and get a drink. They accepted, and went through the big
Halsted Street gate, where several policemen were watch~
ing, and also some union pickets, scanning sharply those who
passed in and out. Jurgis and his companions went south
on Halsted Street, past the hotel, and then suddenly half
a dozen men started across the street toward them and
proceeded to argue with them concerning the error of their
ways. As the arguments were not taken in the proper
spirit, they went on to threats; and suddenly one of them
jerked off the hat of one of the four and flung it over the
fence. The man started after it, and then, as a cry of
"Scab!" was raised and a dozen people came running out
of saloons and doorways, a second man's heart failed him
and he followed. Jurgis and the fourth stayed long enough
to give themselves the satisfaction of a quick exchange of
blows, and then they, too, took to their heels and fled back
of the hotel and into the yards again. Meantime, of course,
policemen were coming on a run, and as a crowd gathered
other police got excited and sent in a riot-call. Jurgis
knew nothing of this, but went back to "Packers' Ave~
nue," and in front of the "Central Time-Station" he saw
one of his companions, breathless and wild with excite~
ment, narrating to an ever growing throng how the four
had been attacked and surrounded by a howling mob, and
had been nearly torn to pieces. While he stood listening,
smiling cynically, several dapper young men stood by with
note-books in their hands, and it was not more than two
hours later that Jurgis saw newsboys running about with
armfuls of newspapers, printed in red and black letters
six inches high:--

/tab\/tab\Violence In The Yards!
/tab\/tab\Strikebreakers Surrounded By Frenzied Mob!

If he had been able to buy all of the newspapers of the
United States the next morning, he might have discovered
that his beer-hunting exploit was being perused by some
two score millions of people, and had served as a text for
editorials in half the staid and solemn businessmen's news~
papers in the land.

[[320]]

p319 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p320w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p321

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