| Show n r w THEODORE J I woo Cat Tim Now Labor Loader a ol of Contradictions a ml mla 5 a 1 2 J n Pt It A man vury much In the public eyo oyo nt lit present says an Eastern writer Just juit If I of oC tho the lt ll fl 1 i Thomas J Shaffer president Amalgamated d Association A of oC Iron Aun Steel and Tin Workers who was the chief representative of oC the labor Inter loll t eats cats In the tho recent trouble at port Shaffer Is It not so BO well known to 1 p the country countr ot at t large as la Is Mitchell of oC atilt 1 j the United Aline Workers Worker r Ho lie Is ts a peculiar character and und If Ie Ieti it ti the public becomes welt well acquainted with him It will dint him a bundle hundlo of 01 t iy contrarieties He lie Is strong and weak and full of oC moods a spec spectacular Ii I declaimer and nn an earnest work worker er appearing many things as ns seen by ton t f many observer for among those hone who know him avail noil there are lire as IH 1111 many ION I Iov characterizations of oC him as there art aro aI characterizes lie was reared rl ared In fn the coal district and began to earn his hla liv living J I ing lag as I a s u II mine boy hay lie He got Into a mill milland millI and by and by b became a sheet roller I CO r It was wan not his hla plan to 10 remain a II roller g for Cor like young mn men who are found now and then In the humblest l conditions nu Ili he was Will born with a n thirst for lor learning and books Interested him more than TU machines s lie He studied at lit his work 1 1 Ills His schooling was scant but ho he carried it l his has books tn to the mill and studied us he her hei Ii i r labored His ills bent was Ill literary and II lid finally religious Shaffer Shatter saved a little money and bet bed be berain d t rams rain a a II student In the Western Nester University University sity allY of Pennsylvania at Pittsburg lie He was i a bright scholar and undoubtedly earnest but hla hie und funds run ran nut out and he h 4 was vas unable uMble to graduate Ho Ito was forced l back bae to the mill but continued to r 1 1 study und and was ordained to the tho ministry I of ot the Methodist t Episcopal church In Inthe Inthe the th Pittsburg conference For l or nearly F three yews years eu he was pastor of oC tho the little church in Brownsville where Philander C Knox was an on attendant In his early curly earlyw 1 v w Shaffer was faD of nervous temperament and of health and acquired d I certain habits which are afe not consistent lent with the Methodist discipline He lie was wal 0 accused of or bibulousness and was to quit the ministry At the tho theL L same time It was true that tho the preach II OI 4 ITS Irs vocation did not suit BUIt him dot lIe He needed more exercise exorcise Ulan titan It gave Bavo him and he went ent back cheerfully Into the tho t l sheet elect mills He ne was employed fifteen years ear ago as a n roller In the Apollo sheet mill milt and there took the tho leading part In tho the organization of a lodge of ot the Amalgamated association usa dation I He lie was wae a 1 scholar and a II student among ii it the workmen and became easily a n aleader aleader leader lie He appeared In the tho district and national meetings of oC the association tion as II a delegate anti his forceful p I speeches attracted attention among the leaders ot of the tho union Some six or seven years ago he became an assistant president president f dent of oC the tho Amalgamated and In 1891 1591 when President Pre M I M MI Garland Oarland was ap appointed appointed l pointed by President McKinley survey surey surveyor f or of oC the tho port of 01 Pittsburg Shaffer was elected by the association to the chief executive ex lIe Hu has hns been three thieo d 1 times reelected re though once by the skin kin of his hili teeth MN r Shatter Shaffer holds hOlda his place pI liCe because he h I I the best hest educated and most mast thoughtful I man In the Ihl union councils He lie Is s not I popular among the ordinary run of oC workmen for he Is not chummy His health Is miserable ml and for Cor a 1 long time two to years ago he was confined l to n a has I It was Wl s Just before b Core that break breakdown haul conk down down that th hes he ho h hall tl the eng lo long lonn contest with the thc tinplate trust lIe He carefully Cully cone conc concealed rented his falling condition n fruin ruin the trust representatives fearing that If it they knew It they hey would louM prolong tho the light tight until ho he could nut longer lunger hold up i his hla head lie III brought them then to the next day pave gave way WilY and went Into 1 the hands of the he surgeons This ThU i tx an nn Illustration of o the mans determination lie lip Is ie Isn Isn iea n a stubborn man but hut liable to change his hla attitude suddenly not because of oC outer Influences but because he lie changes his own mind during du ln lion Hon He lip thinks and oud broods which ors ore two different things Ho Inn has spells polls of o deep gloom Sometimes he ho loses 1011 1 himself for n a fortnight and his closest Mt friends cannot Und him He Ho within himself and at ot all times ho Ito II Is re cc reserved reo served Few know knol him well Occa Occasionally he talks freely Creel to nn on intimate and unfolds nil all his alms alma and hopes hOlle All the l time he Is II a n student delving Into title economic problems Some SOY say Shatter Shaffer Is In the labor work werk fur for money and fame Come Tho Thu facts show otherwise Hla Itla salary ID is l but 1500 1000 and expenses expensed Perhaps that IH in better than hf hp ever V r would lr h e a done donI In the pulpit hut but the chief advantage II he ho finds I In his present olilee Is the this opportunity tn to t move Inove about a n great creat dual deal and to servo l rv nn m Interest to which he Is la fondly fondl attached During DUrin the long lone lon tin 1100 tieu he dl cli video Ic his small salary with wIlh a brother r who Mho was one OM of ot the work workmen men Illen ten and 1111 while thus supporting two t WI Cat I IJ It and knowing It to be to o his has fi ft financial I nunc In I and physical Interests to yield the contest St he stuck to It under tinder pain painful ful rut until he won what most persons considered a hopeless fight As an 1111 orator Shutter Is cany ellay eau and anel con convincing He lie Is a II glib talker but his Ida style ort art the t h platform Is le gey He lie H poses perhaps It Is la the result of earn earnestness estness perhaps to Impress his audi auditors tors tore who are ore not always of oC the most Intelligent sort Still It Is true that the Amalgamated d association Includes many of oC the Highest st class of oC workmen In the United States Shaffer has hns not been strikingly sue suc successful ns as oan an organizer He lie does not enthuse hla his hearers lie He only con convinces convinces vinces those who think while he talks The This association has grown rapidly dur durIng lag Ing his presidency and now no It lifts 1111 s more marc that members but the organizer of oC the order Is John Williams the na national na nn national secretary Williams Is a n tin tinplate plate plait worker and the strength of oC the association lies among the men In the tin Plato plate mills mill The president of oC the Amalgamated Is not a n dictator His Ills word Is not law lawHe He Ho n Is h the tho buffer hurter the th negotiator between the tho order and the employers The nn na national board hOArd Is IR tho the authority wherein lies the power to decide Shaffer Is Its representative and und must obey obe Its be behests heats President chaffer Shaffer Is 18 now about fifty years old He lie Is married but has no children lie He has a II comfortable little home and a II Urge large library |
