But, said Bill Quint, old Elihu didnāt know his Italian history. He won the strike, but he lost his hold on the city and the state. To beat the miners he had to let his hired thugs run wild. When the fight was over he couldnāt get rid of them. He had given his city to them and he wasnāt strong enough to take it away from them. Personville looked good to them and they took it over. They had won his strike for him and they took the city for their spoils. He couldnāt openly break with them. They had too much on him. He was responsible for all they had done during the strike.
Bill Quint and I were both fairly mellow by the time we had got this far. He emptied his glass again, pushed his hair out of his eyes and brought his history up to date: