ed the bearings. The next day he gave me a job as a catcher. A
catcher is one who seizes the rolled plate as it comes out and throws it
back to the roller. It has to be rolled many times. The boss who gave me
this much-wanted job was Daniel G. Reid, who afterward became one of the
big men in the tin industry.

After I became Secretary of Labor I was a dinner guest at the White
House. When I arrived the President said: "Here's an old friend of
yours." To my surprise and keen pleasure President Harding led forward
my old boss, Daniel G. Reid. There was much laughing and old-time talk
between us. "Do you recall," said Mr. Reid, "how during the tin strike
of '96, you steered to the lodge room and unionized men who came to take
the place of the strikers?" Mr. Reid thought this was a great joke. He
had always been favorable to ending the strike and signing the men's
agreement, but for a long time had been deterred by his partners. Mr.
Reid in nearly every conference was selected for chairman, and this
was considered by the employers a very fine tribute of respect and
confidence. Turning to the president, Mr. Reid said: "If Jim is as
industrious in your service as he was in the Elwood tin mill you have
got a good secretary. Jim knew more about the tin plate business when he
was a worker than any other man in America. I wanted to get him to join
our sales department but he declined my offer!"

When the matter of the Elwood strike was referred to the next regular
meeting I had been working only three weeks. I wrote to my father in
Sharon asking for his counsel on the subject. He wrote back: "In as much
as it isn't a question of wages or rules, I'd vote to stay on the job
and wait for my pay. There's no pay out here to be had even by waiting.
The mill is down, and if we hadn't raised a big potato crop we wouldn't
know where to look for our next meal."

CHAPTER XXXI. UNACCUSTOMED AS I AM TO PUBLIC SPEAKING

With father's warning on my mind I went to the meeting where the strike
was to be voted. Nobody had opposed the strike, for the cause was
plainly a just one. The men wanted their pay to be issued to them every
week, and they were entitled to it. The only question in my mind was one
of expediency. Could we hope to win a strike at a time like that when
the mills were on the verge of closing because of bad business?

While the speakers were presenting the reasons for the strike I noticed
that not a man examined or discus