Prof. Albert E. Flowers, principal of the Modern School of Business, and Thomas R. Browne, superintendent of the printing plant at the Hotel del Coronado, have leased a room and will put in an up-to-date job office about the middle of January. As Mr. Browne is a member in good standing of No. 221, we presume the new office will use the label. Charles W. Howe, secretary-treasurer of No. 221 for three years, succeeded Mr. Browne at the Hotel del Coronado.

At the last meeting of No. 221 a resolution was adopted, and copies ordered sent to each employing printer in the city using the label, asking them to co-operate with the typographical union in creating an increased demand for the label by requesting each and every customer to permit the use of the label on his printed matter, and asking the proprietors to refrain from extending any cour tesies to non-union offices. We believe this is to be a good plan, and recommend it to all unions in towns where there are non-union offices.

The secretary-treasurer has recently issued withdrawal cards to Richard E. Butler and Miss Otha Wright Herriott. CARLTON MURKAY BROSIUS.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

Minneapolis, 1910.

The enthusiasm displayed by the membership over the prospects of holding the 1910 International convention here is most encouraging, and it would really seem a shame to disappoint them now. At the last meeting of the union the "boosting committee" was given full power to go ahead, and the union will gladly pay the bills. You see, we have never had an International convention here, and it really seems as though we were entitled to the next one. Just a word about the Twin Cities, and I will change the subject for this time. Minneapolis and St. Paul are practically one city, a stranger riding from one city to the other being unable to tell where the dividing line really is, as the whole section lying between the centers of the two cities is built up with fine residences. The two cities have a population of upward of half a million people, and are so situated that either is easily reached by rail or boat. Minneapolis has the largest flouring mills in the world, and we perhaps saw more lumber than any city in the country. And to furnish power to run these mighty industries St. Anthony falls has been harnessed, the Mississippi river dammed, and a large power plant erected that is worth one's time to visit and inspect. Our streets are wide and well shaded, and are paved with asphalt, creosote blocks and brick, and have a national reputation for their cleanliness. You have only to ask any one who has visited here about our parks, and I feel sure he will tell you we have the finest park system he ever saw. There are some twenty-five parks within the city limits, all well kept and good to look upon. And then we have-but there, we want you to come here in 1910 and see for yourself.

Johnny Gans, of the Journal adroom, went on a hunting trip near Brainerd recently, and while out in a dense forest, after becoming separated from

his companions, came face to face with a 500pound bear, looking for trouble. Mr. Printerman didn't lose his nerve, however, but instead took careful aim and fired-and now bear meat is as plentiful around the Journal office as chicken at a colored festival. Some one was mean enough to circulate a story to the effect that when John saw the bear he climbed a tree, and that when the bear tried to climb the tree after him he (the bear) fell and broke his neck; but we will stick to the original story. We have seen Johnny shot-I mean

we have seen Johnny shoot-and we know that when he once got a bead on that bear there was surely a widow in Bearville.

Organizer Devereaux, Secretary Corcoran, Joe Maiden and other prominent members of No. 30 were visitors at the last regular meeting of No. 42, and each made short talks, assuring us of their hearty support in our endeavor to land the 1910 convention.

Attention is called to the poem in this issue of THE JOURNAL by E. S. Kern, entitled, "Hats Off to the I. T. U.," which is an eulogy based on facts. Mr. Kern is by no means an obscure poet, some of his poems, printed in local papers, having been copied by the larger eastern magazines, notably "The Under World," "The City Hall Gang," "My Baby and I," and other gems from the pen of this worthy writer. Mr. Kern is a linotype operator on the Daily News.

One of the daily papers tried to inaugurate a semi-monthly payday recently, but the executive board refused to stand for it, and the idea has been abandoned by the management of the paper. It would seem that there should be an International law stipulating that all contracts should make provision for a weekly payday. There are many arguments in favor of the weekly payday, and none that I can think of in favor of a semimonthly payday, so far as the employe is concerned. What's the matter with taking this matter up at the next convention?

Frank Sweger made a proposition to the union at the last meeting to organize and manage a baseball club providing the union financed the undertaking, but the union refused to consider the matter, some members alleging that it was only a scheme to put the Printers' Relief Association out of business. I think the union made a mistake, however. We certainly have good baseball timber in the ranks of the union, and then see what a boon it would be for the subs-and physicians and surgeons.

W. H. Williams, formerly foreman of the Tribune, and for the past four years labor commissioner for this state, and who has made an excellent record in that office, has been slated for retirement January 1. It seems a shame that Mr. Williams should be removed from office after accomplishing so much in the past four years for the wage workers of the state, and especially when his removal is solely for the purpose of healing political wounds.

Say, Mr. Jobman, why don't you attend the meetings of the union more regularly, and see what is going on in your union? You are paying

dues into the union for the privilege of voicing your sentiments on the floor of the union and to help make laws governing the union, yet you seldom exercise those rights. Scarcely a meeting passes that some proposition is not acted on that affects you more or less. I know it is hard for a fellow to break away from home on Sunday when he has been working all week, but it does seem as though all of us could spare one Sunday afternoon a month to attend the union meeting. You owe it to yourself as a good due-paying member of the union, and you owe it to the union because it needs your help. Let's start in this month and mark every fourth Sunday in the month as "Union Sunday," and be sure to observe it.

We hope to see your smiling faces in Minneapolis when

"Big Jim" calls the convention to order in nine

teen-ten.

FRANK N. GOULD.

JAMESTOWN, N. Y.

Edson C. Parker, who has for many years held down the job machine on the Journal, has gone to Butte, Mont. On December 9 a farewell banquet was tendered him by his old associates.

Lewis Ruden, of No. 205, president of central labor council, has been appointed by Mayor Carlson on the charter revision committee.

George Fairbanks, the man behind the banque, was the lucky man at our November meeting, having his dues remitted. Nearly the entire membership was present. Clayburn Peterson won the prize in dues at the December meeting. The interest continues unabated.

Edward F. Cassidy, of No. 6, arrived in the city November 9, to take up the fight against the Butterick Company in this city. A committee from No. 205 was appointed to meet and assist him in this work. One big firm here has promised to abrogate its contract with the Buttericks the first of the year.

Some of the members of our union and others, too, have been badly stung. A solicitor for Collier's, handling as a side line the unfair Human Life, a monthly magazine, inveigled a goodly number to subscribe at the low rate of 3 cents a copy for a year. The magazine is the size, or larger than Collier's, and 50 cents a year would not pay for the ink used on it. Some of the boys canceled their orders, while others are kicking themselves unmercifully.

While the writer has no personal grievance against any boss or foreman, he read with delight the well-written article by Mr. Schreiner on "The Cap 'I' Foreman." While few men go to such a limit, there are many who are haughty and inju dicious in their demeanor toward their fellow workmen. I have seen much of it in various cities.

Organizer McGrady, of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, in company with a committee from the pressmen's union, appeared before No. 205's meeting last month and made splendid and convincing arguments in favor of an allied printing trades council in this city. The move was a wise one from the fact that two

labels have been pushed by both locals, which has been the cause of some dissension and misunderstanding, resulting in uncalled-for inconvenience. The question has been under observation for over a year and has finally culminated in the forming of a council. ECHEL GEORGE LINDSTROM.

EL PASO, TEXAS.

El Paso's winter race meet is now on, and we are glad to say that the union label adorns all of their printing matter put out thus far.

The El Paso Morning Times has recently changed management, and, as a result of the increased business the new management has met with, they have added two more situations, one in the adroom and one on the makeup. This leaves all hands working.

J. C. McDonald, who has been subbing on the machines at the News and Times, left last week for Washington, D. C., to accept a position in the government printing office.

On the night of November 22 fire broke out in the pressroom of the News, and it was only by the quick work of the fire boys, and especially that of "Artie" Hull, that the plant was not an entire loss. As it was, the loss totaled about $2,000. The paper has since been printed on the Times' press. BERT HERSKOWITZ.

VICTORIA, B. C.

The November meeting was fairly well attended, considering the wet day. And just here I'd like to suggest that, if those among our members who rarely attend the meetings would make up their minds to attend at least every alternate month, it would help and encourage the officers a great deal.

Cards received: W. R. E. Jentsch, W. Westall, W. H. Peck. Withdrawn: W. R. E. Jentsch, J. P. Brady, R. Bateman, A. Baxtry, W. H. Peck, T. J. Mitchell, Dugald Campbell. Honorary withdrawal: W. Hopkins (Nanaimo).

The label campaign is being well looked after; one more office has agreed to use the allied trades label, and still another is expected to be signed up very shortly.

The Colonist is busy at the time of writing (December 6) preparing to fittingly celebrate its fiftieth anniversary on December 13 by publishing a jubilee edition of 124 pages. An article in this issue on "The Growth of Unionism in Victoria" will contain the following historical references to the local typographical union:

What seems to have been the first labor union formed in the new colony was a local organization among printers, which was instituted in 1862, of which the first president was Mr. Robert Holloway. Mr. Holloway is still a working member of the typographical union, being at the present time in the employ of the government printing bureau. This early union had no connection with any na tional or international body, but was a purely local affair, having a membership of about thirty.

The charter of No. 201 bears the date of June 2, 1884. and is signed by William Briggs and Mark L. Crawford, as secretary-treasurer and president of the International body. The charter members were nineteen in number, many of whom are still in active life in and around Victoria, as will be

seen by the following list: Daniel McNeill, Edward A. Poat, Joseph Davis, Edwin Cameron, Hy. Joseph Bland, William Anderson Calhoun, Joseph J. Randolph, Frank Partridge, Henry Murray, William A. Clyde, Frederick Shakespeare, William H. Servis, George Williams, Leopold Ragazzoni, Paul Medana, W. H. Ellis, Thomas Jno. Dearberg, Victor E. Robinson and T. B. Macabe. W. H. Ellis, later a proprietor of the Colonist, was the first president of the union.

at

The foundation stone of British Columbia's new sanatorium, to be erected at Tranquille by the AntiTuberculosis Society of British Columbia, was laid by the lieutenant-governor of the province on November 11. This building is being paid for by public subscription, and will cost $53,000. A building for heating, etc., will cost $25,000, and the executive building needed is estimated $15,000. The Anti-Tuberculosis Society opened its present sanatorium at Tranquille on November 27, 1907, and to September, 1908, have had a total of 7,126 hospital days, at a cost per patient of $2.23% per day. At the last meeting of No. 201 a resolution was passed urging upon the provincial government the desirability of having this institution maintained by the province, out of the public funds, rather than by private subscription.

A proposal was made some months ago that No. 201 should purchase a copy of Southward's "Practical Printing" (published by the De Montford Press, Leicestershire, England), to be placed in charge of the secretary to be loaned to apprentices. The proposition met with vigorous criticism, and was not carried; even a side show, in the way of a suggestion to persuade the local Carnegie library to include a copy in its collection being ig nored, the whole matter being referred to a committee. I would ask any JOURNAL correspondents who are acquainted with "Practical Printing" to express their opinions concerning its worth; further (as some of the opposition arose from the work being an English publication), I would ask for details re any American publication of a similar character. I believe the loan of a good techni cal work on printing would frequently induce apprentices to acquire copies, and help to perfect and broaden their knowledge of the craft.

The reference to Carnegie reminded me of a fresh bump I heard the poor old chap get recently. I had been under the impression that most of the "knocking" Carnegie's free library schemes received was from people who objected to the way his money had been acquired. The other day, however, I was talking with an embryo capitalist who expressed the opinion very warmly that Carnegie had "done an awful lot of harm with these free libraries in educating the workingmen, thereby making them discontented and dissatisfied." ventured to suggest that this might be remedied by educating them a little more, when possibly we might arrive at a better understanding-also a better distribution of wealth. This suggestion, however, was not favored, and Carnegie is still underneath the cloud of my friend's displeasure.

I

Some of the progressives of the International Typographical Union are turning their thoughts seriously toward insurance. While favoring the old age pension scheme (admitting it to be at best

an experiment), I would be sorry to see us stick another iron in the fire in the shape of compulsory insurance. Is it necessary? Surely the field of insurance is broad enough without our "butting in." We could scarcely hope to compete in rates with benevolent societies, whose membership is selected. Would it be reasonable to say that the man who had become a member of a commercial or fraternal insurance organization should be compelled to contribute toward an insurance scheme he had no need of? Compulsory state insurance will come some day, let us hope. Meanwhile, should the International Typographical Union decide that all its members must be insured, I trust consideration will be shown for those who have already amply provided for the future. Possibly a more feasible plan, now that we have an old age pension, would be to grade the funeral benefits in proportion to years of membership, starting at a very low figure, and increasing the amount rapidly as the years of membership roll by.

That article in the November JOURNAL, "Priority's Fallacy," is a splendid contribution to the literature on this perplexing question. To my mind, one of the strongest arguments against the universal application of this law is the fact that it is so often mutually ignored, both employers and employes in the job branch of our craft recognizing the difficulty of "making it work."

In a building (not used as a printing office) in Victoria is to be seen the following sign: "No Spitting Permitted in Stairways, Halls, or Lavatories in This Building." Why permit expectoration on stairways, lavatories-and in composing rooms of printing offices? Where is the sense of supporting tuberculosis sanatoriums with Our money and then helping to overcrowd 'em with patients by encouraging consumptives to spread the disease? JOHN L. NEATE.

LONDON, CANADA.

When wireless typesetting is practicable, how will the poor proofreader fare?

The election of officers took place at our last meeting, and in almost each office new men have been placed, headed in the presidential chair by one of our oldest members, Mr. Brennan, who is well fitted for the position-a good union man.

Efforts are being made here to secure the cooperation of all union men to rent a hall in which to hold meetings and to be a place of amusement; each union to hold its meeting in the same building, and by purchasing games it would become a rendezvous where closer friendship and intercourse with union men of other trades would be possible. It would thus tend to strengthen the cause of labor through contact with our fellow workingman and by the exchange of ideas on all questions demanding united effort and practical support. Here's success.

The Free Press has installed six new linotype machines of the Canadian-American make, and in parting with the old ones there were no tears shed. K. FORTEY.

CHARLEY VANNE.

Charley Vanne has set his last type, and his soul now mingles among those who have passed over the Great Divide. He did not report for work on November 14, and on that evening he was taken to Ancon hospital, where he died on the following Wednesday afternoon, pneumonia developing in unarrestable form. He was in his sixty-third year, and was born in Baltimore, where, it is thought, two surviving sisters reside. Charley Vanne at all times lived in worldly fashion, yet death came to him in peaceful realization.

He had for many years been a union printer in the States, and reference to him in a previous issue of THE JOURNAL is a condensed story of his life. He was genial, whole-souled-a typical printer-and he was held in high esteem by the craftspeople of Panama and the Isthmus. Stationer and Printer Krugel, of the Isthmian Canal Commission, suspended work in the printery in order that the force could attend the funeral in a body. One hundred and fifty friends followed the remains to Ancon cemetery. Services were held in the Catholic chapel on Ancon hill, and at the grave the funeral rites of the Sociedad Tipografica Ben

they are as capable entertainers as they are skilful craftsmen. The banquet was held in Trades Assembly hall, and the menu consisted of printers' pi, longhand copy, typelice, Mergenthaler miffs, creme de hell box, roasted devil, usual roast, raw slugs, ice cream, cake and coffee. P. S. Evans was master of ceremonies and the following toasts were responded to: "When I Won a Three-Em Dash," J. T. Matthews; "Square Forms for Mine," James E. Keel; "Our Hickory Township Chickens," Joe Hutton; "Heads-Human and 24-Point," James Jackamo; "My Introduction to a Typelouse," Jake Cox; "The Three Best Fillers

No. 300 is preparing for its annual "feed" in January. The affair is in the hands of a good committee, which promises lots to eat and drink and a good program. We expect to entertain a

number of former members who are living in other parts of the country.

Fred J. McCutcheon, a former member of No. 300, arrived in Port Huron last month from Grand Rapids, where he had been confined in a hospital with a broken leg for seven weeks. "Mac" says the union there was good to him, but as he wished to go to Canada, he was sent to this city. He was provided with a ticket and some loose change, and on December 4 he left for Hamilton, Ont. F. G. STONE.

GALT, CANADA.

President Dorschell was re-elected president of No. 411 at our December meeting for the eighth time.

The Reformer has just installed a new model A Canadian-American linotype. The same office intends installing a standard linotype early in the new year, and a report has been going the rounds to the effect that the Reporter is to put in two Mergs in the near future. When these changes are consummated, in all probability Galt will have seen the last of the old Rogers typograph. We won't be sorry to see them go, but this much can be said for the old "birdcages," that they would stand more abuse and still throw a slug than any other machine ever put on the market.

I

Early last spring the writer ventured out of the eight-hour zone and took a job in Lindsay, where they dig for about fifty-eight hours a week. didn't stay there any longer than my contract called for, but during that time I absorbed the crazy idea that there is a lot of work for an organizer in some of the towns on this side of the border. There are no unions in Chatham, Berlin, Belleville, Lindsay or Brockville; the hours run pretty close to sixty a week, and the wages anything a man will work for. Each of these places has at least two daily papers, and in Berlin three out of every four printers can set German as well as English. Wonder if all the unions in Ontario should get together if we couldn't do something about it. What do the rest say?

During the past year and a half Galt has seen what a full-fledged union buster can do in the busting line. A certain gentleman (name doesn't matter) came to our town as manager of the Re

former. In one year he hired and fired some fifty-odd hands, including editors, reporters, operators, jobmen, admen, makeups, pressmen, feeders, bookkeepers, etc., etc., and tried to take a fall out of No. 411. He ended up by putting the old sheet just about down and out and getting himself fired in the bargain. Then R. Sutherland and C. J. Crook took hold of the paper, and, in two months, have made the Reformer the equal of any small city daily in Canada. One of the first things they asked for was the label for the job department, and the wages have been increased all round. Few of the staff are not receiving over the scale. Wonder what the gentleman first referred to thinks about it.

Somebody has been whispering around town that the printers were going to put a team in the city hockey league this winter. Up to the present the joker hasn't been discovered.

ARTHUR L. PHILP.

ST. JOHN, N. B.

After a long and strenuous battle, covering a period of more than eight months, Typographical Union No. 85 and Pressmen's and Assistant's Union No. 36 have emerged victorious from their fight with the Telegraph and Times on the question of the closed shop. The contest was the first large one we have had on our hands, and the fact that both the Telegraph and Times are the first newspapers in this city to sign up is proof enough of the great victory won by the printers and pressmen. No little credit can be given for this result to our little weekly paper, the Labor News, which was issued jointly by the two unions, and which kept our cause ever before the public. The boys worked hard, too, and the way the advertisements, resolutions of sympathy, etc., came pouring in showed the active sympathy of the people was with us. Probably the greatest factor contributing to the successful conclusion of the fight was the work of President Edward L. Sage, of No. 85, who gave all his time and energy to the direction of matters. Strike Secretary Ken Fairweather, the members of the executive, consisting of George Maxwell (chairman), John Longan, Robert Selfridge, John Thompson, Ambrose McGourty, John Hopkins, George L. P. Swetka, Herman T. Campbell and George T. McCafferty; Strike Secretary Al Deuer, President Brown and the executive of the pressmen's union all worked their hardest toward the successful culmination of the strike.

The contracts were drawn up and signed on Thursday, November 19, President E. L. Sage and G. T. McCafferty signing on behalf of the union, and Manager Russell and President McCready on behalf of the company. The union men returned to work Friday, November 20.

All the professional strikebreakers have departed, and many of them expressed their sorrow at not being union men. Too bad they didn't have that opinion when they accepted work in a struck shop. They were a worried lot when rumors of the union men going back took definite form, for they were waxing fat on the "war prices" the manage