Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-05-20
NEW YORK LETTER
The War Has Made the Season
Busy for Garment Workers.

Some bankers Think the stamp Tax
Checks Good Thing-How the Drum
mers Filters and Buglers Drill Visiting
Camp Black on Hampstead Plains.
NEW YORK May 10 special There
Is some of the usual kicking among the
tailors and other garment workers this
spring about the sweatshop system and
the oppression of the contractors. but not
so much as usual because of the extra
work the war with Spain has thrown into
their hands.
According TO Henry White. the business
agent of the United Garment Workers in
New York many thousands of uniforms
have already been put out with many
more to follow. This has naturally kept
the ball rolling with much greater regu-
laritv and stcadness in the trade than
usual and may carry the season over with
out a strike. The cutting of all these uni
forms is done in Philadelphia under the
direct supervision of the government, but
the cut goods are sent to this city and 9TH
or clothing ccnters for manufacture and
the result j. of course. n good. fair amount
of work everywhere.
Mr. White thinks it would not be hard
this season to do away with the contract
system altogether SlDll4N lIlt rush Oh gov
Crnmcut work continue though 10 definite
plan of procedure TO that end seems yet to
have been agreed upon. In a general way
it may Zoe stated. however, that efforts will
be made To bring about the much 10 be de
sired result by such peaceful means as
demonstrating TO the manufacturer that
the business can be carried Oh moro profit
ably both to themselves and to the work
inpmen by getting rid of the contractors
altogether and sharing their middle
men : profits with the work people. A
good deal depends upon the attitude of the
cutters in this matter They are perhaps
the best organized of all the trades afliliat
ed with the nitcd Garment Workers and
are doing better even than the operators,
filters, nnishcrs ct al.
Stamps on Bank Checks.
"The notion Of putting a stamp tax on
bank checks for the purpose of helping to
raise the war revenue appeals to me with
n good deal of force, - said the cashier Of
bank in one OF the outlying boroughs of
the Greater New York 20 me today lit
will rcduccthe uumlcrof checks and CON
scquently the volume Of clerical work TO
be done in the banks enormously Our
bank is not large one and many Of our
deposits are small Yet so common has
the habit of paying every little tuppenny
bill with a check become that we have 10
/ handle from 800 to 300 checks in a day
/ One dollar and g checks are common and
! checks Tor a few cents not at all unusual
! The thing has got To be a nuisance. vet
/ we can afford TO make a fuss about ii, for
/ a surprisingly large number of banks, in
/ GLIDING some of the big ones, put up with
| 1t without "a murmur and 10 protest would
/ be to drive our depositors TO other institu-
/ tions
Il suppose the plan used when bank
/ checks were stamped bcfore-that is. of
stamping the checks in blank before they
are received 10y the dcpositors, will be fol-
/ lowed out This will make it necessary
4 for each dcpositor to lay down 81 to pay
for stamps every time he procures a check
book, and the drawing Of checks for petty
amounts will soon be discontinued by
most depOsitors.
Drilling the Drummer Boys.
Not much has been said about the en-
listment Of drummer boys so far, but the
percentage Of such enlistments seems to
have been quite as big since volunteering
for the war with Spain began as it was in
the sixties for the war with the south
1t is not So easy for hoy TO enroll him
( self in the musicians corps now as II was
then. however. the regulations with regard
/ to musicians beng quite as rlglOIN en-
forced n with regard TO soldiers The Old
/ Guard allowed none under $ 10 enlist,
I LAFAYETTE post accepted few of lG or i,
. but in each case more care was taken to
. prevent enlistment without consent of the
. parents than in the sixties. Not all the
. musicians ARE To hc drummcrS Of course.
The fife still holds it, place in American
. military music, whatever may be its fate
in British and European armies and the
/ buElo remains
Many of the enlisted musicians are with
out much knowledge Of the instruments
they are TO play and accordingly there is Il
lot of SO called musical drill at Camp
Black, out on Long Island, as there prob
ably is at every camp in the land. At
Camp Black this drill seems to be going
] on continuously to judge from the ceaseless
rub a-dub-dub of the drums, the constant
tootle-te-tootling of the buCles and the
persistent squealing of the flies. Most Of
this practicing is done on remote parts OF
the now famous Hampstead plains, how
ever, and, mutlled by the distance, is rath-
er pleasant than otherwise in spite of its
monotony.
New Workers and Camp Black.
New Workers go TO Camp Black in num-
bers every day of the week. On Saturday
last, which was a fine day, they went in
great trainloads, and the visitors would
have numbered many tens of thousands on
Sunday had the good weather continued
The temper of the men seems not to have
been injured in the least by the days and
days of rain nor have they suffered in