The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-05-24
the STRIKE
A Joseph II. Rrown,s Nail aud bar MIL,
Mouth Chicago,

AZ Joseph II. RrOwn's Nail aud Bar Mil,
south chicago,
Chicago TinSs Of THURSDAY.
The old conflict between capital and Ia.
Dor was renewed on a large scale, On yes
terday, in Irondale, a suburb lying within
the village OF Hyde Park, and being about
ten miles south Of the city. Located there
are the iron and nail works Of Joseph H.
Brown & Co., one Of the largest establish.
ments OF the kind in the West, employing
nearly coo men, and doing an enormous
business. The entire mill Is stopped, and
all the uen are out OF work, a small part
being out on a strike, and the rest being
unable 10 work until the strikers 60 to
work again, and furnish them the material
to 20 on with. The facts, more In detail,
are these:
Last Tuesday tho proprietors undertook
10 reduce S per cent the wages OF fourteen
men who work the butt mill. To this the
men objected, and they quit work. Their
strike would have been Insignificant were
it not for the consequences which It has en-.
tailed.
The vacated places Of the striking work.
men were soon filled, and everything went
on smoothly until the men at the plate
mill thought they were
LOWERING TIE DIGNITY OF LABOR
BY using the iron furnished them by those
whom they designated as the ~''blaCklegs"
Of the butt mill, and for this reason alone
they ceased to work. There were about
forty men engaged around the plate mill.
Their daily wages tluctuated from 81 so to
s. 80. The work performed at the plate
mill consists in relocating and rolling into
kars, ready-fof the nail mill, old iron.
When the plate mill refused to perform its
allotted work, the nail mill, which it sup.
piled with iron. had to cease operations.
In the nail mill there were employed
about lj0 men, a large number Of whom
earned from s. to SO q day. The nail
workers and Others who are driven to in.
voluntary idleness by the action Of the
plate mill men do not approve Of the
strike. In fact they are quite reLicent about
the matter and rarely venture an opinion
concerning it. To a question as 10 the
character OF the strikers, q member OF the
firm said they were an intelligent body Of
men, the majority Of whom were willing to
continue and more than eager to resume
work, but, as is usually the case, there are
AFEw L%ouD.MOrrHED BRAwLERS
among them, and thosecaused the trouble.
None OF the strikers are permitted to enter
the mill, and though no trouble is antici.
pated, the company has iudiCiously taken
the p%recautiOn TO place watchmen in and
around the works to warn of all malcon.
tents and strangers. The mills, which
have given employment to nearly five
hundred men, have been operating steadi.
ly and properOusIy for the past year. At
present there are q number OF orders on
hand for nails, which, owing TO the strike,
must remain untitled for some time. No
overtures towards compromising the exist
ing differences have yet been made By
either party, and each seems to he wait
ing, M~icawber.like, for something to turn
up to bring the matter to u crisis Public
opinion in South Chicago and lrondale is
decidedly adverse to the strikers, and
their present course is not embossed BY the
most ardent advocates Of the rights Of the
w~orkingmen.
NIB. JOSEPH II. BROWN,
the president OF the company which oper-
ates the mill, boards at the Palmer House,
and thither q reporter went last evening
to learn what he had to say Of the strike.
He had not heard the full details of the
matter and did not know what wages the
men had been receiving nor what they
had been reduced to, since all those things
are left to his son, who has charge at the
mill. Nor did he know OF the full extent
Of the strike, as he supposed that the fac.
tory was still in operation, whereas 1t has
also stopped. The reporter began by ask.
ing:
what do you think of the strike, Mr..
BrownT
Il do not think it will amount 10 much.
A few Of our men wanted mole wages
than other mills in the country are paving
for the same class Of work and we refused
to give It. Last Monday, | believe it was.
about half a dozen men quit work, and the
rest OF the men in that department Quit,
TOO, to sustain the half dozen. In our
business n department depends on an.
other, like the links OF a chain, and when
n link gives way the whole chain drops,
So, when a few fmen quit work two or
three hundred are liable to be thrown out
of employment"
What do you propose 10 do?"
I'VE shall put other men in their places
as soon as possible. We do not propose
10 pay the old wages. We are NOT re.
ducing the men below what Is paid by
other mills for the same class OF work, but
we cannot pay more than other mills do.
We are now paying wages as high as any
paid in this country for the same class Of
work. No mill in the country is paving
higher wages than weare."
"How many men do you employ?"
about six hundred"
sand how many are now UNEMPLOYED
by reason Of the striker"
Some three hundred. Not all Of these
are strikers, however. The latter are few
in number. Others quit work to sustain
the strikers, bnt a large proportion had 10
quit, because n part OF the mill depends
on another part, and when one depart.
ment stops, Others have to stop too. A
great many are opposed to the strike.
probably nine ont 81 ten, but they ara
helpless SO long as the few remain oIt y