Gilbert Henry Stephenson. Case No. 6598. Letter from Fred A. Jordan to Frank A. Whittier, February 2, 1922.

D. C. JACKLING,
PRESIDENT
W. G. SWART,
VICE-PRESIDENT AND
GENERAL MANAGER MESABI IRON COMPANY

BABBITT, MINNESOTA

Babbitt, Minnesota,

February 2^nd, 1922.

Mr. F. A. Whittier,
State Parole Agent,
Stillwater, Minnesota.

Dear Sir:

We have your letter of January 24^th, and wish to advise that Gilbert H. Stephenson was employed by this company during the summer and early Fall of 1918. He worked in a camp called “Sulphur” and he assumed that the name was the name of the Sulphur Mining Company other that what it really is, and which you will not in this letter head. He worked directly under a Foreman, Mr. W. H. Hunter, who is not now employed by us and of whom we do not know the exact address but it is somewhere around Boston, Mass. A letter to his son, Dr. W. H. Hunter, Jr., Dept. of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, will no doubt bring information as to the father’s address.

The writer was about the work more or less and remembers Stephenson as a strong, stocky, active man who seemed to be interested in his work and who gave a good day’s work for the money. In other words he did not seem to be a loafer, but rather the opposite. At one time while he was here, he and other men became intoxicated and raised a general disturbance. It was reported that in his drunken condition he went to sleep in the bunkhouse in the afternoon. This was late in the Fall and on a dark day, when in this latitude darkness comes about five o’clock in the evening and when he awoke from this stupor and in this drunken condition he had the idea that he had slept all night and that it was the next morning. He then went down to the cookhouse, and not finding a meal ready, since our supper time was six o’clock, he commenced to quarrel with the Cook which ended up by his threatening to kill the Cook and chased him around with a butcher knife. Of course in his drunken condition he was not active enough to catch the cook and therefore there was nothing happened. Mr. Hunter was a witness to all of this and could give more particulars.

I do not know that this incident would imply that Stephenson was particularly vicious because it happened while he was in a drunken condition. My relations with Stephenson at the time I came in contact with him gave me the impression that he was a pretty decent fellow. He gave no indication of being habitually drunk and the one incident I mention is the only one I have any knowledge of. He was a good worker and I believe loyal to his employer.

The period in which he worked for us, that is the summer and fall of 1918 was a period of great labor restlessness as you prob-

Mr. Whittier -2- 2/2/22.


ably know and Stephenson, as I recollect it, was the steadiest man we had. I do not know just why he was not drafted into the Army but there must have been some reason which was satisfactory to me, because I was very energetic in knowing that every employee of ours met the requirements of the Conscription Act, and that they were not slackers. I am therefore quite sure that Stephenson had met all of the requirements.

Yours very truly,

Fred A. Jordan

General Superintendent.

FAJ-G