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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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"Well, we had it all right," he answered. Then he went to the door. "I can’t pay you anything on that to-day," he said, mildly. "Well, when can you?" said the grocer. "Not before Saturday, anyhow," said Hurstwood. "Huh!" returned the grocer. "This is fine. I must have that. I need the money." Carrie was standing farther back in the room, hearing it all. She was greatly distressed. It was so bad and commonplace. Hurstwood was annoyed also. "Well," he said, "there’s no use talking about it now. If you’ll come in Saturday, I’ll pay you something on it." The grocery man went away. "How are we going to pay it?" asked Carrie, astonished by the bill. "I can’t do it." "Well, you don’t have to," he said. "He can’t get what he can’t get. He’ll have to wait." "I don’t see how we ran up such a bill as that," said Carrie. "Well, we ate it," said Hurstwood. "It’s funny," she replied, still doubting. "What’s the use of your standing there and talking like that, now?" he asked. "Do you think I’ve had it alone? You talk as if I’d taken something." "Well, it’s too much, anyhow," said Carrie. "I oughtn’t to be made to pay for it. I’ve got more than I can pay for now." "All right," replied Hurstwood, sitting down in silence. He was sick of the grind of this thing. Carrie went out, and there he sat, determining to do something. There had been appearing in the papers about this time rumours and notices of an approaching strike on the trolley lines in Brooklyn. There was general dissatisfaction as to the hours of labour required and the wages paid. As usual-and for some inexplicable reason-the men chose the winter for the forcing of the hand of their employers and the settlement of their difficulties. Hurstwood had been reading of this thing, and wondering concerning the huge tie-up which would follow. A day or two before this trouble with Carrie, it came. On a cold afternoon, when everything was grey and it threatened to snow, the papers announced that the men had been called out on all the lines. Being so utterly idle, and his mind filled with the numerous predictions which had been made concerning the scarcity of labour this winter and the panicky state of the financial market, Hurstwood read this with interest. He noted the claims of the striking motormen and conductors, who said that they had been wont to re- ceive two dollars a day in times past, but that for a year or more "trippers" had been introduced, which cut down their chance of livelihood one-half, and increased their hours of servitude from ten to twelve, and even fourteen. These "trippers" were men put on during the busy and rush hours, to take a car out for one trip. The compensation paid for such a trip was only twenty-five cents. When the rush or busy hours were over, they were laid off. Worst of all, no man might know when he was going to get a car. He must come to the barns in the morning and wait around in fair and foul weather until such time as he was needed. Two trips were an average reward for so much waiting-a little over three hours’ work for fifty cents. The work of waiting was not counted. The men complained that this system was extending, and that the time was not far off when but a few out of 7,000 employees would have regular two-dollar-a-day work at all. They demanded that the system be abolished, and that ten hours be considered a day’s work, barring unavoidable delays, with $2.25 pay. They demanded immediate acceptance of these terms, which the various trolley companies refused. Hurstwood at first sympathised with the demands of these men- indeed, it is a question whether he did not always sympathise with them to the end, belie him as his actions might. Reading nearly all the news, he was attracted first by the scare-heads with which the trouble was noted in the "World." He read it fully-the names of the seven companies involved, the number of men. |
