They did not seem to like the frank manner in which Mr. Newton had described their doings and there were several murmurs against the “capitalistic press.”
“There’s the reporter what done it!” exclaimed a big striker, pointing to Mr. Newton, who had stepped from the store to see how matters were coming on.
“Let’s soak him!” cried several.
There was a movement in the crowd, but the police were on the lookout for trouble and made the men disperse, at which there was more grumbling.
“Aren’t you afraid?” asked Larry of the reporter.
“Not a bit,” was the reply. “I’m used to having trouble. I’m not afraid of them.”
The strike was worse the next day, and so many violent acts were committed that extra policemen had to be sent for. Several strike-breakers were attacked as they tried to run the electric cabs and were quite badly hurt. Mr. Newton wrote vivid stories about the occurrences, and the Leader had a strong editorial, condemning the strikers.
This made the union men more angry than ever at the Leader, and they seemed to think Mr. Newton was the chief one on whom they could vent their ill feeling. They shook their fists at him whenever he appeared, and once a stone was hurled through the air at him, narrowly missing his head.
“You’d better look out,” some of the policemen advised him.
Larry had plenty of copy to take down that day, and made three trips. The last two times he noticed as he was going up the stairs of the elevated road, where he took a train that brought him close to the Leader office, three men regarding him closely. Once he heard one of the trio say: