The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-07-02
Oyerworked Brewery Employees.

10 the ordinary tramp. who has to
obtain his supply of beer by pouring
stale stuff from beer kegs in front of
saloons into empty tomato cans, from
which he quatls, and runs chances OF
having the ragged tin cut a hair lip for
him it would seem that the brewery
employees, who are allowed unlimited
beer free of cost. have soft thing.
And yet those men, who can drink beer
all day without being compelled to put
up the regulation nickel, struck for
less hours of work and higher wages.
10 read the accounts in the papers of
the amount of beer the workmen about
brewery drink during the day, the
reader does not wonder that the men
are ovcrworked. and asked reduction
OF hours. 1t is said that some of the men
drink forty glasses of beer per day Con-
sidcring that they have to walk nearly Il
block, to the extreme end of the brew
cry yard, where gentlemanly agent of
the brewing company waits upon them
without price, it will be seen that con-
siderable valuable time is lost, besides
the wear and tear on the men. OF
course the brewery employees are able
bodied men, or they could not stand
the strain. Forty glasses of beer put
into stomach in ten hours, would
seem to be hard cnoug work for any
one man. if he did nothing else. Then
the necessity of walking forty blocks
and returning to work, makes eighty
blocks per day of pedestrian exercise.
This of itself is enough to make
an ordinary man tired, if he did
not have to carry in his over
worked stomach forty glasses of beer.
From the statistics it is plain that the
brewery laborcrs are the most over
worked of any class of citizens, and
something should be done for them. 1t
may be outside the province of the
humane society to step in and protect
those men, but certainly there should
be some organization that can stand
between those men and overwork.
What is the matter with the temperance
societies, in taking hold of this gric-
vance? If the temperance societies are
true to their motto. of Faith, Hope and
Charity" they will see Il chance to do a
great work. Let each society detail
enough of its members to man Il brew.
cry, and do all the work This would
leave the regular employees with moth,
ing to do but walk back and Iors!, be.
tween the places where the temperate,
apostles are at work. and the place
where the beer is given away. The tenn.
pcrancc people could work for nothing,
tor Charity; they could have Faith thar
the regular brewery men would draw
their salary all ii ght, and Hope they
II IL
perance people kick on this idea. il
is possible the brewers might employ
temperance men to make the becl
and do the work, discharge the
old employees who strike, and thus
save oceans of beer. But if it is i'm.
practicable to employ temperance pco
pie. and the brewers feel that things
must 90 right along ;ls before, they can
save at least the time that the men lose
in marching on the beer keg forty times
Il day, and save the wear and tear on
the men. by a simple device which The
Snn VIII suggest. Each man could be
provided with a coil of hose, the Smu
rubber hose such rs is used on infants
| nursing bottles A reel could be tixcc
on the back of each l:borer. contain
ing enough of the small rubber pipe te
reach from central tank of beer tt
any part of the brewery, with spring
so that when the pipe is uncoilcl. ar,
the iaborcr returns toward the tank
the slack will be taken up on the reel
A nozzle could be arranged near til,
mouth of the ovcrworked laborer. s,
that he could take his sustenancc at an,
moment. wherever he happened to be
Oh course Il hundred men with hos,
reels on their backs would look odd Il
first, but the oddity would soon weal
off. Some may think that the en-
ploycs of brewery should pay tol
their beer, the same as bakers pay fol
their bread in a bakery where the,
work. shoemakers pay for their shoes
and lourneymcn tailors pay for theil
clothes. but this would be plainly vlo
lation of the constitution of the Unitec
States. The strike Of the brewery la,
borcrs has shown that they are the
best treated of any class of iaborers it
the country The only thing the pub
lie wonders at Is that the brewing com.
panies have not been compelled by their
employees to give them house and 10,
and horse and buggy cach.-Pech'
| Sun.