Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-02-09
WAeEs IN BUILDING TRADES.
What Contractors Pay from Atlanta an
New York to San Francisco.

New York to San Francisco.
The secretaries of the building eX-
changes in thirty eight cities in the
country have sent to the Wisconsin bu-
reau of labor statistics the schedule Of
wages in the building trades for each
city. Where there is no exchange the
information has been supplied by masons
and builders, The schedules have been
tabulated and interesting facts thus
brought to light.
The six cities in which the highest
wages are paid are New York, Brooklyn,
Chicago, St. Louis, Galveston and San
| Francisco. The trades selected for the
table were masonry, carpentry, painting,
plumbing, roofing and the common labor
required in the erection of a building.
No one city pays the highest wages in
all the trades or in more than one trade.
Thus, st. Louis pays the highest wages
for masonry, New York for carpentry,
San Francisco for painting, Chicago for
plumbing, Sante Fe for roofing and Gal
weston for common labor. Santa Fe
pays more than any other city for roof
ing, but it ranks below Brooklyn In all
the other trades.
The lowest wages are paid in the south
ern cities, Atlanta, New Orleans, Lex
ington, Va, Vicksburg and Norfolk, va.
Some of the smaller cities of the north
pay but little more than those OF the
south. Wages in the north seem to de-
pend more on the size of a city than
on its location. The explanation Is OF
course that in the larger cities the
trades are better organized. For the
same reason two adjoining cities seldom
pay exactly the same wages. New Hork
paws more than Brooklyn for painting,
carpentry and plumbing. Brooklyn pays
more than New York for masonry, roof
, ing and, according to the talk, for com
mon labor. There is the same difference
in the wages paid in the nearby cities OF
Minneapolis and st. Paul, Cincinnati
? and Cleveland Philadelphia and Bos
3 ton rank below the five leading cities
: and many smaller western cities pay
higher wages than do the Quakers anc
e the modern Athenians Atlanta payt
Q the lowest wages for roofing masonry
i and common labor, but comparatively
s good wages for painting and plumbing
n The difference in the wages rates palc
It in each trade is as great as their geo
b graphical distribution. Atlanta will pa.
y 81 cents an hour for masonry, but ST
st Louis is willing to give 40 cents for tn
same work. New York and Baltimor
y pay 40 cents an hour, and Brooklyn, Ga
r, weston, Washington, San Francisco an
l, Chicago frem Il to 45 cents an hour. FC
d carpentry New York pays 80 cents a
st hour and Lexington, Va, 1S cents. l
ct eight cities, from Minneapolis to Prov
e, dence, the prevailing rate Is 20 cents a
re- hour New Orleans and Vicksburg al
K willing to pay 20 and 26 cents, but mo
1T of the smaller western cities will giN
less than % cents for carpentry. FL
plumbing Chicago pays 40 cents an hol
and Vicksburg 224 cents. New 4ol
at and San Francisco pay 39 cents. III
40 other thirty-three cities follow in I
particular order, some of those in tt
n west paying less than southern cite
h. The rates for painting show the create
40 difference, San Francisco paying 53 cen
IN an hour and New Orleans 22l cent
al New York pays 90 cents and Kans
Mt City 81 cents. indianapolis, Baltimo
Ia and Providence are willing to pay
he cents and Santa Fe 40 cents an hou
at Roofing is paid for at the lowest rates
10 all the trades-10 cents in Atlanta. Ne
~ York pays 84 Brooklyn 81 and Santa
nv 50 cents an hour. For common lab
- Atlanta pays u cents. New York, &
in cording to the table, pays 16 cents
he hour less than do Philadelphia, Bost
ne and Brooklyn. Galveston parts with
1is cents an hour, or So day, the high'
rate of all. The rate in San Francis
of is not shown, but from another sou1
ha it is known that 50 is also paid for CO..
"a mon labor there.-New York Sun.