Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-19
THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW
Contractor W. W. Winfree is Alleged to have
Broken It.
On Trial, Charged With Working His
Men Over Time ON the WalIach
School Building.

In Judge Mills court the trial of Con-
tractor William w. Winfree. charged with
violating the eight-hour law. was taken up
this afternoon. This is the case about
which complaint was made by the Fe1era-
ton of Labor because the defendant, so it
was charged, worked his men more than
eight hours a day. The defendant was
awarded the contract for making extensive
repairs to the Wallach school building at
Pennsylvania avenue and 9Th street South
east where the men In question were en-
ployed.
When the jury was called the individuals
were questioned as to their knowledge Of
the case and their relations with tie de-
PENDANT Messrs. Wilson and Barksdale
representing the defendant asked the jurors
If they We're members Of the Federation Of
Labor or kindred organizations. They did
this, they said. not because Of any refec-
ton on the federation, but because ii was
reputed that this prosecution was inst
tuted by this organization. None Of the
jurors were members of the organization,
and only one of them. Mr.. j. A. Me!oy, is
contractor. He excused by the prose
cut;on, Mr.. Wolfstei2er, who said
he was employer of labor.
The jury was finally sworn, and Mr.. Null
lowry, in his opening, said that the prose
cution had been brought under an act
of Congress of 1892, which made 1t an Of
Tense for employers. contractors or sub
contractors to work men on government
works more than eight hours. unless
extraordinary emergency exists. He said
he expected to show that there 10
such emergency In this case, and that
competent men who made applications to
the defendant for work were refused.
IT, he concluded. Il prove these allie
cations. l shall ask for verdict of
guilty"
Taking the Testimony.
The first witness sworn was l.. r. Boyd.
a musician, who says he IS also a delegate
to the Federation Of Labor. He testified
that the defendant is engaged i'm e. neral
reconstruction of the Wailach building. and
such employs number of mechanics and
laborers. On the 9Th of this month witness
with other members of the committee, called
at the building before 1::!0 o'clock i'm the
morning and spent considerable time there.
At O'Clock in the afternoon the brick
layers stopped work. but the carpenters and
laborers continued to work. Witness ques-
TONED some Of the men working on the
building, and they said they were working
nine hours.
What kind of a day was the 9TH of Au
gust" Mr.. Muilowny asked.
1T was a clear Gay and somewhat warm
for 1 know / was glad to get in the shade
when L could"
Witness mentioned the names of several
workmen, among them colored man
named Albert Whiting. He saw this man
there during the day. and asked him GER
tain questions. " hitting asked witness if
he was the new timekeeper. but he made
no response.
did you not lead him to believe you
Were the new tfmekeeper"'
Il made no answer, but left him to be-
lieve what he plea ed.
Witness saw Whiting there at 7:50 o'clock
cleaning brick, and few minutes before .
o'clock he saw him assisting to load
wagon. He did not know how much time
Whiting had for lunch
N he building 10
day?'
Eyes. sir"
Did you ask Mr.. Winfree's Permission"
Il did not -
And did you see a sign excluding all but
employees
It did"
And still you went in there?"
When asked how he came to so there he
said because he had heard that the eight
hour law was being violated. The other
members OF the committee, he sad, We're
James Trainor, street car driver. and
Joseph Adams. a carpenter.
Says an Emergency Exists.
Building Inspector Brady testified that
the defendant, Mr.. Winfree. is the
tractor doing the work, and the building
Will have to be ready for occupancy on the
18th of September.
Questioned by counsel by the defendant
as to the existence of an emergency the
building inspector said the contract called
for the completion of the Old building by
September Is, and the new part by the
LIST. of aext January. The appropriate
was not available until the LIST of July and
the specifications We're ready the Sd.
The reason why the old part must be COM
pleted by September II is because between
4W and 800 children are to be accommo-
dated there, and unless the building is
ready there will be no place for them.
This, he says. constitutes pressing neces-
Sity, and he considered il as an emergency.
Witness was questioned concerning re-
pert made by one of the assistant inspec-
tots, and the report was produced. The
rt port, the court said, would be received al
the proper time.
DO you know any thing about the num-
her of hours the mechanics and laborers
are working on the butlding?" the inspector
was asked
Not personally"
Witness knew the character and details
of the work, but could not tell how long 1t
would take to complete it. The case was
still on trial when The Stars report closed