The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-08-01
RAILROADS OFFER
GOOD JOB And AN
SYLIFETODAY
But Tomorrow When Strike
May Be CON-" 1t May End.
SpiYak Tells More of COndi-
tions He Finds in Shops.
GOOD MEALS ARE SERVED
And Men Unused to Shop Work
Strain to Keep Work Up.
High Officials Labor That the
Public May Be Served.
GOOD MEALS ARE SERVED
And Men Unused to Shop Work
Strain to Keep Work Up.
fconrright. ~. hv 1 n. Sd

Copyright. 1922. by 1. N. 81
Escanaba, Mich. Aug. lon West
Madison and Canal streets. in Chicago,
are the great centers where strike
breakers are recruited for the rail-
roads OF the middle west. Labor
agencies line the streets and the-float-
ers and transients clutter around the
enticing signs advertising dining car
board" mice new clean BEDS" and
lifetime job If you want it,
There is no difficulty in becoming
strikebreaker. The writer signed up
on three railroads in less than half an
hour; the Baltimore & Ohio, the Big
Four and the Chicago & Northwest
ern. Upon leaving the Baltimore &
Ohio office, a man from a labor
agency literally pounced upon him.
Easy to Get Job.
signing up? Northwestern ship
ping right away. Good wages, good
meals. clean beds, and all the protec-
tion you want"
The writer signed, was given a card
and sent to the Northwestern station,
where, on the ground floor, high Of
ficials of the road were engaged in
hiring gtrikebreakers.
One is asked a few perfunctory
questions, name. address, age. trade.
No proof as to capabi1ity is asked, and
the physical examination every rail-
road demands is waived for thirty
days"
Upon being hired. the strikebreaker
is generally told to sit down and take
it easy. Pay starts right now. If
you're hungry. go in and eat.
Thirty Is Large Shipment
StrixAbreakers are grouped in num-
bers from half a dozen to a hundred,
but it Is rare that shipments of more
than thirty are made. If a strike
breaker has preference to go to
some particular place, his preference
NsaH "a l.
EE0up-thirty is considered Iarge-is
shipped. they are placed in a special
car attached to the train with guards
at each end of the car. which, in many
instances IS locked until the destina-
tioa il reached.
AS the train on which the writer was
shipped neared the Escanaba yards,
the gUaTd asked him to move away
from the window as a precautionary
measure. Pickets were visible around
the yard fences, but no move was
made by them. The train was switch
ed-straignt into the yards.
AN ahghting. superintendent Hell
mSr, of the large Escanaba yards, met
the strikebreakers- Assurances that
everything would be done for the
strlkebreakers' comfort was given. IF
there is anything here you don't like,
Just let me know and well fix you"
he said. But don't go outside the
yards Everything is peaceful here
but the pickets are outside. They
of even giving them a chance"
Meals Arc All Good.
Clean linen, bed sheets, blankets
and overalls to those who need them,
are given by the road The hunks and
dining room are large, clean and airy.
over the whole yards hung an
ominous silence. Few men were seen.
Occasionally. a freight train wheezed
by. A small group of maintenance of
way men whose strike order is pend
hn frfl rafN alrer-
silently from distance.
Freight cars filled with choice foods
stand in the yards near the newly
, built dining camp and really appetiz-
ing meals are set out; roast chicken,
fruits, vegetables, ice cream. anything
in fact, that the jaded palates Of the
Etrikebreakers might wish for. When
the men get together during meals or
after work there is a strained air; they
talk little; the strike is seldom men,
toned, and when it is. only with a
strained POPULARITY. They do not ap-
pear to be happy.
Work to Protect Public.
Special guards patrol in and around
the yards. but no one is molested. It's
awaiting fight.
"A desolate. deserted air hangs over
the yards. Scarcely anything moves.
"A hot sun blazeS down upon the
whitewashed walls of the machine
shops but the wheels are still, dust
clinging to the oily belts-an unearth-
~ silence, broken mainly by the buzz
zing flies. In the roundhouses huge
towering locomotives. the driving
power OF the nations arteries, stand
line on line.
What life there is moves in the
roundhouSe. Around the engines are
virtually the entire dependable strike
breaking force; high road officials.
wholly unaccustomed TO the work
who make strenuous efforts to keen
the essential engines from falling into
irreparable disuse.
Editors Note:
This Is the second and last article BY
John L. SPivak, telling of conditions as he
sees them in the railroad shops where he
obtained employment in an effort to obtain
at first hand. conditions resulting from the