Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1879-06-07
LOS ANGELES SATURDAY MORNING. JUNE7. 1879

tainly be discharged on some pre-
text or other. They trust implicit
ly In the discretion of their Com
mittee, and will strike or work as
the Committee shall advise.
On May 20 secret ballot was
cast at special meeting Of the as
ISOLATION to determine whether the
spinners, as last resort, would
strike. The ballots were put in
charge Of the Committee with In.
structions to count and. report the
result on the following Saturday.
The Committee alone know how
the vote stands, for by permission
of the association last Saturday
evening they have been allowed to
postpone their report until the 18th
Of June next. The Committee, OF
course, will not publish the result
openly, but In the course OF a pri-
vate talk with some leading mem.
bers, after the adjournment of the
meeting, the decision of the assO.
citation was indirectly but clearly
stated.
was admitted to an ante-cham-
Der, or committee room, connected
with the hall where the association
meets. 1t was little, dark room,
with few rough wooden tables
standing stiffiy on the bare floor.
The Committee were seated uncom-
fortably on the edges of these Ia.
bles, and there was an absence of
formality and chairs.
Robert Howard, the Secretary Of
the Committee amt the principal
spokesman, looks like y sturdy
English countryman. He is the
only mill hand l have met In Fall
River who has rosy cheeks. This
ruddy color IS accounted for by the
fact that Howard has left his
"mules" and has been employed
for some time by the association,
on q small salary, as its, Secretary.
He was considered modest, intel
ligent man end a good workman
when he was employed at the
Border City Mill. but now most Of
the mill owners regard him as o
"frebrand and a dangerous agitat-
or" The other com mil teemen are
pale, weak.eyed, hollow. checked,
cadaverous set, whose expression
reminds you irresistibly Of Leech's
cartoon Of Dotheboy's Hall, or Of
Oliver Twist asking for more.
"What do you want?" asked.
"Four-eIghts of cent per hum
dred hanks MORE" was the definite
reply.
"What do you get now?"
1.-TWO aud seven.elghths cents
per hundred hanks for filling, and
81 cents per hundred hanks for
warp
A hank, 1t may be worth while
to explain, Is a skein of cotton
yarn. The "filling" Is the wool.
The warp is composed Of the heav-
lest aud coarsest yarn and the wool
of the finer and lighter cotton. A
hundred hanks of warp cotton
weigh about 81 pounds. A hundred
hanks OF wool cotton weigh about
pounds. An advance Of four
eights of cent per hundred hanks
would be an equivalent to an addi-
tional payment to the spinners oil
about one-sixth Of cent for every
pound of yarn manufactured.
"How does your pay compare
with that given In other mill cities
for the same work."
"Well," replied Howard, frank
ly, "nominally we get q trifie
more, but practically we get less,
as I will explain. Each spinner
runs pair OF mules or spinning
machines. A boy assists him, who
is called the back boy This boy
IL paid eleven cents per mule each
day for his services, and can at
tend to two, three, aud sometimes
four mulei. Now, in the English
mill towns, and in Lowell and
other New England cities, the
back boy is paid by the corpora
ton. In Fall River he is paid out
of the amount earned by the spin
ners, that is, twenty-five cents pei
day is deducted from the wages oil
each spinner and given to the back
boy. Again, in other towns some
time is allowed to the spinners to
clean their machines. and to take
little rest once or twice day.
Here, ifa spinner has occasion to
leave his mules, If only for few
moments, he is obliged to strike
work for the day, as the overseci
puts a sick spinner In his place
Immediately"
How large II stock Of sick spin.
ners is kept on hand?'
"Well, each mill has from four Ia
fourteen in waitlng.n "A sick
spinner, be 1t known, is All uncom.
monty healthy spinner, without
regular work, who attends some
mill daily in expedition of a chanea
job.
"rhe sick spinners are the best
paid I Think" chimed in haggard
looking committeeman. "rhey
have pretty regular work, which Is
not as exhaustipg as our continu.
eus weekly labor, and they really
put In about as many hours week
as we do"
"You have an hours rest at noon,
don't you?"
mo, not fifteen minutes" all re.
- n ....v.