Automobiles, with drivers, were within ready call for
these men at any time. It was understood, also, that no journeys were
to be made into the section of the city inhabited by the miners and
their families.
Thus far the strike had not been attended by violence of any sort or
the destruction of property. The men had simply ceased to work and had
submitted their demands to the president of the company. The latter
realized at once that the employees were being led by an unusual type
of labor agitators, who might be expected to employ unusual methods to
gain their ends. The man who appeared to be the leader was as unusual
in appearance as he was in methods pursued. He was about thirty-five
years old, but looked five or eight years younger. He had first been
employed in the mines about six months before as an operator of an
electric chain-cutter machine, but he had not long been connected with
the work before his influence among the men began to be felt. To the
casual observer, he was a quiet sharp-eyed man, who seldom spoke,
under ordinary circumstances, unless he was first spoken to. But he
got in communication with all his fellow workers in some mysterious
manner and before long, in spite of the fact that he was not what is
popularly known as a "mixer," everybody from shovelers to machine men
knew him as Dave, the chain-cutter man.
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