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A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that U published in the Interest ol Wageworkers Everywhere.
VOL. 2 ' LINCOLN, NEBEASKArOCTOBER 27, 1905 NO. 29
: : : : . .
The Affairs
General
"We propose to , sell our em
ployer eight hours out of the
twenty-four and we will do as we
please with the remaining six
teen." N That is the rallying cry of the
union printers of America and
Canada, and they are making it
good. From all points where
trouble is being experienced there
come gratifying reports of prog
ress. The Typotheta tries to make
it appear that it is getting non
union men, but its action in striv
ing to secure injunctions shows
the desperate straits into which it
has fallen. The printers are stand
ing like a stone wall.; There are
no desertions from the ranks. On
the contrary accessions are being
secured every day. . The "rates"
that have been secured by the Ty
potheta are incompetents. The
composing rooms may be full as
regards numbers, but the barom
eter is the press room and the
press rooms are practically idle in
all Typotheta shops. The "rats"
can not deliver the forms. Every
bulletin from headquarters spnnds
better than the one preceding it.
In Detroit the printers have
been out eleven weeks and there
has not been a desertion. The
Typotheta has secured a sweep
ing' injunction aaginst the union,
but the men are still confident
and the general public is with
them. , , i
Norwich, N. Y.; Carbondale,
Pa., and ;Richmond, Ind.. were
added to the eight-hour list last
week. Three shops were signed
up in Peoria, 111. Ennis, Tex., re
ports every shop signed. Galves
ton, Tex., also comes over into the
eight-hour reservation. It looks
good all along the line.
The Wageworker hopes that
Lincoln Typographical -Union
. No., 20!) will return a unanimous
vote in favor of the proposition
just submitted by the executive
council and having reference to
the financing of the eight-hour
struggle. It, will not last long
if the A3 ,000 men come to the
front and show the Typotheta
that it is up against it good and
hard., It is only a question of a
few weeks, and it1 means too
much to the printer to lay down
now. Vote "yes" without a mur
mur, and it will have its influence
in after vears. ,
The Wageworker's good friend,
A. F. Bloomer, of Washington,
says he "can not understand why
he was dragged into the scrap
between Shrope of the Easton,
Ta., Journal and .Maupin of tlie
Lincoln, ' Neb., Wageworker."
Mess his dear heart, there is no
scrap between Shrope and Mau
pin. There were never two better
friends on earth than Shrope an J
Maupin. Bloomer merely but:c!
in. And as an authority on
"skunk smells" both Shrope and
myself will yield Brer Bloomer
the s palm, for he recognizes it
everv time he exhales.
This happened in Omaha along
sometime about the winter of
1 880-87, and he wasn't known as
the Marquis then. He' was just
plain "Bill." "Bill" dropped into
Omaha with a silk hat, a Prince
Albert coat and one hundred and
"sixty big iron dollars. And the
old gang of "Missouri river pi
rates" that thronged j Farnam
street from Tenth to the old Her
ald building hailed "Bill's" ad
vent with chortles of joy. Would
they sign his application for mem
bership? Well would they? They
. only thing they were sorry about
was that the application blanks
were so small that only a limited
number could get their names
thereon. "How's work ?" asked
V"BiIl." O, there was plenty of
work. Why, the employers were
crying for printers. And right
over there on Douglas was a sick
printer who wanted to sell his
cases. Did "Bill" want , to buy
cases? Yes, "Bill" wanted to
purchase and he parted with thir
ty of his one hundred and sixty
bones. Then he helped the boys
spend the thirty, bvt he didn't
know it. By the timt that thirty
was spent "Bill" didriy t have any
more money than a raibbit, and so
he wandered up to the Xjld Herald
composing room to takeHhe cases
he had bought and paid for. My,
but wasn't "Or MaeDiasmicl , a
mean thine for refusiner tol coun
tenancc the transaction ! But
of
Printerctom
"Bill" could "sub" all he wanted
to and "Bill" did. But he was
minus the silk tile and the Prince
Albert coat, and he didn't have
enough of the hundred and sixty
to get his shirt away from Kim
Lee Wah. But "Bill" was game,
all right, all right. He spent the
rest of the winter right there in
Omaha, r.nd when he lit out for
the effete east again he was as
blithe arid chipper as ever and
he had a new silk tile and a Prince
Albert coat that smelled slightly
of moth balls. But the memory
of "Bill" still lingers around the
old haunts, and the few remain
ing "pirates" refuse to recognize
him under the nom de plume of
"Marquis."
Lynn Freeman, formerly of
Lincoln but now operating a
"mill" at Hastings, is having
more fun than anybody these
oftler it from one of these firms
days. Lynn is one of the. "square
men," as all of the Lincoln print
ers know. But this fact is not
known to the Typotheta, there
fore Lynn gets about five letters
a week offering him "splendid sit
uations" as a , strikebreaker in
Omaha. And then Lynn seizes
his trusty pen and writes answers
that burn holes in Uncle Sam's
mail sacks. He says he wouldn't
miss the fun for twice the money
he is getting.
The committee selected to cast
about for permanent quarters for
the union met last Sunday even
ing and talked over plans and
suggestions. The committee feels
that it has about perfected a plan
that is feasible. A report will be
made in due time.
A move is on foot to organize
a little entertainment among the
members of the union and invite
the Auxiliary members to come
over as guests. If such an affair
is pulled off it will be worth going
miles to see. .
Don't forget the Colorado
Springs club. A paltry 50 cents a
week means that you can go to
the convention next year, and a
trip to the convention means that
you will have the time of your
life. '
Last Monday was Fred Ihring-
er's 'steenth birthday and a few
of his friends made a raid on him
in the evening. The bad weather
interfered' somewhat, but those
who braved it and reached the
Ihringer residence had a bushel of
fun as usual. Elevated quintette
occupied the time from 8 :30 until
10 :30, and then mastication of ed
ibles claimed attention. The self
invited cruests left as late as pos
sible, wishing Fred many happy
returns of the day.
Mrs. Tcsse Mickel and children
returned to Harvard Wednesday
after a week's visit with friends
and relatives in Lincoln.
Don't foreet to use the little
Allied Printing Trades Council
label stickers. Thev have been
the means of accomplishing much
good already, and it pushed to the
limit will accomplish a great deal
more.
PUSHING AHEAD.
Organizer of Teamsters Prepar
ing to Help Work.
General Organizer Young.of
Chicago, representing the Inter
national Teamsters' Union, was
in Lincoln a few hours the first
of the week and arranged to re
turn Saturday morning and de
vote a few days to the work of
strengthening the organization in
this city. Next Monday evening
there will be an open meeting of
teamsters, union and non-union,
at Carpenters' hall, at which time
Mr. Young, S. J. Kent and othera
will speak.
Mr. Young has ben spending
some time in Omaha and reports
that he is meeting with splendid
success in the work of strength
ening the teamsters of that city.
He also reports that the printers
are making good headway. "I
went to the theatres three or four
times," said Mr. Young, "and we
didn't have any programs. Either
they wouldn't have them without
the label or the rats couldn t
print them."
OOOCOOOOOCOOOOCXXXDO
Teamsters, Attention !
There will be an open meeting of Lincoln Local, Teamsters' Union, at Carpenters'
Hall, on Monday evening, October 30, General Organizer Young of Chicago, Sidney
J. Kent of Lincoln, and others will address the meeting. , Members should be present.
Non-Union Teamsters are Cordially Invited
COOCOOOCXDCXDCOOOC
THE OLD PRINTER'S LAST "TAKE"
And so, year after year, he
wrought among the boys on a
morning paper. He went to bed
about the same time the rest of
the world got up, and he arose
about the time the rest of the
world sat down to dinner. He
worked by every kind of light ex
cept sunlight. There were candles
in the office when he came in ;
then they had lard oil lamps that
smoked and spluttered and
smelled ; then he saw two or three
printers blinded by explosions of
camphor and spirit gas ; then ker
osene came in and heated up the
news room on summer nights like
a furnace ; then the office put in
gas, and now the electric light
swung from the ceiling and daz
zled his old eyes and glared into
them from his copy. If he sang
on his way home a policeman
bade him "cheese that," and re
minded him that he was disturb
ing the peace and the people
wanted to sleep. But when he
wanted to sleep the rest of the
world, for whom he had sat up al!
night to make a morning pape.
roared and crashed by down the
noisy streets under his window,
with cart and truck and. omni
bus ; blared with brass bands,
howled with hand-organs, talked
and shouted, and even the shriek
ing newsboys, with a ghastly sar
casm, mutdered the sleep of the
tired old printer by calling the
name of his own pa,per.
A GREAT PAPER.
Covers the News Field in Best
Possible Manner.
Last week's issue of The Wage-
worker contained a half-page ad
vertisement of the Lincoln Sun
day Star, and the advertisement
made some big promises concern
ing the aforesaid Sunday issue.
And when the Sunday Star made
its apearance it was seen thait
every promise had been more than
met. The Sunday Star is a great
newspaper. Its workers ue-
partment should be read by ev
ery craftsman in this section of
the country. Its' news features
cover the field ' in all directions,
and its special articles are select
ed with a view to pleasing all
classes of readers.
William J. Bryan's letters from
abroad will appear in the Lincoln
Daily Star, and in no other daily
newspaper in this immediate sec
tion of the country.
A GREAT REFORM.
Initiative and Referendum Should
Be Adopted Now.
Petitions are being circulated in
Lincoln asking the council to
adopt an ordinance putting the in
itiative and referendum into effect
in this city. The petition reads as
follows:
f . "To the City Clerk of the City
To the
By Robert J. Burdette.
Year after year the, foreman
roared out at him to remember
that this wasn't an afternoon pa
per; editors shrieked down the
tube to have a blind man put on
that dead ' man's case ; smart
young proof-readers scribbled sar
castic comments on his work on
he margin of his proof slips, they
didn't know how to read ; longr
winded correspondents learning
to write,' and long haired poets
who co'.ild never learn to spell,
wratful'y cast all their imperfec
tions upon his head. But through
it all he 'a ri tight patiently, and
found mere sunshine than shadow
in the world . he had more friends
than enemies. Printers and fore
men and T-i'issmen and reporters
came and went-, but he stayed, and
he saw, news-room and sanctum
filled and emptied and emptied
and filled and emptied again, and
filled again with new, strange
faces. He believed in his craft
and to end he had a silent pity,
that came as near being.contempt
as his good, forgiving old heart
could feel, for an editor who had
not -worked his way from a regu
lar devilship up past the case and
the imposing stone.
He worked all that night, and
when the hours that 'are so short
in the ball-room and so long in
the composing-room drew weari
ly on he was tired. He hadn't
thrown in a very full case, he said,
and he had to climb clear into the
boxes and chase a' type up into a
corner of it before he could get
of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Ne
braska : We, the undersigned, vot
ers of the city of Lincoln, said
county and state, hereby petition
the honorable mayor and city
council of the city of Lincoln,
said county and state, to pass an
ordinance adopting the initiative
and referendum, as provided for
in. article II, chapter 26, of the
Compiled Statutes of : Nebraska,
1903, and submit the same to the
voters of said city for rejection or
approval at the general election to
be held in the city of Lincoln, No
vember. 1905." , " . . -'
Every wage-earner should take
an interest in this move and lend
it his support. It simply means
that ' the voters will then run
things to suit themselves instead
of delegating the matter to the
city council. LTnder such a sys
tem the council can not balk the
citizens who are determined to
defeat a franchise, nor can it re
fuse to adopt any ordinance de
manded by the people. It is the
essence of popular government,
and it simply means that the peo
ple, may have what legislation
they want or defeat what legisla
tion they do not want.
. The petitions may be had of
Isaac DeLong, secretary of the
Central Labor Union. Circulate
them immediately. " ''
"Public
Union printers throughout the country are striving for
the Eight Hour Day. Strikes are in progress in Chi
cago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo and other
large cities. Printers point with pride to the fact that
they are conducting their strike in an orderly and law
abiding manner, and to the added fact that they are
winning. The justice of their demands cannot be
questioned. They ask the support of the public! You
can help the printers by demanding the Allied Tra.des
Label on your printed matter
hold of it. One. of the boys, tired
as himself but a printer is never
too tired to be good natured of
fered to change places with him,
but the old man said there was
enough in his case to last him
through his take, and he wouldn't
work any more tonight. The type
clicked in the silent room, and by
and by the old man said:
"I'm out of sorts."
And he sat down on the low
window sill by his case, with his
stick in his hand, his hands folded
wearily in his lap. The types
clicked on. A galley of telegraph
waited. r
"What gentleman is lingering
with D 13?" called the foreman
who was always dangerously pol
ished and polite when he was on
the point of exploding with wrath
and impatience, r. s
Slug Nine passing by the alley,
stopped to speak to the 'old man
sitting there so quietly. -;
The telegraph boy came run
ning in .with the lastj manifold
sheet, shouting: , 'C
"Thirty." ' . '
They carried the old man to the
foreman's long table and laid him
down reverently and covered his
face. They took the stick out of
his nerveless hand,r and read the
last take:
"Boston, Nov. 28. The Ameri
can harque Pilgrim went to pieces
off Marblehead in a light gale
about midnight. She was old and
unsea worthy, and ' this was to
have been her last trip."
AN EASY BERTH.
Wanted a Good Place to Take
His Nap.
Several years ago S. S. Merrill
was general manager of the Chi
cago, Milwaukee &,St. PauKrail
road. Mr. Merrill is two inches
above six feet tall and wide . in
proportion, and upon this fact
hinges a peculiar situation in Mil
waukee railroading. The Milwau
kee, unlike most railroads, owns
and operates , its own sleeping
cars. For several years, its cars
were all standard Pullman size,
both as to cars and berths, but
after Mr. Merrill became manager
he changed things. He wanted a
berth that would permit him to
stretch out and sleep instead of
doubling him up like a jackknife.
So he began rebuilding the sleep
ers and had all the berths made
six feet and four inches long,' and
four inches wider thin the regular
width. - "' '
The traveling public was not
slow to catch on to this, increased
size in the berths and hastened to
take advantage of it. " The roomy
berths, with an electric light in
each berth, makes travel on the
Milwaukee a real comfort. And it
all happened because a general
manager happened to be art un
usually large man.
The Carpenters
Have
The j . union , carpenters of,. Lin
coln have a grievance, and Tues
day night it was presented to the
Central Labor Union, and by that
body received and ordered re
ferred to the affiliated ; locals.
When action has ben taken upon
it in the locals and reported back
to the central body, the matter
will be carried up. The Wage
worker has referred to this matter
once before, but does so again
with great cheerfulness. The
name of the individual in' ques
tion is not given at this 'time, ow
ing to the pendency of the case,
but the, facts are in brief as fol
lows: '.
Several years ago this man,
whom we will call Hawtree be
cause that is not his name, joined
the Carpenters' Union in this city.
Before he had been in the union
more than a month or two he ar
ranged to build him a little cot
tage. If memory serves aright
he had the lumber on the lot.: But
before he could go to building his
own cottage he fell from a scaf
ford while working on another
man's house and broke his leg. Of
course his fellow unionists , ral
lied to his assistance, for that is
what unionism ' means. He '.re
ceived aid in several ways, but
the greatest aid was rendered
when the carpenters built his cot
tage for him. This they did by
each donating a day's work' or hir
ing a substitute. A foreman was
employed and paid $60 put of the
union treasury- for .'.his ' work.
When Hawtree was able to arise
from his, bed and hobble around
he found his little cottage ready
for the plasterers and paperhang
ers. ' . , ' .; '
Of course Hawtree protested
that he could never return the- ob-1
ligation and he evidently didn't
try. Within a short time after his
recovery he secured a job. as fire
man at one of the city pumping
stations and soon forgot that he
ever was a union man. His card
lapsed and he was finally let out
for non-payment of dues. In time
he was promoted to engineer at
a good wage. Last spring he de
cided to invest some of his money
in a flat : building, and did , so,
building not more ; than seven
miles from Fourteenth and L
streets.' . : -' , - - .'.
Did he remember the time the
union carpenters came to his as
sistance in his hour of need? Did
he remember - the ' obligation he
took when he entered the Car
penters' Union? Did i he 'show
that he had even a faint glimmer
of the meaning of the word "gratir
tude?" : V .
v Not at all. The carpenter work
on his new building was done by
"scabs." Every door, window,
floor; upright, sill, brace all
handled by non-union carpenters,
and every day there passed this
new building unioirrnen who had
a few years before donated Jhcir
work to help the flat owner when
he was in bedwith a broken leg
anii-oip- against hard luck for .fair.
And yetthis man lipids a. muni
cipal job and his salary is paid in
part by the union carpenters to
whom he has shown such base in
gratitude. The Carpenters' union
asks that every local union take
cognizance of the matter. The
carpenters rightly believe that a
man so lost to .ll gratitude is un
worthy of public employment, and
they , further i believ?. that they
have a right to expeci the help of
sister unions in making an ex
ample of this man. .
The sin of ingratitude is, above
all things, the worst sin outside of
the criminal code. And there are
men who would rather be found
guilty of anything else sjiort of
murder in the first degree. ',
At Tuesday night's meeting the
central body took cognizance of
the flood of foreign immigration,
and while disclaiming any inten
tion of being opposed to immigra
tion did adopt resolutions calling
upon congress to restrict it 'and
demanding that the officials
charged with the duty of enibn
ing existing law get busy The
building plans of the Y. M, C A.
were discussed informally and it
was the sense of the meeting that
the central body should have a
part of the work. A committee
consisting of 1 Messrs. Maunin,
Evans and C. S, Smith was ap
pointed to look afterkthe details.
, President M. 1. Castor was nt
a Grievance
in , his seat Tuesday nightv- For
two weeks he has been laid up'
wjth an acute attack of bronchitis.
His friends will rejoice to know
that, he is well along on the road '
to recovery and expects to be ?'
back at work by the first of the '
week. -'- ; ' ; - '' r ,
Delegate Kelsey will speak be-',
fore the Men's Club of St. Mark's
church next Tuesday evening, his '
subject being "The Struggle for
Existence.," A cordial invitation
is extended to all men. , - '
THE TEAMSTERS.
Rushed With Work and Looking
For More Help. ,
The Teamsters' union is feeling
good these days. . There is a re-
newed interest in the work of the i .
organization, and as a result 'the
attendance is better and, members' r
who have been negligent in pay-,
ing their dues are coming to the
frpnv-, arid getting squared up.
Business Agent ; Morris is busier v :
than '"a. cranberry merchant right '
now trying to find men1 and teams t
to respond to the call of employ
crs. Work, is unusually good. The
I hterurbaiV railroad MrTeauiringr ;
the services of a lotof men, and
excavation jworj5""?s remarkably
good for thi ason of the year.
On top of aJJ that comes the cry-1 r v
ing demand for men and teams to
deliver cc.'al. This simply means' ' ,
that a man with a team is forctfd ":
to -dodge opportunities to work in
order to find time for rest for him
self and his horses."
..Business Agent .Morris is still ,
busy S trying to, strengthen the ' '
lines of .the, union and is meeting .
with succes. The;, attention of all -union
men and Woiir'en in--Lincoln
in called to the fact that the fol '
lowing coal firms have signed" an -agreement
with the ; Teamstet" s
union: , 1 .
Marsh-Burke Coal Co.
"V Phelps-Burruss Coal Co. "' - L
Adam Schaiipp Coat Co. 1 '
. When ordering coal be sure and '
and thus throw the weight of your : j
moral support to the Teamsters'
Union. The Teamsters may be ' r
depended upon to return the fa
vor at any and every opportunity. -
ALL RIGHT.
"Union Labor Bank" Project in
- Chicago Abandoned.
The move to establish a "union ;
labor bank" in Chicago has been
abandoned. The central body
overwhelmingly defeated a- reso
lution endorsing the plan. This
is well. Organized labor needs '
to concentrate its fire not scatter1
it. It already has a .weapon
strong enough to win its fight if
it ' will ' use it intelligently the
union label. ' . i
Don't go fooling . after strange
and new projects. Stick to the
main issue r-the label.
Don't frame up great schemes
that look good on paper but which
would require' too'; riniCh time
away from the one great weapon
of unionism the label.
Don't fool away time listening
to men who. talk loud about their
unionism but always, manage to
make the Calk redown to their sel
fish advantage. Get into the game,
and use. a weapon that stands as
a bulwark against oppression-
the label. ,-,.'. ' s
If every union man and woman
in the country would demand the
label for one year, and take noth
ing without the label the bat,tle
would be won. Then hanks, news
papers, insurance companies all
the great engines of modern in
dustry would be seeking favors
at the hands of unionism. Politi
cians would quit sneering at the
labor votei Unions would get to- 1
gether ; solidly, each for 1 all and ,
all for one. ..: 1 '.
. The union label., js weapon
enough if we will but use it in- -'
telligently and persistently, r
, HELP IT ALONG.
Every mechanic and artisan in
Lincoln should do something to
wards helping the, Y. M. C. A. in ,
its efforts to secure a permanent
home.. The, Young Men's Chris
tian association is doing a splen
did work, and it deserves the sup
port of every man. Let the wage
earners of Lincoln get behind the
buildjngscheme and give it a big
boost. :' ,
A
"i ,