Evening star., 1932-03-27
ENGINEERS UNION
LEADER SUCCUMBS
Herman E. Wills Helped
Found Brotherhood; Rites
Tomorrow.

A pioneer IN the labor movement in
the United States, Herman E. Willis,
"a, died at his home, 1895 Crittenden
street, yesterday. Death was due to
pneumonia.
He is survived by his widow, a daugh-
ter Gertrude, wife of Representative
Tilman B. Parks of Arkansas, and a
sister, Mrs. Carrie Halliday of North
Andover, Mass. Funeral services will
be at the family residence at 3 o'clock
Monday afternoon, with burial in Fort
Lincoln Cemetery.
For more than SO years he had been
one of the outstanding leaders of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,
an organization he helped found He
the brotherhood from 1904 to 1927. and
its legislative representative between
1910 and 1927, in which latter year he
retired from active work.
Works on Northwestern.
A native of Vermont, at the age of 10
he went to Iowa in 1866 and got his
first job firing locomotive on the
Northwestern Railroad, and before he
was 81 he was a full-hedged engineer,
pulling a throttle on the Burlington
Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad He
became a member of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers in 1872, and
shortly thereafter was dismissed from
service because he suggested to the
management of that road that wages be
increased and tracks and bridges made
more safe. He returned to the North
c4a nd in Hnl
tion of signing, on behalf of his brother
hood, the second contract ever entered
into between an American railroad and
a regular labor organization.
From that time on he held place as
one of the most conspicuous leaders of
the engineers. He was active in the
passage of much railroad legislation and
was one of the founders of Labor, the
national newspaper of the railroad
organizations.
Active pallbearers will be Alvanley
Johnston, grand chief engineer of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers:
Commissioner Frank McManamy of
the Interstate Commerce Commission; ;
Senator Alben w. Barkley of Kentucky,
Representative George Huddleston of
Alabama, R. H. Ashton, president of
the Railway Executives Association:
A. o. Wharton, president Of the Inter-
national Association Of Machinists;
Edward Keating, editor of Labor; w. C..
Roberts, chairman of the National Leg
islative Board OF the American Fedora
ton of Labor; w. D. johnson, vice
president and national legislative rep
resentative Of the Order of Railway
Conductors; A. F. Stout, national legis-
lative representative of the Brotherhood
of Maintenance of Way Employees. and
A. j. Lowell vice president and national
legislative representative of the Broth
| erhood of Locomotive Firemen and
Enginemen.
Norris Heads Pallbearers.
Senator George w. Norris will head
the list of honorary pailDearers, which
includes Secretary of Labor William N.
Doak, Senator Gerald P. Nye of North
Dakota, Senator Burton K. Wheeler of
Montana, Senator Henrik ShipStead of
Minnesota, Senator James J. Davis of
Pennsylvania, Representative Robert
Crosser of Ohio, Representative Phil D.
Swing of California, George w. Laugh
lin, national legislative representative
Of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neerS: Frank Morrison, secretary of the
American Federation of Labor, and
| w. M. Clark, former vice president and
national legislative representative Of the
| Order of Railway Conductors.
Mr.. Wills was a member Of the
Masonic fraternity for more than 60
years and at the request of his home
lodge in Clinton, Iowa, Masons of the
District of Columbia will have charge
of the services at the mausoleum.