The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-16
CRAMPS SHORT OF STEEL.
OF MEN LAID OFF ron
LACK OF SUPPLIES.

ne IN. End Of tho Week 1900 Men VIII be
Idl,-Demands ON the Steel Industry Too
Grant to Fill tho supply-Strike Talk
NJ tho ship Yard-The Alabama Delayed.
puIIApELPHIA. Aug. 15.-Five hundred men
vere discharged from the Cramp shipyard to-
doy Last week 300 were discharged. 1t Is not
for Iack of work that the mon are thrown out
NJ ABANDONMENT Edwin 8. Cramp said to-day:
Five hundred were laid of to-day. and by
tho time the week is over there will be 1bOO In
all idle We lack material to 60 on with the
work. There is a lot OF material here but 1t docs
not coma in the order in which It is required
ornse. There are three ships for which the
metal ia all bent and waiting for other por-
tions TO arrive so that the frames can be raised.
The work at all other shipyards OF the country
ia in the same condition. One yard ct Lorraine.
ohio and another on Lake Superior are closed
sntirely because they cannot get the steel they
need 1t 10 not that there is such great
amount OF shipbuildlng going on. although
,here Ia q great deal ofprogress The amount
of steel that Is going into ships Is mere baRa-
telle in the line OF iron and steel: only three.
per cent, OF tho country's output 10 used for
this purpose. But the shipbuilders cannot get
,yen that, because the demands OF other trades
ara SO heavy. The Pressed Steel Car Company
NJ pittsburg alone require 1000 tons a day
uuder its contract with Carnegie. and 1t can
ohtain no more than 900 tons. That one In
dustry consumes more steel than the whole
sbinbuiding trade OF the United States. The
conditions all over the world make It impossi-
ble for us to go on to our full capacity for the
time at least.
Tho only Government vessel that is not
making proper progress Is the Alabama. but
the delay is not due to this cause. The Gov
eminent is in dispute with the armer manu-
facturers over the cost OF the pattleship's plat
ing All the other Government contracts here
are going right ahead. their material being we'll
in hand. There Is do delay either In the Russian
contracts. But tho merchant vessel con-
tracts are suffering seriously. l do not
SEQ any immediate prospect for re-
employing the mon who have been dismissed.
They como from all the departments Of the yard
and the material required to get them at work
again is delayed in all the mills that supply It,
Bethlehem and Midvale are behind with their
forginRs: Thurlow with its steel castinRs:
Phnni1ville with shapes, and the Illinois Steel
Company and the Central Company OF Harris
burg with plates. These concerns are months
behind their orders"
Mr.. Cramp denied that there was strike In
the dry dock saying that he had not heard OF
any. But one OF the men said that. although
the m en- had been laid of. It was strike. and
that the company had only managed to lay
them of before they struck. We asked for
more money" he said. land for shorter hours.
and failed. There Is plenty OF work to be
done In the dock. but they cannot get mon to
do IL. The company heard OF our intention to
quit II the demand was not granted. and FORE
stalled US by laying some OF tho mon off,"