t."

This and more Captain O'Connor said in excited language. Finally he
shouted, "Slaves, will you tamely submit to all this indignity and not
resent it? The managers of the Harrisville Iron & Steel Co. are tyrants
of the worst sort. They are fencing you out to-day from the only field on
which you can gain bread for your starving wives and children.

"Reuben Harris cares more for his gold than for your souls. Since you
refuse him your labor on his own terms, he purposes by aid of the high
fence and bayonets to forbid every one of you union men from earning an
honest living."

The strike committee decided to call a public meeting of all the
employees of the steel works on the base-ball grounds at 7 o'clock
the next morning. All the saloons that night were crowded, and loud
denunciation of capital was indulged in by the strike leaders. Early the
next morning a band of music marched up and down the streets where the
employees resided, and by 7 o'clock nearly four thousand men had
gathered.

The chief spokesman was Captain O'Connor whose words evoked great
cheering. He said, "Friends, we meet this morning to strike for our
freedom. How do you like being fenced out from your work? What will your
families do for a roof when the snows come and you have no bread for your
children? We are assembled here not for talk, but for action. I hold in
my hand a resolution which we must pass. Let me read it: 'Resolved, that
we, the employees of The Harrisville Iron & Steel Co., having been driven
out of our positions by a soulless corporation which promised a return to
former wages when the times improved, will not re-engage our services to
the Harrisville Iron & Steel Co. till the promised restoration of wages
is granted." This resolution was unanimously carried, with hurrahs and
beating of the drums.

"Bravo men! Here is another resolution for your action," and Captain
O'Connor read it as follows: "American citizens! In the spirit of
brotherly love we appeal to you citizens and taxpayers of Harrisville
for fair play. Four years ago the employees of the Harrisville Iron &
Steel Co. bowed before the law, and we should continue to do so had we
not discovered that the law, the judges, and the government seem to be
for the rich alone. But we prefer liberty to slavery, and war to
starvation. Again we lay down our tools and seek to arouse public
sympathy in our behalf. Again we plead the righteousness of our cause,
and may the God of th