SUMMI-R 
 
 WITH ITIE 
 
 HENRY SCIII:NI\OFSKY,PM.D. 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 A Summer with the Union Men
 
 A Summer With 
 The Union Men 
 
 Henry Schenkpfsky, Ph. D, 
 
 San Francisco 
 Harr Wagner Publishing Company
 
 Copyright. 1918 
 By HARR WAGNER PUBUSHING CO.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 I. Introduction 9 
 
 II. I Visit the Labor Halls . . 17 
 
 III. Longshore Work .... 27 
 
 IV. Seattle and Tacoma Car 
 
 Strike 39 
 
 V. The Red Side of the City . 49 
 
 VI. The Lumber Strike .... 65 
 
 VII. I Ride Hobo Style . . . . 75 
 
 VIII. With Union Men in the 
 
 Harvest Field 93 
 
 1457S4S
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IX. The Problem of Rest . . . 107 
 X. The Would-be Union Man . 113
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 I: Introduction
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 Introduction 
 
 1AST summer when the Government was 
 very much perplexed as to how the crops 
 ^ were to be gathered when milHons of 
 young men were called into training camps 
 and on Government jobs, I, for one, an- 
 swered the call and volunteered to stack over 
 seven hundred acres of wheat. When I signed 
 up with the harvester's league, which had 
 representatives all over the western Slope, 
 and I asked where my services might be 
 most needed, I was told to go to Eastern 
 Washington. 
 
 The lady at the office said that it got 
 fearfully hot in those Washington hills and 
 advised me to purchase khaki shirts, straw 
 hat and overalls, as other pants would let 
 in the wheat beards, and to wear the thin- 
 est kind of underwear, and strong leather 
 gauntlet gloves. 
 
 I bade the small congregation adieu, for
 
 1 With the Union Men 
 
 which I had been preaching in Oakland, and 
 made all necessary arrangements to go. 
 
 My wife thought that a little Ocean trip 
 would be good for her too, so we decided 
 to have her and my son accompany me as 
 far as Seattle; and there they could rest a 
 few days and then return as she wished the 
 Ocean trip more than anything else. 
 
 About the middle of June we left San 
 Francisco on the (Great Northern) steamer. 
 It was a foggy and rather stormy morning 
 to start with, and we were rather late in 
 getting started, but at last we pulled out 
 of old Frisco. As the boat was making her 
 way through the Golden Gate she com- 
 menced to rock and the wind blew fiercely. 
 We went down to our room to make ready 
 to go below to the dining room. Our state 
 room was very comfortable indeed but it 
 proved to be entirely too attractive for we 
 were not all of us able to go on deck for 
 another moment during the entire trip of 
 about thirty hours. I, myself, had a few 
 years previously, taken a trip to Europe and 
 returned, suffering very little inconvenience
 
 Introduction 1 1 
 
 from sea-sickness, but the sight of my wife 
 and Httle boy constantly resorting to their 
 emergency cups proved to be too much for 
 me, and I, too, in a short time succumbed 
 to the habit. 
 
 Of course no one said much of it until 
 we had entered the mouth of the wonderful 
 Columbia river, but we did afterward hear 
 it said that we had experienced one of the 
 roughest trips that had been known for 
 years, on that part of the sea. Then, too, 
 the fact that we were traveling north made 
 the going harder as we were facing the 
 current. 
 
 Before leaving home on Saturday we had 
 had rather a hearty breakfast as we knew 
 that lunch on the boat would not be served 
 until after one o'clock. We, however, had 
 to forego the pleasure of partaking of the 
 excellent luncheon which one will always 
 find served on these vessels. Not only that, 
 but our places were vacant at dinner and at 
 Sunday breakfast. Doubtless, we were not 
 much missed but those delightful meals cer- 
 tainly were, and we began to notice their
 
 1 2 With the Union Men 
 
 absence most perceptibly by noon on Sun- 
 day, so when the matron came to offer her 
 services, and incidentally her sympathies by 
 showing us the long list of room numbers 
 whose occupants were in a condition like 
 unto ours, — when she came we thought a 
 little lemonade might brighten us up some- 
 what. We ordered two glasses with a few 
 crackers. A boy was sent for them but 
 we refused to accept them when he returned 
 and presented also a fee of fifty cents. We 
 had already paid three dollars for the little 
 boy's meals alone and for which we had 
 used not a mouthful of food so we felt that 
 this was adding insult to injury and we con- 
 tinued our miserable journey without even 
 this small joy. 
 
 But like the summer sun after a shower 
 are the effects of an hour or two on the 
 land following a rough sea voyage. So our 
 delightful train ride from Flavel to Port- 
 land had its wonderful effect upon us and 
 we were even better for the journey that 
 was past. 
 
 After spending a short time in Portland
 
 Introduction 1 3 
 
 I noticed that both labor and contractors 
 were more or less restless, as to wages and 
 war profits. Also, in riding on the train 
 from Portland to Seattle I noticed that hun- 
 dreds of acres of forest timbers were care- 
 lessly permitted to burn down right along 
 the railroad. I said about that waste of 
 timber, that such carelessness should be con- 
 demned and not even permitted; for, in not 
 many years, we will most sorely need those 
 timbers. Otherwise the scenery between 
 those cities of Portland and Seattle is full 
 of beauty and grandeur.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 II: I Visit the Labor Halls
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 I Visit the Labor Halls 
 
 HAVING arrived in the state with its 
 thousands of acres of wheat, I 
 found that the grain was green yet 
 and that I must wait three or four weeks 
 at the outside before the real harvest would 
 commence. My wife and the boy having 
 gone up to Stanwood to visit a friend there, 
 I busied myself visiting the labor halls and 
 the rooms of employment sharks to make 
 as close a study of the real labor situation 
 as possible. 
 
 I soon formed an acquaintance with sev- 
 eral I. W. W. fellows. One of them sug- 
 gested a plan by saying: ''How would you 
 like to batch it with us near the water 
 front?" That's right, Jack, there is an ex- 
 tra cot; it is a hell of a place if you are not 
 used to batching it. But hell ! we get along 
 fine." "Yes, and a darn sight cheaper than
 
 1 8 With the Union Men 
 
 at the cheapest restaurant," interrupted 
 Dick. "You have your, own blankets, 
 
 haven't you, Mr. ?" "J^st call me 
 
 Harry," I said. "No, I haven't any blan- 
 kets," was my answer. "Hell, Jack, you 
 have an extra blanket in your suitcase, and 
 I have an extra blanket that I don't need 
 since it is warmer." It was about five p. m. 
 and we started for the shack, as I had as" 
 sured them that almost anything would do 
 for me, both to toughen me up for the har- 
 vest and for my health. 
 
 We stopped on our way to purchase a 
 few chops and several loaves of bread. Jack 
 said, "Things were so d — dull last winter 
 that Dick and I took to batching." As we 
 made our way through the crowd that was 
 coming from work there was not much 
 chance for conversation. Before long we 
 arrived at the shack right near the water. 
 "Harry, you will think this is a devil of a 
 place," said one of the boys. "Just make 
 yourself at home around here the best you 
 can,' said Jack as he slapped his hat and 
 coat on his cot. "We only pay a dollar a
 
 Labor Halls 1 9 
 
 week for this d — place." "Yes, up town 
 it costs us that for one night, that is, for 
 two," said Dick. "Dick, you chop a little 
 wood while I fix these chops for supper." 
 "Wait till I light my old pipe." As he 
 lighted his pipe he turned to me and said, 
 "You smoke ?" as he offered me the tobacco. 
 "No, I never smoke." "Eh, you don't," he 
 squawked. "Well, it is a pretty darn bad 
 habit, but this here old pipe gives me a lot 
 of comfort," he said, starting outside to 
 chop wood. Jack turned to me with a chop 
 in his hand. "We don't pay a darn cent 
 for wood here, — use drift wood." It just 
 seemed as if these men could not take a 
 breath without swearing. 
 
 The shack was twelve by twenty and then 
 there was a porch five feet wide partly en- 
 closed with screen, gunny sacks, and boards. 
 The water had to be carried from a pipe a 
 few rods away. The cooking utensils and 
 the furniture were all very crude. The 
 shack belonged to an old lumberjack who 
 had gone to Canada to work in the woods. 
 He preferred renting it cheap to some of
 
 20 With the Union Men 
 
 his I. W. W. brothers rather than letting it 
 stand empty. 
 
 Both Jack and Dick seemed as cheerful 
 as they could be until we started to eat. 
 I sat on an old rickety chair, — the best 
 there was ; Jack sat on a soap box and Dick 
 sat on a chair without a back. Our food 
 consisted of chops, fried potatoes, coffee and 
 bread. I enjoyed every bit of it immensely, 
 but the men soon started to discuss the 
 bitter feeling for the capitalist. Dick said: 
 labor problems, and there was a noticeably 
 "One of these days there will be a change 
 and then we'll all have money." 
 
 After they had made a number of similar 
 remarks, I asked : "Is there anything going 
 on nights since the saloons are closed?" "O 
 Lord, yes," remarked Dick. "They still 
 raise a lot of h — here since the saloons 
 went." After eating a good meal we took 
 a stroll down town, listening to some So- 
 cialist and I. W. W. street meetings. A 
 Socialist speaker said to his audience, speak- 
 ing about war profits: "They can hardly 
 agree whether they want to build wooden
 
 Labor Halls 2 1 
 
 ships or steel ships to combat the subma- 
 rines. One guy says there is more money 
 in building steel ships than in anything 
 else; then along comes another guy and 
 says there is more money in wooden ships 
 than in steel vessels ; and mind you, I would 
 not be surprised if a third guy will come 
 along and tell the men it is best to build 
 cement ships." At this the crowd cheered 
 and laughed. 
 
 Some fellow came along with a bundle 
 of papers. He did not want to sell them, 
 but was giving them away, but he must 
 raise five dollars from the crowd to cover 
 the cost of printing. The amount was 
 raised in a few minutes and everybody 
 eagerly grabbed for the papers and soon 
 all were taken or distributed among the 
 crowd. 
 
 It was nearly ten o'clock and we went 
 back toward our shack. On our way back 
 we heard several men call, "Extra! Extra! 
 Extra!!" Jack said, "What in th^ Sam hill 
 is the matter now?" Next we heard them 
 call out : "Woman slugger breaks woman's
 
 22 With the Union Men 
 
 skull." We stopped and bought a paper 
 and read the large black print under the 
 arc light about the woman slugger who was 
 at large. "By dad, every woman ought to 
 carry a gun," hotly remarked Dick. 
 
 I was tired and enjoyed a good rest that 
 night, in spite of the fact that I slept with- 
 out any springs in my bed and a few gunny 
 sacks only for my pillow. For breakfast 
 we had flapjacks with syrup, an tgg apiece, 
 and coffee. After breakfast I shaved; Jack 
 sewed a few buttons on his clothes, and 
 Dick washed his socks. Jack said: "This 
 is a h — of a life, but what is the use now- 
 adays? It is hard for a single fellow to 
 live decent. What would I do if I were a 
 married man?" 
 
 Soon Dick said: "Harry, let's go to the 
 hall. In a short time we found ourselves 
 in the midst of a group of union men, mostly 
 I. W. W. I eagerly read their signs. I 
 noticed the honor scroll on the wall. On it 
 were the names of the men it was stated 
 had died for the cause of the working peo- 
 ple. I also noticed that the secretary and
 
 Labor Halls 23 
 
 the rest of the office force at headquarters 
 were all dressed in workingmen's clothes. 
 
 They also showed me the fire escape 
 where an I. W. W. member had shot a 
 drunken sailor in the leg. A group of 
 sailors tried to come into their hall to mo- 
 lest those present by breaking up furni- 
 ture. The same thing had occurred pre- 
 viously. At first the sailors tried to come 
 up the steps into the hall but the door was 
 barred. Then the sailors sought entrance 
 by the fire escape, and one of the I. W. W. 
 members opened fire and hit the sailor, 
 About two hundred I. W. W.'s were ar- 
 rested, but all were turned loose again. 
 Since then the sailors have not interfered.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 III: Longshore Work
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 I Try My Hand at Longshore Work 
 on the Docks 
 
 IN the afternoon we were walking along the 
 waterfront, when we noticed large ships 
 being towed into the docks. A squeaky- 
 voiced foreman came running, all excited 
 like a chicken without a head. "You fel- 
 lows want to work? Two large shiploads 
 of salmon coming in right now from Alaska, 
 and not a damn man in sight." Dick said 
 to me: "Do you care to tackle her? It 
 may mean twenty-four hours of steady 
 work, and they work a fellow like the devil 
 here." "Sure, I will work," said I. We 
 hurried into the large shed, took off our 
 coats, and rolled up our sleeves. I heard 
 the foreman telephone to some of the halls 
 for about twenty husky men to unload 
 salmon. 
 
 Dick and I were put to hauling low heavy
 
 28 With the Union Men 
 
 trucks. Several strong men would load the 
 boxes on the trucks as fast as we could 
 run them through a door, not any too wide, 
 on a large elevator, and as we would return 
 we would always take an empty truck to 
 be filled. Thus there was not a second's 
 rest. Upstairs the same thing was being 
 repeated except that up there the trucks 
 were not pulled by hand but by an electric 
 car. So Dick and I had the hardest job. 
 I was sweating like a race horse. Dick 
 said to me, 'The devil with this job is that 
 you can quit as many times as you want to 
 and possibly get on again, but if you get 
 'canned' for not keeping up, the chances 
 are you will never get on again. So you 
 see that is the h — with this job." As he 
 looked at me he struck the side of the door 
 with his truck and a stack of boxes tumbled 
 off, and two or three broke and the cans 
 started to roll toward a hole in the floor. 
 "Hey, you son of a — ! Catch those cans 
 before they fall into the water. Don't you 
 know the company has to pay for them?" 
 yelled a big coarse Swede foreman from
 
 Longshore Work 29 
 
 above. The little foreman from the outside 
 came cursing to see what was the matter. 
 "Don't keep these men waiting out here. 
 Get those loaded trucks in here.'' I was 
 just wondering how long I would be able to 
 keep up with that rushing work. Dick was 
 used to hard work, but I was not. My 
 muscles were soft and tender, but I meant 
 to do my best. 
 
 The big Swede foreman came down in 
 the large elevator with the empty trucks. 
 As he looked outside and saw a number of 
 trucks loaded, he said: "Hell, you fellows 
 can't get these trucks in here as fast as 
 they load 'em on outside. I will have to get 
 another man." 
 
 I was just wondering if he was going 
 to "can" me and get a husky in my place, 
 but I was keeping up with Dick and had 
 not even spilled any boxes. In a few min- 
 utes the Swede returned, bringing a broad- 
 shouldered foreigner. "Here, you help these 
 two men haul in these trucks. It's too damn 
 hard for two men." 
 
 My limbs had started to tremble under
 
 30 With the Union Men 
 
 me, but now we could haul the trucks just 
 a little faster than the elevator man could 
 take them up, so I got a little rest between 
 times occasionally, and with a nice cool 
 breeze coming over us, I was quite sure 
 I would hold out until night. We were al- 
 lowed an hour for supper, and at about ten- 
 thirty p. M. the unloading of two ships was 
 completed. When we got back to the shack, 
 Jack had gone somewhere up town. Dick 
 prepared a little lunch, but I was so near 
 "in" that I lay down and watched him. 
 "Harry, you surprised me today. I thought 
 sure you would give out for it was all I 
 could stand, before that other guy came to 
 help us." 
 
 In the morning I was so stiff and sore 
 that I could hardly get out of bed. It seemed 
 that knots were tied in the cords of my 
 muscles. That morning, having only a few 
 blocks to walk, we were a half-hour early 
 for work. About a dozen more arrived 
 soon. I found that nearly all, without ex- 
 ception, were either members of some union 
 or carried cards as members of the No.
 
 Longshore Work 31 
 
 500 I. W. W. Some even carried L W. W. 
 cards in addition to their regular union 
 cards, giving as the reason that it was the 
 safest for each to lean toward the strongest 
 organization. A few minutes before the 
 whistle blew the doors were opened and the 
 foremen arranged their groups. The re- 
 quirements to be a foreman were, as nearly 
 as I could observe, any man who had been 
 there for some time, if he had an extra 
 large vocabulary of profanity. Such a man 
 was made boss over about a dozen men, and 
 daily he would add to his vocabulary of pro- 
 fanity. Not knowing how to handle men, 
 he would use this method. And another 
 reason was, if he did not drive the men 
 with some method he was in danger of 
 losing his own job. 
 
 To be driven all day like a beast of burden 
 under a heavy task of labor, and then to be 
 chosen boss and drive others was consid- 
 ered a rather fat job. The boss did not 
 have to work, and his pay was a little bet- 
 ter than that of the men who worked under 
 him. This, too, accounts largely for the fact
 
 32 With the Union Men 
 
 that the workingmen are so brutal and mean 
 toward each other. There is always a task 
 master higher up, and each boss has to ac- 
 complish just about so much with his men 
 or else he will lose out and become an under 
 dog again in some group. 
 
 All that day Dick and I trucked gunny 
 sacks, on two-wheeled trucks, with handles 
 this time. The sacks had been shipped in 
 from India. We had to load them into 
 railroad cars for reshipment to the various 
 wheatfields. They were in bales, each bale 
 weighing eight hundred pounds. Two men 
 would load the bales on our trucks, but we 
 had to run the two-wheeled trucks over 
 bumps up a slanting platform into the cars 
 and then dump them just so, and a man in 
 the car with a large crowbar would see to 
 it that every bit of space was filled. Two 
 layers were always put in a car. 
 
 For one man to haul eight hundred 
 pounds on a two-wheeled truck was more 
 of a beast's work than a man's, yet we had 
 to do it and we must not be slow about it 
 either. Once I hit a bump with the wheels
 
 Longshore Work ^^ 
 
 and off came the large bale. It all happened 
 because the things were so heavy to handle. 
 I lifted until all seemed black before me, 
 yet I could not get the bale on the truck by 
 myself. I had to call for help. After that 
 I was mighty careful whenever I came to 
 that place. But towards noon I got so tired 
 that there was not strength enough left in 
 my arms to hold or balance the eight hun- 
 dred-pound bale and push the truck over a 
 bump, too. So after that I tried to do the 
 lifting with the strength of my arms and 
 the pushing with my head. I made the 
 rough place with my load several times all 
 right, when for the third time as I came 
 along, I went a little fast in order to get 
 a good start, I hit the rough place with 
 the wheels just a little awkward, and flap! 
 I was jerked over the truck and bale on the 
 floor, or rather, hard pavement. Again I 
 had to call for help. The boss came along 
 and said, "Get a different truck; that ain't 
 worth a damn." I was glad when five p. m. 
 came. I did not care to work overtime, 
 not even at seventy-five cents per hour. I
 
 34 With the Union Men 
 
 could see then why men so often refuse to 
 work overtime even for big pay. 
 
 The next morning, which was, by the 
 way, was my last on the docks, I thought 
 sure the worst had come. A large ship- 
 load of tar barrels had arrived in the night. 
 The ship had her own crew of husky Swedes 
 to unload the barrels. They hoisted the 
 barrels, three at a time, on the platform 
 with a derrick and we had to roll them 
 near the shed and stand them up on end. 
 I rolled one to the side and then lifted for 
 all I was worth, but the thing would not 
 come. Dick said, "There is a trick to that, 
 give the barrel a swing, and with the next 
 swing as she goes up, put the weight of 
 your body under the end of the barrel, and 
 just keep her going." I soon caught on 
 to that, but to get those heavy things in the 
 right place so as not to waste space was still 
 another problem. Dick said : "If that darn 
 boss would not say anything you could 
 roll them, and I would stand them up." It 
 was in a way so much like football that I 
 had played years ago in college that I soon
 
 Longshore Work 35 
 
 got on to the whole thing. Toward evening 
 I felt as if I had torn some of my insides 
 out of place, and thought if I could only 
 hold out until evening I would find out from 
 the men all about that place that I still 
 wished to learn without killing myself. 
 
 Just then -the boss said: "Hey, you fel- 
 lows, you will have to pile them barrels two 
 high, and on end, or else we will not have 
 room enough." Travelers that go to Eu- 
 rope tell us how men carry their trunks 
 on their backs, but if some of these same 
 people could see how men have to lift and 
 tug right at home, with all our modern ma- 
 chinery, they would have no story at all 
 to tell. 
 
 As I helped a Swede who leaned over 
 the boat to tighten up a rope, he said in 
 a low voice so only a few of us could hear 
 it: "Say, you fellows don't want to ship to 
 Alaska now, for there is a hell of a big 
 strike on up there. We met some fellows 
 that came from there." "And a big strike 
 on in Canada, too, among the lumbermen," 
 another replied.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 IV. Seattle and Tacoma 
 Car Stride
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 The Tacoma and Seattle 
 Street Car Stride 
 
 AFTER going around with open ears 
 for several weeks, to hear what the 
 ^ men were talking about in labor 
 halls, at the Government employment room 
 near First Street, and in the Central City- 
 employment rooms, as well as down town 
 where labor leaders and would-be labor 
 leaders and radicals held their street meet- 
 ings, I noticed that a rumor was going 
 around among the men that there was an 
 increasing evidence of an imminent street 
 car strike in Tacoma. 
 
 A few more days and the papers took 
 it up and the strike was called, for the 
 purpose of gaining an increase of wages. 
 The company refused to grant the increase 
 and was unwilling to recognize the union, 
 and further made threats that if the men 
 did not return to work under old conditions
 
 40 With the Union Men 
 
 the company would send for strike-breakers. 
 This created a great deal of sympathy in 
 Seattle among the imion men, and even 
 among the I. W. W., and the new union 
 called the Shingle Weavers' Union. But 
 the company would not budge. All labor 
 being well organized in Seattle, the street 
 car men of the city saw their chance to 
 show their sympathy for the Tacoma men 
 and at the same time the opportunity was 
 open for them to win their much-needed 
 demands. A rapid canvass was made in 
 Seattle, which proved that ninety per cent 
 of the car men were married men and the 
 average salary was but sixty dollars per 
 month. 
 
 A meeting of the car men called at the 
 labor hall, and the calling of a strike was 
 the result. Now the storm had begun. The 
 car company refused to do anything what- 
 ever, but sent for eastern strike-breakers. 
 In the meantime several scabs tried to run 
 the cars without police protection, which 
 they could not get at this time, as the police- 
 men refused to ride with the scabs.
 
 Street Car Stride 4 1 
 
 The first man that tried to run a car 
 was said to be a fifty-thousand-dollar stock- 
 holder in the company. The strikers fixed 
 him up in great shape and sent him to the 
 hospital and the car was taken back to the 
 barns. 
 
 Strike-breakers from the East were roll- 
 ing in by the trainload. The street car barns 
 were hurriedly transformed into a regular 
 army fort. Beds, food, etc., were hauled 
 to the barns for several thousand strike- 
 breakers. Then the barns were guarded by 
 gunmen. This looked rather discouraging 
 at first for the car men. So a great demon- 
 strative parade was arranged for. Every- 
 thing was well arranged. A fine brass band 
 headed the procession. The men had on 
 their uniforms. They started out four 
 abreast, the leader bearing a large U. S. 
 flag. Women and children stood and handed 
 the men flowers as they passed. A number 
 of boys and girls also marched beside their 
 fathers in the parade. 
 
 A large painted sign was carried by sev- 
 eral men as they marched through the
 
 42 With the Union Men 
 
 streets which read, "We are patriotic, but 
 we need justice as well as the people in 
 France." Other banners of similar nature 
 were carried in the parade. After the 
 parade a rousing speech was made in front 
 of the labor hall. The speaker ended his 
 speech to several thousand people by say- 
 ing: "God help us that no one but union 
 men will start these cars." A mighty roar 
 of shouting and the clapping of hands went 
 up from the crowd. 
 
 The strike-breakers were a fierce looking 
 bunch ; possibly most of them were carrying 
 guns. Some of these rough-looking cus- 
 tomers started to run several cars one day, 
 and as soon as they got to the crowded 
 streets, bricks came from every direction, 
 even from second and third-story windows. 
 The car windows were broken, and the men 
 injured sufficiently to make them willing to 
 take the cars back to the car barns. 
 
 The Stone and Webster Company asked 
 protection of life and property. But the 
 police did not want to risk their lives to 
 protect an army of undesirable men whose
 
 Street Car Strike 43 
 
 business it was to scab for good pay and 
 then go elsewhere to do the same thing. 
 
 When the Chief of PoHce asked several 
 men to ride with the strike-breakers or quit, 
 they did quit; but the whole police depart- 
 ment seemed on a verge of going on a 
 strike, too, so the scabs had to remain at 
 the car barns. When any of them were 
 caught on the street they were arrested and 
 thrown in jail for carrying concealed 
 weapons. The whole thing was wild West 
 again for sure. 
 
 The street meetings of the I. W. W. and 
 Socialists continued every night. Many 
 hard things were said against the company 
 that had made its silver and gold in these 
 western cities and now tried to enslave its 
 employees. Mayor Gill himself was with the 
 street car men. All newly made rules 
 against jitneys were suspended and every- 
 body was permitted to haul passengers. The 
 larger firms, such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., 
 and many others hauled their own help in 
 private trucks to and from work. 
 
 The fierce strike-breakers had to be sent
 
 44 IVith the Union Men 
 
 back East from where they came. And the 
 street car company had to settle with its 
 employees. 
 
 This was another evidence for the whole 
 world, what a union of men, whether I. W. 
 W. or something else, can do, if all are 
 united for one definite cause. While every- 
 thing was yet greatly disturbed and excited 
 about the street car strike, the Wells Fargo 
 Express men went on a strike for 
 higher wages. When the first scab started 
 out with a team, a large number of men 
 ran into stores and purchased dozens of 
 eggs. Then, while several dray wagons 
 blocked the street for the scab, the men 
 covered him with eggs; the team was left 
 in the street and Mr. Scab ran for safety. 
 However, that demonstration was very 
 small compared to the car strike. 
 
 I met a number of lumberjacks, who were 
 almost without exception I. W. W. men. 
 They were bitterly complaining that they 
 had to work ten hours, when even Presi- 
 dent Wilson had said in his speeches that 
 eight hours were enough. I said right
 
 Street Car Stride 45 
 
 then, "These lumber companies better give 
 these men their eight hours and have peace ; 
 if not, the Government contracts are going 
 to be delayed and the shipbuilding industry 
 will be crippled." But most of the com- 
 panies would not listen and had no notion 
 of giving the men the eight-hour day. 
 
 During the meantime I was still batch- 
 ing with the two I. W. W. men in the shack, 
 for I was gaining knowledge faster about 
 real world problems and human nature than 
 I had years ago in the university.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 V. The Red Side 
 of the City
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 The Red Side of the Cify 
 
 ONE morning a man, who had just 
 returned from Dayton the night be- 
 fore, came to our shanty just as we 
 were eating breakfast. He had some time 
 ago worked for one of the warehouses on 
 the waterfront. He wished to go and see 
 if there was an opening, and asked us to 
 go with him. He and Dick walked ahead. 
 When we came to a large apartment house, 
 they turned to go in and asked Jack and 
 myself to come along. They walked up- 
 stairs and we followed. When we got to 
 a certain door, the new fellow knocked. A 
 lady opened the door and asked us in. I 
 was still under the impression that they 
 had come to see a friend of Ed's. But I 
 soon learned they did not want to see any 
 one, but wanted to get a drink. 
 
 The lady said, "Boys, do you want a
 
 50 With the Union Men 
 
 drink?" "Yes," said Ed. "Got some good 
 stuff?" "You bet, the best whiskey you 
 can get anywhere." I said to myself, "What 
 am I into? Isn't Washington bone dry?" 
 She poured just about a swallow into each 
 glass for four. I refused to take the glass 
 intended for me, so the man staying with 
 her drank it. Then she offered me a cigar- 
 ette, which I also refused by saying, 'I 
 never use tobacco." But she gave one to 
 each of the other men. 
 
 As she lighted her cigarette, Dick said: 
 "How is the whiskey sale now?" "Well, 
 we clear about forty dollars a day now," 
 she said. When we got on the sidewalk 
 again I asked Dick how they could carry 
 on the liquor sale in an apartment house 
 and not get caught. "Well," said Dick, 
 "they pay a little more rent than the rest, 
 and tip the lady that takes care of the 
 rooms." 
 
 That evening Ed brought a friend of his 
 over who had just returned from a trip 
 with a group of moonshiners, of which he 
 had been a member. Ed's friend told us
 
 The Red Side 5 1 
 
 how several weeks ago a number of moon- 
 shiners had bought a simple outfit to go out 
 into the woods and manufacture their own 
 whiskey. They also took guns and dogs; 
 not for use, but for an excuse to be out 
 hunting if any one should get on their 
 trail. They had not gone far into the woods 
 when a game warden started to follow them. 
 They just noticed him in time so as not to 
 shoot a shot, nor did they turn their dogs 
 loose. They kept going and he kept on fol- 
 lowing. But they would not shoot at any- 
 thing nor let the dogs loose. This was 
 kept up for three days. Toward evening 
 when the men as usual fixed for a night's 
 camp, they prepared a good mess to eat. 
 But they were almost sure to kill that war- 
 den, because he followed them when they 
 did not hunt. 
 
 Just as they sat down to eat, who should 
 come to their camp but this game warden 
 who had been on their trail all this time. 
 He was nearly starved and now begged 
 for something to eat, but they were so angry 
 at him that they cursed him and refused
 
 52 With the Union Men 
 
 to give him a bite. He left them and never 
 returned, so they stayed and made enough 
 whiskey for a small fortune. I was also 
 told that quite a number of moonshiners 
 were manufacturing the stuff on a small 
 scale right in the city. 
 
 I also got acquainted with a group of 
 generous drinkers, who said they got 
 whiskey easily enough, but that it was ex- 
 pensive. They said: "In speaking of 
 whiskey among ourselves we call it white 
 mule. We claim we are painters when we 
 wish to buy more and tell the man who has 
 the permit to sell it, that we wish to slack 
 paint with it." 
 
 One day Dick wished to get a bottle of 
 white mule, so he signed up for it, and 
 stated that it was to slack paint. In a little 
 while several fellows sent him after some 
 more. The clerk said: "Say, weren't you 
 in here about two hours ago?" "Yes," re- 
 plied Dick, "but I want to go out of town 
 early tomorrow morning to paint a man's 
 house and you will not be open yet and I 
 will not have enough to slack my paint."
 
 The Red Side 53 
 
 The clerk sold him the second bottle of 
 whiskey without asking Dick to sign for 
 the second. Dick said, "He knocked down 
 that second bottle, but I don't blame him 
 for it. He has to work seven days out of 
 the week, so he needs to make a little 
 extra." 
 
 In a nearby shack from where we 
 batched it, an old moonshiner from the 
 South offered to teach two young fellows 
 how to make whiskey. It was very simple. 
 They got their tube, copper kettle, corn, and 
 went at it. In about a week there was a 
 large enough batch to make a large bucket 
 of the liquor. On Sunday afternoon when 
 one of the young fellows was gone, the old 
 southerner came along to examine the batch. 
 He said to the other fellow, "Let's have a 
 little." So they started to drink. "It makes 
 good beer right now," said the old fellow. 
 And they drank up the whole business until 
 there was nothing left to turn into whiskey. 
 When Xht young fellow returned and saw 
 what had happened while he was gone he 
 was verv much excited over the incident.
 
 54 With the Union Men 
 
 They expected to make a hundred dollars 
 a day with their little plant; however, they 
 expected to get a number of kettles more. 
 I left the community too soon to learn their 
 final outcome in the whiskey business. 
 
 I also visited the down-town dance halls 
 with a number of I. W. W. A number of 
 old saloons were turned into dance halls. 
 Most halls were large. About half of the 
 floor space was fenced off for dancing. 
 Over head was a kind of balcony for a 
 small orchestra. The other half of the 
 floor space was for the public to stand and 
 look on, of which there was always a large 
 crowd. 
 
 A dozen or more girls were hired by the 
 management to dance on a commission. 
 When the music would commence the girls 
 would go into the crowd and beg the men 
 to dance with them. There was a certain 
 fee for each dance, of which fee the girl 
 received one-half. After the dance the girl 
 and her partner would walk up to the bar 
 and buy a soft drink, for which the partner 
 paid. If she could get him to dance a long
 
 The Red Side 55 
 
 time with her, she was making her money 
 for each dance and did not have to ask 
 any one for a while, but as soon as he did 
 not care to dance any longer, she had to 
 go and rustle for another partner. Besides 
 a commission the girls would get tips from 
 fellows. In that way they would make sev- 
 eral dollars a night. 
 
 There were usually two men who would 
 run a hall; one to call out the dances, and 
 one to sell the soft drinks. ''Next will be 
 a turkey trot," was one of the favorites that 
 the men would call out. The orchestra was 
 of very poor quality, because it was of the 
 cheapest that could be procured. The music 
 was all raggy. 
 
 The men who looked on were anybody 
 and everybody. Very many were men in 
 overalls and high-top boots, who would not 
 be caught in an uptown dance hall. Some 
 were half drunk and could not dance, but 
 would just walk and keep step to the music. 
 The girls did not introduce themselves, nor 
 did they ask a fellow's name. Just from a 
 business standpoint a girl would come up
 
 56 With the Union Men 
 
 to a man and ask him if he would dance 
 with her. 
 
 Many soldiers and sailors, too, came to 
 these dance halls. Some were about half 
 intoxicated and there took their first lesson 
 in dancing. I did feel sorry for the poor 
 girls, as so many men would step on their 
 toes and yet they must be pleasant. The 
 ages of the girls were from sixteen to thirty- 
 five. The girls were neat-looking and good 
 dancers. As far as the men were concerned, 
 everybody had a right to dance, well-dressed 
 or in overalls, whether sober or drunk. As 
 to the character of the girls, there were both 
 good and bad. 
 
 A striking feature was to see so many 
 Japanese women barbers in the down-town 
 district. I was told on good authority that 
 not all of these women are of good charac- 
 ter, some of them making quite as much 
 from the immoral or night life, as they do 
 at their barber trade. These Japanese 
 women barbers are quick at their trade, and 
 have a large patronage among white men. 
 
 There are some things we would rather
 
 The Red Side 57 
 
 omit; at the same time people who are so 
 wilHng to give up their country homes when 
 things do not go any too smoothly, and 
 come to the city to work for wages, or to 
 go into a small business, are exposing their 
 sons to great dangers and temptations, for 
 lewd women in certain streets ply their 
 trade by day and night, by sitting at the 
 second-story windows and trying to coax 
 every man and boy that they think could 
 be roped in. The thing was so bad that 
 Uncle Sam's officers were afraid to have the 
 soldiers in the city, and even forbade sol- 
 diers going to the city unless the city would 
 clean up some of these evils. 
 
 So degrading things are that black men 
 will be found with white women of the 
 night life, just because the black men are 
 willing to pay larger sums for that privi- 
 lege. On the other hand, many white men 
 are found to patronize black women of the 
 night life. To use their own words, "It 
 costs them less." 
 
 The public should also know that this 
 night life is not only carried on by some
 
 58 With the Union Men 
 
 so-called poor trash down town, but also 
 in the better districts of the city, under a 
 different cover and system. There was one 
 large building, beautifully built and clean 
 in appearance in every way from without. 
 It had a sign, "Ladies' Grill," and was a 
 hotbed for lewd women. There was a large 
 hall with small tables and chairs. A large 
 number of most elegantly dressed women 
 would sit at these tables and wait for men 
 to come in. As soon as a man would come 
 in, the women who did not have partners 
 would wink at him. And it was up to him 
 to choose at which table he wanted to sit. 
 As soon as he would sit down by a woman 
 a waiter would come and ask what they 
 wished to drink. The man would order 
 some soft drinks for himself and the strange 
 woman. After that she would get up and 
 ask him to follow her at a distance to some 
 hotel, for they would not run the risk of 
 being picked up by the police. The hotel 
 keepers would not run any chances, so the 
 man and the strange woman had to register 
 as man and wife.
 
 The Red Side 59 
 
 There was another place in a very re- 
 spectable part of the city which was vis- 
 ited. In order not to be noticed as to our 
 purpose, I was accompanied by my sister- 
 in-law. We descended a beautiful white 
 marble stairway which led directly from the 
 sidewalk. The entrance was much the same 
 as one often sees leading to first-class bar- 
 ber shops in many large cities. About two- 
 thirds of the way down the steps turned to 
 the right and we entered a large, clean, 
 beautifully furnished and well-lighted room. 
 The floor space was really over-filled with 
 small round tables, each covered with a 
 dainty white cloth. At the farther end of 
 the room an open space was reserved for 
 the entertainers, who were three in number. 
 They were elegantly and tastily gowned and 
 took turns in stepping out a distance from 
 a sweet- toned piano to sing rag-time songs, 
 both the words and the music of which were 
 of variable quality. One of the three was 
 noticeably of a weak character, but of the 
 other two one was constantly wondering 
 how, in the name of all that is good, they
 
 60 IVith the Union Men 
 
 could possibly bring themselves to such a 
 level. The words of the song, the eyes and 
 the movements of the singer were all 
 directed to the end of making the richest 
 catch of the night, for it was wholly ap- 
 parent that these performers were the mas- 
 ters of the trade and most certainly intended 
 to reserve the owners of the fattest purses 
 for themselves. 
 
 At this place, as at the other, supposedly 
 "soft" drinks were served, for which fifty 
 per cent above the usual price was charged; 
 judging from the price of the grape juice 
 which we chose as it appeared to be the 
 ''softest" drink offered. When we entered 
 the place there were a number of men sit- 
 ting, each at a separate table, each also ap- 
 parently pretending to wait for nothing. 
 
 Soon a fairly well-dressed woman comes 
 tripping down the stairs, also pretending 
 no purpose whatever. With a quick glance 
 over the available field she makes her way 
 to a certain spot, seats herself and with her 
 eyes motions a man to her side, who gives 
 an order for her, after which they leave,
 
 The Red Side 61 
 
 sometimes together and sometimes one 
 about two minutes before the other. One 
 such couple we passed the next morning 
 near noon when they were apparently going 
 out to breakfast.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 VI. The Lumber Strike
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 The I, W. W. Lumber Strike 
 
 UP to last summer the lumberjacks 
 were poorly organized. But in the 
 latter part of the spring the I. W. 
 W. men went to work in these camps all 
 through the western lumber industry and 
 got the men to join their union. And as 
 it happened, nearly every man did join. 
 After being well organized and seeing how 
 lumber companies were enriching them- 
 selves from the labor of the lumberjacks, 
 the union men thought it a good time to 
 demand some of their rights. 
 
 The first request that the union men peti- 
 tioned for was an eight-hour day. But most 
 of the lumber companies sternly refused this 
 very reasonable request. However, a few 
 camps offered to work their men eight hours 
 only. For this scheme the lumberjacks were 
 too wise. Those few camps that were will-
 
 66 With the Union Men 
 
 ing to give the eight-hour day employed but 
 a small percentage of the men, whereas, of 
 course, all should have the benefit of the 
 eight-hour day. 
 
 Eight hours a day is long enough for 
 the men that work in these camps. The 
 lumber industry is not like the harvest field 
 or the fruit season. The lumberjack's job 
 is a steady grind the whole year round. And 
 if he is forced to work more than eight 
 hours he becomes dull and brute-like. Even 
 now many of them are like machines or 
 working horses. At ten hours a day there 
 is not enough time to think, read, or to do 
 anything constructive. And consequently 
 the men can't save money, nor work up, 
 but be industrial slaves. 
 
 The second request that the lumberjacks 
 put to the cold-hearted lumber companies or 
 employers was that of cleaner and better 
 living accommodations. This just request 
 was also turned down. The employees said : 
 "Why should the patriotism of the em- 
 ployers consist of making millions from war 
 contracts when at the same time they were
 
 The Lumber Stril^e 67 
 
 keeping their men in slavery? Why not 
 have a Httle justice and democracy in the 
 lumber industry?" 
 
 Seeing no other way but to strike for 
 their just requests, and at the same time 
 knowing the strength of their organization, 
 one camp after another went on strike. My, 
 how those wobblers did roll into the larger 
 cities. Telephone and telegraph messages 
 were kept from those camps where the lum- 
 berjacks did not know that a strike had 
 been called. Guards were even thrown 
 around the camps to keep men away who 
 wished to notify the men who intended to 
 strike, who were waiting for orders when 
 all were to strike. 
 
 In one camp the guards were outwitted 
 by a union man by night. The lumberjacks 
 were notified at twelve o'clock at night that 
 a strike was on; all demanded their checks 
 at that midnight hour and before morning 
 the men had all deserted the camp and were 
 on their way to the city. 
 
 Train after train brought the men from 
 the camps until the city literall}^ swarmed
 
 68 With the Union Men 
 
 with lumberjacks. It was an easy matter 
 to call three thousand men together either 
 for a street meeting or a meeting in some 
 hall. 
 
 That strike in less than two weeks' time 
 afifected the whole lumber industry on the 
 Pacific Slope. Shipbuilding was hampered 
 tremendously, and to get the right kind of 
 wood for aeroplanes was simply out of the 
 question as long as the strike was in full 
 swing. Some employers tried for a time 
 to get non-union men, through the employ- 
 ment sharks, to take the places of the strik- 
 ers. However, the non-union men who 
 were looking for work were put wise to the 
 employers' tricks and would not accept the 
 places vacated by the strikers. 
 
 Then the employers hoped that the men 
 would be starved out in a short time, and 
 then must go back to their old jobs again. 
 But this time the men did not spend their 
 hard-earned purses as they had done there- 
 tofore, for there wasn't the saloonman with 
 his money-traps when the men came in from 
 the camps. One group of twenty men were
 
 The Lumber Stride 69 
 
 arrested as vagrants, but when the judge 
 was about to give them a fine of thirty days 
 in jail he discovered that this group of men 
 had over three thousand dollars of wages 
 in their pockets, so they were turned loose 
 without a charge against them. A large 
 number of the men opened bank accounts, 
 in order that their money might last just 
 as long as possible to win the strike. 
 
 The union men or lumberjacks were not 
 able to get their side of the story into the 
 daily press, at least not sufficient mention 
 to get justice, yet they had a way to inform 
 their own men by posting notices and news 
 on the walls of their halls. Thus the lum- 
 berjacks were well informed as to what 
 was going on, although the public was kept 
 ignorant. 
 
 Several hundred soldiers were sent into 
 the woods to get out the timbers for air- 
 plane wood, but this work was not enough 
 to even make an impression in that huge 
 industry. When the Government finally 
 threatened to take over the lumber industry,
 
 70 With the Union Men 
 
 the employers were not slow in trying to 
 come to some agreement with the men. 
 
 If you think there are no women I. W. W. 
 you are mistaken. I visited an I. W. W. 
 meeting one Sunday night on Seventh and 
 Union in Seattle, where Kate Saddler kept 
 over three thousand wobblies spellbound for 
 three hours with her logical arguments in 
 pleading with the men to be serious and 
 faithful in getting better conditions for 
 themselves and their families. She also 
 pleaded for a higher standard of intelligence 
 among laboring men. 
 
 There are others of the feminine sex who 
 do not lecture, but write articles for such 
 papers as will print what they write for 
 the cause or the union. The I. W. W.'s 
 have their own songs, as well as any other 
 prominent organization, whose meetings are 
 somewhat patterned after the church ser- 
 vice. The songs are gotten up by I. W. W. 
 men and women, and are sung at large 
 gatherings. As to the real worth of the 
 words or the tunes of the songs, I shall not 
 attempt to give my honest opinion.
 
 The Lumber Stride 7 1 
 
 Before I go on to the next chapter I shall 
 mention the relations of the lumberjacks and 
 the Y. M. C. A. Now, I am very loath to 
 criticise any form of work of this organiza- 
 tion. Yet in some movements or branches 
 of the work there is a lack of wisdom or 
 adequate knowledge on the part of some 
 leaders who prosecute that particular phase 
 of good work. For instance, the library 
 management, in some camps, has rather dis- 
 gusted the lumberjacks with our larger Y. 
 M. C. A. when it should have won favor. 
 
 A number of poorly arranged books were 
 placed in a shack in some camp. It was 
 called a library, and according to the state- 
 ments of the men who had been there for 
 a long time, each man was to pay a dollar 
 a month into the Y. M. C. A., which was 
 to go to headquarters. In some instances, 
 at least for a time, the employers were asked 
 to take a dollar a month out of the wages 
 of each man for the Association. This was 
 all wrong. The Y. M. C. A. could have 
 placed a man for full time, in charge of two 
 or three camps, to look after the interests
 
 72 With the Union Men 
 
 of the men, trying to find out what they 
 like to read and get it for them, and fur- 
 nishing shower baths and soap, which the 
 Y. M. C. A. could get at wholesale prices, 
 as the camps did not furnish these things. 
 The Y. M. C. A. could have a room where 
 a lumberjack might leave his Sunday suit 
 of clothes. As it is, if he keeps it around 
 his bunk, it is stolen. Some men make it 
 a business to go around to the camps and 
 take clothes and other things if they are left 
 in or near the bunks. Money or valuable 
 papers is about all that the men can leave 
 at the employer's office in the camp. 
 
 The lumberjack should know that none 
 of his dues go to headquarters, but rather 
 that the central association is putting some 
 money into the camp for his benefit. For 
 the lumberjack, as a rule, is not any too 
 religious. If the Y. M. C. A. would meet 
 some of his needs when he is lonely in the 
 woods, he would likely make the Association 
 rooms his headquarters when he comes to 
 the city.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men^ 
 
 VII: I Ride Hobo St^le
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 I Ride Hobo Sfyle 
 
 HAVING noticed a large sign for sev- 
 eral weeks in front of an employ- 
 ment shark's office, I decided to in- 
 vestigate it, too. "Laborers Wanted," in 
 large letters; then the wages were given: 
 "Fare Free to B. C. We ship every day 
 at 9:30 p. m." I noticed that a large num- 
 ber of men were signing up for those jobs. 
 I went back to the office the next day, but 
 to my surprise the hall was almost empty. 
 Men would read the signs both outside and 
 inside and then walk away. I stepped up 
 to a man who was standing there, as I pre- 
 sumed for a purpose. I said to him : "Why 
 is it that no one seems to sign up today 
 to ship to Canada?" "O, hell! there is a 
 strike where they have been shipping to, 
 and as soon as word came that our mem- 
 bers were to be used as scabs, they refused
 
 76 With the Union Men 
 
 to sign up any longer." ''O! I did not 
 know there was a strike in B. C," said I. 
 "O God, yes," said the man; ''the lumber 
 in B. C. is shot clean to h — until they give 
 the men better wages, and they will have 
 to, so that's all there's to it." 
 
 This shipping business excited my curi- 
 osity. I prowled around there for the next 
 few days, listening to the stories of the 
 union men, and asking them questions on 
 subjects that had to do with the labor prob- 
 lem. One morning I noticed that the em- 
 ployment sharks had changed their sign. 
 There were many other employment offices 
 in connection with pool halls or restaurants. 
 In some old saloon building the old booze 
 boss was now selling soft drinks and selling 
 jobs on a commission. 
 
 The new signs read, "Laborers Wanted 
 for Montana." Just what the work was, 
 was somewhat indefinite and the regular 
 scale of wages was also rather indefinite. 
 
 A large number of men were signing up 
 to ship to Montana. Some were in need 
 of work and money and would go any place.
 
 Hobo Style 77 
 
 Others thought they would work a little 
 while and then go over to Canada in time 
 for harvest. Some had no definite plans; 
 if the work and the pay would suit them 
 they meant to stay. But there was also a 
 kind of hobo class that either just wanted 
 to go to that place or even further into that 
 State. Insofar as the railroad was con- 
 cerned, they wanted men to come to Mon- 
 tana whether they went to work for the 
 men who contracted for their labor or 
 whether they took advantage of a cheap fare 
 to take up a homestead. 
 
 It was this hobo class that interested me 
 most. A young husky Swede who had just 
 bought a new suit of clothes, white shirt 
 and collar, stepped in and told the employ- 
 ment shark that he, too, wished to ship to 
 Montana. "This is just common labor," 
 said the shark. "I don't give a darn," said 
 the Swede, "I want to get out of this burg," 
 
 As soon as several other fellows were 
 fixed up, the man turned to the Swede. 
 "Now, you understand this is just com- 
 mon labor." "Yes, that is what I follow."
 
 78 With the Union Men 
 
 Then the employment agent said, "Now, 
 this evening, before you go, you must take 
 off that collar and white shirt, and fix up 
 a good roll of working clothes." "What in 
 the Sam hill do you think I am, some U. S. 
 Senator or Governor or something of that 
 kind? I have never done anything else but 
 common labor all my life." 
 
 "Well," said the agent, "if we don't hold 
 you fellows down a little you will look too 
 much like tourists, and there will be a kick 
 coming for being so easy about selling 
 jobs." 
 
 As I left the office, I met a large Irish- 
 man of about fifty years of age. He said 
 to me: "You'd better ship out with me to- 
 night." I replied that I could not very 
 well do that as I was going to the harvest 
 field in about a week or so. "Just let me 
 tell you, I am not going to work at that 
 d — job for which these fellows are sign- 
 ing up. I am going to work in the harvest 
 field in Montana. There are about a dozen 
 of us that are going to ship, but not to 
 that contract job. That is dago work. I
 
 Hobo Style 79 
 
 know," he continued, "for I have been on 
 the road too long." 
 
 I became immensely interested in this 
 shipping business. And perhaps I could 
 discover some new facts about contract 
 labor. I said to myself this would be a 
 chance to have a lot of new experience 
 while I am out for facts. I answered: "I 
 would like to ship, but I don't care to ship 
 to Montana." The good-natured Irishman 
 leaned over to me. He had a big cud of 
 tobacco in his mouth and his breath almost 
 knocked me over; yet he tried to be just 
 as friendly as he could. He continued in 
 a low voice, saying: "Just take it from me, 
 you can get off where you damn please and 
 no one can stop you." I said: "But what 
 of the baggage I must send, about twenty- 
 five dollars worth of clothes and blankets?" 
 
 I had heard the agent tell a man that 
 each one has to check his baggage to the 
 place where he is going to work before he 
 can get his pass. "Why, just let me tell 
 you, sir," he continued in a low voice, lest 
 any one should get wise, "there is a Jew
 
 80 With the Union Men 
 
 who fixes Up dummies. You can get an 
 old coat, a pair of pants, a pair of old shoes, 
 rolled in an old blanket with a small rope 
 around it for a handle, all for six-bits, and 
 it will pass with the rest. 
 
 At first he told me where the place was, 
 but then he said: "I will go with you and 
 show you the place. It's only a couple of 
 blocks up. As we were walking to the Jew's 
 place, the man said, ''These damned Jews 
 buy up this stuff as junk. They can sell it 
 to you for a song, and make money at that." 
 The Jew's store was a dinky little place 
 like most down-town second-hand stores are. 
 My friend said to the Jew: ''Say, partner, 
 this man wants to ship to-night and he needs 
 a dummy." "I just sold the last one I had 
 not over five minutes ago," said the Jew in 
 broken English, "but I can fix him one in 
 about three minutes." "Go ahead and fix 
 one," I said. The clothes were very old 
 and just about rotten, but the blanket was 
 quite good, though soiled, and yet not good 
 enough that any one would buy it to put 
 on a bed.
 
 Hobo Style 8 1 
 
 When the Jew had me all fixed up, I hur- 
 ried to the bank to get a small check cashed, 
 and then went to my room and dressed as 
 nearly like a hobo as I could. Then I re- 
 turned to the Jew's store for my baggage, 
 and took it to the employment shark. I 
 really needed a shave, but I was glad that 
 I had not shaved, as I might pass the bet- 
 ter as a laboring man without much red 
 tape. 
 
 There were several men ahead of me. 
 Each man had to pay the employment agent 
 two dollars for the job, and he was making 
 money. It was his aim to get enough men 
 for a car and then not ship for a few days. 
 He took my name; I paid my two dollars, 
 then I handed him my luggage, which was 
 thrown among the rest of the bundles that 
 were to go. I was told to be on hand at 
 the office about nine that evening. It was 
 about 4 p. M. when I was all fixed up for 
 this first shipping experience. 
 
 I was delighted for the way everything 
 had gone thus for, with the exception of 
 the fact that I was dressed like a hobo, and
 
 82 With the Union Men 
 
 might be picked up by some cop, and then 
 my plans for that night would be spoiled. 
 Then, too, some one from home might acci- 
 dentally meet me on the street, and I should 
 hate to explain what I was just about to do. 
 The I. W. W. hall was not far away, so 
 I thought that I might as well spend an 
 hour up there. As I was coming in a 
 soldier was just leaving. I asked an I. W. 
 W. whom I had seen before: "Do any sol- 
 diers carry I. W. W. cards?" "Well, they 
 may not carry their cards, but a lot of them 
 are members of this local." I said, "What 
 use have they for this union when they work 
 for Uncle Sam ? Besides, it means an extra 
 expense." He said: "The idea is this. A 
 lot of our men were drafted and, while they 
 are as patriotic as anybody, yet they hate 
 like the devil to be shipped out of the coun- 
 try for they fear, for one thing, that their 
 jobs here will be taken by this here Oriental 
 labor." 
 
 I continued by asking: "There are not 
 so many Orientals in this State, are there?" 
 "Yes, but these rich devils can easily enough
 
 Hobo Style 83 
 
 make arrangements at D. C. to ship in sev- 
 eral hundred thousand. That is, if the 
 unions will stand for it. And the chances 
 are they will do it anyway. So if a soldier 
 keeps up his membership during the war, 
 when he comes back he stands a better 
 chance of getting a job here, even if not the 
 same position he left." 
 
 I was told later on by some men that 
 there are just hundreds of men in the Army 
 that belong to the unions, and many of 
 them carry their cards. And, of course, 
 among the whole number there are a few 
 radical extremists. However, a few of 
 these radicals get into trouble who are not 
 the real union men at all, do not keep up 
 their dues nor anything else, but carry an 
 old card even in the Army. Then the whole 
 union is branded because of these extreme 
 few. 
 
 About five-thirty I hurried back to the 
 waterfront shanty to have a good meal with 
 Jack and Dick before leaving. They had 
 just returned from work. When I told 
 them what I was up to, they both had a.
 
 84 With the Union Men 
 
 hearty laugh. Dick said: "Why not go 
 on to Montana and bring back a couple of 
 bottles of white mule (whiskey)? A fel- 
 low would make more than expenses and 
 have the experience, too." "Yes, and wind 
 up in jail for six months," I said. "O, the 
 devil; you are not wise to the trick yet," 
 said Dick as he leaned back in his chair 
 and took several deep puffs from his old 
 pipe. "A fellow don't want to put the bot- 
 tles in his suit case nor in his trunk, for 
 these railroad guys will get wise. The safest 
 way is to put them in your blankets and 
 check them right through and no one will 
 get wise. That is the way a lot of them 
 here get their booze." 
 
 Just as we were about to go up town Jack 
 said, "Did you hear much about the fifteen 
 I. W. W.'s they arrested today?" "No," I 
 said, "just noticed a sign on the wall which 
 read, 'don't forget to visit the comrades in 
 jail,' " and then gave the visiting hours. 
 "I be damned," said Dick, "what did they 
 do now?" "Well," said Jack, "they found 
 some dynamite near that new railroad
 
 Hobo Style 85 
 
 bridge, and these stiffs were camping near 
 by. They naturally took the whole gang, 
 fifteen of them." "I am sure they were not 
 all I. W. W.'s," said Dick. "Hell, no," said 
 Jack, "only three had cards." "Yes, and I 
 bet my old pipe they swiped those." 
 
 After I went down town it was a little 
 early yet to go to the employment office. 
 I stopped and listened to several Socialist 
 speakers on the street. After that I walked 
 into a dance hall for a few minutes. I did 
 not look very prosperous, but rather like a 
 hobo. Yet several well-dressed girls asked 
 me to dance with them. But each time I re- 
 fused with a polite "No." 
 
 As I looked at my watch I noticed that 
 it was now eight-thirty and I must be on 
 hand at the employment office. As I was 
 walking along I noticed many young girls 
 with discouraged faces — some selling cigars, 
 others as helpers at shooting galleries, and 
 similar places. Their faces betrayed them. 
 Their future did not look bright. The pros- 
 pects of being something in this world had 
 vanished for them, and a deep gloom had
 
 86 With the Union Men 
 
 taken its place. I felt sorry for those young 
 girls. I said to myself, "There is a problem 
 for some one to solve." 
 
 At the office the men seemed to come 
 from every direction. My! what a rough- 
 looking group we were. "An easy raid 
 for the police," I said to myself. Each man 
 was given his bundle. And then a young 
 fellow marched us to the station, always 
 keeping an eye on us, lest some one should 
 give him the slip and sell his pass to some 
 one else. We were not permitted to enter 
 the waiting room where the other pas- 
 sengers were, but we had to go through a 
 side door, where we were relieved of our 
 baggage. Then we were herded in one 
 corner until our car was ready. The young 
 fellow that was herding us could not say 
 a word without an addition of slang or pro- 
 fanity. Because he was well-dressed and 
 we were not, he considered himself a master 
 and far superior to us. I thought right 
 then, how in the world can the people be 
 such fools as not to save a little money, 
 even if the wage is small, and thus keep
 
 Hobo Style 87 
 
 from being slaves and dogs? And again 
 I thought of men who have no trade that 
 vi^ork long hours at drudgery and toil and 
 soon lose all ambition for almost everything, 
 and become slaves for task-masters. 
 
 Soon a side door was opened and we 
 were marched to our car. The fellow said, 
 when all were in, "Don't put anything over- 
 head on them racks — it looks too damn 
 much like tourists; you must remember you 
 are traveling as laborers." 
 
 The car was an old-timer with no rug 
 in the middle aisle; tobacco ashes on the 
 window sills and on the seats. It had been 
 a good smoker at one time. A number of 
 the men lighted their pipes or cigarettes, 
 and some even took off their shoes before 
 the train started. The young fellow who 
 had marched us into the car like so many 
 sheep, instructed us how to send him liquor 
 in care of the baggageman and then left the 
 car. "My, he is an overbearing devil," one 
 of the men said. 
 
 In a few minutes we were going about 
 as fast as steam could carry us. Every-
 
 88 With the Union Men 
 
 body seemed to talk as loud as he could so 
 he would be understood. I soon discovered 
 that there were several others that were not 
 going to the Montana destination. Not a 
 few were rather dubious about the job. 
 
 As we arrived at Everett, some of the 
 men told others all about the awful tragedy 
 at that place of a short time before. The 
 sheriff and several other men had tried to 
 clean out a number of I. W. W. men who 
 were riding in a launch. As soon as the 
 boat had been tied the officer and his men 
 opened fire. The L W. W. returned the 
 fire and killed the sheriff. The engineer 
 tried to get away, but the boat was tied. 
 However, by turning on the full power 
 the boat broke the rope and they got away, 
 after several I. W. W. men also had been 
 killed. The killed who had fallen over- 
 board were picked up by the sheriff's friends 
 and weighted down and sunk. But the 
 I. W. W. comrades found the bodies any- 
 way. After a long court proceeding the 
 I. W. W.'s won their case and were set 
 free. The men gave the reason for the
 
 Hobo Style 89 
 
 sheriff's acts to be, that he was paid by rich 
 mill owners to break up all forms of or- 
 ganized labor. 
 
 As we proceeded on our way everybody 
 seemed to get hungry. Some had a little 
 cheese and bread, or bologna; others had a 
 few oranges and apples, while some had 
 nuts. Others expected to get a sandwich 
 before morning at some stop. And I am 
 quite sure some of the men had neither 
 food nor money in their possession. I was 
 learning all the time, a little more, "how 
 the other half lives." My sympathy went 
 out to those men, about half of whom were 
 middle-aged men, without a home, knocking 
 around from pillar to post. 
 
 About four o'clock in the morning our 
 train had to stop in town and wait for 
 another train. Several of the men got off 
 to get a sandwich and I decided to do the 
 same. I noticed my Irish friend get off, 
 too, and come to the lunch counter where 
 I was. He said: "I think this is as far as 
 I am going." I thought, "What is the use 
 to go any further? I have had the expe-
 
 90 With the Union Men 
 
 rience, and if I go any further it will just 
 run up my expenses and car fare going 
 back." So I, too, stayed in the restaurant 
 and let the train pull out.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 VIII. With Union Men in 
 the Harvest Field
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 With Union Men in the Harvest Field 
 
 A FTER my return to Seattle one of 
 / \ the first items of black news that 
 ^ ^ I heard was that the "Woman 
 Slugger" had added another victim to his 
 record, by sneaking up to a woman and 
 breaking her back with some blunt instru- 
 ment. I felt sure that such a demon would 
 soon be caught, but even months afterward 
 I heard that he was still at large doing his 
 fiendish work. 
 
 During the many strikes the police de- 
 partment suffered, too. Some members had 
 quit because they were in sympathy with 
 the men they should arrest. And then the 
 department was in need of more recruits to 
 make the city safe. Jack said one evening: 
 "I am going to try for a job on the police 
 force tomorrow." Being somewhat of a 
 husky, he was told to go to work that
 
 94 With the Union Men 
 
 evening. When Jack came home after his 
 first night's work on the force, he emptied 
 his pockets on the table; a gun, black-jack, 
 wrist chain, handcuffs, whistle, flashlight, 
 etc. Dick sized him up and said in his 
 usual profane way, *'You would make a hell 
 of a bull on the force." Jack said: "No 
 more dock work for me. I have a city job 
 now, and I am going to settle down in the 
 next few months and get married and have 
 me a home of my own." "The devil you 
 are," replied Dick rather sarcastically, or 
 even a little enviously. Jack said: "I am 
 going to make good, and if luck is with 
 me, I may some day be chief of police." I 
 thought that was not so bad for an I. W. W. 
 I learned that harvesting would com" 
 mence in a few days in the eastern part 
 of the State. I asked Dick if he wished to 
 go with me. After thinking it over he said, 
 "I may as well go with you as stay here 
 and batch by myself, as it is most too un- 
 handy for Jack to stay at this damn shack, 
 for you know he has to live a little more 
 respectable since he is on the police force.
 
 In the Harvest Field 95 
 
 He is talking about getting a room on Sec- 
 ond avenue." When we told Jack that we 
 were both going to the harvest field, he came 
 nearly going along. For just the night be- 
 fore a cop had been shot from ambush in 
 the very district where Jack was on duty. 
 Jack said, as we were about to leave: "If 
 I thought some crook would shoot me some 
 night, I would quit the force right now and 
 go with you fellows." 
 
 People tried to tell me that the I. W. W.'s 
 w^ere burning the wheatfields, and would 
 likely kill us if we would go to work for 
 long hours and low wages. We stopped 
 at W^alla Walla a day to take in the sights 
 of the Ideal City. Here we found that many 
 prisoners were working at different things 
 on their own honor. We were told that 
 very few break away, even if they are sure 
 that they can make their escape. A police- 
 man said: "Why, you can place these men 
 in the harvest field on Monday morning all 
 by themselves, and on Saturday night they 
 would return to the prison." He went on 
 to say: "We have the most modern and
 
 96 With the Union Men 
 
 best prison system of the world right here 
 in Walla Walla. We don't make slaves out 
 of our prisoners, but men. You can't re- 
 form a man by abuse and maltreatment. He 
 wants a chance such as he has never had, 
 and if you can't trust him, he most cer- 
 tainly won't trust you . Of course, there are 
 a few men whose minds are defective in 
 some way, so that you never could thrust 
 them upon the public. But that percentage 
 is very small." Just then one of the trusties 
 came from work, going to his lunch. The 
 officer said: "That man has to serve five 
 years for stealing less than five dollars 
 worth of old copper, really junk. Now, I 
 do not uphold stealing, but many men that 
 belong to our big corporations steal more 
 than a thousand times that much each year 
 from the public and no one opens his mouth 
 about it. This poor fellow even has a wife 
 and child. It is the present system, you 
 know," he said. 
 
 We left the officer and went to a restau- 
 rant, where we met several men who were 
 going to work in the same community that
 
 In the Harvest Field 97 
 
 we were. We left early next morning for 
 our place of work. On arriving at our little 
 town the farmers received us with open 
 arms. Dick and I tried to work for the 
 same man. But we were not so fortunate 
 as all that. Dick hired out to haul hay 
 for a few days at three-fifty a day, and 
 for driving a team in the harvest field he 
 was to get four dollars a day. This was 
 a twelve-hour job. He did not kick about 
 the wages, but the hours seemed unreason- 
 ably long to him, even if it was harvest 
 time. 
 
 A farmer came to me and said: "The 
 barber just told me you could stack grain. 
 I have about eight hundred acres to stack. 
 I need a damn good stacker. I will pay you 
 six dollars a day and board if you will stay 
 with me to the end." "How soon are you 
 going to harvest?" I asked. "We are going 
 to start tomorrow afternoon." "All right, 
 I will go with you," was my reply. Dick 
 was really sorry that he had not made a 
 bluff at stacking. My boss would have
 
 98 With the Union Men 
 
 offered just half the wage which he did 
 if help had not been so scarce. 
 
 The farmers were all hoping that none 
 would get an I W.. W. in their crew. The 
 papers reported all the time of I. W. W.'s 
 burning fields of grain, etc. The county 
 would usually be given, but not a definite 
 place. That was very misleading and kept 
 the farmers in "hot water." But as a mat- 
 ter of fact, the farmers were hiring I. W. 
 W.'s by the dozens, as I shall state more 
 fully a little later. 
 
 "All right, Mr. Harry, get your bedding 
 and let's go to the ranch." "I haven't any 
 bedding of my own," I said. "I guess we 
 can fix you up all right," he said as he got 
 into his machine. He started at thirty-five 
 miles an hour out of town, but did not go 
 fast very long, for the road was all fine 
 dust; we went up hill and then down hill, 
 plowing through the dusty road; up hill we 
 would go on low and down so fast that we 
 were in a black cloud of dirt. On our ar- 
 rival at his ranch, he told me to bring my 
 suitcase, and he would show me my head-
 
 In the Harvest Field 99 
 
 quarters. It was a granary for storing 
 sacked grain. The walls were full of large 
 cracks, and from one to three inches of 
 fine dust on the bed and on everything else. 
 "Now just make yourself at home," he said, 
 as he left me. 
 
 I had a good suit of clothes that I wished 
 to save, but where to put it was a question. 
 After driving a large nail into the wall, I 
 took a short limb of a tree for a hanger. 
 Then I took several newspapers and pinned 
 them around the suit and hung the whole 
 business on the wall, where it stayed for 
 six long weeks. I soon made myself useful 
 by pumping water for a dozen horses and a 
 lot of hogs. 
 
 At the table that evening the boss' daugh- 
 ter was very outspoken about the Industrial 
 Workers of the World. She said: "I wish 
 those I. W. W.'s would all be driven out 
 of the country; they burn the ranchers' 
 houses and grain fields." "Yes," said the 
 Mrs. of the house, "They poison stock and 
 wells." "Of course," the daughter went on 
 to say, "there is nothing like that going on
 
 1 00 With the Union Men 
 
 around here." "Yet you can't tell how soon 
 they will get in here, too," said the mother. 
 Just then the boss came in, planked himself 
 down on a chair and started to reach for 
 about two things at the same time. "Say, 
 Harry, how could a rancher tell if he were 
 to get an I. W. W. in one of these crews? 
 For he could do a h — of a lot of damage 
 here in these big grain fields at the price 
 that grain is this year." 
 
 I said: "Some carry cards; others but- 
 tons, and as far as doing damage, here in 
 these big grain fields, I don't think there 
 will be any of that as long as they are 
 treated like human beings." "We are pay 
 ing good wages; the men ought to ask for 
 nothing else," he grunted and thus went on 
 to say: "I worked in the harvest field 
 twenty years ago for a dollar and twenty- 
 five cents a day. I don't see why we should 
 pay any more now?" I said, "Just think 
 what you are getting for your grain now." 
 "O, well," he said, "the laboring class did 
 not give us that good price; it is the de- 
 mand, you know." I replied by saying.
 
 In the Harvest Field 1 1 
 
 "Twenty years ago you paid fifty cents for 
 your overalls, now these men pay three 
 times as much; and for everything accord- 
 ingly." "O, h — , you workingmen want 
 everything your way. Don't the farmers 
 pay more for their stuff, too?" It being 
 the first evening, and as he was getting 
 rather excited, and further, he would not 
 reason, I decided the best policy was to 
 quit arguing the labor problem any further 
 that evening. 
 
 I was rather tired that evening so I went 
 back to my headquarters (the granary) 
 rather early. I was sitting on my bed, 
 which was an old bunk, taking off my shoes 
 and socks when Mrs. Green, the boss' wife, 
 turned up. "You are not going to use 
 my bedding are you?" she said. "Why, 
 Mrs. Green, I haven't any blankets of my 
 own." "Well, you men ought to furnish 
 your own bedding. I just loaned those 
 things to the hired men during plowing." 
 Now, if I had just been a little nearer to 
 town that night the boss would have been 
 minus one harvest hand the next morning,
 
 1 02 With the Union Men 
 
 for the bedding consisted of a dirty- worn- 
 out overcoat, a torn blanket, and a very- 
 dirty piece of a pillow. That on a hard 
 bunk, might make a good bed for a dog, 
 but it did not for me. 
 
 Saturday night about nine o'clock I went 
 to the nearest town, five miles away, think- 
 ing that I might get a shave. But there 
 was only one dinky barber shop, and about 
 forty men standing outside lined up to get 
 a shave or a hair-cut. Some of us decided 
 not to shave for several weeks at all. There 
 was not a place in town to get a bath, while, 
 in fact, every one needed a bath to wash ofif 
 the sweat and dirt. 
 
 The crews all refused to work on Sun- 
 day in the community where I worked. The 
 men simply could not stand it, to work 
 from twelve to fourteen hours a day all 
 week. And often the water was not good, 
 and in some instances the food had too much 
 of a greasy flavor. 
 
 The second Sunday about a half dozen 
 harvesting and threshing crews met at a 
 small river to bathe and wash their clothes.
 
 In the Harvest Field 103 
 
 It was a great sight to see a large body of 
 men washing their shirts, underwear, ban- 
 dana handkerchiefs, socks, and some even 
 washed their overalls or pants. Not all 
 had brought soap, but there was enough to 
 go around. Large rocks were used as wash- 
 boards. Everybody was willing to share 
 his last piece of soap with the other fellow 
 or his stone to rub the clothes. 
 
 The sun beat down real hot, so it did 
 not take long for the clothes to dry. The 
 clothes were all spread on the green grass 
 or on shrubbery, and while the men sat 
 naked in a group smoking and talking about 
 labor problems their clothes were slowly 
 drying. The men were rather cheerful 
 after a bath and a little rest. Being a 
 group of one sex to themselves, their gen- 
 eral sentences in their conversations were 
 well seasoned with profanity. They did, 
 however, agree that ten hours of labor a 
 day in the field was enough even in the 
 harvest field. And if one rancher had too 
 many acres for one crew, he ought to run 
 two crews. The men had also discovered
 
 1 04 With the Union Men 
 
 that some men hire out to cut some four 
 or five hundred acres for their neighbors 
 besides their own. Then they are afraid 
 they will not be able to make good or to 
 get around in time to their own and the 
 other man's, too, so they crowd their crews 
 almost day and night. This was condemned 
 and considered unreasonable by the men.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 IX. The Problem of Rest
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 The Problem of Rest 
 
 SOME of the grain fields were so large 
 and we were so far away after a few 
 weeks of cutting that the boss thought 
 we were losing too much time in going back 
 and forth with the teams and the crew. 
 There was an old shack and a large barn 
 near the river, where we had several hun- 
 dred acres of wheat to cut yet, so we de- 
 cided to batch there. We took a cow, a 
 cooking stove, cooking utensils and a lot of 
 eatables to the new place. 
 
 The first night we tried to sleep in the 
 barn on the hay. The hay was really grain 
 cut before it was ripe. The mice and rats 
 were at home there by the thousands, run- 
 ning over our faces and bodies all night. 
 We got but little rest and at four a. m. 
 we had to get up to go to work again. The 
 second night I just placed an armful of hay
 
 1 08 With the Union Men 
 
 under one of the header barges in the yard. 
 On the hay I unrolled my bedding and went 
 to sleep. After breakfast, just about sun- 
 rise, I started to roll up my bedding, and 
 what did my eyes behold but two large ugly 
 rattlesnakes asleep in my blanket. They 
 had gotten cold crawling around in the 
 yard, so when they found a warm place, 
 they just crawled in and shared it with me. 
 The crew talked about that all day. 
 
 Yet the idea of finding a safe place for 
 a rest was not an easy question to solve. 
 The third night two of us forked some hay 
 into an old wagon box which stood on the 
 ground. About twelve o'clock a large long- 
 horned bull stuck his nose right in my face, 
 for he could smell the hay. We tried to 
 scare him away, but he kept on coming 
 back, while we watched for him with a club. 
 He did not harm us, but it spoiled our 
 short night's rest, which we could but ill 
 afford. 
 
 So we all returned to the barn among 
 the mice and rats in preference to sleeping 
 outside with rattlesnakes and wild bulls.
 
 Problem of Rest 109 
 
 The whole crew became much perplexed as 
 to what to do about getting a little more 
 rest those short nights. 
 
 There was a fine spring to drink from. 
 But there was nothing around it, so the 
 neighbor's hogs would get into it ever so 
 often and make it all muddy for us. One 
 noon the whole crew wanted to quit on ac- 
 count of the poor sleeping accommodations 
 and the water proposition. I gave the boss 
 a good lecture for treating his men like so 
 many animals, who would help him out in 
 a time when he needed them most; that re- 
 gardless of good or bad wages men should 
 be treated respectably if the farmers ex- 
 pected to get any help in the future. 
 
 I then talked to the men and begged them 
 to stay, and I promised the men that I 
 would build a fence around the spring in 
 order to keep out the hogs in the future. 
 All but two promised to stay if I fixed up 
 the spring. But the boss absolutely refused 
 to fix up better sleeping accommodations for 
 his crew and all decided not to return to the 
 same men next year.
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 X. The Would-be Union Man
 
 A Summer with the Union Men 
 
 The Would-be Union Man 
 
 THERE is a degraded class of hu- 
 manity waiting for the millennium 
 when all property will be divided up, 
 and they, too, will get a share. They board 
 at garbage cans and drain the kegs for their 
 drink. In Portland, Oregon, several of 
 these garbage-can boarders were pointed 
 out to me. During the day they would sit 
 in the parks, etc., and in the morning or 
 toward evening they spent their time going 
 to rooming houses, apartment houses and 
 to different hotels, where they would open 
 the garbage cans and pick out whatever 
 they thought they could eat or fix up to 
 eat. After all, that class of people need 
 but little, as they do not work, nor think, 
 and not even worry, so there is little energy 
 expended which has to be replenished by 
 nourishing food. They also pick over the
 
 1 1 4 With the Union Men 
 
 old clothes which have been thrown aside 
 for the ash man to haul away. They can 
 easily add to their clothes as fast as they 
 can wear them out. 
 
 As long as they are well they are not 
 really a public charge. They do little harm 
 and no good whatever. In case they die 
 without being sick very long, the medical 
 students get their bodies, so there is not 
 even a pauper's funeral expenses. How- 
 ever, in a case of a long spell of illness they 
 are usually taken to some charitable insti- 
 tution, where they are a public charge. 
 
 Some of these men have a unique taste 
 for liquor, and also a way of satisfying it. 
 A tin can is carried and a number of kegs 
 are drained each day in the rear of saloons 
 or barrel houses. As there is always a 
 little left in each keg and time is no object 
 to them, they get all they need from day 
 to day to satisfy that craving. 
 
 Now, to be sure, if these degraded men 
 have an appetite and a craving for liquor 
 which they manage to satisfy, they surely 
 must also use tobacco, and how do they get
 
 Would-be Union Man 1 1 5 
 
 that without paying for it? They use a 
 simple motto when it comes to the demand 
 and supply, "God helps them that help 
 themselves." So they go and help them- 
 selves. Not by planting and reaping and 
 the manufacturing of the narcotic, nor by 
 stealing it from any one else, like many cap- 
 italists. These men simply go to the scrap 
 cans which stand on the street curbs and 
 fill their pockets with cigar stubs. Some 
 chew them; others smoke them in old pipes. 
 In speaking to one of these interesting 
 characters, of which we have quite a num- 
 ber in each city, I asked him, "Where do 
 you sleep nights?" "O, where I sleep? 
 Well, for the last three months I have slept 
 in an old neglected graveyard. I used to 
 sleep in old attics, etc., but the bulls got 
 wise and had me locked up as a vagrant. 
 Yes, I have been locked up thirty-two times 
 in the city prison or in the county work- 
 house." "For how long would they lock 
 you up at a time?" I asked him. "O, well, 
 from ten to sixty days," he said. He went 
 on to say in winter time he did not mind if
 
 1 1 6 With the Union Men 
 
 he got thirty days in the work-house, but 
 in the summer he hated to have to be 
 locked up. 
 
 He told me of a friend of his by the 
 name of Stone, who had been one of the 
 finest cooks in the city. In fact, he had 
 been cook for a long time in the largest 
 hotel in the city, but drink had gotten the 
 best of him until he lost job after job, and 
 finally he could not hold any job any more. 
 Then he began to beg from restaurant to 
 restaurant, and toward the last he just lived 
 out of the garbage cans and slept in old 
 attics. He said, "And my friend died two 
 weeks ago in an empty house. Some boys 
 found his body and the city authorities made 
 the medical students a present of it." The 
 tears rolled down his cheeks when he told 
 me of the end of his friend. 
 
 Then there is another class just a little 
 different from the garbage-can boarder. 
 This class does not stay in one place as 
 much as the other nor do they confine them- 
 selves to the large cities only. It is a large 
 army of migratory men that camp here a
 
 Would-he Union Man 1 1 7 
 
 little while and there a little. They very 
 seldom work for a meal and never for their 
 clothes. They beg all they need, which is 
 not very much. They have a hard-luck 
 story that they tell, which brings them al- 
 ways something, if not in one place, then 
 in another. Many farmers have a kind of 
 religious motto, never to refuse a stranger 
 a night's lodging, which of course includes 
 supper and breakfast. It is safe to say 
 that there are thousands of these well- 
 meaning people all over the country. This 
 army of restless men that will not work 
 easily find these good places and inform 
 their comrades about them. 
 
 Now, if you hear these men speak, they 
 would try to give you the impression of 
 themselves that they are tremendously in- 
 terested in the present labor movements. 
 They hold that the land should all be divided 
 up and equally distributed; in fact, all 
 wealth should be equally distributed, yet 
 they never expect to work or even manage 
 even if there should be an equal distribution. 
 That class of men are not true representa-
 
 1 1 8 With the Union Men 
 
 tives of any real form of socialistic move- 
 ment, nor are they representatives of the 
 I. W. W. movement. However, many of 
 these men claim that they either belong to 
 the Socialists or the I. W. W. 
 
 There is even another class, much dif- 
 ferent from the others just mentioned. This 
 class of men will work at anything, and 
 work hard, too. But they despise all forms 
 of society and government. They carry a 
 bitter hatred toward all who do not exactly 
 agree with them. The members of this 
 class will not save anything even if they 
 get ten dollars a day for their work. They 
 simply spend all, and yet they are fiercely 
 jealous of any person who even owns no 
 more than just his small home, or a little 
 Ford car. All property should be for each 
 and all, and every man that works should 
 not only have what he produces, but much 
 more. They claim that it is not their fault 
 that they are thrust into this world, and 
 therefore the world owes them something to 
 start with. 
 
 They would live up everything, and let
 
 Would-be Union Man 119 
 
 tomorrow take care of itself. It is a class 
 of unhappy, reckless, shiftless, irresponsible 
 spendthrifts, who won't reason nor change, 
 but just hold to their narrow pet ideas. 
 Their blood comes very near mingling with 
 that of the most radical Socialists and 
 I. W. W. 
 
 End.
 
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