Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-01-22

recent reduction. They do not claim
they cannot pay the wages We have been
receiving. They only say: We can't pay
more than Others DO; il they cut down, We
nust.'t
The NaiIcrs In Fall River
are not out, and have not joiped, and prob.
ably will not JOIN, with the other nailers
ior a resistance of the cut-down. There IS
q peculiar arrangement in Fall River be-
tween the man ufsctTrers and the naiiers.
Both sides agree TO watch the fight without
taking hand. and. both sides further sgrte
to pat the last top dog in the fight. That 10,
the re is TO be no reduction in concert With
other manufacturers at the Fall River mill,
and the nailers are to take part in no gen
eral strike. When q reduction is made BY
other manufacturers, and strike results,
the Fall River mills either reduce, ulti-
rately, or mainta the wage rate, accord
ing as the manufacturers or the strikers
win in the fight. In the nail industry In
this section there is usually duh
season, running from November To
March. The jobbers are full, and
there is Little demand. The nailers CON-
plain that the manufacturers take that op-
portunity TO etfe: reduction. The nail
.rs assert thst they would much rather
submit TO idleness two months in the year,
so FAR IS the mills are concerned, than to
suffer these reductions in pay. 1t i in
sisted that there is
No Sufficient Reason
for the present cut down OF /! per cent.
Nails are quoted Just the same as last year,
and. While there may b- temporary cut.
uuder from these prices, ii is only tenn
porsry. snd the spring trade will make
! theu arm again.
"fh.re is no claim that these works
cannot pay the old wages, but they cut
down because others DO. The Old Colony
made $50, 900 the last year, and, in the
| light Of thst fact, what reason is there in
! this general reductiong'
"Wha, will the outcome be"
I never saw q strike 50 unaniI' Ne,
sgrepd TO, and believe the nsss"
| hold out. Let me tell you o. 81
When the manufacturers tna :, 70 S ih.S;
interest to start up, they are going TO dc
it, and at the oil ra.~1, too, Tney look
upon labor merely as q machine L,s,
year they managed the reduction very
| 'hru ,uv. rhry docked the pay in only
I four mil, when that excitement h.a
blown over, they reduced in all the rest. ."
| What DO you say To the statement that
J hAs been r".SS,,iissSed that the naiers esu
| required is not great
| That statement is entirely misleading
! In the first place, it is not regular wage, at
| all; it is piece work pay, and, while few
| do earn the amount named and some even
more, the great mass earn far less. do
/ uvt =; ,ieve the average is more than 81 80
| or 81 60 per dsy. As to the skill rSQui 'er
| il is generally conceded among mschlnsts
that he Reed nail machine is one Of
The Most Dinicult 10 Run.
have known man 10 work on machine
for four years, and then not be a sufficient
master OF il TO run ii alone. Here is the
strong point OF the nsilers in this strike
The psnufacturers cannot put in ordinary
mschiDists, even il they can get them,
with any success. II is sheer humbIg to
assert that small skill is required. The
fremont mill men have a special griev.
snce. In the hrst place there is an un-
qunl reduction, some OF the help being
cut down IN per cent. and the Others IS.
Agsip. The fremont mill turns out steel
nails, which makes II harder TO keep the
knives and machines in condition for use.
and is harder every way. steel mailer
cannot make more than seven .eighths as
many nails as the iron mailer. There is At
least H. per cent. difference in the value OF
the work, and yet they are dOcked the
same as the rest. Then the machines, II
bru ken. whore there is any possibility OF
fixing the haMe on the mailer, must be
paid for by him."