The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-12-11
(SEcOND PRIZE WINERY
WHAT EFFICIENCY
IN planning MILL
MEANS TO TOILER
Washington Camp Den
of Exploitation
sy Worker Correspondent.


have just completed six months
session of industrial slavery in one
of the most efficient planning mills in
the country, and l should like to re-
cord here some of the things that |
have seen, and heard.
This mill was constructed with the
express purpose of working into
finished material-fooring, ceiling, and
mouldings, car siding and flooring,
etc.-by-product lumber that was to
be cut from logs, for which there
was no market.
Saw Big Profits.
The company that owned the mill
was also big logging concern. Some
time previous a lumber salesman had
bought some dimension lumber from
them, sold it to a conversion plant
the next day, and made ten thousand
on the deal. So reasoned the rabbits
of the Arm Let US erect conversion
plant and make that money ourselves,
for somehow they had heard of the
enormous sum the salesman had
made. The plant was erected in no
time, a big square wooden structure
having a saw-tooth roof. Labor was
plentiful, and the construction ma
terial was there on the ground.
A battery of three moulding ma
chimes, hatcher, planker, rip, band,
and cross-cut saws were installed,
with carrier chains, and belts arrang-
ed to eliminate as much handling
labor as possible, dry kilns, trucks
and carrier trucks were installed, and
the place started with bang-ffty-
two carloads of finished stuff were
shipped the second month Of opera
zion.
Low Wages.
Wages averaged $3.4O per day, and
&he men sure had to travel some to
hold their jobs, for at the gate every
morning, were a gang of idle men
waiting to be put to work, and the
minute a fellow slowed up-out he
went
The boss was one of these wide
mecked, horse-headed, pace-setters,
who kept up a foot walk from one
end of the factory to the other, spur
ring on the men to work their hard
est.
Watch Workers.
The office was overhead in the CEN
ter of the building, and walled with
windows, thru which the foreman,
and time-keeper kept constant
watch Of the mems movements.
Everybody worked like mad, and
if worker should have been caught
smiling, or laughing, he probably
would have gotten fired, for this in
creasing production here in our U. S.
is one serious business.
The men working on and around
The machines were paid by the day,
but the fellows handling the lumber
loading on dry-kiln cars and into
the box-cars-were contract workers,
and they were paid about five dollars,
for every forty tons of lumber that
they handled.
Oftimes the superintendent would
let a contract to a man, who by work
ing at a supreme endurance pace,
would make little more than the
average wage, but it wouldn't be long
until the worker would be forced to
accept a new contract under which
he would receive less money
Scared of Boss.
Most of them seemed satisfied with
their jobs-not criticism, or COM
plant about working conditions could
be heard-they were all intensely in
terested in holding down the job, and
1 have seen some men who worked
there become so paralyzed with fear
when the boss talked to them that
they couldn't talk to him, but would
jump around like some trained ami.
NAL trying to please the master.
Men Sickly
One hardly ever met healthy man
amongst this bunch. Flat-feet, crook
ed spines, fingers cut off, consump-
ton, "T. B." OF syphilis were the pre-
dominant ailments, and then besides
there seemed to be young army of
cripples-arm gone. toe gone, eye
gone, hand gone-men who had been
injured In the company logging
camps, and saw mills and who were
given life time jobs at starvation
wages, in store.rooms, as time-keep-
ers, and the like.
About the latter part of the fourth
month OF operations. a cry coma forth