Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-09-07
DUE TO DEPRESSION
THE COUNTRY.
LEI RIBLE EFFECTS FELT BY
CHICAGO LABORERS.
Lack of Currency Causes Several
Eastern Factories to Stop Work
A Great Rolling Mill in Pennsyl-
vania is Compelled to Close Its
Doors for the Second Time.

DpcAS 1Ol lIlS scSCO1Iu 1.-The.
Chicago, Aug. 31-That thousands OF
men are out of employment in Chicago
has been Il Self-evident fact for some
time past, but the full extent of the
enforced idlenesS of laborers and me-
chanics i'll all branches of industry in
this city is not clearly apparent to most
people. Big industrial establishments
that in times of prosperity give en-
plOyment to hundreds and thousands of
men areeither entirely shut down or
else dragging along with a small frac-
ton of their big working forces, and
some of these on half-time
For instance, their are the five mills
of the Illinois Steel company which
have a regular working force of 11,0OO
men, every one of whom is now idle,
owing to the shutting down of the
mills. The Deering agricultural i'm
pIement works employs 5000 men
and all of these are idle. Out of LOO
men employed by the Mccormick reaper
works only 800 are at work. All of the
1000 employees of the Chicago Malleable
Iron Works are taking an enforced
lay-Off. and but $50 of Wells, French
Il Cos force of 1000 men are at work
None of the 1,200 employees of the
Grant locomotive works are at work
There are usually $4,000 men emuloyed
in the various furniture factories Of
the city, and employment is now fur
nished for but 1000 of these. And so
it goes throughout the whole list Of
Histories.
Figures on the prevailing distress
have been obtained from a number of
large manufacturing establishments,
and they show to what extent they are
affected and the number of men in
them thrown out of work. In a dozen
local manufactures alone, which usual
ly employ 1870 workmen only 1920
are now at work, and many of them
ON half-time.
Although no figures have been OBJ
tanned from the building trades, it is
estimated that mo less than three
fourths of the carpenters, bricklayers
and plasterers in the city are out of
employment, while little or nothing
is doing in most of the machine shops,
marble and stone yards and tailor
shops.
The big fire at South Chicago last
week which swept so many homes of
wOrkingmen away in the short space
of an hour or two was not the only
misfortune suffered by them. Some of
no ,,1a6n oil thn :
on their homes, which represented the
frugal savings of a great many years
of toll, and large number of the de
stroyed homes were uninsured, so the
owners of these latter lost their all.
Right on top of this misfortune came
the shutting down of the big mills of
the Illinois Steel company, in which
most of the fire sufferers We're employ
ed, so that they are now out of house
and home and work, and their case is
certainly a hard one.
The mill of the Norwich Silk Manu-
featuring company, at Norwich, n. Y,
shut down, owing to a. lack of orders.
Three hundred hands are out of EN-
ployment.
The York, Pa, rolling, mill, which re-
sumed work about two weeks ago af-
ter a short suspension, has announced
its indefinite suspension of operations.
Lack of orders is the cause of the sls-
pension.
The Pennsylvania shops in Fort
Wayne, Ind, employing / 400 men,
have put into force. an order limiting
the working hours to half time. The
shops will be operated in the forenoon
until further notice.
Wages will certainly be reduced on
the Union Pacific. General Manager
Dickinson had a conference with
sWitchmen and plainly told them that
this month there would probably be a
general reduction of wages of at least
ten per cent. The men demurred and ar
gued the matter, but finally went home.
It is not thought that they will strike.
The tanneries of Lyman Smiths
Sons and Winslow Brothers, at Nor
wood, Mass. are to be shut down soon,
owing to the stringency in the money
market. At both places they have
plenty of business and could run full
time if it were possible to get currency
to pay off the hands employed.
Stevens & CO.. wooden mills at HAY
erhill, Mass, employing 80 persons,
have shut down until supply of cur
rency can be obtained with which to
pay the help and other bills.
Moffitt, Hodgkins & Clark Co., Of
New York and Chicago, for whom re-
ceiyer was appointed at WatertoWn,
n. Y, have issued a circular to their
creditors in which they say that during
the last ten years they have construct
ed over seventy water works and cleo
trio light plants, besides several street
railways and steam railroads at a cost
aggregating S20,OOO,OO0. In many in
stances the company has taken as
part payment for material and labor,
the securities of the company, and
pending their sale have been large Dor
rowers of capital. The company is uu-
able to realize on their securities the
amount they are actually worth, and
desist from forcing sale until they
can command their proper price. The
assets, chiefly water, railroad and cleo
trio light bonds, with a few stocks, real
estate and bills receivable, amount to
about S1,926,OOO. The direct liabilities
to about $4,000, and the con-
tingent liabilities cannot exceed $780,
300.
Two attachments have been made in
New York against Nelson, Mattler &