New-York tribune., 1908-11-13
ASHOKAN DAM WORK
CONDITIONS At CAMPS,
Contractors Deny Truth Of Com
plants Of Unemployed Here.

Labor organizations bureaus and other investi-
gators have been making the camps OF the con-
tractors who building the great Ashokan Dam,
the Catskills object of concentrated atten-
ton This week one of President Roosevelts in
vestgators James e. Reynolds, visited Browns
Station. A short time before that the whole state
labor bureau dropped in on the toiing thousands
From the beginning of the work men from labor
organizations In this city have gone no to the
camps.
Mr. Reynolds wished to how Of the great
est public enterprises in the country was being
conducted so far the workinsmens END was
concerned. But the other visitors did not have
wholly friendly interest. although the state rep
resentatives were not on fault-fnding mission
Mr. Reynolds was looking for Information lie
probably had not heard Of the complaints OF the
unemployed in this city. that men were dra1ned OF
their pay by she company store and the rent they
mad to pay. and that the treatment all arouhd was
not of the best The state~vtsitors had heard some
thing of this and had the union men
The engineers in charge have not heard what the
visitors thought of conditions in the camps put
they are not worrying. Mayor Mcclellan ana the
members of his party the camps on Nednes-
dav in the mist and the rain. They were pleased
despite the unfavorable appearance of the streets
the dripping buildings and the sad looking stripped
trees A reporter for The Tribune. who mas seen
other contrac;ors's camps. at the ceremony
of dedicating the towed that day. ana remained
over to see the condition of the camps ara OF the
mon il them.
The contractors. the Macarthur Bros. & 20. anu
Winston &, Co. not new at dam building 1hey
are not in the contracting business for fun nor are
they senimenta1ists in the treatment of their men,
the great majority of whom 1aborers Ihelr
model cottages barracks and dormitor1es are
models because they have found that the better
the men are housed the better they Work
The food for the skilled workers. foremen anu
sI!rerintendents is served in great dining roo"
and consists of the best vegetables and meats Inc
company store, where the laborers get ther sup
plies has stock of wholesome fooc, never soiu a.
a higher price than charged in the village SUITS
The men buy where they cnoose- Inc On
tractors have found that their eight hour working
schedule produces as much as the nine or Ten
hours schedule where the men are not so wen
cared
A man who has q room for himself has to pay
500 80 a month for board and lodging "neio "
men use the same room they pay $50 each' one
Of the men said yesterday that ne could not get as
good food in 4 city if he paid IS week lor HIS
meals alone The beds Of iron. and the oeoolhg
is kent in the best condition The houses are wen
heated and have running water. rms me'nou u
supplying water is q camp novelty 80 Is 'he
sewer system.
we have right to boast that these camps are
models of cleanliness and convenience sa'o one
OF the engineers yesterday. We have \ rlgh' 10
boast that men never SO we'll cared TOT IN
camps before There can he epidemic in these
camps The water is ana1yzed once week our
health inspector makes the rounds WIN MS as
sstants every day Some of the laborers nave 10
he taught how to be decent Tnere has been SICK
n.se b,,+ only from colds or maiadies that cannot
he traced to camp conditions. We have chi'o
down with diphtheria in the hospital. nut me as
ease was contracted in Kingston. We VIII soon
have a high pressure fire fighting system ready
the last of the hydrants being installed this week
Everything we have done for the convenience
and wellbeing of men is of practical ad
vantage to us do not mean that We Woulo not
take good care of them anyhow, but II Is good
MS 70 keen
time reouireuents-we are now 30 per cent ahead
and makes for atmosphere of all around con
tent and LOYALTY There is very little drinking, a
curse of most contractors camps They have no
troubles TO drown here.
I'VE heard of the complaints Of the unemployed
in New York City The men who have really
wanted TO work have found tie opportunity mere
We have had applications from the professionally
unemployed and have turned them down
but they have baked every time The report that
the rent prices at the stores drained the labor
ers oF their wages is false If in any case, 1t
is due 10 the extravaganza of the lahorer or
all our men the last payroll shows that only tWen-
ty-nine received as low l. cents an hour That
means 81 % day. The great majority received
from II cents upward. We are actually losing
money commissary department we nave
a right to come out even, but we don't do u
The last census of the camp showed 2i55 men
l7S women and 30l children. They occupied lo2
fcur-room cottages. nineteen barracks and seven
dorn7itores The children have been provided with
of the dweers in cities There is night school
maintained by the italian Emigrant Society. which
receives contributions to keep the work going Mrs
Mcclellan was much interested in the night school
Many of the younger men attend. and 1t Is eN-
pected that the facilities will be increased.
The Rev. Father James P o Brten has been as
signed TO the camps. and as he speaks Italian ne
does much to help the iaboring population. Arch
bishop Farley visited the camps on Monday. He
was to have Ieen the tower dedication but could
get away from the city.
The contractors have the work well under way
The progress made in six months has been nearly
twice the requirements of the contract Mayor
NcClellan's remark that the towers dedication
marked the beginning Of the work. was merely
figure of speech The laying Of the foundation for
the great dam. a. monumental work in itself, is
nearing completion A great steel viaduct over the
creek has been in use for months
The heavy rainfall last week gave the contrac-
tors strenuous period They were compelled TO
remove everything that might be swept away by a
food The torrent in the Esopus ten inches
over the small dam and ragged in the cut. AS soon
as II subsidized giant pumps were pressed into ser
vice and as soon the bed surface appeared the
regular work was continued. The delay not
serious II is now believed that the work on the
concrete part of the dam will have 10 be suspended
by December /. least the tenn
perature is below freezing 1t will. not be re-
sumed until the frost is out of the ground There