Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-19


KRSMENr KMPLoYEs-A REPLY To RECENT
ERAN MILL NAN
stan Correspondence Of The Evening Star
HOMESTEAD, Pa, July IL. 1892.
''workingmen who believe in the right OF
labor to organize have many things to contend
with, but none Of the obstacles are more
serious than the ignorance of those whose rep
utation for intelligence deceives many people
into imagining that they know all about it."
So spoke Mr.. Thomas J. Crawford, one OF the
leaders in the great struggle now going on at
Homestead-a strong-featured man of mag
nifcent physique and modest as any girl in his
demeanor.
"One OF your Washington papers" he went
on, "has been criticising because il alleges
that our remuneration is too high and because
the federal employees are not. so it says paid at
the same relative rates we Homestead opera
tives. OF course, these comments. which speak
Of. are based on the wage statements given out
by Chairman Prick and accepted by at least one
member OF the House investigating committee as
accurate. 1t ought to be plain to any sensible
person that read the testimony before that COM
mittee that the months earnings made public
by Mr.. Prick were extraordinarily large. They
were never SO great before and the probabilities
Now as this comparison has been instituted
the government employee in Washington and
the steel worker in Homestead-let how
nearly parallel the two lines are. Suppose we
commence with one of our laborers. He goes
to work at o'clock in the morning and.
with the exception Of an hour at noon, labors
on continually until p. m. During those ten
hours he never ceases to handle the pig metal
and beams which are in the mills or yards; he
lifts from IS to 200 pounds right along in the
midst of grease and smoke and heat. under the
eye OF vigiant foreman. The temperature in
which he tolls is frequently superheated, but
when that is the case the work expected of him
Is none the less arduous. For the services he
renders he is paid at the rate of 81. 40 per day,
and know many Of them who have worked 365
days in the year. How about the laborers in
the departments at Washington? Very few, if
any of them, make any pretense Of working be-
fore o'clock in the morning and they are free
at p. m. What exertion do thew put forth
as compared with steel mill laborer.
and yet they all earn more money than be does?
They are employed in comfortable buildings
and have ample opportunities for taking things
easy. Not one in 10000 of Uncle Sans EN-
ployes labor, as our men have to. The clothing
they wear is evidence Of this. decent suit
of apparel worn by mill laborer would be
worthless in two or three hours, but the de-
partmental laborer can wear a white collar two
or three days without soiling it overmuch. Did
thirty days leave of absence annually?.
Thew WORK from 3 ,o a;.,, ,ba - saiu '.
out, and get from S45 to SIS per month Men
who do like work-'recorders,' who compute
sizes and Weights-avelage about 80 per day
Ao' p'"oe' WHICH are inoS' Responsible
IN CONSTANT PERIL
"When the converting mill was in operation
sixtv.four men were emnlo,e5 !, corro-,;,,,,
e
nv" i'o '.eei anu ho' oiie vi Tue sNty -iour Out
was In peru every hour OF every day he was at
WORK. In spite OF every precaution few drops
OF moisture Will get into the wrong place and
then follows an explosion In which at least ono
lie Is sure to besacrihced There is no chance
Tor any one to run. no place where shelter can
Oe PROVIDED Al all times the heat Is tremen-
dous-none OF the men wear more than COM
mon undershlrt and a pair OF light overalls-
ana throughout the ten hours worked by each
man tnere Is continuous exercise for every
muscle and every sense. No work could be
harder: The metal wheelers push from l.5OO
TO Z,ooo pounds on every barrow load they take
10 the eupolas. Then great deal OF toiling has
TO be done by the 'pull-arounds'-me who
forward the steel to other departments. They
each get Sl;ss for every hundred tons of
perfect steel that Is turned out. Sometimes the
output Is as low as 40 TONS often it is $50 TONS
but If the mill is worked to its utmost capacity
the result could not possibly exceed 200 tons
~".. otnei men III uAs department are palu
from Sl.l6 to ~. "a per 100 tons.
IN THE R1oou1xa N,,,
.~o c.. -.
AZ" "ois "oou. "nairS IN my own
department-the 2S.inch blooming mill. The
rollers price, am a rollers S4.s4 per 100
tons, but since the sliding scale was mt in on
Grafton by Carnegie the slide has ALWAYS been
downward. and the price now il s457 Other
mills in this region still nav So "a. so won can
see that Carnegie is getting his work done for
from IL to 10 per cent less than other people in
the same line of business. Lately Ibave not
averaged eighty-fiye tons. SO that drons INV
recompense down 10 less than "a. Is that too
much in return for the skill which must NOS
sess or for the responsibility that rests ON p,e9
Every piece of steel that poes in tbe rolls ia int
SO much mental burden for me r any-
thing goes wrong with il ! hear the blome
That makes me responsible for the men
who handle it. Even the least carelessness ia
rot permissible. Danperous3 Yesi b,re
been rerv fortunate. vet 90 to the doctors ,hree
or four times n weei 10 Rave .H,sbss; ex,rante1
from INV ewes. These flashes are minnie anJ
red-hot scraps of scale that Iv of ne .bo ,,otai
goes into the rolls. Eyes are often had ;n-
iured and MANY men have heen rermano,t,,
blinded. You NAV he carefni ma Won nIe,sc
but YOU don't know the minute when sometime
is going to happen. There are times wben me
back has hundred LITTLE burns ON i, conSed nv
.aaqhes.' Yet because think am NOT ba;ns
fairly maid some tbeoret;caI ,yr;,er s;tt;r., =; 20