The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-18
What One Soulless Corporation Does.

What One Soulless Corporation Does.
Twenty-Five years ago the Metro
polltan Life Insurance Company be-
gan to serve hot tea and coffee to the
workers in Its home Office who brought
their luncheons with them. The re-
suit of the experiment was surpris-
Ing. The clerks, printers, mechanics
who labor under the shadow Of the
white tower on Twenty-fourth street
were Immediately benefited by this
addition to their midday meal. Their
health improved. the quality Of their
work was bettered and the success
Of the experiment was So great that
an extension of The service was un.
hesitatingly undertaken.
On every business day now 175
men and women in the commissary
and laundry Of the building labor in
preparation Of a wholesome midday
meal, which Is served without charge
to the $500 employees In two din
Ing rooms, one for men and one for
women, each accommodating 800 at a
time. The meals cost twenty-one cents
each. The mem for September I.
1914, taken at random from the rec.
ords of the chef, shows what is pro-
vided for the force:
Vegetable Soup.
Cold Corned Beef and Smoked Beet
Tongue.
Lettuce Salad.
Strawberry Ice Cream or Corn Starch
Pudding.
Tea. Coffee. MIX. Buttermilk.
Bread and Butter.
Better for the inner man this well
selected meal than two or three
cream pufYs and a glass OF soda water
for Il tired girl; conceivably more
nearly adapted to the needs Of Il 70.
bust man than "A couple Of light AMI
a herring from the marble topped
counter at the corner. But this res
taurant service Is not a charity:
mo charge Is made for the luncheon.
ITO insure efficiency the company finds
Il good policy to provide these nourish-
ing meals for each Of its employees.
This luncheon is not considered a
gratuity. but rather as a supplement to
the wages. even though they are as high
as. II not higher than, wages paid u
others in the same line OF work"
AS a matter Of fact the Metro
politan pays a minimum wage of 50
a week to III The average pay
Of women clerks in the home office.
exclusive Of bonuses, is $11.U6 Il week ;
for mel S22Jl. In the last eight
years the average earnings OF agents
has increased by 80 per cent. and
is now $500 a week. The bonus sys-
TEN adds to the salaries Of home Of
flee employees thus:
After Sin years. 300
After nine years 500
Each year thereafter 200
At a cost Of $234,O5S.l5 the COM
pany paid allowances to JJJ retired
and disabled field employees in 19l4,
and similar payments to home office
employees amounted TO $12l .00s.5O
At home and abroad instruction in the
ethics and practice of life insurance
are given. When an employee is at
hicted with tuberculosis he or she Is
sent to the coinpany's sanitarium on
Mount McGregor. in Saratoga county,
where 131 patients were admitted up
to January l. This property consists
Of ABB acres of forest land, and its
beneiicent work is soon to be in
creased by the erection of a rest house
where non-tuberCular patients may be
treated. The hospital maintenance is
Il company charge, and in order to es-
stabllsh the legality Of such an eX-
pendlture, which was seriously ques-
'A'Hci ". il'lt tuuu oHt lnSuTtllce
department. the matter was taken to
court. \ decision was obtained which
authorized the company to do the
work as part Of its provision for Its
employees.
For fifteen years the company has
maintained "A Staff Savings Fund,
open to all employees receiving less
than $1,000 n year. Deposits are lin
tied to > per cent. of the depositors'
earnings, and the company subscribes
n sun equal to 30 per cent. Of each
deposit. \ home Office clerk whose
deposits amount to $l,565, has to his
credit through company contribu-
tionS, profits of the fund. Sc, S4,O42;
n superintendent has deposited 81. 1872,
ana has S3,5iO TO his credit the total
deposits and contributions on Decem-
Der 81 were $2,6lI, +D55l. The com
pany offers disability insurance to It's
force, making sickness benefit a
matter of contract rather than OF
favor: II maintains a hospital, daily
eye, ear and throat clinics, a dental
clinic to examine ~everybody's teeth
twice Il year. In 1914 patients to the
number of 1,04S made $4,000 visits ia
the hospital dlspensary. There are
vacation funds, Libraries, educational