Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-20

| cient equipment One of the best ex- I amples of this is the Hartford hospi- l tai, which has an admirable laundry. and does not only its own work, but I helps out with some other institutions, none, of which are either infectious or contagious institutions as to the class 1 they treat"
 | Women have been working for years in intuition plants in Connecti- cut, though 1t is only since 1915 that l the greater part of the public seem to have gained knowledge of the fact" according to the report on munitions I factories. Continuing, the report says: l Men in other industries were offered | such wages that they forsook their 1 firms. and their places had to be filled. I Many women entered work who had i, hitherto been beyond them. Wages 1 were stated to be so attractive and so easily carried in the intuition industry that in Bridgeport girls even left the candy stores to swell the ranks. Wages were undoubtedly a great factor in ldrawing girls to this work, but. with | the scarcity of labor in other branches
 caused by the defection of their w6rk- CTS. there was a general advance in l all wages, and some were induced to return to their former Hnes How ]. ever, not in sufficient number to pre- vent other employers from facing a very serious situation which greatly l impeded their output and gravely menaced their general prosperity. The Remington Arms company in Bridge
 
 workers in the state, employing 4,00O 1 Special attention is paid in the report to this company. The housing problem
 comes in for it's share of comment. Reference is made at length to the i conditions at the Scovill Manufactur- ing company factories in Waterbury. with special commendation in regard to the emergency hospital.
 Under the caption of Child Labor, etc, the report says: "Connecticut has not been a noticeable offender in the child labor field. Long before many of the states placed restrictive statutes ones standing the test of common sense by practice. Part of the federal legislation in the recent enactment has also been anticipated by our own, have been enforced During the years 1913r1914 there was a marked decrease in the number of children employed in the permissible occupations. The greater part of certificates issued for this labor are given in the summer months. The year 1916 is exceptional in the number that is working and can hardly be taken as an example of what
 is to be expected. But from Jan. l.
 1916, to June 1, 1916, the state board of education issued permits to 5,731
 minors, and on Nov. 1 there were 13,- |s750 certificates in force." The report calls attention to the occupations in
 which the children took part, and com
 mented on the fact that the tobacco
 industry gives employment to many
 minors during the season. The tobacco
 question is explained at length. The
 industrial training school work in
 Fitchburg, Mass, comes in for it's share
 of comment.
 In the Nature and Number of In-
 duStries Investigated in 1915-16 chap
 ter 1t is explained that the investigator
 devoted the larger share of endeavors
 to laundries, restaurants, hotels, candy
 and ice cream, candy and drug stores
 and candy and lunch rooms. Added
 to this was the going over of the de-
 partment and other stores and the tele-
 phone industry, whose expansion war
 ranted more attention.
 A chapter is devoted to night work
 in the state and conditions affecting
 women so engaged. Reference is made to the night work which has been go-
 ing on for years in the factories and
 it is said in the report: "To the credit of the state, it is to be recorded that it made some laws controlling this work before the nation wide crusade began. According to a recent interpretation of the law, there is really no prohibition of night work for women in the fac tories. As a matter of fact, the only concerns which have women working constantly at night are the telephone telegraph and manufacturing compa- nies. to the comfort and enjoyment of the American public, which, if it were de- prived of it's right to drink soft drinks, would fight harder than if the vote were snatched from it's hands," Con- siderable space is devoted to the soda water industry in all it's phases. Re- ferr1ng to clean, sanitary places the | report says: "One in Hartford has it's | customers standing in rows to be | waited on, and they remain patiently, | though there are many others in the ! |
 The chapter on hotels, restaurants, dining places, candy and candy and | lunch rooms combined refers to work ing hours and conditions in general A l few cities have not felt the demand for labor affect the dining places and restaurants. but they are very few. All hotels, restaurants and dining rooms take excellent care of the dishwashing II There is up to date machinery in the II greater part. In Bridgeport there are, pr were, between 300 and 400 restau- rants. The hotels have doubled their precautions. Some eating houses are not yet quite up to the mark. Summing up, the results of the investigation are salutary and an inn orovement over the conditions noted n 1914.
 t"Japanese labor, which began first seaside resorts near New Haven, vas resorted to as a last expedient, II put it has proved admirable, in the apanese servants were rare in Con- 1 lecticut- By next year domestic con litions may be changed and they may lot improve in the line of general ,lentifulness of domestic labor. the European war ends then IT later, there is no ground for be- ieving that this country is to be brown into immediate surplus of labor or Europe will have to be dependent n America for a good three years or nore after the war is over."
 A chapter is devoted to labor dis atisfaction and changing conditions in ~dustries in the state. Strikes and oycots receive their attention.
 In the closing paragraphs the in estigator recommends reformatory or women. Many other recommenda- ions are made.
 An extremely hard artificial wood f German invention is made of saw ust and chloride of magnesium.