It sometimes seems to me that the old saying, "History repeats itself," is one of the truest ever written.

At least history repeated itself in the case of the grinders.
Before the week was over, the places left vacant by the men had been filled by women, and the nursery and kindergarten had proved to be unqualified successes.
Many of the details I will reserve till later, including the growth of the canteen, the vanishing mirror, an improvement in overalls, to say nothing of daffodils and daisies and Mrs.Kelly's drum.

And though some of these things may sound peculiar at first, you will soon see that they were all repetitions of history.

They followed closely after things that had already been done by other women in other places, and were only adopted by Mary first because they added human touches to a rather serious business, and second because they had proved their worth elsewhere.
Before going into these affairs, however, I must tell you about the reporters.
The day the grinders went on strike, a local correspondent sent a story to his New York paper.

It wasn't a long story, but the editor saw possibilities in it.