eling card and is up to date in the secret works and speaks of the brothers of East Ely, Nev., and the surrounding district as though he were well acquainted with them.

Brother O'Hare, President of Lodge 799, is at present at his home in East Ely, and he and the other brothers of that lodge are at a loss to know how this imposter obtained the traveling card and secret works.

All brothers should be on the lookout for this imposter with a view to having him brought to justice at the earliest possible moment.

The next quarterly St. Louis, Mo., Joint Union Meeting of the B. of L. E. and B. of L. F. and E. will be held in that city on the 12th of the current month (July.)

Bureau,

The Railway Educational which for some years has been conducted by Mr. D. C. Buell, has been turned over to Mr. Buell himself who will conduct it hereafter as a business venture. Mr. Buell was formerly a member of Lodge 13, and has had considerable experience in educational work. The plan under which the Educational Bureau will be operated by Mr. Buell will provide that all engineers, firemen and other train service employes will be eligible to scholarships at the very reasonable rate of $1.00 per month. Full details can be secured upon aplication to Mr. D. C. Buell, Director, The Railway Educational Bureau, Union Pacific Headquarters, Omaha, Nebr.

The series of union meetings arranged for in Chicago should be attended by every member in that great city and viLook out for future union meetings of cinity who can be present at each one of Chicago lodges. The first of a series ar- them. These meetings are sure to result ranged for that city was held Sunday, in great good to the Brotherhood. RefMay 31st last. Due announcement will erence to them appears elsewhere in this be made of future meetings either through issue. the Magazine or by communication direct to the lodges or both.

Brothers desiring information regarding the Grand Union Meeting to be held in Calgary, Alta., Canada, on August 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th next can secure same by addressing Brother B. G. Tower, Box 191, Calgary, Alta., Canada.

Special rates can be secured for persons attending the Canadian Grand Union Meeting to be held at Calgary, Alta., Canada, on August 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th next who are unable to secure free transportion. For particulars write Brother B. G. Tower, Box 191, Calgary, Alta.,, Canada.

We

Legislative Assessment.

are

still receiving requests from

for Legislative assessments, no matter what his vocation or where he may be

different lodges with reference to who located. Every member of a lodge will be are liable for Legislative assessments. compelled to pay legislative assessments A law enacted by the St. Paul conven- when properly levied by the Legislative tion provided that every member of the Board of the State in which the lodge organization should pay Legislative as- is located." sessments. When this law was enacted,

From this it will be seen that every

President Carter was asked for an in- member of a lodge is required to pay terpretation of same and he promptly Legislative assessments and I sincerely interpreted the law "Every member of a lodge will be liable self to become expelled -believing that he

as follows, that trust that no member will permit him

should not pay his pro rata part of the bers who fail to pay their assessments. expenses of the Legislative Board.

Eastern Wage Movement Assessment.

This is a very unwise thing to do and is entirely in conflict with the provisions of the constitution. Action of this kind I am glad to inform all of the mem- on the part of some of our lodges has bers in the Eastern territory or those placed many financial secretaries in members who were affected by the embarrassing positions in so far as their Eastern Concerted Wage Movement of finances are concerned, and I urge upon 1912 and 1913, that the last assessment every lodge to rescind any action of to reimburse the Protective Fund for this kind that has been taken and commoneys expended on account of this pell every member who fails to pay his movement, will be payable by all mem- assessments, or in other words, who debers liable therefor, on or before the sires to be carried by the lodge, to make first day of August. In other words, the application as required by the constitulast assessment will be fifty cents ($.50) and must be paid by all members to the financial secretary on or before the first day of August.

This will also advise the members who participated in the Eastern Concerted Wage Movement that the cost of the entire movement to each member was only four dollars and fifty cents ($4.50).

Purchase of Bonds.

tion.

Twenty-five Year Buttons.

for

I again call attention to the fact that of the General Secretary and Treasurer a twenty-five year button is in the office awaiting application to be made same by members who have held continuous membership for twenty-five years or more. These buttons are of a very neat design and it seems to me that every member who has held continuous membership for twenty-five years should have one on the lapel of his coat. We will be glad to forward one to every member entitled thereto upon receipt of request from him.

Changed Conditions.

The last convention provided that the funds of the organization should be invested in State, municipal and county bonds. This law went into effect upon its passage, but nothing was done in connection with the purchasing of bonds until after January 1st last. Up to the present time we have invested nearly five hundred thousand dollars ($500,- to the members and officers of our subI take this opportunity of expressing 000.00) of the Beneficiary Fund and ordinate lodges our appreciation of the about two hundred and fifty thousand efforts put forth by them to rectify dollars ($250,000.00) of the Beneficiary We have purchased discovered and which have been called Reserve Fund. many little irregularities that we have what we believe to be good municipal bonds and there is no question in our to their attention through the columns minds but what, when they are due, the of the Magazine in the department enlocality issuing the bonds will be pre- titled "From the General Secretary and pared to redeem them. We have aimed Treasurer."

to purchase fifteen to twenty year bonds By the co-operation of the members and I am pleased to advise that on the and officers the work in this office has first of June the amount of bonds pur- been decreased very materially and I am chased in the Beneficiary Fund were netting us an average of 4.63 per cent interest and the amount purchased for the Beneficiary Reserve Fund was netting us 4.73 per cent.

It was necessary to pay a premium on a good many of these bonds but the revenue derived in interest from the same will overcome the premium paid and instead of receiving 3 per cent on our money as heretofore we are now receiving over one per cent additional.

"Carrying" Members.

sure that changes made in handling matters by our subordinate lodges have resulted in substantial benefit to them.

Owing to the depression in business which seems to prevail all over the country at the present time, work in the office is not as heavy as it usually is.

We are indeed in hopes that before long business will pick up and in that way let us feel that we are going ahead quite rapidly and at the same time keep us busy all of the time at this end of the line.

It has recently come to my attention I again want to extend my appreciathrough correspondence in this office tion for the assistance given in the that some lodges have taken action giv- handling of affairs of subordinate ing the financial secretary authority to lodges in so far as their dealings with use his judgment in "carrying" mem- the Grand Lodge office is concerned.

Forum

THE MIGHTIEST RAILWAY MEN'S ORGANIZATION ON EARTH-THUS SCANDINAVIAN EDITOR STYLES OUR BROTHERHOOD-INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SWEDISH ENGINEMEN.

By JOHN BJORKHOLM*

The "Mightiest Railwaymen's Organi- lines, and that the hands of labor should zation on Earth" is the title used by extend in friendly greetings the world Editor Ringdahl, a prominent engineer over-that we should be brothers, no on the Swedish State Railways and a matter what nation is our home or what member of the Kings Railway Commis- tongue we speak. sion, for a series of articles in the SwedSwedish enginemen are excelled in efish enginemen's journal, in which Mr. ficiency by none in the world. Ringdahl very ably handles the history cially is this so of the men on the govEspeof the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire- ernment lines. These men the governand Enginemen, which judging ment carefully trains and schools, prac from said articles is well known among tically as well as theoretically, for their our craftsmen in the land of the midnight responsible positions. The motive power

men

sun.

is of the highest standard, and a story is Beginning with comments about our being told about an engineer who delast convention in Washington, D. C., layed an important train several minutes Mr. Ringdahl goes into a detailed ac- because the wiper had failed to bring his count of the history and development of engine up to a standard of cleanliness our organization, from the time when that suited his vanity. eleven, union-inspired firemen, gathered The firemen are at Port Jervis, N. Y., and formed what wipers, each one of them being assigned graduated from is today, "the mightiest railway men's to his special engine. The sole duty of organization on earth." the wipers is to keep the engines clean,

In connection with a very thorough and the requirements by some of the enstatement of our insurance features, one gineers in this respect is something that can read between the lines where our goes beyond human comprehension. After friend on the other side of the Atlantic wiping for a year or so the young man points out suggestions to his own fel- is transferred to the machine shop, where low members as to the advisibility of he must prove himself a good mechanic their adopting some of the methods that before being assigned to firing. Havproven so successful among the ing been fortunate enough to reach enginemen on the North American con- that rung in the ladder of progress It is cheering to know that we where he finally is classed as a fireman are considered the mightiest body of he has attained a position which, I must men in the world following our calling, say, I sometimes almost envy him. Reguwe should be proud of such com- lar hours in all service, engines

have

tinent.

and

as

ments as those appearing in the Swedish clean as the interior of a ladies' drawing enginemen's journal.

room, regular off-days with full pay, and

novel to us

The enginemen in the Scandinavian before promotion (usually at the end of countries, Sweden, Norway and Den- six or seven years) a thorough technical mark have formed, long ago, a federa- training at the government's expense, tion, with a like number of representa- and on the day of promotion a solemn tives from the three countries serving as farewell to the scoop forever, is someThis federation meets in con- thing that reads like a vention tri-ennially, and much good has American enginemen, but such truly are resulted from these meetings. have fully demonstrated that the bonds locomotive firemen in service on the govThey the employment conditions of Swedish fraternity know no international ernment lines and should he after proLocal Chairman Lodge 180, Milwaukee, Wis. motion to engineer be seen on his en

officers.

of

gine otherwise than with a white shirt and a clean collar he would be considered as unworthy of his occupation. As engineer he enjoys a pay that can, when the purchasing power of the money is considered, be favorably compared with ours, and usually at the age of 55 or 58 years he is retired on a substantial pension.

work was not in vain, and now that we have got a good start we propose that our future union meetings will be so successful that they will be attended by results highly beneficial to the Brotherhood in this great city and vicinity.

Brother E. C. Seehorn of the Colorado and Southern, upon being introduced by Chairman Renshaw, expressed himself as heartily in favor of union meetings. He said that the interchange of ideas and the relating of experiences which they make possible are productive of excellent results in advancing the general interests of the Brotherhood. Brother Seehorn also spoke interestingly on the welfare of the order.

During the summer months all Swedish locomotive men are granted a vacation with full pay, and will in the future gather at their new "home of recreation" built at one of the most fashionable summer resorts in Sweden by the enginmen's organization, the management of several of the private lines having contributed to the building fund Chairman Renshaw next introduced of this very artistic and comfortable Brother D. McCarthy, State Legislative home. Dedicated last summer by no Representative, who explained the nature less a personage than the King himself, and details of different measures for the it is already becoming very popular among the men and their families, and a resolution is now pending before the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) which seeks to provide that the organization be practically reimbursed for the money paid out in the erection of this summer home of the knights of the foot board.

Joint Union Meeting at Alliance, O
On May 31st last the different divi-
sions and lodges of the B. of L. E., O. R.
C,. B. of L. F. and E., and B. of R. T. of
Alliance, Ohio, held a joint union meet-
ing. Afternoon and evening sessions were
held at which over 100 were present. The
telegraph operators in this section, while
not organized, were invited and were well
represented at the meeting. Many sub-
jects of vital interest to all were dis-
cussed.
A. I. STRAWN,

Fin. Sec'y Lodge 630.

passage of which battles were fought and won in the Illinois State Legislature at Springfield, as for instance the Electric Headlight Bill, a bill providing sanitary lockers at washrooms, roundhouses, etc. He also told of the difficulty experienced in endeavoring to have legislation enacted for the benefit of railroad employes because of the reputation as "poor voters" they bear amongst legislators and other public officials. He said that state representatives and senators have thrown in his face when he has appealed to them for the passage of measures the fact that railroad men as a class take quite a limited interest in public elections, that a large proportion of them seem to be entirely indifferent as to whether they vote or not. So, brothers, you see how necessary it is for you to take an active part in electing to the legislature and other public offices men who can be depended upon to heed labor's cry for justice.

We were also very glad to have with us Brother John F. McNamee, Editor and Manager of the Magazine, who spoke

Chicago Union Meetings-First of at length on the great subject of soli

Series.

A series of union meetings have been arranged for by our Chicago lodges the first of which was held on Sunday, May 31st last. This meeting-one session of which was held in the afternoon and the other in the evening-was a splendid success and greater results will be obtained from our future union meetings. The arrangements committee worked hard for the success of this event and their efforts are indeed appreciated by all of us. Committees of the Chicago lodges have for some time been endeavoring to get these union meetings started, and the gathering of May 31st demonstrated that their

darity and co-operation in the ranks of organized labor generally and of the railroad labor organizations in particular. Brother McNamee said we should not rest content until a system of federation and co-operation amongst all labor organizations had been so firmly established that labor could demonstrate its real power so effectively as to defy and successfully resist the despotisms of tyrannical money kings and the oppression of corrupt and arrogant public officials.

Brother Y. J. Merriman, local chairman of Lodge 237, spoke interestingly on the great advantages that resulted to the Brotherhood from the holding of meetings

of this kind and the benefits our members man Lodge 331; Brother Costello, Lodge would derive by attending them. 451; Brother Chilman, local chairman Brother Long, chairman of the Oregon Lodge 429; Brother Maher, president Short Line, also responded with very Lodge 707; Brother Zimmerman, Lodge pleasing remarks. He expressed himself 698, and Brother Thompson, recording as heartily in favor of union meetings, secretary Lodge 331. A motion made by and urged that the future gatherings of this series be attended by every brother who can be present.

A SUPERINTENDENT WITH A HEART
By J. ALEX KILLINGSWORTH*

While looking o'er the morning mail, the
M. M. sat perplexed;

The scowl upon his face betrayed the
fact that he was vexed.

"It beats the Dutch that I've got men who'll not obey the rules,

Men who perform like graduates from correspondence schools.

It hurts to have my knuckles rapped about the class of men

That I've employed the past few years, particularly when