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The Commoner
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VOL. 14, NO. 2
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ipoctlon Borvlco at Baltimore is not bo heavy dur
ing tho winter Boason, two assistant inspectors
of that sorvico at Ualtimoro wero detailed, each
for three weeks, to servo in turn on hoard tho
.Fish Hawk or tho enforcement of the navigation
laws on tho Chesapoako Bay.
LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE
When charges wero made rocontly against tho
conduct and economy of administration of the
lighthouse Borvice, Secretary Rodflold immediate
ly ordered a full and complete investigation.
Hoarings wero hegun hoforo a committee con
sisting of Secretary Rodflold, Assistant Secretary
Sweet and Dr. S. W. Stratton, director of the
bureau of standards on January 7, and on Jan
uary JO a recess was taken until January 28.
Tho specific charge of misconduct was that tho
bureau was favoring a certain concern which
manufactures buoys and of which a former
doputy commissioner of lighthouses is secretary,
a demand boing made for an explanation of why
so many contracts have been lot to that firm.
Tho investigation, however, is to be general,
covering tho entire lighthouse service.
Thd lighthouse sorvico is testing a new light
ing system at Key West, Fla., which, because of
tho enormous candle power of tho beam of light
obtained from a very small consumption of
power, bids fair to becomo very generally used
as its ofllciency is more and more conclusively
'demonstrated.
As the approaches to Key West aVe exceed
ingly dilleult, tho range light has been found
most satisfactory, and because of the length of
the channel, it is of the highest importance that
tho most powerful lights bo used.
1 ' Tho principle of the "range light" consists in
the establishment of two lights at different
vortical heights and some considerable horizontal
distance apart in an extension of the line of- a
channol. Tho approaching mariner then maneu
vers his vessel so that the lights appear to be
vertically over one another and, when this is tho
case, tho vessel must be in the line of the
channel.
BUREAU OP STANDARDS
.' The report of the inspection of railroad track
scales in tho state of Vermont has been com
pleted and forwarded to the commissioner of
weights and measures at whoso request' the in
Bpoctton was made. Altogether 1G scales were
tostod with tho following results: Allowing a
tolerance of .2 of one per cent, which in the
opinion of tho bureau is a fair tolerance for such
scales, 80 per cent of tho scales would have to
bo rejected; on a tolerance of .4 of one per cent,
' 00 per cont would have to be rejected; and on a
tolorance of 1 per cont, 40 per cont would have
to bo rejected. The magnitude of some of the
prrors was 1,349 pounds with r. load of 35,000
pounds, and 1,140, 1,129, and 2,459 on t hreo
scales with loads of 70,000 pounds. Considering
that empty cars weigh about 35,000 pounds the
permiSttedCUtGnta nr far sre,ltop than Bhoul'dfl
,nrtTiSt? ?f "i0,8105 "sed by the customs serv
teo Jn determining the duty on certain imports at
New York likewise disclose large errors Of the
1(5 scales tested there, 75 per cent would have
been rejected on a tolerance of .2 of one pe?
eent; B per cent on a tolerance of .4 of one per
cent; and 25 per cent on a tolerance of 1 per
BUREAU OF CENSUS
iqT?GwC!a!iRegii8ter Tf the UnIte(1 States for
1913 was delivered on January 7 im ,i
days later than the 1911 edition wh ch was de,
Hvered on January 4, 1912. e
Tho earliest issue of tho Official Register mion
known as the Register of Officials and Age s?
was published in 181 G by the secretary of Stnt
under authority of congress. ThS ScrSof
state continued to issue the register llioSi?
until 1861 when the supervision o Mt SubHcS
tion was transferred to tho denartnum 13
MSI ThG ra?!8tep f 18G1 2 S succeed!
ing editions up to and including that of innk
were issued by the secretary of A ffn , ' 9?5
1906 the duty of publTshing0 r g teTwas
Heretofore the register has'been nub'iuwi
two volumes. Volume I containeTthfnameB of
all civilian employees of the Kovenimi 1 I
those in the postal service! together witli fh
names of commissioned offlcm? of the army
navy and marine corps. The names of employ
?t nZV 5J7ico were contained ta vS S
. II. Officials of the census bureau and noatoflhS
department decided, for. various reasons "that toe
practical value of volume IIvwas not suffic ent to
justify tho labor and expense involved in its
preparation and in accord with their recom
mendations, congress last year authorized its
discontinuance.
BUREAU OF FISHERIES
Dr. Hugh M Smith, commissioner of fisheries,
has just returned from a trip along the gulf
coast of Florida where he made a personal in
spection of the most promising sites for the loca
tion of a marine biological laboratory. The es
tablishment of. such a laboratory on Florida's
gulf coast was authorized by congress in 1911
and its object is the study of various economic
and scientific problems connected with the
aquatic resources of that state.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
The department of labor recently mado public
the report of the investigation of the Calumet
strike. The investigation was made and the re
port prepared by Walter B. Palmer of the bureau
of labor statistics and deals with the various
phases of the strike situation:
Causes of the strike; wages of mine workers;
hours of labor; the training trouble; the one
man drill; deductions from earnings; the West
ern Federation of Miners; the vote for a strike;
beginning of the strike; continuation of the
strike; the militia, deputy sheriffs, and imported
guards; injunctions against picketing; strike
breakers brought in; violence during' the strike
arbitration proposals unavailing; discrimination
and adjustment of grievances; concessions the
companies would make; underground cbnditions;
accidents in and' about the mines; houses occu
pied by mine-workers; stipulations in leases; liv
ing conditions; welfare work; the Michigan cop
per district; the population of the district; earn
ings of the companies.
At the time of the strike 'over 9,000 miners,
trammers, i. e., tram car men, and surface men
were members of the Western Federation of
Miners. At a meeting of District 16 on July 22
a strike was called which began on July 23.
Having failed, to secure a. conference at which to
present their demands,, the representatives of the
Western Federatipn of Miners '.publicly an
nounced thefr demands to be:
Recognition of the unioji;' an eightihour day;
a minimum wage of $3 for all underground work!
ers and engineers, and an increase of 35c per
day for surface men; also that two men shall be
engaged m the operation of all mining maiWries.
There were 14,528 employees of these com
panies on July 22. About 11,700 worked under
ground and the remainder on the surface. Under
ground work came to a complete standstill and
tins caused all surface employees to stop work.
No employees of the stamp mills struck but
these employees, 1,100 in number, were com
pelled to cease work after the rock on hand had
been stamped and smelted.
Before the strike began, J. A. Cruse, sheriff of
S,0prSt0VUnly' had SW0Tn in about 420 depuS
sheriffs at the request of the mining comnanipa
nearly all of them employees of thl con a Set
This number was increased after the strike b
gan until it numbered about 1,700'on November
1. The companies also imported from other
bv ?tlip wS.Tf8' f armed gu?irds tfPed
by the Waddell-Mahone agency of New York and
other agencies. On the night of July 23 the
day the strike began, the. sheriff of Houghton
rT, s7 Onw'fh8 smS for slate
to frt ?r ll U the Svernor ordered troops
to go to Houghton county at once. By July 25
they began arriving, and. by July 27 all had
reached their destination. A number of minor
riots occurred during the first two days of the
strike, but it s not shown that any fire arms or
suiiceis at that me, A number of strikers
have been killed and others injured by the use
0fusAthe1110?sesIoof the Waddell men
, The first strike-breakers brouglU.info the d'is
Arlct were brought in by the .Quincy Mining com
pany and arrived at Hancock on Sentembor iT
.confined in .the railroad coach several hours
?SyweiS ?fCOrte(1 t0 a suaft 'houe by 8oia?ers
and Waddell men. Tliero wn "ii auV4ieis
large body of strikers nZeXs,y
the newcomers. On the same day fourteen' Z
soldieis, and in the background the strikers!
Twelve of them made affidavit to that effect.
Many strike-breakers made affidavit that the
agent at the employment agency informed them
that there was no trouble or strike at the place
they were to work; that on arrival they were
guarded by deputies and soldiers and not per
mitted to leave the bunk house at the mine and
that they were otherwise mistreated. During
October many strike-breakers were brought in by
the Calumet-Hecla company and some for other
companies. Some of these came from western
points. Two of these men made affidavit that
deputies at the point of a gun compelled them
to go from Superior to Calumet; where they
were put in an auto and taken to one of the min
ing camps. Most of them, however, came from
Chicago:
The report shows that the hours of labor of
underground workers in the Michigan copper
district prior to the strike were from 10 to 11
hours per day which included' the time required
for going to and from the working places to the
surface and the tinie for luncheon. In some of
the mines the miners are paid as low as $2.35
per shift, while trammers are paid as low as $2
The earnings of miners employed during the six
months ending June 30, 1913, by the Calumet
Hecla company and subsidiary companies varied
' m ?fl $2 to $,3'62 per nI and averaged
JS.'The earnings of men' employed during
the same period by the other companies varied
r90?$am8 t0 $2,9 pe1' snift' an average of
?2.74. -The general 'average df all companies
during the year was $2.98. 'The earnings of
trammers employed during the year by Calumet
Hjfcjla and subsidary companies varied from
J2.50.to $2.91 per shift, .and averaged $2.75.
ihe earnings of trammers .employed, by .other
companies .during the year were from $2.3.0. to
lL i an averaSe, of $2-40- The.general aver
age of all companies during the year was .$2.59.
nnL0me .the, smalr ,cqnipanies, have been
operating. at a. loss, but the largest company. in
the region, the Calumet-Hecla company; which
employs upwards, of 50 per cent of the total
.. number of mine, workers. engaged in that region,
.Z in fjfcy .Jarge Profits.,, It was,organ
ShiSn t7m -er ,ttbe, ,law Qt, th : statfUf
stocK SVfinn ififn BU-Pfflse4.,,ssftlJot, capital
, per share is paid, .up, so .that the .actual cash
. capital miain is .$1,200,000. n'e JotS dfv
Aonds paid from date of organization in 1871 to
So tMa?h '3' 1913' were IlilloBV
000, besides having reinvested about . sevonty-
in whioh ?LHnS 10uses'ied by the companies,
subltantH frnSinfrS are h0USed are generally
' Si? i frmme houses and al'e usually kept in
good pair. The lots on which the houses stand
are usually 50x100 feet. The rents range from
an average of $3.32 for three-room houses to
The Calumet-Hecla company, which has a
. arger number of employees than any other com
pany in the copper district,. has provided a niZ
ber of welfare agencies for their benefit The"
srs tt-hrrlfeSH
ground for the ,1 M c a i...?Mi aS. gi-en the
and for the mosTof uS etu? ch" bnl, S, ttl
townsh p and has contributed to tUo suLn?t
"charo aBn0d(.m!lnta1 hospitat'Twc h
single men IL "'$$' month" is made to al
aXlthTjl cIverinrmeX"' 1Z man,
old. age pension fund for certain omr.i,f d ?n
have attained an age of 80 vl P, oySes who
been in the employ of the SSSf11? "
years or more, and in a nnmw ? ?Z twenty
has promoted the wdtaVTS? lS W7,,
A. MpOitt and.Jolm l, Smore vhTl t'"1
.Wissioners of wO&Z&gfeZ
. first:. That suggestions ere: inade thaj th.
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