THE WAGE. WORK
ER
' A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that is published in the Interest of Wageworkers Everywhere.
, VOL.2
X.IXCOL.K, XEBEASKA, SEPTEMBER 29, 1905
10.25
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The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
".'": lor-:
WARREN S. STONE
Grand Chief.
To Grand Chief Warren S. Stone, Third Grand Chief Delos Ev
erett, and to all the visiting members of the Brotherhood of Locomo
tive Engineers, Greeting: '
On behalf of organized labor in particular and the public in
general, The Wageworker welcomes you to the city of Lincoln, and
express the hope that your visit may not only be pleasant and profit
able to you, but that it will be such as to induce you at some time
in the near future to assist us in the work of securing for our city
a general convention of your magnificent organization.
We welcome you to Lincoln because we are proud of what we
have here, and ane always ready and anxious to show the guests
within our gates a city that is strongly union, a city where there
are no labor troubles, a city where employer and employe work to
gether harmoniously under the rule of "bear and forbear," a city,
full of churches and great educational institutions, a city of culture
and refinement above all a city where a vast number of working
men own their own homes and labor diligently to maintain Lincoln's
proud position as a city whose atmosphere is elevating and refining.
In a word, we are glad to welcome to our city any and all men and
organizations of men who are endeavoring to benefit mankind, and
more especially do we take pleasure in welcoming such a grand or
ganization as your own an organization renowned for its strength,
its high order of intelligence, its splendid manhood and its earnest
citizens. Your organization, gentlemen, occupies a responsible posi
tion. The general public, knowing nothing of unionism save what it.
sees casually in every day life, forms its judgment of unions too often
by the worst it sees and not by the average. ' Therefore your con
servatism, your strength and your intelligence is depended upon in a
large measure by all organized labor to remove prejudice fromthc
public mind and give a better understanding of the principles of
unionism. Age andits consequent experience has put your organiza
tion in the front rank of the unions that are striving to improve the
condition of those who eat their bread in the sweat of their faces,
and the public's final estimate of unionism must be based upon what
it sees of your organization and other organizations that depend upon
the justice of their cause for the final triumph of their principles.
The union men of Lincoln are confident that your presence in
cur city will be beneficial to the cause of organization here, because
your convention will be an education to thousands whose ideas of
unionism have been based upon misinformation.
You come to Lincoln in a season of prosperity. Labor is well
employed and .well paid. The best of feeling exists between em
ployers and employes, and the unions are striving to the best of their'
ability to deserve and secure a continuance of this good feeling. We
feel sure that your presence here for a few days will be of material
assistance to us.
The Wageworker. has no golden keys to the city gates to hand
to you. There are no keys to Lincoln. The gates are always open to
men who have proved their worth and whose presence among us
will be a benefit. It is all yours to have, to see and to enjoy. We
point with pride to our great state university, our religious schools,
our miles of paved streets, our magnificent churches, and public
schools, our handsome residences and our cozy cottages. We point
with pride to the abounding evidences of our thrift and our prosper
ity. We point with pride to the manifest evidences of our desire to
make Lincoln a good city to live in a desire manifest in our law
abiding ways, making a police force of less than a score of men ample ,
for a city of 50,000 people. We point with pride to many things too
numerous to mention, and incidentally remark that if the Brother
hood of Locomotive Engineers will meet in annual convention here
within the next, two or three years we will point with pride to a
magnificent city park. ..-' ,
Again we welcome you. And may your visit be so pleansant
that you will be as anxious to come again as we will be to have you
do so. ' '
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DEL08 EVERETT
Third Grand Chief.
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Greater Love Hath
No Man Than This
The democrats of Hall county, Neb., assembled in convention
at Grand .Island on September 17, nominated for county clerk a
young man named George Poell, and thereby hangs a tale.(
' Poell was a fireman on the Union Pacific railroad. A little more
than two months ago, while on duty, he saw a little child playing
upon the track in front of the engine Upon which he was riding.
The little one, all unconscious, sat between the rails playing in the
dirt and gravel. It was impossible to stop the train in time, and
Poell grasped the situation in an instant. Dashing through the cab
window he ran along the footboard, dropped down on the pilot and
just in the nick of time swept the little one out of danger. But in
doing so Poell lost his balance and his hold and was thrown under
the engine and his left leg was wrenched off at the knee.
Poell remained remained conscious long enough to see the lit
tle one placed in the arms of its rejoicing mother, and then with that
mother's thanks ringing in his ears he became unconscious. When
he recovered consciousness he was on a cot in the hospital, a crip
ple for life. (His first words were of inquiry about the child he had
saved.
On September 17 the democrats of Hall county met in conven
tion and nominated Poell for county clerk, and the scene was dra
matic in the extreme. Poell had lived at Grand Island but a com
paratively short time, and perhaps not a single delegate present had
ever met him. They did not even know whether he is a democrat,
a republican or a prohibitionist and what is more, they didn't care.
They knew he was a hero who had offered his life to save a little
child, and did not the Master say, "Greater love hath no man than
this that he lay down his life for a friend." And is not a little child
a friend to all humanity? They sent for Foell, and just as he took a
seat on the platform he was unanimously nominated for county clerk.
Hobbling to the front of the platform, Poell, his lips quivering and
his eyes misty with ters, looked out upon the cheering delegates.
When silence was restored and he could speak, this hero in grimy
overalls, said :
"Gentlemen, I haven't much to say" arid here his voice broke
"because you see, it kind of hurts." And then he hobbled to his
seat, the tears coursing down his cheeks.
And Poell's cheeks were not the only ones wet with tears on
that occasion. Men who perhaps had not shed tears for many years
stood on their feet and cheered while the tears came to their eyes.
The Wageworker does not know any more about George Poell's
politics than did the men who nominated him for an important pub
lic office. And what is more, The Wageworker doesn't give a con
tinental what His politics may be. It knows he is a hero. It knows
that today a mother's heart rejoices because her little one was
snatched from the jaws of death by the man who was crippled for
life when he gave her back her baby. And that is amply sufficient, in
The Wageworker's estimation. If George Poell isn't elected clerk
of Hall county by a practically unanimous vote, then we will believe
that American appreciation of heroic self-sacrifice is a myth, and that
this is a nation of purblind, hidebound, and morally gangrened par
tisans who are incapable of feeling one of the finer emotions.
It may be that no monument of bronze or brass or marble will
be erected over the grave of George Poell when he lays down life's
burdens. It may be that no great poet will embalm his memory in
song. His name may not adorn the pages of American history along
side the names of men who have won deathless fame by taking life
instead of saving it. But be that as it may, a greater and more en
during monument is already erected, and that monument is the grati
tude and love of the mother whose baby sleeps on her breast tonight
because George Foell, forgetful of self, offered his life to save the
baby, and came out of the ordeal a cripple. 1
w e propusc ro sen iu uic cnipiuycr cignt iiuuts um ui
the twenty-four, and we will do as we please with the re
maining sixteen.
JSfc
43434343'
Fred Tob has made the discovery that when it comes to fighting
men who are wise to the. union game, and who have justice as well
a9 money tm their side, his little game of bluff, boodle and bluster
doesn't work. Fred made a mistake .when he did not rest on his
laurels as a union buster before going up against the union printers.
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THE ENGINEER.
Here's a song to the men, the braKs-hearted men, o ...
Who handle the throttle and lever and brake;
Who, keen-eyed and "nervey" o'er prairie and fen,
Keep watch o'er our loved ones who ride in their wake.
We've sung of the heroes of war's bloody fray,
And paid them the tribute of honor and cheers.
But now let us sing of peace heroes today .
The boys of the throttle the brave engineers.
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Through lieat of the day, through dark of the night,
Through calm and through storm as the days onward creep,
He guides the long train in its thunderbolt flight
And keeps faithful watch while his passengers sleep.
They know he is faithful, whate'er may betide,. ,
And knowing it banish all trouble and fear,
For ahead in the cab is a man true and tried
A knight of the throttle
-a brave engineer.
Though death should stand staring him full in the face
He thinks of the lives in the long train behind;
And setting his teeth he stands true to his place,
With never a thought of escape in his mind.
True to the last he has stood at his post.
True to the last without tremor or fear.
Dead at the throttle the world's hero host
Welcomes and honors the brave engineer.
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35
AN ENGINEER'S LOVE STORY
'A cat may look at a king,
Bob," said Sid Stevens.
'Granted old man," was Bob's
reply, "but an engineman on the
C, D. O. can't look at the daugh
ter of the road's president with
out making a monkey of him
self." "That may be true, old man, on
certain lines, but the old man who
bosses this road once worked on
the section, and he is not above
alluding to it. Just between you
and me, I'm badly gone on the
old man's daughter, and as there
are no orders to keep out of her
way, I'm going to try for her. If
I have to take the siding, all right,
but if I can persuade her to run
second section to my train or
first section, rather then I'm
dead lucky. So I'm in for a try."
"All right, Steve; I wish you
luck, but I'm going to feed old 27
until I, get an engine of my own,
and. then I'm, going to marry that
curly-haired girl at Carter's."
"Well, it's time we were going
down, Bob. We'll, -talk it over
some other time."
And Sid Stevens' and Bob
Knight walked toward the round
house. Sid was an engineman
and Bob .was his fireman. "Da
mon and Pythias," the boys call
ed them, ;and the nicknames were
well applied, . for the two men
were always together, on dutv or
off.
Sid was a collegeman and had
abandoned the career his father
had marked out for him to follow
the life of a locomotive engineer.
With him mechanics was a pas
sion, and No. 27 was the apple of
his eye. That is, it had been from
the time he had first stepped on
27's footboard until he met Mar
garet Hallock, daughter of the
president of the C, D. & O. Sid
had called at the president's office
and while there Miss Margaret
came in. Mr. Hallock introduced
them, and then talked to his em
ploye, but his words fell on un
heeding ears. Sid had met Miss
Margaret on the street several
times since then, and had been
greeted each time with a smile of
recognition. And one day Miss
Margaret came down to the de
pot with her father and had
watched with interest while Sid
oiled 'round. She asked a great
many questions, ' and Sid, glad
enough to have the opportunity,
had told her about shoulder bar
and eccentric, steam chest, sand
goose and air brake, and all the
other, mysterious mechanism of
old'27. And one day Mr. Hal
lock, who thought very sensibly,
that a womanwas none the worse
for knowing something about a
locomotive, had helped his daugh
ter into the cab and rode with her
to the next stop. If Sid grasped
the throttle a little firmer than
usual he was not to be blamed,
and neither was he to be blamed
if at that next stop it took him a
little longer than usual to oil
'round. Tt was not very often
that Sid missed getting old 27 in
on the dot, but, somehow or oth
er, on this particular occasion old
27 got In just a little bit ahead of
time.
As the two men sat in the cab
that morning waiting for the sig
nal to pulb out, a yellow slip was
thrust into Sid's hand. He opened
it and as he read it his bronzed
cheeks flushed. Bob noticed it
and asked :
"Got a love letter, Sid?" ;
"About as good," was the re
ply. "'We are to go in . and take
the old man and his daughter and
a lot of her friends out over the
line tomorrow. Maybe she'll
want to ride in the cab again." !
."If hope "so, old man," was
Bob's laughing rejoinder. "I don't
know of but one girl I'd rather
see siting on my side of the cab."
The run back to the headquar
- ' (Continued on page 3.)
The "Square Deal"
They Give Uc
u,ver near the members of the Manufacturers', association the
union busting outfit talk about moralitv. the "sauare deal."
opprortunilic'for alPworkingriieTi,", and 'all that sen of rot?
Of course you have. That bunch is always prating about its
superior virtue and its deeply rooted love for the American work
ingman. ? , -
And when the members of the bunch are not prating and posing
as superior citizens, they are throwing ' fits of horror at the law
defying labor unions. ' , '
About once every so 'often the head push of the Manufacturers'
association, one Charles W. Post,' breaks out with a severe case of
running off at the mouth and gives a long story about the awful
crimes of the labor unions. Then he winds up by telling how- intent
the association is on maintaining the law and preserving the peace
and dignity of the nation against the onslaughts of those wicked and
unregenerate sons of Belial who belong to the unions. v 1
To hear the members of that odiferous bunch talk you might be
led to think that they were just about ready for a complement of
wings and an invoice of celestial harps preparatory to taking flight
among the angels. '. , 4
But if you were led so to think you" would be gold bracked to a ?
fare-you-well. " . ,;. ,
All the time the Manufacturers' association was talking about-its
devotion to law and its love for the "free and independent working
man" who would not . bow his head to "the tyrannical yoke -of. the
unions," that same Manufacturers' association was engaged in knck-"
ing holes in the alien contract labor law big enough to' throw .qpws
through without ruffling the hair. ' ..,' '
It has all come out, and the department of labor and commerce
is after the whole .hypocritical bunch. Here's hoping they will all
land where perjured testimony and bribery have landed many a good .
union man whose only offense was the violation of an injunction se
cured by the Manufacturers' association from corrupt and subseryi- ,
ent federal judges. v . .' .
The daily newspapers of September 25 contained the following
dispatch (from New York, City, which tells the whole story of the
dirty work of this self-constituted band of guardians of the industrial
peace and honor of the-republic : , , J . v ' ; . ( '
"After eight months of careful preparation the United States ,
district attorney of this district will tomorrow, according to reliable
authority, cause the arrest bf eleven heads of the manufacturing and -contracting
concerns of this city on warrants charging them with j
having conspired, through the medium of an employers' association,
to violate the contract labor law by the importation of foreign workr x
men. The penalty on conviction is a fine of not less than $1,000 nor
more than $10,000, or imprisonment for not more than two years. .
"It is understood that the department of commerce and labor is;
directing the prosecution', and has through its own agents, assisted -by
operators of the secret service, prepared the case against the acr ;
cused. This has involved many, months of investigation, and also.
the keeping since January last of four men, English tile-setters, at
Ellis Island. It is upon the evidence of these four men, backed by
an array of corroborative depositions, that the government chiefly
relies.' :.-.'''.v- v K- ..
"The evidence in the case goes "back to the lockout by the Tile,
Grate and Mantel association, an employers' oreranization, of the men
of the mosaic and encaustic tile layers and helpers of New York and f
vicinity on August 6 of last year. To make the lockout a .success, it
is charged, the employers' association sent one of its number to
England and caused .advertisements to appear in England and Ger- t
many offering, tile' masons $5 per day for eight hours' labor in the .
United States. -, ... ' . .. ,- . "'. . f
"Fifty workmen, it is alleged were imported to the1 United S
States at the instance of the eleven accused men and were instructed
to swear falsely when questioned at Ellis Island by the immigration".
officials as to their reasons fpr'coming to America, and especially to
swear that they tyad as yet no employment, in this country.' - It is -. .
also said that they were furnisried with the address of one of the ac- J
cused and ordered .to report J:o mm.
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: "Two weeks after the iren were imported, the lockout being a .. v
success, it is alleged, caused the accused English workmen to be dis
charged on the ground tbAt they were not familiar with American
tools or the method of,wCrking in this country, and were therefore
useless. S6me of these .ien got home as best they could, but four
of them carried their grievances to agents of the department of com-'
merce and labpr, and ,renliered information on which an investigation ;
was based, inee then they have been under detention at the-immi-
grant station jSt Ellis Island." V - . ' ,
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