The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-05-05
STRIKERS
VS.. WORKERS
Mob at Standard Gil Works
Beaten by the Men On
Duty.
IGNORANCE CAUSE OF TROUBLE
Oxford Copper Works Started
Up Today Furnaces Ruin
ed by Cooled Metal
IGNORANCE CAUSE OF TROUBLE

The Oxford Copper Works, in which the
strike started last Tuesday night, are
now running slowly, with every indica-
ton of the resumption of work in every
department in the course of few weeks.
AS 1.-THE News goes to press, the situa-
ton is quiet.
There was plenty of trouble this morn
ing, however, in the Standard Oil Works,
among the laborers who went out out of
sympathy to the employees of the Oxford
Company.
The ignorant Hungarians and Poles,
who constitute the striking class, began
to make things assume serious aspect
this morning when the works opened for
the day. About $50 of these excited labor
ers congregated about the entrance to
the yards, and began things by cursing
at the new men taken on in the oil works.
This was but the forerunner of some
thing more serious. A few stones were
thrown at some of the new men, and
whenever the strikers caught an employe
going into the yards alone, he was pum-
meled and kicked about. Several men
were thus beaten seriously.
Finally information of the action of the
strikers reached the works when the ma
jority of the men had gone to work.
They formed a brigade and rushed the
mob of rebellious strikers. Pistols were
drawn and shots fred in the air to fright
en- the mob. Stones and clubs flew like
hail and many persons were hit by the
flying missiles. None was seriously hurt,
The action of the men who were at work
was sufficient to show that they were not
to be troubled by the discontented men
on the outside. After this little skir-
mish things quieted down. Nothing more
happened during the day.
The Bayonne police are on the scene
most of the time and they have mat
ters well in hand. The women are still
a source of much annoyance to the po-
lice. They are continually urging their
husbands and relatives to go ahead and
kill the men who have taken their places.
The police are guarding the entrance to
the oil works, and all of the strikers are
kept at respectful distance. 81
The Oxford Copper Works ,reassumed
this morning the appearance of busy
company. One hundred of the four hum
dred men who went out Tuesday night
were taken back this morning, according
to the concessions agreed to yesterday
by President Thompson. The old fur
naces were ruined when the metal was
allowed to cool in them, Tuesday, and
new ones will have to be rebuilt at a
cost of $4,000. 1t will be six weeks be-
fore the wells are in full blast.
The trouble in the Standard Oil Works
is due to the ignorance of the laborers,
unfairly. Heretofore the men worked ten
hours day for from $3.50 to s175 day.
The company has just raised the wages
of the men ten per cent. voluntarily. the
raise going into effect May 1. The men
believe that as the company did this with
out being requested, they would get a fur
ther increase by demanding it. The de-
mand of $2.65 and $3.50 a day was made
and refused by the firm. The men then
went out.
The superintendent Of the company said
that these men could not understand the
difference between skilled labor and COM
mon labor. The men wanted the wages
of skilled men and were refused when the
demand was made.
There are about 2,0O0 men in the oil
works Two hundred and fifty of these
are out and will probably be kept out
More trouble is looked for tonight when
the men come from the mills. The police
guard will then be reinforced.