Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-02-05
AT THE BALDWIN WORKS
John Converse Makes an Interesting
Statement Regarding the Famouc
Locomotive M~Inufactory.

Locomotive M4nufactory.
Following is the abstract of Il paper by
John II. Converse, published in the An
nails vi the American Society OF Political
and Social Science and reproduced by per
mission of tie Vuthor:
When locomotives first came into use
they were comparatively simple in design
and construction. AS the number of rail
roads increased and the conditions of scr
vice became more severe and diversified,
the typos Of locomotives began to multi
ply, aHd the process of manufacture he
CumC more ana more complies. \ system
of classifying the locomotives constructed
was, therefore,. adopted. 1t has been in
operation for about 30 years, and forms
the bass eff the shop practice. THE Sys-
TEN originally involved the classification
: of the locomotive by the number of driv-
iug wheels and the weight Of the engine.
j., AS the tNpes multiplied *till more, how
eyer. it was found that this method did
not diiICrtutiatc the classes sufficiently
. and 1t was subsequently modified. 1t is
now based ON the number and orange
, mont of the driving ana truck wheel. ana
the size ana number of tn" cylinders. Tn"
principle resembles that used in botanical
scientific nomenclature, the locomotives
arc reduced to their genus and species by
means of a combination of figures and
i, letters which Indicates the total number
of wheels under the engine. the number
of driving wheels. the diameter of the
s, i'NlllNitfS ana Wntllcr tilcN are Single ca
:. pauSiOn or compound.
The capacity of the Baldwin establish
mont is 80 locomotives Il week. orders
, AZ" allotted spaces IN the week in which
+ delivery is promised. If Il new design has
to be made, the drawing must be COM
rletcd and data submitted to the purchas-
ing department for ordering material h.
!, fore the work is ordered in tn" shop. All
parts Of locomotives ard tcndcrs, except
boiler and tank plates. steel tires and
o. steel castings. chilled wheels. boiler tubes
and special patented appliances are made
;, from the raw materials. All parts or
:, dered by the purchasing department are
- ordered for Il definite locomotive or q
number OF locomotives Of a particular
Il class. and must be invoiced as such.
About l3,00O men are ON the pay roll of
the Baldwin works at the the present
time. The ma Jority of these are Amori-
cans, although representatives Of nearly
T., every nationality on the face of the globe
are found among them. The only re-
uUiromcntS Of an employ" are a good
record, ~ fair amount of intelligence and
a Willingness and ability to do the work.
About 10 per cent of the total lumber
employed are boys urlor the age of Il
years. \ large proportion of these are
y apprentices hoinE taught a trade. Strict
conformity is observed with regard to tho
state factory regulation prohibiting the
employment of boys under lG years Old.
- HoNs under II are ttfou ON only in oV-
- trrmc cases Of poverty or DISTRESS, and
then only if they hold a magistrates GER
I%tilicatc, Hs required.
\ Ht"'t VARIETY of Sllll'd labor Is en-
ployed. som" of the different kinds arc
iron founders. lr1as founders. black
smiths. machiuists Of all kinds. wood
workers timers, carpenters. painters
t'lp'r WORKERS pl@sl'''rs ana sheet iron
.o W'ri,"fH.A skilled Iah'lcr IS here undc'-
stood to moan one who Is familiar viii
the a." Of a tool, n machine or process
an urNhiilCd Voikm "a is one who cannot
run a tool, but docs ordinary lahOrirE
work. Tho numh"r eff Skilled ana uusliili
81 Workmcn is divided in tho ratio OF
,nout two-thir1s skilled to ouc-third I'm
skilled.
Wages arc reck0nr1 NY the hour. anf
a not by the day. tOSl-illc1 lHborers have
~ ID per hour rating. lfcco york wages. fOI
- 'onVoniclce in accourtipE, are cQuated t'
q per hour rate. y piece worker can carr
the equivalent Of from IS to 30 cents m
'' hour. according t. the character of In.
work and the ability of the man. ThD
average wage Of skilled labor is 80 cont
uor hour. The average wngc Of unekillct
labor is about li conts ,lcr hour. Tho MOI
arc paid ON Friday for their time i'm tn,
preceding week. Each man has n NUN
her which is assigned him on cnterin.
the clnplov of tho company.
~ Each Shon has n gwen block of mum
lcrs for its quota of mon. when tn
whistle blows to stop work at siV o'clocl
ON Friday the men in tho different shon
file by certain booths, each giving hi
number and rccciVing his nay onvclop
(which contains i'm coin the amount du
him and ON Which is written the name
number ard amount. Payment is mad
In coin to insure ACCURACY and "A savin,
Of time in making IN tho amounts.
; The shops are run continuously u hour
a day, and the force is divided into da
ana night shifts. Tho day shift is on a
=. eovcu and off nt six with mn hour fro,