The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-01-17
THE TROUBLE AT THE BELLAIRE
GOBLET WORKS.
statement Of the COmpany-Counter.
Statement of the Employees.

u -
Goblet Works in Bellaire has created
quite an excitement. The proprietors of
the works say that man named Rosser
was impudent TO the manager of
the works, and thst he cid his
work very poorly, and in consequence
was discharged. The remaining work
men protested against this action as they
ali belong to the Union, and they sent q
remonstrsnce to the proprietors signed by
seventeen names. They said that if
Rosser was not taken back they would
stop work. the man was taken back,
but on Tuesday morning they were noti-
fed that the President of the works, MIR.
L. G. Morgan, desired TO see them. He
then read notice saying that they were
discharged, and telling them to
come q: one o'clock and receive
their wages. The men took it very quiet
", and in few minutes they had picked
up their tools and the factory was desert
ed. Mr.. Gorby, the Secretary of the
Company, was absent at the time but ne
at once engaged new hands
who will arrive on Saturday night. Mr..
Gorby was not present when the affair
took place, nor hsd he returned to Bel
laire late last night. The Company say
that Rosser has created trouble in other
works, and that he ia q NUS
ance. AS the men did not
strike but were discharged, other Union
men can take their places according TO
the bylaws of the Society.
k.t no ha MIC
arrive there will be trouble, and that If
the discharged men cannot persuade them
not to work they will resort to force.
A CARD FROM THg EMPLOYEES OF THE
BELLAIRE GOBLET WORKS.
In order that the public may fully un-
derstand the fact: it will be necessary for
Us 10 give history of the company from
It's conception las lar rs we were adVised}
and birth up TO the present.
When the ground was broken Tor the
building OF the Goblet Company, the
present President, Secretary and Mana.
ger of the company held the same re-
speclive positions in the Belmont Glass
Works. While we were employed by the
Flint Works of Wheeling and BeiIaire,
and during the course Of construction
of the new works, overtures were made us
in regard to employment BY the new
company when it was ready tor opera
ton. We were finally induced by the
velvety arguments of our late employers
to wo-k for them, and consequently or
the 18th OF January, 1876, majority Of
us turned out the first glass Tor the
new enterprise, and from that time until
the Sd day of December last, worked
hsrmonlously with the exception OF an
occasional black look from the share
holders when some moves would fail
short Of 800 goblets) with them.
1t would perhaps be proper to state
lust here that the making or more than
600 gobiets 10 the move in any factory in
this country Tor any other that was
known of WAS unprecedent until his
anew departure" commenced operations,
ali managers having been fully satisfied
with that many.
Inssmuch as a majority of the share
holders OF the company were and had
been fellow workmen we strained point
at their earnest solicitation and would
make 800 lard some times even more)
poblels TO n move-we knew they had EN-
parked with all their carefully husbanded
earnings of many years labor-we were
told that 1t Was necessary for them IN
order to proceed with the business, to
cucumber themselves with considerable
indebtedness-thus 1t was that we tOled
much harder than had ever been our Gus
tom to give them start. Some may ask
the question, how much you were paid
in comparison with the pay at other fac
tories? tor fear some may not under
stand what we mean by the word move,
We will Just state that it consists OF i've
hours work, thus enabling workman 10
make two moves per diem The Bel
mont Glass Works pay their goblet press
ers $500 per move, while the Goblet
Company, tor the same work, pay Sl.75,
except IN the cases of shareholders, TO
whom they pay more.
Thus it can be seen that while the
Belmont Glass Works are paying for
their days work-two moves-oi 200
goblets 81, the Goblet Company have
been paying for l,GO0 goblets So go so
far n we we're concerned.
For nearly eleven months we worked
this way, and thinking that we had sure
" given kindly lift 10 our old time
friends we gave them notice on the 3rd
Of December last that after the 10th OF
the same month we would not make
more than 600 to the move, 10 which
they refused TO comply, and consequent
" we were excused about : o'clock a. II.
OF the late n4med date.
On the 23d OF Decent Der we were sent
for to come up to the factory, when they
compromised with us upon conditions
tina, all parties be forgiven, and that we
90 to work ut the same prICe and make
600 goblets per move. On the morning Of
the oath we again went TO work, and for
q day or two we thought we were getting
along smoothly, when some of us sus-
pected that our score (the score is SIM
pie tally kept by boy OF each piece Of
ware before 1t goes into the annesling
OVEN mad been tsmperd with. This
wss so inconsistent with any Pres
byterisn doctrine known 10 us and so
serious and grave that we did not talk it
over among ourselves until suspicion was
almost a certainty. About this time the
Secretary asked some OF our number il
we could not make say twenty-five or
thirty gobets over in order that they
might still have some advantage over
other factories. Thus matters went on
until Saturday, the 18th, when the Mana
ger changed Charles Kosser from one Job
to another for the second time durlng the
same week, the custom of the factory
always having been for each man TO have
the same job from month to month, Mr..
Rosser's only ejaculation being, 81 don't
think you are serving me very nice
trick" and as 10 bis not saying more tha-
this or using any profsne language Mr..
Rosser is ready at any time to make oath
Some FIVE hours after this occurred the
Manager discharged Rosser snd gave rs
reason that he had used abusive ian
gusge to him. So tar rs any bad work
is concerned, we have all examined the
states Ia record of each mans work and
they show As good an average for Mr..
Rosser as tor any of Us.
Oh the evening of the Both. we apsin