Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1900-02-01
;!l5||ZE|; aazE
|. l!1s,',,s',.!s gftEaT. (;

A canvass Of the wage earners OF Mich
igan recently ppHpfttd ~ ne Statt' L.
Dor bureau reveals a very satisfactory
condition of affairs, being vast improve
ment over that prevailing one year ago.
The special cahvassers interviewed O,3y9
men workers. The average ageNwas 33.4;
% per cent were native born, and 40
per cent foreign born; GO per cent were
married and 40 per cent 'singles thes1, 4z6
who are married hsge ass hildrepssAn
average Of. 2,4 leach; the workers can
vassed have IL ,324 persons dependent up
on them for support, an average Of 3.2
each. At the time OF the canvass the
entire number canvassed had. employ
ment; LAT, or 81 per cent, owned their
homes, OF whom 074, or GO per cent, were
free from incumbrance; 2yO59, or b. per
cent, rent homes, the average monthly
rental being $6.SS; the remaining 1861,
or 30 per cent, hire their board. The
average daily wages of this army of
wage workers last year was SITS This
is largely in excess of the average shown
by last years canvass. The increase is
attributed to the fact that the entire
number canvassed this year were employ
ed, and the further fact that in many
instances there had been a decided in
crease in the amount paid.
tt'Affe7. NE4 go
The special canvassers of the State la
Dor bureau recently made canvass Of
2,lO2 women wage earners Of Michigan.
Those canvassed were classified into %
employments, those under the head Of
factory work" including all kinds of fac
tory and machine workers. In the mat
ter of employment, 1905 of these were
supplied with work at the time of the
canvass. Seven hundred or 33 per cent,
say they are able to save something from
their earnings over and above the cost Of
living; only III, or less than i6oper cent,
report that they own their homes 235,
or IL per cent, rent homes, while Il 100,
or SO per cent, hire their board. Seven
ty-eight of the III homes owned bythese
women are free from debt. SThesenwho
rent homes pay an average monthly rent
al of $G.02. The average age Of the wom-
en- workers is 24.7 years; number native
born. 1,466; number roreign born. 636;
number married, 276; single. 1,750; wild
ows, 49, number having children, 22I, the
average number Of children being 2.3;
the whole number dependent on those
women for support. 2,Tl2, an average Of
1.3.
Labor Commissioner j. l.. Cox has
compiled statistics regarding self-destruc
ton in Michigan during the last year. He
finds that 173 killed themselves, 131 be-
ing men and the rest women. The meth
DDS used were as follows: Poison, So;
shooting, ~; drowning, IL; hanging, 20;
cutting throat, 16; stabbing, 3; jumping
in front of moving trains, 3; fire, 3; in
haling gas, /: jumping from window, i;
jumping from balcony, 1; swallowing
bone hairpin, / blowing to pieces with
gunpowder, / unknown, 3. OF the 81
who committed suicide by taking poison,
10 took morphine, 10 carbolic acid, z
laudanum, paris green, arsenic, 3
strychnine, opium. 2 rough on rats,
oil of tansy, l acOnite. 1 chloroform and
!, unknown. The following are the causes
assigned: Dependency 80, mentally I'M
balanced SO, domestic trouble 20, i'll
health 10. dissipation 10, love affairs 16,
financial difficulties 6, angered by crime
1, unknown 20.
So
Secretary of. State Steayns reports that
during 1890 726 corporations, with an
aggregate authorized capital of $.S32, 219,-
060, filed articles in Michigan. Seventy
six corporations fled notice of increase of
capital stock. The new companies paid
franchise fees aggregating $167 900.
There were 432 mercantile and manufac-
turing companies, A mining companies,
1Sstreet aud electric railway and steam
railway companies.
A, recent canvass of nearly 5000 fac
tories showed that 545 of them made
an aggregate increase of $6531 ,SS4 in
their capital stock during last year, this
being an average of SIT, 9S5. In 1,3S2
factories there were found 10 be employ
ed total of 24,262 more employees than
in 1898. Seventy-four per cent of the
factories reported n marked increase in
business over the previous year.
-: fa't
About 100000 was received from the
county treasurers of the State by State
Treasurer Steel the other day, over $780,
600 of the amount having been sent by
the treasurer of Wayne County. The
balance in the State treasury then was
about S1,5O0,OOO, which is high water
mark. "F
- 80