The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-04-24
Attraction of High
Wages and Sur
face Work
SITUATION is SERIOUS
Two Weeks Net Seventy-Five
Men at Hercules--Other
Mines Loose Men
~ ONE UNKNOWN philosopher

has said that llIe is just oHe
d thing after another" and
ever since there has been con-
tinuous proof of the truth of his as
sertion. Giving it local application,
it is recalled that while the war was
oil and there was urgent demand Tor
every pound Of metal that could pc
produced, there was a shortage of la
Dor for the mines, due to the call OF
men into the military service and to
the attraction of high wages in the
shipyards on the coast. Then came
the armistice, which found such large
stocks of lead and zinc on hand that
the market for those metals disap-
peared and forced a further curtail-
ment of production and an actual
suspension of some of the mines. At
ter few weeks of precarious opera
ticn it was found necessary to cut
wages of employees or suspend alto
gether and the first alternative was
adopted Soon after the adoption OF
the new wage scale the gloom Of de-
spondency was suddenly cleared by
the announcement that two Of the big
mines which had been down for four
r.onths would Immediately resume
operations and a call was sent out
for men, Two weeks have elapsed
and one of these has managed to get
enough men for one shift, which hap
PLY is all that is wanted at this time,
while the other, which normally en-
ployes about 500 men, has up to date
mustered only about rs. AS if to
make a bad situation worse, men have
drawn their time at other mines to an
extent that the district Is now con-
fronted with an acute labor shortage,
which applies particularly to expert
el,ced miners. The philosopher was
right.
Whatever may be the situation IN
other parts of the country, employ
ment for returning soldiers has up to
date not proved a serious problem In
this district. There is work in the
mines not alone for the soldiers, but
for many other men. But they 90
not apply and men are actually quit
ting the mines and going elsewhere 1t
APPEARS that outside the mining dis
tricts there Is generally plenty OF
work at wages that at least compare
favorablv with wages in the MINES
81 d that this explains the shortage OF
labor here. 1t is said that farmers In
Washington, Oregon and southern
Idaho are paying $65 and $40 per
month. which Of course includes boaro
ard lodging. In the lumber camps
r,en get from 81 to SIS per day, with
much better accommodations than
f, rmerly prevailed in that class or Ia
hor. and both lumberjacks and farm
workers have an S-hour shirt. from
this it appears that miners are tax
ing advantage of the good wages pald
ir these lines in order to nave
change to surface work during the
period Of good weather
II has been about two weeks since
announcement was made that the
Hercules and Tamarack mines Wouid
start mn after a shut down of four
months. About a week after the an
rcuncement was made the TamaracR
had secured sufficient men for one
shift that being all that was deslreo
for the present 1t is stated that the
repairs at the Northport smelter nave
rot been completed and the plant Is
therefore not in position to handle the
full product Of the mine. The Tam
arack under normal conditions en-
p,oys probably 300 men. The Hercules
has not been as successful as tn
Tamarack in getting men. Yesterda!
II was stated by one who is supposed
to know that only about IS men ar
at work. Special . efforts are bein'
made to get men from the outside, bu
60 far without very much success. un
der normal conditions the Hercule
employs about 500 men, but 1t
probable that only one full shirt
desired at this time on account OF Tn
condition at the smelter. The Hercu
less mill started up about week ag
and is now running one shift.