Among the Toilers

Among the Toilers. BY HAROLD GOFF. The Master's exhortation, "Love one another," can never come into complete fulfilment until we understand one another. And we shall never understand one another until we learn to look at life and interpret its meaning and its worth from more than our own particular point of view. There is more than sentimentality in the old song, We shall know each other better When the mists have rolled away. We can read into it — or out of it, if you will — the lesson that it is our duty to help roll the mists away. In a great measure we can accomplish this end, for much of the mist which enclouds man- kind is of our own making. In a casual conversation, not long ago, a friend of mine strongly impressed this truth upon me, although I doubt that at the time he was conscious that his utterances were more than common- place— a fact which reminds us that the impromptu word or action may often be of more value than we think. My friend is an edu- cated man— a graduate of Cornell — and an educator. Most of his work in the world is of the mental type ; most of his time he is engaged in the vocation of instructing the young. But many of his summers he chooses to spend in manual labor, out in the fields tilling the soil, or gathering in the crops at harvest time. It was shortly after his return from such a summer's work that he said to me: "It does one good to get out among the toilers — I mean the toilers in the fields or the shops. We are all toilers in our own particular way, but we fail to appreciate the other fellow because

126 IMPROVEMENT ERA. we do not meet him on his own ground and learn to know him as he is. "Those of us whose work is not manual, often think that the field or shop workers are happy and contented only in their working clothes, and that the dust and grime of their labor is an essential part of their happiness. And we look on them with something akin to contempt. But we are wrong. The dust and the grime, it is true, are a part of their life, but they themselves are not very different from the rest of us. They like good homes; they like clean clothes, clean beds and clean food; they like their rest and recreation. More often than we know, they like those accom- plishments we call culture, and would cultivate them if they had the chance. "And some of these modest, unassuming toilers are really expert in their line; they can do important and necessary work better than most of us could dream of doing it." As an example, my friend told me of a blacksmith — Peterson by name, I believe, though that doesn't matter — who had been in charge of the repair work on the machinery of a certain ranch. With only an improvised shop, this blacksmith could provide any wheel, shaft, or other mechanical appliance that might be needed. And he would attempt — and accomplish too — work that seemed little short of marvelous. Once, when the heavy steel pipe of a "driven" well had slipped from its fastenings and had dropped to the bottom of the bore, its recovery was despaired of. Four hundred pounds of steel, point downward, had dropped two hun- dred feet. It must have buried itself forty feet in the mud, and at a tremendous distance from the ground surface. Men of expe- rience with wells declared that the pipe could not possibly be recovered. Some of them were willing to wager one thousand dollars that it could not be done. But Peterson, calm and unper- turbed, said quietly, "I'll get it up this afternoon." And he did, with a contrivance of his own manufacture. I don't know what it was, but he ought to have it patented. This same blacksmith, after cutting and pounding a piece of steel pipe for two hours, shaping it into a guard for some part of an engine's mechanism, discovered that the piece would not do. "I'll have to try again," he said quietly, "I got the weld that

AMONG THE TOILERS. 127 time." There was no violent cursing, no muttering or complaint at the two hours of hard labor lost. It was simply, "I'll have to try again." What a lesson for the best of us! This unassuming blacksmith is only one of many toilers whom we, that work in office, store or school room, should know. And they ought to know us. An interchange of places, a meet- ing on a common plane, would make us all bigger, broader and better. It would minimize narrowness and bigotry; it would teach us appreciation, toleration, and true charity — life's greatest heritage. Modern labor troubles, as my friend reminded me, would largely be done away with, if a perfect understanding could be established between the toilers of the brain and the toilers of the brawn. The "labor problem" would be solved. Difficulties and disagreement which may throw states, and even nations, into tur- moil, might be avoided, if "the mists were rolled away." A more perfect harmony would exist, and universal peace, that long-sought- f or consummation, would prevail. Then would abide true charity, and the divine injunction, "Love one another," would be near fulfilment. University of Utah. Wanted. (Selected.) God give us men. A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands — Men whom the lust of office does not kill ; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess a genius and a will, Men who have honor, men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking'— Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty and in private thinking. For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, Their large professions and their little deeds, Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps' J. G. Holland.