Woodcutter's Revival, page 7
Raymond admitted to himself he did not know much about leading people, but this way seemed contrary to what he believed. This arrangement had the potential to make him more dependent upon Mr. Thomas than when he was as a miner – the fact that he lacked knowledge and experience. He knew, initially any way, that he could not make decisions without first consulting Mr. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas continued, “There is one other idea I have that will work to our advantage. Have you ever heard of an air hammer or drill?”
“I think I have heard of them, but I do not have a clue how it works.”
“That is fine. I will send you to Wellspring to train you on it.” You’ll then know how to make their work go quicker and be more productive. They’ll depend on your leadership. Knowledge is power.”
Mr. Thomas elaborated, “Conventional mining is slow and can only produce so much silver, even when the rocks are prime. We are going to upgrade to a steam-powered air hammer. I want you to leave for Wellspring right after Thanksgiving. Victoria will make the arrangements. Go to The Mercantile and pick out a couple of blue work shirts and new dungarees. You will be representing Thomas Mines and we don’t want you looking shabby.
“Finally, I want you to do one more thing, Raymond. Up until you go to Wellspring and after you return, I want you to keep your ears open. Let me know who is grumbling and what they are grumbling about, so we can deal with it.”
“Oh, I know one thing they would like. The biggest concern I have heard is they would like more money for their work. I was thinking of a bonus plan in which they could be rewarded for increased production.”
“I understand your concerns and I know you have some ideas, but you leave the management to me.” Mr. Thomas responded in a serious tone. “I particularly want you to watch for and listen especially of any talk about unions or organizing the workers. Down below, they have the luxury of being able to call out the militia or federal troops. They can claim the mining of coal is of national security and can get assistance in forcing the miners back to work. They can even use soldiers to mine the coal, and that is only after a work stoppage. The owners do not even have to pay for security.
“Up here, we have to call on the Pinkertons. They can ‘encourage’ workers not to organize and actually have more methods to persuade than the use of troops, since they are not really subject to the law of the land. But they are expensive.
Raymond suddenly felt as if he was being asked to be the classroom tattle tale. Any other ideas or innovations he might have entertained seemed suddenly less significant. So much for idealism or imagining one could actually make a difference through effective leadership. He resolved then and there, whenever he would talk to Mr. Thomas; he would mostly listen and be very reluctant to offer opinion.
“There is one more thing Victoria will discuss with you. I will take a walk and be back in a while.”
As Mr. Thomas put his coat and hat on and left the room, Victoria began a conversation. “As you know, Christmas is coming in two months. It is a tradition for the employees to present Father with a gift at the annual Christmas dinner. Mr. Peters was always in charge of the gift in the past. Now you will be responsible to organize the collection, so you might start reminding the miners and getting their ideas as to what they would like to give.”
Raymond, attempting to conceal his reaction to the incredulity of the situation, said, “I will get right on that tomorrow. What in the world could your dad want or need?”
Victoria responded, “Oh, it’s not the gift that matters. It’s the idea of honoring my father for all he does for the miners.”
Soon Mr. Thomas returned from his “walk” and Raymond thanked the Thomases again for dinner. He bid them “Good day,” and returned to his room. On the way there, in the deserted street, with the autumn sky hanging overhead, he detected traces of winter in the dark clouds. With the afternoon turning to early twilight, and the hints of winter in the air, he felt as if he had been beaten up with nobody even laying a hand upon him.
Chapter Eight
THANKSGIVING
Stewart looked forward to the days when he and Michael would put everyday concerns aside and the two could spend time talking. The fact that neither man had an outside fulltime job did not mean the two could sit and talk as they would have preferred. Michael slept in short intervals. He was on no schedule so he could sleep as he chose. When he could not sleep at night, he could read as many hours as he liked. His lamp was not so bright that it disturbed Stewart’s sleep. The room was arranged in such a manner that the two had semi-private areas, as Michael had fashioned a type of partition from animal hides between the bed and the hammock. Stewart also laid his head toward the partition, so he was not facing the light.
Stewart spent most of his time working. He had to prepare for winter and take care of Michael’s needs. Stewart had to use the daylight to his advantage, and as winter neared, the number of daylight hours diminished greatly. His initial hope was to spend some extra time in the mountains. This experience surpassed his wildest dreams. He also spent time tanning hides, working with leather and making riggings for his own travel. So far, in addition to the items he made or repaired for Michael, he made a utility sheath for his pocket knife, a “possible” bag or courier to carry his lunch and small items, and a binder like the one Michael used for his writing.
Some evenings, when Michael would take a long nap, if he did not fall asleep himself, Stewart explored Michael’s book collection. He knew it would be some time before he would have this many books in one place without having to visit a library. He was very thankful Michael valued books and took the extra efforts to cart them up on Clementine. Inside the front cover was a printed label much like you found in a library book. The printed portion said, “Return this book within two weeks or pay ___________. (The blank had penciled in $1.00.) If you damage the book, never ask to borrow another.” In cursive was written, at the top of the label, “Michael Thomas.”
This morning, Stewart opened the cover of one book by Alfred M. Mayer, entitled, Sport With Gun and Rod, dated 1883. There was no label inside this book. In cursive, it simply said, “This book belongs to Michael Thomas. Do not ask to borrow this book.” On the page across from the label was an inscription, “To Michael, a good soldier and a man of courage. Your friend, T.R.”
Stewart opened the book and began reading a paragraph that had been underlined in pencil:
The love of the chase is deeply imbedded in man’s nature. During the untold centuries of his savage condition he followed it of necessity. We now revert to our primitive employment for our pleasure and recreation, pursuing with ardor, sports which often involve much bodily fatigue and always require skill and training. An impulse, often irresistible it seems, leads a man away from civilization, from its artificial pleasures and its mechanical life, to the forest, the fields, and waters, where he may have that freedom and peace which civilization denies him. If this be not so, then why is it that a man of affairs as well as the man of leisure feels again the joy of his youth as he bids farewell to his office or his club, and seeks the solitudes of the woods and the plains?
He will meet there some old familiar face in a guide, or fellow-sportsman, and welcome it with the ardor of good-fellowship. He will undergo all sorts of bodily discomfort — course food and rough bed, the wet and the cold — and yet be happy, because for a little spell he is free. In other words, he has, for a time, become a civilized savage. If, with gun and rod, he goes into the recesses of the great woods, and lives there for weeks or months, or mounts his horse and traverses the western plains and mountain passes, relying on his rifle for his sustenance, he is made to realize that there are many things to be learned outside of cities and away from usual occupations.
He will find food for philosophy in the behavior of his hunting companions; he will see who is manly and unselfish, who endowed of his pluck and self-reliance; for three weeks’ association with a friend in the wilderness will reveal more of his character than a dozen years with him amid the safe retreats and soothing comforts of civilized life. He will learn how few are the real wants of a happy life in the midst of uncivilized nature. His troubles, if he carried any with him, will vanish; time will seem of as little value to him as to the savage, and like all true sportsmen and “honest anglers,” he will return to his home with a calmed spirit and a contented mind.
Stewart closed the book, taking a deep sigh and attempting to drink in everything he had just read. As he reflected the words in relation to his own recent experience, he said, “Amen!”
Michael was beginning to stir from his morning nap. Thanksgiving Day had come and Stewart set the whole day aside so he and Michael could celebrate. “Something sure smells good!”
“It is all ready to go. I was just waiting for you to wake up from your nap.”
Stewart served the meal. The two ate quietly and pensively. Michael did not have much of an appetite yet as he did not get any physical activity. Since he finished eating first, he began the conversation. “That was a mighty fine meal.”
“Thank you. I never thought I’d get any good at cooking. I’m actually enjoying it. Gramps used to say, ‘The things you do to make you happy are not as important as the things in which you choose to be happy.’”
“Sounds about right. What books were you looking at when I woke up?”
“The hunting book. That book describes in a nutshell exactly what I have experienced. Who is T.R.?”
Michael smiled pleasantly as he thought back over the several fond memories. “T.R. is Teddy Roosevelt.”
Stewart was stunned for a moment as in disbelief. “How did you know him?”
“I told you I fought in Cuba with T.R.”
“Yeah, but I thought you meant you were in Cuba at the same time.”
“I was a Rough Rider. He had written his own book by the time of the war, but gave me a personal copy of this book. I have never met anybody like him. His books were Hunting Tips of a Rancher and The Wilderness Hunter. Let me read two of Teddy’s paragraphs. I want to show you something about his beliefs and the difference in his writing style to Mayer’s:”
Hunting in the wilderness is of all pastimes the most attractive, and it is doubly so when not carried on merely as a pastime. Shooting over a private game preserve is of course in no way to be compared to it. The wilderness hunter must not only show skill in the use of rifle and also the qualities of hardihood, self-reliance, and surroundings, the fact the hunter needs the game both for its meat and for its hide, undoubtedly adds a zest to the pursuit.
Among the hunts which I have most enjoyed were those made when I was engaged in getting in the winter’s stock of meat for the ranch, or was keeping some party of cowboys supplied with game from day to day.
“Here is another selection:
We need, in the interest of the community at large, a rigid system of game laws rigidly enforced, and it is not only admissible, but one may almost say necessary, to establish, under the control of the State, great national forest reserves, which shall also be a breeding grounds and nurseries for wild game; but I should much regret to see grow up in this country a system of large private games preserves, kept for the enjoyment of the very rich. One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is, and show himself to be.
“You see, Mayer talks about the ethereal, the ephemeral, and the philosophy behind hunting. He talks about building relationships. T.R. talks about action, personal challenge, necessity and, of course, “how can we legislate this into being?”
“Yes, I see.”
Stewart poured them both some more coffee and settled in for what he hoped was a long story.
“Teddy, ever since he was a young man, loved the outdoors and nature. He always preached and lived the ‘rugged life.’ He had asthma as a child and believed he cured it by going outdoors, and exerting himself in hiking and hunting. His philosophy was, “Live life one day at a time and live each day to the fullest.”
“How did you get into the Rough Riders?”
“Teddy wanted a special group. As Secretary of the Navy, he had latitude other people did not have. Most of us were cowboys, miners, western bad men, eastern dandies and sportsmen. Hamilton Fish was on the Harvard rowing team and a close personal friend of T.R.
In training to go to Cuba and all during the war, if you watched him closely, you would have thought you were involved in a huge sporting event. His slogan was, ‘Get action; do things; be sane; don’t fritter away time; create; act; take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action.’
“He offered praise and encouragement all the time. Morale was always high simply because we were serving with him. Most ranking officers, in leading a charge, would say, ‘Go up’ and lead from behind. He would get in front and say, ‘Come up.’
When we were in the heat of battle, he refused to take cover if his men were uncovered. It was a miracle and a huge dose of grace, that he never got shot. It was almost as if he knew destiny was hanging on his head. Remind me later and I will tell you a couple of stories about the war.”
Stewart took this opportunity to clear the table after he removed Michael’s lap tray and refilled the coffee cups. He helped Michael recline a little in bed so they could talk more easily while Stewart worked. When he finished he got a big boyish grin on his face. “I will be right back,” he told Michael.
Michael had a surprised expression as he wondered what Stewart might be up to. Steward came back into the cabin holding something behind his back. “What are you hiding?”
“Only this.”
Stewart pulled a crutch from behind his back. He had fashioned it from a limb, hand carved it, and finished it.
“Hey that looks like a good one. Let’s try it out!”
“Are you sure you are ready?”
“I had better get on my feet soon. You can’t stay around here forever.”
Stewart contemplated Michael’s statement. He realized he had not really thought much about leaving. He could put contemplation off until some future time. Now he was reminded of how he wanted to go to Wellspring and learn. He was also not sure how soon Michael would be able to walk, or at least get around unassisted.
Stewart took the crutch over to Michael. He held the crutch in one hand and gently but firmly took Michael by the arm. ”Are you ready?”
“Yes. I don’t think I can’t walk yet, but we have to start somewhere.”
Stewart worked to swing Michael’s legs around to the side of the bed. He placed the crutch under Michael’s arm. Slowly, leaning on Stewart, Michael stood on his good leg and balanced himself on the crutch.
“How does it feel?”
“Strange, but I don’t plan to be on it forever.”
Stewart began walking Michael around the room. “I have been thinking about our conversation we had a few weeks ago – the one about the railroad. I want to build my tracks in this wilderness we call life, but I don’t even know where to begin planning.”
“That’s understandable. You seem to be more focused than I was at your age. We can never really plan the events which we undergo. We have to be in constant preparation so we will be ready when the opportunity presents itself. T.R. always said, ‘Keep your powder dry.’ He was not talking about war, as we no longer loaded our own muzzles. We used manufactured cartridges. He meant, ‘Be prepared. You never know what opportunity will present itself.
“One year after Teddy graduated from Harvard, he was elected to the new York State Assembly. That is where he became a leader of the GOP as a “Reformer.” In those years he wrote several of his books, including the Navel War of 1812. In 1884, his wife and mother both died on the same day. He left politics and the public life for a spell to become a rancher in the ‘Badlands.’
“He returned to New York in 1886 to run for mayor. He finished third by 60,000 votes. With these setbacks and tragedies he never gave up. In 1895, he wanted to run for mayor again. Edith, his new wife was carrying their fourth child, so she persuaded him not to run. His friend, Henry Cabot Lodge, noticed him sulking around about not running and encouraged him to accept an appointment form Mayor Strong to be New York Police Commissioner. Henry told him he could fight corruption from that level.
“Teddy accepted. He and Jacob Riis, a journalist conducted mid night raids in the lower east side of Manhattan and found unsafe factories and unsanitary conditions in the tenement slums. He experienced the overcrowding of Lower East Side Manhattan. He also fought to clean up corruption in the police force. He and Riis found and exposed ‘lazy’ cops, fought against corrupt officials and for pay and promotions based upon performance rather than politics.
“He realized it was the battle, public journalism and political persuasion that would change things, not force. That was where he gained the values that later became his national agenda for reform.
“There was something else T.R. gained from his police commissioner days. He had a nostalgic fondness for the Colt 38. There were other, more powerful guns around, but since the police used the Colt, Teddy liked it. The irony was that he carried a Colt in Cuba. It had been issued to the captain of the battle ship Maine. When the Maine exploded in Savanna Harbor, Navy divers recovered it.
“The sinking of the Maine was the single motive most likely responsible to incite public sentiment in favor of invading the Spaniards. Two hundred and sixty men died in the explosion. There was speculation that they did not even blow it up. People said, ‘Maybe we did to start the war.’ Others said, ‘It might have been accidental.’
Michael continued, “I think the best thing to emphasize is life’s priorities. T.R. always kept a Bible next to himself, whether in training or in war. One of his favorite passages was one in which the Master was speaking to a group of teachers of the law and religious leaders – the Pharisees. He was warning them about religion as opposed to real-life faith; ‘Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law; justice and mercy and faithfulness…’
