The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-12-29


day. Over 1000 men are employed in
five. large flour mills; wages range from
60 to 80 cents per day; a few receive
$1.00. Bakers, generally night work,
obtain 80 cents to $1.oO per day and
lodging. The preparation of pork
meats (charcuterie) is carried on very
largely in families, the employer work.
ing with his men. The number of en-
ployes is placed at 800; wages, with
board, being from $500 to $1,000 per
month. 1t is estimated that Is, ,00o, 900
pounds Of pork are worked up annually
in Lyons into sausages and other forms
of food: over 100000 pounds are ex-
ported. The two large slaughter
houses belong to the city A clause
inserted in the permit to build them
provided for their reversion to the city
after certain time Some 1000
men and boys are employed in the meat
markets and slaughter-houses;' of the
city; wages OF the first average 80
cents per day: Of the latter, 80 cents.
The wages Of goldsmiths and jewelers.
are $1.00 to $1.55 per day; watchmak-
ers,. $1.0O to $1.50; jewelers., Is cents to
$3.50; women employees, from 40 to 80
cents; bronze workers, $100 to $3.50,
L have given the wages Of a few of
the great industries of Lyons, which,
as a rule, are higher than the average
rates in France.
In the June number of the Bulletin
de pOffice du Travail, a national labor
organ, mention is made of number Of
strikes among carpenters and metal
workers, where the wages were only go
and 20 cents per day. At Castelja-
loux, Department of Lot-et-Garonne,
the carpenters struck for 6213 cents per
day in the summer and 81 cents in the
winter. At the same time the carpen-
ters of Havre struck for 1414 cents per
hour, instead Of liz cents which they
were receiving.
The conductors on the electric tram
ways are paid SO, 921k and 96 cents and
81. 10 per day Of ten hours work, accord
ing to the number Of years they have
been in the service. A careful watch is
kept over them. At every track cross
ing where passengers are accustomed
to enter or change cars, Controller
Is stationed. He counts the passengers
as they go in through the one entrance,
and sees that the; conductor rings them
all up before the car starts. He punch
es all the tranfers, to prevent conduc-
tors from passing transfers to each 9TH
er, turning them in as having come
from passengers-a habit said to have
been formerly much in vogue. These
controllers are paid $26.50 per month
to begin with, $2S.50 per month after
fourteen months service, and $4,000 per
month after three years service, for
ten hours work. The motor men are
paid sly cents per day to begin with,
and $1.18 at the end Of one year. ! They
s1gsss ssg u sI9ss " An aIsR z 81 &
The under perfect ,pf Thiers, Depart
ment of Puy-de-Dome, reported last
week that $4,000 people are employed
in the cutlery works in that neighbor-.
hood. Three hundred persons own
small establishments, in which they
work, helped by from one to four per-
sons, often members of the family, all
engaged in piecework. The report says
that in the manufacture of a pocket
knife, % workmen are employed for
the handle and blade, 18 for a table
knife, 9 for scissors, and for razors.
The stone upon which the blades are
ground makes from 300 to 500 revolu-
tions per minute, each workman pay
ing for the power. Including women
and children, 1000 persons are engaged
in knife grinding. A good workman
makes from $1:75 to 1925 per day, out
of which he pays about $74.OO per year
for his rent, power, use of wheel, etc.
An ordinary workman earns from IS
cents to $1.00 per day; the adjuster Or
filter, from 30 to 40 cents. He is gem
orally a small farmer and works in his
home. The grinder is out of work in
winter when the river is frozen and in
summer when it is dry, or when any
accident happens to the machinery.
A committee of cutlery workers in
Theirs, who recently asked for a raise
in wages, were told that the market for
their product had undergone decided
during the last ten years, es-
pecially for. expectation; that the ex-
cess Of production over consumption
had glutted the market; that there
was an increase in the cost of raw ma
teria1 and an augmented output in
competing countries on account of I'M,
proved means Of manufacture. -,
Men employed by the government in
the ranks Of the civil service are not
much better paid. but they are often
ex-soldiers with no trade, and are cas-;
lily satisfied with steady employment,
even at low wages. The firemen in:
Lyons, who give all their time to their.
duties, are paid $270 per year; the:
auxiliary corps, s44.0O per year and $1.0o
for an extra service of twenty-four
hours three Or four times per year.
They are occasionally called onto
serve extra from 8 p. IN. to S a. M, for
which they are paid 30 cents.
The policemen, generally young, able-
bodied men, receive from 5000 to
$4,000 per. month, according to their
time of service. Only a few receive
over $500 per month. The police
mans wife can earn from $500 to '$4.0O
per month making corsets, cravats, or
in embroidery work. In 1896, according
to. the latest official figures 1 have,
there were 10000 employees in the civil
service in France, and their average