The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-20

| Gated wherever the management elect
ed; that the management elected he
| should reside at Horr and there he
should remain. and If anybody disliked
1 1t, why the highway was open.
When this same grievance was
/ brought to the notice of Mr.. Burrell he
said to the men: The money paid to
the physicians is yours; you earn it,
/ though it is collected by the company
by deductions on the payroils: conse-
auently the physician is in your EN-
/ pioy- therefore the company Is not dis
1 posed to dictate either the physician or
the terms you shall make with him.
| This matter SO terminated; the union
elected a physician who resides in
/ Aldrich and one. Furthermore. who is
| willing to perform the services for the
amount of the sum of the monthly de-
auctions at the rate of 81 per man in
| stead of $3.50. The remaining so cents is
| placed in fund from which, when
enough has accumulated, a hospital will
be erected. For the month of August.
1897. the sum of 1858 was collected for
| the physician and s126.50 was placed to
the credit of the hospital erection fund
| In September the amount collected for
| physician was 1851 and for the hospital
erection fund s130.50.''
Mr.. Hogan Incorporates in his report
/ the rate of wages as compared with
/ other coal mines in the camp:
! Wages of miners other than contract
/ by the day: AT Aldrich, $275; Belt,
/ $3.50; Sand Coulee, $3.50. Wages of day
laborers: Aldrich, ST. Belt, $3.50; Sand
/ Coulee, $3.50. Wages of drivers in the
! mine: Aldrich, 81. 6S. Wages of drivers
/ of team: Aldrich, $2.SS: Belt. So; Sand
| Coulee, So. Rates of pay for mining
coal by the ton: Aldrich, rs cents: Belt
| and Sand Coulee, ST. Hours constituting
| a days work: Aldrich, hours; Belt
| and Sand Coulee, 10 hours. Wages at
n -
We're: Day miners, $3.25; laborers, So. so:
| by the ton, 81. In January 1892, when
| the mine at Aldrich was opened, wages
| We're reduced to the present scale, ex-
| cept for modification made by Mr..
1 Strong in the wages of outside laborerS.
/ which We're raised from $1.75 to 81. The
! pay of the contract miners now averages
! about 1915 to $3.50 a day, an estimated
| increase of 1919 per cent. under Mr.. Bur-
| relPS management as against his pre-
| decessor, Mr. Strong" This, Mr.. Hogan
| says, is traceable to two causes: First.
| the substitution of the tonnage system
| for the car system of Mr.. Strong; sec
| ond, improved methods recently intro
| duced for the working of the mine. Mr..
| Strong discontinued the system of min
| ing by the ton and mining by the car
| load begun. This new arrangement, in
| the opinion of the report, practically
| reduced wages of contract miners SO
| cents a ton. The present management
| has no difficulty in getting weights per-
| fectly satisfactory to all concerned.
/ There are two weighers one in the en-
| ploy of the company and the other paid
| by the men. Mr.. Hogan then describes
| the improved methods in operating the
mine under the present management.
| Continuing, the report says:
In the matter of what is termed
brushing there was mucn dissaTisfac-
| ton with Mr.. Strong. Brushing APP
/ nj To-, ra,Ix ,e. -
| keep the floor of the mine level and
| smooth, so the tracks for the cars can
| be laid. This work was let by contract
| the contractor receiving cents per ton
| upon the output of the mine. The GUS
| tomary wage for such work had been
/ ST. day, but this contractor reduced
| it as low as 81. 1t was an advantage to
| him to employ as few men as possible
/ and is a result his work was often neg
| lected, which added to the hardship of
| the miner, who had to push or MINDLESS
| his car through rubbage and over mis-
cradle tracks. This work is now done
| by men who are paid s2.75 by the day
! directly in the company's employ, the
/ same as under the Conrad manage
| ment and there is no further complaint.
| When Mr.. Strong assumed the SUI
! perintendency of the property the min
| ers Were receiving so cents a ton per
| lineal foot and IS cents a ton for coal
| for more air course work. This includes
| all work of breaking ground which is
| done in connection. or performed for
| the purpose of ventilation. This price
| was, after a time, reduced to 25 cents
| a foot, with extra allowance for the coal
| that might be extracted in the course of
| this work.
! Another readjustment was made with
! relation TO pay for timbering the main
! entries. The dimensions and appearance
| of a main entry can be roughly de-
/ Srrihpl that af in a17o rtz
! mine and running across the vein, in
| width nine feet at the bottom and from
! thence conyerging and describing an
! arch, which is required to be not less
than five and one-half feet high in the
| center overhead. Under the Conrad
management 81 per linear foot was paid
| and the regular IS cents a ton for coal
extracted. Any timbering that might be
! required was done by other men, who
We're paid s2.75 per day. After about a
year Mr.. Strong decreed that the men
| should do their own timbering without
any compensation at all. Timber sets
| are six feet wide, and it is a days work
| for two men to put in two sets of tim
| bers. The present management has re-
! turned to the former system, in vogue
| under Mr.. Conrad.
THE contractor who did the brush
! ing also had a contract to make repairs
| on the main entries. partings, etc, which
! had the effect of reducing wages. The
company now employs men at s275 a
| day and complaint on this score is re-
moved.
Mr.. Strong gave a contract to run
/ the washer. The contract affected two
men. a jig tender and a feeder The
! contractor was himself the jig tender
| He paid the feeder $3.50 day of 10 or
| more hours. Under the present manage
| ment the washer runs two shifts of eight
! hours each, the foreman and jig tender
| receiving 500 a month; feeders. one on
/ each shift, s2.25 a shift. In every in
| stance where the days work system has
| superseded the system of contract the
| men have experienced a benefit
The company's plant includes 103 coke
! ovens at Horn. Coke Duilers receive 70
/ cents per oven or 1925 a day for attend
! ing three ovens. This was also the rate
| of wages paid by Mr.. Strong. but I'M
der Mr.. WEIGH these men make better
wages, because of being more regularly
/ employed. Formerly they would make