30
PARTISAN REVIEW
The Common Council listened to our delegations because most of
them were known in town to be men of sobriety who always paid their
debts; several of the Socialists were even members of the Odd Fellows
or Modern \Voodmen of America.
Before we left the City Hall we
received the assurance of the Common Council that the Socialist Band
would get four out of the regular twelve concerts scheduled for the
summer.
These concerts were given in the City Hall Park, and we'd
always know the concert was on when we heard in the distance the strains
of the "Star Spangled Banner," and we knew it was over when they played
"Home Sweet Home."
When we forced the Common Council to give our Socialist band
four of those Concerts, the folks in the local thought it proved what
could be done when people stood up on their hind legs and demanded their
rights as citizens.
But when summer cam~ we were in a
j
am, because
our Socialist band could play only the "Albania." Gib Wendell,
our
bandmaster, had to hire the men in the Elks Band to play for us.
The folks in the local th~ught it 'vas a step forward, anyhow, be-
cause Gib arranged for the Elks musician to wear the uniforms used by
the members of the Socialist band.
There was an arm and torch sewn
on en:ry one of those uniforms and Linehan, the cigar "manufacturer,"
thought it ,vas
<I
darn good way of putting our message over on the
Hemy Dubbs.
Linehan was tall and lean, and he always reminded me of Gene
Dcbs. I heard Debs for the first time when I was ~.bout ten years old.
He I\"a,; OIl a nationwide lecture tour, and lots of people came to the
COlillty courthouse to hear him. There was no admission charge, bllt you
had to bur a subscription to Debs' magazine, the
Rip-Saw,
to get in. It
seemed to me that he bent his tall, lean body way over, as if he wanted
every word to get right into the hearts of those listening to him.
His
,;pel-ch was very eloqueIlt-like those of Wendell Phillips that I had read.
Deb,; began his sper:ch by saying that "as the petals of a flower open up
under the beneficent rays of the sun, so my heart opens up to to you, my
dear friends."
We didn't have many mill workers in our local in Glendale.
lVIany
of the members also belonged to the Workmen's Circle, and some of them
owned ~mall dry-goods stores and grocery stores, but most of them were
junk peddlers.
A few of the well-to-do members had started business
as pack peddlers.
They used to travel by horse and wagon through the
mountain towns of the Adirondacks.
They sold cheap suits, sleazy dresses
