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The Commoner,
AUGUST, 1G, 1907
13
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WITH THE PALS OF OTHER DAYS
Hot. Springs, Ark., August 12.
Once more the writer is hobnobbing
with the "pals" of other days the
printerinen. The older the architect
of this department grows the better
he likes to foregather with the-union
printers in international convention
assembled and indulge in reminis
cences. "Where a bunch of old-time
printers is assembled, there you will
be sure to find that fraternity which
maketh for jollity, and the good will
that maketh for lasting friendships.
The great feature of this convention
of printers is the "Old Pirate's He
union." And thereby hangs a tale
that to be. en joyed needs some elucidation.
The "Missouri River Pirates"
composed that pioneer band of union
printers that worked along the Mis
souri river in. the early days from
1877 to 1883, preaching unionism
wherever they stopped, and reviv
ing the spirit of local union men who
had grown discouraged.,- Unions had
been established at Atchison and St.
Joseph even, before the .war, but the
war, and the panic of 1873 caused
them to lose their charters, and
unionism was at- a low ebb when
good times began in the late 70's.
Then it was that the "Pirates" be
gan working along the river Kan
sas City, Leavenworth, Atchison, St.
Joseph, Council Bluffs, Omaha, Sioux
City, and cities lying not far inland.
The result was a renewal of union
Ism that blazed into success, and
now every city of 15,000 in the Mis
souri valley is organized, the print
ers drawing top wages and are work
ing the eight hour day.
The architect of this department
started to learn the printer's trade
about the time the "Pirates" were
in their glory, and among the most
pleasant recollections of his life are
those concerning the "tourists" who
never lost an opportunity to drill
Unionism into his youthful mind.
The result was that as soon as he
had served the requisite apprentic
ship he hiked to the nearest union
town and. became a full fledged
union prinler. But he started on the
road about the time the glory of the
"Pirates" was fading, and it never
was his lot to be counted cone of
them.
But the "Pirates" are gathering
here from the four quarters of the
earth, and they are going to have a
reunion that will go down in union
printer history. It will be held Wed
nesday, long before this shall reach
The Commoner readers, but next
week we'll tell you all about it
that is, most all about It. Just as
soon as this letter is .finished the.
writer is going out to hunt up Ben
Hill, foreman of the St. Joe Gazette,
for it was under Hill's supervision
that the writer set up his first line
of type on a morning newspaper,
'way back in '83. He, expects to
meet "Red" Hill," the oia proof read
er on the Omaha World-Heral, who
once marked Webster's Dictionary
when a compositor called him down
for a correction and offered old Noah
as ocular demonstration. He ex
pects to see "Gig" Martin, who al
ways comes into town "by hand."
He'll look for Dixie Dunbar who,
disgusted with his gas jet put on his
coat and started out of the office to
"ketch some lightnin'-'bugs to dissi
pate this gloom." If he doesn't meet
Bill Boyer, Native Missourian an'
proud of it, he'll feel badly, for it
was Bill that gave him the first word
of encouragement as a "tourist" at
Rockport, Mo., in the fall of '83. My,
my, but that was a long time ago!
Uncle Sam Is quite a prominent
citizen In Hot Springs. He main
tains a bath house here for those
who can not afford private baths,
and he also maintains a reservation
which is cared for just like Uncle
Sam cares for all his parks. The
springs are good for any old ailment.
They will relievo a man of about
everything, and the hotels attend to
relieving us of the rest. Met a gen
tleman yesterday evening who said
that he had shot himself full of chlo
ride of gold in an effort to get rid
of the drink habit, but without suc
cess. But he came down hero, boiled
himself in the baths for a couple
of weeks and Is now all right. "They
got the gold out of my system, and
out of my pockets, too," he said.
There is only one bad feature
about a visit to Hot Springs, and
that is the sight of, so many suffer
ers who are here for help. But even
that has its bright side, for the man
who has health and. strength can not
look on them without returning
thanks for his manifold blessings. A
man who has health and strength
and a good digestion never knows
how well off he is until ho sees some
poor, unfortunate who lacks all those
things.
A reception was held at the Ar
lington hotel yesterday. People
who have an idea that printers are
a dissipated, forlorn, happy-go-lucky,
careless class of craftsmen,
should have been present at the re
ception. He would have seen a
bunch of as fine looking men as he
could locate in a year's search. Fact
is, they looked like a bunch of bank
ers, or lawyers, or Wall Street finan
ciers. Some of them are getting
along in years, but the majority of
them are comparatively young men.
They are jollifying, for this is the
first convention held since the win
ning of the bitter fight for the eight
hour day. That fight was begun on
January 1, 1906, and since that time
the. 45,000 union printers, of the
country put up over $3,000,000 in
cold cash to secure victory. During
the struggle not one union printer
so far as known wag arrested on any
charge of violence, although three
or four were arrested and fined for
contempt of court, the contempt con
sisting in ignoring a judicial order
not to assert their rights as free born
American citizens. The general pub
lic heard very little about the eight
hour strike, for the reason that it
was so quiet the dally newspapers
could not make any news features
out of.it. Now, after less than two
years of battling for the short ivork
day, the International Typographical
Union has more money in its treas
ury than it ever had at one time' be
fore, it has more men working the
eight hour day than it ever had
working the nine hour day, and while
financing this battle the printers
maintained their splendid Home at
Colorado Springs, where 150 aged
and invalid printers are cared for as
they deserve to be. When a man
thinks. of all these things he has a
right to be proud of the. fact that hq
has carried a union printer's carid for
nearly quarter of a century even
though it has boon flfteon years since
Speaking about tho Union Print
ers' Homo at Colorado .Springs
brings to mind tho fact that this
Homo contains one of the finest
libraries in tho United States. Two
years ago James Monroo Kreiter, a
member of Columbia Typographical
Union, Washington, D. C, conceived
the idea of having ovory vlBitm tD
the Colorado Springs convention in
190G bring a book for the Home.
This was done, with the result thnt
the library was enriched by some
thing like 2,000 volumes. Then B.
Frank Swigart of St. Louis Typo
graphical Union, got into tho gam 3
and began writing authors, publish
ers, statesmen and everybody else,
telling them about the Home and Ite
library, and asking for donations.
Tho result Is that the library now
contains upwards of 8,000 volumes,
many of them priceless. President
Roosevelt contributed a complete set
of his books, autographed. Kraperor
William of Germany is on tno list,
and his imperial signature looms up
on the fly leaves of the books he
sent. King Edward VII of Great
Britain and Ireland, contributed au
tographed books of great value.
Every cabinet offlco Is represented,
every justice of tho United States
supremo court is represented, and
Mark Twain sent in a sot of his books
with a characteristic dedication, for
Mark is an old-timo printer. The
library today, apart from its senti
mental value, is worth not less than
$30,000, and now tho printers are
going to assess themselves and raise
enough money to build a library an
nex to tho Homo. Tho writer of
this department carries quite a bunch
of what people call "life insurance,"
and tho fruits of which ho can never
enjoy. It costs hin a lot of money
every year, too. But in the Typo
graphical Union he has insurance
that simply can not bo beaten. He
donesn't have to dio to get it, either.
If over he becomes crippled, ill or
incapacited from work, he can go to
tho Uniqn Printers' Homo at Colo
rado Springs and live on the fat of
the land in a home that is a home
in all that the name- implies, sur
rounded by a veritable garden, and
in sight of the eternal peaks of the
Rocky Mountains. And for this In
surance he pays the enormous tax
of ten cents a month, or $1.20 a year.
After you have let this fact soak into
your mind perhaps you can begin to
realize what a soft snap the man
agers of the big "life" Insurance
companies have had for the past
fifty or a hundred years.
A growing feature of these annual
conventions is the Increasing num
ber of women who attend. The
printers are getting into the habit
of bringing their wives along, and
the result is beneficial in more ways
than one. The social times are more
thoroughly enjoyed, and some of tho
features that used to mark tho con
ventions in the writer's early print
ing days have been eliminated for
all of which the rank and file is duly
thankful. There are several women
delegates on the floor of the conven
tion. They are a splendid crelit to
the craft, too. Here is a good thine
to remember about the Typogiaphi
cal Union: Whenever you see a
woman working at the case or on a
machine in a union composing room
you know she Is getting the same
rate of wage as the men. "Equal
pay for equal work," is one of the
Typographical Union's slogans.
It is pretty nearly time for the
day's "business" to begin. First
fiomes the "German lunch." which
'is now about roady to serve. Then
comes a balloon ascension, foljowe'l
liy a visit to the alligator and ostrich
farms.- This' will be 'followed by a
vaudeville ' entertainment. So1 '-the
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bMMHMMMMMMiNHMaiHMMMMMMMaMaJNMMaMMM
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