IAN INVITATION FROM ROCHESTER, N. Y. i·1 'To any who may be planning to make ,1 Ithis city their future home we extend a cor- ,j "". dial welcome. We place at your service the :~.:,' facilities of two large stores to supply any >~ '~.'I~~want, however ~m~l1 it may be, in Furniture :~ >. ':or House Furnlshlngs. Come and look at [your leisure, make yourself at home, and i,rest assured that better values cannot be ,':'ffound anywhere else in town. .... t· THE :OPtzLAR FURNITURE HOUSE. ,,"~; \i'VEIS & FISHER CO., '~.'J.;<,cY",i",.~.. !.:~-.n~ S~AH STREET, TWO STORES. 441·445 Clinton Avenue, N. -'C c.; ROCHESTER, N. Y. Jr' '~;;:::,,,-~,,,,,,--",;,-,,,:., _______________-= FOR Electrical Workers LOUIS ERNST & SONS, ,129 MAIN STREET, EAST, NEW YORK. 1 "I i 1 , ,1.. )4 ;-,)' f r V-. --75he-- ELECTRICAL WORKER OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS. Entered at the Post OtHce at Washington, D. C., as second-class matter. :.~ VOL. III. No. 10. WASHING'tON, D. C., AUGUS't, 1903. Single copies, 10 cents $1 per year in adv~,~,~e AN OLD UNIOI\IST'S OPINION. taries, and the general staff of correspond~> ents for their overproduction of "tommy­ Considers the Electrical Worker One of the rot," the new " schoolm~ster " might Best Trade Journals Publish~d. thus treat those whose education is so sadly at fault: "Now, my children, I will s~~ you Editor Electrical Worker: a copy; you can imitate at first; then Y9D Will yeu permit an old trade-unionist to you can produce; but be sure to emulate say a word? I have been a reader of the my style, for therein lies the success of "the Worker for a year and a half, and in that Worker; and with work just as I outline time believe that I have read about every­ we may yet approach within hailing dis': thing that has been printed therein. In tance of that paragon of publications,theLo­ this mass of reading, covering a period of comotive Firemen's Magazine"~and then eighteen months', I have frequently en­ furnish that copy. countered letters that could not be cata- . I am not blaming the gentleman;(for logued with the classics, and articles that wanting tq improve the Worker.,:,b~t·Lqu:es­ might have been rejected by critics in tion the wisdom·of his method-the ",hoii:e,r search of productions of the choicest Eng­ than thou" system. And I unllesitatin:gly lish and purest diction. However, I have say that to characterize thewriting!l<,pf never seen a number but tbat contained the press secretaries and 'others::,:as ," more than •• three or four pages of instruc­ "tommy-rot" is not only ill-llldv.ised'j·;'. tive matter "-such an aspersion I have not but unbrotherly and discourteous; aDd, fur~ the temerity nor the assurance to cast upon thermore, he makes the mistake of: pro­ the product of the' gentlemen of intelli- ducing nothing better, for were I to·place . gence who constitute the staff of contribu­ his letter in the deadly parallel with many tors. others of the same' issue-making many The self-constituted mentor who declares more pages than "three or four "-the let­ the contents of the Worker-with ~he ex­ ters that he pronounces "tommy-rot" ception of three or four pages-" tommy­ would not suffer by comparison. rot" should have it within him to get out­ In the March number of the Worker. this sid~ of platitudes, and quit prescribing un­ erudite press secretary, who wants to purge less he shows a willingness to take the same its pages of the pernicious" tom·my-rot," dose. Why consume a page and a half­ . invoked the muse, and favored the readers ". space that he admits is wasted, if that is with sixteen B-line stanzas of "poetry""':::"" what "tommy-rot", means-in an effort taking one page and a ~lf of valuable to prove something against which his own space-a fair' sample ~f which, taken at c . letter argues, when it might be filled with random, is-- . those priceless articles-those pearls of "And as for Brother Kreiger, thought-that distinguish (to him) the Lo­ He had a very bad cough; ..•. comotive Firemen's Magazine? Without He washed his feet in huttermilk, " calling down" the editor, the press secre- For to take the freckles off." 2 THE ELECTRICAL WORKER Comment is hardly necessary, and one in­ press secretaries could well be eliminated, quiry alone suggests itself-would the above and abuse of those who are not members of excerpt be classed as .. tom my-rot? " the Brotherhood could with profit he cut out. In the April number he suffers a revul­ There is sometimes a surfeit of "Hello, sion of feeling-conscit:nce stricken, as it Bill," and frequently too much space and were-I\tld "lands" on the brothers for time consumed in telling a story that would not being more serious, and adjures them look and read better if judidously pruned. to consider the business side of life and dis­ But so far as most of the letters are con­ cuss practical electrical subjects. As a cerned, Mr. Editor, they strike me as being starter he asks: "What is the best tele­ what is wanted, in that they show. to the phone made to-day? What is the best bat­ brothers the condition of trade at the differ­ tery made? What is the best telephone ent points. P!actical subjects pertaining to book· published for practical men, Kemp­ the trade could and ought to be discussed at ster Miller excepted?" And there he meetings of the local, but should such dis­ leaves them. He should give an opinion if cussions take place in the columns of the he wants the discussion started, or is it in­ Worker? That is a question I will not at­ formation he js after? Still posing as the tempt to discuss, as the propriety of such a "·schoolmaster "-not the" teacher." departure forbids the interposition of my In the .May number he "roasts" thos(> reasons in extenso. It seems to me that w·ho do not insist on having the union label there are many technical points of informa­ on all they wear, incidentally throwing in a tion to be gained by an interchange of views few lines by way of embellishment that, . .on the electrical business that, if given to without doing violence to either side, could the public through the columns of the be.declared as closely related to .. tommy­ Worker, might result in a loss to the rot," and not one word of personal experi­ Brotherhood. Of course we may differ on ence or personal encounter in quest of the this. label. He simply belabors his brothers on I have written this for the purpose of suspicion;-or from habit, perhaps. claiming that the Electrical Worker is one In the June number he takes up the cudgel of the best and most representative trade against the member who neglects to attend journals published, . and want to say that it the meetings of the local, and, as bt tween fills its field as completely as any publication the two, declares his preference for the that I can call to mind; and also to deny the scab .. !Asthis preterence, or choice, is made existence therein of that amount of .. tom­ genera:l(without degree or limit) it looks my-rot "-claimed by one of your corre­ badly .. There are probably many men con­ spondents-to the exclusion of "instructive nected with the locals who fail to attend its matter." stated meetings whose· allegiance to the In closing, I want to add 1he concluding principles of organized labor cannot be paragraph of ,mother press secretary in the doubted-whose fealty· is unquestioned July number--a letter of good, sound sense, and above suspicion. There may be a good with an underlying vein of fine intelligence reason why these brothers are not regularly and discrimination. He says: .. In conclu­ found in the hall, and in searching for the sion, will say that I hear words of praise on trUth in the matter the pessimistic press every hand for the Electrical Worker and . secretary and champion of reform in letters its wholesome articles; like good sermons, might, unconsciously, be found very close they give us a forward and onward impetus to that reason. in the good w.ork. Personally, I am exceed­ I am not writing this with the intention ingly pleased with its pages, only offering, of offering a list of suggesti~ns, in lieu of as an improvement, that you· cut out the your other correspondent, whose advice • ad' on the back cover. At first I thought I may apparently reject as ill timed, the local letters would be dry reading, hut for I think that in a general way you are find upon perusal that they are exactly the _publishing a magazine that needs but little opposite; they are entertaining and instruc­ . improvement to meet all the requirements tive. " for which it is published. Possibly it might W. S. HAMBI.1tTON. be well to say that so much repetitton by Washington, D. C. July 30, 1903. ::::i J) /' ~, ,;-/((J Lr~' ..,.-:>.:;.o'f..F THE ltLECTRICAL WORKBR 3 PROGRESS OF lIl\IElVIEI\I'S STRIKE. THE IRISH OF IT. The most noteworthy feature in the con­ A solemn looking Irishman entered a bus­ ditions affecting the linemen's strike iness house the other day, and walking up to against the Pacific States Telephone and one of the men employedon.the lower floor, Telegraph Company is the rapidly growing asked: strength of the linemen's position and the , "Is dhere anny chanst fer a mon t' get a consequent weakening of the company's job av wur'rk here?" .