The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-08
INDUSTRIAL HELPFULNESS -.
IN CLEVELAND
The Outlook.

With a view both of possible CONNIE err I
cial and philanthropic benefits, the Cleve-
land Chamber of Commerce some years
ago suggested to the heads Of factories
and stores in that city plans tending to
better the condition of the wage Garner;
to make his labor. more effective; above
all to bring about a condition between
employer and employee which Is. not that
OF mere wage payer and wage-earner. So
far as we know. Cleveland is the only
city In the world in which such a. work.
has been undertaken by a purely CONNER
cial organization; for this reason it has
been watched with great interest, and
from many cities inquiries have constant
ly been made as to the success achieved.
We are gratified to note that no less than
seventy Cleveland establishments have
now responded to the Chambers sugges-,
lions. The first of these was that OF.
more adequate sanitary arrangements.
Manufacturers of paint, for instance. now
employ a physician who makes periodical
| visits to the works, examining every man;
| whereas employees were formerly fire.
quently i'll from the effects of chemicals.
since the new plan has been in operation a
| whole year has been known to pass with
| out a cas- eof serious illness. The sani-
| tary arrangements recommended by the
| chamber include, however, before every
| thing, light and well-ventilated work
! rooms, clean windows and floors. Sec
| ondly, a laborer going to and from his
work is frequently obliged to wear clothing
unfit for any use but that Of the shop, be-
cause there is no opportunity at his place
| Of work to care for clean clothes. Hence
| the chamber has recommended dressing
| rooms which shall contain individual lock-
ers, we'll equipped laboratories, and also
| baths, shower and tub, wherever the
| nature Of the work Is such as to make
| baths desirable. Many shops and fac
/ I,o o1o al $l,r
| testimony of a varnish company shows
that the introduction of shower-baths
4 has been of such value for both men and
women that, in one Of its departments at
least, the use Of the daily bath is made
compulsory, while in the case of a large
machine company the placing. of shower
= baths in it's tempering department, to-
gether with the permission to the men tic
battle each day on the companys- time
was so much appreciated by the men tina,
they also took bath on their own time
before going home. So =
The Cleveland chamber also recon;
, mended, not. only that rooms should be sci
aside SO that employees could gather
around tables to eat lunch in a proper
manner, but also for the provision by the
: company of suitable food at cost. Both OF
these recommendations have been largely
followed The average cost of an entire
, lunch Is about 10 cents, and the bill o.
, | fare is somewhat as follows: ~.s:
Soup, 2 and 8 cents; roast. meats. to
cents; potatoes, 1 cent; beef stew,
cents; Hamburg steak. cents; sand,
witches, 2 cents; pudding, 3. cents; pies, !;
cents; tea. and coffee cent;
Closely connected with the lunch-roem
are rest-rooms, which the chamber ha,
! succeeded in. establishing in a number o
s places; in two instances piano has beer
: provided for the employees. This. lead
: naturally to the recommendation. of read
: ing rooms. and. Libraries, which has re
. ceiyed so wide an appreciation that th
: library of one of the hardware companie
t now has a circulation OF about 500 VOL
. umes a month. Again, the chambe
recommended that classes be organized Ii
various subjects pertaining to the par
| ticular industry in which the employee
are Interested; and the evening classes. i
mechanical drawing arithmetic and Eng
n lish, established by a machine. company
s | are now. attended by about $50 men Th
: chamber also suggested prizes for plan
a concerning new methods OF manufacture
in this way the employees are encourage