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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1919)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, XOVE3IRER 30. 1919. 17 I. W. W. ATTEMPT SYSTEMATIC EXPLOITATION OF INDUSTRY Radical Foreigners Hold Jobs in Northwest Mills, While Legion Mem bers Are Turned Away. BY JOHN MICHEL. CENTRALIA. Wash., Nov. 22. (Spe cial.) How many I. W. W. are there in the Pacific northwest? What is their strength? Are there just a cowardly few who, through such wantonness as the Centralia Armis tice dav outrage, try to convey the imprt-f sion of sinister magnitude through bold lawlessness? Or are there so many that this incident was ccldly calculated fo force the isiiue and bring th3 I. W. W. solidly into the open? The records that have ever been found in raids by state ami govern ment officials, haven't given much of an idea of the actual number of members in the northwest. How many there are in cities means noth ing, for hundreds- might come or go in a week. How many there are in individual localities means little more because the "wobbly" lasts but a lit tle while on most of the jobs that he gets, and la therefore much on the move. But this probably is true: There are many more carrying red cards than those who most often come in fontact with them generally are will ing to admit. The case of a logging tcmpany in Wa&hirigton is an exam ple. Less than two months ago the com pany hired a filer.- This filer did ex cellent work and one of the managers of the company considered it some what a reflection on his judgment when an interviewer said he had rea son to believe that this man was a red who was doing untold damage in his camps every day. 1 Abxurd, Declares Manaerr. Impossible and absurd, said the manager. The man, he declared, was the most satisfactory filer they had had in months, and it would .take more than mare suspicion to cause his removal. But that there was something wrong- finally became apparent to the superintendent of the camp, who could not explain to his town satis faction why "fullers" would not stay, assorting that the saws were no good. Falling timber is hard work at best. It requires a strong back and the best of tools are none too good when it comes to getting logs from the forest. The fir3t demand is a good saw. In each camp there is a man whose work is to keep the saws fit and sharp, so- that each morning the "fa.llers" have a keen cutting blade that draws lightly, with telling effect, across the timber. The filer is the man who keeps the -saws in trim. He is the pivotal 'man in the opera tion. If the saws are poor the men at the stump fall less- timber. On the fallers depend the efficiency of the rigging Tcws and the army of men employed in getting the timber from the forest to the railroad or water. Men and machinery all Wait for the logs. . .. Investigation Is BfKun. Fo, tracing back, the lack of timber In this operation, they attributed It to the continuous change of men who ft II the timber. And then began the starch for the reuson for the' poor saws. The superintendent watched more clcsely than ever the workmanship bn the blades that were . issued by the filer each morning. Each tooth was perfectly filed. The "set" and align ment pleased his eyel The feel of the shimmering steel and the purr as it cut the fibre of the fir only made the complaint more puzzling. -r ... They complained to the saw deal ers and finally laid it to poor steel in the blades. An expert from the saw factory located the trouble and proved the suspicion, and a search of j theller's shack revealed evidence. ; The expert first found on some of the saws traices of blue, where steel had been heated. It wa.s mere sus picion, but test-of the metal proved it, fur saws did not leave the works with the -bases of the teeth "soft." These soft teth, in passing through the Jogs, failed to cut a clean path ft.-r the saw. They looked all right, but they had been the cause of all the trouble. In the bunk house was a small torch with which the work had been done. Card Proves Man Wobbly. And then it Avas hard. for the com ' rany to believe this man a ''wobbly." Not until his card was taken from him were they sure. ' This had been going on for weeks, but the poor saws were doled out by this filer only to those jobs that were not manned by other members of the 1. W. W. The minute a man showed up who could not be controlled he was given these saws, while othei trouble makers stayed arid stayed, be cause for them the work was made easy by comparison. This, had stiil another effect. - In the camp were several Americans,- to whom the I. W. W. an all that it stood for were repulsive. Yet, day afier day, they had to watch -good men come and go, while those whom, they had learned to know aa dele gates of the wobblies stayed on. in seeming favor of the company, who it seemed kept only "wobblies," as oth ers rarely lasted more than a day or tW!,. But there are other places where matters are more bold, where the men make no effort to hide the fact that their creed is that they have nothing common with management: that work is a necessary evil, lo te tolerated un der the direction of the management Until until what? Hadtt-al Sometimes Work. Such a camp is usually all I. W. W., fox a man with any self respect does not want to stay there and is not wanted. Why does a management knowing ly tolerate such a condition? Be cause, strange as it may seem, such a crw often does fair work. To the "wobbly" it is an ideal situation. It serves as his school and to maintain it the wobbly will work rather than run the risk of spoiling what seems a good thing. Men from other parts come there without knowing the conditions. They come and find a camp "100 per cent Industrial Worker." The wobblies control the jobs and the newcomer ' can either join or quit. The camp is a lever that gets them many mem bers. Not only that but its bunk houses out in the timber furnish meeting nouses where almost any thing can be discussed without fear In other bunk houses, the wobbly In other bunk houses, the wobby never knows whether the, first word ne utters to the man in the next vunk, means a convert or packing his ir.VcL5 and hiking down the track by which he came in. It was such a wobbly camp, where an organizer of the four L's, which is bringing the fight to the wobbly in the timber, related an incident indi eating that more trouble of the Cen trail a stripe Is possioie. lie came to the place, just before supper. His reception soon gave him the lay ot the land, but he was de termined to have a meeting that night. These organizers usnally spend the ulght in the camps. He laid his things in a nun k which the time keeper had ass tuned to him. OriFKHlxr Told to lio. When he returned from supper an other man was in me Dunk. He was told that evidently the .timekeeper had made a mistake; that there were no vacant bunks, and inasmuch as the town was far away he really ought to be on his way. Kot convinced, the organizer start ed in the direction of the timekeep er s orrice, when fcwo of the group told him that he might as well take the cue nd get out that they con trolled, the camp and he had best move on. But my friend wan not silv bluffed and made his talk. When he finished, one of the group, a Finn, got up and in English hardly under standable, made his talk. , ... There is no need of repeating it. It was a rambling, poorly-remembered and parrot-like arraignment of the umber-barons ana the promise of the day, not far awpy, when the pres ent conditions would be changed to "the way we want it!" Fifty mon applauded! or by their silence gave support to this ignorant, coarse-mouthed, disciple of the "new order." The meeng ended with a threat that the at ndants would do to such men as this organizer, who pleaded only for allegiance to our government, what the people in a nearby neighborhood had done to one of their number, , a few years ago, when a man was lynched at a rail road trestle. Finni Carry Red Cards. Speaking of Finns it is said that half of those engaged in the timber industry are carrying, red cards not necessarily of the I. W. W. but of the Finnish social clubs, or organiza tions which are red, their propaganda in some instances being prepared by the I. W. W. The Finn ordinarily is a good worker in the woods both for the company which employs him and for the L W. Wt strange as that ,njay again seem. For that reason he is the greater trouble maker. The Finns run in .crowds and aim to control the majority of certain class jobs in a particular operation. When they have one branch of the work tied up, they begin their systematic exploita tion of that job. Most mills who have tried Finns have had their lesson. The Finns' strike usually comes when least expected, for instance, when there is a ship at the dock of a mill, and lumber must be produced to get the steamer' away without de murrage. Without notice, they sim ply drop their work and usually have nothing to say except: More money. If they get it easily, they will orob ably decide before lunch to come back again. To my knowledge the Finns have struck for more money three times in one day, until they were sure they had gone as far as the management would go. They played their hand during the past - summer with " the shortage of men prevalent through out the timber; but winter is here and little has been done that would in the .least instil greater respect from those same men. In some cases they hold their jobs, while Americans. ex-service men apply in vain, at the gate of the mill in camp for an oppor tunity to take the place of these. Other Foreigners Are Reds. . Many of the red carmen come from other lands of northern Europe, but the better the (schools and educa tional facilities of their native land, the smaller is the proportion of their number which listens to the story ot the wobbly. The more wobblies you meet the more convinced you be come that doctrines of the I. "Vv. W. and intelligence will not. mix. There are many native-born Amer icans in the foreigners ranks and the Americans direct the menace. Only a week - ago a logger - Bent down the track two men who had covered a wall with stickers and literature;. The men had said: "We've got a right to say what we think, even if we are wpbblies, for We- are American Legion men, too." How they can reconcile- themselves membership in two organizations so unalterably opposed, they cannot explain. Recently I stood in an employment office through which more than 70 obs are filled each dav. Over the counter in the office is a "large Amer ican flag.. The first requirement of an applicant is to take a pledge. which exacts of him allegiance to that flag and country, and a promise to stamp out anarchy and sabotage wherever it may be. fledge of Allegiance Refused. That pledge seems little enough these days, but I have seen five men ask for the job but refuse to take that pledge. Then it would have been easy to. round them up. The employment service was waging a lone fight,- and often getting little upport where it had a right to ask much or thought it had. All this was before the affair at Centralia. Now it is different. Those same men are still in this vicinity, but the hunt will have its difficulties. A few have bragged of their red cards and have been picked up by police. Only yes terday an - operator of. a camp said that bearings in a logging engine had been burned - out by emery dust, placed there in the night. How- many "wobblies" there are no one knows, but there are several II thousand more than can be rounded up in the northwest. The "wobbly" at test Is hard to understand. Of the great majority only a few haye any conception of .what their own programme really is jOr what the movement aims at. . . The only thing they understand is. ithat their purpose is everlastingly to 0fi0 tayiiai so that capital eventually will give up the ghost and leave the bones for them to pick. Their banner is destruction and be yond that they have no aim. A very few prattle abstract and open contorted exerpts from the teachings of Marx. But not even the leaders get much further than Im passioned appeals, preaching only the destruction of all that we revere to- aay, me home, our nation. the SHE WAITED THREE YEARS, SHE STATES JMessage From Texas Brother Told Mrs. Walsh What to Do, She Says. "Since taking- Tanlac I feel as well as I ever did In my life," said Mrs. N. Walsh, who resides at S12 East Thirty-fourth street. Tacoma. Wash., recently. Continuing, she said: "For eleven years I suffered with my stomach and kidneys and also had churches and those Institutions which (rheumatism very bad. I had a very we as a nation point to with pride. "Wobblies" Hate Socialists. Mixed with the "wobblies" of th poor appetite and could hardly eat a thing, and what little I did manage to force down would cause me intense paid and wourd sour and ferment and i;mll - - . ' - " v.. uia ifjttiu ii (i wouia sour ana lermeni an i t n o!f socialists, but only a hand- I would bloat terribly with gas. Thi; - " ucimrKCIl 111, Kn(19 IS, anrf . V. a I i . , . wobblv" . nnon -.. " ' gdi wuuiu press againsc my lungs. times in the past month I have met a socialist, one of those characters that you find only in the timber, for the woods today are what th frftnt Jot was years ago, the refuge of those who, emoitterea against all humanitv, come .to the timber, to the camus and forests where no one asks much of me otner. This felloy is a "bull cook." A bull COOk" gets his name frnm lha days when oxen did the logging and then his duties were to get up before the crew and feed the oxen and get . ..ur me aay s work. Nowadays the "bull cook" builds the fires and sweeps out the bunk houses and gen erally is the "camp attendant," a more dignified name applied to the job by the spruce production division uuiuig, me war., rnis man would in terest you the minute you met him. But, though he probably does not -now it, nis past has followed him to, the timber. At one time ho wan much-quoted holder of the highest chair in a university of Europe, but c-urope was not ready for his "ultra democratic" ideas. He came to America, where for many years he was the iHi-nrtur nf colonization for a Canadian system ' railways, until ne believed that the duties laid on him again infringed with what he considered his duty to humanity. Today, he drifts from one camp to another, preaching his doc trines wnere ne can, but despised by the '"wobbly" who considers him a temporizer. . Listener Are Feir. This cook can quote Marx by the book, but his listeners ordinarily are lew, and It takes intelligence to un derstand Marx, which is not a part of the makeup of the "wobbly." This man and his kind do little harm be cause his teachings fall for the most part on few listeners. So the "wobbly's" teachings are never more than the song of hate, and those that follow are fed only with the idea that all that lo, should not be. This means in turn that where a few of the leaders are Ameri can or foreign with average intelli gence, the great number fpllow only for the same reason that it is easier to say spearmint than gum. A few weeks ago a group of shingl, workers went on strike. I picked up one and gave him a ride from one town to another. We talked of things concerning the strike. Finally I asked him: "But, Hjalmar, why did you go out? You have a wife, you say, and were making big money in that mill?" "1'eh, dat's all right, but de condi tions theys all wrong," he answered. "Well, just what was wrong?- Why did you go out?" "Ah I don't know. It's de condi tion making it awful hard for me to breathe, and I suffered from short ness of breath. I also was bothered with constipation and would have the worst sort of headaches, which would nearly drive me wild, and I would often have to go to bed and spend the day. I used to get awful dizzy and when I would reach up to turn off a light I would have to hold onto some thing to keep- from falling. My kid neys troubled me a great deal and I had the worst sort of pains across the small of my back that hurt me so I could hardly stoop over. I had rheu matism in my hands, arms and shoul ders so bad I could scarcely use them. They pained me all the time, and my joints would swell and become very sore, ' and It was all I could do to raise my hands to comb my hair. I became badly run down, lost weight and could hardly do mv housework. and when I got through I would be so worn out I would have to lie down. I was so weak I could not walk any distance without having to stop and rest. 1 was extreme v nervous and it was an effort to me to stay in bed at night, I was' so restless and I would just roll and toss from one side of the Ded to the other all night long, and when morning came I would feel worse than when I went to bed. "I wrote my brother, who lives in Texas, how I felt, and he sent me a clipping from a newspaper about Tan lac. That was three years ago and I could not find any, but I kept looking for it until one day I saw in a paper where Tanlac was being sold in Ta coma, and sent my son after a bottle, and of all the medicines I had taken. it was the only one that ever did me any good. I began to get relief at once and in hardly no time I was in such fine condition I could eat any thing I wanted and never suffer any bad after effects. The pains and gas all left me and I could breathe freely and was entirely free of headache and those dizzy spells and my kidneys were in fine condition and the pains In my back were all gone. The rheu matism has completely gone and ntjver have a pain of any kind. I now do all my housework, and can get around fine. I have gained eight pounds In weight and feel like a dif ferent person, I am in such good health. I give Tanlac all the credit for my present good condition and am only too glad to tell others about it." Tanlac Is sold in Portland by The owl uruir -o. Adv. 'I know, but .".what made you leave the job?" ."Well, I think it's evolution we want." I asked hlra if he didn't mean "revo lution." But he said no. He was sure he went out because of "evo lution." Breakfast Menu Good. Another time I was at a place called where the table board was as fine as I have ever had in my own home. This was a typical menu for breakfast on the first morning that I was there: Two kinds of package cereals or cooked mush, three kinds of fruit, hot breads and rolls., bacon and eggs, pancakes, coffee, tea or milk, tarts, jellies and jams in huge platefuls. On the porch was a young logger, not yet 30. He had decided not to work that day. "Rotten breakfast, wasn't It?" he volunteered. "They can't expect a man to work on stuff like that. I'm not gbing out today." I had nothing to offer on the break fast, but let him continue. "You're new here, aren't you?" I admitted that I was, and stated further than I expected to be there but a very little white. I may have been overemphatic in the way I said that I was going to make my stay a short one. It must have given him hope, for he came back:- "Say, don't get discouraged. We workers have got this place on the run. You know yourself that table had more on it than twice as many could eat.- We're making progress McFarland against Josie McFarland Andrew Ryan against Mabel Perkins Ryan, and Pansy Roberts against Chester Roberts. TRIP PROVES LIVELY ONE Mishap Lands Teacher With Stu dents in Municipal Court. H. W. White, head of the commer cial department of the Franklin high school, started for the courthouse with eight students In his automobile November 21 to give the students some first-hand knowledge of cour procedure by a visit to the circui court. Instead, however, he had an auto mobile accident as a result of which he appeared In municipal court yes terday to answer to a charge of reck less driving. H"e was fined 50 by Judge Ko8sman. Students who were to have visited the circuit court consequently visited the municipal court instead as wit nesses and testified in the case. Mr. White also demonstrated to them hii ability as a legal defender, but to no avail. t MEMBERS OP SIX DKXOMI-- J S4TIONS JOIS t'-OMMlr- . ? t . .MTV (HIHIH IX DAY. t t ' - ; ! i' V I li 'V jj 4 - mM-. U. L. -'I'ufts. I ay. at I rv- U. 1 JllUlt. . HOOD RIVER, Or.Nov. 29. (Special.) The so-called lntra denominationat church, recent ly organized at Cascade Locks, is making progress. Dr. O. 1 Tufts, prohibition worker and Belmont orchardist. who is pas tor, declares thai last Sunday, when the new church was a. month old, was a red-letter day. "Fifteen prominent ctizens the close of the morning- ser Ice affiliated with the organ ization, says Dit Tufts. "Among them were the superintendent of the locks there, two public school teaehrs. superintendent of the lumber mill and fornuw postmaster. They represented following six denomina- I tions: Baptist, Congregational, 4 Episcopalian, Lutheran, Aletho- I dist and Presbyterian. The community church at the locks town is reported to have T doubled its attendance in the I past month. 4 operated in a mannento permit of the construction of ten hydro-electric sta tions with a coal capacity of 7,000,000 horsepower. CANAL TO PARALLEL RHINE Plan for Waterway Would Permi Generation of Electricity PARIS Plans for building a cana running parallel to the Rhine rive from Huningen to Strasbourg, a dis tance of about 80 miles, have been perfected by Albert Caveille. minister of public works. The canal, accord ing to plans announced in the Matin, would have a width of 20 meters n here. We've got 'em s,o scared of los- i draught of six meters aiul wnnlri h enough goldfish to feed us two apiece for supper. "We can't do much soldiering on the Job here. The foremen are too d n good. But the cook s witn us ana we got the company spending all they make keeping that table loaded down." Qirrr I.orIc Observe. : That is aueer logic In the face of a world shortage of all that we need to feed and clothe us. The other night an American Le gion post, according to a newspaper report, gave its idea or the wnoie trouble. It .seems to fit the bill. It was stated here, among other things. that in the legion members' opinion the wobbly had simply beat the American to it," and that the best way to stamp out radicalism is to destroy the field for the radical. The mistakes of 20 years of unre stricted immigration and little at tempt to absorb the new arrival left him open' to whomever took greatest interest in him. The "wobbly" took that interest in the alien and the un educated arrival in the industry. The greatest steps to making overfthese men will probably come through col lective aclion of the employers. The. American-' Legion must take the first step. ''that of teaching all radicals respect for America. Who Said Dyspepsia? A Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablet After a Hearty Meal Makes You Feel at Ease Avoid Gas, Belching, Sour Risings or Other Such Trou ' bles From Indigestion. ' Food prices are high, hut If thel stomach is weak with dyspepsia, the 5po ill WOMEN NAMED IN SUIT Wife Says Husband Squandered Money on Others. "Babe." Toots and Nellie'' were among the women on whom Jay Rick ett squandered $8000 since he married Julia Rickett and received that sura through the sale of some property owned by his wife in Canada asserts Mrs. Rickett in a suit for divorce filed yesterday in the circuit court. The wife did not know the last names of her husband's alleged friends.' A few days ago he told her, she declares. ; that a real wife from whom he has had no divorce lives in Portland. Ali mony of $150 a month is demanded. Since the return of .Alfred . L. Prideaux from France his wife, Edith J. Prideaux, has made numerous ap pointment with mn. he complains. Other divorce or annulment suits filed were: Lenta Kavanaugh against Kenneth D- Kavanaugh. Hazel Schloth against Alfred H. Schloth, Roue Alvoid againat Frank L Alvoid, Nellie Mur I u i I o - - : , ) I " - - Vt ' ' -5 ' If )jf " I t ; . -, -V Lucia Mad Scene ' ' I r V Amelltn CialU- 7 J. " ' . J A Vi x rnrrl, I !g . .. , -i, J5 i . Price- SSc it itf:; ,. . i n!--i-'-' ."'I Am Climbing f .jrf;.. . vl U 5 W:-:. - - - Mountains" . A.-v , - ij;' Cleane- l'p a Square lea1 and tfa a Stnart'M Dripepla Ta-blrt for ' All-round Stomach Comfort. burflen is doubled. The point is to enjoy the meal without dlstress not pav for food only to suffer. The best plan is to eat what you like best and follow with a Stuart's Dyspepsia Tab Tet. Thus you satisfy your appetite, taste and stomach, you get nourish ment from what you may have thought was indigestible, witnout sour risings, belching of wind or logy, lazy feeling. To thus be a free .ance in eating palatable food, to make all the good things of the table- our favorites is getting away from a sort of bondage that holds a host of men and women in the grasp of dyspeptic fear. Get a box of Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets from any druggist in the Jphy against William Murphy,. Robert Xear of food, fried or otherwise. Adv. . L.i.i..Js.-. Vi pj Only 21 More Shopping Davs Til Xmas Select Your Xmas Grafonola NOW! Stock is unusually hard to get, but if -you will act early you can make your selection from a complete line of Grafonolas now on display at our warerooms. To Induce an Early Selection We Offer Two. 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