For more than a year the employees had accepted reduced wages with the
understanding that the old scale should be restored by the company as
soon as times improved and the business warranted. That the employees had
timed their strike at an opportune moment was apparent even to stubborn
Reuben Harris. It was galling indeed to his sensitive nature and proud
spirit that his project of selling the steel plant for millions should
have failed.
As he kissed his wife good-bye on the steamer in New York, her last
words were, "Reuben, stand up for your rights." Her avaricious spirit
had always dominated him.
Before Reuben Harris left his city office for his home he had arranged,
in addition to the precaution taken by the mayor, to dispatch to the
mills and homes of his employees twenty-five special detectives in
citizens' clothes, who were to keep him fully advised as to the doings
of his employees about the mills and in their public and private
meetings. He had given his men no concessions in a previous strike which
lasted for months. He would neither recognize their unions nor their
demand for shorter hours.
It was true he had risen to be a millionaire from the humble position of
a blacksmith, but he was always severe in his own shop.
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