The union of the sandwich-men was an assured success. Victory had come
to H. Rutgers by the intelligent use of brains. The possession of brains
is one of the facts that can always be confirmed at the source.
Next he arranged for the band. He told the band-master what he wished
the band to do. The band-master thereupon told him the price.
"Friend," said H. Rutgers, pleasantly, "I do not deal in dreams either
as buyer or seller. That's the asking price. Now, how much will you
take?" Not having any money, Hendrik added, impressively, "Cash!"
The band-master, being a native-born, repeated the price--unchanged. But
he was no match for H. Rutgers, who took a card from his pocket, looked
at what the band-master imagined was a list of addresses of other bands,
and then said, "Let me see; from here to--" He pulled out his watch and
muttered to himself, but audible by the band-master, "It will take me
half an hour or more."
H. Rutgers closed his watch with a sharp and angry snap and then
determinedly named a sum exactly two-thirds of what the band-master had
fixed as the irreducible minimum. It was more than Hendrik could
possibly pay.
The band-master shook his head, so H. Rutgers said, irascibly:
"For Heaven's sake, quit talking. I'm nearly crazy with the
arrangements. Do you think you're the only band in New York or that I
never hired one before? Here's the Mayor's permit." He showed it to the
musical director, who was thereby enabled to see _National Street
Advertising Men's Association_, and went on: "Now be at Grand Central
Station, Lexington Avenue entrance, at 3.45 Saturday afternoon. The
train gets in at 4. I'll be there before you are. We'll go from the
depot to Weinpusslacher's for dinner."
"Of course, we get our dinners," said the band-master in the tone of
voice of a man who has surrendered, but denies it to the reporters.
"Yes. You'll be there sure?"
"Yes. But, say, we ought to get--"
"Not a damned cent more," said H. Rutgers, pugnaciously, in order to
forestall requests for part payment in advance.
"I wasn't going to ask you for more money, but for a few--"
"Then why waste my time? Don't fail me!"
Then Hendrik Rutgers put the finishing touches on the work of
organization. He rented offices in the Allied Arts Building, sent a
sign-painter to decorate the ground-glass doors, and ordered some
official stationery in a rush. He promised the agent to return with the
president and sign the lease.
Where everybody distrusts everybody else there is nothing like promising
to sign documents!
He bought some office furniture on exactly the same plan.
On Friday night the unionized sandwich-men took their signs and boards
to the trysting-place, Twenty-ninth Street and Ninth Avenue, to have new
advertisements of Hendrik's composition painted thereon. The boards did
not belong to the members, but in a good cause all property is the
cause's. Each of the original fourteen brought recruits. The street was
almost blocked. The two sign-painters worked like nine beavers, and
Hendrik and the young man in steel-rimmed spectacles helped. When the
clamor became threatening Hendrik counted his men twice, aloud. There
were eighty-four of them. They knew it was eighty-four, having heard him
say it, as he intended they should. He then took them to the corner
boozery.
He had only two dollars. There were eighty-four thirsty. Therefore,
"Eighty beers!" he yelled, majestically.
"_Eighty-four!_" shouted eighty-four voices.
"That's twenty cents more," said Hendrik to himself in the plain hearing
of the hitherto distrustful bartender. He had a small green roll in his
left hand consisting of two dollars and two clippings. With his right he
loudly planked down two large dimes on the counter and shoved them
toward the bartender, who took them while Hendrik began to count his
greenbacks.
The bartender saw the exact change and began to draw beer. He even
yelled for assistance.
Hendrik knew better than to enforce discipline now, but he could not
officially countenance disorder.
"Give the other fellows a chance," he said, paternally, to those near
by. Then he saw the rear entrance. It inspired him.
He waited until there were about sixty glasses on the bar. Then he
yelled in the direction of the front door: "Come in, boys! Everybody
gets one!"
The tidal-wave carried him and twenty others to the end of the room. But
while the twenty others fought to get back to the schooners, he
intelligently went out by the back door.
The police reserves were called. They responded. Then six ambulances.
Those who survived sought Hendrik to complain, but he beat them to it by
scolding them angrily. He all but licked them on the spot, so that they
forgot their grievance in their haste to defend themselves. He then
divided them into squads of five and took them to another saloon--one
squad and a quarter of a dollar at a time. He only used one dollar and
fifty cents cash that way.
He then promised all of them forty beers a day beginning on Monday. He
told them to get recruits, who would not be admitted to the union, but
could have the privilege of parading. They must be thirsty men and look
it. They would receive two beers apiece.
On Saturday morning there was not a sandwich-man to be seen at work in
Greater New York.
At noon the city editors of all the metropolitan dailies received neatly
typewritten notices that the sandwich-men had formed a union and would
"peacefully strive for higher wages, shorter hours, and reduced
peregrinations. The sandwich-men had no desire to precipitate another
internecine strife between Labor and Capital." They were "willing to
submit their differences to a board of arbitration consisting of John D.
Rockefeller, Charles F. Murphy, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and
Hendrik Rutgers."
These notices were one and all thrown into waste-paper baskets as cheap
humor--to be dug up later and used.