American Invasion and the British Workshop
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CUTLERS' HALL. AT SHEFFIELD.
(Copyright, 1902. by Frank Q. Carpenter.)
1HEFFIKLI), Eng., Aug. 14. (Spe
I cial Correspondence of The Dee.)
1 iiuu limfc liif? niuvi lunu iu-
vaslon haa made Its way Into
this the very heart of Industrial
England. Our big steel trust haa fright
ened the factors of Sheffield, and their
trade, not only In England, but all the
world over, la being affected y It. The
English railroads have begun Importing
American locomotives and American steel
rails and the people hire are wondering
whether they will not aoon be aendlng
them knives and raicra aa well. The let
ting of the contracts for the enormous
bridges In Africa and Durmah to American
firms astounded thorn, and they are wor
riw to their foreign uruoia. 3ameii
produces agricultural machine, y, nut our
American tools are sold aide by aide with
those of English make, and our biggest
machine companies have their agents at
every country fair to drum the trade.
Much of the bualneas la dona at the fairs
and our men sell direct to the farmers.
One of the greatest specialties of Shef
field Is making machine tools, and the
American competition la cutting deep Into
this branch of Its business. In a recent
article the editor of Ftelden's Magaslne,
cne of the best of England's Industrial
authorities, writes that there Is hardly
a workshop of any Importance In the
United Kingdom which Is not using Amer
ican tools and labor-aavlng devices. He
says he knows of an establishment which
recently bought $100,000 worth of new
machinery, two-thirds of which was Amer
ican. Since the close of the war numer
ous articles have been published in the
papers here as to how the Americans are
fust getting the monopoly of the machin
ery sales for South Africa. It Is reported
that our trade In the British colonies Is
steadily Increasing, and the complaint Is
mads that the governments of the various
British dependencies are giving their most largest Iron and ateel factories of England
Important orders to the United States.
Ilrltfah Guam Trade Bee ret a.
This condition makes It almost Impossi
ble for an American to have accesa to the
lCualtah mflla. Tha manavfln Innk unnn
very visitor aa a spy. They think he is cnar snowing m, pru. iu r.uB
after their trade secrets and for this rea- llsn visitor, especially to those of the
on they will not show him their ma- business who are looking for points,
chinery. I have been refused admission to Everywhere I go I learn of Englishmen
a number of factorlea and foundries on bo ara being asnt to the United States
various pretexts, although my letters of to study our workshops, machinery and
Introduction, some of them from our gov- methods. A year ago Mr. Arthur Keen of
ernnient departments, show that my mis- Guest, Keen Co. and Mr. E. Windsor
slon is simply that of news gathering, and Richards, a well-known metallurgist, mad
that I am Interested In no manufacturing a. thorough study of the best American
business whatsoever. ateel plants. The works of Quest. Keen
On the other hand the Britisher does not Co- Bav been loD BOif mD h
hesitate to borrow Ideas and machines equ'PPe " Kngland. but what Mr.
from others, and as a usual thing he bor- Keen MW led hlm to chge mucn of '
rows without asking. He Is quick to take machinery to American patterns,
what he can get, not only from foreign- know th,t Mt 08,11 of American
era but from his own people. A notable aboemaklng machinery Is now being Intro
Instance of this occurred hero at Sheffield uc to tbe shoe shops of Bicester and
as far back aa a generation before the olne' P'cee. English shoes are being
declaration of our Independence. It waa ! after our pattern, and American
the stealing of the secret of making cruel- leather Is Imported that they may be as
ble or cast steel. The originator of this k American ahoes as possible,
process came from near Sheffield. Ills 1 recent copy of the London Mall I
name waa Huntsman and he lived at a ,er tD Weardale Steel. Coal and Coke
town called Handsworth. He eatabllshed a company (limited), another of the biggest
factory at Attercllfl for the working of Arms Id England, haa decided to remodel
this process, and his descendants still make Its works on American lines at the cost of
steel on the same spot. He carefully a million and a quarter dollars. They will
guarded his secret for a time, but at last adopt our latest detaila In blaat furnace
one of his trade rivals stole It In the fol- construction and steel manufacture as
lowing underhand way:' He disguised him- they have lerned them from America. The
self aa a beggar, and one stormy night Mall adds:
came to the doors of the factory seeking "by these and other means the company
shelter and rest. He looked so rough thai la confident that It will be able to hold Its
the men In charge did not think there own agalnat any competition, either at
could be any danger from one of his class home or abroad."
and they compassionately admitted him. He Anothtr plant which has been modern
waa told he could I1 down In the cinder tied la that of Bolcaow, Vaughan A Co.,
heap. Ha only pretended to be asleep, but the modernising in this case has
however, and through his half-shut eyes been superintended by sn American en
lock a mental photograph of the machinery glneer. and the lotal coat haa been more
and the operatlona. He watched ao closely than two and one-halt million dollars,
that he waa able to reproduce the pro- The English railroads are aendlng their
reus, and he used it to rival the work engineers to America to study our railway
of Huntsman. I understand thst the de methods, and I understand that a commls
aceudanta of thU man still own one of the sloo of English factory men will shortly
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BUILU1NQ IN WHICH CHURCH HOWE OF NEBRASKA. UNITED STATES CONSUL, HAS HIS OFFICE AT SHEFFIELD.
and that their business was originally
based on the work of that night.
Keep thai EsglUh Oatt
It I were at the head of an American
manufacturing establishment, I would be
SHEFFIELD TOWN HALL.
or 12 cents, an hour, the loss in monoy
amounted to more than $3,000,000.
The principal causes of strikes wire
against the reduction of or for the ad
vancement of wages, ninety-three of them
arose from the employment of people out
side the unions, or contrary to the rules of
the unions, and only six were for a reduc
tion cf hours.
Trades Vnlona Are Strong.
AH of these strikes were connected 'vith
the trades unions, which are very strong
in Great Britain. There are thirty-two
unions here which have altogether a mem
bership of Rflsnnn. jnfl, in addition. 17
others, the members of which make a total
cf almost 1,400,000 trades unionists. The
men contribute liberally to the unions, md
the union funds on hand In 1900 amouuted.
It Is estimated, to about $18,000,000, or to
the Income of the members of the union for
almost two years.
One thing that tends to tha Injury of the
English manufacturing industries is what
Is know as the Week Ends and also the
numerous holidays. The Week End la the
Saturday half holiday which is common all
over this country. No one works after 1
o'clock on that day, and a large proportion
of the men, and of the women as well,
celebrate tha day by going on a drunk,
which In many cases lasts until Monday.
The holidays of the English workman
amount to very nearly a month every year.
I speak of those taken voluntarily as well
as those allowed by the state. There Is
but little work done during Easter week,
and In this region especially but little
during the week following Ascension day.
Then there Is a holiday time about mid
summer, and also at Christmas and New
Year. The American would celebrate such
times In a rational manner, but In a ma
jority of cases the Engl sh laborer cele
brates them by getting drunk,
go from Liverpool to the United States to refuBe t0 employ Germans even though Drnnkenaes. In KnKl.nl.
make a careful Investigation of our plants tney can get them for notnlng. Gur people who haye not vUted tne fac.
along spec al "ne. xt to sending men to tha United States tory centers of England can have no idea
mI i il! nhni , J ! "P to the present time, thla haa been done of the terrible condition of the working
writ..' lon. .VtJnt ? h. ! b' tha enterprising Brms. The aver- classes as regard, the use of intoxicating
wrttea a long statement as to the causes n-u.-v ..... .. .., v.. n w i,. ....
OfiO Ul illDU ftJUMUUa.avi.UXCr BlVl.i1 IU Ull 'WUUI n viutu nuu B jywuuuiaw iug
Rip Van Winkle sleep, although he Is be saloons almost as much as the men. and
a-lnnlnat a tAth Klm.alf mA m vmi fannnt am Infn at niiKlIn hnnaA withtut
Jtan i ttk,n "P- Th mMt 01 tha c,a" tlck flndln rrom one to a dozen women drlnk-
?. . t A J?X h. i-. .h ! t0 thelr 01(1 m-cWneTy and old methods, lng. There are saloon, near .11 the fac
we E.J r. ?.n.i 'I'u' They insist on doing business their own tories. and at meal hours the hundreds of
"ir;?, "1 ? rkl.b"h way and appear to think that they can factory girl, rush from them and sit down
ani threw unon th- acr.n he.n tool. wh.,h ProBPer wltl . machinery that their w tn tne men ana nave tne Deer, gin o
. . .... . ... ... . . grandfathers used Leeauue their erand- whisky with their meals. They drink at
nsfl nr r nt it rnmt iin.1 111111 hh nuiniitai -
...... . ,. : , ,. , - tamers prosperea. Tms is one or tne chier noon ana at nigni, ana xsy anna 100
t0Z t?coZ.n,fh'.d0ro,dlnf, V? CaUBM f deCUM f BrUtah -rage . b be receive, h.a
sttokusirw d v,dend' 8o-Tpoub,e" Bruuh L-bor- rr;- layvB,r s rr0 ,or h,k
jn a previous letter I referred to the drlnk ovcr Sunday. If he makes $10 a week
llrltl.h bnslaeer. Uradaate la Auer- dlmcuUy whlcn Mr Stewart, th American be may give his wife $5 for the household
' who built the Westinghouse works, had In expenses and reserve the other $5 for the
Indeed, It Is fast becoming quits tha getting his bricklayer, to lay more than public house, where he alts and gustles. In
thing to send the graduates from the tech- 450 brick, a day. Tha aame difficulty many caaes he prolongs his spree till Mon-
steal schools here to the United States for exist, aa to all claase. of English labor. da'r- nd the factory then looks for htm In
practical training. Thla la what the British The factory men complain that every vain. This fact makes English labor very
Westinghouse company did with fifty young workman tries to do aa little Instead of us unreliable. The companle. dare not contract
Englishmen whom they are now using In much as possible In the time he works. He to flnlfb. their Jobs In a fixed, time, and as
their Manchester works. They sent them goes on the principle that there ts only ao result much of their business is going out
to Pittsburg to learn Weatlnghouse meth- much work to be done and that what la of the country.
ods, and the managers asy that when ao not done today will have to be done tomor- Again, when the American capitalist hai
trained they become more efficient than row, and also, that If he doe. all the '.vork 11 bl8 JD bis workmen will turn in and
the Simon Pure American. there will be none left for his follows, work nighjs to help him. Here, I am told,
In a speech at Wolverhampton Lord The amount of work expected of each man tha average man works rather agal ibl than
Roabery recently mentioned how a certain In many cases, which Is fixed by. trade Ior bis employer, and the more skillful a
factory had aelected from the public schools combinations. Is tha amount possible 'or man Is the slower he works. -a
number of young men having some knowl- the weakest and laziest. The minimum For fear what I have said about English
edge of electricity and engineering and, at wage that la, that all membera of a cer- drunkenness may be disputed I have looked
ita own expense, had aent them to America tain trade shall receive a fixed amount up the national drink bill for one year and
for a two years' apprenticeship In our per day without regard to the relative I find that It exceeds that of any other na-
workshops to qualify them to be superln- value of their labor 1. upheld, and the tlon. It amount, to more than $800,000.-
tendents or foremen of its shops in Eng- rule of one man to a machine la fought for. C00 annually, or almost $100 per year for
land. Strikes and lockouta are common, and each family of Ave. The amount apent for
In ahort, the English factor, are now hundreds of thousands of people are at- liquors In 1900 was more than the govern-
dolng what the Japanese government has fee ted by them every year. I have before ment revenue of that year and more than
been doing for twenty 7 ears with hundreds me the figures of such strikes for the year the rents of all the houses and farms of
cf Its promising young men; that is, send- 1900. They numbered C48 and 188,000 peo- the country. Taking out the people who
log them abroad to learn how to do busl- pie were involved In them. The total loss It Is estimated abstain from the use of In
ness. The German manufacturers have of work amounted to mors than S.OOO.OOd toxicants It amounted to about $35 per
long been doing tha aame thing. You find days, or. In round numbers, cutting out head, and two-thirds of the whole waa
Germans everywhere studying trade and the Sundaya, to the work of one man for ilrunk by the working classes. These fig
trade methods. Indeed it has come to such a about 10,000 years. Reckoning the days at
pass here thst many of the English shops eight hour, and the wages at only C pence. (Continued on Seventh Page.) "
of England'a loss of trade, In which he
says It Is largely owing to the use of
