Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-01-19
COTTON MILLS STOP.
Beginning of q Strike Which Threat
ems TO be a Long and Cost
iy One.

Boston, Mass, Jan. IA reduction III
the wages of about 125 900 operatives en-
ployed in nearly 100 cotton mills in New
England, which the manufacturers de-
cided upon a temporary remedy for de-
preston in the cotton goods industry Of
the North, went into effect in Il majority
of the mills today. In several mill cen
tiers; namely, New Bedford, Biddeford,
Saco and Lewiston. Me-, dissatisfaction
among the mill hands is intense, and
strikes are on.
The eighteen mills of the former city,
which give employment to about 5000
hands, have been shut down because the
operatives have refused to accept the re-
duction, and the contest thus inaugurated
promises to be one of the most stubborn
in the history of the textile industry. The
situation in New Bedford is very gloomy.
Business there has not recovered from the
depression which followed the failure of
six mill corporations last spring.
The $500 employees at the Lacon and
Pepperel mills in Biddeford, Me-, refused
new schedule, and it is thought the strike
there will not be settled easily. Some of
the employees of the York mills of Saco
also joined the Bddeford movement.
New Bedford, Mass, Jan. IA shut
down, the most complete in the history of
the cotton mills of New Bedford, began
this morning Not a spindle was turning
nor a loom in motion in the factories Of
the cloth corporations an hour after the
usual time of beginning work. Between
forty and fifty operatives went into Bris-
tol mill and twenty-five or thirty into the
Whitman, but aside from these no mill
made any show of running and these two
soon shut down. Nine corporations,
operating eighteen mills, in which up
or.rie - IN,
yolved in the strike. The cut-down is
uniform all over the city-10 per cent.
The total pay roll of these corporations is
estimated at $4,000 weekly.
WoonsOcket, Z. l., Jan. 1.-THE 230O
people employed in the Social, Globe and
NOurse mills of the Social Manufacture
ing company and the Clinton mill, in this
city, went to work al reduction of wages
averaging, it is stated at the offices of
the mills at about 10 per cent. Fears
are felt that tronble may yet arise.
Lewiston, Me-, Jan. 1.-THE operatives
of all the mills except those Of the An
droscoggin went to work as usual today
under a reduction in wages of from 10
to 10 per cent. net. At the Androscog-
gin only seven out Of 400 weavers went
to work. The reduction went into effect at
the mills of the Continent and AndroScOg-
gin and Hill, Barber and Bates corpora
tons and at the Lewiston bleachery and
dye works. The total weekly pay roll of
these companies has been $4,000, about
$3.50 operatives are employed and the
number of spindles aggregates 279000.
Biddeford Me-. Jan. 17.-Every de-
partment of the Pepperell and Lacona
mills in this city, and all the departments
of the York mills, with the exception OF
the carding and mule spinning rooms,
shut down today as a result of the de-
cision of the operatives to resist Il 10 per
cent. reduction in wages, which was to go
into effect today.
At the York mills in Saco, the weavers
remained out and were followed by the
slashers and ring spinners. The cut at
these mills is said to average II per cent
There are 1900 operatives and 51,2O1
spindles. The management of the mills
refuse to say what their policy will be
regarding the action of the operatives.
An incident at the Acushuet mills in
New Bedford, in which dirt and stones
were thrown at the managers, without do
ing any harm, was the nearest approach
to serious trouble. This afternoon quiet
prevailed in all sections and the stores
and streets were almost deserted