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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1906)
' .r""" t ft"- - - p j" wr." & -.:. . w li fe." R' V.f N: I. 10 dwwi$p' The Commoner. VOLUME 6, 'NUMBER 4 Off to School Wo liavon't any "little girl" . With oycH alight with glco, And hair In many a dancing curl, Ifor happy heart caro free, Sho Htarled off to school today And mamnm'H heart is sore; "Our hnhy'H gone," I heard her Hay; "Our little girl no more." Wo loBt our little girl today. With eager, hurrying foot Sho sped with laughter light and gay Along the busy stroot. And watching her a niother'H eyes Grow moist with unshod tears As backward now her niom'ry (lies Throligh quickly vanished years. Wo lost 'our littlo girl today. With lightly tripping feet ano miiTies on nor scnooiward way Far dowii Iho city stroot. But though the years speed swiftly by Into otornlty, She'll bo, however fast they fly, "My littlo girl" to mo. Modern Definitions . Community of Interests Society languago for the old saw, "There is honor among thieves." Vested Rights Logally authorized to infringo upon the rights of others. Memory A convenient thing to fall back from when asked, "How did you got it?" Senatorial Dignity Something to bring out when questioned too close ly. Congress A largo body of men sur roundod by selfish influences. BlncknmUor A Mann-lv art. Judicial Dignity A .Jtoialresrln which to temporaKijHfide judicial in competency. . t" WjuuwiTel' Sometimes used as a 3'Jionym for paresis. Octopus No. 2G Wall street.. Sweat shop A hot house for grow ing bargain counter sales. ' That Corn Problem A reader of The Commoner writes nat there are always an evon num ber of rows of kernels on a cob be cause nature ordained it, and offers as proof that nature works in pairs: hat man has two eyos, two ears, two hands two feet, etc. Ho forgets, how 2,lhl,t "" l"s only one nose, one mouth and ono heart. Ho also for gets that man has an odd number of dig s on each hand and foot. Ho fur her asserts that nature never makes mistakes. But people have been born blind, with one arm or no arms, and that nature often indulges In some romnrkablo freaks. There is a natural mathematical reason why the rows of kernels on a cob are al ways even, and of the scores of an swers sent in not one has gone to the real essence of tho matter. Women and Chers An exchange expresses wonder that the feminine gender has never nro- ffof ft'ttCU(iS3 1),ayor- S?m?to abouUha t nnS somothlS strange m.c LV J' AU th0 gloat chess Play ers have been men. For that matter p have all the great billiard p ayors' to become proficient in either of the pmos ono must have pie ty of iw for practice, and surelV the- wotom bavo plentv of nmA vniGn to do in the morning when feg'et P is to start tho kitchen fire let broalcfast, prepare the cimdren for school, wash the dishes, sweep 1 house, get tho things ready for din nor so tho children can I ,rry iS to school, wash the dinner m hot darn a lot of stockings, put on a lot of patches, make the beds, scrub the kitchen, iron a lot of clothes, get the washing ready for an early start next morning, peel tho potatoes for sup per, make biscuits, get supper, wash; tho dishes, get the children ready for" bed and then do some moro darning and patching. With just this little amount of work to do it, seems a won der that more women have not de veloped into expert" chess or billiard, players. It must be that there is something about these two games that appeals only to the male mind. The Difference The smiling financier merely turneft in the witness chair and refused to' obey the court's command to answer tno question. "I refuse to answer by advice of counsel," ho said. "The court insists that you an swer." Silence having reigned, five consec utive minutes the court -adjourned. But immediately after the court con vened again the laboring man who had struck for shorter hours and bet ter wages was haled before that same judge. "You have violated the Injunction issued from this bench!" thundered tho judge. "I" "Your honor, I plead not guilty," replied the prisoner. "I have faith fully obeyed the court's order and I' have not " "That is enough from you, sir," ejaculated the judge. "You are fined vivv aim njaiuujjuu iiLlWA.-10V.--U-rLWi nny. TTre orders oTThis court must bo obeyed." Having signed the committment pa pers the judge sent a polite little note to the financier saying that he was within his constitutional rights when he refused to answer, and assuring him that the court would protect him from further indignities. In the meantime the workingman was in jail. A Lessons in Morals "Look here, son!" exclaimed the angry parent. "I hear you were bet ting on the races yesterday." "Well, father, I only put up a few dollars that Flyaway would win." "Haven't I told, youit was wicked to gamble? Haven't I warned you against it? If I over hear of your doing such a thing again I will thrash you good. Now you take this note down to Broker & Seller's office, and hurry up about it. I think this re markably open winter is going to hurt the wheat crop and I want to buy a few thousand bushels on margins. And don t you loiter on tho way, either." Just Thoughts mn ??da, 0ne or tUo old-time nnWi prln ers wanlered into the palatial quarters presided over by tho architect of this department, and for E!rt,?wi T tW0 ,arcuitect and tourist indulged in reminiscenses of the old cS?nb,n0re th,e tyPUne machines came in and made such radical tK In, ?B printInS business Tho tourist recalled old times when be and the architect worked at he case wherever fancy dictated, ami iff rSyi'fi I1U and a acore or moro of old-timers guessea at. And Sen nature 'thn'n111111 taken " paitine, tho architect sat for n whnft ruminating on the things that worn and tho things that are Umt WOre The change in the printing trade brought about by the Mergenthaler machine nas ucen iiuie snurt u mar velous. Twenty years ago the print ers of America were tho greatest iten orants known, and the term "tramp printer" was as common as fleas on a dog. These men drifted from ono section of the country to the other, usually going south in tho winter and nortli in the summer. They could al ways get enough work to keep them from going hungry, generally made enough to satisfy their thirst, and were a happy-go-lucky class. Some of tho biggest-hearted men the writer has ever met were those old-time tour ists always ready to divide their last dime with a brother printer, and standing by him through thick and thin in times of trouble. Their work and their itinerant natures made them a convival class, and as a result the whole trade soon came to be known as one inclined to dissipation. This, of course, was a gross libel, for a big majority of printers are and always have been, sober mechanics. The ones who habitually squandered their earnings in drink made so much noise and were so "previous" that people made the mistake of thinking they were in a majority. It was just the mistake the Arkansas man made who wired to a St. Louis commission house to know what it would pay him per dozen for frogs' legs. "A dollar a dozen, how many dozen can you furnish?" replied the hutisfc. "Can furnish them by the million," replied the Arkansas man. A week later the Arkansas man shipped in three dozen and accompanied tjiem with a letter saying: "This is all I could find. I was fooled by the noise they made." Those were the old hand compo sition days, and it was common to see from twenty-five to one hundred men working on the case In a city daily office on a Saturday night. Then a man was supposed to set about 8,000J.'ems" the printer's standard of measurement. Jfyit If he was just recoveriwr-'i'rnm n min rm,f ,fii SoJinBarleycorn and did not make over 4,uuu or 4,500 it did not matter very much. But it is different now. Ten men working at machines have to set as much type as fifty men did in the old hand days, and If one ma chine man is "off his feed" it means that the paper is "stuck" and misses the early mails. Theretore the- dis sipated man does not last long these days. As a result the old-time "tour ist" has about disappeared and the printers are today relieved from the odium that once attached to the craft. It is a nerve-racking job to run a linotype machine and a man must have the possession of all his mental and physical faculties if he "makes good." The benefits of thorough trades or ganization were never better shown than when the printers wero con fronted with the typesetting machine. The writer remembers well the time when he and other journeymen print ers used to stand around after "30" was off the hook and laugh at the idea that a machine could ever be built to set type. "When they can build a machine that can think they'll have a machine that can set type," was a common expression in the craft And while we were deceiving our selves with this idea Otto Mergen thaler was working away on his won derful invention. Suddenly ft ..was thrown on the market-a machine that not only set type but actually made it possible for ono man to set as much type as five men could by S' Xt .Wa? enoush t0 disrupt al most any trades union, but the nrinr ers met it more than'hal way in stead of fighting it they accented it conformed themselves to the new conditions and today the "iron man" ha the most tractable individual in the iTr ?w In ,til? 0ld hund Qays a" man had to work two hours m the aftor noon "filling his case," and then set typo by hand eight hours at night in order to make $3.00 or $3.25 , ten to eleven hours a day. Now he wSrks eight hours and makes more money. Instead of injuring the printing busi ness from the employe's standpoint the machine has been a benefit. And above all it has worked a marvelous change in the morale of the- craft. The men who were threatened with trade extinction by the introduction of the machine were speedily taken care of by the increased production of newspapers, magazines, and other products of the press. ' But the machine put the "tourist" out of business. If he was too thor oughly imbued with the itinerant spirit to settle down he was forced ;out of the trade. If not, ho settled down, learned the machine, or went ,from the news room to the ad .or job room, and is today a sober, industrious 'and respected mechanic. All these wonderful changes have occurred, in the short space of sixteen years. But after the old "tourist" had wanderod forth to again take up his weary way, the writer spent; an hour of pleasant recollections ofwthe old days, the old ways and- the old (Continued on Page 15), Beneficial to elderly people who suffer from dryness, of mouth and throat, in boxes only. CLUB OFFER Any one of tho following will bo sent with THE COMMONER, both ono -year, for tho club price. Periodicals may be Bent to different ad dresses if desired. Your friends may wish to join with you in sending: for a combina tion.. All subscriptions are for. one year, and if now, begin with the current num ber unless otherwise directed. ...Present subscribers need not wait until their sub scriptions expire. Renewals received now will bo entered for a full year from ex piration date. Subscriptions for Literary Digest and Public Opinion must bo' new. Renewals for theso two not accepted. Foreign postage extra. '. .. AGRICULTURAL Reg. -PricG Agricultural Epltomist, mo....$ .25. 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