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Show I KITCHENER'S METHOD H By Tracy Hammond. H Many in England aro boglnning to bolicvo that H is should bo Lord Kl toll on or and not the Kaiser M who should bo credited with the ownership of the H "Miaileu- Fist." His methods are refreshing to H those not immediately concerned owing to the un- H erring directness with which tliey smash through H obstacles. H A traveler arriving in this country from Eng- H land last week tells an authentic story, corrobor- H ated by others who wero with him, of the manner H in which Lord Kitchoner recently dealt with an R ' Englishman not sufficiently impressed with the H rights of tho government. Wk 'Some time after hostilities broke out in Europe H wagos in England were so high and trade so dull H that Huntley & Palmer, London's largest cracker H manufacturers, found themselves in a very diffl- H cult situation, mM Mr. Huntley was approached one day by Lord m Kitchener, who offered him a contract to supply M the British army with "hard tack" and other forms of crackers. M "1 will pay you less than market price," said M tho war lord, "but I shall tako all you can pro- M duce." B The factory owner called a meeting of his em- j ployees and explained tho situation to them. B "If you force us to pay you union wages the H product will cost us more than I shall receive H from the government, and I shall have to close H down. If you will agree to accept smaller wages H I'll keep .the shop open and give all of you em- H ployment." H Tho workers were unanimous in deciding 'to H accepb lower recompense in spite of the fact that H it was in violation of the union rule. They had H their families to support and this was the only H manner in which they could do it. H No trouble would have arisen but for the ar- mM rival later of a "walking delegate" of the union. H His nnorrlng instinct for trouble had brought him H to Huntley & Palmer's. H "Working for Jess than union wages? "Well, H we'll see!" said he. He called upon the head of H the concern. H "If these men are not paid the scale wages H within forty-eight hours," he threatened, "a strike H will be declared immediately." H "But I can't do it," protested tho owner. "I H can't do it and keep the place running. If you H declare a strike the men will have to be thrown H out of work." H The delegate listened to him patiently with a H bored expression and repeated, "Forty-eight H There was only ono course for the man to pur sue, and ho lost no time in doing it. He hastened to seek out Kitchener. Lord Kitchener smiled somewhat grimly at the story told him by tho manufacturer. He touched a bell. Three hours later the walking delegate was standing before Kitchener, hat in hand. His jauntiness had somewhat disappeared, but he still did not present the appearance of a person greatly great-ly concerned over his situation. "I have been told that you have ordered a strike if tho Huntley & Palmer company fail to pay their employees union wages? Is this, true?" "Perfectly true," answered the delegate. "Did you know that the crackers were to be used to feed British soldiers?" There was something in the manner in which Lord Kitchener snapped out his words that began vaguely to alarm tho delegate. "Yes, sir, I knew that," ho hesitated. "Then you likewise knew that this was a government gov-ernment contract. I'll give you exactly fifteen minutes in which to sign a paper rescinding your strike order," said the war head. He took out his watch and glanced at it, The delegate was full of explanations of his duty to his union and of why such a thing as Kitchener had -asked for was impossible. For twelve minutes he had a monopoly of the conversation. Then the man with watch in hand looked up. "You have three minutes more," ho said tersely. terse-ly. He rang for an orderly. "Bring in tho firing squad," he commanded the soldier. The squad entered. Kitchener pointed to the delegate, who had suddenly turned and been seized with a fit of trembling. "Take that man out, and if he hasn't written out a countermand of the Huntley & Palmer strike order in three minutes turn his face to the wall and shoot him!" It did not prove necessary to take the dele, gate .from the room, for he evinced a sudden and frantic desire for literary composition that would have done credit to the author of a best seller. Three minutes seemed a marvelously short time, and the nerves of the delegate were marvelously upset. His agitation Avas increased by the fear I was told by my informant, that he would not be' able to sign his name to the document before his allotted timo had expired. But with the assistance of the orderly he finished his task with thirty seconds to spare. There Is a superstition spreading rapidly in England that Kitchener can usually "find a way." New York Telegraph. |