The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1921-08-20
RILEY TRADE LETTER IN
ANAL z|NG LOCAL SITUATION

Tank car business. which was so -four
ishins because or prosperity in tho
o.. nelds long after regular railway
buying dwindled). while now dull. has
developed some small repair jobs. ana
Il stable order for new refrigerator
cars hns been taken We have also
some freight car orders from domestic
and Chinese buyers. Local output OF
washers. risets. tie plates. locomotive
superheAters. axies. springs castings
railway ditchert. snow piows ano
sIreaders. is for the most part for re-
placement work. This production is
also much restricted in volume car
buiidere have also placed orders for
needed materials. But our group OF
equipments here and in the ncighbor-
Ing communities 81 Gary Hammond
EeSc~isch. Michigan Cit, and Pullman
all require broader buying power on
the part Of rniiways and anything
tending ~ strengthen that buying pow
or Ike further reductions in the car
rlcrs operating costs. including wages,
also the present railway financial re-
lief bill before congress. II passed. will
rebound to tho benefit Of this import
ant industry here ana increase employ
ucnt
OIL RxFKwERLEs
Industrial and Transportation motive
power being employed In accordance
with current needr. the demand for lu-
bricants follows tho curve OF general
activities. And wAA products are also
hit Yet the pipe lines that reach
from ths southwestern oil fields 10 re-
fneries ccntercd around the City OF
East chicago have been bringing a
larger volume of crude oil than is
probably generally realized Lighting
oils are fair. and gasoline production
is termed good. The unusually warm
spring and summer nave promoted the
use OF our gasoline. Refinery opera
tions here are on a boarder scAle than
IN metal cstobI hments And another
thing Is that our inland rchneries have
not sustained the same slump as has
been the case with some Of the sea
board rcfneries which now have 10
contend with diminished export do
mand. The operating position Of our
rctnories has been an important fac
tor IN giving stability TO local bust
ness conditions
WAGES
waso adjustments have proceeded
in every Industry here In each lin.
notably steel, operating costs are sim
hampered - coal prices and freight
charges. And there must not be over
looked tho wide difcrenti.d between the
wage cost n producing steel snd the
wage cost n erecting it. Present
common labor in the steel mills of this
diSfricf has dropped to a range Of 80
70 81 cents an hour When the year
began, the steel mill common lahorcr.
working 10 hours. averaged s5os and
for i2 hours he received in excess or
So Today he receives 50 to S370 for
10 hours. but owing Is business con
ditiohs is often limited 70 hours
work on those days the plant opcr-
ates Consider tho present wid, ar
fertntial between a st>el MN laborer
4 80 t. 81 cents and a hui~- con
mon iaborer IN Chicago. who gets 81
an hour. This disproportionate rcla-
lion BET cen production and erection
costs il one Or the many problems
closely related to our steel business
And this is only one case Of the dif-
fcrent cost and wsgc levels that ex-
ist IN industry, TO the detrin7ent Of all
business salary adinst,rc4t.
have nscn made. but nor as marked as
those for hourly workers. who. in most