The daily worker., 1933-09-07
SNAPSHOTS OF MIKE

if you don't like it, you can get out.
Mike didn't like the way he said it
either. But things were getting tight
er. He was lucky now to make twenty
to twenty-five hours a week. Mike
had never had anything to put away.
1t was getting harder and harder to
make ends meet.
MIKE had just finished mounting
l1 the new one-half HIP. motor on
the base Of the No. 10 rotary pump
in the preserving room of the Tippett
Canning Company. His hands and
his shirt and his oyeralls and his
tools and his shoes and his socks
and everything else were all sticky
from the syrup which was stopped
all over the place. In some spots
the gooey stuff was more than an
inch deep on the cement floor. Most
Of it leaked or spilled out of the
pieces of rubber hose connected to
the twenty-three rotary pumps which
were used to throw the syrup and the
brown cherries from the kettles and
back again.
I Mike couldn't see how the workers
in the preserving room Che knew
many of them by their first name
and they all called him Nike could
stand it day in and day out with all
that gooey stuff around them. He
wouldn't want to be in their shoes.
And now they were going to get
another ten per cent cut. Mike was
chumny with Fritz, who worked in
the boiler room, and Fritz had told
him all about it. Everybody in the
preserving room acted sore all after
noon. Nobody cracked any jokes. Usu-
ally when Mike was sent down to the
plant they always had new one to
tell him.
Mike walked upstairs with his tool
kit in one hand and two copies Of
his time ticket in the other. They
were punched from eleven-thirty to
four. He walked through the ware
house and then into Mr.. Malone's
office. 1t was long narrow room
that turned around at the end like
the bottom of an e." You couldn't
see the superintendent's desk until
you walked the whole length of the
room and turned around the corner.
Mike walked through the office
with his mind on the gooey stuff in
the preserving room. AS he entered
he heard Mr.. Malone talking to
someone else. But Mike kept on going
Mike always walked right in and got
his time tickets signed. MIR. Malone
was nice guy and always greeted
Mike like a pal. This time. however
MIR. Malone's voice was raised high
and he seemed to be boiling over
Mike couldn't help hearing what he
was saying:
Good, that's fine, so M-r-r-r-r's
the guy who passed those leaflets
around. aye? Well, I'll get that SON.
ovabitch. He can't start any strike
in my plant and get away with it
Listen, here's what you. -"
Mike couldn't help hearing what
he was saying. For few seconds
what he heard didn't mean anything
to him. He kept on walking. Before
ne could get what it all meant hi
was '~ 1T down to the turn in the
room. t.e superintendent must have
heard him coming.
Malone jumped out from the cor.
ner of his room to see who it was
When he saw it was Mike he almos
had a fit.
"Iou Goddam dumb dutchman,
he roared, what d'hell do you mear
busting into my private office like
this. You dumb boob, for two cents
Mike was thinking fast. A hundred
things came to his mind. "Vot's d
meter, Mr.. Malone?" he asked in
meek manner. Il joost wan my tick
cts signed" He waved the two copie
in the air.
Nh. Malone cooled down a little
! But he still seemed to be plenty sore