The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-14

- - Copyright. isos. by Frank c. csrpenter )
 Berlin.
 Is any American workman out of a job? If %, he had betfes ieek for another at home As far as | can learn. the labor market of Europe is overstocked. There are something like million idle work men in England. The industrial cents E have many out of employment. and in London there are frequent parades of the poor. There is no room for extra wor<- men In France and Germany Is still in hard times.
 This country was on the boom for thirty years. It began to grow when France paid oyer her millions to Ger many. Factories and workshops then sprang up all over the empire. The peo- pie Hooked from the farms to the cities. and the country changed from an agricul< turai to . manufacturing one Trade was pushsd in every direction. The towns grew and wages rose.
 This state continHed until about ls0o when owing to overspeculaitop, the bai- loon Of presperity burst, the gas that came from tt asphyxiafed some of the banks and they failed. and factories all over the empire hegan to shut down. { Within fifteen days 1.o0o men were dis charged in Berlin for lack of work: and the industrial establishments all over Ger many either dismissed. cut down their forces or shortened the working hours. This condition of hard times still exists, although things are looking up In some branches. owing to ths increased demauds from the United States.
 in Eufops's Biggest Engine Works.
 I have spent large part of this week in some of the most notable factories of Germany. 7 have goae through electrical establishments employing thousands o. hands, and have examined. among other works, those ,of the Borsiss. the biggest engine makers of the continent. having the place in Germany that the Haldwins hold in the United states The most of these factories are running with less than their usual number of men, and some which pretend to be full are giving short time,
 Ths Bnrslg factory is one of the most prosperous in Germany. It has large foreign trade. and 1t is somewhat owing to this that It keeps its men busy. It is one of the big engine works of the world, although not as large as the Baldwins It builds on the average about four ioco- motives every week. and 1t has ready built more than five thousand.
 These works are situated at Tegei, just outside Berlin. They cover thirty acres, and employ about twenty-five hundred men. The establishment has also mines and works in upper Silesia. which employ five thousand hands, so that altogether the force Is g large one.
 Belongs to One Family.
 This factory was founded over sixty years ago by A. Bofsig, and it stin be. longs to his sons. In the United States it would be run by a corporation or trust, but in Germany some of the biggest Of such. establishments, such. as the -Borsig and Krupps, are owned in one family. The two 4Bersigs who now manage the works are each under forty. They are active business men, and spend their tige in the factory knowing personally all that goes on. Indeed, 1t is said that either of them could make an engine if he had to. I mot the younger member of the firm, MT. Conrad Borsig, during m y stay at the works and he furnished me an English guide so look over them. We walked together through the thirty odd acres Of buildings where the steam engines are made, now stopping to watch the men in the foundries pouring red-hot metal into the moids, and now going through the rooms where the vast boilers are riveted together. There was a noise like the thunder of many hammers which almost deafened me. Huge travelling cranes. running overhead. lifted boilers weighing many tons as easily as moth- CT lifts her baby, and machines bored through steel as though it were cheese. Here they were making screws, there lathes were cutting iron like pine and here the parts of the locomotives were as- sembicd and put together for shipment to all countries of the world.
 Labor Colonies in Germany.
 After leaving the works went through tho colonies which the B6rsigs have built for their workingmeH. Such institutions are becoming quite common in connection with the larger German factories. The Krupps have constructed towns as honfes for their employees, and there are other large iron making companies along the Rhine which have done likewise. These I shall describe when ] visit that region.
 Here. near Tegei. the Borsigs have bought a large tract of land and have built houses about 1t which are rented out to theii workmen at such prices as will make them pay low interest on the investment None but employees and their families are permitted to live in these houses and the accommodations are such that thay receive more for their rent than they could get anywhere else There is an open space, covering many acres, in front of these houses. This has been planted with forest trees, and it will some day be a beautiful park.
 The BeFsigs treat their employees well The men seem to be satisfied, and I am told their condition Is superior to that of other German factories. They work but ten hours a day, and such as continue with the firm a certain number of years are gwen pensions.
 Low Wages and Long Hours.
 Germany is a land Of low wages and lcAe hours. Tn the steel and iron indus tries s5 per week Is good pay, and in the textile mills the wage Is still less, Me chenics think they do well if they get iS cents an hour, and on the state railways the best paid engineers receive only SlO Der week, Bremen are paid from s to e per week and porters less than SC, Werknlen employed ny the city force are paid equally low, the boys cleaning the streets receiving $ cents a day. On Ihe government works the average day is nine hours, but 1t is longer everywhere else.
 The most of the factories Of Berlin claim to have teR-houF day, and as the labor unio8is are strong here they can hold that time to a certain extent. In other parts of Germany the working day ayerages eleven hours, with nc Saturday afternoons off: and in certain sections 1t averages twelve hours and over,
 Work in the Stores.
 There are many clerks in this city who work as much as feuFteep hours every