The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1886-05-02
GIRLS ON THE STRIKE.
UNION HTLL,S PRETTY SILK W1gA EERS
KEEPING UP THE AGI1A1IONs

A "TatfIel0 Reporter Goes Among
Them, bat Gets Little Information
The Situation at The Factortes-A
Mass Meeting Last Night.
The streets of Union Hill were filed with
girls all day yesterday till evening came,
when they got under cover at a mass meet
ing. They wandered around in groups,
just idling, and waiting, Micawber-like, for
something to turn up. They were particu-
larly savage on the Giyernaud's, where tie
strike, that may spread tomorrow all
through the North Hudson silk mills, tax
ing nearly 1000 women and girls away
from their looms, originated. It began in
dissatisfaction with foreman, whom they
tossed from window. It has now as
sumed the shape of demand for shorter
hours and Is per cent increase in rates Of
pay.
" VIII we go back to our looms to-mor-
row? 7" exclaimed one pretty miss of 16, In
the words of q question the TATTLER re-
porter had Just addressed to her. Good
Lord. We cant be expected to work for
little or less, and have unreasonably long
hours to boot"
Another miss, whose keen black eyes
snapped fire as she spoke, stamped her ill
shod little foot, and said I" Wesent COM
mittee TO the bosses to ask them to give us
shorter hours and more pay, we told
them We must not be compelled to work
over eight hours a day, and that our pay
must be increased IS per cent" Asked il
hat lad he ok~ he he oil TU<
we're told to stand by the union, and we all
belong to the union" All the girls who
would speak at all told the same story.
Tho strike in the lower factory has COM
PEELED the weaYers in the factory in West
Hoboken, corner of John and Spring
streets to stop work. Yesterday afternoon
the factory was deserted except two men
who were carrying in some goods. The re-
porter asked him if the boss was around.
s'Vell" he said, 81 am the only boss
around" and he went on plying the broom.
Further inquiry developed the fact that
the same state Of things existed at Lochmey-
er & Schaefer's silk factory as at Giyernaud
Brothers. The hands in Simon's factory
were also out for few hours, but their de-
mands were complied with and they re-
turned to work.
At John Combey's factory the hands quit
work last night with determination not to
return to work until their demands, similar
in character to those at the other mills,
were complied with. The foreman. how
ever, said he hoped his hands wouid not be
so foolish as to stick to their resolve. Mr..
Poidebard, the proprietor of another silk
establishment, was next seen by the re-
porter. He said ga committee waited on
me and demanded that l should increase
the psy of the hands and reduce the
hours" ''Anyone," he added, 'scan work
ten hours a day, and as for increasing the
pay IS per cent it cannot be done. Ny
profits are so small nov that If I increased
the pay to the sum they demand, might
as well close up. have made an offer to
increase the pay in the spool department
Is per cent. and no more. The hands
talk of going out. Well, the factory will
be open on Monday morning at z a. M,
and, If no one comes to work at quarter
past, the place will be closed"
A meeting was held ia Hadthes hall in
West Hoboken, last night. The room was
allied with Germans, Italians, French and
English, male and female employees from
the different factories. A large number of
speeches were made. As far as the re-
porter could learn from the persons with
whom he talked, it Yves decided to send
delegations to the different firms early to-
morrow evening; if they concede, all right;
if not all hands will go out. A meeting
was held at the same time at the Academy
of Music on Union Hill, to which an en-
trance could not DO gained. Those whom
the scribe saw. said they could say nothing
as they had promised TO keep quiet, but he
learned from a couple Of girls that as
Simon had given in the rest must do the
same. Poidebard's folks will meet to-day