Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-21
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH
AT WILLIAMSTOWN
GContinued From First Page ]


work in the hosiery mills and stores
and offices
Williamstown is crowded with stores
and few residents leave here TO make
their purchases elsewhere. Several
hundred persons are employed in
these retail houses and with the thou
sand men employed in the colliery
here, there are comparatively few per-
sons remaining who are able to go out
of their homes to work in the towns
two hosiery mills.
In the mines here hundreds of thou
sands of tons of coal are mined an
nually. The men work in S-hour
shifts and are so busy now that they
the finding very little time 10 talk of
any possible trouble over a satisfactory
agreement between the miners and the
operators on April l. Mine workers in
this territory appear to be satisfied in
many ways with the present agree
ment under which they are working
and many of them take occasion to
praise the operators for what they are
doing to make their dangerous work
more safe.
safety First" Slogan
safety first" is a slogan at the
mines at the present time and many
improvements over the old ways of in
surlnS safety are in vogue.
As dangerous as n miners work is
Its humorous side often presents itself
Cages in which the men are lowered
TO and raised from the workings hum
dreds of feet below the earth's sur
race, are only permitted to carry ten
men. Occasionally a fellow, in
hurry to get to his home, jumps into
the cage and makes the eleventh man.
Opir v-aF,, . .1,a
chinery in motion and then. of course,
the other ten men are delayed. The
engineer, as a rule, does not have to
request the eleventh man to wait until
the next trip. The other ten take care
of that. They simply pick up Mr..
Eleven" and drop him out of the cage
and he is compelled to wait until the
next trip. And then the cage shoots
up through the earth for 1900 feet
and the men again reach the open
air.
Modern Equipment
Reinforced concrete is being used
extensively in the colliery and struc-
tural iron is rapidly taking the place
of timber in many of the tunnels un-
der ground. In years past the great
mass of earth above the tunnels has
crushed the timbers intended TO sup
port its weight. Structural iron is a
decided improvement over wood in
this respect.
Another safety measure taken daily
is that of examining the heavy wire
rope attached to the cages in which
the men are taken to their work. Each
day experts go over every inch of this
rope and II a single strand has been
snapped an entire new section must
be used. This safety measure has pro-
tected the miners for many years and
1t has been a long time since casualties
have been recorded through the drop
ping of cage.
During the present cold snap there
Is a decided advantage in being a
miner There are few men employed
on the surface of the earth who are
able TO work these days with only a
pair of trousers and a thin shirt to
cover their bodies. Yet this is what
the miners are doing to-day. The in
terror of the mine is very warm
when extremely cold weather prevails
on the surface. During the summer
months the workings are cool so that
the mining business is probably the
only one in existence where the tenn
scrature is agreeable to the workmen
At all seasons of the year.
Two Large Mills
Williamstown's two hosiery mills
are among the largest in this district
and daily more than 1900 dozen pairs
uf mems half hose are manufactured
and prepared for shipment to every
the goods reach South American coun-
tries. too.
One of these mills is that of the I'm
rivaled Hosiery Company, of which J.
=. Lesher is superintendent. Mems
half hose is manufactured at the rate
of almost 1000 dozen pairs per day
There are 175 persons employed at the
plant, almost all of whom are girls.
This company also operates a plant at
York Haven and the product of that
mill is shipped here to be finished and
packed so that really 1900 dozen pairs
are handled here daily. The plant was
established seven years ago in a small
building with thirty-eight machines
and about forty employees. The follow
ing year an addition was erected and
more people were employed. Two
years ago another addition was made
and the force and machinery increas-
ed. Now there are 2S5 persons en-
ployed in the two plants and the con-
Germ operates 246 knitting machines
There are also forty-four loopers and
q similar number of ribbers. The pro-
duct is made of a fine grade of cot
ton and reaches every section of the
country from the Atlantic to the Paci-
fic.
Employ 80 Girls
The towns other industry is the
Durbin- Mellon Hosiery Company
where ninety girls of Williamstown
are given employment. ms plant,
like the other. makes mems $ hosiery
and approximately 450 dozen pairs are
turned out daily. Two years ago the
owners re-equipped the plant and at
the present time plans are being made
to use electricity instead of steam for
power. This will greatly increase the
output of the plant.
At the present time there are sew
enty-two knitting machines in use. in
addition to the other necessary ma
chinery and it is the plan of the COM
pany to add more machines in the
near future. This will necessitate the
employing of more help.
Williamstown is busy from one end
to the other and its leading citizens
predict a bright industrial future for
the borough.