New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-08-24

pfrison Of an the accidents reported to all he In
spctors for the half years ending the Sis' OF Uc 10.
Der. 1916, and the Goth Of April, 1876, with the
hsf wears ending with October and April, 1895 and
IS59 In the latter period, the gross diminuton OF
accidents was equal TO % per cent although Lhere
b,d taken place an increase of workers OF ~ per
cent at the lowest estimate.
Now az 10 the distribution of accidents between
larger and smaller mills think the following facts,
stated by Mr. Baker, to be decisive During the
mt half year out of the 75S cotton factories OF his
district employing 107, 900 persons, all the acci-
| dents which occurred happened in l67 factories,
EMPLOYING about 40 600 persons; so that IN 59l lac
tories employing 81, 600 persons, there were no ac-
cdents at all In like manner, out of 3s7 smaller
mills all the accidents happened in u mills out OF
1853 fax mills all the accidents happened in 40 mills,
pened in IA mills so that in large proportion OF
| each branch of trade there were no accidents
whatever by machinery, and in every branch the
hulk Of the accidents happened in the largest mills.
The latter phenomenon Mr.. Baker tries to account
for BY the two causes that in the largest mills the
transition state from old, unprotected, to new ma.
chinery is, comparatively, most protracted and
gradual; and, secondly, that in these larger
Concerns the rapidly with which the hands are COL
eced together grows in the same ratio as the moral
control exercised over such establishments dimin-
ishes. "These two causes" says Mr.. Baker,
operate most distinctly in the production Of acct
dents. In the former, the remains of the old
machinery which has never been protected, and
wherein gathering parts of wheels still remain,
are even more destructive from that very circum-
stance SINCE in the safety of the new, the danger
" of the remaining old is forgotten, while, in the
"latter the perpetual scramble for every minute of
" time, where work is going on by an unvarying
"pOwer which is indicated at perhaps. thousand
horses necessarily leads to danger. In such mills
" moments are the elements of proft-the attention
" of eveybOdy's every instant is demanded. 1t is
here, where to borrow one of Liebigs sentiments
I" there may be seen perpetual struggle between
" life and inorganic forces where the mental ener
Z" gies must direct, and the animal energies must
move and be kept equivalent to the revolutions of
" the spindles. They must not lag, notwthstand-
/" ing the strain upon them either by excessive ex
citement or heat nor be suspended for an instant
"by any counter attention to the various move
"ments around for in every tagging there is loss.
Thus it is that fingers are laid upon wheels sup
"pOsed to be secure either from their position, or
from the slOwness Of their motion when the atten-
" ton is wrongly directed elsewhere. Thus, work
:" men, in fastening to produce certain amount of
pounds weight of yarn within given time, forget
"tO look under their machines for their little
"'piecers. Thus many accidents arrive from
"what is called self.carelessness.
During the last half year, all the textile manufac-
lures, that of silk excepted were highly prosperous
in Ireland az well as the English districts of Mr..
Baker. The only check which seemed to keep the
different branches of industry within bounds, was
the increasing scarcity of raw material. In the
cotton trade the erection Of new mills the forna-
ton of new systems of extension, and the demand
for hands had at no former time, been exceeded.
Nothing was more remarkable than the new move
ments in search of raw material. Thus, in imita-
ton of the Cotton Supply Association of Lanca-
cbi Elav ultr AoSn atin had hapn Ha4
at Belfast. While for the FIVE years ending with
1853, the average importation of flax, with the
fax crop of Ireland added, had amounted to 49,
400 tuns per annum it was, for the last five years,
ending with 1853 only 10l ,672 tuns, showing a
diminutiOn of IL, 600 tuns per annum, with an in
rtased annual value of exports of IL 100000.
The price of wool, already above the average, dur
ing the period over which the last Factory Reports
extend, has since then been continually rising The
rapid extension of the wooden manufactures, and
the increased demand for mutton both in Great
Britain and in the Colonies, may be considered as
the permanent causes OF this rise in the wool prices
IA an accidental cause menacing to shorten the
usual supply Of wool, must be considered the Pc
culiar character of the season; many sheep having
died during the Winter from bad or improper food,
and many lambs having persisted during the Spring
from cold, want of food, and by disease that
proved fatal in few hours
The only trade that was seriously checked during
the last SIX months, consequent upon the conclusion
Of the Ango.French Commercial Treaty and the
fears entertained concerning the effects of foreign
competition, is the silk trade. The pressure thus
exercised has been gradual, so that at the moment
write this letter more than Is, 000 out
of employment in Coventry alone every loom being
stopped. This crisis is the more to be regretted,
since, as remarked in letter on the Factory Re-
ports Of 1859, there had been springing up at
Coventry o humber OF cottage silk factories, in
which the workmen employed their own families
with now and then a little hired labOrer. These
factories had, since the commencement of 1860
been considerably increased in number They are
in fact, recurrence to the former domestic manu-
facturers, only with the addition of steam-power
but wholly different to the new cooperative system
of Lancashire and Yorkshire. With them the house
holder is the master, the weaver the renter of
power, sometimes the employer of other labor as
well as that of his own family. He has either
bought his two looms out and out, OF upon credit,
and Is paying for them 80 much week; or he has
hired them, probably from his landlord, who IS
builder and specuator. He, BESIDES hires the
power wanted. There is said to be as much differ
eDce now between the work thus done upon the
weaver's loom and that done upon the masters as
there is almost between the French ribbon and the
English one Still it is apprehended, and Mr..
Robert Baker in his report, seems to share this APP
prehenson, that this domestic labor, combined with
the employment of mechanical power, will be un-
able to stand commercial shocks. 1t is probable
that the English manufacturer, to cope with his
French rival, will be compelled to recur to the en-
Payment of capital on a large scale, which must
break up the cottage silk factories competing at his
own door.
GARIBALDI AFTER THE BATTLE.
Alexandra Dumas in a letter 10 his friend Carli,