Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-07-13
Whats
New?
By
Edudrd Duck
With The 18th
Regt. in
Germany
REMEMBER?


in part. 1t is dated Friday,
April 18th, the day after the
death of the late President
Roosevelt. / think it tells a
story very clearly, although it
is just a letter, not intended
for publication. He wrote:
II hardly know where to
start. / suppose you have al
ready examined the enclosed
Philippine money, so will
talk about that.
But first, a few words on
the most untimely and tragic
news that covers the airwaves
today. / know that we all feel
the same way about it, that
one of the first thoughts that
came into all of our minds was
of the time back in 1888, when
the greatest of all Presidents
took office, when we were like j.
millions of others, and he led
us to recovery.
II don't think that even you,
Ed, at that time paid much at
tention to what they called the
NRA. / did not know what
Section BIT was or what it
meant. But the President soon
put it across.
"a scene | recall was on a
cold grey morning in Novem-
ber. | was working at Nagle
Electroplating wv h e n tn ey
wanted me), and most of the
time had my head in an acid
tank, washing Hudson caps in
boiling water, with the steam
and the stink of the cheap oil
rising in a vapor, into my face.
/ was wishing they would fire
me, one could not very well
quit a job in 1888, and l had
tried so hard to get it.
What was it that Emerson
said about the power of de-
sire? / got my wish, and as
usual, they were subtle about
it, and laid me off. What a
break A phone number was
waiting at home for me--a
call to learn the drug business
at fourteen honest dollars per
week for seventy-two hours
plus. Yes, and | dare say it
was from the basement up,
and / do mean basement!
(Lane Drugs.
"But back to that morning.
was extra disgusted. I won
dered? A Ford sold for
$495, FOB Detroit, and Hud-
son cost a lot more. l racked
500 caps, washed them, and
set them in the vat for the
platter within a couple hours,
then took them to the buffing
room, and after that / got more
stock and began the cycle
again. l was getting behind,
and was due to be called some
names by the foreman. What
occurred to me was that twenty
cents wasn't much for my
share of the work. l asked
the platter what he got.
HE told me, sixty cents an
hour, but that he was an A. F.
Of L. platter and could belong
to a union. / asked. him how
long 1t would take me to be a
platter, and he said "a few
years'-if they chose me.
1t was REALLY Nagles I
was working for, too, The
foreman, and all the foremen,
were Nagles. The timekeeper
was Nagle. The youngest of
the Nagle foremen was about
my age-twenty.
There was quite a commo-
tion, and they hung up a sign.
1t was the NRA, and the Nagle
who was a timekeeper told us
that we got a minimum wage
of forty cents an hour-all of
us--code of the NRA.
II went right in the office
and asked again, to make sure
that my wages had been
doubled. That was my first in
formal meeting with the
president. / met him later, on
WPA, at union meetings, and
was chosen by him for a very
personal task, directly under
him, helping to defend our
country against aggressors
who stood for exactly the op-
posite of him and you and me.
God knows best. We trust
in Him, and hope and pray
that He guides the new Com
mander-in-Chie / know that
we all feel the same today,
that we lost the worlds great
est man and the best of IL
presidents"
These were the thoughts,
simpy expressed, which came
to Bills mind when he first
heard the news of the Presi-
dents death, aboard ship near
the Philippines. Perhaps they
call back a day we have for
gotten. Perhaps not.
AT any rate, they speak vol
umes. What was contained in
the rest of that letter didn't
matter very much. read this
part of it over and over, and it
made me think. Those were
the days when / couldn't even
land shipping clerks job at
the DeVilbiss Company for Is
dollars a week, after taking
fourth place in the state cost