Yet the platitudes of the speakers that followed him were reported at
length.

Several days later the brief announcement was made that he had gone away
on a vacation to recover from the effects of overwork. So far so good,
but there had been no hint of insanity, nor even of nervous collapse.
Little did I dream the terrible road the Bishop was destined to
travel--the Gethsemane and crucifixion that Ernest had pondered about.



CHAPTER VIII

THE MACHINE BREAKERS


It was just before Ernest ran for Congress, on the socialist ticket,
that father gave what he privately called his "Profit and Loss" dinner.
Ernest called it the dinner of the Machine Breakers. In point of fact,
it was merely a dinner for business men--small business men, of
course. I doubt if one of them was interested in any business the total
capitalization of which exceeded a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
They were truly representative middle-class business men.

There was Owen, of Silverberg, Owen & Company--a large grocery firm with
several branch stores. We bought our groceries from them. There were
both partners of the big drug firm of Kowalt & Washburn, and Mr.
Asmunsen, the owner of a large granite quarry in Contra Costa County.
And there were many similar men, owners or part-owners in small
factories, small businesses and small industries--small capitalists, in