The Labor enquirer., 1883-02-03

boats, and mines used 5,24O,688 cords
Tree planting is being encouraged in the
west. AT the present rate, burning wood
will in few years become a scarce
article.
Three hundred lives were lost on the
steamer Cimbria of the Hamburg
American line, which went down off
Cuxhaven. She collided with the Sui
tan and went down in few minutes.
Boats FASTENED out and succeeded in
picking mp a good many which would
otherwise have been drowned. x3
The fifty Hungarian workmen who
were arrested by the agents of one rail--
road, to arrest the work. being done for
another, do not understand why they
are arrested. This is an indignity to
them. Some other way should be dis
covered by railroad men to settle their
disputes, than by imprisoning innocent
labor. ~" !
The mixing house and six packing
houses of the giant powder works at
Point Clement, near West Berkeley.
California, exploded last Monday. One
white man, foreman, named Conk, and
about thirty Chinese, were blown to
atoms. Nearly the entire plant was de-
stroyed by fire, which began Immediately
after the explosion.
The Atlantic cable tells US that in
Scotland an extensive strike of the en-
ployes of the Caladonian railway has
taken place. Only ten of the forty
engines in the Hamilton depot could be
used. 500 men paraded in Hamilton
prior to quitting the town for Glasgow.
The pojntSmen of the Greenock section
! of the line struck subsequently,, and the
strike shows indications of becoming
general.
A Connellsville correspondent says, j.
W. Moore contemplates the erection, of
several hundred new coke ovens near
Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland county,
it the spring. Superintendent White is
beginning to fire the Donnellyand Raj
ferty works, at Stoneville. The plant
contemplates 200 ovens, half of which
are completed. Six ovens were fred
recently, and a like number will be fired
henceforth until all ompleted are smok-
ing
A delegate convention of the railroad
miners was held in Pittsburg, Pennsyl-
vania, Tuesday. Thirty delegates were
present, representing about forty pits
Secretary John Flanney presented a
sliding scale of prices for mining.4 The
scale was adopted and committee, con-
sisting of the mining officials, was ap-
pointed to present it to the coal operators
for their approval. The scale is based
on the selling price of coal at the, Union
Yards in Pittsburg; that is, when coal
sells for SIS hundred bushels the miners
are to receive $3.50 For mining the same,
and are not to receive anything for slack
or nut coal. For every increase of 25
cents in the selling price the miners
are to receive Is cents additional.
The Brooklyn city and Kings county
judges, after conference with the su-
preme court justices, have decided to
construe the penal code so that the
county will not lose the benefits of the
''long term" prisoners at the peniten-
tiaries. The code provides that prisoners
whose sentence involves more than
three years. imprisonment shall 60 to a
state penitentiary. But in the repeating
clause there is loophole. The act Of
| 1875 provides that prisoners with SEN
tences ranging from thirty days to ten
years may be committed to the Kings
county penitentiarY. The judicial con-
struction will be a gain to the county
treasury, as long term convict labor is
the most profitable.
In his report of proceedings of the
New York Central Labor union for the
past six months Secretary Mcclure says:
Your contributions to brother work
men who were struggling against reduct-
ions of their already miserable wages
have amounted to over $4,000 during
the last six months another evidence
of what can be done in short time by
united action. Most of the strikes have
been failures on account of the difficulty
of dealing with an enemy that has all
the advantages on his side. 1 am of the
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