Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-16
WORKERS MIGRATE
TO SEASONAL Jobs
Annual Shift in Employment
Results in Rapid Move
ment of Groups.
BY ]. c. ROYLE.

Labor-that is, unSkilled labor-is in
a period of change or will be within q
few weeks. Many of the workers are
moving from one section to another and
will continue to do so until the turn OF
the year.
Agricultural work still is occupying
laborers in the Northwest harvest fields
and the harvesting Of sugar beets in the
intermountain West and the slicing OPP
erations of the beet sugar factories will
keep thousands of workers engaged for
some weeks to come, according to De-
partment of Labor reports.
Public Projects.
A large army of men are employed on
road construction and will continue to
do work of this kind in the more mod
crate climates all Winter, but it will not
be long now until cold and storms check
such operations in the North. The type
of construction work now most active is
giving a fine volume of employment to
both skilled and unskilled labor, but the
municipal, Government and State prof.
ects, as well as those of the public util-
ity companies, favor semi-skilled men
rather than the highly trained artisans
employed on home construction. The
volume Of building for commercial and
private purposes is showing little change.
The number of workers on the Great
Lakes and the inland waterways is still
high and will continue so up to the
close of navigation, when these work.
employment in other lines which are
somewhat ill-prepared to absorb them.
The coal mines are speeding UP, due
to seasonal requirements, but there are
already many thousands of excess work.
ers among the miners. The metal
mines give no indication of abandon
ing their policy of restricting produc-
ton.
Shoe Factories Active.
The shoe factories are making a fine
showing, according to the Labor De-
partment, with some working overtime,
but there is still heavy surplus of
textile workers. The iron and steel in
dustry Is holding its own in the matter
Of employment. but is still affected by
the dizziness in the automobile trade.
The last month, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed q
seasonal gain of l per cent in employ
ment over the previous month and a
gain of IA per cent in pay roll totals.
Some of the gain was due to the can
ming or preserving industry, which was
extremely active. The most significant
increase, however, was that of rs per
cent IN the volume OF retail trade. ibis
was recorded despite the fact that prices
now are lower than they were month
ago. Per capita savings among manu-
featuring workers were 0.6 per cent
higher than for September, 1929.
Workers Efficient.
There is no doubt that workers are
more efficient and that working condi-
tons are more adapted for eff1cient
work than they have ever been in the
history of the Nation. More work is
being obtained per worker. because the
latter works in better light, better air
and under generally better conditions
This is illustrated by the plan for
the first windowless factory in the
United States, to be erected at Fitch
burg, Mass, for the Simonds Saw &
Steel Co. The structure will have nei-
Their windows nor skylights. 1t will be
lighted, heated, ventilated and refrig-
Grated by modern methods, and the
walls will be noise absorbing. The
machines will be orange colored to help
avoid accidents and raise visibility,
while walls and ceilings will be blue,
green and white Illumination will be
by hundreds of 1,000-watt lights, pro-
viding uniform light density. All heavy
machines will be seated on cork mats
to reduce noise. It is estimated by SCI
entists that the new building Will in
crease worker efficiency 33 per cent.
Copyright, 1900