Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-10-18

ing last
These workmen are rs much a stocN in
trade with the. Pullman company as the
coaches which traverse the earth or the ma
chinery which turns out freight cars for the
great railways at the rate of thirty u day.
The workman inhabit Pullman houses, pay
P~ullmanrent, therefore, and make up the COM
munity which renders the gas works, the
water works, the garden and the dairy farm
proftable-@hich pays the rental OF TIE
stores, offices and theatre in the Arcade, OF
the stalls III the market houses and supports
TIC ,lare,at and school buildings which Pub
man owns and leases for public uses.
Pullman as an industrial enterprise must
not only LAY work to do and workmen,. but
all the men must be kept reasonably
busy, else the inhabitants will seek employ
ment elsewhere and the houses will stand va
can't and loss result to the one real owner
the place boasts of. Here is a feature of in
dustrial Pullman which most cities have over
looked. The workmen and their families are
the wards of the proprietors, and their prop
erty is his. The risk is the owners, too, and
upon his success in keeping the wheels turn
ing and the hands employed depends his WI
hope Of profit. Long continued idleness of
even a portion of the employees would be dis
astrous to the interests of the proprietor.
The result of this unique relationship be-
tween employer and men has already borne
fruit in extraordinary executive energy and
in q most admirable understanding as to
wages. h piece" system prevails as to full
two-thirdso of the work done, and prices are
50 acceptably scaled that, in the words of an
employe, "a good man is bound to make the
money and an inefficient man will not find it
to his interest to remain in the town." As
there is no idleness anywhere visible, but evil
dences of prosperity on every hand, it Is fair
to presume that the good men largely pre-
dominate, and that the wages are ~satisfac-
tory. But this is not all. The piece scale is
a sliding one. When Pullman, for instance,
finds it necessary, in order to secure work for
the plant and men, to take contracts at
figures lower than any other bidder, the
piece scale is cut accordingly. Ii, on a sue
cecdiifg contract, better prices are obtained
by the company, the earnings of the men are
correspondingly increased. Thus, not long
ago, the freight car shops of these works
turned out several thousand cars at a cost to
the purchaser seiaSto awe been lower than
cars of like pattern had ever been made for
in this country.
In order to make sure of employment for
his tenants Pullman not only constructs and
repairs his OWL sleeping coaches but builds
passenger, freight, express, postal and pri-
vate cars in large quantities. He also
manufactures street cars, and has
even built houses and engaged in
u general line of carpentry work. In
this field his methods were rather interesting
and characteristic of the enterprise which is
associated with his name. During C~hicago's
recent building boom several competent men
were constantly employed making bids on
the specifications Of architects, securing many
contracts. Then a small army of men were
set at work in the shops here preparing, un
der the most favorable circumstances and
with all the advantages Of machinery and APP
planes, every piece of timber set down in
the architects bills. When finished the whole
was transported to the site, and the erection
there made SO quickly as to astonish all be-
holders. Under Puliman's master hand large
houses grew full-sized and well-nigh perfect
almost in a night. At times 500 men have
been employed in this building and carpentry
department. In addition to these and the
other enterprises already mentioned, which
are directly or Indirectly under Pullman.s
control, there are extensive b%rickyards which
employ men in summer and ice houses to give
them work in winter.