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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1908)
THE WAGRVORKER By W. M. MAUPIN UXCOUi SEBRlIKi Tho Poop Rich. ', During the past eight ' months . the rich have had a hard time. A railroad 'director said recently that " "It is a great deal harder for a man who has .been living at the rate of two hundred thousand a year to get down to a flfty-thousand-a-year standard than it is for a man who has been living on $15 a week to get along on $10." This must b so because the fifteen-dollar man has got along oif ten so often that it la easy, like any habitual privation. The multi-millionaire is a green hand at economizing, and should be pitied by the expert poor. But he gets no sympathy, and in one respect deserves . none. Only this summer a Newport tradesman announced publicly that he would not give his rich customers more than 90 days' time in which to pay for the corned beef, prunes, salt , codfish and other delicacies that bend their tables. The curse of the rich is their poverty, and it is a pity to see them ground down by tradesmen. Of course it Is hard that in summer, when the rich are taken from the slums and ient for fresh air to Newport and other resorts, they have to be troubled with bills. But holidays hare their responsibilities as well as their relax ations. A story comes to the Youth's Companion of a wealthy man to whom a bill was. brought on Christmas morn ing. This seemed to him an outrage, , but when he went to the door, fuming with protest, he found a boy, who said: "Sorry to trouble you, boss, but I jest have to have that seven-fifty for ', our Christmas dinner." j Ever since the passage of the pure food law, manufacturers have com plained of tho injustice of denying them the use of the small amount of 1 preservatives necessary to keep cer tain kinds of food products from fer mentation or other form of deterlora- ' lion. Prof. Wiley of the bureau of chemistry in the department of agri culture has appointed a pure food com mittee, to represent the different states having pure food laws, the ob ject of which will be to harmonize the : state laws with the laws of the gov ernment. The committee will also, ' without doubt, define what is a safe ! amount of preservative to be used. It Is said that there has been an increase ef ptomaine-poisoning since the pure food law went into effect, but perhaps the statement, like some of the food . products, can best be taken with a grain of salt or of boraclc acid. Increase in the number of college .' degrees may not in itself be a good : sign. The progressive decrease since '' 1900 of the number of medical diplo ' anas .awarded means a great gain in .' the quality of the men intrusted with 1 tho health of their fellow men. In ; 1906 over 25,000 men and women re ceived the degree M. D. In 1907 the : number dropped a thousand, and this year the decrease was sixteen hun dred, During the year several medical . schools not in good repute were ' closed. Most of the great medical . colleges require an A. B. degree or its ' equivalent for entrance. "Half-baked" ; professional men are no use to the ' community, and even when the stan dards of the medical schools are high; ' there will be plenty of incompetent men In the profession. Although apples have been raised in the east a good deal longer than In the west, it Is the west which leads off with the first national apple-show, which will open in Spokane, Wash., in December. The $35,000 in prizes are . to be open to the world. For the best car-load of standard commercial win ter apples a prize of $1,500 will be given, and for the largest apple an apple of gold. "Lite, color, demonstration and mo tion" will be, the managers say, char acteristics of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exhibition, which is to he held next year at Seattle, Wash. But if an added promise Is fulfilled, that "everything will be In readiness at least a month before the opening date," June 1, that will be distinction beyond all other such fairs. The first football accident has hap pened in Massachusetts, where a stu dent In a class game had his back bro ken. This looks as if the human sac rifice to the game will be normal. Rejection of tho proposal to use the Washington monument as a wireless telegraph station Is a reminder that although the Inventor is the hero of the present hour he is not quite the whole thing. A New York boy was arrested for stealing disease germs. He took them from the laboratory of a scientist Do not think for a moment that he was pinched for contracting the - measles from Johnny Jones across the way Stealing disease germs in the later way has never been treated .as crime. Cities that never clean up until the specter of cholera stalks down their flirty streets generally find their fren tied efforts too late. LABOUR WonsiLriBi- Scran ton. Pa. -The convention of ' the anthracite coal miners closed aft er making public the scale agreed to by the scale committee and approved by the delegates. The demands are as follows t "That an agreement shall he negotiated between the represen tatives of the miners and operators of the anthracite region, and all dis putes arising under the contract shall be adjusted as provided for in the said agreement. We demand the complete 'recognition -of the United Mine Work ers of America as a party to negotiate a wage contract, and that the United Mine Workers of America shall be recognized In our right to provide any method -we may adopt for the collec tion of revenues for the organization. (We demand an eight-hour day, with no reduction of wages, and that all em jployes paid $1.50 or less per day shall irecelve a ten per cent, advance, and jail employes paid more than $1.50 and less than $2 per day shall receive a five per cent advance." ' . v ; Chicago. Complaining of the "ex actions of a labor union" the tin smiths in this particular case the Erners of one more factory have ved their plant from Chicago. That rtiou of McCord & Co.'s factory Which Is devoted to the manufacture of automobile accessories is to be removed to Detroit at once, because they consider it easier to ruu an "open shop" there than In Chicago. For some time the company has . been consider ing doubling the capacity 'of this de partment of the factory, which now employs 500 men. Constant trouble with the union which controls this branch of the 'trade because of the refusal of the firm to agree to hire, only union men made this difficult, however. Consequently the decision to remove from Chicago was made." 1 New York. In the 192 unions, with about 95,000 members, reporting to the New York State Labor bureau, the proportion of idle members, which at the end of January was 36.9 per cent., and at the end of February and March 37.5 per cent., declined in April to 33.9 per cent., in May to 32.2 per cent., and in June to 30.2 per cent. These fig ures indicate plainly a steady though gradual improvement in the state of employment during the second quar ter of the year for union labor. Auckland, N. Z. The new liability bill of New Zealand provides that every worker who is a party to a strike shall be liable to 10 fine, and an additional fine of 1 for every week during which the strike con tinues and he remains a party there to. The penalties for a lockout are 200 for the inital offense, and 50 a week during its continuation. Minneapolis, Minn. Steps are be ing taken by members of the Minne apolis Horseshoers' union for the es tablishment of a class to study the make-up of a horse's foot and its best treatment in shoeing, the class to run through the winter. A competent vet erinarian will be employed to deliver the lectures if the plan succeeds. London, Eng. In order to encour age thrift among its employes, the Northeastern Railway Company some years ago established a savings bank, at which deposits as low as sixpence are received, four per cent, interest being paid on accounts up to 200, and 2 per cent, on sums in excess of that amount. Italy. There was rioting here on the part of striking steel workers. Troops had to be called out to restore order. They fired on the mob and killed three men. Dunkirk, N. Y. A new union of blacksmiths, affiliated with the Inter national Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, has been organized. St. Louis, Mo. It is the plan of. the St Louis labor unions to build a mag nificent temple in which all the labor organizations will have headquarters and which will contain a hall so large that conventions may be held in St. Louis. ' New York. International Brewery Workmen of America has a member- ship of 42,570 in 373 local unions and ,180 branches; also a cash balance in (the treasury of $306,192.66, an increase in the last two years. Boston. Metal polishers, buffers, platers and brass and silver workers' unions, of Boston, have already be gun the plans for the international convention, which will be held here next August i Scranton, Pa. September was a very busy period with the organizers in the anthracite field of Pennsylvania endeavoring to rehabilitate the min ers' union. Boston. Steps to form a branch of jthe new A. F. of L. metal trades de partment were begun recently by Bos ton machinists' lodge. Philadelphia. A union of hatters in 'the United States was established as :early as 1809. Boston. Henry Abrahams, secre tary of the Boston C. L. U., recently predicted the five-hour workday in the shoe making business of New Eng land within a very few years. , London, Eng. The strike of the operatives In the textile industries of India has ended. Low wages and bad conditions of employment were the cause of the strike. Toronto, Canada. The shoe clerks have recently organized a union, and its membership' is steadily increasing. San Francisco. San Francisco Laundry Workers' union now has a membership of 1,375. New York. As a result of the strik of telegraph operators and the busi ness depression the revenues of the Western Union Telegraph Company decreased $4,274,194 during the fiscal year ended June 20 last. Notwith standing drastic economies in every direction the company's net revenues were only $3,102,997, a decrease of $2,921,213. The surplus showed a de crease of $2,490,925. The company has been carrying on its books a sur plus of $14,na3,856. That this, how ever, is purely a bookkeeping device and has no actual existence is shown by the fact that in this year of de pression the .company was unable , to pay cash dividends, but adopted the expedient of issuing $2,447,100 in scrip. The company paid a cash divi dend of one per cent. Chicago. "A gateway should be opened to enable working women to keep some of the Ten Commandments. The poorer girls and women are espe cially unfavored in life, their average wage being but $4.43 a week, while the average cost of living Is five dol lars. Such an inequality is naturally demoralizing." These were the words of Dr. II. B. Cooley, superintendent of the department of charities and cor rection in Cleveland, O., in a lecture before the Chicago Woman's club, in which he reviewed the work done re cently in Cleveland for social better ment. Albany, N. Y. John Williams, com missioner of labor, has sent a letter to all steam railroad corporations in the state warning them that the law requiring semi-monthly payment of wages to employes must be. obeyed and that a severe penalty is provided for each violation, viz.: A civil pen alty of $50, and that failure to pay the wages of each employe in accordance with the new law constitutes a sep arate and distinct violation. Mr. Wil liams says he will not hesitate to ex ercise the authority conferred on him to sue to recover these penalties. Scranton, Pa. It is regarded as highly probable that the large anthra cite mining concerns will adopt the idea of providing educational facili ties for their employes, giving prac tically every mine worker in the an thracite region the opportunity to lsain. The door to promotion will thus be thrown open to the humblest toiler. One of the effects of the plan, mining officials think, will be to lessen the number of accidents in the mines. New York. Through the ordering out of men employed in the indepen dent paper mills there are indications that efforts are being made to make the paper strike general. , Several in dependent concerns were compelled to close because the men Were ordered to go on strike by J. T. Carey, presi dent of the papermakers' union. Muskogee, Okla Lester L. Levy, a member of a street paving company, was arrested here charged , with vio lating the eight-hour law. The law provides that men shall pot be worked on public building contract more, than eight hours per day. The street-paving companies will combine and fight the case. Boston. Boston Sheet Metal Work ers' union and the employers have re newed for another year the $";60 eight hour day agreement. The only changes are those definitely providing for-various shop and job matters and rules which were insisted upon by the union. Lynn, Mass. The strike of lasters, which has brought operations in the majority of the Lynn shoe factories practically to a standstill for the last two weeks has been declared off and the men returned to work in all the factories. St. Paul, Minn. Monthly dues of the St. Paul Barbers' union have been increased to $1 a month, and a weekly sick benefit of $5 will be paid In fu ture. The latter is in addition to $5 a week paid by , the ' international union, so that members on the sick list will now receive $10 a week. London. The vevy serious matter of the "nemployed in England came up for discussion in the house of com mons, but a larger dole of money than last year and expediting of the naval shipbuilding program were the only expedients proposed by Premier As quith to meet the situation. Indianapolis. The executive board of the United Mine Workers of Amer ica went on record as favoring any movement which will suppress child labor. The subject was brought to the attention of the board by the Penn sylvania Child Labor association Boston. Tlie interlocking switch and signal men of the B. & M. road have organized a new union for the Boston terminal division. . Chicago. Steam Engineers' union has raised the per capita tax from 10 cents to 20 cents a month and es tablished a defense fund Pittsburg, Pa. Iron Molders' Union of North America will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary next year. Augusta, Ga. A central labor union has been organized here The Rights of Roosters. An Atchison county farmer's wife brought four dozen young roosters ' to town the other day. Not a pullet In the bunch. These chickens will be fried. Do the roosters get a square deal? The roosters are fried and the pullets live. Isn't life as precious' to a rooster as to a pullet? Atchison Globe. KEPT GETTING WORSE. Five Years of Awful Kidney-, Disease. Nat Anderson Greenwood S.. C, says: "Kidney trouble began about! five years ago with dull backache, which got so severe in time that I could not get around. The kid ney' ; secretions be came, badly ',' disor dered," and at times there was almost a complete stop of the flow. I was examined again and again and treated to no avail, and kept get ting worse. I have to praise Doan's, Kidney Pills for my final relief and cure. Since using them' I have gained In strength and flesh and have no sign of kidney trouble." Sold by all dealers. 50 cents a box. Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. BUSINESS MANAGER FOR CHURCH Cleveland Institution Plans to Try a New System. The Epworth Memorial Methodist church in Cleveland has decided to try a new system of church management A business manager has been ap pointed who will give his entire time and attention to the finances of the church. As executive secretary he will collect the benevolences, dues of members, subscriptions, etc., and pay all expenses. He will serve as sec retary of the standing committees of the church and keep a record of their business for transmission to the offi cial board. This, it is expected, will leave the pastor free to give atten tion to the larger plans of the work and to his pulpit and pastoral duties. Epworth Memorial has the largest membership of all the . Protestant churches in the city. It has . an ex tensive charity work and handles over $35,000 in contributions every year. Dr. G. K.-Morris, district superin tendent, strongly commends the in novation. "To my mind," he says, "it is the ideal of church government.- I expect to see the plan adopted in many other cities." , . The Doctor's Fee. The average man will give a lawyer $300 to $500, together with a lifetime's praise, to keep him out of the peniten tiary for from two to ten years, and at the same time he will raise a phos phorescent,, glow and a kick that can be heard around the" world if a doctor charges him $50 to $100 to keep him out of hell for a lifetime. We are the only people under God's ethereal tent to-day who keep open shop 24 hours each day and 365 days In each year. We are also the only laborers to keep on working for people who do not pay. I can carry my part of charity with as good a grace as most; men. , I can go through rain, snow or mud and do my best, provided the case is one of worthy need, but to reward continually downright rascality, willful drunken ness and wanton laziness Is getting out , of my line. Texas State Journal of Medicine. From Frying Pan to Fire. Some years ago, when the late Judge John Henry McCarthy was a candidate for the bench, .says the He brew Standard, in a district populated by both Hebrews and Irish, there was displayed in an East Broadway win dow a banner which read: "Vote for John Henry McCarthy the friend of he Hebrew." An Irishman, on his way to the polls espied the sign, and grew in dignant He remarked, "Vote for 'the friend of the Hebrews?' I'll be hanged if I will. I'll vote for the "other fel low." And he did,' the "other fellow" being Henry M. Goldfogle. No Time for Details. "Are you aware," said the philolo gist, "that some of these campaign orators spilt their infinitives?" "Let 'em alone," answered Senator Sorghum, "we'll he lucky if they don't split the party." Spanish Cold Slaw. Take a half dozen good sized torn a toes, pour boiling water over them, then rub off the skin. " Take out as many seeds as possible, squeeze out the water,- and put in the .chopping bowl. Add one white onion, a clove of garlic, two small green chill pep pers, and one cucumber and chop all fine. Season with salt, pepper,, a. bit of sugar, a few grains of cayenne, and a half cup of vinegar. Heat together, cool, pour over the tomatoes, and set on ice. When ready to serve arrang on crisp lettuce leaves. Cheese Pudding. Mix together in a basin half a pound of cheese, one teaspoonful of flour two tablespoonf uls of ' bread crumbs. sait, pepper and paprika to taste, add one cupful of boiling milk, one heaping teaspoonful of hntter, the yolks of tw eggs and the whites stiffly beaten. Mix fcently, pour, into a buttered pudding dish and bake for 15 minutes :.n moderate oven. . Serve hot. Pepper Keeps Mice Away. Place a cayenne pepper where mice frequent and they will not return. To Lift Hot Pots. A priori wav to relnedv an iron han lie which has a metal finger bold Is to make a slit in one end of a. cork Anrl slin It on to the finger hold. In this way the handle may be removed from the iron without danger of burn ing the fingers. Sour Cream Cookies. One cup sour cream, one cup but ter, one and one-half cups sugar, one half teaspoon soda, two eggs, a little nutmeg and vanilla, flour enough to roll. Handle as soft as possible, - WORLDLY ALLIANCES By REV. A. C. DIXON, D. D.r Pastor of the Chicaco Ave. (Moody) Church, Chicago. The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and. they took them f wives of all which they chose." Gen. C: 2. . Cain's . . method of treating 'Abel' represents one phase of the world's treatment of the church. It It. was open oppo sition, radical, cruel, decisive. He simply killed him and thought thus fo end him and his cause. The tactics of the world, . however, have changed; the - descendants of Cain no longer oppose and perse cute the church. "The daughters of men" accept proposals of marriage from the "sons of God," and, as a re sult, the deluge. 1 . - The pagan world tried to kill the church for nearly 300 years. Its ef forts only multiplied her members and power. The blood of the mar tyrs has ever been the seed of the church. Wlien, however,' Constantine offered to join wealth, honor and polit ical power to the church she ac cepted the offer, and what the second Adam refused the second Eve gladly received, and the result was a fallen church. We see in this Satan's usual tactics. He likes to appear rS an angel of light. He would help, us. He offers' to help Eve to knowledge and power. He would help Christ in sup plying him with food and la giving bim earthly glory. In proportion as the church has re sisted the wiles of this charmer , she has been strong, and in proportion as she has accepted and formed alliances with the world she has been weak. Israel alone with God could never be conquered, but when she formed al liances' with Egypt or the Canaanites her enemies found little difficulty in making quick work of i her. . , Hezekiah , was hot overcome by the bold threats of the messengers of Sennacherib. Their insolent .words drove him to God, who sent his angel to strike dead his enemies, but when the messengers of Merodach-Baladan came with words of friendliness and flattery he opened to them his treasures, and letting them into the secret , of his strength,, was thus the occasion of , Israel's downfall. A prominent preacher said some time ago that Puritanism was forever dead in New York city. He might have added that . in many -u of .. the churches Christianity was as. dead as. Puritanism, and I wonder what rela tion the death of Puritanism has had to the death of Christianity. We have no fancy for the style of hat and coat which the Puritans wore, but In the Puritan character there was sturdy stuff. Theirs was no invertebrate the ology, jelly-fish morality or india-rubber conviction. They were such men as you would like for your daughter to marry; as you would trust in busi ness as make a country great And these men of heroic conviction 'were not blue and. .melancholy ascetics. Their pleasure was not of the variety- theater type. It was not made up of froth, but flowed from beneath the throne, deep as the river of God., The sons of God went courting the daughters of men, and that is often the case to-day. Some churches court the world more than the world courts them. Such a church hopes to get something out of the world by becom ing worldly. The union of the church with the world in its vanities means a loss of power. A Brahmin said to a mission ary in India: "We are beginning to find you Christians out. You are not as good as your book; if. you were the world would soon be converted. Worldly men despise the Christianity that apes their ways and Is, therefore, no better than themselves. Protecting African Natives. Germany has a colony with an area of more than 300,000 square miles in southwest Africa, where the mission aries of the Rhenish and Finnish mis sionary societies are at work. On September 16, 1907, the governor of the colony issued an important decree concerning the import and sale of spirituous liquors. The measure pro vided that saloon keepers and other dealers in liquor must secure a spe cial license, which costs between $50 and $250; It is forbidden to give or sell spirituous liquors to any native, though house servants,, are permitted to receive small quantities from their masters, though not in place of wages. If servants become Intoxicated through liquor given by an employer, the latter must pay a fine or go to jail. If the offense is repeated, the punishment becomes severe. ' Con traventions by licensed persons are punished still more severely. . Relation of Crime and Drink. , A commission appointed by the gov ernor of New Jersey is now at work investigating criminality and depen- dence, and the relation of alcoholic liquors thereto. Such an investigation can but serve to bear out the over whelming evidence already existing as to the surpassingly great ' responsibili ty of drink in swelling . the crimina,' records of any municipality. NEW DISTRICTS AND NEW RAILWAYS WESTERN CANADA AFFORDS BET TER CONDITIONS THAN EVER -y "FOR SETTLEMENT. To -the Editor 43ir: Doubtless many of your readers will be pleased to have some word -from the grain fields of Western Canada, where such a large number of Americans have made their home during the past few years.' It is pleasing to be able ti re port, that "generally the wheat yield has been good; It will average about 20 bushels to the acre. There will be many cases where the yield will go 35 bushels to the . acre, and others Where .50 bushels to the acre has been recorded. ' The oat -and barley crop has been splendid. The prices of all grains- will bring to the farmers a magnificent return for their labors. An instance has been brought to my notice of a farmer In the Pincher ' Creek (Southern Alberta) district where winter wheat is grown who made a net profit of $19.55. per acre, or little less than the selling price- of-: bis land. 30,i40,' and 50 bushel "yields are recorded there. ., The beauty about the lands in Western Canada is that they are so well adapted to grain-raising, while the' luxuriant grasses that grow everywhere in abundance make the best possible feed for fattening cattle or for those used for i dairying pur poses. . ' The new , homestead regulations which went into force September, 1908, attracted thousands of new settlers. . It Is now possible to secure 160 acres in addition to the 160 acres as a free grant by paying $3.00 an acre for it. Particulars as to how to do this and as to the railway rates can ' be se cured, from the Canadian Government Agents. : . . ; "The'development throughout West-' em Canada during the next ten years will probably exceed that of any other country in- the world's, history," is not . the statement of an optimistic Cana dian from the banks of the Saskatche wan, but of Mr. Leslie M. Shaw of New York, ex-Secretary pf , the United States .Treasury under the. late Presi dent McKinley and President Roose- , velt, and considered one of the. ablest financiers of the United States. "Our railway companies sold a good deal of their land at from three to five dol- larsr:ani.acre,vandttowthe, owners; are selling the same land at from fifty to seventy-five dollars, and buying more np in Canada, at from, ten to fifteen." The editor of the Montlcello (Iowa) Express made a trip through Western Canada last August, and was greatly impressed. .'"' He says: ' "One cannot cross Western Canada to: the moun tains without' being impressed.t'with its immensity of territory and Its future prospects. Where I expected to find frontier villages there were substan tially built cities and towns with every modern convenience. It was former ly supposed that the climate was too-severe-for it to be thought of, as-, an agricultural country, but Its wheat- raising possibilities have; been amply tested.' We drew from Ontario many of our best farmers and most progres sive citizens. Now the Americans are emigrating ' in ' greater ' numbers to Western-; Canada.-" ' Seventy-five per cent, of the settlers in that good coun try located southeast of. Moose Jaw and Reglna ' are "Americans. Canada is well pleased with them and is ready to . welcome thousands more." , " Colombia's One Iron Foundry. The only iron foundry. In Colombia, South' America,1 1b at ; Bogota, It is known, as La Paradera and Is operated on a small scale, . native ores being smelted,' the' iron being subsequently remelted for casting purposes. There are .several commercial iron deposits in the interior of the country, and one ore body situated near the coast of the Caribbean sea is now being drilled by American engineers. ; 320 Acres KSBt IN WESTERN CANADA WILL MAKE YOU RICH - new regulations it is possible to secure a homestead of 160 acres free, and additional 160 acres at $3 per acre. , ' ''The development of the country has made marvellous strides It is a revelation, a rec ord of conquest by settlement that is remark able." hitrjtd from comspandene of Afaoona haiior. nvbo visited Cmrnla m August last. , -. The grain crop of 1908 will net many farmers $20.00 to $25.00 per acre. Gralo raieiug, Mixed farming and dairying are the principal industries. Climate is excel lent; social conditions the best; railway ad vantages unequalled; schools, churches and markets close at hand- Land may also be purchased from railway and land companies. For Tax Best West" pamphlets, msps and information as to bow to secure. lowest rail way rates, apply to Ssuariotd it of uanaiaratioa Ottawa. Canada or to the authorised Canadian Govt Ages; w.v. BCHirerr. 891 Hew YsrS Life Build inf. . , Omsk. HefcrW. Variqus "Schools" of Painters. ' The Munich Jugend has, discovered Dvo signs by which to detect the school . to which a painter belongs: (1) If he paints the sky. gray, and the grass black, he belongs to the good old classical school. (2) If he paints the sky blue and the grass green, he is a realist (3) If he paints the sky green and the grass blue, he is an im pressionist. (4) If aei paints the sky yellow-and the grass purple, he is a coldrist. :- (5) If he' paints the sky black and the grass red, he shows pos session of great decorative talent." 131 (
