The Portland daily press., 1892-07-15

| heavy from the shore. When they re-
| turned the shots, he ordered them to
| quit. Three or four of the Pinkertons,
| were wounded. The detectives then be-
| gan getting out all of their arms. They
! then held a consultation and decided to
| allow the barges to remain while they
| took the wounded men away on the boat
| as they thought the crowd would dis
| perse and they could make a peaceful
| landing in few hours. He did not feel
| disposed
To Make Forcibly Entry
as he had letters from Mr.. Frick telling
| him to not commit any overt act.
David Lyme h, boss heater in the plate
mill, was called up for conference with
| Chairman Oates, who wanted technical
| information concerning the plate mill.
| Austin Colbfiesh, a roller in the 19-inch
! mill. then testified. He was asked by
Mr.. Oates what reductions the company
proposed, and who it would affect. He
said thatlin the heating department the re-
duction amounted to per cent. In the
shearing department the greatest reduc-
tions were proposed. In one case the
new scale proposed drop of $33 to 1000
tons. Under the old scale on 1900 tons,
at S25 he made $141. .45. At the reduction
he received $92. Shear helpers would
now make $1.99 for eight hours, and
| formerly their pay was one-third more.
''How much is the labor cost of produc-
ing ton of steel?" asked Judge Taylor.
'sAbout $1.52. That is only for skilled
labor"
Captain F. Kennedy of the steamer
Little Bill was a watchman on one of the
Pinkerton barges. He detailed the arrival
Iaf+ +Ja dc thpip tli1, IIT
the Monongahela river Near Homestead
they met the strikers river patrol, who
| fired skyrocket to give warning. Men
| and women mingled broke down the
fence and fired on the barges. This party
| fired first. The Pinkertons held their
| fire until three of their number were in
| jured. The Pinkertons, he said, were
greatly frightened. II suspect they
were,'' agreed Mr.. Oates in answer to
Mr.. Boatner. Capt. Kennedy said about
| so of the
Pinkertons Were Good Shots
and easily picked off the strikers. The
strikers were arrant skulkers.
Andrew Huff was the next witness. He
was on the barges during the fight. When
| the firing began from the shore only a few
of the Pinkertons tried to land. He came
away on the Little Bill when the wound
ed were brought to the city. w. L..
Danahy, a reporter on the Pittsburg
Leader, was the next witness. He ar
rived at Homestead about o'clock, after
| the first fight. He heard some fighting
at that time, but did not know where it
came from. He could not get near
enough to ascertain. He did not see the
surrender of the Pinkertons.
William Weihe, president of the Anal
| gamated Association, was then placed on
the stand. He said there were $4,000
skilled workmen in the association. They
| were of different nationalities, but the
| majority were Americans. The associa-
ton did not countenance any act OF v1o-
lence on the part of its members in keep
ing out non-union men.
Mr. Frick was recalled, and said:
ssWe asked for a reduction of wages be-
cause reduction of the price of our
| product caused us to lose money on ev,
cry ton of blooms, billets and slabs sold
| this wear. Our Homestead mill and Du-
quesne produce II per cent. of all the
steel billets made in the United States.
The mortgages we hold on the houses
of our employees are only to aid them in
the erection of their homes. We allow
them to pay off by the month. We new
er foreclosed mortgage of this kind.
We charge them six per cent. and allow
them the same when they deposit with
us. Our men at Homestead have
about $140.000 on deposit with us on
which we pay per cent. We hold
mortgages amounting to $4,000. The
market price of pig iron is $14. The cost
of converting this into steel billets on an
average is about $40, SO on an average to
produce ton of steel billets costs S24.
This is leaving out the investment.
Mr.. Oates-'What does it cost at
Homestead to produce ton of steel?''
'sThat I must decline to answer. That
is going into private business. | have
given you the average all over the United
States to produce a ton of steel billets."
Mr.. Boatner-s'The Mckinley tariff
caused loss in the price you get for
your output and consequent reduction
of wages
Mr.. Frick-s'No, sir; the Mckinley bill
does not have such an effect. The lower
prices are the result of reproduction"
your company has taken a foreign con-
tract for steel rails at 81 less than the
price abroad
Mr.. Frick-"Thats not true. We
made no such contract"
''Could not your works be continued at
the old scale and your company still
make fair proft?'
ssNo, sir; we could not. 1t would GER
tainly send us into bankruptcy if no ad-
iustment of wages was made"
Mr.. Broderick-"You feel the tariff
has no place in this trouble?"
mo, sir; not in the least. Had the
duties on the grades we manufacture
been reduced it would have had a serious
effect on wages"
This finishes the investigation in Pitts
huru