Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1894-07-24
A STRIKE OF The LONG AGO.
AN AGED WlLMlNGToNlAN TELLS
OF THE TROUBLE BARRELS CAUSED.
The Striking Coopers Upset a Wagon on
Market street and Destroyed Barrels
brought to Town by Rural Coopers.


Market street and Destroyed Barrels
Brought to Town by Rural Coopers.
STRIKES seem to be the theme Of con-
versstion for people nowadays" said
Doorkeeper Amos G. Brinton, a Court
House attache who carries loads OF un-
written local reminisrence under bis
grizzied hair wilmington has been
sinRulsrly exempt from them. but the
time was when strikes were frequent be
ween the Brandy vine mill owners and
the coopers"
Tell us all about it, suggested the
reporter.
'In the summer Of 1913 there we're six
men carrying on the mills on the banks
of the Brandywine below Market street
bridge The annual capacity OF the mills
was nearly one million bushels Of wheat
aud corn ground into flour aud meal
This enormous product required some
200 coo barrels and 5000 hOgsheads for
packing purposes.
About 300 coopers made these barrels
and hogsheads along the crack while
some men In the country put IN their
spare time IN the winter In making
bArrels to sell to the millers when there
was demand for them
In the summer Of 1S43 the rich mill
owners concluded that they would red uce
the price of barrels some three cents
each The coopers, who barely made
living on the price they were getting.
concluded that they would send a COM
mittee of their number 90 wait on the
mill owners and see II they would not
| give the same for barrels as they had
| formerly given. The answer was that
IL
/ baras around the country we're full of
barrels. They said they would buy hem
and the Brsndywine and Wilmington
coopers could wait their pleasure to have
/ the price of barrel making raised to the
old figure This was not welcoms news
to the 900 coopers who earned their
living here
"Word was sent TO the country by tho
mill owners for the rural coopers to
bring on their barrels Que Of them
started with his large barrel wagon
loaded with 40 or 150 barrels The load
was drawn by four horses H. only got
as far as tbe Bsck Bear Tavern, at
Ninth aud Shiplsy streets, that day
The coopeTs soon found that they were
there They appointed a commi tee tn
wait on the owner and try TO dlssusde
him from taking the barrels down TO the
mills Bnt the mill-owners had guaran-
teed them protection in bringing them
TO the mills. The negotiations delayed
ths moving Of the wagon unit afternoon
J Then IL rolled away from the Back Bear
under guard Of some of the mill owners.
! When 10 was going down the
hill, and nearly opposite the resi-
dences OF the lordly mill own.
ers, it was met by party Of men,
| whether coOpeFs or not l cannot say, as
nearly overy one sympathized with tlem,
and 10 WAS generally believed that others
as well as coopsrs helped In the desrruc-
tion Of the barrels At any rate, Several
men ran to the side Of the wagon, upset
it and turned the barrels into slaves and
hoops much more quickly than they
could put them together again. Market
street, for nearly square between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth ST. eets, was
streWn with slaves, hoops and heads
I, for one, wished they had destroyed
them altogether A cooper bought the
mass of stuff snd put them together
again. They we're sent to the mill where
| worked aud packed -four in them. The
heading of those barrels was not calcu-
lated TO make a luan more amiable than
was bis wont.
AlA0A tuab bhcie was iot many years.
kind of fight going on between the mill
ers aud coopers, the former putting
down the price when there seemed to be
chance aud the coopers putting up the
prcs when barrels we're In demand At
the present time the Brandy vine mills
are hardly worth a mill-dsm and there is
no fear of a strike there / sincerely
hope that our capital aud labor will work
on in harmony and doing iuqtice 10 ono
another and that we will have no strikes