail
and earnest little woman, whose expe-
riences had been many and varied for
her thIrty-seven years of life. She
never spoke of her early life or par
entage to me, but in way we were
friends.
Friend of Down and Outs.
Agnes was the friend of every man
who was down and out. That we were
{ L4tL bGALEL II lEA4As - DEGdASt 1 new ct
was in q position to need her help.
Agnes was first heard Of by me as
being active in the free speech fight
in Spokane several years ago.
She was known before that in Seat
tie and in the Yukon territory and
Alaska as the advocate, nurse and pro-
wider of the under dog.
Agnes never sought help for her
self. She would sell the clothes she
0 l. Y. II.
l have known her literally to do so.
not afraid of men taking advantage
of her and insulting her. Agnes
| laughed and shook her head.
| None OF the workingmen ever DO"
/ she replied. Some of the silk stick
| ing chaps do once in while. But
have sharp tongue and hatpin and
know how to put any man down and
out who gets foolish"
No word of personal reproach ever
was uttered against her character.
! Drank the Bitter Dregs.
What her past was as to her per-
sonal affairs l do not know. She mar
ried years ago and tasted bitter dregs
l in the wine of life. There may be
those among whom she labored, who
needed her assistance and her minis
trations, who knew Agnes far better
| than l did. If ever there is a head
stone over her grave all l could write
upon it other than her name would be,
"A constant friend of the down and
outs"
At Sedalia, Mo-, in 1911. the editor
of labor paper was in distress. He
went to hospital and left the paper
without anything but debts, to run as
best it could. Agnes fitted in and
made it the strongest, warmest, live
leSt paper that ever had been run in
Sedalia. When the editor returned he
found the debts gone, the paper pros
porous. Agnes fitted.
In Spokane she established a down.
and-out restaurant and with capable
stove she had ''rustled" to a main
she was steward, chief cook and clerk
of that strange institution. When
taxed with her disregard for the sac
red property rights of the gas COM
pany, she laughed at the threats of
arrest. Ascertaining that no jury in
Spokane would convict her, no prose-
cution was made.
We Glommed Supplies"
During hard winter in Nevada
Agnes went down there to look after
the poor workers dying of pneumonia.
When the laggard charities came in
with organizations and systems. Ag-
mes left. She would fit in and out
of any section where the down and
outs were in need, or in suffering.
One time she fitted in to announce