Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-20
Carpenters Letter
CONTINUED from Sixth Page.)

CONTINUED from Sixth Page.)
the English markets. There is a street
car. run by the city, which for a fare Of 4
cents takes you the four miles from Liver
pool to the factory. / had a seat on the
top and could see something Of the business
of Liverpool as l rode. We passed through
miles Of warehouses, by teams Of great
Shire horses hauling loads Of from five to
ten tons, through long streets Of two-story
buildings, the homes of the workingmen,
by residences Of the better classes and on
out into the country. There were factories
here and there along the way and a thick
smoke seemed to hang over the city as we
rode out of 1t. I alighted at the wrong
end Of the factory and walked almost a
mile in going about the walls which sur
round the grounds before 1 reached the
office. 1 presented myself as an American
newspaper correspondent, and upon my as
surfing the manager that l was not In the
match business l was shown over the works.
American Machinery.
Nearly every bit Of the machinery in the
factory Is American. The engines were
made by the Buckeye Engine company of
Salem, o., and the dynamos by the Elec-
trical Manufacturing company of Akron.
The boiler came from Chicago and the
match machines were put up by men from
Barberton.
But / can give you a better idea Of the
factory by describing my trip over 1t. /
was taken first to the top. where we found
hundreds Of girls seated high above the
ground, about revolving tables, putting the
covers on match boxes filled by machinery.
The girls looked heal by and we'll dressed,
and in these respects they are superior to
the average factory girls of his country.
They are far better treated, and the effect
is shown in their general appearance. Din
ing rooms are provided for the employees,
and the American capitalists give them
three meals a day gratis. They get a cup
Of hot tea and a biscuit in the morning, a
bowl Of hot soup at noon and at 4 p. m. they
are again served with tea and biscuit.
There are large kitchens in the basement
and the provisions supplied by the man
ayers are pieced out with the food the en-
ployes bring with them from home, or they
can buy their meals at cost price. A good
dinner is served for 6 cents and single
dishes for / or 2 cents. The result is that
the factory is a most desirable pace OF
employment. There is more than enough
coed labor always on hand, and the best
workmen are secured.
The effect of the treatment has been a
surprise to other employers of labor about
Liverpool, and several of the large English
factories are adopting similar methods.
Matches Not Made I'm
But come with me and take a look at the
factory. have called 1t a Yankee institu-
ton, and so It is in its machinery and In
the money that runs It. The most of the
employees are English and the matches are
sold all over England under the ADVERTISE
ment. Made by British labor" 1t is at
the top Of the great building that the most
Of the matches are made. Th, r,pm covers
more than an acre and there are sixteen
machines in It, which take the blocks Of
cork pine from the United States or Canada
and cut them into matches. They dip
the end of each match in p~arafin, coat
ii with the sulphur and phosphorus which
makes the fire and then dry 1t. The ma
chine is automatic and 1t packs the matches
into boxes and delivers them on the round
revolving tables, where girls sit and put
the covers on. In the whole process the
girls hands are not in contact with the
matches until they are dry, and thsy are,
therefore, In no danger from the contact.
II is wonderful how fast the machines go
and what an enormous amount of work they
do. Each machine cuts forty-eight matches
at a stroke, and the larger ones make $50
strokes a minute AS the matches are
cut they are automatically stuck in a
flexible c~astiron band, from which they
project like bristles. This band travels
over wheel after wheel, dipping the
matches and carrying them by ventilating
machines until they are dry ana ready to
pack. The machines are absolutely re-
liable; they will not handle broken matches
and the dust and the breakages drop out
and are carried down into the furnaces I'M