Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1920-11-19

4 ferry boat load of the shipyard
men piled pell-mell over the wharf,
across the railroad tracks and onto the
min th%orOughfare of the town, at the
foot of which lay the makeshift slip.
They were roughly clad and grimy and
strong, and, many of them, handbook
.ine.
There had been a crap game on the
boat coming ove and it had not gone
smoothly. Three of the men among the
thousand showed the marks of it, for
they were more or less bloody and still
white with anger.
The three, each with a friend or two,
stopped at the saloon at the foot of the
street to wash off the stains of the
row. The rest of the workers paid no
heed but hurried on homeward. There
was little laughter Or joking. What
conversation there was among them
was unsmiling and it was plain to be
seen that the yeast of discomfort was
at work.
At the street corner two blocks from
the wharf a girl stood by the curb,
watching the passing throng and look
ing for some one. By and by she
caught sight Of a tall, toughly fash
toned young fellow with thick hair that
looked faxen by contrast with his sun
burned skin.
He spied the girl at the same in
lstant, said a brief word to the COM
ipanions of the moment, and stopped
beside her, automatically reaching out
for the bundles she carried.
The girls eyes were shining. "What
do you know. Billy? l found a place!
an honest-to-goodness apartment. Mrs.
ELS heard about a couple that are 60
ing out of town-somebody she knows.
She's a good old thing, after all, Billy,
and she went right down there and got
them to keep still about it till we could
get a chance at the place.
1--WE been down today and engaged
1t. It's an old house, Billy, but there's
three rooms and q bath and only one
other family, the folks that own it;
they live downstairs. l guess they're
boosting the rent two or three dollars.
BLU we SllOulu MOllyNllI SOhA pay
It's our lucky day, isn't it, Billy?'
But Billy Noxon didn't respond to the
happy mood of his young wife nearly
as she had anticipated. While Elsie
lay in wait for him there she had ex-
pected that he would throw up his
hat and shout. Places to live-to
really live and keep house like regular
civilized people-were simply unob-
tainable in the town. The NOXons had
been Eight housekeeping" in a single
room for four months, like hundreds
of others.
Don't know as there's any use in
fussing about it, Chick" the boy finally
replied soberly. "We're likely to have
to get to blazes out of this mans town
n time now. The gangs pretty sore.
and they're likely to tie a can, any time
at all, to the bunch of grafters that
are running the tea kettle factory over
the river"
what do you mean, Billy Noxon-
a striker"
Its a heap sight more than just
one strike, when the blowoff comes.
The working man has been carrying
the tar end of the stick about as long
as he's going to in this country
Here's you and me living like a couple
of buns in a coop of a room and me
sweating my hide off over there on
those hulls-and q lot of loafers that
don't hit a ship a lick from the time
she's doped out till she's overheard
and haven't even got a dollar OF their
OWL money in the plant, pulling down
millions.
Living in palaces and dressing their
wives il thousand-dollar furs ana
swelling around in limousines and play
ing golf while we play on a rivet gun
and all off us! All stolen from the
working man and his family! And
then, when we hit them for a lousy dol
lar a day raise, to help pay for the
profteering prices on the grub we eat
they give US the boot"
Elsie was looking very steadily ana
studiously at her big husband. wen!
she said. as he ran out of breath.
"WelI," Billy resumed, "it's about all
over, sis. There's going to be some
thing doing, and that right quick. L
dunno's it's worth while for US TO
change from one room to three. May
be we'll be in the middle of a haru-
boiled shindy in a week or two-anu
either have some kind of a decent
share in things or nothing at all
Deaths better than slavery" Inc
boy stared gocmily at a passing tour
ing car.
The girl was about an inch above
five feet-her husband about an 1nch
above six. Her eyes had beer grow
ing bigger and bigger as she hsteneu
to his dour speech. Now she seizeu
him by the arm end said: billy NoX
on, you come home with me, straight
"And don't you speaker ever
think-a word till tell you to- Inc
somber face of tho boy thawed INTO a
sheepish grin as he permitted bsmself