East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-10-19

Five thousand men will be wanted
Immediately by Simms & Shields, the
st. Paul contractors who will build
the road down the north bank of the
Columbia river for the Northern Pa
cific, and $4,000 laborers will fined
employment soon in the Pacific north
west in the construction of the vari-
Gus new railway lines that are thought
now to be reasonably sure of being
built, says the Oregon Daily Journal
Slmms Il Shields will distribute to
their 5000 men approximately $780,
coo month, or not less than S3,6O0,-
600 before their contract is carried
out: while the $4,000 laborers want
ed on all the projected lines Of rail-
way will draw in wages not much less
than 100000 month or Il total of
from $5,00O,OO0 to $7,O0O0OO before
the work is completed.
Added to this enormous sum of
money to be distributed to the work.
ingmen by the railway companies will
be the immense sums paid out in the
purchase of supplies and materials,
most of which will be bought in Port
land.
However. not all the money eX-
pended for materials and supplies will
go to Portland business houses. for
scores of other towns will receive benz
eft. There will be large purchases
at points near the many camps of
construction gangs. and the prosper
ity induced by the railway construc-
tion will be diffused throughout the
entire northwest. Inasmuch as most
of the new lines are projected In
oregon or in territory that makes
Oregon towns the natural purchasing
point, this state will feel the influence
most favorably, and the injection of
so many millions of dollars into the
local money circulation will cause a
wonderful forward impetus. In the
opinion of conservative financiers,
these conditions alone are enough to
forestal absolutely all possibility of
reaction after the closing of the ex-
position.
Simms & Shields are peculiar in
their methods of handling men on
construction work. Instead of issu-
| ing time checks to be cashed in the
usual manner with brokers buying
| them at a discount, they will pay their
big force of men every night in cash.
1--WE have found that this is the
/ better way to pay our men," said l..
Il. Shields today. 1T holds the men
| better and saves them from the loss
of the margin that they usually pay
to brokers who buy up time checks at
a discount When a man knows that
he is to get his pay every night he
works with greater energy.
Another reason for doing this Is
| that workmen of the class we demand
are more or less transient, If man
! has to wait for his pay to obtain il
| through the customary channel, re-
| ceiving a time check which he must
cash at 4 given place, he Is not will
ling to work for a fraction of a week
and we lose the men of that character
entirely from our gangs.
1T is certain that the north bank
| foreigners for the greater part. Amer
! leans are rapidly becoming averse tC
doing manual labor. They are hard
to get on construction gangs. The
Swedes are good help, and. contrary
to common belief, the Italians ar,
perhaps the ideal laborers on sucl
work.
AN Italian never rides the brake
beam. He never belongs to the hobo
class. He always has some money II
his possession and invariably has al
ambition to save and accumulate ;
surplus.
1--WE have learned that there ar
three classes of men that do not lik'
the Italian laborers. The saloon mel
don't like them because they don
spend their money for liquor, and th
brokers because they are always in
position to realize full value on thei
wages, never pledge them for ad
vances. TIE labor unions. too, ar
not favorable to the Italian laborini
classes"