CARPENTERS QUIT WORK 77 
fere with the men I shall engage to take your 
places. I think you make a serious mistake in 
following blind leaders who are doing you mate- 
rial injury, for sentimental reasons ; but you must 
decide this for yourselves. If, after sober thought, 
any of you feel disposed to return, you can get a 
job if there is a vacancy ; but no man who works 
for me during this strike will be displaced by a 
striker. You may put that in your pipes and 
smoke it. Nelson will pay you off to-night.” 
The strike was ordered for Wednesday. On 
the morning of that day the seven carpenters 
whom I had engaged arrived at my office ready 
for work. I took them to the station and started 
for Four Oaks. At a station five miles from 
Exeter we quitted the train, hired two carriages, 
and were driven to the farm without passing 
through the village. 
We arrived without incident, the men had their 
dinners, and at one o’clock the hammers and 
saws were busy again. We had lost but one 
half day. The two non-union men whom Nelson 
had spoken of were also at work, and three days 
later the spokesman of the strikers threw up his 
card and joined our force. We had no serious 
trouble. It was thought wise to keep the new 
men on the place until the excitement had passed, 
and we had to warn some of the old ones off two 
or three times, but nothing disagreeable happened, 
and from that day to this Four Oaks has remained 
non-unionized. 
