-2 Ls
VOL,. 5
LilNCOIiTr, NEBRASKA, APRIL. 11, 1908
NO. 2
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Wv7 A (JSi
A I l ' TRADES llCOUNCILg) r H :
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i
Temple Committee is
Looking for a
- The board of directors of the Labor
Temple Building Association met in
regular weekly Bession last Monday
evening. President Dickson in the
chair. The attendance was the small
est since the formal organization of
the board, due probably to the inter
est In the election held the next day.
The chief item of business transact
ed was to make final arrangements for
the benefit for the Temple Fund,
which will be held at the Auditorium
on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
April 23, 25. ' The benefit Is tendered
by James Fulton and his merry com
pany, who inaugurate their summer
tour of the north' and west the first of
that week. The first three nights will
be for the benefit of the Spanish-American
War Veterans, and the last three
nights for the benefit of the Iabor
Temple. Full particulars will be found
elsewhere in this issue and on the bill
boards of the city..
It was definitely decided that it
was imperative that the board secure
title to a building site in the immedi
ate future, it havlngbecome patent
that progress will be very slow until
something .tangible is presented to
' the general public. - The board has ex
hausted every energy, but for some
unaccountable reason the progress has
been delayed.
If it is due to the lack of a definite
site that will soon be remedied. The
treasury contains upwards of $2,000
. and in a short time the board will offer'
the stockholders their choice of a site.
Then the money on hand will be paid
' down. After that it will be up to the
unionist to hustle and save what they
already have invested. Something will
have to be done to fire the enthusiasm
of the men who ought already to be
deeply interested.
-The committees appointed to visit
: the unions tht hare not yet taken
stock .made, reports, -and alL reported
- considerable - interest manifested in
the project and a general desire for
fuller information. These visits will
be continued until every union has
been seen and each one makes an in
vestment or definitely refuses.
It was rumored that a proposed of
fice building project had been aban
doned. At that a fine site might be
secued at a reasonable figure. A com
mittee was appointed to investigate
and report the facts.
Several applications for stock were
received and certificates will be is
Hued in due season.
The board will meet again next Mon
day night at the usual place, and it is
to be hoped that there will be a full
attendance.
ANOTHER TRUTH.
An
Echo of the Recent Prohibition
8crap in Lincoln.
During the recent campaign in Lin
coln, the following letter was given
hce in the Lincoln Daily Journal:
Lincoln, Neb, April 5. To the
JCditor of the State Journal: I see
you have published some of "The
Wageworker" news and I wish to
. bring, its editor before the public so
tliat (to his own expression in regard
li one of his creditors) "he can swell
with ego," etc.
I wish to thank Mr. Maupln for
miylng in today's Issue of his paper
that his sheet is not the official organ
or the labor unions of the city. The
Impression la very prevalent that it
Ix. This, I , am proud to say, as
live unionist, is one truth he has pub
lished. The labor unions are, I . be
lieve, prouder of the fact than Mr.
Maupln Is. Many thanks. Mr. Maupln
Truly yours. A. M. SWIGART.
A. M. Swlgart is a member of the
Carpenters' Union. He has asked and
been granted the courtesy of a par.
a The Wageworker to set forth his
views on certain questions. Having
accepted this courtesy Mr. Swigart I?
no lacking in the instincts of a gen
tleman as to seize an opportunity
to unfairly abuse one who has always
treated him with respect. The fact
that The Wageworker policy did not
meet with Mr. Swigart's approbation
cuuses this union man to fly to thi
columns of a newspaper that gree
fully publishes anything adverse to
organized labor for the purpose of
venting his narrow and prejudiced
si Ite. If this is the measure of Mr
Swigart's unionism and union spirit,
Tlie Wageworker Is contont to abide
tv the record. And this Is anothe-
truth The Wage worker has published
Mr. Swlgart, thank you.
NEBRASKA STATE BAND.
Union Musicians Incorporate and Will
Organize Fine Band.
The Nebraska State Band , is the
name of a new corporation recently
organized under the laws of Nebraska,
the organizers .being members of th
Musicians' Protective Union of Lin
coln and the object being to buiM
up a' band that will bJ a credit s
the entire commonwealth. The arti
cles of incorporation will be found
elsewhere. The capital stock has
been placed at $5,000, a good portion
of which has been paid up.
The incorporators 1 fire: Stepher
Jallnek, A. J. Bruse, L .E. Wassem,
H. J. Glldersleeve, H. M. Jacobsen, W
C. Norton, R. L. Safrek, W. T. Quick
Lloyd Reid, W. T. Pinney. . L. P..
Flazek and Marlon Bell.
Officers W. T. Quick, president;
A. J. Bruse, vice-president; L. E.
W assem, secretary ; L. A. Blazed,
treasurer.
Directors H. J. Gildersleeve, , Ste
phen Jallnek and W. T. Pinney.
The organizers have lost no time.
Already the uniforms for the band
i:
have been ordered and practice is be
ing carried on all the time. In a few
weeks the band will be ready to oT
flciate on any needed occasion, an?
during the coming campaign its serv
ices will be in constant demand. It
Is to be hoped that Lincoln will show
lue appreciation of the energy and
public spirit of the organizers of the
Nebraska State Band.
The street railway companies would
make a hit as well as goodly profit
by employing the band , for a series
of Sunday afternoon concerts at Ante
lope Park.
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS.
May Soon Welcome an Honorary Mem
ber to Their Ranks.
An interesting story for locomotive
engineers comes from Atlanta. Ga.,
and la told in a special dispatch to the
Philadelphia Public Ledger in this
way:
"ATLANTA, Ga., April 5. Ethel
LABOR
Auditorium. Thursday, , Friday, Saturday, April 23 - 25.
On the above dates benefit performances will be given for the Labor Temple Building Fund by
James Fulton and His Merry Company
A new company of players, under competent management. One hundred people tn the cast.
Special scenery ond costumes. Presenting the comedy drama : : : :
it
Lobor Temple "Boosters" will sell tickets exchangeable for reserved seat tickets ap the Auditorium box office- Proceeds after
expenses are paid will be donated to the building fund of the . Labor Temple Association. Buy tickets for yourself and sell
some to your friends.
Admission SO and 25 cents. Vour Choices of Performances.
Roosevelt, who yesterday held the
throttle of a locomotive on the West
Point line for two hours and at times
sent the engine along at a seventy-mile-an-hour
clip, is to be elected an
honorary member of the local lodge
of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En
gineers, if Engineer John Still can ac
complish It.
"Still is enthusiastic over the ex
ploit and is determined to make her
an honorary member of his brother
hood. He took up the matter with his
brother engineers., today and found
them enthusiastic also. Still said:
" 'I thing we will elect Miss Ethel at
the next meeting. She deserves it for
the way she handled that engine. She
is as brave as they are made, and her
nerves seem to be made of steel.
Afraid! Why she wasn't any more
afraid than I was and I've been on the
road a good many years now. Why
she even had the locomotive slang, all
right.
" 'Soon after she took the throttle. I
said, "let her rip." "Let her rip, it
is," was her response, and notch by
notch the throttle came back, till the
cab began to rock and sway like a
small boat in a choppy sea. "We are
making more than sixty," I said. The
girl laughed and said, "That's going
some, but not fast enough," and she
actually pulled the throttle a bit wider.
She even managed to ask while we
were racing along how many children
I had. She is a chip off the old block,
all right.' "
Doubtless the old time Burlington
engineers have noticed it. but per
haps some of the younger men never
have,' but the name of the man who
fought the Brotherhood during the
memorable strike twenty years ago
was Stone, and the man who Is now
grand chief of the Brotherhood is al
so named Stone. Funny old world, is
n't it.
Thirty years ago the Brotherhood
engineers on the Santa Fe were on
strike. The strike did not last long
owing to the fact , that the differences
were soon - settled. .The Burlington
strike was the last one of any moment
indulged in by the Brotherhood. Since
then agreement and arbitration have
sufficed to maintain cordial relations.
But if the Brotherhood of today is
better generaned than it was thirty
years ago, the engines they have to
handle have made just as much up
ward progress. Then the machines
were small arid each engineer regular
ly ran the same engine. 'Now the big
moguls could hide the old style loco
TEMPLE
THE LAR3D
motives in their steam domes, and an
enfjraer-has no regular locomotive.
Thin the little fellows were brass
bound and had to be kept polished up
like silverware; now the big ones are
as t devoid of ornament as the bride
groom at a fashionable wedding and
about as handsome. Thirty years ago
the engine that could 'sneak along
with twenty-five little box cars well
loaded was a good one; today the big
moguls and decapods and compounds
will drag a mile of loaded box cars,
each with a capacity equal to four or
flv of -the. boxcars in ;use three dec
ades ago. r "
Thirty years ago the fireman on a
Union Pacific' ' passenger between
Omaha and Grand Island was worked
to death if he had to feed four or five
tons of coal into the firebox. Now he
thinks he is in luck if he can keep up
step iu enough to make time and not
haye to heave twelve or fourteen tons
into the monster's insatiate maw.
JWe could feed 'em with a spoon
when I first began firing." said an old
engineer the other day. "Now a fire
man is all in after swinging avbig
scoop for three or., four hours."
, "But talking ' about keeping ' up
8 team," remarked a. still older knight
of the throttle. "I served my time as
a fireman on the old Illinois Central
when they used the wood burners and
had a theory that the diameter of the
stack had to be equal to the diameter
of the boiler. The result was that a fel
low had to be careful when he thrust
a stick of cordwood into the firebox
to keep from being yanked out through
the stack by the draft. That was for
ty years ago, and every now and then
I sweat out a splinter that I contracted
in those old days."
,. "TJh-huh," said another gray-headed
engineer.. "L remember , those . days.
No brakes. About a mile from the sta
tion we'd whistle,, shut off steam and
wait for the brakemen to set enough
brakes to stop tue train. Passenger
catfs were coupled up with links and
pins, and the way "we'd jolt', up the
passengers was awful. I tell you there
some science in---stopping , a tram
opposite the depot in' those days, and
still more in getting the tender under
the spout of the water tank. Used to
have a brakeman . for each passenger
coach, and he had to have muscles like
a Sandow.. Talk about emancipating
the colored friend and brother. Abe
Lincoln's proclamation wasn't in it
with the emancipation proclamation
issued to the "brakey" by the air
brake that old Westinghouse con
trived." .
FUND BENEFIT
OF GCLD"
How Supreme Court
Hands Things to Us
- In the Lennon case, which was an j
outgrowth of the strike of the Broth
erhood of Locomotive Engineers
against the Ann Arbor railroad,' the
supreme court confirmed a judgment
against Lennon, who was an engineer
on the Lake Shore & Michigan South
ern Railway, for quitting his employ
ment rather than haul in his train a
car belonging to the Ann . Arbor rail
road. His action was in obedience to
a rule of his organization, and in fur
therance of a policy adopted by the
Brotherhood to force the Ann Arbor
company to accede tq its terms. The
supreme court held that Lennon's ac-:
tlon was an- interference with inter
state commerce,- and that a man . had
no" right" to '.quit his employment at
any time or -place he saw fit, but If
he wished 'to quit work he must do so
in such a manner and at such a time
and place as would impose no hard
ship upon his employer in the per
formance of a public duty.
In the Adair , case, which involved
the right of a master mechanic on the
Louisville & Nashville railroad to dis
charge an employe named ..Coppage
because of his membership, 'in the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen,
the supreme court said: "The de
fendant, who seemed to have authority
in the premises, did not agree to keep
Coppage in service for any particular
time, nor did Coppage agree to re
main in such service a moment longer
than he chose. . The latter was at lib
erty to quit the service without as
signing any t; reason., for . his leaving.
And the defendant was at liberty, in
his discretion, to discharge- Coppage
from service without giving any rea
son for so doing." ; . . ,. f ' ,
Who will reconcile these two deci
sions? ;.The . truth is thatjeven- fie
right to quit work : when and where
he pleases, is no longer possessed by
a workihgman. His employer may dTs1
charge his employe summarily and he
has no remedy, hut if he relies on- the
rule laid down in the Adair case and
quits Ills job in a manner not satis
factory to his employer he will find
that his case will 'be tried by the rule
laid down in the Lennon case. '
THE DIFFERENCE. ..:
A bishop of the Methodist Episco
pal church declares that he hopes the
fe-.
r
Kentucky "night .' riders", will- burn
every tobacco barn in the state. This
is because he dislikes tobacco. How
ever, this same bishop would doubtless
denounce the workingmen who would
dynamite a sweat shop or throw a
bomb under an oppressor of the toil
ers. Some men have a surfeit of the
ology and a woeful lack of Christi
anity. . ,;
THE BUILDING TRADES.
Work Beginning to Open Up in Very'
Satisfactory Manner.
Work in the building trades line
is opening up in a satisfactory man- -cer.
The remodeling of the fronts on
the north side of O between Tenth
and Eleventh is furnishing consider
able work, but the bulk of the' build
ing is in the residence section.
There 'seems to be no let-up in, the
matter, of residence building, and j.
scores of new dwellings' are ' koine
up- Concrete is being used to a
considerable : extent In , small resi- .
dences .and In flats.
The, Pepperburg building on West'
O and the Y. W- C. A. building on
Fifteenth and k streets are the big
gest brick jobs under way at the '
present time. The old Arlington
hotel at Ninth and Q is being demol
ished and it is rumored that a big
brick wholesale . or . warehouse build-'
ing will be erected.
The biggest building job that Lin
coln needs is the erection of a onion '
depot -but there seems little likeli
hood of such a thing coming to pas. .
In addition to new residence build
ing the work 'of remodeling is giving .
employment to an increasing number
of -carpenters. -By the first of jM8? ;
it ' ta .thought there' irin be no Ta!
carpenters in the city'. : T , '',
f fltf' 1st 'wt-'a-Blgn &T' trouble h-
appeared on the 'building trades hori-
zon, and relations between- contractors
and. the unions seem to be as amicable -as
of yore. The unfair contractors of '
last year are as a rule, just as unv
fair this year as last. : . 'V -. ' j
HARD TIME8 PARTY.
Capital Auxiliary 8cors Big Succass
.With Unique Social. -
.Capital Auxiliary No. 11 -.had a
"bard times" party at Bohannan'a hall
last Friday evening,, and the members .
are rightfully proud of the success
scored. " The attendance . was tlw
largest in thev hlstory of Auxiliary
sccials, and the enjoyment was fully
up to the standard. Good union music
was. furnished and dancing was in-1
dulged in until the -clock warned of
the approach of the last cars home.
Some of the costumes worn were
remarkable. Ernstine King showed
up disguised behind a corncob pipe
and inside of a ragged smoking jacket.
Billy Bustard looked like the fag end
of a Coxey . army, and .Colonel Jones
of elongated .fame heralded .the ap-,
proach of famine. ' Mr. Zabel : and ;
Miss Marguerite Barngrover, disguised ?
as "Happy Ooons,"' were given' the ;
first prizes .by, the. impartial judges.
Several ladies wre" appropriately cos
. turned , in rags .and .tags. Refresh
ments were" served at the proper time
end in abundance. A cheerful feature'
of the evening was the unusually
large attendance of printers. - .
WILL ENDORSE CANDIDATE.
Union Labor Will Get Into the Polit-';''-
ical Game. ,
.. . 'i r - - '
Organized labor ' will support a
presidential candidate friendly to the
cause of labor without regard to
political affiliation, according to Joha
Mitchell, former ' president of the
miners, who' was in Washington lart
week for a conference with President
Roosevelt, with whom he bad , an
appointment. , s ' ;
"In the choice of a candidate," 'a
said, "the instructions of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor will be fol
lowed, as win the instructions as to
the exact part organized labor shall
play in the congressional campaign."
The new death benefit system of the
Hatters' International anion calls for
$100 for the first five years or less
and- increases at the rate of. $10 for
each year the man has been a member.
v ' , . - , i ... . . ' .. . . , ... , , ' '