The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-02


lieved that there viii be no serious
trouble between mine owners and
miners over the new eight-hour law,
and by the time the law goes into ef-
feet. which will be on the fifth of this
month, everything will be moving
smoothly between employers and en-
ployees.
There has been considerable misunder-
standing regarding the law and The
Herald and the Mercur Mercury are
the only papers that have published
the text of the act since it passed the
legislature and was signed by the gov
ernor, and as it has been difficult and
almost impossible to get copy of it,
many mine owners and a large num-
Der of miners were entirely at sea as
to its provisions.
A great many were under the impress
sion that under this law penalty was
attached if miner, mill man or
smelter handworked more than eight
hours; but, while it says that eight
hours sh-ll constitute a days work,
there is nothing in the act that says
that he shall not work overtime if he
so desires.
In most of the camps the men are
already working eight-hour shifts on
ten hours pay. At the Park this rule
has been very largely adopted, and no
trouble whatever is anticipated there;
but the men will be expected to do a
full days work in the eight hours, and
for this reason there will be more at
tention paid 10 the selection of men,
and, it is feared, quite a number of old
and practically WORKOUT miners will
be compelled TO walk the plank to give
room for young and active men. This
will work some hardship among the
veteran miners, but mine owners feel
that if they pay for a days work that
they must get a days work, and it is
claimed that here are some men who
cannot perform a days work in eight
hours.
The Sunshine mine in Camp Floyd
district, has given notice that it will
pay So for eight hours work, which is
the same price that the company paid
when the ten-hOur system was in
vogue. This is considered as top wages
and the miners at the Sunshine. appre-
ciating this, have always worked with
hearty good will, and the condition
of the mine today shows that its en-
ployees are good miners and have
done their work in clean,
worknan4ike manner. Under the
eight-hour system the Sunshine
men have given it out cold that thew
propose to show the management that
they can and will do as much work
as they did when ten-hour shifts were
in vogue.
Word was received yesterday that
nearly all of the Mercur men were re-
turning to work at the old scale-ten
hours pay for eight hours work, and
that everything is moving along
smoothly at this property under the
superintendency of John Treweek. who
is popular with the miners and who
stands high in mining circles. The
Herald stated yesterday that il was
claimed that the Mercur company made
fifteen cents on every man that boarded
at the companys boarding house. In
reiterating this statement there was no
intention of vouching for the correct
ness of the same and, from all we can
learn, an injustice has been done the
company by the person who first gave
currency TO the report, as Mr. Airs,
one of the officers of the company.
states most emphatically that the com
papy does not and would not. if it
could, make a cent off from a single
man in their employ. Every effort. -
he says. has been made to make the
men comfortable and at home at the
very slightest cost TO them, and a man
VINO would kick at the excellent table
set by Hank Barnes, and the home
comforts afforded by the company's
boarding house, would kick if he had a
bed of roses and was being fed by an
angel"
The Geyser mine. at Mercur. which
has been paying s2.75 for ten-hour
shifts, adopted the pay by-the-hour plan
q few days ago. but when the men
refused to work on this basis and walk
ed out. their places Were filled by men
at $3.50 per day of eight hours. Yester-
day, however, word was received in the
city that the miners union had mott
fed these men to quit work, and II was
understood that they would do so last
night
The Sacramento is doing most of its
work by contract, and has but two men
working by the day. and these will
probably get the same pay for eight
hours that they were getting for ten.
The Utah and Galena mines, at Fish
Springs, will pay the Sc me for eight
hour shifts that it has been paying for
ten, but Superintendent Charles Cris-
mon says that he expects the men to
earn H-or quit; and, from all accounts.
they will earn it.
The Brickyard, at Mercur has been
working three eiglTt-hour shifts for
some time and paying So shift; while
the Marion is paying 80 cents an hour