From a Little Boy.

A little boy will try to write to the dear old ADVOCATE. My papa is a foreman and has been for about five years and I have one uncle who works on the track. They both belong to the Brotherhood and think it is a grand Order. There are five of us children; the two youngest are twins. Christmas is drawing near and I hope I will get something nice for a present. As this is my first letter I will make it short. I hope it will miss the waste basket, and if so, I will write more the next time. Yours truly. HUSTON STOLE.

Junction City, Kan.

I want to call the attention of the members of our Order to a very important subject, and that is: Are you doing all in your power to induce the employes in the maintenance-of-way department to follow in your footsteps by becoming members of the Order? If you are neglecting this important and very vital question, I want to assure you that you are not doing your duty. It is absolutely necessary, and without question a very important matter, as to whether you are bringing in the weaker brothers or not. One phase we have come in contact with on the Kansas division is to reduce the average age of our membership. This has been an error of many Orders before us, with the result that the average death list of said Orders have gone beyond the normal.

Don't let the brothers on the Kansas division make the mistake of allowing division officials to drift or divert your minds from your organization. Every employe should be accordingly invited to become one of us; not only because we are as good as the best, but because it is their duty to support and strengthen the Brotherhood of Maintenance-of-Way Employes and keep it intact and staple, so that our rights as employes and citizens may not be taken away or diverted, but we should have the support of the entire Brotherhood in receiving it, and we will have it on the Kansas division if each brother will do his duty. Brothers

Hull, Henthorne and myself are doing all we can as organizers to harmonize and solidify the work on this division. I do not want my advice to fall on deaf ears, but to you, brother, who is now reading this, I want to make a personal appeal, to take account of all the members of your Brotherhood, and if there are any in your neighborhood who are not members of the organization, speak to them about it and show that it is a duty they owe to themselves and their families and their self-respect to try to induce them to join with us.

There are a number of good men of an eligible age employed on the Kansas division who are not members. Just think what an impetus it would give our organization if each of them were members of it, and how materially it would help toward the realization of our desires for better conditions and a more equitable rate of wage. The question is, will you do it? Fraternally yours,

GUS WRIGHT, Organizer.

Chicago, Ill.

Through the force of circumstances, this is the first communication you have received from that husky young infant, the St. Paul Star Lodge No. 142. Organizer Brother Peterson left us in good shape before turning us loose, with sixty members to the good. At our last meeting on November 19 we enrolled thirty more, making a total of ninety since we started.

All of the officers and members of this lodge are enthusiasts of the first water and we expect to continue the good work until we get every man within our jurisdiction to join the greatest union

ever.

The enthusiasm of the last week was somewhat dimmed by the death of our respected brother, John Soweski, one of the earliest and most enthusiastic members. Proper resolutions were adopted, expressing our sorrow and sympathy with the bereaved family. Our next meeting will be held on December 24. I will give you a full account of our growth. With best wishes for all, yours in B. L. U., JOURNAL AGENT.

Our Loss.

Again the unseen hand of Him who doeth all things well has taken, and without warning, one of our brothers and coworkers, Bro. R. W. Hay, secretarytreasurer of Cherokee Lodge No. 462, was killed by a freight engine on December 6. He was 59 years and 9 months old and had been in the employ of the Illinois Central thirty-one years, during which time he proved himself a valuable trackman and a faithful employe. His host of friends and associates held him in high esteem and will miss the hearty welcome he always had for each one. The members of Cherokee lodge will miss him from their meetings, as they fully appreciate his good counsel and services and it is indeed their loss.

Brother Hay leaves a devoted wife and four loving children, to whom I wish to express what must be the true feeling of all the maintenance-of-way employes who knew him, and on their behalf I extend to you, the dear family of our brother and fellow-worker, our most fraternal and sincere sympathies, and we trust that the sunshine of hope will to some extent relieve the pain and dispel the gloom which the unseen hand of Him who doeth all things well has so suddenly brought upon you, and may He in His own time reunite you an unbroken family circle. Sincerely and fra ternally, W. M. SMITH, Chairman M.-of-W. Committee.

Rat Portage Lodge No. 238.

Well, boys, I am going to try to get a few lines in the January ADVOCATE, if I can arrange to catch the editor before he has his type all set. As this will be the first edition for the year 1911, we should all contribute a little toward it and try to make the ADVANCE ADVOCATE for 1911 more interesting than ever before.

Sunday, the 1st, will be our meeting day again and I expect to see a big turnout of members as it is the meeting when we elect our officers for the year 1911. All of the extra summer force are laid off now and you should see that there

are no nons in your gang, and if there is one, hand him an application and have him fill it out and bring it along to our secretary. You will find him at the old address, box No. 80 at Kenora.

Now, then, let's try to keep ahead of the game in 1911 by paying up our dues promptly. Now is the time to dig down and go after your working card for the first half of the year. Remember the old saying, keep the ball rolling, and the same is good. I guess I have said enough for this time, so will close by wishing you all a prosperous and happy New Year. Yours in B. L. and U.,

JOURNAL AGENT.

Bangor, Me.

Penobscot Lodge No. 334 met and elected their officers for 1911 at their last regular meeting. The officers elected are as follows:

Past president, T. J. Treacy; president, Maynard Springer; vice-president, Henry Samways; secretary, J. L. Brennen; chaplain, Jos. Leveille; journal agent, C. I. Merrill; conductor, M. V. Kinney; warden, Pat. Conway; inner sentinel, Pat. Hardiman; outer sentinel, Pat. Nelligon. Committee: Chairman, J. L. Brennen; secretary, M. V. Kinney; M. Springer; house committee, M. V. Kin

ney.

The officers were duly and ably installed by the retiring president, Bro. Fred Sylvester, who has held the office of president for the last two years, an office which requires brains and ability, and our retiring brother filled the position to the entire satisfaction of every one. The lodge much regrets losing Brother Sylvester from the most important chair.

A body of men without a good leader is like an engine without steam, but I believe that our new board of officers will be found just as capable and will conduct the affairs of the Order in a business-like manner. At our next regular meeting it was voted to have a smoker and talk, also to invite the ladies to attend. Refreshments will be served.

Boys, do not forget the night of our meeting which is the first Monday in

each month. At our meeting on December 5, we did not have nearly as many members as we should have had. Brother Allen, our able and witty general chairman, was present and gave us some very good points which were both amusing and instructive and much enjoyed by everyone present. Brother Allen has the courage of his convictions and is using every endeavor to build up the Brotherhood on our road and I am glad to say that he is succeeding very nicely. We are gathering in a few of the stray nons. There are very few

left, but we will not be content until every man is enrolled as a member. Yours in B. L. and U.,

JOURNAL AGENT.

Superior Lodge No. 141.

Well, brothers, as I am elected journal agent of Lodge No. 141 on the D. S. S. & A. Ry., I will try and write a few lines for the ADVOCATE to let our brothers know that Superior Lodge No. 141 is still doing business. I would like to point out to you, brothers, that you are making a great mistake in not going after the nons on this road. You all know who they are and if you don't know, you can easily ascertain. It is your duty to the Brotherhood to know who are connected with the Order and who are not and get after them. Should this meet the eyes of any employe in the maintenance-ofway department who is not a member of the Brotherhood, just ask yourself the reason why you do not join. Ninetynine times out of one hundred the answer will have to be "from a purely selfish standpoint." If you have already joined, then your brothers would like to see you at your lodge occasionally. Don't be a pull-back; walk right up just like you were going after your pay check. Come right into the lodge room and let us make it interesting to ourselves and oth

ers.

Let me ask you, are you satisfied with your present wages and conditions under which you are forced to labor? No, you are not. If you are satisfied, then you are getting really more than you are worth to the company you are working

for and they will do a good business for themselves to fire you. Don't say that you will never be anything more than you are now. If you do, you stand a good chance of being a little less than you are now.

Do you not know what the Brotherhood has done for you? If you do not, just take a look over the events of the past few years and see for yourself. Don't you know that a few dollars more per month will be a great help to you, and assist you to support and educate your family? Is it possible that you are going to half educate your children, or neglect them entirely and compel them to be slaves all their lives, to toil and labor all day long without a just recompense? I believe not, so let us get ourselves in shape to enable us to obtain enough wages to live comfortably and as good American citizens all should live.

Do not be discouraged if you fail one time, try again. Let us get busy and get every eligible man on our division to be a true Brotherhood man. If we will only try to help ourselves, others will help us. If we go at it right and work for ourselves, others will help us.

Our lodge meets on January 14 and I hope to see a full attendance with a batch of applications to open up the new year's meeting. Let every maintenanceof-way man ask himself where he would be were it not for the organization, and then hustle and preach the doctrine of unionism and Brotherhood to every unfortunate who is now outside the fold. Yours in B. L. and U.,

JOURNAL AGENT.

Parry Sound, Ont.

Hello, journal agent! Not a word from you all summer, so here goes for Lodge No. 447. We have a lodge now of sixty members strong. Pretty good for a kid two years. There are only two foremen on our division who are not members, but we hope to have them soon. If every body would put their shoulders to the wheel of prosperity we would soon have results. Come on and give us a shove and we can turn it. We all have a lot of work to do, but get just one night of

spare time. Get your gaff hook and go after those nons. I am sure all of you could make a catch, and here I wish to thank all the members of this lodge for helping this work along. Perhaps the editor will turn this down, but, if not, look for a long letter from your journal agent. I know this letter will make him jealous. This being my first letter, I will close by wishing all a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Fraternally yours, SECRETARY.

Alum Creek, W. Va.

I wish to advise our membership of the great misfortune which happened to our brother, Charley Pauley. On Sunday, December 18, his house was burned to the ground and everything he had was burned up. He had gone to Spruce that morning to attend the lodge and left his wife and two youngest children in the house. In some way or other the youngest child set fire to the paper on the wall, and in a few minutes everything was ablaze and nothing was left but a pile of ashes. In a calamity of this kind, I believe that it is our duty, as brothers, to help him. Brother Pauley is a member in good standing of Lodge No. 111, Certificate No. 92820, and is deserving of any assistance that can possibly be given to him. I hope that all will assist in giving him a lift. Fraternally yours, CERTIFICATE NO. 92824.

Anniston Lodge No. 375.

I will attempt to write another letter to the ADVOCATE. I wrote one last month, but I suppose it landed too late or in the waste paper basket.

I attended the meeting of our lodge last month and we had a very nice time. There were not as many in attendance as I would like to have seen. I believe that Anniston lodge is doing fine, if we could only get a move on the weak ones and the nons. I expected to attend the meeting of our lodge today, but the weather looked so threatening and I was more than half sick, so I did not go. I hope that the members who did go had a good meeting and felt better than I

did. I would like to have been with them. I don't like to be spelled out of the class and go back to the foot again. I want to be up in each recitation and recite my part of the lesson, and now that I am elected journal agent of Anniston Lodge I am going to try and do my duty as far as I can, although I have had a poor chance in life as regards an education and cannot compose a very good letter, but I will try and do my best. Nobody can succeed if they don't try, and we, as a union body of foremen, must keep on trying and work together. Don't go to sleep, as I once heard of an old negro who hired to a white man to clear up some new ground and burn brush, and some time during the day a friend came along and said, "Jim, let's go hunting down in your field and see how that negro is getting along burning brush." While on the way Tom shot an owl and broke one wing. Jim picked it up and was carrying it along, and pretty soon they came in sight of the negro, who was standing up by a stump, not doing anything. So Jim walked up to him and saw that he was asleep. He gave the owl a swing at the old negro's head, and the owl nailed the old negro in the face with his claws. The negro threw up his hands and said, "I declare, I never heard of an owl ketchin' a grown negro in broad daylight."

Now, brothers, don't let any of us go to sleep as the old negro did. Let us get in touch with every member on our road that don't realize the importance of our organization in the I. B. M. W. E. We all know the cost of living has gone up very high, and I don't know why we cannot build up our organization high, the same as the O. R. T. boys have done. We are justly entitled to the same treatment and as much pay, if not more. Only a few years ago their pay was less than ours, but by organization they have passed us in rates and are now receiving a higher compensation than we are.

We must try and make for betterment in our work. Do our best in all our daily duties, so that the officials may say that we are men who are working for the interest of the company as well as for our

selves. Our union teaches us this and instructs us that it is our duty to do anything we can in the interest of the railroad company which employs us, so that we may go in and secure concessions and ask for better compensation and better conditions to labor under.

Unionism is not for the purpose of war, but for peace; not to destroy, but to save; not as enemies, but as brothers; not to free chattel slave, but wage slaves. I am, yours in B. L. and U.,

JOURNAL AGENT.

Scranton. Pa.

It is a long time since I penned my last letter to our old friend, the ADVOCATE, and on the approach of another New Year, a few lines from my rusty pen may be in order. I have been a member of the Brotherhood for fourteen years, and I am proud to say that I have never been in arrears for my dues during that time.

In looking over the trail of the past, I can see many obstacles that have been overcome. Our people have gained many benefits by reason of their connection with the Brotherhood, but a question arises in my mind-have we made as much progress in the past as we should have done? Have we all done our part in boosting the Brotherhood wagon up the hill? It is a safe bet that nearly every one who will ask himself that question must answer to himself, "I might have done more."

The year 1910 is dying, and when these lines are being read by our readers, it will have rolled into the past, together with its joys and sorrows, victories and defeats, and a new year will have opened before us with its opportunities and possibilities. What are we going to do for ourselves this year? What will we do "for our fellows? I earnestly hope that every member will look the matter squarely in the face and decide to put forth every possible effort to increase our membership and make the I. B. M. W. E. what it should be-the strongest railway Brotherhood in the world. Just think of it, boys, there are over 400,000 maintenance-of-way employes in Ameri

ca, and we have less than one-fourth of that number organized. What a field for work lies before us! and what is each one of us going to do about it? If each member were to get one new member in the first six months, and each new member were to get another new member, it would not be long before we had an organization that would be a power for good in the land.

Railway officials have noticed the conservative policy of our organization and in consequence are not as antagonistic as they formerly were. They realize that we stand only for what is fair to ourselves and and fair to the company. It would be foolish, I think, to attempt to do business with them unless we had a good strong organization behind us, but men who are working on roads where a schedule has not yet been obtained should get busy and complete the work on your road so that you also may be in a position to send a committee to your management and demand improved conditions to work under and a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

Your duty to your wives and little ones demands this. I pray the good Father of us all that He will make each one of us to realize our position and that He will give us courage and wisdom to do our full duty to ourselves and to each other. Wishing all members of our organization, the ladies of the Anxiliary and their families a bright and prosperous New Year, I remain, yours in B. L. and U., CERT. 4824.

Moberly, Mo.

I am a poor, broken-down jerry who, for many years, has run the gauntlet of roadmasters and supervisors. In my young days I knew nearly every foreman personally within a radius of one hundred miles of me. Railroads were not so thick in those days. We had plenty of hard work to do and not much to do it with, either tools, men or material, and we used to visit one another and have a good time together, often returning home with sore heads and empty pockets, and as I look back to those good old days, as we fondly call them