The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-25
DEBATING WHAT TO DO.
LOl6ShOTemel Discuss The Labor
Troubles at Length.

! Limit OF Eighty Bales as a Gang
Work Per Day, Reported to Be Under
/ Observation-Disclosures Plentiful-The
Facts About the Ships Which Have
Left Tybee for Other Ports.
The white and colored longshoremen
held a lengthy meeting yesterday morn
ing What transpired could not be
learned further than that the meeting
has been adjourned over until this morn
ing From the length of time which the
longs horemen were in session, however,
il would seem that very interesting ques-
tions had been under discussion. A
group remained on Bay street the greater
part of the day. None of the men would
talk, however.
President Driscoll of the Workingmen's
Benevolent Association, when approached
by a MORNING News reporter with a re-
quest for information concerning the
action of the meeting, stated very posi-
lively that he had nothing to say. Sew
eral reports were in circulation last
night as 10 what was done at the meet
ing. The most interesting of these was
to the effect that the colored lOngshOre-
men had declared their intention Of
breaking away from their white fellow
workmen and making the best terms
possible for themselves unless something
was done looking to an immediate set
Element of the labor question. What
truth if any there is in the rumor
could not be learned.
A COMPROMISE OFFER RUMoRED.
Another rumor, with apparently better
| foundation, was to the eject that the
lOugshoremen had decided 10 offer a COM
promise, that the rate for stevedOriug
| should be 40 cents a bale ana the limit of
a days work for gang should be eighty
bales. This would be a reduction of .
cents bale in the cost of stevedoring, as
compared with the OLD rates, and an in
crease of five bales per day in the limit
of the gangs work per day 1t may be
that this is the sub ect which is to be de-
bated at the ad burned meeting this
| morning. Inquiries were made of sew
eral OF the brokers yesterday as TO these
rumOrs, with the result that the reply in
every instance was that no communion
tlon of any nature had been received by
them from the lOnyshoremen.
Another report was that some of the
longshOremen had expressed a willing
ness TO go TO work al the present rates on
condition that they should not be COM
I
and that they should work under some
other steyedore than Col. Harmon. This
report, like the Others could not be veri-
fed.
Small parties of the longshoremen have
left for other ports, but no considerable
number has gone as yet. In case the
trouble is not adjusted it appears very
probable that more will leave.
TALK OF DISSATISFACTION.
Z
the house. On the other side of the house
it was freely proclaimed by friends of the
longshOremen yesterday that the captains
of some OF the vessels now being loaded
by nOn-uniOn labor, had openly expressed
their dissatisfaction at the manner in
which the work was being done aboard
| their vessels, and that the ship brokers
had found their experiment so unproft-
able that they were sending vessels
which had been chartered to load at this
/ port to other ports, and that in conse-
/ quenCe, cotton was going away from Sa-
| vannah TO other ports.
One broker who was spoke to said that
| he had received no complaints from the
! captains of his vessels, while another said
! that the captains always kicked, and
| that they had done so in previous years
when only union labor was used There
/ have been differences, he said, in the size
! of cargoes carried from this port by the
| same vessels in previous years
and it would be no surprise if
tine same thing should occur this year.
/ las a matter of course" he said,
THE lalOr we are now using cannot
do as good work as the more experienced
labor, but under the circumstances we
are very well satisfied with it, and we
have no desire to change at present. We
| can give work to a number of experienced
men, and we would like to have them. If
| the union men are willing to work under
| the present conditions we could give en-
ploymenJ TO a large part of them. Unless
| they apply pretty soon, however, there
will be no room for them, as we are EN-.
ploying more men every day
NO SHIPS GOING AWAY
Mr.. c. S. Connerat of Richardson &
Barnard was asked what truth there was
in the report that the brokers were send
ing away ships which they had chartered
to load cotton at this port because of the
unsatisfactory conditions of the labor
here, making it impossible for them tC
handle the business.
There is no truth in the report, - sale
Mr.. Connerat, The vessels which have
gone away rom here were not chartered
to load cotton at Savannah. They are
vessels on which we made offers, but OF
which our offers were refused by tn,
owners because they claimed our offer.
were too low. They sent the vessels tC
Tybee on call, however, hoping that W,
would find it to our interests TO charte
them after their arrival. Steamships are
very plentiful at this season, however, anC
we had no trouble in chartering all the
vessels we wanted at our own fig
ures, consequently we had no use
for these other vessels which had beer
offered us. Tybee is a port of call anC
has been for years. Vessels are SEM
there awaiting orders As Tybee ha,
telephone connection with the city, anC
, as there is good anchorage there, il is tn,
most convenient place for vessels TO stol
at south of HatteraS to await orders. w
hope TO still further increase the impOr
lance of Iybee as port of call. The fou
vessels which stopped at Tybee, and thel
| were ordered to other ports, were not con
signed to savannah brokers. Not one oi
these vessels had come up TO the city"
VESSELS BOUND HERE.
9 As the report that vessels had been sen
away from the city because Of the iua0il
5 ity of the brokers' to load them seemed Z,
% have been given general circulation, j
s was still further investigated last nigh
S in order that the actual facts be mad
e known. The vessels which called "a
! INbce for orders aud have departed 70
other ports and the ports TO which the
have gone are the Dunkeld for Charles
ton, the Chatheld and the Mayheld 70
NkiIrttufrf ON y ftfIHI..I1