of Galilee."

There was the shuffling of many feet for an instant--then a pause, a
pause which was full of awe--then, with a roar like thunder, six
hundred throats broke into wild applause for Jesus, whom such people
ever gladly heard; and straightway, for the first time in the history
of organized labour in New Haven, a union meeting was closed with the
apostolic benediction.

Other unions followed suit. I carried a union card of the "Painters,
Paper Hangers and Decorators," and there came a time when every street
car on the streets of New Haven carried at least two of my friends,
for I became chaplain of the Trolleymen's Union, and took an active
part in their work.

I was a factor in the wage scale adjustments of the Trolleymen's Union
for two years. I fought for them when they were right and against them
when they were wrong. I fought on the inside. At first the railroad
company looked upon me as a dangerous character; but when their spies
in the union reported my actions, the general manager wrote me a
letter of thanks and thereafter took me into his confidence. The
public, also, looked upon me as inimical to the interests of business,
but occasionally the newspapers got at the facts and published them.

The New Haven _Register_ of August 8, 1904, in its leading editorial
on an averted strike, said:

"There is a general feeling in New Haven to-day of satisfaction in the
news published in yesterday's papers, that the trolleymen's plans for
a strike had been relegated to the ash heap.

"The trolleymen were evidently satisfied with the attitude of the
railroad managers, and satisfied that they were going to get fair
treatment. We read with unusual pleasure the reports of 'cheers' at
the meeting; and cheers, not for the little pleasantries of battle,
but for the friendly propositions of peace. The sentiment shown by the
trolleymen does full justice to their record as law-abiding and
intelligent public servants.

"One or two phases of the completion of peace negotiations in the
local trolley situation call for particular notice here and now. We do
not remember, for instance, to have heard for some time of the active
participation in labour agitations of a regularly ordained clergyman
of the Christian church. We noted, therefore, with respectful
interest, the manner in which the Reverend Alexander Irvine took part
in the meeting at which the final decision was made, and especially
the influence which he brought