Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-15
COMING TO A CRISIS.
The Roughers' and Catchers' Fight
Will Be Taken Up To-Day.
AGLANCE AT THE NEW IRON SCALE
Skilled Workmen Wanted in. Chicago From
Wurtemberg.
MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIAL ITEMS

The annual convention of the Amalga-
mated Association will enter the third week
of its session this morning, and the indica-
tions are that greater progress will be made
during the present week than any time
since the opening of the convention. 1t
was given out by number of delegates last
night that the scale which has occupied the
attention of the convention for the past ten
days will be completed and adopted finally
about Wednesday. AS has been conte l.
plated all along, there will be few
changes in the present scale, which
expires June 30 A DISPATCH re-
porter was shown the new scale last
night, or as much of it as had been adopted.
The convention has reached the sheet mill
scale, part of which has been acted on. The
prices agreed upon are based on 2-cent
card with per cent additional for each
one-tenth advance of said card, and 2 per
cent decline for each deduction of one-tenth
from the card.
Satisfied With the Present Price.
As previously stated, the price for boil
ing will not be molested this year, and one
delegate said last night: eff we get what
we are getting now we will be doing well"
The list of extras on the boiling scale seems
to be growing with the years. The trouble
over hard iron last year has occasioned the
addition of several new clauses this year,
and if all are agreed to by the manufacture
ers the latter will have to pay for hard iron
hereafter.
The muck mill scale remains practically
the same as last year. The price for scrap
ping and busheling will be 81, with 80 cents
extra for busheling on sand bottom, and IS
cents extra for working light sheet, hoop,
wire and Norway scrap on sand bottom.
There was an effort made to adopt a clause
providing that the manufacturer should pay
half the wages of the help as he does the
bloom boy on a muck mill, but will find his
own help and pile his own scrap as hereto
fore
The new scale will call for 81 70 for
knobbling, with an addition of 50 ton for
raw pig iron above the price paid for re-
fined iron and pig metal. In the heating
slabs and shingling scale, IS cents on
2-cent card is retained as the base.
The present bar and nail plate mill scale
is somewhat mutilated While 20 cents is
retained as the price for rolling and heating,
the list of extras is enlarged considerably
and the regulations on the work are drawn
closer. Anticipation of remarkably active
market the coming year is responsible for
this. Within the past week it is said one
of the local mills captured car iron order
for 1, 500 tons, and smaller orders have been
floating around for other classes of con-
sumers, and if there is weakness in the mar
ket now it is by no means general.
Expectations for the Guide Mill.
In the guide mill 81 45 ton will be
asked for rolling, divided as follows: 7215
for beating, 36H for roughing and 36H for
catching. All hands are to be paid by the
company, but by reason of the fact that the
roller is held responsible for all work done
he is to have the authority of hiring and
cotton tie mills days work will be limited
Where mill averages So, 200 day third
rougher shall be EMPLOYED during Jun.,
July and August. The scales for plate,
tank and pipe iron mills are unchanged ex-
cept in minor details.
The sheet mill scale will be finished, and
the fight on the roughers' and catchers'
scale will come up to-day. The time for
taking final vote on the whole scale de-
pends upon the staying qualities of the
and catchers. If they should de-
velop sufficient strength to carry their
point-which, by the way, is not probable
the end may not be reached until Thursday.
The conservative delegates say the scale
will be finished Wednesday and the conven-
tion will get down to business of some inter-
est to the public.
Trouble Over the Nailers' Scale.
Immediately after the completion of the
iron scale will come the consideration of
the nailers' scale. The state of trade has
much to do with the formation OF this scale,
as in the case of the iron scale. According
to reports the quantity of nails made in the
entire country in 1890 was only 5, 640, 946 kegs.
The output of cut nails has been declining
since 1886, when S,16O,9 kegs were made,
and cut rates had reached their maximum.
The drop in 1890 was decline of over 80
per cent, and, as a consequence, scales on
this class of work are not advanced. 1t is
with wire nails, which have been
coming steadily into prominence and are a
formidable competitor.