Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1896-10-09

est silver shelters in the two countries.
Each gives employment to about 400
men. No. one viii traverse the great
plant at Monterey and doubt that the
Mexican workman in the industry. rem
ders equal labor, man for man, with the
american :. q employed in the Omaha sm melt
at $1.5O day. The wages in the various
grades of the smelter range as high as
81 a day. 1t will not place the average
too high to make it 81 per day. That is
American money-gold. Here the com
mon labor unloads the cars and heaps the
ore BY the thousands Of tony in the yards.
little iron tramcars and wheels 1t under
the sheds, where the more skilled work
men do the mixing of the ores in great
beds. his common labor shOvels and
lifts and pushes as hard as the $l.50
gold labor mt Omaha and does 1t for 621p
cents a day Mexican silver, or Big
day for that price. Then there
is the twelve hours labor, SO divided
to keep the smelter running night and
day. Here something besides muscle en-
tiers in. The iron barrows must be
wheeled upon the scales, and one kind
OF ore follows another in, as beam after
neuM Ups, untll the barrow Is IuH u
;; rnn one TELL pr9portions OF leau ~. NV
lroh an anu iilne ana various ores 70 aahe
The Mexicans who do this are paid Is
cents day, worth 371a cents American
money. Then come the feeders and the
furnace men, who know just when to
dump in the barrow loads at the top
anu JUST when TO tap at the potion 70
uraW on the bullion. This is Tabor that
rre re- VI a day in Mexican silver, or
oo cents day in gold. The Stag pullers
get % cents a day in silver. The fore
men of the yards, who moves about over
seeing and directing, are paid from SD
70 70 a day. They are few in number.
Still fewef' are the furnace forenen of
that ripe experience which is responsible
for the results. These get $500 a month
the equivalent of 500 in gold.
The pay at the Omaha smelter aver
ages 50 a day, or $500 for the 400 la
borers, the equivalent of $1,000 in Next
can money. The paw at the Monterey
smelter averages ST a day in Mexican
money or $500 for the 400 EMPLOYEES.
Here is a difference of $1,000 Mexican
money or $500 gold in the daily pay
roiIs. Inc Mexican silver smelters are
s ssha 20 PC making Slo IN Mexican money
ing ~ IN American money. Whether
lree silver IN the United States would
raise me mexican money to the Ameri-
can money or lower the American to the
MeZlcan IT would require the American
snleiters TO pay only twice as much Tor
labor where now they pay. four times as
much as the Mexican shelters do. The
wages PAID at the smelters here com
mand the best OF Mexican labor. The
lowest rate, 62Ac, is nearly double that
paid Tor ordinary common labor. It
brings to the works. brown men with
nnn like steel. who trot along with
sVu pounds of ore in barrow. These
Mexlcans she'd all clothing but sandals,
strawhat and cotton drawers as they
push and pull the ore down the incline
OF the long roasting ovens. They have
only one bad habit. They will come to
WORK before breakfast You can teach
mexican labor to smelt ores to perfection
put you can not teach the Mexican wom-
an TO get up and prepare breakfast, sim
PIE as it is, before the whistle blows for
the change OF shifts from night to day.
ana so. n hour or two after the brown
men have begun work, the little brown
women en- come stringing in with the beans
any 'ne eofn cakes ana 'he pit OF meat.
Lnborers' Wages.
AT Cerralyo. in tha sta+a of Mare
=.