The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-11-10

from that city, to which you are conveyed
either by horse cars or railroad, as you
please. The town Of Cohoes is perhaps on e
Of the most romantic that is to be found in
the United States, and would repay the ira
weller the time he woul be delayed in view
ing its natural scenery. Situate as It is IN a
quiet valley on the Mohawk river, SO much
spoken Of by all our historians who have
written anything Of our revolutionary war
Il is here where the celebrated falls on this
river are situate, which are the wonder and
delight Of all who have ever seen them. and
such was their Influence on the poet Moore
during his visit here, that ne has immortal
lied them in verse | snail Of coarse utterly
fail to give a description 70 your readers
that would IN any wa7 compare with his
martyr mind. | took my st-nd on the spot
where the best view il to be obtained, stand
J ing on the edge Of prec zee about 100
Z feet high the falls are before you, but ere
| could express my admiration of the scene,
| am cautioned by my friend Miller, a spin
ner, of Cohoes, who has accompanied me, to
\ be cautious not to fall over, as a lady had
| done but a short timo before, and singular
to relate was scarcely injured by the fall
/ that modern invention, the hoop skirt, hav-
I ing played the part of a parachute and let
her down quite easy, whilst the still more
modern waterfall protected the back part Of
the head, and prevented the rocks from dash.
1 ing her brains out, and she lives to-day de-
elaring that hoops and waterfalls are TO herr
4 the greatest blessings ever enjoyed by
3 D..t I A
any Of these things p took the hint given
ana remained far enough away to he safe
\ from this spot. You have before you ga
I immense chasm Of granite rock, about one
I hundred feet deep, and 1920 feet vide,
while before YOU are the falls, rushing over
I il one unceasing mighty cataract, forming
d scene Of beauty that strike the eye with
wonder and establishment. My feeble pen
is utterly inadequate TO describe the scene.
IL must be seen TO realize its beau
ties. About a mile above the falls, the
numerous companies here have built large
dam across the river, $50 feet wide. IL Is
a stupendous work and reflects great credit
On the mechanical skill Of those employed
/ IN its construction, some Of the blocks Of
{ Ito are Immense, weighing from five 20
I si1 =. This immense strength is required
IL s.st the large quantities Of ice which
! hoat down beie n the spring, lnundating as
4 /. where he whole entire Mohawk valley.
! The whole body Of water ana ice ruShes
over these falls at that season Of the year,
7 forming a scene OF grandeur unsurpassed
Z On going u the top Of the highest hill, here
called Prospect Hill, YOU have a splendid
sIeS Or the Mohawk Valley, and all the sur
rounding country for fifty miles At your
feet lies the city with its great hives of in
dustry, whilst stretching far away as the eye
I can reach Is one Of the most beautiful land
scapes the eye ever looked upon Ia the
distance you See the iron horse with its
wreath of smoke, rushing along with its
4 human freight The Troy and Boston road
{ law visible here for more than forty miles.
I The hand OF mao has also been busy here
with the water facilities Of our country.
lsrn, canal here Flns along the edge 81 those
! hills in the space Of three miles there are
seventeen locks. TO take the barges down the
Hudson. What is not labor equal 10 ?
Everything, except TO protect and elevate it.
self. The Mohawk, here, supplies the water
to run a very large number OF factories Of all
kinds. b. the aid Of the natural falls, and
the dam they have built, they are able TO d. |
rect the stream through the city, ming
all their mills, and supplying the city with
" alter to the highest story of ali their mills I
and dwelling houses. There are here eleven 4
mills engaged in the manufacture Of woollen
and cotton goods, the largest Of which is the
Harmony Company. Thev arc also building
another very large mill, which when com
pleted will be ], 200 ieet long, and the
largest mill in the United States. There are
row about $4,000 sets Of cards running |
and when the new mills arr completed they 4
will have 250, 1000, employing a very large I
number Of hands Of all ages. The hours OF
work at the present time are from half-past 4
six, A. NJ, to half-past six, p ~, quitting I
az four clock, p NJ, on Saturdays. Eleven \
hours and a half per day for young children, I
so young blush to write their age, but from \
seven years of age upwards The spinners I
have an organization here, and by the aid of
that organization they have reduced the |
hours virtually to ten hours per day, while I
the other factory hands, not having that pro- 1
lection, labor on for eleven hours and half \
No clearer case could be given in favor Of \
Protective Unions. One of the Companies A
failed here recently, aud the custom be- 1
ing here as elsewhere not to paw i
oftener than once Q month, they l
owed all their hands about six weeks 4
pay for which they have no security /
whatever, but 1 hear they have paid them /
up to the end of the month. | will describe \
TO my readers the plan Of payment that 1
these poor people have to submit to. The .
company pays, as they say, monthly, but \
they also keep two weeks pay on hands, SO /
that virtually il amounts to six weeks often 1
before you get any pay whatever. Some |
mills pay on the first Monday, so that !
should the first come on Tuesday you get I
no pay till the next Monday. The evil Of
this system is seen at a glance, those poor
people have to get credit, paying an en0r
nous per centage to the middle man. 1t is I
stated that the companies also get a per I
centage from the store-keeper 50 that vir |
tuallV the operative in these mills Il cheated /
out Of about 20 cents. to the dollar from the |
way he has to buy food and clothing They /
have recently held meeting herr, to re- /
Quest payment OF wages every two weeks, 4
which, think, is quite long enough. They I
had quite large open air meeting, and some .
kind speakers from N. ", Troy, and other 4
places addressed their meeting, which was
quite a success. They also contemplated /
getting an act passed through the I.egis- /
stature giving the hands employed in any
factory lien on all the effects Of auv COM !
pany becoming insolvent, for their wages in I
full, in preference TO all other creditors. The |
demand seems so just that no Legislature
should hesitate TO pass it. Several instan- |
ees have occurred here where the hands have !
lost four and six weeks pay BY failures, and
never obtained one cent-there being no law
to enforce it. Our whole factory system re-
quires to be thoroughly looked into, and Just
and humane laws passed to protect these |
poor and helpless people and the working
mems party should make one Of their |
studies to ameiorate the condition Of these /
people. In cases where wages are not paid |
more than once a month, the company
might purchase in large quantities and sell !
to their working people at cost price all they
required, such as flour, coal. meat and
groceries. There are always 10 factory
man they could set apart for that work SAL |
for two hours per day this would be suf-