Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-08-18

unsuccessful, two successful, and the
results of the remaining three are I'M
known. Two Of the strikes were
among females, and in three cases the
militia had to be called out to suppress
rioting.
On February 5, 1912, the first strike
in the long and costly war between the
ironmasters Of the Pittsburg district
and their employees commenced. There
was no fixed wage scale at the time,
| and the strike was brought about by
the ballers in several Pittsburg rolling
mills, in opposition to a proposed re-
duction of wages to So per ton. The
strikers were defeated owing to their
lack of organization, and resumed work
on July 8, after over five months idle
ness and loss Of many thousands Of
| dollars to both sides.
! Philadelphia was once more the
scene of of a labor war in August,
1912. Moyamensing and Kensington
| weavers struck for higher wages.
| Weakened laborers were inundated
| striking; much rioting occurred, and at
| tacl1s were made on the mills, in the
course of which looms and chains We're
destroyed. The strike and riots lasted
until January, 1913, when a settlement
was effected.
| The iron war in Pittsburg again
| broke out in May, 1916. The boilers
| struck for an advance of 81 per ton
from So to Sc The strike lasted until
| August, when the men were successful,
the bosses losing heavily. From 1S44
to 1S4S eight important strikes occurred
in philadelphia alone, the men winning
in a majority of cases. Losses to the
strikers Of 81 900 and to the employers
of nearly $4,000 We're caused by the
strike and riot of weavers in Fail
| River, Mass, in 1913. Mills were closed
five weeks, and considerable noting
and damage to property occurred
| From 1850 to the outbreak of the war
strikes were very numerous and uni
formly costly and successful. On Feb
ruary %, 1860, the great Massachusetts
sl1oemakers' strike broke out. It be-
came general throughout the state;
mass-meetings and huge demonstrations
occurred daily, ending in considerable
rioting. Finally the militia We're
called out and the strikers quelled.
They returned to work in April, having
! lost in wages alone 100000. During
the early part Of the war strikes were
| few, and, WOrkmen being scarce, the
employers conceded demands readily.
All over the country a feeling against
strikes was springing up, and it was to
provide against their recurrence that
on February 5, 1865, the United Sons
of Vulcan predecessors Of the Anal
gamated Association Of Iron and Steel
| Workers, fixed the first sliding scale 1t
proved satisfactory, and starved off
iron strikes until the close Of 1874.
Meanwhile, however, other branches
of organized labor did not possess their
souls in peace by any manner of means.
| The spinners and Weavers Of Fall
River, Mass. struck against the JanU-
airy reduction Of IS per cent. in 1865.
| The strike lasted two weeks, was par
TALLY successful, and cost the men $780,
| 000 Seventeen big strikes occurred in
| 1868 and 1869, one of them being that
Of the WOrkingmen's Benevolent ass0-
| citation of eastern Pennsylvania, which
I failed after three months.
| From 1871 to 1875 there were nc less
| than seventy-eight strikes of the Cigar
Makers union, siXty-fOur of which were
directed against the reduction of wages.
| from 1873 to 1876 many strikes occurr-
Ell in the cotton and wooden factories
| of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and
Connecticut. Strikes in the printing,
| mining, and other industries occurred
in ali parts of the country, especially
in the states Of Pennsylvania, Illinois.
| Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio and
| New York.
| The great railroad strike of 1877 be-
gan on the Baltimore and OHIO railroad
at Martinsburg, W. Va, it's Immediate
cause being reduction of 10 per cent.
in wages. This. however, was but one
of many grievances. Employment was
! Irregular. wages were often retained for
weeks after payday, expense bills were
not paid. and assessments were even
| collected from trlinmen on accidents.
| There was riOting, destruction of prop
| erty and even loss of life at Martins
burg, Baltimore and in various parts of
| Pennsylvania In Cincinnati, Newark,
L
strikers succeeded in closing most of
the factories, shops and rolling mills |
In Chicago the communists made for
midable demonstration.
The strike spread to the Pennsylvania |
Central, Erie, Lake Shore and Michigan |
Southern, PittSburg and Fort Wayne, |
Philadelphia and Reading, Lake Erie, |
and about ten other railroads. Theloss |
TO both sides was enormous, and prop |
erty worth several millions of dollars |
was destroyed. Pittsburg was the |
center of the struggle, and a man
named Ammon acted as leader Of the |
strike On the morning of July 10, !
1877, the men in charge Of the trains |
refused to take them out of Pittsburg, |
and prevented laborers from the yards |
from taking their places.
The estimate of the total damage |
done to Pittsburg by the riot isS5,0OO,- |
000.The actual loss to the railroad COM !
pany exceeded 100000. The greater
part of the hugo loss was settled by |
the courts upon Allegheny county.
The year 1880 was the first for
which any federal report of strikes was
made Joseph D. Weeks reported for
that year in the tenth census that 1872
strikes had occurred in the United
States. Of these 3O4 were in Penn
sylvania. and 1O4 in New York.
The government report of 1887 states