ed as president of the order by Austin B. Garretson, who was born
in Winterset, Iowa, in 1856. He began his railroad career at nineteen
years of age, became a conductor on the Burlington system, and had
a varied experience on several Western lines, including the Mexican
National and Mexican Central railways. His rise in the order was rapid
and in 1889 he became vice-president. One of his intimate friends wrote
that "in his capacity as Vice-President and President of the Order
he has written more schedules and successfully negotiated more wage
settlements, including the eight-hour day settlement in 1916, under
the method of collective bargaining than any other labor leader on the
American continent."

Garretson has long served as a member of the executive committee of the
National Civic Federation and in 1919 was appointed by President Wilson
a member of the Federal Commission on Industrial Relations. A man of
great energy and force of character, he has recently assumed a leading
place in labor union activities.

In addition to the locomotive engineers and the conductors, the firemen
also have their union. Eleven firemen of the Erie Railroad organized a
brotherhood at Port Jervis, New York, in December, 1873, but it was
a fraternal order rather than a trade union. In 1877, the year of the
great railway strike, it was joined by the International Firemen's
Union, an organization without any fraternal or insurance features. In
spite of this amalgamation, however, the growth of the Brotherhood was
very slow. Indeed, so unsatisfactory was the condition of affairs that
in 1879 the order took an unusual step. "So bitter was the continued
opposition of railroad officials at this time," relates the chronicler
of the Brotherhood (in some sections of the country it resulted in the
disbandment of the lodges and the depletion of membership) "that it was
decided, in order to remove the cause of such opposition, to eliminate
the protective feature of the organization. With a view to this end
a resolution was adopted ignoring strikes." This is one of the few
recorded retreats of militant trade unionism. The treasury of the
Brotherhood was so depleted that it was obliged to call upon local
lodges for donations. By 1885, however, the order had sufficiently
recovered to assume again the functions of a labor union in addition
to its fraternal and beneficiary obligations. The days of its greatest
hardships were over, although the historic s