shout and vote for the very man who helped to defeat them, and who comes around a year later telling them what good fellows they are and soliciting their support at the ballot box.

The one great source of trouble in labor disputes is that the law (i. e., the judges,) does not respect itself. Men in high positions who have violated the laws are allowed to slip through its meshes unharmed, or practically so; employers are wont to see the law bent by judges at their request to suit their needs and when a labor trouble arises the troops are called for, and that law which is a law to itself-which is the most arbitrary law there is and which in times of peace is made to aid vicious endsmartial law, is called into service. From Pennsylvania to Idaho blood marks their trail, and injustice as lawless as the lawlessness they claim to suppress is their record.

No man should be allowed to violate the law and go unpunished, and no officer of the law who is negligent of his duty through fear or favor should be allowed to retain his office for a day, but the civil law and civil officers should be sufficient to administer the law in any civilized community without the necessity of appealing to the military arm of our government, and it is the duty of every member of every labor organization to deprecate every act of lawlessness in every way possible and to stand for law and order at all times and under all circumstances.

It may be hard to do this when the opposing party is using the law as a club against labor, yet in the end it will be best for labor and labor's cause. Persecution and prosecution are terms differing

widely in their meaning, yet the former is what labor seems to have to contend with in many localities in the administering of the laws.

Physical Examinations.-It is to be hoped-and certain things indicate-that physical examinations of men for employment in railroad service will be conducted along more sensible and more practical lines than has been the custom in the past.

The fact that a man can not sort out of a tangled mass a dozen shades of a certain color, and so on until all are placed without an error, is no indication that that man is color blind.

The shades of different colors are run so close that an expert can hardly distinguish them apart. A man may not hear a watch tick one half a mile and still not be deaf to ordinary sounds.

After a man has been on a locomotive a number of years his hearing may be dulled to finer sounds and, as a rule, it does owing to the rattle and jar continually about him, but the man is in no way deaf, and sounds out of harmony about his machine or of any other ordinary kind he will hear as quickly as one with an ear the delicacy of which has not been dulled by the rattle of machin

ery.

A practical test out in a yard with semaphores and different colcred lights, varied to suit the test, will prove quicker and more conclusively any man's fitness to be in train or engine service than all the yarn, stop watches and doctors with itching palms in the universe, because it will be a practical test in a practical way with practical results. But there would be no medical fee, and there is the rub. W. L. FRENCH.

Resignation of Grand Secretary and Treasurer Arnold.

The following is the official notification of Bro. Frank W. Arnold to the members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen of his resignation as Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the organization. The Editor knows that when he expresses his personal regrets at this action on the part of Bro. Arnold that he voices the sentiments of the entire membership. Frank has served the Brotherhood earnestly and faithfully for eleven years as Grand Secretary and Treasurer, besides serving as Grand Master from 1879 to 1885. Members of the Grand Executive Board, and other associate officers endeavored to prevail upon Bro. Arnold to reconsider his resignation but, believing that he owed it to himself and family to accept another position far more remunerative, he declined to change his purpose. The best wishes of the Brotherhood goes with Frank and it is hoped that his future will be pleasant and pros

perous.

PEORIA, ILL., November 28, 1903. To All Members of the Brotherhood of

Locomotive Firemen :

I have tendered my resignation as Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the Grand Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, which same has been accepted by the Grand Executive Board, effective January 1, 1904, and Bro. W. S. Carter, the present Editor and Manager of the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine has been appointed to fill the vacancy caused by said resignation.

My reason for resigning is that I have been offered a position in the mercantile world that seems to me to give promise of a highly satisfactory future, when I consider, as I must, the future of my wife and little girl in connection with my own.

It is no easy task for me to separate myself, officially, from a position so honorable, important and pleasant as the one to which you have repeatedly elected me. I am deeply grateful to you all for this emphasized mark of confidence and es

teem and I have endeavored, during every hour of my official life to show you my gratitude by attending solely and strictly to the duties of my position in a manner that would reflect credit upon you, individually and collectively, as well mistakes, but I have never been derelict as upon myself. I know that I have made wilfully, in the performance of any of my duties. I will regretfully lay down the work which has become to me so pleasant, with the consciousness of having tried, faithfully and industriously and by every honorable means, to advance the interests of what, I have long since become convinced, is one of the very best labor organizations that is capable of forming.

man

The name "Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen" is synonymous with such terms as "Progress," "Conservatism," "Prudence," "Fairness," and more, it stands for all that is of the highest in the labor world. I proudly boast of the fact that more than one-half of my life has been devoted to its work and its principles.

This, then, being modestly true, it should not be difficult to determine why it is that I so deeply regret severing my official relations with, not alone the organization of my adoption, but the organization which has adopted me. So long as I am permitted to, I shall retain my membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and loan every particle of my strength and support to the maintenance of all for which it so preeminently stands-all that is good.

In closing I thank you sincerely again and again for the support you have given me, in the performance of my duties, which support has largely enabled me to

achieve success.

of whom you all know, I bespeak a conFor my successor, Bro. W. S. Carter, tinuance of your generous support which will bring to him all that it brought to me, which he, I am sure, will appreciate as fully as I do.

Wishing for every member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen the very best of all that is good and for the Brotherhood itself never ending years of prosperity, I beg to remain, sincerely, courteously and fraternally your friend and brother, F. W. ARNOLD,

Grand Secretary and Treasurer.

Official Circular of the Grand

Executive Board.

The following is the official circular issued to members of the Brotherhood by

the Board of Grand Trustees. The Editor suggests to the membership that all communications intended for either Bro. Arnold as Grand Secretary and Treasurer or Bro. Carter as Editor and Manager of the Magazine, be not addressed "Personal," so that their successors may be privileged to open such mail, but all communications to either of these Brothers which are personal in their nature should be addressed "Personal," so that they will be forwarded to them. If this suggestion is observed the official mail of the Grand Secretary and Treasurer and of the Editor and Manager of the Magazine will be opened and attended to promptly, and only personal communications will not be opened except by those to whom addressed.

PEORIA, ILL., November 28, 1903. Dear Sir and Brothers:

On November 7, 1903, Bro. F. W. Arnold forwarded to Chairman Jno. F. McNamee of the Grand Executive Board, his resignation as Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the Grand Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. He stated at the same time that his reason for taking such action was that he might enter business in the commercial world, having received a proposition so flattering and tempting that he found himself unable to resist the same.

The Grand Executive Board was assembled, pursuant to the call of the Chairman, to meet at the Grand Lodge offices in Peoria, Ill., on Monday, November 23d. On account of delay in securing transportation, the full membership of the Board did not assemble until Wednesday, November 25th. On this date the Board officially requested Bro. Arnold to reconsider his intention to withdraw from active connection with the Graud Lodge and reconsider his resignation as Grand Secretary and Treasurer.

He thanked the Board for its sincere request, but after carefully rehearsing the circumstances leading up to the forwarding of his resignation, stated that he could not, in justice to himself and his family, reconsider his action.

Believing that all reasonable pressure had been brought to bear on Bro. Arnold to have him remain in his position until the next convention in September, 1904, the Board felt that it had no other course to pursue than to accept his resignation, which it did, same to take effect on January 1, 1904.

The Board then, in executive session, proceeded to the appointment of a successor to Bro. Arnold, and named Bro. W. S. Carter, at present Editor and Manager of the Locomotive Firemen's

Magazine, said appointment to take effect January 1, 1904. Bro. Carter immediately accepted the appointment.

Therefore such action creating a vacancy, after January 1, 1904, in the office of Editor and Manager Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, the Board proceeded to the appointment of a successor to Bro. W. S. Carter, with the result that Bro. George Goding, Secretary of the Board of Grand Trustees, was chosen as the Editor and Manager of the Magazine, which appointment he accepted. He will enter into the duties of said office on January 1, 1904.

Said appointment of and acceptance by Bro. George Goding creating a vacancy after January 1, 1904, in the Board of Grand Trustees, the Grand Executive Board appointed Bro. P. J. McNamara, of Buffalo Lodge No. 12, to fill said vacancy, which appointment he accepted. Board being thus concluded, and no furThe duties of the Grand Executive ther business coming before it, the Board adjourned.

The membership of the Brotherhood is consequently requested and urged to take notice hereof and be governed accordingly. All mail, corespondence and other matter intended for the Grand Secretary and Treasurer shall be directed on and after January 1, 1904, to W. S. Carter, Peoria, Ill.

All mail, correspondence or other matter intended for the Editor and Manager of the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine shall be directed on and after January 1, 1904, to George Goding, Commercial Club Building, Indianapolis, Ind.

Trusting that the action taken by the Grand Executive Board will meet with the approval of all members of the Brotherhood, we beg to remain,

Very fraternally yours,

THE GRAND EXECUTIVE BOARD.
John F. McNamee, Chairman.
R. E. Quirk, Secretary.

Bro. Goding's Resignation.

On December 8th, after the foregoing official notice had been sent out to lodges, Bro. Goding tendered his resignation as Editor and Manager of the Magazine, an act on his part which his many friends will regret. The Grand Executive Board will again convene about December 20th and select his successor, who will assume his duties on January 1, 1904.

The Promotion of Bro. W. S.
Carter.

The writer (Bro. Carter) takes this opportunity and this method of expressing to each and every member of the Brotherhood his sincerest gratitude for the earnest co-operation and support of

those members during the nine years of his service as Editor and Manager of this Magazine. If he has been successful in his work, if the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine has been a success under his editorship and management, it has been largely due to the loyal friendship of the members of the Brotherhood. For this friendship the writer is most grateful.

The Magazine has been the "hobby" of the writer. Not at any moment during the nine years of service has the huge undertaking been "work." It has been a pleasure for him to devote almost his every thought to the betterment of the Magazine. Labor that would have been intensely burdensome to one who was disinterested in the cause was a pleasure to one whose whole being was wrapped up in the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine. Aside from the regrets at no longer being connected with the Magazine there are disappointments in not being able to carry to maturity many plans now but in their inception.

Naturally the writer is proud of the Magazine of today. What it is the members know, without prompting. But he is also proud of the system of conducting the business of the Magazine, a system that has required nine years of planning and building and of which the membership can know nothing. The "editorial staff" consists of the writer only, except that he has called to his assistance valued contributors of technical matter, whose names have become familiar to every reader. That it was possible to produce the Magazine with this little effort is as largely due to the system established as to any editorial ability that the writer may have possessed. The writer is also proud of the efficiency of the clerical force of the Magazine office, who have become so well drilled in their respective duties as to make their services in the performance of routine clerical work of the greatest value to the Brotherhood. The writer is especially proud of the advertising department of the Magazine, because he has built up the advertising business from a basis where the Brotherhood lost money to a point where the profits of advertising more than pay the expense of all clerical work in the Magazine department. If the writer is as successful in the capacity of Grand Secretary and Treasurer as he feels that he has been as Editor and Manager of the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, he will ask no greater privilege.

But why has the writer sought another position if he is so content with the pres

ent one? Simply because human nature impels any one to better his own condition. A man without ambition never made success of anything, and the writer was ambitious to advance in the ranks of Brotherhood officials. No matter how well satisfied a locomotive fireman might be, if he is a capable fireman he looks forward to the day when he will be promoted to the position of engineer. There is as much difference between the position the writer leaves and the one he accepts as there is between firing a locomotive and running a locomotive. Having proved his worth as a "fireman" he hopes to be just as successful as an "engineer."

The writer made no personal appeal to any member of the Grand Executive Board for the position of Grand Secretary and Treasurer. At no time did he ever say one word to any member of that Board upon the subject. After Bro. Arnold had resigned, after he could not be induced to withdraw his resignation, the writer addressed each member of the Grand Executive Board a formal, "official" communication, in which his candidacy was announced and reasons set forth why he believed that he should be selected to succeed Bro. Arnold. The writer knows that he was not selected by the Grand Executive Board because of personal friendship, but because they believed him capable of performing the work of Grand Secretary and Treasurer, because his nine years of business experience with the Magazine had especially fitted him to perform the work, because he was entitled to the promotion by virtue of his past services, and by virtue of the principles of the Brotherhood, which asks for every man who is deserving a chance for promotion.

At this writing it is not known who will be the next Editor and Manager of the Magazine. Whoever he is he shall have the heartiest co-opertion of the writer, and that he will be just as successful there can be no doubt; that the introduction of new ideas will improve the Magazine may be expected. Unquestionably the Grand Executive Board will convene and elect a successor to Bro. Goding before January 1, 1904, but in the event of a failure to select a successor by that time the writer assures the members of the Brotherhood that both the work of the Grand Secretary and Treasurer and of the Editor and Manager will go forward without a falter until his successor is selected and installed in the position of Editor and Manager.