The Rugby gazette and east Tennessee news. (Rugby, Morgan Co., Tenn.) 1884-188?, 1886-12-04

On the first day of June. 1885,
the nailers employed by the iron and
steel works at Calumet, a little town
near Chicago, struck because the
employers declined to sign scale of
prices and a set of rules drawn up
by the nailers association. The strike
closed the mills for two weeks. The
company would not yield, neither
would the strikers. Gradually the
nailers left the little town; half of
them deserted the place, and those
who remained were soon in a pitia-
bic condition without money or
credit, starving. idle and no pros
pect of employment before them.
There was not an open store in the
village, there was not a workshop.
The few inhabitants who ventured
abroad were badly clad, gaunt and
hungry looking They were more like
ghosts than human beings. The rails
Of the road we're rusted; there WAS
no traffic over them The great mills
Of the Calumet Iron & Steel Com
pany were idle, the machinery WAS.
brown with rust. Weeds and rank
grass were growing through the
crevices in the floors and tile cindcr
covered yard. There was no sign of
life or motion around, sayethe crsa-
king Of bull frogs. The single watch
man, who had sheltered hiU self be-
hind the door of the office building,
was startled at having his solitude
intruded on. In the village proper
there were long rows Of deserted
stores. Every other house had
broken window. The panes were
patched up with pieces of old hats,
and soap and dry goods boxes. Stat
t.rnly women peered from behind
the few pieces of glass remaining.
The attendance at the village school
was not half the average. The chill
dren had to be kept at home because
of the poverty Of the parents, who
could not provide them with sufficient
clothing.
This was the state of affairs Which,
the company determined to operate
its mills with non union men. There
was a strong demand for nails all
over the country, the steel-b.r trade
had improved, and the owners of
the mills determined to utilize their
machinery. They could not afford
to allow property Of such value to
lie idle. Men were advertised for.
There came union men and non
union men They were put to work
at good wages. Old employees willing
to go to work were taken back. The
union nailers continued to give trou
bic. There were boycotts and shut
downs atintervals every two months.
Finally the company made con-
cession to the union nailers before
the lst of May of this year. They
resumed work, only to 60 out again
the following month on account of
some real or fancied grievance. The
company refused this time. Riots
and boycotts failed to move it. Work
was resumed and such workmen as
applied, whether union or non union
were employed as their services were
required. They were protected by
the officers of the law, and they
have worked steadily since. All the
union nailers have left. Most Of the
union workers who own their little
homes in the village have remained.
There has been steady work at wa
yes, and the whole aspect of affairs
at Calumet is decidedly changed
since a year ago The smoke of a
dozen factory chimneys curls up to-
ward the sky, switch engines are in
constant motion in the vicinity, side
tracking long trains of coal, coke
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