Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-10
HEROIC MEASURES
Eight-Hour Law Not Regarded at
City Post Office.
WORKING HEN OVER TINE
Not Enough Laborers in the City
to Meet Emergencies.
7 ii T. TOT Al d r 0 p s

The flag that flies daily over the office of
he superintendent Of the new city post
office vas hauled down ycstc-.iay afternoon
promptly at I O'Clock, as is the custom. and
lcr the provisions OF t1e act Of Congress
approved August I. 1~.2. known as the
Eight hour law" all work within the fence
should have ceased at tine same time. Hut
IL did not. AMI ther-'y the contractor vio-
latei that law. AMI lail himself liable To
severe I-ldity. When the hour of 1 O'Clock
came tha men at work the iron frame
and the rn-incs I-ii aside their garb of
lator AMI went to their homes. glad To set
IL ont Il the rain that was Increasing every
minute. But the men in the trench at the
front Of th- huIlIing were told that they
must stay until O'Clock. For time all
went well, hut at last three OF the colorcd
lah"rerS ash Il the foreman il they were to
get any extra money for this extra work.
They were told that they must work the
extra tsS1 hours for the sam. pay as if they
laLor,I ei-ht hours
The ten-hOur Gay would count only as one
rcgula. day. Thereupon these men iaid
down th"ir picks and .1,v-Is and left the
wCik. They were B-n Marshall of No l
Fountain alley. Gee rse Lee of - Ist str,.,
alley ami l. Eans,a Of + street southwest
The men we're at once discharged from the
work. IEty viI probably be unable to OBJ
tain any ilI ther c4i. -oymvnt On the post
office b.!i.Iiu;. as III -.r refusal t. wo-k in
The rain Tor love has stamped them as in
CRATES
Called AN Emergency.
The superintendent of the building said
this morning 70 a Star reporter: There has
been 10 violation Of the eight-hour law.
There Was an rmers eHry last night. The
storm that WAS coming up threatened to
wash down the embanknent ard to destroy
the work that had been done Therefore. it
vas Necessary TO go ahead and press the
work. On last Saturday there was half an
hour extra time put in, because one section
Of the trench to be filed Gp. Sometimes
the c-.trdCtJrS fer hauling the iron from
toe station t. the ya-d are allowed 10 work
an hour over time but there are no viola
tiUfS Of the law.
Later Mr.. Kinsey sent word to the office
Of The Star IN response to q question that
the contractors pay their men for all extra
NJIk- Lh.S les rot a-tee with the state
meu-s Of ;he men disci arGe,i last night,
w.o assert tLat they did rot get any extra
money IJr their wLIk. and that they left
the treaCh for that reason.
IN" only query is whether there was
an ''-Ntraor,linaTy emergency" within the
ne 'l'i'.s "t the statute.
This has usually been the reason why
Prosecutions for alleged violations of the
law have failed. There have been several
district attorney. and two of them have
been presented TO the grand jury. In both
these cases, however. the plea of emergency
prevailed. one case in point was connected
with the construction of the EaShy's Point
sewer, where il was admitted that over
time hal been done. But there was an ap-
parent emergency, tor il was shown that
had not the extra time been put In there
might have been great loss caused to sur
rounding property, owing to a flood that
was threatening. This was considered by
the grand jury as sufficient excuse.
No Emergency.
In the present instance the emergency
was merely one that affected the interests
of the contractor himself. The work was
not finished by the extra labor, and the
walls of the excavation were left exposed
to the severe storm that swept over the city
during the night. The storm did not wash
the bank down, and. as it proved. did little
or no damage to the work already done
II is asserted by the men at work that
there would have been no necessity for
this haste mad sufficient men been put at
WcrN III the beginning. Had the entire
Trench been laid bare at the start-aS could
easily nave been done-the whole job would
have been finished before the end of last
Week.
1t is extremely doubtful If the habitual
Violation OF the law in the case OF the iron
hauilnS can be excused under the eIner-
Sency clause of the statute. The only
emergency that exists there is that caused
BY the delay of the contractors. and it is
questionable II a jury would consider it as
a sufficient cause for breaking the statute
There was certainly no emergency last
Saturday, when the only reason for extra
work was to get certain section finished
before the close of the week.
The Total Drops.
This is gorgeous day for outdoor work
The storm has passed. and the skies are
blue The air is bracing and the threat
OF frost has gone. Yet there are fewer men
at work upon the building today than yes
terday. There seems to be ample reason to
believe that Providence and the weather
bureau are on the side of quick work. but
the contractors and others connected with
the building do not seem anxious to take
advantage of this fact.
There were thirty-five men laboring to-
day, making a rate that would finish the
building on or about the 10th of June 1900
The reduction was caused largely by an al
most total suspension of the trench work
where there were only about half a dozen
men at work. This bran n Of the enter
prise will probably be concluded by night,
and then the total Will &c down still fur
ther. unless there Is Burst Of Energy on
some other branch.
Tne Water boy has not yet gone back
to his aquiverous duties at the site. He
Is said to be still looking for schooners
Encouraged by mis- success night before last
he is sitting on the wharf wishing in the
other two boats that are on their way from
Isl