The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
55th C o n g r e s s , ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.( D oc. No.206,
2d Session.
Part 2.
BULLETIN
OF THE
No. 15—MARCH, 1898.
ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH.
EDITED BY
CARROLL D. W RIGH T,
COMMISSIONER.
OREN W . W E A V E R ,
CHIEF CLERK.
W A SH IN G TO N :
GOVERNMENT
PRINTING
1898.
OFFICE.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Boarding homes and clubs for working women, by Mary S. Fergusson..........
The trade-union label, by John Graham Brooks.......................................................
Digest of recent reports o f State bureaus of labor statistics:
K a n sa s..................................................................- ..........................................................
Pennsylvania..................................................................................................................
Eleventh report on the annual statistics of manufactures in Massachusetts..
Digest of recent foreign statistical publications.......................................................
Decisions o f courts affecting labor..................................................................................
Laws of various States relating to labor enacted since January 1,1896..........
Recent Government contracts..........................................................................................
in
111-196
197-219
220-222
222-224
225-230
231, 232
233-249
250-295
296
BULLETIN
OF THE
D E P A R T M E N T OE L A B O R
No. 15.
WASHINGTON.
M a r c h , 1898.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOB WORKING WOMEN.
B Y M A R Y S. FERGUSSON.
In the social life of working women, the class of homes or clubs
included under this title occupies an important sphere. The class may
be said to be indigenous to large cities and an outgrowth of the special
conditions of life which obtain in such cities. They may be described
as homes or clubs in which working girls and young women of good
moral character can live at prices within their reach, in which they can
find, to some considerable extent, the conveniences, social pleasures,
and good influences of a real home, and in which they can secure by
combination many comforts and wide opportunities for pleasure and
culture.
Institutions organized and conducted on a purely charitable basis
have no place in this classification. It embraces within its scope only
those homes or clubs founded upon the principle of mutual aid and
cooperation, and which are wholly or partly self-supporting. In the
present consideration of this subject, however, it matters not whether
the homes owe their origin to cooperative enterprise among working
women or to philanthropic effort in their behalf.
NEED OF HOMES.
With a large working population of women without local homes in
great cities, a goodly proportion of whom are perhaps young and inex
perienced and without relatives or friends; with the high price of living
in ordinarily good boarding houses; with the fact that comparatively
few private houses are open to strangers, and with the great dispro
portion of wages paid women to their necessary expenses, the question
how a self-supporting woman can secure the comforts or even the neces
141
142
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
sities of life in localities morally clean, and wliere independence and
self-respect can be fostered, becomes one of great importance.
Perhaps at no previous time has the question been of such vital
moment as during the last decade, which has seen the opening of many
avenues for self-support hitherto closed to women. To this fact, coupled
with the fact that domestic service, with its long hours and close con
finement, offers but few attractions to young women, can be attributed
a considerable proportion of the gravitation toward business centers
of girls who must earn their own living. To meet a need, seen and
felt no less by the working woman than by the social economist and
philanthropist, the boarding liom8 or club for self-supporting women
has sprung into existence.
For the purposes of this study the self-supporting women of this*
country should be considered as belonging to two classes, both alike
interested in the question of bringing living expenses within their
means, and both alike resenting the association of the institutional or
charitable idea with the boarding home or club. The two classes
differ, however, in the fundamental particular that the one is selfreliant, self-respecting, and perfectly able, from a moral and social
point of view, to stand alone, while to the other belong the young,
the inexperienced, the morally weak, the stranger within our city
doors, the discouraged, and perhaps the tempted. To the former class
the home stands as an exponent of comfort, ease, and pleasure; to the
latter it stands for protection and prevention. While the former
appreciates the advantages which a home roof, a house mother, and
association give in a large city, to the latter these things are safe
guards. The boarding home, with its protective supervision, its per
sonal interest, and its moral support, becomes, therefore, a powerful
social as well as economic factor in the life of the working girl; and
it can be said to her credit that even under adverse circumstances,
where too strict rule is pierversive o f happiness, or where untidiness,
uncleanliness, and poorly served food make an unattractive home, she
yet seeks the protection which association affords rather than the inde
pendence and freedom o f lodging-house life.
In some of our large cities, notably Chicago and Boston, among those
visited in the pursuit of the present study, the lodging house without
a parlor was found to be a distinct feature of city life. In other cities
the well-recognized tendency to crowd in the very cheap boarding or
tenement houses is an evil fraught with danger to health and morals
alike. In the lodging house a girl living alone drifts from place to place
for her meals. She receives her friends and acquaintances, male and
female, in her bedchamber, or meets them in the dance hall or on the
street corner. Failing to avail herself of such opportunities as these
she lives a life of loneliness, detrimental alike to health and happiness.
Home for such girls has no meaning except, perhaps, as a memory, and
all the restraining influences of home and home ties give place to an
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
143
independence which is j>eriloiis and a freedom tliat only the strongest
can safely use. If, in the place of the lodging house, she chooses the
cheap boarding house, with its dingy parlor and its 7 by 9 bedroom, or
the tenement house with its common living room and its too numerous
lodgers, she does not lose altogether the idea of personal interest of
her fellow-beings in her welfare—she may even cherish the idea of home,
but what a home! Cold and cheerless rooms, insanitary conditions,
poorly cooked and poorly served food, uncultured and even uncouth
associates, unattractive and filthy streets, and perhaps other social
surroundings that tend to take the blush of modesty from the cheek
and the sense o f shame from the heart—these are the characteristics
of such a home.
There are here and there private homes opened to a girl at the small
sum which she can pay, if she earns from $3 to $5 a week; there are
lodging houses cleanly and attractive; there are tenement homes that
are homes in reality as well as in name; but the vast majority of working
girls alone in cities of any size who can pay but from $2. 50 to $4 a
week for board, lodging, and laundry are confronted with the conditions
outlined above.
PRESENT STATUS OF THE WORK.
As far as known, the first organized effort in this country to offer a
comfortable and attractive home to self-supporting women for permanent
residence, at rates coming within the reach of those earning small wages,
was made during the year 1856 by the Ladies* Christian Union in New
York City. Baltimore came next, with its Female Christian Home,
established in 1865. Following this lead, the Women’s and Young
Women’s Christian Associations in the different cities have fallen into
line, and to-day 35 associations make reports of this class of work, and
a number o f other associations are known to be maintaining boarding
homes. In some cities the homes have assumed hotel proportions, and
in several cities there are two or more association homes.
The Young Women’s Boarding Home Association, of Philadelphia,
finds it necessary to maintain three large houses, two of them being
under one roof and a third one located elsewhere. In Boston the work
of the Grey Nuns has entirely outgrown its original proportions, and
difficulty has been found in keeping j)ace with the demand. When
visited by agents of this Department ten years ago this work was con
ducted in two small houses on Dover street, and at that time they had
18 residents only. When visited recently they were occupying a large
and beautiful building 132 feet long and five stories high, accommodat
ing 155 girls—580 girls being refused admission during the last year
for want of accommodations. Yet, notwithstanding these prominent
instances in which efforts have been made to keep pace with the demand
for homes of this character, the tables accompanying this report show
144
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
that outside o f the cities of New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, St. Louis, and Cincinnati this work has received compara
tively little attention in the most populous cities of our country. Over
45 per cent of the whole number o f homes reported are in these seven
cities. Buffalo, while appearing but once in the tables, has three homes,
special reports of all of them being given in the pages following. San
Francisco and Cleveland, each with a population of over 300,000, report
but two homes each, and the same number is reported from Detroit,
Minneapolis, and Pittsburg, each having a population of over 200,000.
A number of cities having 100,000 inhabitants or over report but one
or two such homes, or make no indication of having undertaken any
work in this direction.
According to one of its most prominent divines, “ the greatest need
of Chicago to-day is of homes and mothers for homeless girls,” and
similar testimony comes from other cities. Boston, in availing herself
very largely through her Young Women’s Christian Association of a
board directory, bears most emphatic testimony to the difficulty of
finding the right kind of lodging house in the right location for the
money that the working girl can pay, and to the trouble therefore met
with in placing those who must be turned from the association building
for want of room. In New York, where the supply is entirely inade
quate to the demand, there are, happily, at this time two movements in
progress of most generous proportions, which will help to remedy the
situation. One movement has in view the erection of a large dormitory
building for working women, including restaurant, public baths, etc.,
and the other project is the founding of a home for Jewish working
girls, an endowment for the purpose having been made and the home
incorporated.
The Journal of the Thirteenth Biennial Conference of the Women’s
and Young Women’s Christian Associations says in regard to this
work: “ The limited capacity for room in many of the homes necessitates
making ample provision for girls outside the building through board
directories, which means searching for homes in the neighborhood, where
many applicants, who can not be accommodated in the building, can be
received and have the assurance that their surroundings are safe and
respectable,”
CLASSES OF W ORKING WOMEN NOT REACHED.
The experience o f Women’s and Young Women’s Christian Associa
tions whose work along this line is of sufficient magnitude to enable
them to speak authoritatively has been repeated again and again in
undertakings of this character on a smaller scale, and it is especially
true that these homes have not largely reached the class of women
whose need is the greatest. There is, for example, a lamentable lack of
homes for transients. Working women temporarily without work and
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
145
without resources find very few doors open, and practical utilitarianism
can find no better field for work than in founding such homes,
Nor does the boarding home, as it now exists, largely reach the mill
operative or the factory girl, whose social condition, in view of her low
wages, would most demand amelioration. It may be urged that in the
majority o f homes of which reports are here given the occupation, if it
be an honorable one, is rarely made a condition of admission, and that
practically all doors of this class of homes are opened to the mill
operative and the factory girl as well as to the girl engaged in any
other vocation. True as this may be, it often happens that the price
of living, even in these homes, is beyond the reach of this class of wage
earners, and the distance of the home from the manufacturing districts
will be found to be another reason, in many cases, why the home is not
patronized by those employed in manufacturing establishments. But
even where these objections do not obtain, a minimum percentage only
of the resident boarders in working girls* homes will be found to be
engaged in factories or mills of any kind.
The Adams House, at Waltham, Mass., is conducted by the American
Waltham Watch Company for its own employees, and a few other
manufacturing companies have also provided for their employees in
this way in cities and towns of moderate size, but in the very large
cities, where the need is greater, there is no work among the boarding
homes visited or reported to this Department that is prominent as
representative work of this character.
The foundation members of the Jane Club, of Chicago, were two book
binders, two shoemakers, and one shirt maker, and the membership list
of this club at present includes a number of girls and women engaged in
manufactories, though the club does not claim to devote itself to work
distinctively of this nature.
THE BOAEDING CLUB.
In Chicago, to a greater extent apparently than elsewhere, the selfsupporting woman recognizes and keenly feels the want of a home. In
her endeavor to better her life in its social, intellectual, and domestic
aspects by her own unaided efforts she has in two prominent instances
dropped the home idea and proposes to work out the problem on club
lines. Other cities, among them Buffalo and Philadelphia, have also
done some work in this direction. It is not to be understood that ref
erence is made here to social clubs, to clubs organized for the purpose
o f culture only, or to clubs which are such in name only and which retain
the distinctive feature of a home in having a house mother. The class
can be properly designated as boarding clubs, in which women lodge
as well as board, and which stand for home to resident members. They
are self-governing and aim to be self-supporting. The movement is in
its infancy and may yet be regarded as an experiment. It is the logical
146
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
outgrowth of the spirit of the times, and strikes, to some extent at least,
at the root of home life. It owes its origin in some measure to the too
pronounced tendency to regard the boarding home established through
endowment as charity; it is unquestionably a revolt against authority
as administered by a paid officer, and while it may or may not indicate
the decadence of home life, it effectually deprives its members o f par
ticipation in such life. For a vast army of the working women of this
country who would come in the better-paid class in the differentiation
previously made, such club life, with its independence, its class opportu
nities, and its principles of self-government, offering as it does protection
in its very organization, answers every need. But the movement serves
to bring more prominently to view the faults that must be guarded
against if we would keep the boarding home popular with the class of
girls and young women whose craving is for home life and whose need
has established the boarding home as a fact.
OBJECTIONS TO THE HOME.
The objection often urged to the name of u Home,” that it is sug
gestive of an institution and has about it the odor of charity, can be
met only by a broader view, though it matters not whether the domicile
be called house, or home, or club, so that it retains the distinctive
features of home life. The public, as well as the working girl, should
be taught to distinguish between philanthropic effort and charity. To
the former all are debtors. We owe to it most of our library oppor
tunities, a large proportion of our great hospital advantages, and the
major part of the superior facilities for training and culture offered by
our great institutions of learning. The working woman has no more
reason for regarding the home comforts and pleasures that are brought
within her reach through this agency and her own cooperative efforts
as charity than the student of an endowed university has for regarding
as such the privileges which the university endowment makes possible
to him. His slender tuition fees pay no interest on the amount invested
in property, nor do they by any means furnish him with the magnifi
cent dining hall, the beautiful chapel, the rare and valuable books of
the library, the costly apparatus, and all the other aids to culture and
opportunities for pleasure that are offered him and of which he gladly
avails himself. In the hospital, too, a patient paying from $15 to $20
a week will hardly regard himself as an object o f charity, even though
in the great economy of the hospital the amount he pays does no more
than meet his proportion of the running expenses of the same.
The other evil which threatens the boarding home, and which it is
the aim of club life to overcome, is found in the over-zealousness of a
too-rigid disciplinarian. The woman who is giving ever so little o f her
small income for home and shelter may crave personal interest, may
willingly listen to advice, may be grateful even for kindly care; but
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
147
she naturally resents any undue interference with her freedom and any
curtailment of her liberty that is not in the interest of good govern
ment. In two instances, at least, among the homes visited there were
indications of a lack of prosperity which could be traced to stringency
of rules, and incidentally it was learned that in each of these cases the
superintendent’s experience had been gained in reformatory work. I f
“ the function of the household is the fulfillment of personal satisfac
tion, the creation, if possible, of happiness,” then the girl or woman
who works all day needs in her home not only good food, a clean bed,
and a decent bath tub, but she needs pleasure; even more, she needs
recreation. It may mean to her reading, resting, writing, embroider
ing, physical culture lessons, dancing, the society of the opposite sex,
music, theater going; whatever it means, the opportunity to indulge in
it to a reasonable extent should be he s. In this connection it is well
to add that the home, to be popular and to fulfill its mission, must
encourage hospitality. This is a feature of ideal home life which no
home can afford to ignore.
These evils overcome, the next point that demands the thought of
all interested in this subject is the necessity of greater attention to
sleeping accommodations and toilet facilities. It is a noteworthy fact
that among the girls in the homes objections to inadequate sleeping
and bathing accommodations are oftener made than to any other fea
ture of the home life. This is principally due to the fact that every
woman naturally likes her own room, and that where living is placed
at an unusually low figure, space is valuable, and separate rooms are
not possible to any great extent. Some few homes have done much
toward remedying this evil by giving to each boarder her own bed,
washstand, closet, and chair, and with an arrangement of screens, cur
tains, etc., privacy is secured. Many of the homes have abandoned
the dormitory system, and in one only was the cubicle seen. In the
majority of homes visited in the course of this study the double wooden
bedstead has given place to the single iron bedstead, the change hav
ing just been made at the time of visit in one of the very large homes
of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Much more has been
done in this line than in the equally important one of providing separate
washstands and sufficient bath accommodations. It is no uncommon
thing for three or four girls to use the same washstand, and in one case
one stationary washstand in a bathroom adjoining their bedrooms was
the only provision made for the use of eight girls in two rooms. It
may be said to be the custom very generally for two girls to use the
same washstand, though there are exceptions to this rule, and in all the
better class of homes there are always found a number of single rooms,
with all the conveniences and comforts of home.
In the large homes of the Young Women’s Christian Association,
notably those that have been built in late years, and in the large Cath
olic homes the closest attention has been paid to all sanitary arrange
148
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
merits, and few private liouses can show better heating, lighting, and
ventilating facilities, more approved bathing accommodations, or more
thoroughly equipped kitchens and laundries.
It has been urged that the offering of attractive homes and good
living at rates within the reach of the woman with scant wages has a
tendency to keep wages scant. Unfortunately, the objection is not
without some foundation, though the danger exists more in theory than
in fact, since the greater number of the better class of homes for
women do not offer living at prices so much less than many lodging
and boarding houses, but rather seek, through combination, to give
greater comfort and broader opportunities for happiness than it is pos
sible to obtain for the same money in those boarding houses conducted
on a smaller scale or with a view to profit.
It is true that there are employers who make the fact of her living
in a cooperative home or club an excuse for offering a girl or woman
lower wages, just as the same employers will advertise for girls who
live in their own homes, with the same end in view. Instances also
have been known of girls being referred to these homes by employers,
because they could then live on the proffered wages. But these things
have been met with in a few cases only, and the threatened evil from
this cause under present conditions of living can by no means be com
pared to the certain evils which every good home does its part toward
remedying.
It may not be amiss to quote here from the report made in 1895
by the superintendent of the Boarding House for Working Girls,
Berkeley street, Boston, where this matter has been closely watched.
She says: u In reviewing the experiences of the four years given to
this work, I can truthfully say that the average wages of our girls
have steadily increased. All the arguments that one hears from the
political economist, the theorist, the dreamer, that such houses as ours
tend to lower wages, surely have no weight with us. W e know better.
The history of this house refutes them.” And it may be still further
urged, in answer to such objection, that the broadening of life’s oppor
tunities, the training to habits of thought, of punctuality, of neatness,
and of respect for others’ rights, which is the office and function of
any well-ordered home, as well as the fact that women are better
nourished and cared for physically through the agency of such a home,
puts them in a position to command higher wages than would be pos
sible without such advantages.
Some of the better class of homes, too, proceed upon the theory that
life iu such homes is an economic and social education; that just as the
university trains a young man or young woman to self-reliance and
self-government, so the boarding home is a preparation in the- same
direction, and that four years of life in such a home should make a
woman able to stand alone. In homes of this kind the price o f board
is generally graded according to the wages received, and when the max
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
149
imum is readied, the girl or woman is expected to give place to some
one receiving lower wages and capable of benefiting by the same
training. While this rule obtains in many homes, it does not seem to
be strictly adhered to. There is always the risk and the unhappiness
o f sending forth into the world a woman or girl who craves shelter and
protection and home rather than freedom and independence without
the home.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OP HOMES.
A study of the tables accompanying this paper and of the reports
o f 34 homes that were visited during May, 1897, in the pursuit of this
inquiry, will help to an understanding of how the homes are organized
and managed, and to what extent they are self-sustaining.
O r g a n i z a t i o n .— Agencies of various types and character have
undertaken this work. Where they have been attainable, several
examples are given of homes under each kind of management, in order
that an intelligent study may be possible. Six of the homes visited, of
which special reports are made, were founded and are carried on by the
Women’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations. These are the
homes in Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Balti
more. The Margaret Louisa Home, in New York City, while belonging
now to the Young Women’s Christian Association, is the direct outcome
of private munificence, as is the Theta Club, in Boston, both of which
still look in matters of finance, and to some extent in government, to
their original beneficent donors. Three other homes visited are under
the care of the Ladies’ Christian Union, in New York City, which has
been called the oldest Christian association in the world. These are
the Young Women’s Home, 27 Washington square; the Branch Home,
308 Second avenue, and the Eva Home, 153 East Sixty-second street.
Nine of the homes are governed by boards of managers or directors,
chosen generally from among women of wealth and leisure. These are
the Home for Self-supporting Women, at 275 Indiana avenue, Chicago;
Temporary Home for Working Women, 453 Shawmut avenue, Boston;
New England Helping Hand Society, Boston; The Cooperative Home,
348 West Fourteenth street, New York City; Shelter for Respectable
Girls, 241 West Fourteenth street, New York City; Business Women’s
Union, Brooklyn; Clinton Street and Pine Street Boarding Homes, Phila
delphia, and the Young Woman’s Christian Home, Washington, D. C.
Six of the homes are under Roman Catholic care. These are the W ork
ing Girls’ Home of the Young Woman’s Catholic Association in charge
of the Grey Nuns, Boston; St. Francis’ House of Providence, Chicago;
the Catholic Home, 64 Franklin street, Buffalo; St. Mary’s Home,
Cleveland, and St. Vincent’s Home and the Aisquith House, both in
Baltimore. Two o f the homes are under Protestant Episcopal Church
control, being St. Paul’s House, Baltimore, and St. Bartholomew’s Girls’
150
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Club Boarding House, 136 East Forty-seventh street, New York City.
One, the Boarding House for Working Girls, 115 to 117 Berkeley street,
Boston, is governed by an executive committee of five members, one of
whom, the chairman, is minister of the First Church (Unitarian), in
Boston. A ll matters of detail in government are left in this house to
the superintendent. One, the Adams House, Waltham, Mass., was
organized and is conducted by the American Waltham Watch Com
pany for its own employees. Four others are boarding clubs, governed
either by the working members or by members chosen from among
women of leisure and means. These are the Working Girls’ Club, of
Buffalo; the Alice Fisher Alumnse Club, of Philadelphia, and the Alpha
Sorosis Club and the Jane Club, both of Chicago.
F i n a n c i a l S u p p o r t . —It may be said in a general way that the
management o f a home or club, or the agency through which it has
been established and is conducted, represents its financial backing; and
further, that such financial backing is a necessity for the success o f such
effort. It may come in the shape of the Young Women’s Christian
Association, of some other corporate body of men or women, o f private
endowment, of the Boman Catholic or Protestant Episcopal Church, of
a large membership list, or of a large manufacturing company.
To him who looks for a commercial return on his investment the
boarding home offers no field; and cooperative housekeeping for women
unable to pay $5 a week for living is, generally speaking, impractica
ble. There may be cases in which a few women can safely undertake
cooperative housekeeping on salaries of $5 a week or less without the
moral support o f a head to the home, or the financial backing which
relieves them o f the strain and worry of u making both ends meet,”
but the circumstances under which such a project could be safely under
taken would be exceptional and the women must be exceptional women,
thoroughly imbued with the cooperative idea, and ready to undergo
discomfort and privations for the sake o f their theory.
A majority of the 34 homes visited make no claim to being absolutely
self-sustaining. As a rule the home building is owned or rented by the
governing power, and generally the salary o f superintendent is also
assured. It is the expectation, then, in the majority of cases, that the
homes will pay running expenses, and with a fair measure of success
this seems possible, and, except in temporary homes, is generally
realized.
As a class, it is the aim of the boarding club to become independent
o f outside financial help and to establish itself as an economic success.
In the case o f the Jane Club, of Chicago, this has been accomplished
through a system of cooperative housekeeping. In other cases, the
plan is to furnish a home to a limited number, in connection with a
restaurant which gives good food at low rates to large numbers. The
Working Girls’ Club of Buffalo is a prominent example of this class.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
151
A study o f tlie methods and workings of the clubs from this stand
point will be found to be both interesting and instructive.
In the restaurant, undoubtedly, lies the hope of working out this prob
lem along economic lines, but in any consideration of this subject the
surroundings and conditions of life, and especially the question of rent
and cost of supervision, must be taken most carefully into considera
tion. Where it is claimed that a club or home is self-sustaining it will
generally be found that these items bear a lower ratio than usual to the
total cost of living.
In the support of temporary homes philanthropic agencies must of
necessity enter to a much greater extent than in the permanent board
ing homes. The receipts from board and lodging in these homes are
occasionally supplemented by an income from the work of women.
This is notably the case in the Temporary Home for Working Women,
on Shawmut avenue, Boston, where the receipts from the laundry and
sewing room for the year 1896 paid one-half of the total expense of run
ning the house.
M a n a g e m e n t . —Upon the judicious selection of superintendent,
matron, or house mother depends much of the success of the home.
All questions of government concerning the internal workings of the
home and matters o f detail in management, especially in personal deal
ings with the girls, seem to be considered as best left for the superin
tendent. The most satisfactory results are obtained in homes where
this is done.
EDUCATIONAL CLASSES AND OTHER ADJUNCTS TO
BOARDING-HOME W ORK.
While the employment bureau, travelers’ aid, holiday fund, and
lunch room are in no sense essential parts of the boarding home or
club, it is impossible to consider this subject without reference to these
agencies, which work through the home to the betterment of the social
condition, not only of those within its doors but also of the class at
large of self-supporting women. A number of the homes and clubs
keep in touch with vacation homes and holiday houses, to which the
tired working girl goes either by invitation or at a rate of board within
her reach. No effort has been made in this paper to gather statistics
of these adjuncts o f boarding-home work, since they cover a field so
large as to render their consideration at this time impossible.
The educational work of the various homes visited is noticed under
the separate homes. Outside of the classes of the Women’s and Young
Women’s Christian Associations, which are always a prominent feature
in the work of the association homes, the boarding home may be said
to do but little educational work. In transient homes there is some
attention paid to industrial training, and a few homes o f this class are
doing good work in educating hand and mind and giving to the world
a class of women more capable of taking care of themselves.
152
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
BOARDING HOMES OF WOMEN’S AND YOUNG WOMEN’S
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS.
The Young Women’s Christian Association belonging to the Inter
national Board supports two homes in Chicago, one the beautiful,
newly erected association building at 288 Michigan boulevard, and the
other a transient home at 57 Center avenue. According to the consti
tution of the association a part of its work consists in organizing homes
and securing employment for self-supporting girls, and, according to
the by-laws o f the association, a special committee receives all appli
cants for admission to the boarding homes, and satisfactory testimonials
of character are required from all who desire to become permanent
boarders in the Michigan boulevard home. This home is a modern fire
proof structure, seven stories in height. It has 300 rooms, with accom
modations for 300 boarders; it is heated by steam and lighted by
electricity, and provided with all modern conveniences, including pas
senger and freight elevators. About one-third o f the sleeping rooms
are furnished with doable beds. Besides sleeping and dining rooms,
there are class rooms, a large library, parlor, reception rooms, gymna^
sium, laundry, bathrooms, and an auditorium or assembly hall with
seating accommodations for 750, and which has been furnished at a cost
of $2,000. This hall is opened to the boarders once a week for free
entertainments. The price of board is from $3 to $6 a week, so that the
occupations represented in this home are not as a rule those in which
very low wages are paid. Among the resident boarders during the
month of May, 1897, were stenographers, bookkeepers, saleswomen,
kiudergartners, dressmakers, seamstresses, and a large number of
music and art students. During the last year there were in the home
3,500 permanent and transient boarders. A t the time o f this inquiry
there were present in the home 190 boarders. The transient home on
Center avenue registered during the last year 300 persons; a number
of these were wholly without money and many were able to pay but
half their expenses.
The transient home does not quite pay for itself, but it is the expec
tation that the Michigan boulevard home will be self-sustaining, and
the treasurer’s report for the last year shows it to have more than paid
all ordinary current expenses from its board receipts. But it must be
noted that neither furnishings nor interest are included under the head
of expenses, which, also, of course, does not include any permanent
outlay on property. In this association home, as in most of those
under the same control, the boarders have access to all educational
advantages offered by the association, and to the gymnasium and
library either free of charge or at nominal rates. Home-cooked food is
always provided, sociability is fostered, and the aim of the home life is
to exercise a careful guardianship over all. Family devotions are held,
attendance upon which is optional. An employment bureau and trav
elers’ aid department are features of the work o f the association.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
153
Like the Chicago association, the Boston Young Women’s Christian
Association maintains two homes, both of which are permanent ones.
It offers, likewise, the advantages of educational classes, of a wellequipped gymnasium, of a library and reading room, of an employment
bureau, and of a travelers’ aid to the boarders within its homes. In
addition to the usual classes, including stenography and typewriting,
there is a training school for domestics, in which young girls of good
character who wish to make household work their occupation are given
a home and instruction for six months without charge. After the six
months’ training a girl must render satisfactory service in a family for
three months or more in order to obtain her certificate. The free
course of instruction in this school includes cooking and serving, general
housework, home nursing, sewing and mending, reading, spelling, pen
manship, letter writing, arithmetic, geography, and daily Scripture
lessons. There is also a school of domestic science and Christian work,
in which pupils are prepared for the duties of matrons or housekeepers,
of teachers of domestic science, o f the missionary field, of secretaries
of the Young Women’s Christian Association, and o f homes of their
own. There were 19 resident and 6 day pupils in this school March 1,
1897. In the department of domestic science, classes in cooking for
working girls are held in the evening, at a cost of $2 for the plain
course and $4 for an advanced course. In the department of domestic
arts, 12 lessons in either millinery, dress cutting, or dressmaking are
offered for $5, and 12 lessons of an hour each in sewing or clay model
ing for $3.
The Warrenton street home of this association is entirely given up to
boarders, accommodating 180, while the Berkeley street home had a resi
dent family o f 142 members afc the date o f report, being the association
headquarters for its various departments of work. About 20 are accom
modated in the school of domestic science, which occupies a building
near the Berkeley street home known as the ‘ ‘Annex.” During the
past year 2,140 boarders were received in the two homes. Permanent
boarders pay an average of $4 a week. The restaurant is an important
feature in the domestic economy of the Berkeley street home. Accord
ing to the last printed report there were 94,215 meals furnished to
transients during the year, at a cost of $3 a week, or, for single meals,
15 cents for breakfast or lunch and 25 cents for dinner.
Both o f these homes are self-supporting, paying, according to the finan
cial report for the year ending January 1, 1897, not only all current
expenses, including salaries, but repairs and refurnishings as well.
But it must be borne in mind that this includes neither rent nor taxes,
nor any rent equivalent in the form of interest. A large proportion of
the rooms for boarders are furnished with separate beds with two. in a
room. Ho room has more than four girls, and there are only three
rooms in the two houses which have as many as four. As far as possi
ble the boarders are given separate beds. There is a washstand in
2955—Ho. 15----- 2
154
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF* LABOR.
each room and bathrooms on every floor with hot and cold water. The
10 o’clock rule prevails; girls absent from the home after 10 in the even
ing are required to report personally to the superintendent. Other rules
are the same as in any well-ordered private house. Almost every kind
of work that a woman engages in is represented in the houses of this
association: Bookkeepers, stenographers, office assistants, needlewomen,
milliners, compositors, students, teachers, machine operators, girls in rub
ber factories, negative retouchers, telegraphers, etc.
Another very large home department is maintained by the Philadelphia
Women’s Christian Association in its commodious and well-appointed
building at the corner of Eighteenth and Arch streets. There are accom
modations for 250 permanent boarders, and a transient department
supplies safe and inexpensive lodging for a night or for a week at 25
cents or 50 cents each night. In the boarding department there were
465 boarders during the j>ast year. They were all earning their own
support or training for the same. Where auy preference is shown it is
invariably in favor of those young in years whose earnings are small.
For admission to the permanent boarding department references are
required. Price of board varies with location of rooms, being from
$3 to $5 a week, which procures the necessaries and comforts of life in
sickness as in health, and includes the week’s laundering of a dozen
pieces. Permanent boarders have a dining room separate from the
restaurant, which latter is open to transients and serves well-prepared
food from 1 cent to 10 cents for each dish. The number of lodgings in
the transient department during the year for which this report is
made was 14,330, and the number o f meals furnished in the restaurant
was 55,788. The building is heated by steam and lighted by electricity
and is provided with an unusually large number of reception rooms,
parlors, etc. A feature of the house is its brightly lighted, commodious
sewing room furnished with a number o f machines, and the very gener
ous space given to an apartment devoted primarily to purposes of
amusement and recreation. Besides this there is a large assembly hall,
with seating capacity for 1,000, numerous class rooms, and a free library
of 4,000 volumes.
The association carries on under the same roof the usual work of
such organizations, and the opportunities for and advantages of all
branches o f the work are to be had either free of charge or for a small
fee by resident boarders and others. These include library opportuni
ties, concerts, lectures, classes in elementary English branches, sewing,
dressmaking, millinery, cooking, stenography, typewriting, bookkeep
ing, etc. There is also a training school for domestic service which has
for its use a model kitchen, dining room, parlor, class room, and bed
room, affording opportunity for instruction to a class of 15 girls from
16 to 20 years o f age. The course is o f three months’ duration, during
which time board and tuition are given free. The training school has
been in operation only since 1896. An employment bureau and trav
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
155
elers’ aid department are also brandies of the work of this association.
Clerks in business offices, saleswomen, girls in bookbinderies and shoe
factories, stenographers and typewriters in offices and in business
houses, seamstresses, dressmakers, and teachers are among those who
board in this home. O f the bedrooms about two-thirds are single, and
two beds is the largest number in any one room. There are 21 bath
rooms in the building, and an abundance of hot and cold water. The
boarding home pays its running expenses, but, as usual, it is not
exjiected that it will do more than this, and in this case repairs and
refurnishings are not included in running expenses.
The Kensington branch of the association is an educational cen
ter for millworkers and others on the same lines as the Arch street
classes. During six years about 1,600 girls have been enrolled in
classes in dress cutting, dressmaking, millinery, and nursing. The
association maintains two vacation homes.
In Cleveland the boarding home of the Young Women’s Christian
Association is not in the association building, but occupies a house at
16 Walnut street, where it has been located ever since its foundation,
28 years ago, twice outgrowing the quarters provided, and twice mak
ing additions to the original home. The rooms are heated; two, as a
rule, occupy a room, in double beds. There is also a dormitory. Ko
educational work is done in the house, and the general air is that of a
home rather than of an association building. A ll the classes of the
association are open to girls in the boarding home at moderate prices.
The average price of board is $3 a week, not including laundry. Mil
liners, bookbinders, stenographers, clerks, students, typewriters, girls
in factories, buttonhole makers, dressmakers, and, to a limited extent,
domestics, find a home in this house. A t the time of making report
there were 40 boarders in the house; it is possible to accommodate 55.
Deferences in regard to moral character are required of applicants
for board. The home building is owned by the association, having
been largely an individual gift for the purpose for which it is used.
The home pays all its running expenses. Attendance upon family
worship is an undeviating requirement in the home.
The building o f the Women’s Christian Association in Buffalo was
undergoing extensive repairs at the time of the visit made to it in the
course o f this study, and there were only some 20 boarders in the house.
The building, which is located at 10 Kiagara square, is heated by fur
nace and has all the modern appliances and conveniences. Under the
new arrangements the house will accommodate about 110 persons.
Entirely new plumbing and a new laundry equipment have just been
put in at a cost o f $2,000 to the association. Forty single iron bed
steads were taking the place of double bedsteads. The charge for
room and board is $3 to $4 a week. The boarders are clerks in stores,
child nurses, stenographers, typewriters, seamstresses, and milliners.
An employment bureau, of which the residents in Buffalo avail them
156
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
selves very largely, is carried on by the association. The following are
the regulations o f the boarding department:
1. Applications for board may be presented to the matron. The
admission committee will consider such applications. Satisfactory tes
timonials of character will be required. The same committee will also
consider the cases of boarders who do not conform to the regulations
of the family. No boarder will be allowed to remain whose conduct is
not satisfactory to the committee and matron.
2. Payment for board must be made, invariably in advance, to the
matron each Monday. Any boarder wishing to invite a friend to a
meal must first receive permission of the matron. Meals will be fur
nished guests at the regular price. On the ringing o f the bell for
meals, each boarder is required to take her place promptly at the
table. No boarder must enter the pantry, and no food is to be taken
from the table, or dishes, or napkins, to private rooms. In cases of ill
ness, meals will be ordered by the matron. Meal tickets will be issued
as follows, per dozen: dinner, $2.40; tea or breakfast, $1.80.
3. Booms must be well aired every morning, and kept in all respects
neat by the occupants, who are expected to make their own beds
mornings. A ll rubbish must be placed in a box or basket, which will
be removed by the chambermaid, and nothing must be thrown from the
windows. Burnt matches, hair, or rubbish of any kind, must not be
thrown into the water-closets or sinks. No nails or tacks must be
driven either in woodwork, walls, floor, or furniture. A ll such work
must be done by the janitor and by order of the matron. The walls
must not be defaced by scratching o f matches, scribbling, or anything
o f the kind. The use of the bathroom will be carefully adjusted, occu
pants of each room being assigned its use on certain days and hours.
Only one occupant will be allowed in the bathroom at a time. No vis
iting between the rooms will be permitted except by consent of all the
occupants.
4. Boarders are required to have good locks on their trunks. Money
or valuables left in the rooms will be at the risk of the owner, and the
association will not be responsible for them. They may be left, how
ever, in the care o f the matron. No trunks allowed to remain in the
rooms, except the guest chamber. Storage will be charged for trunks
left at the home after one week, at the rate of 25 cents per week.
5. All persons are prohibited from going into the laundry except on
Thursday and Friday evenings. No garments are to be washed except
handkerchiefs and hosiery. Any person breaking these rules will be
denied the privilege of entering the laundry.
6. Family worship is held daily, which all are required to attend. It
is expected that no boarder will absent herself from these exercises
without a reasonable excuse to the matron. All are affectionately
urged to attend church at least once on Sunday.
7. All visitors must leave the house promptly at 10 p. m. The gas
will be turned off and the house closed at 10.30 p. m., when it is expected
that all boarders will retire to their respective rooms and perfect quiet
will be secured. A charge of 12£ cents a week is made to each boarder
for gas. Permission to be out later than the time specified must be
obtained from the matron.
8. A ll visitors will be received in the parlors, and, under no cir
cumstances taken into the other parts of the building without the
knowledge and consent of the matron. Men callers will be received
only on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
157
The boarding home o f the Young Women’s Christian Association, in
Baltimore, located on the corner of Franklin street and Park avenue,
has the advantage of being in one of the pleasant resident sections of
that city. It can accommodate about 47 boarders, and the average
number o f permanent boarders is 33. The association devotes a large
room to its library, has an excellent gymnasium and sitting room, class
rooms, and sewing room. The number o f bedrooms is small in propor
tion to the size of the building and the amount of work carried on, and
difficulty is, therefore, experienced in making the boarding home selfsustaining. Situated, too, somewhat away from the busiest portion of
the city, the dining room is not opened to those who are not boarders
in the home. These things, while having a tendency to reduce income,
have the effect o f producing an unusually home-like atmosphere. In
the spring and fall seasons the house is generally filled to its utmost
capacity, and it is often found necessary to turn girls away for want of
accommodations.
There are a number of single rooms, but usually two occupy a room,
each girl having her own bed. The cost per week for living is $3.25
for a single room and $2.75 each where there are two or more in a
room. This includes laundry, board, lodging, and all privileges of the
house. A single night’s lodging for a self-supporting girl is 15 cents$
for others, 50 cents.
The halls of the building and living rooms are heated by steam 5 the
bedrooms are heated from the tails only. There are gymnasium classes,
and classes in stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping, and dressmaking
open to all self-supporting women at nominal rates. A ll boarders are
required to attend the Thursday evening special religious exercises as
well as daily family prayers. The boarders are seamstresses, dress
makers, saleswomen, girls in manufacturing establishments, teachers,
artists, kindergartners, medical students, students in business colleges,
bookbinders, and milliners. Almost every occupation that honorably
engages women is represented at one time or another in the home.
Through its fresh-air fund the association assists young working
girls to needed rest and recreation in the summer months, and through
its helping-hand branch, in another section of the city, it offers
instruction in cooking, plain sewing, dressmaking, and fancy work,
besides various entertainments, talks on popular subjects, and Bibleclass work. An employment bureau is also a successful department of
tbe association’s work.
Unique in the position that it holds among the boarding homes for
self-supporting women in this country is the Margaret Louisa Home, in
New York City. It is the gift of private munificence to the Young
Women’s Christian Association, of New York, and is the direct out
growth of the need felt by the association of a temporary home for
Protestant self-supporting women. In no other city in this country is
there provision made on such a scale for the temporary accommodation
158
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
o f women wlio support themselves. The limit of time for each guest
is four weeks, after which readmissions are made for a few days only,
and no guest is entitled to more than thirty-five days in any current
year. Applicants for admission are required to furnish references.
The home is located at 14 and 16 East Sixteenth street. It is a
brownstone structure, six stories in height, in the very center of busi
ness, and has direct communication with the main building of the
association on East Fifteenth street. It is tastefully and comfortably
furnished. A conspicuous feature in the construction of the house is
the light and air admitted to every part o f it. The entire building is
strictly fireproof. It contains 46 single and 31 double bedrooms; 108
beds in all. O f these 23 are occuined by employees, leaving accommo
dations for 80 boarders. Every room is heated by steam, lighted by
both gas and electricity, and in direct communication with the outside
air. Bathrooms are free to boarders. All plumbing is open and of the
latest and most approved pattern. A laundry, fitted with modern
machinery, occupies a portion o f the top floor of the building. The
price o f single rooms is 50 cents per day; rooms with two beds, 80
cents; rooms with one double bed, 75 cents.
The restaurant is open to women only, and the aim is to provide
wholesome, well-cooked food at moderate prices, the cost for breakfast
or lunch being 20 cents, and for dinner, 35 cents. The bill of fare for
breakfast includes a choice of tea, coffee, or chocolate, three cereals,
two relishes, potatoes, rolls, and butter, with corn bread, griddle cakes,
graham gems, muffins, pop-overs, or waffles; for lunch, soup, a hot
relish, vegetable, salad, or a fruit sauce, and cold meats are provided;
for dinner, soup, a choice of meats or fish, three vegetables, a choice
o f three desserts, with bread and butter, fruit, and tea or coffee. Meals
may be broken as desired and only a portion of the table d’hote meal
ordered.
The restaurant has never quite reached the point of self support,
though for 18 months, ending January, 1897, the loss had been reduced
to so small a sum as to be equalized by the small margin of profit
resulting from the rental of rooms. For these 18 months the home
paid all its actual running expenses, exclusive of repairs and replen
ishings.
Since the restaurant was opened in February, 1891, an average of
306,000 meals has been served each year. The largest number of
meals served in one year was 311,222; in one month, 30,318; in one
day, 1,338; persons served at one meal, 610. For 10 months o f the
year the lunches averaged about 500 per day, breakfasts, 150, dinners,
250, though at all these meals a much higher figure was often reached.
Since the opening of the home in January, 1891, there were 15,054
original admissions o f women to January, 1897. There were 12,710
readmissions, increasing the total number of admissions to 27,764. O f
these more than one-third, or nearly 10,000, were teachers; the next
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
159
largest number in tlie classification of occupations was represented byover 3,000 dressmakers and milliners; nearly 2,000 were clerks, book
keepers, and stenographers; 1,500 were matrons and housekeepers, and
about the same number were trained nurses, while the professional
callings were represented by physicians, dentists, druggists, lawyers,
and ministers; the business world by farmers, fruit growers, florists,
and poultry raisers; the world of science and art by artists, electricians,
wood carvers, sculptors, photographers, engravers, designers, archi
tects, and microscopists, and the literary world by authors, editors,
and journalists.
Access to the association building on East Fifteenth street is one of
the pleasant features of the home, making easily available the privi
leges of the chapel, library, class rooms, and employment bureau.
Following is a comparative statement of statistics for the years 1895
and 189G:
STATISTICS OF MARGARET LOUISA HOME, 1895 AND 1896.
Items.
3895.
1896.
Items.
1895.
1896.
Aflrniflsionfl_____ . . __ _____
5,773
6,057 Lunches ................................... 151,806 155, 397
Lodpings______________ ___ 37,600 37,498 Dinners.................................
94,143 88,477
Average number in bouse---102J Average receipts per meal... $0.22£ $0.22
103
Receipts per nigbt per lodger. $0.45g $0.45* Average cost per m eal......... $0.23f $0.22$
Cost per nigbt per lodger........ $0.43£ $0.43 Cost of service per meal........ $0.08f $0. 08£
Cost of food per meal.........
Profit on each night’s lodging
$0.15
$0.14
pei’ lodger_________ ______ $0.02
$0.02i Loss on each meal_________ $0.01£ $0.004
Meals . . . __________________ 311,221 308,178 Laundered p ieces................... 481, 526 561,296
$0. oog
Breakfasts................................. 65,272 64,304 Cost per laundered piece___ $0.01
There were in the home on January 1,1896, 47 guests, 2 permanents,
10 officers, and 18 servants; a total of 77. Of the 6^057 admissions
during 1896, there were 3,145 readmissions, leaving 2,912 women who
had never been in the home before. Giving the admissions in detail,
there were 434 in January, 379 in February, 536 in March, 636 in April,
465 in May, 573 in June, 640 in July, 481 in August, 419 in September,
519 in October, 496 in November, and 479 in December. The following
statement gives statistics in regard to lodgings for the year ending
December 31,1896 :
Number of lodgings furnished to guests........................................................................ 27,691
9,807
Number o f lodgings furnished to employees...............................................................
Total number o f lodgings furnished.............................................................................. 37,498
Largest number in house at one tim e...........................................................................
116
Average number in house per night...............................................................................
102£
Remained four weeks or over............................................................................................
177
Remained two weeks or over............................................................................................
281
Remained one week or over................................................................................................
741
Remained less than one week............................................................................................ 4,935
The Young Women’s Christian Association, of New York, also main
tains a permanent boarding home for working women at 453 West
Forty-seventh street, where the prices of board are $3 and $3.50 per
160
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
week. This home has a free circulating library and afternoon and even
ing classes in millinery, with small charge for lessons and materials.
Other departments of the association which are open to self-support
ing women only, or those preparing for self-support, are the free circu
lating library, containing 25,000 volumes, in its East Fifteenth street
building, its class department, and its concerts and entertainments
which are given from November to May on the last Monday evening of
each month. In the needlework department the articles are the work
o f self-supporting women, and all sales in the department are for the
benefit o f consignors. The Bible class, summer school, vacation circles,
and office o f the board directory are all open free to the use o f any
woman or girl. The board directory also receives all applications for
admission to the seaside summer home of the association at Asbury
Park, N. J., and for the country home. The employment bureau and
the order department are among the agencies o f the association for the
help o f women.
HOMES OF THE LADIES’ CHRISTIAN UNION.
As stated previously, the pioneer work in this country in establishing
boarding homes for self-supporting women was done by the Ladies’
Christian Union in New York City, an organization of women similar
in character and aims to the Women’s Christian Association. In the
year 1856 the Young Women’s Home on Washington square had its
beginning, and since then it has received any self-supporting Protestant
woman of good moral character whenever there was room in the home.
So great has been the demand that it has often happened that this home
could not meet it, and in carrying out the object o f the society “ to
promote the temporal, moral, and religious welfare o f Protestant women,
especially o f those who are young and self-supporting,” the union has
established in other parts of New York City two other homes, called
the Branch Home, at 308 Second avenue, and the Eva Home, at 153 East
Sixty-second street.
One of the objects of the union in establishing several homes of mod
erate size, rather than one large building, is to foster the home idea and
to make of each boarding house a home. In accordance with this idea
the Young Women’ s Home on Washington square, under one superin
tendent, accommodates 85, and the Branch Home under another super
intendent, and the Eva Home under still another, accommodate
together about the same number. The buildings o f the Branch Home
and the Eva Home are both owned by the Ladies’ Christian Union ; that
on Washington square is not, and having recently been sold, a change
o f location is possible in the near future.
The rates o f living vary from $3 to $5 a week, it being the expec
tation that the price of board shall be proportioned to the income of
each individual. In all three homes each boarder has her own bed,
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
161
waslistand, and rocker. Baths are free in all the homes. In none of
them is any educational work done. In the busy season of the year,
from September to May, the homes are always full. Seamstresses,
dressmakers, teachers, bookkeepers, stenographers, and saleswomen
make up a large proportion of those in the homes.
During the last fiscal year the Eva Home, which is the youngest of
the three homes, paid all its expenses and accumulated a surplus of
$968.87; the Branch Home paid its expenses, with a surplus nearly as
large; while the Young Women’s Home, having a large expenditure in
ground and house rent, not incurred by the other homes, falls a little
short o f absolute self-support.
By making a donation of $500 at one time a person may become a
patron of the union; of $100, an honorary member, and of $50 a life
member. Annual subscriptions form another source of income for the
society.
HOMES UNDER THE CARE OE TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS,
MANAGERS, OR L A D Y ASSOCIATES.
Another association which works along lines similar to the Ladies’
Christian Union in having several small rather than one large home is
the Young Women’s Boarding Home Association, of Philadelphia,
which has two homes on Clinton street under one roof and one matron,
and another home on Pine street, also having its matron. It is believed
by the association that this plan secures to young and unprotected
girls that personal guidance and influence which the majority of girls
crave in their home relations, and which can be made so strong a factor
for good in the life of such girls in a large city. The association pays
special attention to the personal comfort of the girls in that it provides
for each one her own bed, her own washstand, and her own closet and
chair. All the rooms in both houses are heated, and both houses are
provided with sewing rooms, parlors, libraries, and reading rooms.
The Clinton street home has also a recreation room. Board is $3 a
week to all, which includes washing and ironing, and medical attend
ance when necessary. Satisfactory references are required, and no
one over 30 years of age is admitted without express consent of the
managers.
The Boarding Home Association is formed of women of leisure and
is now in its seventh year; the Clinton street home is in its twentyseventh year. The association owns the houses. The average cost
to the association for the support of each girl is $3.35 a week. The
Clinton street home when full, having from 40 to 45 boarders, pays its
running expenses. On May 14, 1897, there were 44 in the home. The
Pine street home is less than a year old, and had on the same date but
17 boarders, although it has accommodations for 26. Religious exer
cises are held in the library each evening. The occupations represented
162
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
are about tlio same in both houses. There are saleswomen, stenogra
phers, typewriters, accountants in hotels and lunch rooms, bookbinders,
tailoresses, students, machine operators in ready-made clothing estab
lishments, and dressmakers in the dressmaking departments of stores.
The Home for Self-supporting Women at 275 Indiana street, Chicago,
was started in small quarters on Illinois street in 1887. It is owned
and directed by an association of women, 50 of whom form a board of
directors, each member paying an annual membership fee of $5. The
house now occupied is a large double building, and cost with furnish
ings about $24,000. It is well lighted and ventilated, is comfortably
furnished, and has a library. It is one of the few homes in the city of
Chicago in which women who earn low wages can find home comforts
and pleasures at prices within their reach. Every girl received is sup
posed to be a stranger in the city and to have no other home in it.
The majority of the boarders are dressmakers, saleswomen, account
ants and stenographers, nursery governesses, and ladies’ maids, and
there are some few who work in factories. The prices of board range
from $2.50 a week in the dormitory to $3 in double and $3.50 in single
rooms, the average cost of living being $2.60. No girl is received in
the dormitory who earns over $8 a week. Those earning $8 are
expected to take either a single or a double room. Single iron bed
steads are used throughout the house, and dressing rooms arranged to
accommodate two are connected with each dormitory. The house has
4 bath rooms; all have porcelain-lined tubs. The average number of
boarders in the house is 60; the number at time of report was 62. A
provident laundry is run in connection with the house.
An excellent house for women earning fairly good wages has been in
existence for 26 years at 80 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. The organ
ization which owns the property is incorporated under the name of The
Business Women’s Union of the City of Brooklyn, and the boarding
house is under the immediate control of a board o f managers, who are
members o f the union. From the beginning the house has paid its cur
rent expenses, repairs and new conveniences being provided for from
outside sources.
The house contains 36 single bedrooms, and this is given as one of
the reasons for its unvarying success. The rates for permanent board
ers in these rooms are from $4.75 to $6 per week. In rooms accommo
dating two x>ersons 50 cents less a week is charged. A separate washstand is provided for each one, and every boarder has a single bed.
The house accommodates 42. On May 14,1897, there were 36 boarders
in the home. References are required. The larger number of the
boarders are teachers, stenographers, typewriters, dressmakers, and
trained nurses, the price of board putting this house practically out of
the reach of women earning very low wages. A well-selected library
of about 700 volumes, a parlor, reading room, and sitting room are open
for the pleasure and accommodation of all. This union has now in con
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
163
tcmplation the establishing of another boarding house for young girls
who are earning very small wages.
The New England Helping Hand Society has a home for young girls
at 124 Pembroke street, Boston. The object of the society, which was
organized under its present name and form early in the year 1887, is,
as set forth in its charter, the “ providing of homes for working girls
and otherwise extending to them a helping hand whenever it is deemed
expedient by the society.w The home is established especially for work
ing girls who receive less than $6 a week. None are received who earn
over that amount, and when this sum is obtained in weekly wages by
one already in the house, she is expected to give place to another who
earns less, if the demand for such place arises.
The society is composed of three classes of members—annual, honor
ary, and life. The board of management consists of ten members, with
the president, recording secretary, and treasurer exofficio members of
the board. There is also an advisory board consisting of five male mem
bers. Annual members pay $1 and honorary members $5 annually, and
$25 paid at one time constitutes one a life member who has been regu
larly proposed and elected as such.
The house accommodates 21, and many are turned away every winter
for want o f room. A ll boarders pay $3 a week. The house is attract
ive and homelike and social intercourse is encouraged. Family worship
is held daily. An object of the society is to keep the home small enough
to be homelike. Students are received as well as those already at work.
It is estimated that the cost per week for supporting each girl is about
$5, including laundry work. This society also carries on as a depart
ment of its work a vacation home, for invalid and tired-out working
women, at Hanson, Mass.
The Cooperative Home for Working Girls, at 348 West Fourteenth
street, New York City, is a home for girls who receive from $4 to $6 a
week, out of which they pay from $2.50 to $3 a week for board, laundry
privileges being free. With an increase of salary they are expected to
secure homes elsewhere in order to make room for the less fortunate.
The home accommodates 31 boarders, and there are always many appli
cants for admission. It is a large, comfortable, steam-heated house.
While founded by a clergyman o f the Methodist Episcopal Church,
it is under the control of a board of trustees and a board o f lady mana
gers, who pay the rent of the house and make up any deficiency in its
expense account. Since the home was founded in 1893, over 300 girls
have been received and cared for. The rules, which are few, are those
which are understood in any well-regulated private home. The girls
are seamstresses, saleswomen, stenographers, typewriters, and pocketbook makers. Those without money are employed to do the work of
the house, leaving them sufficient time to seek employment. Each one
is expected to care for her own room. A t one time in the history of
the home there was but one girl in it who received over $4 a week,
164
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and at another time there was only one in it whose wages were as much
as $6 a week.
The Temporary Home for Working Women, at 453 Shawmut avenue,
Boston, is one o f the best examples of its class. The home was opened
in 1878 in order that any poor and respectable woman able and willing
to work might receive food and shelter in return for her work for the
space of one month, thus giving time for securing employment through
the agency of the home and by her own efforts. She must have three
requisites—poverty, respectability, and ability.
The home is controlled by a board of twelve lady managers, who own
the property, which is a large, bright, home like building in the heart
o f the city. It is expected that the home will pay one-half of its
expenses, this being accomplished through the receipts from laundry
and sewing room, where the women who are in the home are expected
to work from 7.30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. In the
sewing room nurses7dresses are made and any kind of family sewing
and mending done. Dressmaking, which was tried, was not found to
be profitable, because there were seldom girls or women in the home
who were capable o f cutting, fitting, and finishing such work as it was
desired to send out. Nor has it, in the experience of this home, been
found advisable, or even possible, to run a laundry on a large scale
with the average class of workers who come to a temporary home.
Though no effort is made to make the home profitable, yet the pri
mary object in its founding is kept constantly in view, which is to ena
ble women to become independent and self-supporting and to help
self-respecting women over “ hard places77 without making them objects
o f charity. There is no limit as to age and no question as to religion.
There are no luxuries provided in the home, but there are the com
forts to be found in a pleasant sitting room, bright dining room, clean
beds, and well-ventilated bedrooms. There are accommodations for
32, with single iron bedsteads for all. The house is nearly always full.
A matron, housekeeper, cook, and laundress are employed on salaries.
Since 1878 there have been 6,665 women admitted. There have been
540 lodgings paid for in money and 7,280 in work, and 1,643 meals
paid for in money and 22,298 in work. During 1896 there were 442
women admitted. For the year ending December 31,1896, the total
receipts from all sources for the home, including a balance on hand
December 31, 1895, of $1,103.95, were $6,460.31. Of this amount
$2,200.87 was received through the home, $1,721.60 coming from the
laundry alone. The expenses at the home were $3,993.10.
The Shelter tor Bespectable Girls is located at 241 West Fourteenth
street, New York City. It had its origin 25 years ago in a convalescent
home for girls and training school. The need of the u Shelter77was recog
nized in her hospital work by the Protestant Episcopal sister who is
still in charge of it. It was seen that girls and young women without
homes and not strong enough to work would be literally discharged
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
165
into the streets when the hospital could no longer keep them. In the
experience o f the convalescent home it was found that those other
classes o f self-respecting working women who were temporarily without
means and looking for work, or who were discharged suddenly from
their places with or without fault, had no homes to turn to. Girls from
country homes, or those who, in a too lengthy wait for work, had
exhausted all their resources, came to notice. These considerations
prompted the establishment of the Shelter for Respectable Girls, which
succeeded the convalescent home, to do a broader work and to meet
even a greater need.
The “ Shelter” is not a charity; it is a help only in time of need.
Each one is charged board, and if she can not pay while in the home
she is expected to pay in small installments when she obtains employ
ment. During the year of this report 500 women were received.
About one-sixth o f these were admitted free. There are usually from
25 to 30 girls in the house. The house is entirely unequal to the
demands made upon it by the class that it would help. The appoint
ments of the home are simple and comfortable. The beds are single
and each girl has her own washstand. The boarders are usually child
nurses, chambermaids and waitresses, laundresses, dressmakers, and
milliners. The “ Shelter” has no endowment and does not own the
house it occupies. It is entirely dependent on donations, subscriptions,
and board receipts for support. The board receipts pay about one-third
of its expenses. Its governing power is vested in a board of trustees,
who are responsible for the rent, and a board of lady associates, who
solicit donations and subscriptions and give an annual entertainment.
Another home, which stands with open doors ready to help the work
ing girl whenever there is any need of help and as long as the need exists,
is the Young Woman’s Christian Home, at 311 C street NW., Wash
ington, D. C. While organized as a temporary home, girls are shel
tered and cared for until in some other way a good, comfortable home
is open to them. Idlers are not encouraged and the fundamental aim
is to help women who want to help themselves, but the woman who
stands in need of charitable assistance finds here a safe abiding place,
food, and even clothes, until, through her own efforts and those of the
home authorities, her social condition is bettered. If she earns $6 a
week or less, the home asks for her board and lodging only one-half of
her earnings; when her income increases and she is the recipient of
more than $6 a week, she then pays $3.50 for her living expenses, or
even more, in the discretion of the committee on admissions.
While good moral character is an unfailing requisite for those who
live in the house, any woman who may apply is admitted for a night’s
lodging, so far as the accommodations of the home will permit. It is
also open to transient guests, who, fully able to pay, yet prefer the
quiet and retirement of the home to the publicity of a hotel. Among
166
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the occupations represented are typewriting, stenography, millinery,
tailoring, dressmaking, house and chamber work, cooking, and nursing.
The home was incorporated in 188G, and is governed by a board o f
trustees, consisting of 30 members or more, 5 of whom constitute an
advisory board, and all of whom are annually elected. Each trustee
pays an annual subscription of $5 into the treasury. The membership
o f this organization consists of four classes: Life, honorary, sustaining,
and annual. Life members pay $100 at one time; honorary members,
$25 at one time; sustaining members, $5 a year, and annual members
$1 a year.
Two large, roomy parlors, daintily furnished bedrooms, a nicely
appointed table, plenty of bath accommodations, sanitary plumbing,
heat in all rooms, single beds as a rule, individual washstands, and a
special room for the sick make this, in its material appointments, a
more than ordinarily attractive home. There are accommodations in
the house for 40 boarders; the average number is 20.
Family prayers are held daily, which all are expected to attend, as
well as a special religious service held every Wednesday evening.
Yisiting is not allowed on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.
The home closes at 10 p. m.
During the year covered by this report 7,759 meals were served free,
19,254 were paid for at half rates, 2,104 were worked for, and 4,315
were supplied to salaried employees; 2,491 lodgings were given free
and 0,446 were paid for, 379 persons were cared for during the year,
and employment was found for 98. The cost of carrying on the home
for the same year was $4,423.90. O f the receipts, $2,901.23 were
received from the home, $1,000 from Congressional appropriation,
and $071.21 from all other sources. The total receipts, not including
balance from previous year, were $4,572.44. The organization owns
the home building.
Some class work was undertaken during the winter of 1896-97, but
the want o f permanence ip the residents of the home was found to mil
itate against the success of such work to such an extent as to make it
almost impracticable.
HOMES UNDER ROMAN CATHOLIC CARE.
Among the agencies for the comfort and help of working women in
Boston is the Working Girls’ Home of the Young Woman’s Catholic
Association, under the charge of the Grey Nuns, at 89 Union Park street.
The home is a large, imposing building, 132 feet long and five stories
high, heated by steam, and with approved sanitary equipments and all
modern household conveniences. In addition to the library and recep
tion rooms for the use of boarders, there is a large room given to recre
ation purposes, furnished with two pianos and a stage.
The home was begun in one house at first; then two houses were
taken, and as the work outgrew these, the present building was erected,
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
167
accommodating 155 persons. The accommodations by no means meet
the demand, 580 being refused admission during the past year. Dur
ing that year 1,095 girls were received in the home, and during the
previous year there were 1,694 enrolled. The best references are
required of those who are received as boarders. The charge for board
is from $3 to $5 a week, except to those learning to sew, when it is
$2.50 a week. The average charge is $2.00. There is an extra laun
dry charge o f 25 cents for a dozen pieces. Girls are taken care of in
slight illness, and there is a thoroughly equipped dispensary in the
house. Women are often temporarily kept free of charge until employ
ment is obtained for them, but every effort is made to help such women
to become independent and self-sustaining. The home is in no sense a
charity. The cost for supporting each girl is estimated to be 37 cents
a day, or $2,59 a week. All boarders occupy single beds and each has
her own wardrobe, which is portable, and her own washstand. There
arc 2 bathrooms on each flat, with porcelain-lined tubs. Four flats
are used by domestics. There are 30 single bedrooms, 20 bedrooms for
2 persons only, and 21 in which there are 3 or more.
This home is both a temporary and a permanent one. Some women
make their home here for years. Among the boarders are typewriters,
stenographers, compositors, milliners, dressmakers, girls employed in
piano and in shoe and rubber goods manufacturing establishments,
store girls in all departments, domestics, students, and teachers. As a
rule, the home is open only to those from outside the city, but in spe
cial cases a resident of Boston may be taken. The 10 o’clock rule pre
vails, with all reasonable exceptions. There is a noticeable absence of
rule and restriction, and a home-like atmosphere pervades the beauti
ful building. Hospitality is encouraged. Girls are urged to receive
their male friends in the parlors of the home. There are 8 Sisters in
charge. The employment bureau is a valuable adjunct to the work of
the home.
Other work o f the Homan Catholics in this direction is carried on in
the West by the Franciscan Sisters, who have three homes, one in Den
ver, one in Chicago, and one in St. Louis.
St. Francis’ House of Providence, in Chicago, like the home in Bos
ton, is a large establishment, with modern conveniences and appliances.
The building has 130 rooms, with a sitting room on each floor for the
special use of the girls. Each bedroom has two single beds. Board is
from $2 to $3.50 a week, according to the ability to pay. Laundry
privileges are free. The house has been sixteen years in existence and
has a department for the unemployed as well as the employed. There
were from 80 to 90 in the house during May, 1897, and 10 Sisters. Girls
o f all denominations are received.
The Catholic Home for Working Girls, in Buffalo, is part of a large
Catholic property, and is situated in the business section o f Buffalo, at
64 Franklin street. It is a transient home for those without work, or
168
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
for those who desire rest from work, and is filled mainly by domestics,
who gladly avail themselves o f its protection and of the help given
them in getting employment. Only Catholics are received. The home
accommodates 14 persons and only special cases are received without
pay. It is not self-sustaining, and any deficiency in the expense ac
count is made up from the receipts o f the academy with which it is
affiliated. Boarders have separate beds, several in a room. There is
no teaching or training o f any kind carried on except in sewing, and
this is optional with the girls.
In Cleveland, St. Mary’s Home, situated within walking distance of
the business portion o f the city, is a quiet home for respectable Cath
olic working girls. It was opened for this purpose in 1895. The price
o f board is low, being from $2.15 to $3 a week, thus coming within the
reach o f a needy class. The house accommodates 40 girls. When vis
ited there were 25 in the home, consisting o f house girls, dressmakers,
telephone and telegraph operators, milliners, and designers in book
binding and stationery. They are taken care of when sick or out o f
employment, the expectation being that they will pay something when
they can. In the house, which is three stories in height, there are 2
bathrooms; 17 o f the sleeping rooms are single, 4 are for two only, and
there are 3 dormitories. There are sewing machines for the use of the
boarders, a piano, and an organ. Eleven Sisters reside in the home.
From its foundation it has paid its current expenses, which do not,
however, include cost of housing, supervision, or wages.
St. Vincent’s Home, in Baltimore, although under the immediate care
o f the Sisters of Mercy, is a nonsectarian home. The director o f the
home is the pastor of St. Vincent’s Church. It is located at 108 North
Front street, and is a cleanly, attractive, and comfortable home,
accommodating between 30 and 40 boarders. It is generally full, a
number o f the boarders being employed in manufacturing establish
ments. References are required o f boarders. The house has a library,
sewing room, and reception room. A ll rooms are heated, including
bedrooms; single beds are provided, and each girl has her own washstand. Board is $2.50 a week. The atmosphere of the home is peace
ful and the moral tone high. The home, outside of the cost of housing
and supervision, is self-supporting.
The Aisquith House, in the same locality in Baltimore, at 411 Aisquith street, was founded by the present director o f the Carmelite
Nuns, who was also the founder o f St. Vincent’s Home. Like St. Vin
cent’s Home, the Aisquith House is open to girls of all denominations
and is nonsectarian. It is governed by a board o f managers, appointed
by the founder o f the house, who elect the matron. The founder also
furnishes the use o f the home building and furniture free, and supplies
the greater portion of the fuel. It is expected that the house will pay
all other expenses. References are required o f boarders, and the refer
ences are verified. The house accommodates 25 boarders, and the num
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
169
ber varies with the busy and dull seasons in factories and stores, the
majority of the girls being employed in manufacturing establishments
and shops. The price of board, lodging, and washing is $2.50 a week
where there are two or more in a room, and $2.75 and $3 a week for
single rooms. In some cases girls are taken for less, and if out o f
service or employment they are given board and lodging in return for
work. The house has a sewing room and two parlors, one of them a
sitting room for girls. Separate beds are provided as a rule. Evening
prayers are held, which all are required to attend. The house was
founded in 1894.
HOMES UNDER PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CARE.
The Girls’ Club Boarding House of St. Bartholomew’s Protestant
Episcopal Church, in New York City, at 136 East Forty-seventh street,
has been in existence since February 13,1895. The house was originally
opened for the members of the Working Girls’ Club of St. Bartholo
mew’s parish, but as the work has developed it has been opened to all
working girls who could bring references as to moral character. The
church rents the house and pays the house mother; otherwise it is
expected that the house will be self-supporting. During the year for
which this report is made it fulfilled this expectation and paid in addi
tion $600 toward the rent.
The house accommodates 25 girls. It has generally been over
crowded, except during the summer months. Since its opening 110
girls and young women have boarded in the house. Board to club
members is $3.50 a week; to others, $4. No girl is received who earns
over $10 a week. Single iron bedsteads are provided for all. The
house has modern sanitary plumbing throughout and the baths are free.
There is no code of rules in the house, and regulations understood to
be in force are those o f any well-ordered private home. The 10 o’clock
rule is the only one to which any prominence is given, and the usual
exceptions are made to this. The girls are typewriters, accountants,
bookkeepers, shirt makers, saleswomen, dressmakers, and students.
The boarders have the advantages offered in the club classes taught at
the parish house. The club fees are 50 cents for initiation and 25 cents
monthly dues, entitling a member to admission to all classes. The
classes are typewriting, physical culture, cooking, shorthand, book
keeping, dressmaking, millinery, embroidery, and drawn work.
St. Paul’s House, which is pleasantly located at 309 Cathedral (street,
in Baltimore, is owned and conducted by St. Paul’s Parish. It is first
a parish house, serving all those purposes for which parish houses are
built, but, in addition to this, and entirely separate from o$her depart
ments of work, St. Paul’s House is also a protected home for young
women who are not in a position to secure comfortable board at the
usual rates. A girl earning $6 or $8 a week is not kept if her room is
2955—No. 15-----3
170
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
needed for oue earning less, and no one earning $10 a week is received.
Girls are helped by having their board paid for them for a month when
out of employment.
An attractive parlor, girls’ sitting room, bright dining room, heated
bedrooms, porcelain-lined bath tubs, and all other appointments of a
comfortable home are provided. Generally each girl who is a permanent
boarder has her own room. She pays $3 a week, including washing.
There are 2 rooms for transients. During the last year there were 119
permanent and transient boarders in the house. A t the time of this
report there were 14. O f these 2 had been in the house for over six
years, 1 for three years, and 1 for one year. Evening prayers are held,
which all are required to attend. The internal government of the
house, as far as its boarding department for girls is concerned, rests
entirely in the hands of its matron.
The original cost of the building, including gas fixtures, etc., was
$18,794, and the cost of the lot was $4,000. Two entire floors of the
building are occupied by the boarding department ; the remaining por
tion of the building, as already stated, is devoted to parish uses. The
house approximates self-support, the cost to the parish funds being
from $300 to $700 a year. For the year ending January 13, 1897, the
receipts from board were $1,863.10, and the cost of running the house
was $2,608.64* This amount includes furnishing, gas, fuel, care and
repairs, and plumbing for the house, and $1,745.68 for general house
expenses of the boarding department. A balance on hand from the
previous year o f $57.85 brings the cost to the parish for the year within
the estimate stated above.
HOMES HINDER OTHER FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.
A home which, like the Margaret Louisa Home, in New York City,
owes its origin to private munificence is the Girls’ Boarding House, at
20 Ashburton place, Boston, called the Theta Club. Though named a
club, it is in all respects a home, the most prominent feature of club
life being its restaurant. The house accommodates but 16 resident
boarders. These pay from $5 to $6 a week. The rates of board pre
vent this house from being sought by those receiving low wages. O f
the 16 in the house during May, 1897,7 were stenographers, 3 teachers,
1 compositor, 1 buyer in a large department, store, 1 in charity work, 2
student teachers, and 1 student o f music.
The primary object in opening this house was not so much to reach
girls earning very low wages as to insure comfort to those able to pay
a fairly reasonable sum for living, placing within their reach the privi
leges of a parlor, in which friendships could be formed and social inter
course encouraged, and giving them the benefit of well-cooked, nour
ishing food, selected with reference to their needs, and served in an
acceptable style. Two large rooms, furnished attractively and com
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
171
fortably, and provided with piano, books, and pictures, are devoted to
parlor uses, and hospitality is encouraged and social pleasures provided.
There are 2 girls in each bedroom. Individual provision is made for
all wants, except heat in winter, which it is expected they will provide
for themselves. They pay for their own laundry work.
From the first six months of its existence the house has been entirely
self-supporting, the amount paid for board by the individual being
above the average in houses of this class, and the restaurant being an
important factor in such success. From 60 to 70 outsiders lunch here
every day, the lunch being in reality a hot dinner, which is given for
25 cents. Eeceipts from lunches and from table boarders during the
month of March, 1897, amounted to $400.
All matters o f detail in government are left to the superintendent,
who, in the exercise of her power, is friend and guide to those under
her roof. The founder of the house acts as adviser. There is no gov
erning board and no other governing officers.
“ Good Best,” a vacation house, at Lancaster, Mass., is associated
with the Theta Club, in that both houses owe their origin to the same
generous founder, and that girls from this club, as well as other work
ing girls o f Boston, are personally invited by her, for summer rest and
recreation, to the holiday house.
Another home in Boston which is of special interest, because of its
seven years’ success and because of the simplicity of its management,
is the Boarding House for Working Girls, at 115 and 117 Berkeley
street. The superintendent in this house represents to the boarders
its governing power. It is true there stands behind her an execu
tive committee of five, o f which the minister of the First Church
(Unitarian) is chairman, but all matters of detail in the management
of the house and o f those under its roof are left to the superintendent,
so that the boarders find in their home but little, if any, suggestion of
the supervising power of a board of managers or a board of directors.
In addition to the superintendent there is a housekeeper. This leaves
the superintendent free to look after the outside interests of girls under
her roof and to investigate cases of girls brought to her notice who
require special care and attention. This house has been in existence
in the same locality for seven years. It is within ten or fifteen minutes’
walk of the business center of Boston.
From the first it was expected that the salary of superintendent and
rent of house would come through a guaranty fund raised from year
to year by the executive committee, and that after this provision the
running expenses of the house would be met by the income from board.
This expectation has been more than realized. For the seven years all
running expenses of the house have been paid by the superintendent
from receipts for board and lodging and a surplus each year of from
$600 to $700 handed over to the treasurer toward the guaranty fund
172
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
for rent and salary of superintendent. One factor that makes such a
financial showing* possible is the serving of extra meals to table boarders.
The highest per capita cost for food a week has been $2.19, the low
est $2.08, and the average cost $2.15. The highest per capita for all
expenses has been $3.37, the lowest $3.29, and the average $3.31. The
average amount paid by girls for board is $3.75 a week. The house
accommodates 39 boarders, who pay from $3.50 to $4 a week, including
washing. Girls are often received who are unable to pay even $3.50
a week, and all efforts are then directed toward making them selfsupporting. No one is received as a permanent boarder who earns over
$8 a week, and no girls are taken who have a respectable home in Bos
ton. As a rule the house is filled to overflowing. The rooms are all
heated by furnace and all have single beds. Five rooms have 2 beds
only; others have 3 or 4. No washstand is used by more than 2 girls.
There is a salaried housekeeper and 6 employees. The majority o f the
boarders are sewing girls, stenographers, accountants, and saleswomen.
The rules are few and perhaps the most stringent is that requiring a
girl to be in the house by 10 at night unless with special permission.
Three well-cooked, wholesome meals are served a day and an abun
dance provided at each meal. Three rooms are set apart in this house
in which girls can entertain their Mends, and a large room is given up
to entertainments, dancing, etc. Some class work is carried on, which
is, however, optional. There is an embroidery class with an efficient
teacher, and during the last season a most successful gymnastic class
was held in the evenings.
There is but little room in the house for transients, and this fact is
to be deplored, since the atmosphere of the home is helpful to this very
class o f girls. Ten girls among the permanent boarders during the
year 1895 and 12 during the previous year gave place to others because
o f increased wages, but even with this making way for the less fortu
nate the house does not seem in size to be equal to the demands made
upon it. During the seven years of its life 420 young working women
have lived in this house for a longer or shorter time, many of whom
have been helped through its influence to absolute self-support.
The Adams House, at Waltham, is conducted by the American W al
tham Watch Company as a home for certain classes of its employees,
especially for girls and young women. It is a commodious, comfortable,
well-located house, with sleeping accommodations for 134 persons. It
is heated by steam and lighted with gas. The house is four stories in
height and there are 3 bathrooms on each floor. It has dining-room
accommodations for 250, and large reception rooms and parlors. It is
expected that each bedroom will accommodate 2, being provided with
a double bed. Great attention seems to be paid to cleauliness and to
the physical comfort of the boarders. Girls are taken care of in the
house in ordinary illness, trained nurses being sometimes provided at
the expense of the company. In serious illness they are sent to the
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
173
Waltham Hospital, in most cases free of expense to themselves, unless
they are fully able to pay.
The cost to the girls for room, board, light, and heat is $3 a week.
Laundry privileges are free. A matron and an assistant reside in the
house and exercise a personal interest in and supervision over the girls
who board there. The 10 o’clock rule is in force, with, however, all
reasonable exceptions.
The house is not self-supporting. The receipts do not cover the
expenditures for fuel, gas, insurance, repairs to building, and furniture,
nor do they leave any margin for interest on the amount invested in
property; but it is believed by the company that the home works for
good in two directions: First, that women well nourished and well
taken care of will make, and do make, a superior class o f workers to
those not so fed and housed, and second, that it serves to keep up the
tone of other boarding houses in which girls and young women without
local homes must live. Not alone is this true of the table and of other
provision for physical comfort, but in many instances it has the effect
of securing parlor privileges, which would not otherwise have been
provided.
BOABDING CLUBS.
The Working Girls’ Club, at 216 Franklin street, Buffalo, is an incor
porated club, formed among working girls and women o f wealth and
leisure to provide by cooperation a home for busy women and girls
where home comforts and pleasures can be secured at the lowest possi
ble price; to furnish pleasant reading rooms, where its members can
pass the evening and noon hours; to organize such classes for mutual
improvement as the members may desire, and to collect a circulating
library for the use of the members.
Its membership list includes annual members, who pay $1 a year;
sustaining members, who pay $5 a year; honorary members, who pay
$10 a year, and life members, who pay $25 at one time. In May, 1897,
the membership list numbered about 1,100, the great majority o f whom
were working girls who were annual members. Members must be over
14 years o f age. Annual membership entitles one to live in the club
home if desired and gives all club privileges. For members of the
club 5 cents less is charged on each meal than to others not members.
The officers of the club are a president, three vice presidents, a treas
urer, assistant treasurer, secretary, and assistant secretary. They are
appointed by the board of directors, who are sustaining members of
the club, and they hold their office during the pleasure of the board
and until their successors are appointed. The board of directors hold
monthly meetings at the clubhouse.
The club occupies the same house in which it was started in Feb
ruary, 1892. It was reorganized in May, 1894, and since 1895 it lias
not only supported itself but has now a small fund in reserve. The
174
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
rent, amounting to $1,000 a year, is nearly paid from the rent of rooms,
and the restaurant, in which three good, well-cooked meals a day are
served at 10 cents each to members of the club, is more than self-sup
porting. To outsiders the same meals are 15 cents. About 150 mem
bers take dinner each day and from 60 to 70 take breakfast and supper.
On the date on which the club was visited, May 6, 1897, the income
from meals was $20.45. The following is the bill o f fare for one of the
10 cent dinners: Soup, roast, potatoes and one other vegetable, brown
and white bread, dessert, tea or milk. The other meals are equally substantial and there is always a hot supper. The object of giving the
most and best food for the least money seems to be secured.
A homo atmosphere rather than that of a club pervades the house.
The presence o f a matron, who is not only housekeeper and general
manager, but exercises a personal supervision over the members of the
club who board in the clubhouse, gives form to the home idea. The
house accommodates 29 persons, and the price for room to each one a
week, including all the privileges o f the house, is $1. Laundry privi
leges are free. The accommodations of the house by no means equal
the demand, and as many as 30 applicants have been refused admission
in one week for want of room. The boarders occupy single beds, three
as a rule in each room.
The club is sought by the best class of working girls, and it has been
found necessary to expel only one member in the last three years.
Places are secured for girls, and while much helpful work is quietly
done in needy cases, yet the home life of the club encourages independ
ence, self-government, and self-support. The girls are largely occupied
in stores, shirt factories, and patent medicine manufacturing estab
lishments, and as hairdressers, trained nurses, massagists, and stenog
raphers. Girls wishing to fit themselves for positions in families are
given a home and instruction free if they take a regular course in
domestic training, which is, however, only six weeks in length.
Clubrooms are open every day from 7.30 a. m. to 9.30 p. m. The
library is open every evening. The club members have free use of
rooms, library, piano, and writing materials) also the privilege of con
sulting the club physician free of charge, access to dining room with
meals at lowest price, and the use of daily papers and magazines in the
reading room.
The classes which are formed during the winter are singing, dancing,
gymnastics, fine needlework, embroidery and dressmaking, cooking,
music, and recitation. Terms are 10 cents a lesson. Any other classes
may be formed upon application of 10 members. The most success
ful classes have been those in dressmaking, cooking, piano, dancing,
physical culture, and embroidery. There are monthly entertainments
free to members and their friends.
The Working Girls’ Club has organized a branch club, called the
Grace Dodge Society, in East Buffalo, its object being to give to the
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
175
girls in that section of the city the advantages of the classes and social
pleasures such as are enjoyed in the clubhouse. The society has been
in existence for three years and numbers 30 members. It is officered by
the girl members with the exception of the president. The society
holds Tuesday evening meetings only, but membership in it entitles one
to all the privileges of membership in the parent club.
The Alpha Sorosis Club, of Chicago, at 52 Dearborn street, is incor
porated, and founded for the purpose of giving to busy women through
cooperation advantages which as individuals they could not enjoy. The
club provides at a reasonable cost meals for its members and guests,
and to a limited extent rooms for resident women members. It has
also classes in French, German, stenography, needlework, dressmaking,
millinery, music, physical culture, dancing, etc. The fee for a lesson in
most of these classes is 10 cents; for a piano lesson it is 25 cents. It
is a self-governing body, all regularly elected members being voters.
The executive authority of the club is vested in a board of 9 directors,
elected by the members. Hew members must be regularly proposed
by a member in good standing and a reference furnished. It requires
a majority vote o f the directors to elect a member. In May, 1897, the
club numbered 350 members. Out of several hundred memberships but
two have been revoked.
The membership fee is $3 per annum. This gives a member access
to restaurant and classes at low club rates, use of clubrooms, library
and stationery, and all other club privileges, including residence in the
clubrooms when there is a vacancy. It has ample dining-room accom
modations, library, reception room, class rooms, and a commodious
drawing-room. It has, however, room for only 40 resident members.
Among the rooms are several for either one or two girls, but the greater
number are cubicles. The rent o f rooms is from $1 to $ 1.50 a week.
The European plan prevails in the restaurant, no dish costing over 5
cents. There is an abundance of well-cooked food.
As this club is self-governing it also aims to be self-supporting, and
with its well-conducted restaurant there is every prospect that it will
become so. Since January, 1897, it has been able to meet all expenses,
and now believes itself to be established on a firm financial basis.
Members are mostly stenographers, clerks in office, bookkeepers, and
saleswomen. The club has a physician in regular daily attendance, a
fee of 10 cents being charged for consultation.
Large, attractive clubrooms, pleasant social companionship, opportu
nities for culture, and nourishing food at reasonable prices make this
club a boon to the self-supporting women of Chicago. The building is
in the heart of the city and its rooms teem with busy life. Arrange
ments are made with the Gamma Rest Association, at Lake Bluff, 111.,
whereby the members of this club are received at club prices.
The Jane Club is incorporated and maintains a clubhouse for young
women at 253 lowing street, Chicago. A t the clubhouse residents of
176
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the club may lodge and board on the cooperative plan, all resident
members sharing the expenses and benefits equally. Any self-support
ing, unmarried woman, or widow without dependent children, between
the ages o f 18 and 45, who is of good moral character is eligible for
regular membership. The size of the clubhouse limits its membership
to 40. The officers o f the club are president, vice president, secretary,
treasurer, and steward. They are elected from among the resident
members and serve for six months only. No officer is eligible for imme
diate reelection to the same office, though she may again fill the office
after one or more intervening terms. The women performing the house
hold work o f the club are eligible for club membership.
The members o f the club are mostly factory or store employees, with a
few teachers and kindergartners among the number. The club was
founded in 1892.
The weekly dues are $3, which constitute the regular payment of
board and lodging in the clubhouse. The constitution of the Jane Club
requires that if there is any expense over $3 a week, each member shall
be assessed equally, but there have been but few special assessments
made, since, as a rule, the expenses are kept within the income accru
ing from membership dues. One of the causes that make this showing
possible is the fact that there is no expense for superintendence and a
comparatively small expense for wages, since under the cooperative
plan each member of the club takes her share of responsibility and
work, and is expected, as far as possible, to keep down the expenses of
the club.
The club occupies flats near the Hull House Social Settlement, and
rents only the number necessary to accommodate its resident members,
giving up such flats as may be found expedient to vacate. This prox
imity to the Hull House gives members of the club social advantages
and opportunities for culture which would not be possible in many
other localities. The classes, gymnasium, and entertainments at the
Hull House are open to members of the Jane Club at the very low
rates laid down in the Hull House Bulletin for residents o f the neigh
borhood. The Jane Club owes its origin to the head worker of the Hull
House, who helped it over its first days o f financial struggle and who is
still an honorary member o f the club.
The Alice Fisher Alumnae Club, which is composed of graduates of
the Philadelphia Hospital Training School for Nurses, has an attractive
clubhouse at 804 Pine Street, Philadelphia. The house was opened
January 12,1895, and has sleeping accommodations for club members
only. By the courtesy of the club the dining room is open to all
graduates. It has a large and comfortably furnished clubroom, a
reception room, and sleeping accommodations for 27 persons. In May,
1897, the house was full. Rooms are rented at from $5 to $7 a month
for each occupant, from 2 to 4 as a rule occupying one room. Bach
member has her own bed and her own closet, but in most cases 2 share
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
177
a washstand. The rates in the dining room are 15 cents for breakfast,
15 cents for lunch, and 25 cents for dinner. Seven lunch or breakfast
tickets can be purchased for $1.
The club was started by the aid of the generous, but it aims to be
entirely self-sustaining. It has two lists of members, resident and
nonresident; the former pay $5 annually and the latter $2. The officers
of the club are a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and
twelve managers, elected annually by ballot, and constitute the board
of managers. There is a matron in charge of the house and diningroom.
Connected with the club is the graduate registry for nurses.
AN ALYSIS OF THE GENERAL TABLES.
In the first of the general tables are shown the names and locations
of 1)0 homes for working women which have made reports to the Depart
ment on the schedules of inquiries prepared for the purpose, and the
facts relating to them could therefore be presented in tabular form. Of
the homes visited the greater number have also made written reports
to the Department in the schedule form, and are included in this table.
Nine homes among those visited, o f which special reports are made in
the preceding text, failed to make returns on the prepared schedules,
and could not, therefore, be included in the statistical presentation.
The summaries given in the analysis necessarily include only the 90
homes appearing by name in Table I.
The following summary shows the distribution of the homes by cities,
with accommodations offered, number of boarders in the homes at date
of report, number availing themselves of accommodations during the
preceding year, and total number of boarders since the establishment
of the homes.
178
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
HOMES, ACCOMMODATIONS OFFEBED, AND NUMBEK OF PEBSONS ACCOMMODATED,
BY CITIES.
City.
a On© home not reporting.
Not including transients.
Four homes not reporting.
<2H ot reported.
e Two homes not reporting.
/From August 1, 1896, to April 30, 1897.
6
c
2
2
2
1
1
1
7
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
5
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
5
l
2
11
1
1
1
4
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
4
2
2
1
1
1
76
111
100
70
61
40
582
15
23
26
35
30
30
20
15
140
537
12
26
41
85
108
10
100
130
235
61
29
519
18
57
20
165
95
i50
17
13
63
22
16
a 287
76
183
55
40
40
41
95
84
65
30
18
410
8
19
20
20
12
30
9
116
514
4
20
35
78
84
8
57
50
186
54
29
a 411
17
57
9
142
77
20
20
10
4
a 22
22
5
a 233
76
132
40
20
27
417
1,109
1,238
100
300
379
a 4,967
25
(d)
175
50
(d)
65
88
72
605
3,990
/38
30
438
142
p 924
(d)
'
595
300
2,203
a 30
(d)
A8,078
(d)
57
28
4664
620
(d)
65
(d)
338
35
35
e599
«*>
a 423
112
(d)
172
a 348
9,300
4,600
62, 000
1,400
1,850
560
(d)
800
300
(d)
3,750
500
306
e9,827
e 8,782
/38
(d)
(d )
355
<d)
£00
Oakland, Cal.......................................................................
San Francisco, Cal............................................................
Denver, Colo.......................................................................
Hartford, Conn...................................................................
Hew Haven, Conn..............................................................
Washington, D. C..............................................................
Chicago, 111..........................................................................
Bockiord, 111.......................................................................
Fort Wayne, Ind...............................................................
Indianapolis, Ind...............................................................
Dubuque, Iowa...................................................................
Topeka, Hans.....................................................................
Louisville, K y.....................................................................
Bangor, Me..........................................................................
Lewiston, Me.......................................................................
Baltimore, Md.....................................................................
Boston, Mass.......................................................................
Fall River, Mass................................................................
Salem, Mass.........................................................................
Springfield, Mass...............................................................
Worcester, M ass................................................................
Detroit, M ich.....................................................................
Kalamazoo, Mich................................................................
Minneapolis, Minn............................................................
Kansas City, M o................................................................
St. Louis, Mo.......................................................................
Brooklyn, H. Y ...................................................................
Buffalo, H .Y .......................................................................
Hew York, H. Y .................................................................
,Bochestcr, H. Y ..................................................................
Troy, H. Y ..........................................................................
Utica, H. Y ...........................................................................
Cincinnati, Ohio.................................................................
Cleveland, Ohio.................................................................
Columbus, Ohio...................................................................
East Liverpool, Ohio........................................................
Steubenville, Ohio..............................................................
Portland, Oregon................................................................
Allegheny, Pa.....................................................................
Erie, Pa................................................................................
Philadelphia, P a ................................................................
Pittsburg, Pa...................................................... f- .............
Providence, B. I .................................................................
Memphis, Tenn..................................................................
Dallas, Tex...........................................................................
Richmond, Va....................................................................
Different
Accom Boarders Different boarders
moda
boarders
es
Homes. tions at time during since
tablish
offered. of report. year. ment of
home.
(d)
(d)
(d)
14,640
a 152
5,000
e 38,911
e
(d)
(d)
638
47,248
a 450
(d>
150
(d)
a 700
(d )
68
A44
(d)
(d)
(d)
900
664
a One home reporting for 10 months only.
AThree homes not reporting.
4 One home not reporting, and one reporting for
5 months only.
j Including day hoarders.
Forty-six cities reported homes for working girls. Forty-one of these
homes are in the cities o f New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, St. Lonis, and Cincinnati, leaving but 49 homes reporting
from 39 other cities.
Eighty-nine homes reported accommodations for 4,484 boarders.
Eighty-seven reported the total number of boarders at the time of
report as 3,440, and as these 87 homes could accommodate 4,449, the
number in such homes was therefore more than three-fourths of the
whole number that could be accommodated. The reports of 71 homes,
including 3 which reported for a portion o f the year only, showed that
29,416 girls and young women were residents therein during some part
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
179
o f the preceding year. In 48 homes, making reports of the different
kinds of boarders received since their establishment, there have lived
for a longer or a shorter time 121,G5G girls and young women. Two of
the 48 homes make a partial report only on this subject and 2 do not
report those who have been transient boarders only.
O f the 90 homes, 85 reported date of establishment. Of these, 35 had
been founded since 1890, the boarding club for women especially be
longing to this period of time. Six.ty-four of the 85 homes had been
established since 1880, or in the last 17 years.
The Temporary Home Association in Philadelphia first opened its
doors in 1849 for the temporary help o f those out of employment; and,
as stated elsewhere, the first permanent home for working women was
that of the Ladies’ Christian Union in New York City, which was estab
lished in 185G. The Sisters of Mercy came next in order of time, hav
ing founded a temporary home called the House of Mercy, in Cincinnati,
in 1858. Five homes reported as having been founded during the 10
years from 1860 to 1869, and 13 during the next 10 years.
The cost o f living per week, including room rent, varies from $ l, the
minimum cost in the House of Mercy, in Cincinnati, to $7 a week, the
maximum cost in the Margaret Louisa Home, in New York City, and in
the Portland Women’s Union, in Portland, Oregon. Five homesonly are
reported in which the minimum cost of living is over $4 a week, so
that, omitting these and the 5 homes not reporting and 3 reporting only
the cost of lodging, there are 77 homes in which a working woman can
live at a cost o f $4 a week or less. There are 58 in which it is possible
for her to live at a cost of $3 a week or less.
O f the 90 homes, 15 are for permanent residence, 20 for temporary
residence, and 55 for both permanent and temporary residence. In ref
erence to the serving of free meals to the unemployed, 34 homes re
ported that they did not serve free meals, 33 homes served free meals
to the unemployed, 17 served free meals in special cases, 2 served meals
in return for work, 1 served meals on promise of future payment, and 3
did not report on the subject.
As a rule, the temporary homes serve free meals to the unemployed;
the permanent homes seldom do, and of the homes which receive board
ers either for a temporary stay or for an indefinite residence 17 do not
serve free meals and 17 serve them only in special cases or on promise
of future payment.
The accompanying summary shows the receipts of each home for the
last fiscal year from board, room rent, and all other charges to boarders,
the total expenditure for maintenance for the year, and the excess of
expenditure over income from boarders in the various homes during the
same period.
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
180
RECEIPTS FROM! BOARDERS AND TOTAL COST OF MAINTENANCE OF EACH HOME
FOR THE LAST FISCAL TEAR.
Locality.
Name of home.
Excess of
cost of
cost mainte
Receipts Total
of main nance over
from
boarders. taining
receipts
home.
from
boarders.
$654.65 $4, 269.69 $3,615.04
Oakland, Cal............... Chabot Woman’s Sheltering and Protec
tion Home.
Oakland, Cal............... Young Women’s Christian Association 3,781.90 3,950.16
168.26
Home.
San Francisco, Cal... San Francisco Girls’ Union.......................... 3,115.20 9, 020. 60
5,905.40
San Francisco, Cal... Young Women’s Christian Association... 7,030.47 17,408. 05 10,377.58
Denver, Colo............... Young Women’s Christian Association... 16,535.56 17,660. 62
1,125.06
Denver, Colo............... Young Woman’s Christian Club................. 3,725.30 5, 022.55
1,297.25
Hartford, Conn......... Young Women’s Boarding Home............... 8,794.22 8,794. 22
New Haven, Conn ... Young Women’s Christian Association... 9,446.64 10,352.73
906.09
Washington, D. C---- Young Woman's Christian H om e.............
4.423.90
(a)
(a)
606.87
Chicago, 111................. Home for Self-supporting Women............. 7, 387.05 7, 993.92
Chicago, 111................. House of Providence.....................................
(a)
(a)
(a)
Chicago, 111................. Jane Club......................................................... 4,220.37 4,680.08
459.71
97.42
Chicago, 111................. Working Woman’s Home (“Minnetonka”) 2,145. 30 2,242. 72
Chicago, 111................. Young Women’s Christian Association... 524,583.38 c71, 789.26 c47,205.88
452.37
Chicago, HI................. Young Women’s Christian Association, 2,355.33 2,807.70
Transient Home.
374.50
Chicago, HI................. Young Woman’s Christian Home...............
920.88 1,295. 38
652. 00
Rockford, 111............... Young Women’s Christian Association... 1, 200.00 1,852. 00
Fort Wayne, In d ---- Young Women’s Christian Association... 3,872. 25 5,696. 67
1,824.42
369.43
Indianapolis, Ind ---- F. iends’ Boarding Home for Girls............. 3,625.26 3, 994. 69
Dubuque, Iow a......... Home for Working G irls............................. 1,143.50 1,300. 85
157. 35
(a)
1, 000. 00
Topeka, Kans............. Ingleside..........................................................
(a)
1,909.00
Louisville, K y ........... Young Women’s Boarding Home............... 3,650.00 5, 559. 00
825.18
Bangor, M e................. King’s Daughters’ Home of Bangor, M e.. 2,157.37 2,982.55
1,052. 48
Lewiston, M e............. Young Women’s Home.................................
844.96 1, 897. 44
Baltimore, M d........... Aisquith H ouse.............................................. 1,300.80 1,449. 70
148. 90
586. 80
Baltimore, M d........... Female Christian Home............................... 2,297.05 2,883. 85
656. 00
404.00 1,060. 00
Baltimore, M d........... St. Martha’s Episcopal H ouse....................
745.54
Baltimore, M d........... St. Paul’s House.............................................. 1,863.10 2,608.64
4,127. 42
Baltim >re, M d........... Young Women’s Christian Association... 4,759. 65 8, 887. 07
Boston, M ass............. Boston Young Women’s Christian Asso 30,704.59 d36,663.43 d 5, 958.84
ciation, Berkeley Street Home.
<5143.33
Boston, M ass............. Boston Young Women’s Christian Asso 32,820.04 32,676. 71
ciation, Warren ton Street Home.
2,901.66
Boston, M ass............. Boarding House for Working Girls........... 7,990.54 i 10,892.20
1, 919. 82
Boston, M ass............. New England Helping Hand Home........... 2,201.49 Ii 4,121. 31
e g 1.00
Boston, M ass............. Working Girls’ Home, or Home of the 17,219.80 |/1 7 ,218.80
Grey Nuns.
k 179.95
Fall River, Mass........ Women’s Union Home................................... U 2 1 2 . 50 A392.45
Salem, M ass............... Woman’s Friend Society............................. 1,629.24 3,494.78
1, 865.54
6,255.47
Springfield, M ass---- Young Women’s Christian Association 5,815.15 12,070.62
Boarding Home.
Worcester, Mass........ Young Women’s Christian Association .. 20,510.83 33,534.37 13,023. 54
Detroit, M ich............. St. Mary Home for Young W omen........... 1,983.02 3,782.97
1, 799.95
Detroit, M ich............. Young ‘Woman’s Home................................. 7,710.92 6,745.60
e 965.32
Kalamazoo, M ich---- Young Women’s Christian Association ..
(a)
767: 70
(a)
426.21
Minneapolis, M inn... Woman’s Christian Association Boarding 10,094.57 10,520.78
Home.
249.40
Minneapolis, M inn... Woman’s Christian Association Branch 3,067.89 3,317.29
Home.
Kansas City, Mo........ Young Women’s Christian Association 7,402.60 14,617.65
7,215.05
Home.
St. Louis, M o............. St. Joseph’s Convent of Mercy, Young
(a)
(a)
(a)
Girls’ Home.
fclOO.OO
St. Louis, M o............. St. Louis Working Girls’ Home................... j 2,700.00 2,600.00
<5385. 30
St. Louis, M o............. Women’s Christian Home........................... 12,316.49 11,931.19
6,164.65
St. Louis, M o............. Women’s Training School............................ 10,863.90 17,028.55
(a)
ia)
Young
Women’s
Christian
Association
..
(a)
St. Louis, M o.............
Brooklyn, N. T ......... Business Women’s Union......... ................... 9,358.32 110,409.19 m l, 050.87
a Not reported.
5 From board, room rent, and meals only* no separate report made of any other charges,
cIncluding $36,592.53 paid on new building and $5,825.83 interest on loan.
d Including expenditures for training school for domestics and for religious work.
e Excess of receipts from boarders over cost of maintenance.
/Including $2,000 paid on mortgage.
a Cost of maintenance includes $ 2,000 paid on mortgage.
a From August 1, 1896, to April 30,1897.
iFrom lodgings only.
j Does not Include receipts from meals.
* Excess of receipts from lodgers over cost of maintenance.
^Including$517.50 interest and $1,000 paid on mortgage.
mCost of maintenance includes $517.50 interest and $1,000 paid on mortgage.
i
181
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUDS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
RECEIPTS FROM BOARDERS AND TOTAL COST OF MAINTENANCE OF EACH HOME
FOR THE LAST FISCAL YEAR—Concluded.
Name of home.
Locality.
Brooklyn, N. Y .
Buffalo, N .Y ....
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
New York, N. Y
Rochester, N. Y .........
Troy, N. Y ...................
Utica, N. Y .................
Cincinnati, Ohio........
Cincinnati, Ohio.......
Cincinnati, Ohio........
Cincinnati, Ohio........
Cleveland, Ohio.........
Cleveland, Ohio.........
Columbus, Ohio.........
East Liverpool, Ohio.
Steubenville, Ohio ...
Portland, Oregon___
Portland, Oregon —
Allegheny, P a ...........
Erie, P a ......................
Philadelphia, P a........
Philadelphia, P a ........
Philadelphia, Pa........
Philadelphia, P a ........
Pittsburg, P a .............
Pittsburg, P a.............
Providence, R. I ........
Providence, R. I ........
Memphis. Tenn.........
Dallas, T ex .................
Richmond, V a ...........
Young "Women’s Christian Association,
Boarding Department.
Working Girls’ Club of Buffalo, N. Y ---Cooperative Home..........................................
Florence Crittenton........................................
Girls’ Home Society......................................
Ladies’ Christian Union Young Women’s
Home.
Ladies’ Christian Union Branch Home___
Ladies’ Christian Union Eva Home...........
Margaret Louisa Home of the Y. W. C. A.
National Christian League Industrial
Home for Self-supporting Women.
St. Bartholomew’s Girls’ Club Boarding
House.
Shelter for Respectable Girls......................
Young Women’s Home Society of the
French Evangelical Church of the City
of New York.
Young Women’s Christian Association
Boarding Home.
Young Women’s Association......................
Industrial Home..............................................
House of Mercy.............................................
Lawrence..........................................................
Sacred Heart Home for Young Working
Girls.
Young Women’s Christian Association
Boarding House.
Boarding Home for Working Women........
St. Mary’s ........................................................
Woman’s Educational and Industrial
Union.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
Home for Young Women.
Helping Hand.................................................
Home for Unemployed Women...................
Portland Women’s U nion...........................
Young Women’s Boarding Home...............
Women’s Christian Association Boarding
Home of Erie.
Boarding Home of Germantown Women’s
Christian Association.
Guild Boarding Hom e...................................
Temporary Home Association....................
Women’s Christian Association of Phila
delphia, Boarding Department.
Central Young Women’s Christian Asso
ciation.
Young Women’s Christian Association
Home.
St. Maria H om e.............................................
Young Women’s Christian Association ..
Anne Brinkley Home....................................
Girls’ Cooperative Home...............................
Woman’s Christian Association.................
Excess of
cost of
cost mainte
Receipts Total
of main nance over
from
boarders. taining
receipts
home.
from
boarders.
$2,696.17 $4,457.20
8,426.29 8,808.38
(a)
(a)
925.13 1,643.00
(a)
(a)
b 13,304.38
15,032.46
5,777.22 4,883.53
6, 306.83
5,337.96
88,760.83 95, 257.53
5, 477.99
(a)
(a)
2,339.94
2,654.85
(a)
(a)
(a)
6,683.50
3,279.33
(a)
10,537.41 17,000.00
1,254.00
(a)
700. 00
825.00
d 602.80
d971.47
(a)
$1,761.03
382.09
(a)
717.87
(a)
1,728.08
c 893.69
c968.87
6,496.70
(a)
1,822.75 3,996.25
7,301.14 7,281.01
(a)
(a)
2,450.81 3,372.76
1,298.31 1,482.25
e 447.52
(a)
150.00
650.00
3,138.29 4,115.92
3,438.97 3,623.09
e 1, 419. 44
1, 774. 33
1,142.01 1, 839.44
926.85 1, 281.60
2,876.78 4,038.14
53,652. 70 72,822.51
15,965.33 21,008.80
/ l , 462.70 1,932. 50
6,788. 23
8,614.12
6,653.97 9,432.07
8,019.13 2,960.00
2,458.43
(a)
2,5L8.73 3, 336.41
(a)
4,343.56
624.48
(a)
, 462. 59
125.00
d 368.67
6
(a)
(a)
2,173.50
c20.13
(a)
921.95
183.94
(a)
500.00
977.63
184.12
354.89
697.43
354.75
1,161.36
19,169.81
5,043.47
469.80
1,825.89
2,778.10
c 59.13
(a)
817.68
a Not reported.
b Including receipts from laundry conducted by the home.
e Excess of receipts from boarders over cost of maintenance.
d From January 8,1897, to June 12,1897.
e From board, room rent, and meals only; no separate report made of any other charges.
/D oes not include receipts from meals.
From these figures it will be seen that in the majority of homes the
income from the boarders only can not be altogether relied upon for
the support of the home. This subject has been dwelt upon at some
length in the preceding pages, but it is interesting and helpful to study
the figures o f the above table in this connection.
182
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR,
In 64 homes there is an excess o f expenditure over the receipts from
boarders, varying in amount from less than a hundred dollars to several
thousand; 16 homes have not reported both items of income and expend
iture, or have not reported them in such shape as to make it possible
to make this comparison5 1 home reports an even balance sheet; 1
reports a difference o f $1 in favor of the income, and 8 others report
that the income from the boarders more than pays the ordinary expenses
of the home.
It is a fact worthy o f note that of the homes which more than pay
expenses from board receipts but one pays rent, being the St. Louis
Working Girls’ Home, in which no meals are served. The others own
the buildings occupied.
O f the 90 homes, 54 are reported as owning the buildings, 2 others
under Roman Catholic control report that the buildings are owned by
the archbishop in one case and the Sisters o f St. Joseph in the other.
The building of 1 home is owned by the president of the league gov
erning the home, and 1 home failed to report on this item, leaving 32
which pay rent or have it paid for them.
Rent is variously reported as ranging from $180 a year to $3,600.
Two Young Women’s Christian Associations, while owning the build
ings which they occupy, report that they pay a small rent for a lodging
house in the one case and a branch home in the other.
Forty-four of the homes report not only the kind of occupations engaged
in by the girls and young women who are residents in such homes, but
give also the number o f girls and women pursuing those occupations.
The number o f boarders for the last year in the Margaret Louisa
Home, a most successful temporary home in !New York City, is so large
a proportion of the whole number reported that it has seemed best to
make a separate statement of the number of such boarders pursuing
each occupation.
This is rendered necessary, also, from the fact that the range of occu
pations o f those availing themselves o f the hospitality of this home is
much more extended than is ordinarily the case in other homes in this
classification, the professional and semiprofessional callings being so
largely represented as to make a comparison on the basis of occupation
with the majority o f other homes almost impossible.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
183
For the 43 other homes reporting the classification of occupations,
with the number in each, the summary is as follows:
Nurses, cooks, chambermaids, wait
resses, parlor maids, and other
dom estics...........................................
Stenographers, bookkeepers, and
cashiers...............................................
Saleswomen, shop girls, and clerks
Dressmakers and seamstresses___
Students..................................................
Teachers and governesses.................
M illiners......................................................
Factory and mill employees.............
Companions and ladies’ m a id s___
Nursery governesses...............................
Machine operators...............................
Matrons and housekeepers...............
Tailoresses and vest makers............
Telephone operators...............................
Typewriters...........................................
Compositors and proof readers___
Office employees...................................
14
Bindery em ployees.............................
12
586 Engaged in religious work..............
11
Canvassers, agents, and travelers..
11
309 Artists and designers.........................
10
270 Manicurists, massagists, shampoo259
ers, and chiropodists....................
10
241 Telegraph operators...........................
9
146 Trained nurses.....................................
8
87 Hairdressers.........................................
5
82 Librarians.............................................
5
81 Laundry employees.............................
5
33 Pottery employees...............................
5
20 Secretaries and superintendent . . .
3
95
17 Miscellaneous.......................................
17 No occupation.......................................
14
16
T o t a l........................................... 2,410
15
14
In the Margaret Louisa Home the classification is as follows:
N urses.....................................................
110
Stenographers, bookkeepers, and
cashiers...............................................
342
Saleswomen and clerk s.....................
237
Dressmakers and seamstresses___
489
Students.................................................
229
Teachers and governesses.................2,016
M illiners..................................................
639
Factory and mill employees — . —
22
Companions...........................................
43
Matrons and housekeepers...............
225
Typewriters...........................................
9
Compositors and proof readers. . . .
15
Office employees................ . ...............
10
Bindery employee...............................
1
Engaged in religious w ork...............
53
Canvassers, agents, and travelers..
523
Artists and designers.........................
172
Manicurists and m assagists.............
7
Telegraph operators...........................
Trained n u rses.....................................
Hairdressers...........................................
L ibrarian s.............................................
Secretaries and superintendents.. .
Miscellaneous (including 127 jour
nalists, editors, reporters, cata
loguers, and other literary work
ers; 70 physicians; 70 musicians,
organists, singers, and violinists;
26 elocutionists, readers, and lec
turers; 82 employed in china
painting, fancy work, art em
broidery, and lace; 96 boarding
house and hotel keepers, and 116
in other occupations).....................
9
147
14
39
84
587
T o t a l ........................................... 6,022
Iii the homes reporting on this subject other than the Margaret
Louisa Home domestic service is more largely represented than any
other occupation, the number in service, as given above, being more
than one-fifth o f the total number reported; stenographers, book
keepers, and cashiers rank next in point o f numbers; saleswomen, shop
girls, and clerks come next, while dressmakers and seamstresses hold
the fourth place in this classification by occupations. There are but 82
factory and mill employees reported, out of a total of 2,410. The fact
that these homes do not largely reach this class of workers and some
suggestions as to the reasons therefor have already been touched upon.
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
T able I.-N A M E , LOCALITY, AND PROPERTY YALUE OF HOMES.
larinal
urn)er.
Locality.
Name of home.
Oakland, Cal........... Chabot Woman’s Sheltering and Protection Home.....................................
2 Oakland, Cal............. Young Women’s Christian Association Home.............................................
3 San Francisco, Cal.. San Francisco Girls’ Union................................................................................
4 San Francisco, Cal.. Young Women’s Christian Association........................................................
5 Denver, Colo............. Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
6 Denver, Colo............. Young Woman’s Christian Club.....................................................................
7 Hartford, Conn........ Young Women’s Boarding H om e....................................................................
8 New Haven, Conn .. Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
9 W ashington, D. C -.. Young Woman’s Christian Home...................................................................
10 Chicago, 111............... Home for Self-supporting Women....................................................................
11 Chicago, 111............... House of Providence................................................................................'.........
12 Chicago, 111............... Jane Club...............................................................................................................
13 Chicago, 111............... Working W oman’s Home ( “ Minnetonka”).................................................
14 Chicago, 111............... Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
15 Chicago, 111............... Young Women’s Christian Association, Transient H om e........................
16 Chicago, 111............... Young Woman’s Christian H om e...................................................................
17 Rockford, 111............. Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
18 Fort Wayne, Ind---- Young Women’s Christian Association........................................................
19 Indianapolis, In d ... Friends’ Boarding Home for Girls...................................................................
20 Dubuque, Iow a........ Home for Working Girls....................................................................................
21 Topeka, Hans........... Ingleside.................................................................................................................
22 Louisville, K y ......... Young Women’s Boarding Home.....................................................................
23 Bangor, M e............... King’s Daughters’ Home of Bangor, Me .....................................................
24 Lewiston, M e........... Young Women’s Home..................................................................*....................
25 Baltimore, M d......... Aisquith House....................................................................................................
26 Baltimore, M d......... Female Christian Home.....................................................................................
27 Baltimore, M d......... St. Martha’s Episcopal H ouse...........................................................................
28 Baltimore, M d......... St Paul’s House....................................................................................................
29 Baltimore, M d......... Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
30 Boston, M ass........... Boston Young Women’s Christian Association, Berkeley Street Home.
31 Boston, M ass........... Boston Young Women’s Christian Association, Warrenton Street Home.
32 Boston, M ass........... Boarding House for Working G irls................................................................
33 Boston, M ass........... New England Helping Hand Home............................................... .................
34 Boston, M ass............ Working Girls’ Home, or Home of the Grey Nuns......................................
35 Fall River, Mass___ Women’s Union Hom e......................................................................................
36 Salem, M ass............. Woman’s Friend Society....................................................................................
37 Springfield, Mass ... Young Women’s Christian Association Boarding Home............................
38 Worcester, Mass___ Young Women’s Christian Association.........................................................
39 Detroit, M ich........... St. Mary Home for Young W omen..................................................................
40 Detroit, M ich........... Young woman’s H om e......................................................................................
41 Kalamazoo, Mich ... Young Women’s Christian Association........................................................
42 Minneapolis, Minn.. Woman’s Christian Association BoardingHome........................................
43 Minneapolis, M inn.. WOman’s Christian Association Branch Home...........................................
44 Kansas City, Mo___ Young Women’s Christian Association Home.............................................
45 St. Louis, M o............ St. Joseph’s Convent of Mercy, Young Girls’ Home...................................
46 St. Louis, M o........... St. Louis Working Girls’ Home.......................................................................
47 St. Louis, M o........... Women’s Christian Home..................................................................................
48 St. Louis, M o........... Women’s Training School.......................... .......................................................
49 St. Louis, M o........... Young Women’s Christian Association........................................................
50 Brooklyn, N. Y ........ Business Women’s Union..................................................................................
51 Brooklyn, N. Y ........ Young Women’s Christian Association, Boarding Department.............
52 Buffalo, N .Y ............. Working Girls’ Club of Buffalo, N. Y ............................................................
53 New York, N. Y ___ Cooperative Home...............................................................................................
54 New York, N. Y ___ Florence Crittenton.............................................................................................
55 New York, N. Y ___ Girls’ Home Society.............................................................................................
56 New York, N. Y ___ Ladies’ Christian Union Young Women’s Home........................................
57 New York, N. Y ---- Ladies’ Christian Union Branch Home..........................................................
58 New York, N. Y ___ Ladies’ Christian Union Eva Home................................................................
59 New York, N .Y ___ Margaret Louisa Home of the Y. W. C. A .....................................................
60 New York, N. Y ---- National Christian League Industrial Homefor Self-supporting Women.
61 New York, N. Y ---- St. Bartholomew’s Girls’ Club Boarding House..........................................
62 New York, N. Y ___ Shelter for Respectable G irls...........................................................................
63 New York, N. Y ---- Young Women’s Home Society of the French Evangelical Church in
the City of New York.
64 Rochester, N. Y ........ Young Women’s Christian Association Boarding Home..........................
65 Troy, N .Y ................. Young Women’s Association...........................................................................
a No incorporated.
6 No
e Th >home is under the management of the Y. W. C. A., which was incorporated in 1877.
<*Fo lodging house.
eTh >home is a department of the Y. W. C. A., which was chartered April 2,1879.
/R e Lt donated.
tfFo branch borne.
ft In. luding W arrenton Street Home.
i In. Luded in Berkeley Street Home,
j Ov aed by the archbishop.
Tc Op rated under charter of Fall River Women’s Union, which was chartered February 7,1887.
IFr m August 1,1896, to April 30,1897.
1
HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
—NAME, LOCALITY, AND PROPERTY VALUE OP HOMES.
Incorporated.
If owned, esti
value not owned,
Building mated
land and Ifyearly
owned. ofimprove
rent.
ments.
Value of fur
niture and
other house
hold articles
owned.
$ 12, 000.00
Yes.
$1,500.00
18,000.00
2,500.00
Yes.
$960.00
No...
1,000. 00
42,000? 00
Yes5.000.
3,024.00
2 , 000.00
N o..
2.000. 00
N o..
1, 020.00
60,000.00
Yes.
40.000.
00
3, 500. 00
Yes.
Yes.
1,600.00
30.000. 00
20.000.
00
2, 500.00
Yes.
Yes.
(b)
(b)
(b)
1.500.00
840.00
No..
(a)
600.00
N o720.00
Apr. —, 1890..
35,000.00
Yes.
10, 000.00
—, 1877..
300.00
No..,
900.00
(c)
240.00
400.00
N o(a)
dl56. 00
500. 00
” 6,’ 666.’ 66
Yes.
July —, 1891..
1, 000. 00
N o855.50
Mar. 6.1897..
960.
00
1,
000. 00
N
o
(a)
3.000.
15, ooo. oo
Yes.
(a)
2.500.00
Yes.
7.500.00
Peb. 25.1886..
11,000.00
3.000.
Dec. 2.1867..
7, 000.00
Yes.
1.500.00
Dec. 2.1891..
8.500.00
925. 00
Yes.
(e)
300. 00
N oJune —, 1895..
(/)
16,200.00
500. 00
Yes.
Apr. 8.1867..
500.00
5,500.00
Yes.
—,1897.,
500. 00
22,300.00
Yes.
(a)
34,000. 00
g 300.00
8.000. 00
Yes.
Peb. 10.1883..
A25, 000. 00
A275,000.00
Apr. 13.1867..
Yes.
Apr. 13.1867..
(i)
<<>
6, 000. 00
2,200.00
N o(a)
13.000. 00
1, 500. 00
Dec. 12.1887..
Yes—15.000. 00
25.000. 00
Apr. 1.1889..
■K
TU)
500. 00
“ iiei’oo'
No___
(*)
9,200.00
1, 200. 00
—,1885..
Yes—.
2, 000. 00
10, 000.00
Yes—.
(m )
0121,059.78
012,812.59
Yes—.
(n )
600.00
2.500.00
N o ....
Mar. 1.1896..
2,500. 00
—, 1877.,
Y es...
30,000.00
800.00
6,500.00
—, 1893.
{b)
Yes—.
Nov. 6,1896.
(b)
882. 50
N o(b)
(b)
2.500.00
1, 200.00
—,1890.,
N o....
(b)
<b)500.00
(b)
(&)
•
r(6)
780.00
—,1895..
Nxo__
3.000.
*32*666.’66
Jan. 5.1870..
Yes—.
2, 000.00
2,503.20
N o....
(P)
—,1882.,
N o....
720. 00
(b)
37, 000.00
Y es...
Nov. —,1871.
( b)
1.000.
—,1880..
q200.01
N o3.000.
2.1896..
1, 000.00
N o—
12,1896.
1, 500.00
N o(b)
2.000.
3,1893.
No—
(/)600.00
N o....
(b)
(a)
5,1866.
Y es...
<b)
(b)
5.1866..
26,000.00
Yes —.
(b)
5.1866..
(b)
Y es...
(b)
1
0
.000.
(r)
Y es...
(*)
3.000.
45,000.00
(*
)
■
»<
«>
2
.0
00. 00
1.500.00
No__
(v)
3,000.00
—,1880.
3.600.00
N o15.000. 00
(b)
Oct. 7,1890.
Y es...
20.000.
00
----- -,1891-1895. Yes.
(b)
4, 000.00
60,000.00
—,1886......... Yes.
ipartment of the Y. W. C. A., which was incorporated in 1882.
apartment of the Y. W. C. A., which was incorporated October 26,1885.
>f Y. W . C. A. property and Vacation House,
apartment oi the Y. W . C. A., which was chartered in 1870.
is; rent free for two years.
>partment of the Y. vV. C. A., which was incorporated April 29, 1873.
b of Mrs. Elliott P. Shepard.
er the management of the National Christian League, which is incorporated
resident of the league.
charter of St. Bartholomew’s Clubj date of incorporation not reported.
Nov. 17.1890..
♦ June 6.1884..
Mar. 22.1886..
July 3.1893..
(a)
July —, 1869..
Mar. 8.1882..
Peb. 23.1886..
—, 1890..
(a )
r0. is —
i
iral
nr.
1
2
3
00 4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
00 20
21
00 22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
0047
48
49
50
0051
00 52
53
0054
55
56
57
58
00 59
00 60
61
62
63
64
65
186
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
T able I.—NAME, LOCALITY, A N D PROPERTY VALUE OP IIOIIES-Concluded.
Mar
ginal
number.
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
Locality.
Name of liome.
Utica, N. T ...............
Cincinnati, Ohio---Cincinnati, Ohio---Cincinnati, Ohio---Cincinnati, Ohio---Cleveland, Ohio........
Cleveland, Ohio........
Columbus, Ohio........
East Liverpool, Ohio
Steubenville, Ohio..
Portland, Oregon ...
Portland, Oregon...
Allegheny, P a .........
Erie, Pa......................
Philadelphia, P a ---Philadelphia, P a ---Philadelphia, P a---Philadelphia, P a ---Pittsburg, P a...........
Pittsburg, P a...........
Providence, B. I ---Providence, B. I . -..
Memphis, Tenn........
Dallas, T ex...............
Richmond, V a .........
Industrial Home..................................................................................................
House of M ercy..................................................................................................
Lawrence..............................................................................................................
Sacred Heart Home for Young Working Girls............................................
Young Women’s Christian Association Boarding House..........................
Boarding Home for Working Women............................................................
St. Mary’s ..............................................................................................................
Woman’s Educational and Industrial Union................................................
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Home for Young Women.........
Helping H and.....................................................................................................
Home lor Unemployed Women.........................................................................
Portland Women’s Union..................................................................................
Young Women’s Boarding Home.....................................................................
Women’s Christian Association Boarding Home of Erie...................
Boarding Home of Germantown Women's Christian Association.........
Guild Boarding Home.........................................................................................
Temporary Home Association.........................................................................
Women’s Christian Association of Philadelphia, Boarding Department.
Central Young Women’s Christian Association..........................................
Young Women’s Christian Association Home...........................................
St. Maria Home.............................................................1.....................................
Young Women’s Christian Association........................................................
Anne Brinkley Horae.........................................................................................
Girls’ Cooperative Home...................................................................................
Woman’s Christian Association.......................................................................
a Not incorporated.
From January 8, 1897, to June 12,1897.
Owned by Sisters of St. Joseph.
dNot reported.
b
c
T able
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
IE.-AGENCY THROUGH WHICH HOME WAS ESTABLISHED AND CONDITIONS
OF ADMISSION.
Agency through which home was established.
1 Bequest of Anthony Chabot.................................................
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Earnest women ana persistent effort.................................
Philanthropic men and women of the various churches
Managers of the association.................................................
Ladies of the c ity ...................................................................
Sunday-school class, Trinity M. E. Church......................
Women’s Christian Association..........................................
Ladies of the c ity ...................................................................
Mrs. Mary G. W ilkinson.......................................................
A committee of ladies interested in working girls.........
Franciscan Sisters...................................................................
Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House.....................................
Young Women’s Christian Association...............................................
Young Women’s Christian Association...............................................
Public philanthropy................................................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association...............................................
International Committee Young Women’s Christian Association.
Women of Western Yearly Meeting of Friends’ Church..............
Citizens of Topeka...................................................
Mrs. Mary Crutcher and others...........................
King’s Daughters’ Union, of Bangor.................
Women’s Christian Association...........................
Bev. Edmund D idies...............................................
Ladies of various Protestant churches.............
Daughters of the K ing...........................................
Parishioners of St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore...
A few Christian women........................................
Boston Young Women’s Christian Association
Boston Young Women’s Christian Association.
a Not reported.
Home for tem
porary
or permanent
residence.
Temporary...
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Permanent -..
Both.................
Temporary...
Permanent...
Permanent ...
Permanent...
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Permanent ...
Both.................
Both.................
Temporary...
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
Temporary...
Both.................
Both.................
Both.................
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
187
T able I.-N AAIE, LOCALITY, AND PROPERTY YALUE OE HOMES—Concluded.
Established.
----- —,1871.
----- —,1858.
Oct. 1,1896.
June 16,1892.
Nov. 11,1869.
Mar. —,1895.
Dec. —,1886.
Nov. 3,1894.
Dec. 1,1895.
June —, 1895.
Oct. 21,1887.
Mar. 25,1889.
Apr. —,1895.
----- -,1870.
Apr. —, 1896.
June 25,1849.
June —, 1871.
Dec. —,1891.
----- —,1890.
----- —,1888.
---------- ,1867.
----- —,1887.
----- —,1891.
Mar. —, 1887.
(d )
Incorporated.
June 6,1871.
(a)
(a)
Eeb. —,1893.
Oct. 6,1868.
(e)
(d )
Jan. 26.1887.
(d )
(a)
(d)
Oct. 21.1887.
(/)
Mar. 22,1895.
—,1875
(d)
Jan. 29,1852
May —,1871
Dec. —, 1891.
June 9,1888.
Eeb. 21,1890,
—,1870.
—,1887.
—,1892,
Mar. —, 1890,
If owned, esti
value not owned,
Building mated
land and Ifyearly
rent.
owned. ofimprove
ments.
Yes.......
Yes........
No.........
^Yes........
(o)
Yes........
Yes........
Yes........
No.........
No.........
No.........
Yes........
Yes........
No.........
Y es.......
No.........
Yes........
Yes........
No.........
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$20, 000.00
24,000.00
6$275.00
45.000. 00
22. 000.
00
30,000.00
(d)
16,500.00
288.00
180.00
180.00
20,369.66
20, 000.00
480.00
13,000.00
’336.'66'
12, 000.00
335,000.00
g 2,422.05
12,000.00
75.000. 00
h 39,291.66
23.000. 00
8, 500.00
18, 000. 00
Value of fur
niture and
other house
hold articles
owned.
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
$1,500.00
66
67
2,000.00
350.00
3.000.
00
76
2.500.00
1, 500.00
71
72
(d)
500.00
73
1.200.00
74
75
(d)
500.00
76
4, 216.00
77
1.500.00
76
7S
(d)
id)
86
800.00
81
1.000. 00 82
15,000.00
83
84
(d)
1, 500.00
85
(d)
(d)
87
2,000.00
86
1.500.00
2, 000.00
e The home is a department of the Y. W. C. A. of Cleveland, which was incorporated in April, 1869.
/ The home is a branch of the Y. W. C. A., which is incorporated ; date not reported.
g Including water tax.
h Two buildings.
T able
II.—AGENCY THROUGH WHICH HOME WAS ESTABLISHED AND CONDITIONS
OE ADMISSION.
Conditions of admission.
Age.
Other.
All ages................
Under 35 years ...
10 to 35 years.......
16 to 35 years----All ages................
16 years and over.
Under 40 years ...
Under 30 years ...
Under 85 years ...
Under 30 years ...
14 years and over.
18 to 35 years.......
All ages................
( a ) ...........................
All ages................
( a ) .....................
16 to 40 years.......
All ages................
All ages.................
All ages................
32 years and under........
All ages...........................
Young girls preferred..
18 years to middle age..
Under 27 years...............
Under 25 years (6).
Under 35 years___
25 years and under
25 years and under
Respectability; working for a living......................................................
Protestant.....................................................................................................
No conditions relating to religion............................................................
Good character; two reliable references...............................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character; self-supporting..............................................................
Self-supporting or preparing for self-support; Protestant; white..
Good character; those earning small wages given preference.........
Good character; in need of help...............................................................
Respectability; without natural protection in Chicago....................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character; city reference; self-supporting; subscribe to con
stitution.
Respectability; working for a living......................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
No restrictions....................-........................................................................
Respectability; self-maintenance............................................................
Two acceptable references.........................................................................
Good character; wholly or partially self-supporting..........................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character...............................................................
Good character...............................................................
Respectability; industry; cleanliness....................
Good character; self-supporting...............................
Good character; able to pay only moderate board.
References as to good character............................... .
Two references as to good character.......................
References as to good character................................
References as to good character.................. ...........
b Exceptions are made.
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
[.—AGENCY THROUGH WHICH HOME W AS ESTABLISHED AND
OF ADMISSION—Concluded.
arlal
m>r.
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
Agency through, which home was established.
First Church (Unitarian) of Boston.........................................................................
New England Helping Hand Society.....................................................................
The archbishop and ladies’ societies.......................................................................
Fall River Women’s Union.......................................................................................
(a)......................................................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association..................................................................
A group of women desiring to work for and with other women......................
Catholic ladies of Detroit...........................................................................................
Five women and two men.........................................................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association..................................................................
Woman’s Christian Association of Minneapolis..................................................
Woman’s Christian Association of Minneapolis.................................................
Christian women.......................................................................................................
Sisters of Mercy...........................................................................................................
Benevolent individual................................................................................................
Women’s Christian Association..............................................................................
Women’s Christian Association................................................. .............................
Women’s Christian Association..............................................................................
Committee of ladies of Brooklyn Woman’s Club................................................
Home Association of Working Women and Girls...............................................
Lecture by Grace D odge...........................................................................................
Dr. J. A. 33. W ilson......................................................................................................
Charles N. Crittenton, A. W. Dennett.....................................................................
Woman’s Society of the German Baptist Church................................................
Ladies’ Christian Union.............................................................................................
Ladies’ Christian Union.............................................................................................
Ladies’ Christian Union.............................................................................................
Gift of Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard to the Young Women’s Christian Association
The Christian League ana its president................................................................
Girls’ Club of St. Bartholomew’s Church.................................................. ...........
Episcopal Sisterhood......................................................................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association of the French Evangelical Church...
Young Women’s Christian Association.....................................................................
Ladies’ Society of Troy, N .Y .......................................................................................
Women’s Christian Association..................................................................................
Sisters of M ercy...........................
Episcopal Church of Cincinnati.
Miss M. McCabe, of Cincinnati..
Thoughtful Christian women ...
Women’s Christian Association.
(a).
Gifts of various i pie
Woman’s Christian ^
Steubenville Central Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
Mrs. Dr. Henry W. C oe.....................................................................
Portland Women’s Union .
Gift of the property by Mrs. Felix R. Brunot to the Young Women’s Chris
tian Association.
Mrs. D. P. Eells, president, and Mrs. L. T. Scofield, vice president, Cleve
land Christian Association.
Women’s Christian Association of Germantown..................................................
St. James’s Guild for Girls.........................................................................................
A society of women......................................................................................................
Women’s Christian Association................................................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association............................................................
Young Women’s Christian Association..................................................................
(a).
Annie F. Martin, Laura C. Lincoln, Frances M. White, Maria M. Benedict,
Elizabeth E . Andrews.
88 Women’s Christian Association.................................................................................
89 Ladies of Dallas.............................................................................................................
90 Ladies of Richmond.......................................................................................................
a
b
Not reported.
Temporary boarders received when there is room.
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
II.—AGENCY THROUGH WHICH HOME WAS ESTABLISHED AND CON
OF ADMISSION—Concluded.
Conditions of admission.
Age.
Other.
16 to 25 years...................
All ages............................
15 to 40 years...................
Over 12 years...................
Under 60 years...............
All ages........................ .
All ages............................
15 to 30 years...................
15 to 30 years...................
All ages............................
( a ) .......................................
All ages...........................
All ages............................
( a ) .......................................
12 to 50 years...................
(a).......................................
All
ages............................
( a ) ......................................
A ll ages............................
( a ) .......................................
Over 14 years...................
(«).......................................
30 years and under........
( a ) ......................................
( a ) ......................................
(a).......................................
(a ) ......................................
All ages............................
All ages............................
Young women.................
Young women.................
All ages............................
All ages............................
Young women.................
(«)......................................
7 years and over.............
All ages; young women
preferred.
14 to 30 years...................
Under 30 years...............
All ages; young women
preferred.
( a ) ......................................
All ages............................
All ages............................
All ages............................
34 to 45 years...................
(a ) ......................................
Young girls....................
All ages............................
Under 25 years...............
14 years and over...........
All ages............................
Young women preferred ( a ) ......................................
(a)......................................
(a)......................................
Over 18 years...................
Young women.................
( e ) ......................................
All ages............................
Earning less than $8 per week or supporting some other member
of family.
Good character; Protestant; earning less than $6 per week.............
Physically and mentally sound.................................................................
Respectability...............................................................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character; preference given to self-supporting young women.
Self-supporting; Protestant.....................................................................
References......................................................................................................
Unmarried; no home in Detroit; self-supporting or preparing for
self-support.
Good character; self-supporting..............................................................
Obedience to rules of the home..................................................................
Good references as to character................................................................
Unmarried; good character; working for a living..............................
Working for a living....................................................................................
Good character; self-maintenance..........................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good references.............................................................................................
Good character; self-supporting..............................................................
Membership in Young Women’s Christian Association....................
Good behavior; working for a living......................................................
Self-supporting............................................................................................
( a ) ....................................................................................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Earning wages; unable to pay prices of usual boarding houses---Earning wages; unable to pay prices of usual hoarding houses---Earning wages; unable to pay prices of usual boarding houses___
Self-supporting; Protestant; not house servants.................................
No requirements but desire and need.................. ..................................
Membership St.Bartholomew’s Girls’ Club; without families in
the city.
Seeking employment or being temporarily homeless; credentials
of capability and character.
Respectability; speak French; temporarily unemployed..................
Good character; self-supporting...............................................................
Respectable character; working for a liv in g ........................................
Unmarried; respectability; desiring refined home suitable to their
means.
Good character..............................................................................................
Self-supporting on small salary...............................................................
Respectability................................................................................................
Good behavior; those whose need is greatest........................................
Good character; references.........................................................................
Honesty and respectability........................................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Good character..............................................................................................
In need............................................................................................................
Good health; good reputation; without means.....................................
Testimonials of character..........................................................................
Self-supporting..............................................................................................
Good character; willing obedience to rules of the home....................
Income not exceeding $6 per week............................................................
Working for a livin g....................................................................................
Seeking employment, help, or shelter........................... ...........................
Self-supporting or preparing for self-support........................................
Good character; Protestant; references.................................................
Good character; Protestant; self-supporting........................................
Good character..............................................................................................
Unmarried.....................................................................................................
Good references............................................................................................
Good character; working for a living.......................................................
c Single, all ages; widows under 28.
ral
n32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
CO
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
III.—NUMBER OF BOARDERS AND SLEEPING- ROOMS AND COST OF LIVING.
Boarders.
Differ
lar- That
nal can be A t Now Aver ent
time unem age ones
im- accom
er. mo of re ployed. num during
ber. last
dated. port.
year.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
U
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2i
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
36
40
35
76
65
35
70
61
40
66
110
27
40
300
25
14
15
23
26
35
30
30
20
15
25
30
18
20
47
142
180
39
21
155
12
26
41
85
40
68
10
70
30
130
45
30
90
40
30
42
19
29
31
20
20
Sleeping rooms.
Cost of living, etc.
Differ
ent
ones
For Average per
For three
since Single. two
week, includ
estab
or
ing room
only. more.
lish
rent.
ment of
home.
325 (a)
16
$2.50 to $4.00
92
348
15 21 (a)
25
3.00
520 5,300
22
5
3.50 to 4.00
7
2
589 4,000
65
40 18
3.50
4.50
10
30
(d ) 1,100 4,000
138
600
25
5
6
4.60
4
100 * 2,000
4 40
50
3.00
300 1,400
2
50
4.00
34 12
1
379 1,850
3
3
20
24
2.45
205 (a)
2
60
2.60
4
2
6
52 65 <«>
(a)
(a)
(a)
(a)
(<*) 3.00
42
1
22
225
3
2
7
900 5,250
18 35
4
2.50
4
8
5 250 3,500 (a)
96 63 (a) 3.00 to 6.00
20
300 2,400 (a)
12
20
3.00
4 4
6
20
3.00*
7
1
2
3
(a)
7
8
2
25 e 60
12
2.50
19
(a)
21
(a)
3.84
5
4
3
20
175
800
20
3.00 to 3.50
13
50
20
2
300
20
2.00 ‘
5
3
5
12
6
5
(a)
(a)
(a)
2.50
30
2
30
65
3,750
27
12
2.50
10
2
20.
2
88
500
3.00
17
4
5
4
9
72
2
306
10
2
2.75
4
2
83
18
3 18
227
6
2.50
3
4
27
1
50 1,100
27
2
2.75
2
11
10
3 12
28 (a)
h 2.50
5
4
2
14
1
119 (a)
16
3.00
11
1
2
47
4 33
325 8, 500
11
13
3 2.75 to 3.25
142
6
j 2,140
4. 00
j 33 j l 02
(a)
(a)
j 48
180
8
(a)
4. 00
(a)
36
4 37 <*>80
420 (*) (*)5 <*)10 3.50 to 4. 00
21
3 20
700
75
3.00
1
3
4
135
50 140 1,695 7, 662
30 26 21
2. 60
4
1
5 l 38
l 38
m 1.00 to 3.00
4
4
1
20
20
30 (a)
2
8
(a)
35
438 (a)
35
3 16
2 3.25 to 5.00
78
142
3 80
355
3.75
17 20
8
24
337 (a)
7 30
2.00
3 15
60
6
55 n 587 (a)
9 255
3.00
2
8
9 (a)
(a)
3.15
39 (a)
65
205 (a)
357
5 2. 00 to 3.50
18
25
390 (a)
3.00
50
300 (a)
3 50
30 15
3. 25
8
35
30 35 1, 231 (a)
45
3
4 2.50 to 3.50
16
120
3 22
(a)
m 2. 00
5
7
87
552 9,840
62
10
36
3 3.00 to 3.50
33
200
4,200
30
4 10
5 3.00 to 4.00
15
600
100
5 10
4
1
1 3.00 to 4.00
36
88
(a)
(a)
3
36
4.75 to 6.00
30
152
18
18
1
4
6
1
3.00
29
5,000
29 (a)
2
1
10
3.10
1
31
31
105
307
3
6
3
2.50 to 3.00
20
167
671
5 14
2
3
2.95
4
(a)
374
(a)
247
(a)
2
3
(a)
3.00
a Not reported.
b In special cases.
e Are also served at reduced rate.
d In dining room, 220 per day.
e Not including transients.
/R ates vary according to wages earned.
g On promise of future payment.
h Those on half time pay half board.
i Paid for out of special fund.
§ Including number in "Warrenton Street Home.
Included in Berkeley Street Home.
I From August 1,1896, to April 30,1897.
m No meals served; lodgings only.
n For 10 months.
o A t discretion of superintendent.
16
25
25
70
65
19
65
30
18
62
85
25
22
190
9
4
20
6
8
12
2
k
not,
Are free Ifare
meals they
served served
to the
unem at a re
ployed? duced
rate?
Yes. ..
N o........
Yes (6 c)
Y e s....
Yes (6).
No........
Yes (6).
No........
Tfifi.
N o........
(a)
No........
Yes___
No........
Y es___
Yes (g).
Yes (c).
Yes (6 cj
Yes (6).
N o........
Yes---Yes___
Y es___
Y e s....
Yes (c).
N o........
Y es___
Yes (6).
(i)
Yes (c).
Yes (c ).
N o .....
No........
Yes (c).
(m )
N o .....
Yes (be)
N o........
Yes___
No........
N o..
No
No
Y es___
(a)
(m)
Yes (6).
Yes (c).
No........
No
No........
(o)
No ....
Yes.^..
No........
No.
(c)
No.
Yes.
(f)
-vV
'
No.
(a)
No.
No.
(C)
No.
(c)
(h)
(i)
(c)
(o)
No.
No.
(c)
(m)
No.
(c)
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
(a)
(m)
(c)
No.
No.
No.
(o)
No.
(a)
191
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
see
n x—
NUMBER OF BOAEDEES AND SLEEPING BOOMS, ETC.—Concluded.
Boarders.
Lar- That
Differ
nal can oe A t Now Aver ent
lin accom
time unem age ones
er. mo of re ployed. num during
ber. last
dated. port.
year.
56
85
57
38
58
45
59 120
60
60
61
25
62
45
63
30
64
18
65
57
66
20
67
60
68
16
69
75
70
14.
71
55
72
40
73 /50
74
17
75
13
76
15
48
77
22
78
79
16
80 (a)
81
12
25
82
83 250
84
46
85
30
86 125
58
87
88
55
89
40
40
90
70
25
30
108
45
23
41
18
17
57
9
43
13
75
11
40
37
20
10
4
(a)
22
22
5
(a)
11
25
197
46
30
103
29
40
20
27
Sleeping rooms.
Differ
ent
ones
For Average per
For three
since Single. two
week, includ
estab
or
ing room
only.
lish
rent.
more.
ment of
home.
70 (a)
(a)
30 (a)
33 (a)
(a)
(a)
103 6,057 27,764
15 45
648 (a)
3 20
90
110
500 7,285
41 30
15
264
2,400
13*
8i 12 (a)
(a)
(c) (a)
2
(a)
12
28
638
(a)
34 50 (a)
1,200
3 12 d48 d 48
40 25
600 6,000
1
12
16 (a)
1
43
400 (a)
3 30
220
450
2
30 (a)
(a)
65
14
150
(a)
(a)
(a)
(a)
(a)
320
700
(a)
18 (a)
20
35 (a)
11
35
68
(a)
(a)
(a)
2
7
44 <«)44
14 27 (a)
(a)
5 190
465 (a)
46 (a)
(a)
28 (a)
(a)
18 70 (a)
(a)
50
423 \a)
4 35
112
900
18 (a)
2
1
23
172 («)664
10
Cost of living, etc.
(a)
(a)
8
(a)
46
13
2
6
4
(a)
57
16
4
5
2
1
17
2
5
3
14
31
5
2
2
4
(a)
3
2
2
7
2
28
4
6
x
4
2
2
24
2
(a)
2
7
2
5
(a)
137
3
(a)
78
17
6
3
69
2
(a)
4
23
2
(a)
8
If not,
are
they
served
at a re
duced
rate?
to $5.00 Yes (b).
(a10) $3.00
3.00 to 5.00 Yes (b ).
5 3.00 to 5.00 Yes (b).
7.00 N o........
3 2.50 to 4.00 Yes (b) .
5
3.50 No........
5
3.50 Y es___
3
4.00 No........
(a)
3.00 No........
4.00 to 5.00 N o ........
(a)
3. 00 Yes (b).
34 1.00 to 2.00 Y e s....
3.00 No
13 2.00 to 3.00 Y es—
3
3. 00 Y e s....
1
3.00
3
2.75 Y e(e)s....
35
2.75 Yes (b).
2.50 Y es....
(a)
Mft
1.55 _Yes—
1
1
2.50 to 7.00 No . .
5
3.50 No
2
2.50 to 3.00 Yes (5)
(a)
(a)
(a)
3.50 N o........
2
4
(a)
Y e s....
3.00 to 5.00 Y e s....
(a)
14
5.00 No
1 <1.15 to 2.75
0i )
8
3.00 Y e s....
3.00 to 4.00
11
l! 15 Y es...!
14
1.15 Yes---2.00 No........
7
a Not reported.
b In special cases.
c Over 100 served with meals.
d For 5 months.
e At discretion of superintendent.
f Including day hoarders.
g Those served are allowed to assist with the work for payment.
h Meals and lodgings also furnished at 10 cents each.
i No meals served; lodgings only.
Are free
meals
served
to the
unem
ployed?
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
(e)
(9)
No.
No.
(a)
No.
( h)
Yes.
(i)
Yes.
192
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
T able
IY.—RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES FOR THE LAST FISCAL YEAR.
Mar
gin. Board,
al room
num rent,
and
ber. meals.
Receipts.
Fees,
dues,
and
other Other
charges sources.
to in
mates.
Expenditures.
Total.
Rent.
Food.
Salaries Furni All other
and ture and
wages. repairs. purposes.
Total.
$654.65
$3,015.34 $3,669.99
$3,015.36 $300.00 $165.15 $789.18 $4,269.69
3,547.40 $234.50 168.26 3,950.16
1,655.05 1,197.00 128.85 969.26 3,950.16
3,115.20
5,877.73 8,992.93 $960.00 1,409.80 882.40 166.20 5,602.20 9,020.60
6,647. 58 382.89 10,325.81 17,356.28
8,268.15 6,375.65 508.65 2,255.60 17,408.05
15,557.69 977.87 1,120.60 17,656.16 3,024.00 7,340.04 4,772.60 420.04 2,103.94 17, 660.62
3,554.30 171.00 1,297.25 5,022.55 1, 020.00 2,125.02 569.76 700.00 607.77 5.022.55
8,794.22
8,794.22
6,157.99 2,239.07 300.16
97.00 8,794.22
9,177.29 269.35 3,282.62 12,729.26
4,966.20 2,555.95 706.26 2,124.32 10,352.73
(a)
(a)
(a)
4,572.44
1,028.00 (b) c 3,395.90 4,423.90
(b)
1,239.61 8,626.66
10 7,387.05
4,006.08 2,053.00 647.10 1,287.74 7,993.92
11
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
12 4,000.85 219.52
410.00 4,630.37 840.00 2,131.04 799.00 (d)20.70 889.34 4,680.08
111. 40 2,256.70 720.00 (b)
13 2,145.30
el, 522.72 2,242.72
(b)
(b)
14 24,583.38 (a) At, 314.64 /35,898.02
7,109.87 4,737.22 9,595.93 £50,346.24 g 7 1 , 789.26
15 2,355.33
2,355.33 900.00 <b)
el, 907.70 2,807.70
(b)
(b)
16 920.88
375.63 1,296.51 240.00 522.41 310.
So
64.33 157.84 1.295.38
17 700.00 500.00 757.44 1,957.44 h 156.00 570.00 650.00 120.00 356.00 1.852.00
18 3,158.75 713.50 1,204.76 5,077.01 855.50 1,586.48 1,285.75 320.92 1,648.02 5,696.67
19 3,625.26
378.84 4,004.10 960.00 1,783.90 760.05 168.62 322.12 3, 994. 69
200.00 1,343.50
20 1,143.50
500.00 600.00 150.00
50.85 1.300.85
21
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(a)
(a)
1,000.00
(a)
(a)
22 3,650.00
3.650.00
4,750.00 800.00
9.00
5,559. 00
23 2,157.37
676.64 2.834.01
1,685.29 724.40 151.54 421.32 2.982.55
24 724.58 120.38 1,181.87 2, 026.83
727.17 643.17 84.03 443.07 1,897.44
25 1,300.80
1148.90 41,449.70 (i ) 1,089.85 83.85 125.00 151.00 1,449. 70
26 2,297.05
497. 00 2,794.05
1,519.69 632.50 420.66 311.00 2.883.85
400.00 804.00
27 404.00
800.00 210.00 50.00
1.060.00
28 1,863.10 ......... 719. 22 2,582.32
*1,745.68 (l)
353.01 509.95 2,608. 64
29 4,759.65
4,127.42 8,887.07 m 300.00 4,275.00 2,804.96
332.47 1,174.64 8,887.07
30 30,704.59
6,000.63 36,705.22
20,032.10 n9,528.15 w3,141.70 w3, 961.48 n36,663.43
31 32,820.04
472.31 33,292.35
16,169.97 8,046.72 2,958.38 5, 501.64 32, 676.71
32 7,990.54 ........ 2,739.83 10,730.37 2, 200.00 4,745.43 2, 656.21 235.47 1,055.09 10,892.20
33 2,201.49
1,853.42 4,054.91 ............ 2,203.28 982.00 100. 00 836. 03 4,121.31
34 17, 201.80 18.00
17,219.80
11,382.33 2, 313.17 553.26 ©2,970.04 017,218.80
35 p q 212.50
p 210. 50 #423.00 #162.00
#161.22 #30. 06 # 39.17 # 392.45
(pq)
36 1,629.24
2,482.64 4,111.88
1,099.12
1,542.13 190.19 663.34 3, 494.78
37 5,726.58 88.57 7,177.54 12,992.69
3,298.45
2,970.33
1,736. 71 4,065.13 12,070.62
38 20,510.83
10,334.94 30,845.77
6,932.31 8,624.33 4, 950.15 13,027.58 33,534.37
39 1,983. 02
1,065.44 3,048.46 600.00 1,254.09 805.57 1,123.31
3,782.97
40 7,710. 92
450. 00 8,160.92
3,327.60 2,628.00
790.00 6, 745. 60
41 767. 70
767.70
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d )
I'd)
42 10,094.57
99.50 10,194.07
5,770.14 2,345.50 491.10 1,914. 04 10, 520. 7 1
43 2,949.89 118.00 295.00 3,362.89 882.50 1,190.15 858.00 35.00 351. 64 3,317.29
44 7,402.60
7,202.46 14,605.06 1, 200.00 (b)
el3,417.65 14,617.6U
(b)
(b)
45 (d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
46 q 700.00 2, 000.00 (d)
500.00 3,200.00 780.00
720.00 600.00 500.00 2,600.00
47 12,316.49
36.25 12,352.74
6,6^3.19 2,798.01 313.35 2,166.64 11,931.19
48 10,863.90
6,362.76 17.226.66 2,503.20 9,434.02 4,394.59
696.74 17,028.55
49 (d)
(d)
(d)
<d)
720.00 (d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
50 9,358.32
128.31 9,486.63
4,278.47 2,047.00 1,708.51 «*2, 375.21 r 10,409.19
51 2,696.17
659.78 3,355.95 * 200.01 2,000.09 1,164.50 430.10 662.50 4,457.20
52 7,914.29 512.00 826.58 9,252.87 1, 000.00 4,182.55 934.81 1, 000.00 1,691.02 8.808.38
53 (d)
(d)
(d)
1,500.00 (d)
(d)
524.00 (d)
(d)
(d)
54 925.13
18.24 943.37 O')
706.04 401.32
535.64 1,643. 00
55 (d)
(d)
600.00 (d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
(d)
I'd)
a Not separately reported.
5 Included in expenditures for all other purposes.
c Including expenditures for food and furniture and repairs, and $612.52 interest on loan.
d Not reported.
e Including expenditures for food, salaries and wages, and furniture and repairs.
/Including $4,000 borrowed money and $4,526.27 donated.
g Including $36,592.53 paid on new building and $5,825.83 interest on loan,
a For lodging house.
i Including $125 donated in furniture and repairs.
3 Rent donated.
£ Including salaries and wages.
I Included in food.
m For Branch Home.
^Including expenditures for training school for domestics and for religious work,
o Including $2,000 paid on mortgage.
p From August 1,1896, to April 30,1897.
q No meals served; lodgings only.
r Including $517.50 interest and $1,000 paid on mortgage.
8 For 3 months; rent free for 2 years.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
BOARDING HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
193
T able I T — RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES FOR THE LAST FISCAL YEAR—Concluded.
Receipts.
Mar
gin- Board, dues,
al room and Other
other sources.
num rent,
and charges
ber. meals.
to in
mates.
Expenditures.
Total.
Bent.
Food.
Salaries Furni All other
and ture and
Total.
wages. repairs. purposes.
$13,304.38
$8,329.09 $2,534.96 $382.42
<*$13,304.38
42 $3,785.99 $15,032.46
5,777.22
2,955.66 948.00 265.05
5.777.22
05 714.82 4,883.53
6.306.83
2,890.41 1,186.00 350.64
6,306.83
64 910.91 5,337.96
43,968.77 31,903.53 6,500.00
87,942.94 $817.89 5$6,500. 00 95,260.83
00; 12,885.23 95,257.53
6,247.74
ic)
5,477.99
ic)
ic)
ic)
iO
ic)
$1,500.00 id)
900. 00 ic)
(d)
id\
(d)
(d)
id)
! (d)
(d)
25
4,079.
6.419.19
3,600.00
1,590.82
1,
285.35
2,339.94
207.33! _____ ... 6,683.50
433. 3.088.08
/2 ,678.35 98.73 502.25 3,279.33
2,654.85
ic)
(d)
(d)
id)
id)
id)
(d)
id)
| *&)
id)
10, 000. 00 2, 595.25
10,252.41 285.00 2,278, 12,815.65
4,404.75 17,000.00
300. 00 02,340.66 (d)
300. 1,554.00
(d )
1.254.00
id)
369.50 75.80 101.60 278.10 825.00
852.00
152.
67 700.00
ft 651, ftl, 254.16 ft275.00 ft 303.92 ft 219.20 ft 75. 96 ft97.39 ft 971.47
ft 602.80
id)
(d)
id)
<d)
id)
id)
id)
| (d)
id)
2,480.00 1,105.25 64.35 346. 65 3,996.25
3.440.20
1,617.
1,822.75
4,164.95 1,736.92 696.46 682.68 7,281.01
7.301.14
7,301.14
id)
(d)
(d)
id)
id)
id)
(d)
id)
id)
(c)
3, 372.76
627. 3,078.55
2,450.81
ic)
ic)
ic)
184. 1,482.77 288.00 851.01 148.60 24.36 170.28 1,482.25
1,298.31
180.00 id)
id)
(d)
(d)
447.52 (d)
(d)
id)
(d)
980.00 180.00 180.00 200.00 10.00
60.00 650.00
30.00 120.00
29.29 2,608.44 4,115.92
1,478.19
4.221.84
3,138.29
2,433.74 767.01 219.20 203.14 3, 623.09
365. 3,803.97
3.438.97
480.00 ii)
100.00 j l , 194.33 1,774.33
(d)
(d)
1,419.44 (d)
H)
00 136.14 207.12 1, 839.44
1,196.18 300.
929. 2.071.08
1.142.01
292. 1,219. 20 *336.00 ii)
ft 945. 60 1,281.60
926.85
ii)
460.00 «>
(t)
1,240. 4,117.58
33,578.14 4,038.14
2,876.78
(0
22,462.14 16,510.93 6,291.21
27,558 23 72,822.51
21,107. 74.759.74
53,652.70
14,268.33 1,697.00 4,945. 20,910.92 m2,422.05 8,142.54 6,738.75 816.81 2,888.65 21,008.80
852.00 107.26 973.24 1,932.50
in)
»1, 420. 45 42.25 492. 1.955.43
344.91 1,182.00 4,969.54 2.117.67 8,614.12
5,293. 12.081.74
6.788.23
4, 921.04 708. 00 391.43 3,411. 60 9,432.07
2,068. 8,722.47
6.653.97
810.00 50.00 ................. 2,960.00
2, 100.00
3,019.13
2, 700.00 319.13
700.00 456. 00 id)
2.458.43
(d)
id)
1,875.90 582.53
714.00
1,557.73
1.064.68 3,336.41
668.42 3.187.15
90 2,518.73
Including receipts from laundry conducted by the home.
Gift of Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard for repairs and replenishings.
Not separately reported.
Not reported.
Included in salaries and wages.
/Including food.
g Remodeling building,
ft From January 8,1897, to June 12,1897.
i Included in expenditures for all other purposes.
j Including expenditures for food and salaries and wages.
ft Including expenditures for food, salaries and wages, and furniture and repairs.
I Including expenditures for food and furniture and repairs.
m Including water tax.
n No meals served; lodgings only.
a
b
c
d
e
194
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
T able Y.—OCCUPATIONS OF INMATES.
[The number of inmates as shown in this table does not agree in every case with the number shown
in Table III, for the reason that the number shown here often includes all the different persons who
were in the home during the year.]
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
Occupations pursued by inmates and number in each.
1 Bookkeepers, cooks, dressmakers, milliners, second girls, shirt makers, students, etc. (a)
2 Domestics, 7; dressmakers, 2; elocutionist, 1; nurses, 2; saleswomen, 6 ; stenographers, 2; stu
dents, 2; teachers, 3.
3 Bookkeepers, domestics, dressmakers, factory employees, hairdressers, housekeepers, nurses,
shopgirls, teachers, typewriters, (a)
4 Bookkeepers, canvassers, cooks, dressmakers, maids, saleswomen, second girls, stenographers,
teachers, (a)
Artist, 1; bookkeepers, 5; cashiers, 3; clerks, 3; cooks, 2; domestics, 10; dressmakers, 6 ; house
5
keepers, 2 ; laundry employee, 1 ; manicurist, 1 ; massagists, 3; nurses, 8 ; physicians, 2 ;
stenographer, 1; teachers, 5; teachers, elocution, 2; waitresses, 7; no occupation, 4.
C Bookkeepers, 2; cashier, 1; nurse, 1; saleswomen, 2; stenographers, 2; students, 3; teachers,
school,7; superannuated,!.
7 Bookbinders, 3; clerks, 14; compositors, 5; demonstrators, 2; dressmakers, 8 ; hairdresser, 1;
machine operators, 11; milliners, 10; proof reader, 1 ; seamstresses, 3; stenographers, 5; tele
graph operator, 1 ; telephone operator, 1.
8 Bookkeepers, 3; clerk, 1; exchange attendant, 1; manicurist and shampooer, 1; milliner, 1;
nurses, 3; proof reader, 1; reporter, 1; scholars, 5; seamstress, 1; shopgirls, 2; stenogra
phers, 2 ; teachers, 4; telegraph operators, 2.
Chambermaids, 2; dressmakers, 3; lady’s maid, 1; milliners, 2; missionary, 1; photographer, 1;
seamstresses, 2; tailoresses, 2; teachers, 3; telegraph operator, 1; typewriters, 4.
10 Bookkeepers and stenographers, 25; clerks, 26; factory employees, 3; milliners, 3; seam
stresses, 3.
11 Occupations not reported.
12 Bindery employees, 5; domestics, 3; factory employees, 3; laundry employees, 2; office em
ployees^; saleswomen, 2 ; seamstress, 1 ; shoe operative, 1 ; stenographer, 1 ; teacher, elocu
tion, 1 ; teachers, kindergarten, 3; teacher, school, 1.
13 Cashiers, domestics, factory employees, typewriters, (a)
14 Clerks, stenographers, students, art and music, teachers, etc. (a)
15 Domestics, nurses, children’s, and for the sick, office employees, seamstresses, stenographers, (a)
16 Clerks (6); factory employees (6); physician, 1 ; scholars (b); seamstresses (b).
17 Bookkeepers, 2 ; clerks, 4; dressmakers, 5; factory employees, 7; milliners, 5; nurses, 4; schol
ars, 7; stenographers, 5; students, art, 13; teachers, 8.
18 Agents, bookkeepers, domestics, embroiderers, laundry employees, milliners, notaries public,
nurses, saleswomen, saleswomen, traveling, seamstresses, stenographers, teachers, (a)
19 Clerks, 3; stenographers, 9; students, business college, 6 ; students, kindergarten, 2.
20 Factory employees (b ); scholars, 6 ; teachers, 16.
21 Occupations not reported.
22 Bookkeepers and stenographers, 6 ; dressmakers, 7; saleswomen, dry goods, 15; shirt maker, 1;
vest maker, 1.
23 Bindery employee, 1; clerks, 8 ; confectionery employee, 1; domestic, 1; milliners’ apprentices,
3; scholars, 3; sho8-factory employee, 1 ; no occupation, 2.
24 Bookkeepers, 2 ; canvasser, 1 ; mill employees, 3; milliner, 1 ; nurses, 2 ; saleswoman, 1 ; sales
woman, soliciting, 1; shirt-factory employees, 4; shoe-factory employee, 1; shopgirl, 1;
teachers, school and music, 6 ; weavers, 2.
25 Domestics, 6 ; dressmakers, 3; hat maker, 1; housekeeper, 1; saleswoman, 1; seamstresses, 4;
tailoress, 1 ; typewriter, 1.
26 Dressmakers,6 ; factory employees, 11; saleswomen, 2; students, medical, 3; students, normal, 5.
27 Clerks, dressmakers, factory employees, seamstresses, stenographers, (a)
28 Artists, bookkeepers, cashiers, dressmakers, factory employees, fancy workers, florists, hair
dressers, milliners, mission workers, scholars, stenographers, teachers, kindergarten, etc. (a)
20 Bookkeepers, 2 ; cashier, 1; cook, 1; domestics, 2 ; dressmakers, 8 ; factory employees, 7 ; hair
dresser, 1 ; milliner, 1 ; nurse, child’s, 1 ; nurse, trained, 1 ; saleswomen, 5; stenographer, 1 ;
students, 7; teachers,3; typewriters, 2; waitress,].
30 Bookkeepers, cashiers, chiropodists, clerks, compositors, dressmakers, factory employees, fore
women, fur workers, hairdressers, manicurists, massagists, milliners, proof readers, retouch
ers, saleswomen, seamstresses, stenographers, straw workers, students, tailoresses, teachers,
telephone operators. (a c)
31 Occupations included in those given for home No. 30.
32 Bookkeepers, 7; factory employees, 3; forewomen, factory, 2 ; saleswomen, 5; seamstresses, 7;
stenographers, 2 ; students, 6 ; waitress, 1.
33 Chiropodist, 1 ; clerks and saleswomen, 5; dressmakers, 4; office employees, 3; stenographer, 1 ;
students, 4; no occupation, 1.
34 Bookkeepers, 5; clerks, 8 ; compositors, 5; cooks, 42; designers, 2 ; domestics, 6 ; housekeepers,
4; milliners, 9; nurses, 6 ; parlormaids, 10; seamstresses, 32; students, elocution, 4; students,
music, instrumental, 7; students, music, vocal, 5; students, typewriting, 4; tailoresses, 8 ;
teachers, 6 ; no occupation, 6.
35 Teachers, traveling agents, etc. (a)
36 Clerks, students, normal, etc. (a)
37 Bookkeepers, 4; clerks, 9; milliners, 2; seamstresses, 6 ; stenographers, 5; students, 2 ; teach
ers. 3; telegraph operator, 1; telephone operators, 3.
38 Agent, l ; bookkeepers, 9; box maker, 1 ; card clothier, 1 ; clerks, 8 ; compositor, 1 ; dressmakers,
6 ; examiners, 3; forewoman, threadmakers, 1; librarian, 1; milliners, 3; polisher, 1; seam
stresses, 3; stenographers,?; stitchers,9; students, 10; teachers,8 ; telephone operator, 1;
weaver, 1.
a Number in each occupation not reported.
c Including home No. 31.
b Number not reported.
BOARDING- HOMES AND CLUBS FOR WORKING WOMEN.
195
T able Y .—OCCUPATIONS OF INMATES-Continued.
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
Occupations pursued by inmates and number in each.
39 Bookkeepers, 2 5 clerks, 21; domestics, 234; dressmakers, 16; nurses, 10; students, 3; teachers,
3; telephone operators, 8 ; travelers, 5; typewriters, 5.
40 Bookbinders, bookkeepers, candy makers, canvassers, clerks, compositors, domestics, dress
makers, elocutionists, factory employees, fur sewers, governesses, hairdressers, housekeepers,
laboratory employees, milliners, missionaries, nurses, office employees, physicians, saleswo
men, saleswomen, traveling, seamstresses, stenographers, students, students, music, tailoresses, teachers, teachers, kindergarten, teachers, music, telegraph operators, telephone oper
ators, typewriters, umbrella makers, (a)
41 Clerks, 2; dressmaker, 1; seamstresses, 2; stenographers, 2; teacher, music, 1.
42 Occupations not reported.
43 All occupations open to women.
44 Bookkeepers, 5; nurses, 4; saleswomen, 12; servants, 3; shopgirls, 6 ; stenographers, 20; mis
cellaneous, 4.
45 Cooks, domestics, factory employees, seamstresses, store employees, (a)
46 Clerks, 2; domestics, 6 ; milliners, 4; seamstresses, 5; typewriters, 3; waitresses, 2.
47 Nearly all occupations open to women except domestic service.
48 Nearly all occupations open to women.
49 Cooks, 2; nurses, 4; stenographers, 4; tailoress, 1.
50 Dressmakers, stenographers, students, art, teachers, typewriters, etc. (a)
51 Canvassers, compositors, dressmakers, saleswomen, stenographers, students, typewriters,
etc. (a)
52 Bookkeepers, 4; clerks, 2; cooks, 2; dressmakers, 4; nurses, 6 ; stenographers, 5; waitresses, 4.
53 Laundry employees, machine operators, maids, office clerks, seamstresses, shopgirls, type
writers, etc. (a)
54 Cashier, 1 ; chambermaid, 1; cook, 1 ; domestics, 4; dressmaker, 1 ; fancy worker, 1 ; milliner, 1 ;
photographer, 1; solicitor, 1; stenographers and typewriters, 3; upholsterer, 1; waitresses, 4.
55 Occupations not reported.
56 Artists, saleswomen, seamstresses, students, teachers, (a)
57 Artists, saleswomen, seamstresses, students, teachers, (a)
58 Artists, saleswomen, seamstresses, students, teachers, (a)
59 Actresses, 11; agents, 74; agents, real estate, 2; architects, 3; artists, 158; assayer, 1; boarders,
90; bookbinder, 1; bookkeepers, 89; box makers, 4; cashiers, 7; cataloguers, 4; chaperons, 6 ;
china painters, 17; clerks, 192; cloak makers, 2; collar makers, 3; companions, 43; compositors,
6 ; confectioners, 4; copyists, 10; deaconesses, 2; designers, 14; dressmakers, 436; editors, 11;
electrician, 1; elocutionists, 9; embroiderers, art, 19; fancy workers, 40; farmers, 7; feather
curlers, 4; florists, 3; forewomen, 2 ; fruit grower, 1 ; glove maker, 1 ; governesses, 62; hair
dressers, 14; hatters,2; hotelkeepers, 6 ; housekeepers, 171; illustrator, 1; janitress, 1; jour
nalists, 89; lace workers, 6 ; lawyers, 5; lecturers, 15; librarians, 39; literary workers, 21;
maids, 12; manicurists,3; manufacturers^; massagists,4; matrons,54; merchants,44; mill
operators, 3; milliners, 639; missionaries, 37; mission workers, 14; musicians, 24; nurses, 98;
nurses, trained, 147; organists, 12; pharmacists, 3; photographers, 5; physicians, 70; post
mistresses, 5; proof readers, 9; readers, 2; reporters, 2; saleswomen, 45; sculptor, 1; seam
stresses, 53; secretaries, 46; singers. 33; stenographers, 246; students, 208; students, art, 15;
students, medical, 6 ; superintendents, 38; teachers, 1,710; teachers, art, 16; teachers, cook
ing, 3; teachers, kindergarten, 44; teachers, music, 152; teachers, vocal, 29; telegraph oper
ators, 9; travelers, 449; typewriters, 9; umbrella makers, 3; violinist, 1; weaver, 1; wood
carver, 1.
CO Artists, canvassers, clerks, collectors, companions, delegates to organizations, nurses, children’s,
nurses, trained, seamstresses, superannuated, teachers, (a)
61 Cashiers, clerks, dressmakers, governesses, ladies' maids, milliners, nurses, trained, sales
women, students, teachers, telegraph operators, etc. (a)
62 Occupations not reported.
63 Chambermaids, 16; cooks, 7; domestics, 9; housekeepers, 2; laundress, 1; ladies’ maids, 76;
nursery governesses, 33; nurses, 79; seamstresses, 2; teachers, 16; waitresses, 2; miscella
neous, *21.
64 Clerks, 4; matron, 1; missionary, 1; secretary Travelers’ Aid Society, 1; secretary Young
Women’s Christian Association, 1; superintendent woolen mill, 1; tailoress, 1; telephone
operator, 1.
65 Dressmakers, milliners, nursos, seamstresses, shirt and collar makers, teachers, etc. (a)
66 Bookkeepers, 2 ; seamstresses, 3; stenographer, 1; teachers, kindergarten, 3; etc.
67 Laundresses and domestics, 15; scholars, 19; seamstresses, 9.
68 Agent,corset, 1; companions,2; milliners,2; proofreader,!; stenographers,2; students,music
and art, 4; teacher, kindergarten, 1.
69 All occupations filled by women.
70 Bookkeeper, 1; clerks, 4; seamstress, 1; stenographers, 4; student, music, 1.
71 Clerks, 7; domestics, 34; dressmakers and seamstresses, 8 ; milliners, 24; stenographers and
bookkeepers, 22; students, 20; teachers, 8 ; telegraph operators, 2.
72 Domestics (b); dressmakers, 4 ; engraver, 1 ; factory employees (b); nurses, trained, 2 ; scholars,
2 ; stenographers, 2 ; telephone operators, 2.
73 Bookkeepers, factory employees, shopgirls, stenographers, students, (a)
74 Dressmaker, 1 ; pottery employees, 5; tailoresses, 2; teachers, school, 2.
75 Domestics, seamstresses, etc. (a)
76 Cooks, domestics, dressmakers, general workers, nurses for the sick and for children, seam
stresses, waitresses, etc. (a)
77 Bookkeepers (b); cashiers (b); dressmakers, 3; milliners (b); nurses (b); saleswomen (b); stenog
rapher, 1 ; student, 1.
a Number in each occupation not reported.
bNumber not reported.
196
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
T able V.-OCCUPATIQNS OF INMATES—Concluded.
Mar
ginal
num
ber.
Occupations pursued by inmates and number in each.
78 Dressmaker, 1; electric light company employee, 1; milliner, 1; saleswomen, 7; stenographers
7; tailoress, 1; teacher,Kindergarten, 1; tobacco-factory employees, 3.
79 Bookkeepers, canvassers, clerks, copyists, dressmakers, forewomen, bakeries and stores, milli
ners, stenographers, typewriters, (a)
80 Occupations not reported.
81 Agent, 1; chambermaid, 1; clerks, 4; deaconess, 1; domestic, 1; governesses, 4; housekeepers, 7
ladies’ maids, 2 ; laundress, 1 ; milliners, 2 ; nurses,3; nurse, child’s, 1 ; nurse for the sick, 1
nurses, trained, 5; seamstress, 1; stenographers, 2; teachers, 4; teacher, music, 1; wait
resses, 2.
82 Domestics, nurses, saleswomen, seamstresses, typewriters, etc. (a)
83 Artists, 5,* bookbinders,.3; bookkeepers, 13; cashiers, 3; dressmakers, 65; factory employees
26; folder, 1; hairdressers, 3; librarians, 4; massagists, 4; milliners, 13; missionaries, 8
office employees, 9; saleswomen, 68; seamstresses, 12; stenographers, 83; students, art, busi
ness, dental, domestic science, dressmaking, kindergarten, medical, massage, millinery
music, pharmacy, 94; teachers, 23; telegraph operators, 2; United States mint employees, 5
miscellaneous, 44.
84 Bookkeepers, clerks, nurses, stenographers, students, teachers, typewriters, etc. (a)
85 Domestics, dressmakers, clerks, nurses, seamstresses, teachers, typewriters, (a)
86 Occupations not reported.
87 Bookkeepers, clerks, dressmakers, milliners, stenographers, students. (a )
88 Bookkeepers, canvassers, dressmakers, nurses, trained, pants makers, seamstresses, shirt
makers, stenographers, typewriters, (a)
89 Clerks, stenographers, teachers, typewriters, etc. (a)
90 Dressmakers, factory employees, milliners, saleswomen, stenographers, teachers, school, (a)
a Number in each occupation not reported.
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
B Y JOHN G RAH AM BROOKS.
No sign of a trade-union label bas been found by the writer earlier
than 1874. It appears to be wholly of American origin, nor is any
evidence at hand that unions elsewhere, except in Canada, show special
interest in it. (a) The chief reason for its adoption here is doubtless
in the intenser and more embarrassing forms of competition under
which labor unions suffer. Many devices, both good and bad, to which
the American trade union has been driven, find their origin in the
exigencies o f this severer competition. I f the distinctively race ele
ment is included, no single factor in this competition is so powerful as
that of immigration. It is not merely a question o f numbers. It is
not merely a question of multitudinous unskilled labor. It is also a
question o f race. A ll a priori theories of liberty and brotherhood
yield quickly before the actual competition of different standards of
living in a common market.
The Australian trade unions were powerful enough practically to
exclude the “ yellow race.” The unions there, as in England, are over
whelmingly of the same race. This fact makes the competitive strug
gle relatively a simple one. The attempt to understand the American
trade union is* incomparably more perplexing because of the racial
effects. The constant pressure, through immigration, of a great mul
titude of half-skilled laborers, representing far lower standards of life
and at the same time introducing race antagonisms, has driven the
trade union in this country to catch at every weapon of defense. The
label is one of these weapons. Its first appearance was in California
during the “ sand lot” agitation against the Chinese. The Burlingame
treaty with China was concluded July 28, 1868. In article 5 both
countries “ cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of
man to change his home and allegiance, and also the mutual advantage
of the free migration and emigration o f their citizens and subjects
respectively from one country to the other for the purposes of curiosity,
of trade, or as permanent residents.” This hospitable mood was of
short duration. In this same year (1868) 11,085 Chinese landed on the
Pacific Coast. In 1872 a San Francisco firm of cigar makers took on a
number o f Chinese. The number which came into direct competition
with the work o f any trade union must have been slight, except per
haps with the cigar makers, yet, as with the insignificant product of
prison labor, it aroused instant hostility.
a The subject o f the label in England seems first to have come up at the Trade
Union and Cooperative Congress in 1893. It had favorable recognition and the felt
hatters have adopted it.
197
198
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Much o f the more recent State legislation concerning the label
throws light upon its origin, as in Illinois, where it is held that a label
upon cigars showing them to have been “ made by a first-class work
man, a member of an organization opposed to inferior, rat-shop, cooly,
prison, or filthy tenement-house workmanship ” is legal, etc. Against
the rat-shop, cooly-made cigars the California cigar makers first struck.
But how should a sympathizing public know which were rat-shop and
cooly-made cigars, and which the product of “ American labor with
its superior standard?” To meet this practical difficulty a label was
adopted, not the blue label in present use, but a white one, to show
the buyer that he was patronizing white labor. It was thus against
the competition o f a low-class unorganized labor that this weapon of
the label was first directed. Its appeal was to the smoker: “ Buy no
cigars except from the box marked with the trade-union label, thus
you help maintain the white as against the cooly standard of life and
work.”
In 1875 another label appeared in St. Louis during a strike of the
cigar makers against a reduction of wages. The color was changed
from white to red. The fight was, however, strictly over the issue of
organized and unorganized labor. Both were putting cigars upon the
market. The trade union wished in this instance to win the support of
the consumer for a product made under union conditions. To show
this a red label was used. There was at least success enough in this
attempt to cause the counterfeiting of this label, upon which the trade
union placed on the label its own seal. A t that time there was no
thought of legal protection against counterfeiting. At*the convention
held in Chicago, 1880, a dispute arose between delegates from the
Pacific Slope and those from St. Louis as to the color of the label. “ Let
us,” said an Eastern delegate, “ take the other color on the flag,” upon
which the present blue label was adopted.
A t this convention great stress was laid upon the fact that the unions
were suffering not only from Chinese labor, but from the competition
of the prisons and the tenement house. A further and more systematic
use of the label was urged in order to strengthen the cause of the union
against such competition.
The Cigar Makers’ Union has grown against great difficulties into an
organization of such power and effectiveness, that a brief account o f it
seems here in place, especially since the label plays so important a part
in its history during the last 17 years. The first union was formed in
1851 in Baltimore. It ceased to exist within six months, largely from
internal dissensions. In 1859 another was formed. It, too, failed after
some ten months from the same causes. In 1864 the National Union
was organized in New York City. The objects are thus stated in the
first constitution: “ To facilitate the thorough organization o f the trade
it represents for mutual benefit and protection $ to secure cooperation
199
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
whenever it may be required, and to decide all differences that may
arise between local unions.” A t the second convention (1865) several
new unions were added. The gain was steady until the panic of 1870.
The membership, which had grown to 5,800 in 1869, fell to 3,771 in
1873. After 1877 the gain in local unions was as follows:
September,
September,
September,
September,
September,
September,
1877 ....................................... 17
1879 ....................................... 35
1880 ....................................... 74
1881....................................... 126
1883................
183
1885 ....................................... 191
September,
September,
September,
September,
September,
1887.......................................
1889 .......................................
1891 .......................................
1893 .......................................
1896 .......................................
259
270
291
316
350
The official journal (1896) of the cigar makers reports a total of 14,070
factories, of which 7,147 are strictly union shops.
The efficiency o f the union is best seen in the summary of benefits
from the report of 1896.
The total amount of benefits expended in sixteen years and eight
months aggregated $3,182,281.19.
BENEFITS PAID IN SIXTEEN YEARS AND TWO MONTHS.
Year.
1879 ( a ) ........................................................
1880 ..........................................................
1881..............................................................
3882 ..............................................................
1883 ..........................................................
1884 ..............................................................
1885 ............................................................
1886 ............................................................
1887..............................................................
1888 ..............................................................
1889..............................................................
1890..............................................................
1891..............................................................
1892..............................................................
1893..............................................................
1894..............................................................
1895 ..............................................................
T o tal________ ________ ______
Strike.
Sick.
$3,668.23
4,950.36
21, 797.68
44,850.41
27, 812.13
143, 547.36
61,087.28
54.402.61
13,871. 62
45.303.62
5,202.52
18,414.27
33,531.78
37,477.60
18,228.15
44, 966.76
44,039.06
623,151.44
$3,987.73
17.145.29
22,250.56
31,551.50
29,379.89
42,225.59
63,900.88
58, 824.19
59,519.94
64,660.47
87,472.97
89.906.30
104,391.83
106, 758.37
112,567.06
894,542.57
a
Benefits paid.
Death. Traveling. Out of work.
$75.00
1,674.25
2.690.00
3.920.00
4, 214.00
4.820.00
8.850.00
21, 319.75
19,175.50
26,043.00
38,068.35
44,701.97
49,458.33
62,158. 77
66, 725.98
353, 894.90
$2,808.15
12, 747.09
20,386.64
37,135.20
39,632.08
26, 683.54
31.835.71
49,281.04
42,894.75
43,540.44
37.914.72
53, 535.73
47,732.47
60,475.11
42,154.17
41, 657.16
590,414.00
$22,760.50
21,223.50
17,460.75
89,402. 75
174.517.25
166.377.25
491,742.00
Two months only.
The above table does not include the amount expended for benefits
the first six months of the current year (1896), which amounted to
$228,536.28, as follows:
L o a n ----S ic k ...............
Strik e...........
Out of work
D e a th ...........
$17,509.15
57,199.45
18,407.71
95,115.00
40,304.97
From the constitution of the International Union, adopted in Detroit,
1896, the following sections are devoted exclusively to the label.
200
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
THE B L U E LABEL*
S e c t i o n 152. The president of the International Union shall have
prepared, printed, and registered, a trade-mark label, to be known as
the union label, in perforated sheets of not less than ten, suitable to be
pasted on the outside o f the box, so that the label will be conspicuously
displayed. The labels shall be furnished free of charge to local unions.
The paper used shall be a quality known as “ mill medium,” and of
light blue color. The proportion of labels used by the Canadian unions
to be printed in Canada by order and under the supervision o f the
international president.
S e c . 153. The following shall be the inscription on the union label:
S e p t e m b e r , 1880.
Issued by authority o f the Cigar Makers' International Union o f America.
UNION-MADE CIGARS.
This certifies that the cigars contained in this box have been made by a first-class
workman, a member o f the Cigar Makers' International Union of America, an organi
zation devoted to the advancement of the moral, material, and intellectual welfare
o f the craft; therefore we recommend these cigars to all smokers throughout the
world.
All infringements upon this label will be punished according to law. President
Cigar Makers' International Union of America.
S e c . 154. Each local union shall furnish, through its shop commit
teemen, to all strict union shops, free of all charges, as many of these
labels as may be required from week to week for all cigars actually
made by members of the union and persons holding retiring cards. Mo
shop shall be considered a strict union shop unless, the packers of the
shop are members of the International Union, and the apprentice law
o f the local union be complied with. Where the manufacturer deals in
Chinese, tenement-house, or scab cigars, it shall be optional with local
unions to withhold the union label from such firms. All labels issued
must bear the ink stamp. It shall be optional with local unions to
paste them on the boxes. But in no case shall the union label be used
in any factory which pays less than $6 per thousand. Mor shall it be
allowed on any cigars sold for less than $20 per thousand. This shall
not debar local unions from establishing a price above $20 per thousand.
Mo union shall be allowed to furnish the label for cigars made in whole
or in part by machinery. Manufacturers employing no hands shall not
be entitled to the label unless they have been a member of the Inter
national Union one year. This shall not apply to members suspended
who were, prior to their suspension, members of the International Union
for one year or longer, providing they be reinstated within six months
o f such suspension. But in no event shall a manufacturer be per
mitted the use of the label who offers presents as an inducement for the
sale o f his goods.
Sec . 155. In shops employing only union members in which the
employer or foreman work at the bench, the union shall allow the use
of the union label on all cigars made by them; provided, that they do
not work to exceed eight hours per day at the bench or at the packing
table.
Sec . 156. Employers agreeing to use the union label and violating
any o f the conditions for use, shall, for the first offense, be refused the
use of the label until the employer deposits the sum of $50 with the
union as a guaranty for a faithful compliance in the future; for a
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
201
second violation the use of the label shall be refused for the space of
six months. In no case shall there be more than one union label or
facsimile of the same on each box. Nor shall the word u blue label n be
used as a brand by any manufacturer under penalty of forfeiture of the
label.
S ec . 157. Shop committees are strictly enjoined to demand a faithful
compliance by employers in the use of the union label, and to report
any breach o f agreement to the executive board or label committee, or
to the union forthwith. For violating or neglecting the enforcement of
the conditions controlling the use of the label, the shop committee shall
be fined not less than $1 for the first offense, and not less than $2 for
the second offense. Unions violating any of the conditions controlling
the use o f the label, or neglecting its enforcement, shall be fined not
less than $5 for the first offense, payable to the International Union,
and for the second offense be fined not less than $25.
Se c . 158. Manufacturers operating more than one shop shall not be
allowed the use o f the union label unless all shops operated by such
manufacturers are strictly union shops. Manufacturers, their agents,
or representatives, operating a shop or shops in any locality, establish
ing a shop or shops in any other locality, shall not be allowed the use
of the union label unless at least the same rate of wages is paid in the
newly established shop or shops that prevail in the original shop or
shops. Manufacturers, their agents or representatives, making cigars
for other manufacturers, their agents or representatives, shall not be
allowed the use of the union label unless at least the same rate o f
wages shall be paid in the shop or shops of the former as is paid in the
shops of the latter. No brands of cigars made in both union and non
union shops shall be allowed to bear the union label
Se c . 159. The international president shall furnish each local union
with a uniform label canceling stamp, and no other shall be used for
stamping the district and factory number on the union label. The dis
trict and factory number shall be movable; red ink shall be used on the
right hand end of the label by the financial secretary or a committee
designated for the purpose.
Se c . 160. Wherever two or more unions are located in any one city
they shall jointly issue the union labels and each pay its proportionate
share towards the issuance of the same. A joint committee shall issue
the labels and supervise and sign all contracts between the unions and
manufacturers. But no label committee shall grant labels to members
who have a license and who work in factories at the same time. In
localities where the open shop system is in existence it shall be optional
with local unions to refuse labels to manufacturers (who employ no
hands) until they have been members one year.
Se c . 161. Local unions shall be allowed a sum not to exceed $25, in
addition to attorney fee, for committee work in the prosecution of coun
terfeit label cases. But no prosecution of label cases shall be insti
tuted without the consent of the international president.
Se c . 162. Local unions shall be allowed $1 per capita per annum out
of the general fund for label agitation by circulars, newspaper adver
tising, committees, etc., in their respective districts, the per capita tax
to be based on the May report of local unions.
Se c . 163. Local unions shall, wherever practical, organize state,
province, or district label leagues for State or district label agitation.
Each local union in a State or district where a league exists or may
thereafter be formed should be a part thereof.
2955—No. 15-----5
202
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The apparent success of the label among the cigar makers raised
the question of its adoption with other unions in 1883 and 1884. The
powerful organization of the hatters introduced it in 1885. The label
is attached under the lining or “ sweat” band of the hat. Its use has
become so common in stiff hats that a visit to 12 New York stores
(not the more fashionable ones) showed that 9 of them regularly kept
the labeled hats. In the semiannual report of the United Hatters for
June, 1897, the number of labels used from December 1,1896, to June
1, 1897, in 14 towns where hats are made is given as follows:
B e th e l........................... .................
300,000
Bloom field................... .................
50,000
B oston........................... .................
175,000
B r o o k ly n ..................... .................
130,000
Chicago............................................
65,000
D anbury.......................................... 1,450,000
H am ilton ..................... .................
10,000
Milburn........................ .................
20,000
N ew ark............................................
N orw a lk ......................... ...............
Orange............................. ...............
Philadelphia..................................
St. L o u is .......................................
Yonkers............................................
500,000
150,000
150,000
100,000
10,000
10,000
T o t a l................... ............... 3,120,000
Above 95,000,000 have been used since the label was adopted in 1885.
It is admitted by manufacturers that the influence of the label is
increasing.
The regulations of the United Hatters of North America governing
the use of the label are as follows :
No. 1. No factories other than those working under the jurisdiction
o f the United Hatters o f North America shall be entitled to the use of
the label.
No. 2. Any manufacturer using hats, any part of which was made in
a foul shop, shall not be entitled to the use of the label.
No. 3. Labels shall not be furnished to any person buying seconds,
knockdowns, or hats in the rough to be finished outside the factory
where they are made, unless a voucher is presented to the label secre
tary, filled out and signed by the steward o f either the finishing or
making departments.
No. 4. The label steward of the finishing room shall have full charge
o f the distribution o f the labels, and shall give to journeymen the num
ber o f labels necessary for each weighout to be sent with the hats to
the trimming room. A record shall be kept o f each day’s work by the
label steward, and he shall report the same to the label secretary
weekly.
No. 5. The labels must be sewed in all hats, so that they can not be
taken out without destroying the label.
No. 6. The labels shall be kept in a box under lock and key.
No. 7. The national secretary shall furnish to the label secretaries
books o f blank certificates and anything else that may be necessary to
prevent abuses in the use of the label. The books shall be given to
the shop stewards, and shall be filled out by them when hats are sent
out from factories in the rough.
No. 8. Shop stewards, when hats are sent out in the rough, shall send
by mail to the label secretary of the district to which the bodies are
sent Youcher B. Voucher C shall be sent with the hats. When hats
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
203
are sent to a district in which there is no local union of hat makers,
Voucher B shall be sent to the secretary of this association.
No. 9. No label voucher shall be recognized after forty days from
date of issue.
No. 10. It shall be the duty of the joint local board to look after the
interests o f the label in their respective districts.
No. 11. Any manufacturer who may violate any of the label laws
shall be deprived of the use of the label for thirty days for the first
offense.
The label appeared in the ready-made clothing trade in 1886 at a time
when the Knights of Labor were in control of organized labor. It took
the form o f a small card tied to the garment by a thread. The present
form of the label was adopted by the National Union in 1891. It is of
cloth attached to the inside of the garment, and costs the seller of the
garment one-third of a cent, the purpose being merely to cover its cost.
The inscription on the label shows that it is issued by the authority of
the general executive board of theUnited Garment Workers of America,
and the garment is guaranteed union made.
The following are the rules and regulations of the United Garment
Workers concerning labels:
1. The label can only be used on garments made for strictly union
firms.
2. The label shall in no case be delivered to any employer to be by
him attached to the garments.
3. Each local or locals using the label shall appoint some member or
a committee to issue to the members the label, and to control its use,
subject to these rules and the regulations of the locals.
I. The label shall be attached to the garments by the members
making them.
5. Each member shall report to the committee or member having
charge o f the label how many they have attached to garments for the
firms for whom they work.
6. It shall be the duty of the union, in such manner as seems to them
most advisable, to collect from each firm on whose garments the label
has been used one third of 1 cent for each label used, (a)
7. The label shall be placed in the inside breast pocket of coats, on
the underside of the back strap of vests, and on the waistband lining
of trousers.
8. The price o f the label to the local unions shall be $3 per thousand,
or 30 cents per hundred in less quantities than one thousand.
From 1891 the label has been taken up by printers, bakers (&), wooda Slight as the expense is, this expense to the purchaser has led to many trouble
some objections. Bakers and shoemakers use a stamp, cigar makers and printers a
label printed upon paper without cost to the user. To avoid the friction caused by
the expense o f the linen label of the garment makers several officials urge that it,
too, be distributed gratis.
& The label issued by the Journeymen Bakers and Confectioners’ International
Union o f America is a guaranty that each lo a f o f bread on which it appears is the
product of union labor. It is also claimed that bread so labeled is made only in
shops where sanitary conditions are perfect and cleanliness prevails.
204
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
workers (a), harness makers, iron molders, broom makers, coopers,
photographers (&), shoemakers, custom tailors, mattress makers, horseshoers (c), brewers, egg inspectors (d), and barbers (who display their
label in the window). Labels are found even upon coal carts, indicat
ing that union men only are employed in distributing coal.
Among the cigar makers, hatters, and printers the label is an influ
ence of very considerable importance. The label of the printers, for
example (adopted November, 1891), is in use in more than 200 cities in
the United States and Canada. Several cities have gone so far as to
pass ordinances requiring all city printing to bear the union label.
The State o f Nevada requires all State printing to be done in union
offices and to bear the trade-mark of the union. This recognition of
the trade union by the municipality is the boldest step yet taken.
The city thus becomes the “ model employer,” accepting frankly the
principle of the u trade-union wage,” and endeavoring, to the extent of
its patronage, to uphold the standard of hours and wages, conditions
for which the union stands. The action recently taken by the mayor
of Boston, Josiah Quincy, is so significant that the paragraphs from a
recent address to the city council are given in full:
For a number o f years the typographical union has been endeavoring
to secure the recognition by the city of the organization of the printing
craft through the appointment of some member of the union as superin
tendent of printing. I stated a year ago that “ in some foreign coun
tries organizations of wage earners take a constant, active, and intelli
gent interest in municipal questions, and some of their members occupy
important positions and render useful service in connection with city
governments,” and that similar cooperation might well be encouraged
to a greater extent than in the past in American cities. After mature
consideration I concluded that it would be advisable, in pursuance of
the policy thus indicated, to place in charge o f the city printing some
member o f the typographical union thoroughly qualified to fill such a
position, and that this step would be in the public interest; I am now
entirely satisfied that this has proved to be the case. It seems to me
highly desirable to make organized bodies o f intelligent wage earners
feel that they are directly represented in the management of public
business, particularly such as pertains to their several trades.
The city printing has been done for the last twenty years under a
contract made in 1876, and allowed to run on without change since that
time. About $70,000 a year is now paid out for composition and press
a The Amalgamated Woodworkers’ International Union o f America issues a label
to be placed on articles made by union woodworkers. On ordinary household arti
cles this label is stamped with ink, and on store, office, and saloon fixtures a brass
stamp is used, similar to the name plates used by the manufacturer.
b The label issued by the National Photographers’ Union is printed in black ink
on red paper, and placed on each union-made photograph.
c The horseshoers’ label is stamped on the inside heel of each shoe, and is a guar
anty that the horse wearing the shoes was shod by union horseshoers.
d The egg inspectors’ label is a guaranty that the eggs have been inspected by
skilled union men. It is printed on yellow paper and placed on the end o f the box.
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
205
work alone. When the present superintendent of printing took office I
instructed him to examine carefully into the expenditures for printing,
and to report to me whether the city could not with advantage estab
lish a plant for itself, to do a part or the whole of its own printing.
After careful investigation, both the superintendent and myself have
become satisfied that the city should take steps in this direction. The
continuance o f the contract referred to stood in the way of adopting
this policy, as it gave the contractor all of the printing of the city. As
it was originally made through the joint committee on printing of the
city council, at a time when it exercised powers since vested in the
executive, it seemed necessary that action for its abrogation should be
taken by this committee, as well as by the superintendent of printing,
and this has just been effected.
Typographical unions have for many years urged the establishment
of public printing plants for the execution of public printing, and the
printers o f this city have warmly favored the proposed establishment
of a municipal plant. The new policy will be inaugurated in a careful
and conservative manner. Probably only a portion of the city print
ing will be undertaken at first, and the work of the municipal plant
only gradually extended. In the meantime the present contractors will
continue to do such portion of the city printing as the municipal plant
is not ready to take. It should be stated, in justice to them, that both
the quality of their work and the manner in which it has been exe
cuted have been found satisfactory, (a)
It is hardly open to doubt that such action upon the part of munici
palities would greatly strengthen the use of the label, at least until
such time as the experiment was found to fail. Upon its theoretic side
the label stands, primarily, for “ better pay and for improved conditions
of labor.77 As will appear later, this is thus far but slightly realized in
practice. Its practical and immediate purpose is, of course, to stren gthen
the union. The label is the chosen symbol of work done under union
conditions. Any open and distinct recognition of the union and its
principles of u collective bargaining” must so far help their trade-mark.
Some of the local and college settlements take the same step, not
merely of dealing with unions as distinct from individuals, but
expressly recognizing the label. The Prospect Union, carried on in
Cambridge, Mass., as a kind of college settlement, expressly recognizes
the label of the typographical union, which does work on the coop
erative plan with good measure of success. The aim is, moreover, to
make the label in this instance stand for excellence of workmanship,
restoring something o f the ideal of the craft guilds in their better days.
That this has not been done more generally with the label is clearly a
weakness, especially if appeal is to be made to a larger purchasing
public. It has been usual to claim for the label that it represented
merely that the work was done under strictly union conditions. So far
as these conditions—wages, hours, sanitation, etc.—stand for higher
a The following is from a Chicago labor paper: “ The city councils of Davenport,
Iowa, Rockford, 111., Louisville, and several other Western cities have recently
passed resolutions that all city printing must hereafter hear the union label.”
206
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
excellence (as in many cases tliey do) it may be claimed that the label
also represents a better quality of work.
Further than this very indefinite claim, the label can not be said to
stand for excellence of workmanship or of product. The cigar makers
usually admit this, although they have an organization of extraor
dinary completeness and efficiency. A sort of minimum of quality is,
however, set, as will be seen in the following extract from their consti
tution, sec. 154: “ In no case shall the union label be used in any
factory which pays less than $6 per thousand; nor shall it be allowed
on any cigars sold for less than $20 per thousand.” This action of the
international body cloes not, however, cover the procedure of local
unions, which may allow a label on cheaper cigars.
In the case o f the hatters, it is even more difficult to trace any rela
tion whatever between the label and quality or improved conditions.
Many shops conspicuous for the high character of their product, wages,
and entire circumstances under which the laborer works, have never
used the label, nor is there any likelihood of their so doing.
Nowhere better than among the hatters can the matter-of-fact side
of the label be seen. It is, like the strike or the boycott, an instrument
o f warfare. The published literature o f the hatters’ union is filled with
evidence on this point. No printed matter upon this subject is so wholly
frank as to the primary objects to be sought through the label. It is
o f course assumed that the mere fact of labor organization implies
of itself higher wages and better surroundings; otherwise there is singu
larly little pretense that quality of work, for example, or sanitation
enters into their calculation.
A movement to strengthen the ideal character of the label, to help
make it what many unions claim that it is, has grown out of the activi
ties of the Social Eeform Club in New York. The first announcement
o f the club, signed by its committee on organized labor, is as follows:
The working people have an answer of their own to these perplexing
questions. They advocate the use of the union label—the workingm an’s
trade mark. Placed upon goods by the workers themselves, this mark
assures the buying public that these goods were made for fair wages
and under healthful conditions.
This device, invented by American labor, is still new, but it promises
a quiet adjustment, through business methods, o f these ethical difficul
ties which are now troubling the minds o f consumers. People who are
anxious to help in mending matters can do so by asking for the union
label on the goods they buy. The undersigned committee holds itself
ready to give full information concerning the various labels, and what
are the best methods of advancing the movement.
The club has begun the publication of a series of leaflets “ to make
the idea, the history, and possible use of the label known, not only
among members o f trade unions, but also among the general public who
may wish to know effective ways in which the unions may be strength
ened.”
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
207
These leaflets are “ to be issued from time to time fo r a period of
twelve or fourteen months. Written by members of the club and others.
Subjects: General Argument; The Label as it Is, What and W hy;
Yaiue to the Consumer, Ethical and Practical; History of the Label;
Economic Yalue; Legal Standing; Bakers’ Label:” etc.
It is the express purpose of this committee to make an active propa
ganda for the label. Two leaflets have already appeared, the first over
the name of James B. Beynolds, the head of the well-known College
Settlement in New York City. The appeal is made directly to the
public, first, to understand what the label means.
1. It means or aims to mean that the work is done under wholesome
conditions. 2. It insures or aims to insure the payment of reasonable
wages. 3. It insures or aims to insure reasonable hours of work. 4. It
stands for the effort of an organization constantly striving to secure
and maintain these results.
Secondly, the appeal is made to cooperate actively in furthering
its use.
To promote the use of the union label means, then, to unite with the
workers in their struggle to make the conditions under which work is
done more sanitary, the conditions o f the worker safer, and the products
o f better quality.
The union label, therefore, appears to be the only means of helping
the workers in the factories to help themselves. For this reason, and
because o f the benefits to the public as well as to the workers for which
it is guaranteed, the support of the union label is strongly urged by
the Committee on Organized Labor o f the Social Beform Club.
The committee regards the label as the only sign which indicates that
the work has been done under suitable conditions and with any consid
eration of the rights of the employees, and therefore urges the con
scientious public in making purchases to ask for articles bearing the
union label.
In the second leaflet, just issued, the point is fairly made that the
general public has had its attention called chiefly and inevitably to the
dramatic side of trade-union life and effort. It has heard constantly
o f the violence and strife. It has known far less, or not at all, of the
educational and i>eacemaking tendencies in the unions.
The label brings us to the union when it is in another mood, and we
find it a peace-loving association bent upon improving society through
improving the conditions o f work among its own members. It is an
enthusiastic reformer. Here is no contradiction; none ever fight with
so much fervor as those who fight for ideals.
The label has resulted from that steady constructive effort toward
improvement which is carried on by wage earners through the many
months or years when they are not at war. It has great interest for
everyone who loves fair play, self-help, and equal chances for all. Its
capacity for affecting trade seems likely to produce rapid changes, and
consequently the principal labels, how they are applied, just what they
signify, and whether they may be misused, are matters that really con
cern our whole community.
208
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Certain weaknesses of the label are frankly recognized:
Plainly the scheme is not without its dangers and drawbacks, such as
are inherent in all man’s dealings. The danger o f counterfeiting is the
same as with any other trade-mark. The label is copyrighted, and a
strong union protects its own label; the label of a weak union scarcely
attracts counterfeiters. Treachery among the men is more difficult to
meet. The label sometimes is sold out. But a fraudulent label is so
injurious to the union that the evil is soon detected and likely to be
quickly corrected. These are misfortunes incident to all trade.
The leaflet concludes:
This, then, is the union label, a mere business device of the American
workingman, invented to protect himself from broken promises and
crooked dealing in the business world of bargains and competition. It
originated without sentiment and without consciousness of having any
thing more than the most sordidly practical of uses. But like all sound
business methods, it is notably well fitted to help along the progress of
humanity. Considerably to its own surprise, it proves to be an object
for enthusiasm. To anyone who realizes the underlying significance of
the trade union this is no surprise, however, and the practical good
sense of the device becomes its strongest claim to confidence. Though
the trade union does not always handle it well or wisely, and there are
plenty o f unavoidable inconveniences and imperfections in its actual
use, nevertheless the label has great possibilities, and closely concerns
others as well as the men who planned it. To these men it means
stable advantages in wages, hours, surroundings, honesty, and fair com
petition. Its right to receive these things is sometimes questioned, but
this leads into the whole economic argument about trades unionism,
which has no place here. Its actual value to the craftsman in securing
him the sort o f life he needs is clear enough.
As for the buyer, on whose demand the success of the label’s work
depends, its value to him, though less evident, is quite as great. He,
as well as the employer and the worker, may find positive advantage in
using the union label. The evidence and proof of this are matter for
another discussion.
The occasional selling out of the label and other abuses here referred
to are true and constitute a real weakness in the history of the label.
A perfectly fair criticism, however, admits some extenuation. The
abuses will be found at those points (as among garment and cigar
makers) where the struggle o f organized labor is very intense. Here,
as in any fight which waxes hot, principles suffer. The high phrases in
political platforms do not deceive us. W e allow for a very wide and
sharp difference between the printed ideals and the compromises which
mark the actual work o f party warfare.
It would not be fair to hold cigar or garment workers to stricter
responsibility. The awful struggle which goes on in the clothing
industry is marked by broken faiths, in the case o f manufacturer, con
tractor, and laborer alike. It is much to expect under these circum
stances that the label should come off unscathed. It has undoubtedly
been often used and allowed under conditions which violate every
principle for which the label stands.
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
209
The conditions against which the cigar makers (and even more the
garment workers) have had to contend are not overstated by Helen
Campbell in her Prisoners of Poverty:
A block or two beyond, the house entered proved to be given over
chiefly to cigar making. It is to this trade that women and girls turn
during the dull season, and one finds in it representatives from every
trade in which women are engaged. The sewing women employed in
suit and clothing manufactories during the busy season have no
resource save this, and thus prices are kept down and the regular cigar
makers constantly reinforced by the irregular. In the present case it
was chiefly with regular makers that the house was filled, one room a
little less than 12 by 14 feet holding a family o f seven persons, three of
them children under ten, all girls. Tobacco lay in piles on the floor
and under the long table at one end where the cigars were rolled, its
rank smell dominating that from the sinks and from the general filth,
not only of this room but o f the house as a whole.
Two o f the children sat on the floor stripping the leaves, and another
on a small stool. A girl of twenty sat near them, and all alike had
sores on lips and cheeks and on the hands. Children from five or six
years up can be taught to strip and thus add to the week’s income,
which is far less for the tenement-house manufacture than for regular
factory work, the latter averaging from $8 to $12 a week. But the
work if done at home can be made to include the entire family, and
some four thousand women are engaged in it, an almost equal but
unregistered number of young children sharing in with them. As in
sewing, a number of women often club together, using one room, and
in such case their babies crawl about in the filth on the wet floors,
playing with the damp tobacco and breathing the poison with which
the room is saturated.
In the case both of cigar makers and garment workers, it is incon
testable that the additional strength which the unions have gained by
the use o f the label has made conditions like those described above
somewhat more difficult in a few centers. Theodore Roosevelt is
reported as saying at a public meeting, “ I have visited these pest
holes personally, and I can assure you if smokers could only see how
these cigars are made we should not need any legislative action
against this system.”
This trade-mark is first and last a weapon with which to defend the
union. Sanitary and other improved conditions are of secondary con
sideration. I f the pressure of competition is too great, there is natu
rally no thought o f any end except to induce the employer to maintain
a strictly union shop and thus insure the payment of members’ dues.
Even in the constitution of the International Cigar Makers, section
ICO, it is said: “ In localities where the open shop system is in existence
it shall be optional with local unions to refuse labels to manufac
turers (who employ no hands) until they have been members one year.”
Section 154 says: “ Where the manufacturer deals in Chinese, tene
ment-house, or scab cigars, it shall be optional with local unions to
withhold the union label from such firms.”
210
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
It is recognized that much elasticity is necessary in applying princi
ples. Where competition is too strong or the union too weak, abuses
have shown themselves, or no attempt has been made to enforce rigidly
the broader principles of the label.
Even at present, in an organization as powerful as the cigar makers,
there has been great license iu granting the label. It is distinctly
maintained that the label is a guaranty against tenement-made goods
and against goods made under insanitary conditions. This is clearly the
aim of the unions 5 but a careful examination showed plenty of cases—
in Chicago, for example—in which the label was used with dangerous
laxity. It is certain that in many of these instances the label was
counterfeited, the proof being that prosecutions were very common.
In other cases the label had been given out carelessly, on the one con
dition that all dues were paid and no charges pending.
It also appeared that an extremely liberal definition of a tenement
was in use. It is but fair, however, to say that as the union strengthens
the abuses are less and less frequent. The testimony from several
firms who have had experience with the label, as well as many con
tractors, confirm this view.
The head of a large firm in New York said to the writer in April,
1897: UI did everything that I could to get hold of the label on my
own conditions, but it was refused until my shop became strictly
a union shop, and I have been held rigidly to the contract. They
have been straight and fair with me.” This is also the testimony o f a
large firm in Boston.
Wholesale firms are often led to adopt the label because of the
form of propaganda in use among the unions. In hundreds of
country towns where trade unionism is strong an agitation is organ
ized among the various unions, lecturers sent out, and literature dis
tributed to induce the local traders to keep labeled goods in stock, (a)
a From tlie national office of the Boot and Shoe Workers* Union the following cir
cular, containing resolutions adopted at the convention o f the American Federation
o f Labor in New York, 1895, was sent out in 1896 as an appeal to the 160,000 shoe
workers in the United States and Canada:
F e l l o w W o r k er s : W e desire to call your attention to the following extracts from
the printed report o f the proceedings o f the fifteenth annual convention of the
American Federation o f Labor, held m New York City December 9 to 17, 1895:
Resolution No. 32:
Whereas rival organizations heretofore existing among the hoot and shoe workers have been con
tending for supremacy, resulting in a division of the w ooers into small factions ; and
tiereas this division has operated to the detriment of the boot and shoe workers with a twofold
effect:
First. In making impossible that unity of action necessary in any trade to protect the workers from
the encroachments of the employer, and
Second. In depriving the boot and shoe workers of the benefits to be derived from the assistance of
other organized trades through the use of a label representing a united craft; and
Whereas the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union, at a joint convention held in Boston, April 10,1895,
founded a new national organization into which all existing national organizations were merged, thus
completing an amalgamation of the organized shoe workers into one organization known as the Boot
and Shoe workers’ Union; and
Whereas the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union has adopted as the trade-mark or label of the craft a
device known as the union stamp, said union stamp being a steel die in the design of a shield, with
factory number attached, to be impressed upon the soles of only such boots and shoes as are made
entirely by union workers under fair conditions; and
Whereas the amalgamation of the different factions of the organized workers in any trade into one
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
211
Tliis demand leads tlie trader to ask in the large cities from the whole
sale departments that the label shall be put upon hats? garments, shoes,
cigars, etc. I f this demand becomes serious enough the firm, if a
manufacturer, must u unionize” its shop and sign a contract to adhere
strictly to union conditions.
The contract between manufacturer and union often contains a promise
on the part of the union to do all within its power as a labor organiza
tion to advertise the labeled goods and otherwise benefit the manu
facturer. The United Garment Workers of America has a contract
with a large firm of clothing manufacturers in the West. This contract
contains an admirable form of arbitration, which has proved entirely
satisfactory. The head of the firm assured the writer that the label
organization and under ono bead is one of tbe basic principles of the American Federation of Labor:
Therefore be it
R esolved , First. That the American Federation of Labor, in fifteenth annual convention assembled,
does hereby heartily indorse the action of the organized boot and shoe workers in their efforts to unite
the craft;
Second. That all indorsements heretofore given by the American Federation of Labor to labels,
stamps, trade-marks, or devices, representing the whole or any part of the boot and shoe workers, be
and hereby are withdrawn;
Third. That the union stamp of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union be and hereby is indorsed as the
label or trade-mark of the organized boot and shoe workers, and that no boots or shoes shall be con
sidered as union made except they bear upon the soles an impression of the Boot and Shoe Workers’
Union stamp, with factory number attached; and be it further
R e so lv e d , That no national, international, local, or federal labor union, State branch, central body, or
any other organization that is now or may be affiliated with the American Federation of Labor shall
lend encouragement or give support to any device, label or trade-mark on boots and shoes other than
the union stamp of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union; and be it further
R eso lved , That any national, international, local, or federal labor union, State branch, central body, or
any other organization now affiliated with the American Federation of Labor giving indorsement,
encouragement, or support to any label, trade-mark, or device on boots and shoes, other than the union
stamp of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union, be and hereby is instructed to immediately withdraw such
indorsement, encouragement, or support in the interest of a thorough unity of the craft.
The foregoing action o f the convention of the American Federation of Labor leaves
no room for doubt as to what constitutes the genuine trade-mark of the organized
shoe workers o f the United States and Canada.
[Facsimile of label shown in circular.]
The organized workers should refuse to recognize any other form of label than the
one at the head of this paragraph, no matter what representations may be made by
dealers. Insist upon having none but the “ union stamp,” an impression o f which
will be found on the sole of all strictly union-made shoes, and without which no
goods are union made.
You will place us under obligations to you if you will at once appoint committees
to wait upon dealers in boots and shoes and insist on them keeping in stock a line ol
“ union stamp” shoes.
I f the dealers ask you where they are to be had, tell them to write to this office,
and at all times refuse to buy unless the ‘ ‘ stamp” is on the goods.
I f you persist in your demands, the dealers will find a way to supply the demand.
After once having asked for “ union stamp” goods in a store refuse to purchase
in that store unless you get them.
Our reason for making this request is that if you purchase after having asked for
the “ stamp” the dealer concludes that as you buy without the “ stamp” he can get
along quite as well without the “ union stamp,” and is not influenced as he would be
i f you left the store to buy elsewhere.
I f you can make it possible to organize shoo workers in your locality, communicate
with this office and we w ill furnish you with all information necessary to complete
the organization, and in this way you can help us to a great extent.
Thanking you in anticipation of your assistance in the work o f booming the
“ union stam p” and organizing our craft, and promising to render like service to aL
other crafts, we are fraternally, yours,
B oot a n d S ho e W o r k e r s ’ U n io n .
P. S.— Secretaries will confer a special favor upon us by having this circular reac!
at meetings of their organizations and advising us o f their action thereon.
212
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
had subjected him to no trouble, and that he had found the officials per
fectly fair as to the conditions o f the contract, which is as follows:
Know all men by these presents: Agreement entered into between
the firm o f ---------, party of the first part, and the United Garment
Workers o f America, party of the second part.
In consideration of the use of the union trade label of the party of
the second part, party o f the first part agrees to abide by the following
rules and regulations governing the uses of the same:
First. A ll employees engaged in the manufacture of garments for
the party o f the first part shall be good-standing members of the party
of the second part.
Second. All proper sanitary conditions shall be observed in all shops
manufacturing garments for the party of the first part.
Third. The said label shall be controlled by Local Union No. —, who
shall attend to the proper issuance o f the same.
Fourth. The said label shall be in the sole charge of a responsible
member of the party of the second part in the shop o f said firm, and
who shall report weekly to the respective unions, giving an account of
the quantity of labels used.
Fifth. Party of the second part agrees to do all within its power as a
labor organization to advertise the labeled goods and otherwise benefit
the business of the party of the first part.
Sixth. The party of the first part agrees to pay for the printing of
the labels used.
Seventh. Should any differences arise between the party of the first
part and the employees as to conditions of labor, it shall be adjusted
by a committee o f three selected by the firm and a committee of three
from Local Union No. —. Should these committees fail to agree, then
both committees shall select a seventh party, who shall decide any said
question in dispute.
This agreement to go into effect------and to terminate two years from
date.
Signed by party of the first part.
Signed by committee of the party of the second part.
This contract gives the officials of the union much help in doing their
own work, as it becomes the interest of the manufacturer to see to it that
his workmen fulfill the conditions (paying dues, etc.), which the unions
set. This is indeed the real influence which the advocates of the label
seek to advance.
Several special label papers are now printed in different cities solely
to further the cause. Some idea of the effort put forth by the unions
to strengthen the label may be got from the fact that in Boston during
1890 the Cigar Makers* Union No. 97 expended for u label agitation**
$3,188.28. In the president’s report to the Detroit convention last year it
is said that 43,393,000 labels (for cigar boxes) were distributed between
September 1,1893, and August 31, 1896.
A new step has also been taken in the formation in New York and
other cities of a Trade Union Label League to u give unity and efficiency
to the general work of education and agitation.** From Toronto we
read:
The league was organized June 10,1895, for the purpose of uniting
together the trades using union labels in this city. This central body
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
213
doing the work of advertising and protecting the various labels relieves
the unions of a great deal o f work, and makes it more economical and
effective than by individual effort in bringing before the general public
the different labels in use.
The league meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays in each month
at 8 o’clock p. m.
The gain made in the attention now paid to the label may be best
measured by the action at the annual meeting o f the American Feder
ation of Labor, held in Cincinnati in 1896. In the secretary’s report it
is said:
The growth of the union label is steady and sure. It is the back
bone of some o f our unions and a great aid to them all. Label leagues
are being instituted in many places, both on local and State lines, and
are doing good work. There are many more industries which can adopt
union labels, and which, no doubt, will in the course of time. From
reports made to headquarters during the year from the various unions,
continued and increasing interest is being taken in their welfare. That
all unions should boom the union label of each other is important, for
to build up and strengthen any one union strengthens all others. While
we may be working at different callings, our interests are intertwined.
Upon the growth and activity of unionism generally in any city depends
the stability and power of the particular union in which any one of us
may hold a card. Hence the importance of furthering union labels of
sister unions. By helping them we help ourselves and all help each
other.
The following resolutions were also adopted at this convention:
Whereas the National Union of the United Brewery Workmen has
adopted a union label for use on all packages containing union-made
beer, ale, and porter, and also a union show card for display in all saloons
which seli union products exclusively; be it
Resolved, That this sixteenth annual convention of the American Fed
eration of Labor indorses said label and show card, and urges all mem
bers o f the American Federation of Labor to demand the label and the
show card.
Whereas we recognize in the union label the mainstay o f trade unions,
and that the best, most far-reaching, and most earnest way of educating
and advocating the union labels is through the organization of active
label leagues; therefore,
Resolved, That the American Federation of Labor recognize this form
of organization, impress upon the minds of delegates in reporting to
their constituents the necessity of organizing and maintaining label
leagues, and that this body instruct the newly elected officers to grant
charters to local, district, and State label leagues.
Resolved, That this, the sixteenth annual convention of the American
Federation o f Labor, declare it to be the duty of the trade unionists to
not only purchase the products o f union labor as indicated by the union
labels and trade-marks of the various industries, but that it shall also
be their duty to see that their wives and families patronize union
products.
Whereas in order to better acquaint the public with the different
union labels, be it
Resolved, That the executive council of the American Federation of
Labor be instructed to have cardboard or enameled tin signs made with
214
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the different union labels of unions affiliated with the American Feder
ation of Labor, and distributed pro rata among the different unions for
advertising the same.
The secretary o f the United Hatters of Forth America reported in
1897: u W e now use between eleven and twelve millions of labels annu
ally. The label is growing in importance. W e have unionized about
twelve factories during the last year.”
A s in the case of cigars and garments, there is much complaint
against counterfeit labels. Cards and leaflets are widely distributed,
with appeals to keep a sharp lookout for counterfeits. There is also
very extensive circulation o f cards bearing the names o f those firms in
different cities where the labeled goods may be found, (a)
Laws protecting the cigar makers’ label have been adopted in 28
States and Territories: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Febraska,
Few Hampshire, Few Jersey, Few York, Forth Dakota, Ohio, Okla
homa, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas.
Cost o f prosecuting counterfeits is about $8,000 annually.
In Illinois the using of a false label is a quasi-criminal offense, and the
penalty, $100 fine or imprisonment, is so administered that counter
feiting is not much checked (fines being remitted, etc.). About 50 cases
were tried last year.
Protection by injunction or suit for damages in court was long refused,
the grounds o f refusal being that workmen who used the label were
only laborers, having no property right in what they produced, and
therefore could suffer no loss from counterfeit.
F. J. Stimson, in his Handbook to the Labor Law of the United States,
page 184, says:
To meet these cases the statute has very generally been passed
allowing members of trade unions, or labor unions, or associated
a The following appeal for cooperation was issued in 1896 by the United Hatters:
B r o t h er s : W e, the United Hatters o f North America, appeal to you for assistance.
W e do not ask for financial aid, nor do we ask you to make the slightest sacrifice of
either time or money. Our request is a simple one: Do not buy or wear a fur or felt
hat, either soft or stiff, unless the genuine union label is sewed in it. That is all there
is to it, and i f you comply with our request you will confer on us an everlasting favor.
The following are prominent nonunion concerns; they use counterfeit labels:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
For the assistance which we have received from organized labor in the past we are
sincerely thankful. The support given to us by our friends has enabled us to unionize
twelve factories during the past year, and with a continuance o f it we will be able
to unionize every factory in the country.
Keep a sharp lookout for counterfeit labels. As a general thing they are not per
forated on the four edges. They are sometimes perforated on three o f the edges and
sometimes only on two. The genuine label is perforated on the four edges, exactly
the same as a postage stamp.
Do not patronize any retailer who has loose labels in his store. Loose labels in
retail stores are counterfeits. Do not buy a hat unless the label is sewed in it.
Nonunion hats are sometimes found with counterfeit labels sewed in. The fact of a
label being sewed in does not go to .Drove that it is a genuine one, though as a rule
it does.
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
215
laborers in any sliop or class, to adopt labels or trade marks to be used
solely to designate the products of their own labor, or of the labor of
members of their own trade unions or labor unions in alliance with
them; and provision is. usually made for the registration of such label or
trade-mark in the office of the secretary o f state, and a penalty imposed
for counterfeiting it; and in most of the above-mentioned States rem
edies by injunction or equity process are expressly given the laborers
or the labor union against the infringement of their trade-mark or label,
or unauthorized use o f such trade-mark by other persons. In fact, the
Kentucky statute provides that such union label shall not be assignable
at all.
Such statutes are constitutional, and are not class legislation, (a)
And it has further been held in Illinois, and denied in Pennsylvania,
that a label declaring union-made cigars to “ have been made by a firstclass workman, a member of * * * an organization opposed to infe
rior, rat-shop, cooly, prison, or filthy tenement-house workmanship,” is
not illegal as being immoral or against public policy within the mean
ing of the law of trade-marks.
It will thus be seen that such praise or blame as the label may receive
will be determined largely by general views upon the trade union itself.
I f it is conceded that labor organization is a necessity of the time, that
it is especially necessary at the points where competition is most intense,
it will not be denied that the label is an effective weapon to fortify the
union in its struggle for a higher standard of living.
I f the label is to win a larger and more strictly public sympathy, it
is obvious that far greater effort must be made to have it stand—as it
stoutly claims to stand—for imj)roved sanitation and other better con
ditions.
In trades like that of the garment makers, a label that should be con
fidently known to stand for definite improvement in the life of the
worker, would attract a powerful public sympathy. There are many
indications at hand that a growing public interest will soon demand
from some source—from manufacturers, storekeepers, voluntary asso
ciations like the Consumers’ League, or from trade unions—a label that
shall be an absolute guarantee that the goods upon which it is placed
are not made in sweat shops. Every increased effort of the unions to
have their label a sure symbol of higher standards o f life and work
among the wage earners is certain to command more cordial and more
helpful recognition from the general purchaser.
The Illinois act o f July 1,1891, as amended by the act of July 1,1895,
and the Massachusetts act o f 1893, are good illustrations of legislation
regarding labels.
The Illinois act is as follows:
S e c t i o n 1. Whenever any person, or any association or union of
workingmen, has heretofore adopted or used, or shall hereafter adopt or
use, any label, trade-mark, term, design, device or form of advertisement
for the purpose o f designating, making known or distinguishing any
a Cohn r. People, 37 N. E ., 60; State v. Bishop, 31 S. \V., 9.
216
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
goods, wares, merchandise or other product of labor as haying been
made, manufactured, produced, prepared, packed or put on sale by
such person or association or union of workingmen, or by a member or
members of such association or union, it shall be unlawful to counter
feit or imitate such label, trade-mark, term, design, device or form of
advertisement, or to use, sell, offer for sale, or in any way utter or cir
culate any counterfeit or imitation of any such labels, trade-mark, term,
design, device or form of advertisement.
Se c . 2. Whoever counterfeits or imitates any such label, trade-mark,
term, design, device or form of advertisement, or sells, offers for sale
or in any way utters or circulates any counterfeit or imitation of any
such label, trade-mark, term, design, device or form of advertisement,
or knowingly uses any such counterfeit or imitation, or knowingly
sells or disposes of or keeps or has in his possession, with intent that
the same shall be sold or disposed of, any goods, wares, merchandise
or other product of labor to which any such counterfeit or imitation
is attached or affixed, or on which any such counterfeit or imitation is
printed, painted, stamped or impressed, or knowingly sells or disposes
of any goods, wares, merchandise or other product of labor contained
in any box, case, can or package to which or on which any such coun
terfeit or imitation is attached, affixed, printed, painted, stamped or
impressed, or keeps or has in his possession, with intent that the same
shall be sold or disposed of, any goods, wares, merchandise or other
product of labor, in any box, case, can or package to which or on
which any such counterfeit or imitation is attached, affixed, printed,
painted, stamped or impressed, shall be punished by a fine of not less
than one hundred (100) dollars, nor more than two hundred (200) dol
lars, or by imprisonment for not less than three (3) months nor more
than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Se c . 3. Every such person, association or union that has heretofore
adopted or used, or shall hereafter adopt or use, a label, trade mark,
term, desigu, device or form of advertisement, as provided in section
one (1) of this act shall file the same for record in the office of the sec
retary of state, by leaving two (2) copies, counterparts or facsimiles
thereof with said secretary, and by filing therewith a sworn statement
specifying the name or names of the person, association or union on
Avhose behalf such label, trade-mark, term, design, device or form of
advertisement shall be filed, the class of merchandise and a particular
description of the goods to which it has been or is intended to be
appropriated*, that the party so filing, or on whose behalf such label,
trade-mark, term, design, device or form of advertisement shall be
filed, has the right to the use of the same, and that no other person,
firm, association, union or corporation has the right to such use either
in the identical form or in any such near resemblance thereto as may
be calculated to deceive, and that the facsimile copies or counter
parts filed therewith are true and correct. There shall be paid for
such filing and recording a fee of one (1) dollar. A ny person who shall
for himself, or on behalf of any other person, association or union,
procure the filing of any label, trade mark, term, design, device or
form of advertisement in the office of the secretary of state, under the
provisions of this act, by making any false or fraudulent representa
tions or declarations, verbally or in writing, or by any fraudulent
means, shall be liable to pay any damages sustained in consequence of
any such filing, to be recovered by or on behalf of the party injured
thereby in any court having jurisdiction, and shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding two hundred (200) dollars or by imprisonment not
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
217
exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. The secretary
of state shall deliver to such person, association or union so filing or
causing to be filed any such label, trade-mark, term, design, device or
form of advertisement so many duly attested certificates of the record
ing of the same as such person, association or union may apply for,
for each of which certificates said secretary shall receive a fee of one
(1) dollar. Any such certificate of record shall in all suits and prose
cutions under this act be sufficient proof of the adoption of such label,
trade-mark, term, design, device or form of advertisement. Said sec
retary of the state shall not record for any person, union or association
any label, trade mark, term, design, device or form of advertisement
that would reasonably be mistaken for any label, trade mark, term,
design, device or form of advertisement theretofore filed by or on
behalf o f any other person, union or association.
Se c . 4. Every such person, association, or union adopting a label,
trade-mark, or form of advertisement, as aforesaid, may proceed by suit
to enjoin the manufacture, use, display or sale of any such counterfeits
or imitations 5 and all courts having jurisdiction thereof shall grant
injunctions to restrain such manufacture, use, display or sale, and shall
award the complainant in such suit, such damages, resulting from sucb
wrongful manufacture, use, display or sale, as may by said court be
deemed just and reasonable, and shall require the defendants to pay
to such person, association or union the profits derived from such wrong
ful manufacture, use, display or sale; and said court shall also order
that all such counterfeits or imitations in the possession or under the
control of any defendant in such case be delivered to an officer of the
court, or to the complainant to be destroyed.
Se c . 5. Every person who shall use or display the genuine label, trade
mark, or form of advertisement of any such person, association or union,
in any manner not authorized by such person, union or association, shall
be deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by imprison
ment in the county jail not less than three months nor more than one
year, or by a fine o f not less than one hundred dollars nor more than
two hundred dollars, or both. In all cases where such association or
union is not incorporated, suits under this act may be commenced and
prosecuted by any officer or member of such association or union on
behalf o f and for the use of such association or union.
S ec . G. Any person or persons who shall in any way use the name or
seal of any such person, association or union, or officer thereof, in and
about the sale o f goods or otherwise, not being authorized to so use the
same, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in
the county jail o f not less than three months nor more than one year,
or by fine o f not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hun
dred dollars, or both.
Se c . 7. The fines provided for in this act may be enforced before a
justice of the peace in all cases where the party complaining shall so
elect, and in case of conviction before such justice of the peace the
offender shall stand committed to the county jail until the fine and
costs are fully paid, under the provisions of section 8, article IX of “ An
act to revise the law in regard to criminal jurisprudence,” in force July
1, 1874, or otherwise.
Following is the Massachusetts act:
S e c t i o n 1. Whenever any person, association or union o f persons
has adopted or shall hereafter adopt for his or its protection, any label,
trade-mark or form of advertisement not previously adopted or owned
2955—Xo. 15-----6
218
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
by any other person, firm, association or union, announcing that goods
to which such label, trade-mark or form of advertisement is attached
were manufactured by such person, or by a member or members o f such
association or union, and shall have duly filed copies o f the same for
record in the office o f the secretary of the commonwealth, as provided
in section four of this act, it shall be unlawful for any person or corpo
ration to counterfeit or imitate such label, trade-mark or form o f adver
tisement. Every person violating the provisions of this section shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dol
lars or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
S ec . 2. Every person who shall use any counterfeit or imitation of
any label, trade-mark or form of advertisement of any such person,
union or association, copies of which have been duly filed for record in
the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, as provided in section
four of this act, knowing the same to be counterfeit or imitation, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not exceed
ing two hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding six months,
or both such fine and imprisonment.
Se c . 3. Every manufacturer who shall knowingly use or affix the
genuine label or trade-mark adopted by any person, association or
union, as herein provided, and filed in the office of the secretary o f the
commonwealth, as provided in section four of this act, upon any goods
not manufactured by such person, or by a member or members o f such
association or union, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two
hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both
such fine and imprisonment.
S e c . 4. Every such person, association or union that has heretofore
adopted, or shall hereafter adopt, a label, trade-mark or form of adver
tisement, as provided in section one of this act, may file the same for
record in the office o f the secretary of the commonwealth, by leaving
two copies, counterparts or facsimiles thereof, with said secretary and
shall file therewith a certificate specifying the name or names o f the
person, association or union so filing such label, trade-mark, or form
o f advertisement, his or its residence, location or place of business,
the class of merchandise and the particular description of goods com
prised in such class to which it has been or is intended to be appro
priated, and the length of time, if any, during which it has been in use.
Such certificate shall be accompanied by a written declaration, verified
under oath by the person or some officer o f the association or union by
whom it is filed, to the effect that the party so filing such label, trade
mark or form of advertisement has a right to the use of the same, and
that no other person, firm, association, union or corporation has the
right to such use, either in the identical form or in any such near
resemblance thereto as may be calculated to deceive, and that the fac
similes, copies or counterparts filed therewith are true and correct.
There shall be paid for such filing the fee o f one dollar. Any person
who shall procure the filing of any label, trade-mark or form o f adver
tisement in the office o f the secretary o f the commonwealth, under the
provisions o f this act, by making any false or fraudulent representation
or declaration, verbally or in writing, or by any fraudulent means, shall
be liable to pay any damages sustained in consequence of any such filing,
to be recovered by the party injured thereby in an action o f tort; and
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars or by
imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both such fine and impris
onment. Said secretary shall deliver to such person, association or
THE TRADE-UNION LABEL.
219
union so filing tlie same a duly attested certificate of the record of the
same, for which he shall receive the fee of one dollar. Such certificate
o f record shall in all suits and prosecutions under this act be sufficient
proof of the adoption of such label, trade mark or form of advertise
ment. No label, trade-mark or form of advertisement shall be recorded
that would reasonably be mistaken for a label, trade-mark or form of
advertisement already on record.
Sec . 5. Every such person, association or union which has adopted
a label, trade-mark or form of advertisement, as provided in section
one of this act, and that has duly filed copies of the same for record in
the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, as provided in section
four of this act, may proceed by suit to enjoin the manufacture, use or
sale of any such counterfeits or imitations; and all courts having juris
diction thereof shall grant injunctions to restrain such manufacture,
use or sale, and shall award the complainant in such suit such damages
resulting from such wrongful manufacture, use or sale as may by said
court be deemed just and reasonable, and shall require the defendant
to pay to such person, association or union the profits derived from
such wrongful manufacture, use or sale, and such court may also order
that all such counterfeits or imitations in the possession or under the
control of any defendant in such case be delivered to an officer of the
court, or to the complainant, to be destroyed. In all cases where such
association or union is not incorporated, suits under this act may be
commenced and prosecuted by any officer of such association or union,
on behalf o f and for the use of such association or union, and every
member o f such association or union shall be liable for costs in any
such proceeding.
S e c . 6 The secretary of the commonwealth is authorized to make
rules and regulations, and prescribe forms for the filing of labels, trade
marks and forms of advertisement, under the provisions of this act.
Se c . 7. In any suit or prosecution under the provisions of this act
the defendant may show that he or it was the owner of such label,
trade-mark or form of advertisement, prior to its being filed under the
provisions o f this act, and that it has been filed wrongfully or without
right; by some other person, association or union.
.
RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.
KANSAS.
Twelfth Annual Report o f the Kansas Bureau o f Labor and Industry.
1896. William Or. Bird, Commissioner. 105 pp.
The following subjects are treated in this report: Milling industry,
12 pages; packing industry, 4 pages; cigar industry, 6 pages; creamery
industry, 3 pages; bookbinders and printers, 3 pages; poultry packing
industry, 1 page; two important manufacturing enterprises in Kansas,
3 pages; lead and zinc mines, 4 pages; general manufacturing indus
tries, 12 pages; wage earners, 35 pages; labor organizations, 10 pages.
T h e M i l l i n g - I n d u s t r y .—Information on this and the other sub
jects treated in the report was obtained chiefly by means o f blank
schedules mailed to the various establishments. In this industry
responses received from 82 establishments show an aggregate invested
capital o f $3,010,549, which is probably less than one-half of the capital
invested in the milling industry in the entire State. Following is a
summary of the principal data presented for the milling industry:
MILLING STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 81, 1896.
Items.
Capital invested. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Capacity, 24 hours’ run, barrels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Output for year, barrels.. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __
S^ts rolls______________ . . . . . . . __________ ____ __________ _
Rots ofbnhrs__________. . . . __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________ ...
Materials:
Wheat, bushels . . . . . . . . . . . . ________. . . . ____ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
fJosti_______________________________ ___ . . . . . . . . _____
Corn, bushels.......................................................................................
Cost____ ________ _________ ________________________
All other grain, bushels_________________________________
Cost................................................ ......... ...... . . . . . . __ ,...........
Products:
yiorirj wheat, pounds___________________________________
Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corn meal, pounds.............................................................................
V aine______________ ___________________ ___________
Other flour or meal, pounds.............................................................
V a lu e _________________ ________________________________ _
Offal, pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
V alue...................................................................................... .
Employees:
Greatest number_____________________________________________
Smallest, num ber_________________________________ ____________
Average num ber___________ __________________________________
Total wages paid during y e a r________________________________
Mills re
porting.
Total.
82 $3,010,549
75
17, 719
1,693,886
61
923
78
34
55
65
7,875,423
62 $4,568,834
55
907, 300
$146, 016
48
147, 600
34
29
$23, 395
53 285,371,538
49 $4,603,687
45 14,478,875
$109, 371
41
1,796,500
19
15
$16,917
57 123,347,892
$382,786
50
811
489
555
$338, 758
70
Average
per estab
lishment.
$36, 714
236
27,769
11.8
1.6
121,160
$73,691
16,496
$3,012
4,341
$807
5,384,369
$93,953
321,753
$2,668
94,553
$1,128
2,163,998
$7,656
$4,839
T h e P a c k i n g I n d u s t r y .—In point of magnitude the meat-packing
industry is regarded as probably the most important in the State. Ten
o f the leading packing houses report a total of $14,748,588 capital
invested in this industry. Following is a summary of the information
returned.
220
221
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OP LABOR— KANSAS.
PACKING STATISTICS FOR THE TEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31,1896.
Items.
fiflpital invested_______________________ ___________________
Animals killed:
Cattle..................................... ..........................................
Calves.................................................................................................
Sheep ...........................
H ogs............................................................................. ......................
Lambs .................... ................................................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cost of raw material............................................................................ .
Vnlne of prod n e t . _____ ___________________________ ____ __
Wages paid during year.........................................................................
Average number of 'hands employed...................................................
Estab
lishments
report
ing.
Total.
Average
per estab
lishment.
$14,748, 588
$147,486
524, 692
52,469
7
37, 292
5,327
8
407, 720
50,965
11
1,158, 938
105,358
2
300
180
8
$48,027,610 $6, 003, 451
8
$52, 732, 835 $6, 591, 604
12
$3,414, 835
$284,570
6,190
12
516
10
10
T h e Cig a r I n d u s t r y .—O f 288 cigar manufacturers in the State,
only 41 sent returns to the bureau. These reported a total invested
capital o f $128,167. Twenty-eight establishments paid wages amount
ing to $54,842 during the year.
T h e Cr e a m e r y I n d u s t r y .—The production of milk, butter, and
cheese has developed into an important industry in Kansas during
recent years. In 1896 the total value of these products, as reported by
the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, was $4,972,446. Fortythree creamery establishments making returns to the bureau reported
a total invested capital of $288,365. O f 27 establishments, 16 reported
an increase and 11 a decrease of business as compared with 1895.
B oo kbinders an d P r in t e r s .—Twenty establishments reported a
total capital of $259,300, and employed 357 persons. A total o f $118,837
in wages was paid by 19 establishments during the year. The average
daily wages paid for skilled labor was $2.33 in 18 establishments, and
for ordinary labor $ 1.12 in 16 establishments.
L e a d an d Z inc M in e s .—This industry has been developed within a
few years, and is reported to be growing rapidly in the southeastern
section of the State. In 1896 about $ 150,000 was invested in 35 ore mills
or crushers. During that year these plants produced 124,464,150 pounds
of zinc, valued at $1,401,308, and 28,123,170 pounds of lead, valued at
$450,530. The value of the total production was $556,497 in excess of
that o f the preceding year.
W a g e E a r n e r s .—This chapter contains a series of tables showing
the social and economic condition of wage earners, as investigated by
the bureau.
L abor O r g a n iz a t io n s .—Beturns were received by the bureau from
54 local unions, branches, or divisions of labor organizations. Detailed
tables are presented showing membership, increase or decrease in mem
bership, wages and hours o f labor, annual dues, insurance features, and
other information of interest to labor organizations. In the following
table, which contains a summary of the more important facts returned,
the local organizations are grouped according to their national or inter
national titles.
222
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
STATISTICS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, 1SC6.
Labor organizations.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi
neers.................................................
Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire
men ...................................................
Brotherhood of Painters and Deco
rators of America..........................
Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen.
Cigar Makers’ International Union
International Association of Ma
chinists ............................................
International
Typographical
Union...............................................
J ourneymen Barbers’ Interna
tional Union of America.............
Order of Railway Conductors........
Retail Clerks’ Union ........................
Switchmen’s Union of North
America.........................................
Membership.
Insurance.
Local
unions,
branches, Unions, Total Dues per year. Disa Sick
or divi etc., re member
bility. ness. Death.
sions. porting. ship.
14
13
10
6
1
9
6
1
3
2
6
1
1
6
4
1
3
2
6
1
545
172
35
122
105
19
55
60
257
27
1
$0.75 to $30.00
2.00 to 26.00
6.25
1.00 to 33.00
13.00 to 15.00
6. 00
3.00
7.20
3.00 to 5.00
3.00
2.00
2
8
5
4
1
3
3
2
6
14
9
1
9
6
1
3
2
1
3
2
6
1
1
1
PENX SYL Y AN I A.
Annual Report o f the Secretary o f Internal Affairs o f the Commonwealth
o f Pennsylvania. Vol. X X IV , 1896. Part III, Industrial Statistics.
James M. Clark, Chief of Bureau. 648 pp.
This report treats of the following subjects: Individual time and
earnings, 329 pages; statistics of manufactures, 246 pages; strikes and
lockouts, 12 pages; statistics relating to prison manufacture, 19 pages;
analysis, 29 pages.
I n d iv id u a l T im e and E ar n in g s .—The statistics presented show
the actual earnings and time worked in the case of 2,381 wage earners
for the entire year 1896, and in the case of 244 wage earners for the
first six months. The actual earnings and hours worked during each
month, and for the whole period, and the average daily earnings are
shown for each individual workman. In the case of pieceworkers, the
quantity worked is shown instead of the time. The industries repre
sented in this investigation are pig metal, iron and steel, tin plate,
textiles, and window glass. The information presented was copied by
agents o f the bureau from the original pay rolls.
S t a t istic s of M a n u f a c t u r e s .—The first part of this chapter con
sists of statistics regarding 1,162 establishments in various industries.
A series of tables is given showing the amount of capital invested, the
cost o f material used and value of the products, the days in operation,
the number of wage earners, the aggregate wages paid, and the average
earnings in each establishment. The establishments are grouped under
96 industry headings. O f the 1,162 establishments, 1,156 reported an
aggregate invested capital o f $195,639,976. The aggregate figures
for the 1,162 establishments were as follows: Value of products,
$221,765,544; average number of days in operation, 286; average num
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR-----PENNSYLVANIA
223
ber of persons employed, 157,914; aggregate wages paid, $58,666,882;
per cent of wages of value of product, 26.5; average earnings for aver
age time o f employment during the year, $371.51; average daily wages
per employee, $1.30.
Similar information, covering in each case the entire industry in the
State, is given for pig iron, rolled and finished iron and steel, and tin
plate. Comparative data are presented for 364 identical establish
ments, representing 50 industries, for the years 1892 to 1896, inclusive.
These data comprise the average number of persons employed, the
aggregate wages paid, the average yearly earnings, and the value of
the product, and are shown in the following table:
STATISTICS OF 364 MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS FOR THE YEARS 1892 TO 1896.
Year.
1892.................
1893.................
1894.................
1895.................
1896.................
Average persons Aggregate wages paid. Average yearly
Value of product.
employed.
earnings.
Per cent
Per cent
Per cent
Per cent
Number. of in Amount.
of in Amount. of in Amount. of in
crease.
crease.
crease.
crease.
138,780
123,975
110, 892
129,109
119, 670
$67,867,579
a 10.67 57,324, 326
a 10.55 45,683, 345
16.43 57,257,849
a 7.31
52, 573,123
a
.54
a 20.31
25.34
a 8.18
a 15
$489.03
462. 05
411.91
443.48
439. 32
5.52
a 10. 85
7.66
a .94
a
I$271, 836,072
228,158,388
187, U38, 625
224,687. 705
213, 517,584
a 16.07
17.89
19.94
a 4.97
a
Decrease.
Comparing the year 1896 with 1892, the year of greatest activity in
the series, it is found that there was a decrease of 21.45 per cent in
the value of the product, of 13.77 per cent in the number of persons
employed, of 10.17 per cent in the average yearly earnings per employee,
and of 22.54 per cent in the aggregate wages paid. Of the 50 indus
tries represented, 7 showed an increase in the value of the product,
10 in the number of persons employed, and 6 in the aggregate wages
paid.
The entire production of pig iron during 1896 amounted to 4,026,350
tons, valued at $45,172,039. Beturns regarding other items are incom
plete. Complete returns covering the production of 3,992,861 tons were
as follows: Yalue of product, $44,773,998; aggregate wages, $4,551,120;
average yearly wages per employee, $396.30; average number of days
in operation, 289.
The tabulated information relating to “ iron and steel rolled into
finished form” includes plates, sheets, cut nails, rails, billets, blooms,
slabs, muck bar, bars, shapes, hoops, etc. The total production in 1896
was 4,297,864 tons, valued at $126,782,279. The value of the material
used was $70,811,190, and the capital invested in all but 3 of the estab
lishments reporting was $120,620,912. An average of 53,573 wage
earners were engaged in this production, earning wages amounting to
$23,832,628, or an average of $444.86 per employee. The average time
these establishments were in operation was 251 days.
224
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The entire production o f the 12 establishments manufacturing black
plate in the State during 1896 was 158,106,490 pounds, of which 97,814,762
was tinned and 60,291,728 was not tinned. These establishments
reported an aggregate invested capital of $3,570,275. The tinned prod
uct was valued at $3,157,699; the product not tinned was valued at
$1,475,462. These 12 establishments were in operation an average of 254
days, employed 3,144 wage earners, and paid $1,435,400, or $456.55* per
employee in wages. Fourteen dipping works produced 41,773,941 pounds
o f tin and terne plate, valued at $1,888,398, paid $125,889 in wages to 447
employees, or $281.63 per employee, and were in operation an average
o f 240 days during the year. The total production of black and tin
and terne plate in the 26 establishments was 199,880,431 pounds, valued
at $5,045,097.
S t r ik e s and L ookouts .—Separate strikes occurred in 68 estab
lishments, and one general strike among house painters involved 200
shops. The following table shows the strikes by industries:
STATISTICS OF STRIKES, 1896.
Industries.
Result.
Others Aver Cause or object.
Persons thrown age For in Against
Strikes. in out of days crease reduc
Suc
Suc ceeded
volved. employ dura of tion of Other. ceeded
Failed
ment. tion. wages. wages.
partly.
Coal m ining.................
Blast furnaces.............
Limestone quarrying.
Glassworks..................
Iron foundry...............
Nail mills..................
Machinery....................
Cotton goods__. .. . ..
Hosiery___. . . . . . . . . . .
Clothing..............
House painting. . . . . . .
Total..................
51
5
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
6,734
640
525
770
100
20
112
60
125
68
1,000
69 10,154
2,468
25
26
210
25
100
100
25
2,979
21
68
26
25
3
16
1
4
10
1
1
12
6
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
30
74
4
6
(c)
73
a Difference satisfactorily adjusted.
b Strike dne to misapprehension on the part of employees.
1
304
4
2
(a)
(a)
(a)
\**7
(»>
(6)
(b)
\u/
1
29
9
12
1
1
1
1
1
18
22
e
d
d l2
d ll
dU
Not reported.
See notes a and b.
O f the 69 strikes 24 were ordered by labor organizations, 36 were not
so ordered, and in the case of 9 this information could not be ascer
tained. There was a loss in time of 323,854 days, or an average o f 32
days per striker.
P rison L a b o r .—Returns received from the 10 institutions in the
State show that there were 2,227 inmates employed in manufacture.
The aggregate value of production sold on the market was $524,271.38,
that consumed by the institutions was $79,493.70, and that remaining on
hand at the close o f the year was $13,295.44, making a total value of
$617,060.52. The cost o f material out of which the product was made
was $393,194.33, and the other expenses connected with the manufacture
amounted to $78,768.38. This information, together with amount
invested in machinery, number of power, hand, and foot machines, and
number o f days worked, is given for each of the 10 institutions.
ELEVENTH REPORT ON THE ANNUAL STATISTICS OE MANUFAC
TURES IN MASSACHUSETTS.
The Annual Statistics o f Manufactures, 1896. Eleventh Report, xi, 240
pp. (Issued by the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, Horace Gr. Wadlin,
Chief.)
The information contained in this report is presented under the fol
lowing subjects: Statistics of manufactures, 104 pages; selected indus
try presentations, 43 pages; analysis, 45 pages; industrial chronology,
46 pages.
The statistical presentations are based upon the returns made by
4,609 identical establishments, representing 77 classified industries, for
each of the years 1895 and 1896. This does not, however, represent
all the establishments and industries in the State.
The 4,609 establishments were conducted, in 1896, by 3,493 private
firms and 1,070 corpoi ations. This shows a decrease of 1.02 per cent in
the number of private firms and an increase of 3.28 per cent in the
number of corporations, over 1895. These figures, as those for previous
years, show a tendency toward a corporate form of management. This
tendency is further shown by the number of partners and stockholders.
The total number of partners in private firms shows a decrease from
5,577 in 1895 to 5,482 in 1896, or 1.70 per cent, while the number of
stockholders of corporations increased from 44,928 in 1895 to 46,143 in
1896, or 2.70 per cent. Of the partners in private firms in 1896, 93.46
per cent were males, 2.64 per cent were females, and 1.90 per cent were
estates, etc. Of the stockholders of corporations, 57.49 per cent were
males, 31.97 i>er cent were females, and 10.54 per cent were banks,
trustees, etc.
The following table shows the items of invested capital, wages, value
of stock used, and value of goods made and work done during the years
1895 and 1896 in the same 4,609 establishments:
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES IN 77 INDUSTRIES, 1895 AND 1896.
Industries.
Estab
lish
ments.
Boots and shoes................... 605
Carpetings...........................
12
Cotton goods........................ 169
Leather................................. 143
Machines and machinery.. 371
Metals and metallic goods. 382
Paper and paper goods___ / 123
Woolen goods...................... 122
27
Worsted goods....................
Other industries................. 2,655
Total........................... 4,609
Capital m asted.
Wages paid.
1895.
1896.
Per cent
of in
crease.
$23,172,349
6,008,497
116,141,614
8,479, 094
23,167,426
19,177,940
24,682, 633
21,932, 897
15,700,666
132,469, 647
390,932,763
$19,990,145
6,020,485
112, 902,817
7,329,970
23,733,634
17,633,004
23,670,894
19,186,201
15,343,809
127,771,202
373,582,161
73
.20
2.79
a 13. 55
2.44
a 8.06
a 4.10
a 12.52
a 2.27
a 3. 55
a 4.44
a
Decrease.
a id .
a
Percent
of in
crease.
1895.
1896.
$20,838,632
1,709,689
26,234,125
3, 448,203
9,072,876
7,479,643
4, 723, 678
5,987,401
4,490,457
46, 860,847
130,845,551
$20, 834,331
1,443,472
25,865,194
2,984,515
9,731,509
7,218,118
4,476, 285
4,963, 615
3,848, 327
45,548, 006
126, 913,372
225
« 0 .02
a 15.57
al. 41
a 13.45
7.26
a 3.50
a 5.24
a 17.10
a 14.30
a 2. 80
ad .
01
226
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES IN 77 INDUSTRIES, 1895 AND 18C6—Concluded.
Industries.
Estab
lish
ments.
Stock used.
1895.
Boots and shoes.................. 605 $55,559,505
12
Carpetings...........................
4,336,556
Cotton goods........................ 169 46,244,435
Leather................................. 143 15,746,203
Machines and machinery.. 371 9,931,227
Metals and metallic goods. 382 11,021,656
Paper and paper goods___ 123 14,830,407
Woolen goods...................... 122 14,410,166
Worsted goods....................
27 13,133,003
Other industries................. 2,655 133,540,384
Total............................ 4, 609 318,753, 542
1896.
Percent
of in
crease.
$53,883,477
3,302,865
50,297,985
13,127,769
10,350,938
10,626,329
13,625,290
11,393,040
10,861,550
124,803, 082
302,272,325
a 3.02
a 23.84
8.77
a 16.63
4. 23
a 3.59
a 8 13
a 20.94
a 17.30
a 6.54
a 5.17
Goods made and work done.
Percent
1895.
1896.
of in
crease.
$89,938,212
7,213,798
89,615, 751
22,379,841
26,027,029
24,484,118
25,028,375
24,890,606
20,599,046
238,911,245
569,097,021
$87,945,168 a 2.22
5,674, 637 a 21.34
87,146,004 a 2.76
19,041,544 a 14.92
28,489, 920
9.46
23,472, 316 a 4.13
23,044,582 a 7.93
19,662,182 a 21.03
17,827,246 a 13.46
225,416, 695 a 5.65
537,720, 294 a 5.51
a Decrease.
The results for the 4,609 establishments, taken as a whole, show a
decrease in each of the 4 principal items given above, namely, amount
o f capital invested, wages x>aid, stock used, and goods made and work
done when comparing the year 1896 with the x>receding year. Only
1 of the 9 leading industries reports an increase in each of these
items, while 6 of these industries report a decrease in every case.
The amount o f cai>ital invested in the 4,609 establishments was
$390,932,763 in 1895 and $373,582,161 in 1896, a decrease of 4.44 per
cent. Two of the 9 leading industries had an increase and 7 a decrease
in the amount of capital invested. The greatest relative increase was
2.44 per cent in the machines and machinery industry, and the greatest
relative decrease, 13.73 per cent, in the boot and shoe industry. The
results for the 77 industries show that in 23 there was an increase and
in 54 a decrease in the amount of cax>ital invested.
The total amount of wages paid in all the establishments considered
was $130,845,551 in 1895 and $126,913,372 in 1896, a decrease of 3.01
X>er cent. Only 1 of the 9 leading industries shows an increase in the
amount of wages paid, namely, machines and machinery, 7.26 per cent.
The greatest relative decrease was 17.10 per cent in the woolen goods
industry. The results for all industries show that in 32 there was an
increase and in 45 a decrease in the amount of wages paid.
The value of stock used in all the establishments, considered in the
aggregate, shows a decrease from $318,753,542 in 1895 to $302,272,325
in 1896, or 5.17 x>er cent. Two of the 9 leading industries, namely, cot
ton goods and machines and machinery, showed an increase in the value
o f stock used in 1896 as compared with 1895, the jiereentages being
8.77 and 4.23, respectively. The greatest relative decrease was 23.84
per cent in the carpet industry. O f the 77 industries, 21 showed an
increase and 56 a decrease in the value of stock used.
The total value o f goods made and work done in the establishments
considered was $569,097,021 in 1895 and $537,720,294 in 1896, or a
decrease of 5.51 per cent. Only 1 of the 9 leading industries, machines
227
MANUFACTURES IN MASSACHUSETTS.
and machinery, exhibits an increase in the value of goods made and
work done, the percentage of increase being 9.46. The greatest rela
tive decrease in value of product was 21.34 per cent in the carpet indus
try. O f the 77 industries, 20 showed an increase and 57 a decrease in
the product value.
The number o f employees and their average yearly earnings are
shown in the following table. Officers, clerks, and other salaried per
sons are not included in the tabulation.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND AVERAGE WAGES IN 77 INDUSTRIES,
1805 AND 1896.
Industries.
and s h o e s . . . . . . ____________
Carpetings............................................
Cotton goods........................................
Leather............................................
Machines and machinery..................
Metals and metallic goods........... .....
Paper and paper goods___. . . . ____
W oolen goods.......................................
Average number of em Average yearly earnings.
ployees.
Estab
lishcent
Per cent
ments. 1895. 1896. Per
1896. of in
of in 1895.
crease.
crease.
605
12
169
143
371
382
123
122
W o r s t e d g o o d s ____________ ____________
27
O th er in d u s t r ie s ...........................................
2,655
Total............................................ 4,609
R o o ts
42,263
4, 232
78,058
6, 347
18, 082
14, 242
11,112
13, 671
11, 318
101,121
99,221
307, 590 298,516
43,180
4, 616
79,795
7,168
16, 933
14, 694
11, 647
16,139
12, 297
a
$482.60
370. 38
328.77
481. 06
535.81
509. 03
405. 57
370.99
365.17
a 1.88
463.41
425. 39 |
a 2.91
a
2.12
a 8. 32
a 2.18
a 11.45
6. 79
a d . 08
a 4.59
a 15.29
a 7.96
$492.97
341. 09
331. 36
470. 22
538.19
506. 82
402.83
363. 08
340. 02
45!). 06
425.16
2.15
a 7.91
.79
a 2.25
.44
a. 43
a. 68
a 2.13
a 6.89
a. 94
a . 05
Decrease.
The average number of wage earners employed in the 4,609 establish
ments was 307,590 in 1895 and 298,546 in 1896, a decrease of 2.94 per
cent. In only 1 o f the 9 leading industries, machines and machinery,
an increase in the average number of persons employed appears, the
percentage of increase being 6.79. The greatest relative decrease was
15.29 per cent in the woolen goods industry.
The average yearly earnings per individual employed in the 4,609
establishments was very nearly the same for the two years, being $425.39
in 1895 and $425.16 in 1896, or a decrease of 0.05 per cent. Three of
the 9 leading industries, namely, boots and shoes, cotton goods, and
machines and machinery, show an increase, while 6 exhibit a decrease
in the average yearly earnings per employee. The greatest relative
increase, 2.15 per cent, is shown in the boot and shoe industry, and
the greatest relative decrease, 7.91 per cent, in the carpet industry. Of
the 77 industries considered, 30 show an increase and 47 a decrease
in the average yearly earnings.
The following table shows for 77 industries the percentage of males
and females o f the whole number employed at each specified weekly
rate of wages.
228
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
PER CENT OF MALES AND FEMALES OF THE WHOLE NUMBER EMPLOYED AT
SPECIFIED WEEKLY WAGES IN 77 INDUSTRIES, 1895 AND 1896.
1896.
1895.
Males. Females. Males. Females.
Weekly wages.
Under $5 .............................................................................................
$5 or under $6......................................................................................
(6 or under $7.....................................................................................
$7 or under $8.....................................................................................
$8or under $9.....................................................................................
$.) or under $10....................................................................................
$10or under $12..................................................................................
$12 or under $15..................................................................................
$15 or under $20..................................................................................
$20or over..........................................................................................
T otal.........................................................................................
38.17
37.04
47.96
58.69
66.86
80.58
86.81
93.68
97.48
99.21
66.51
61.83
62.96
52.04
41.31
33.14
19.42
13.19
6.32
2.52
.79
33.49
37.68
36.73
48.69
57.76
66.90
81.12
86.63
94.03
97.23
98.95
66.35
62.32
63.27
51.31
42.24
33.10
18.88
13.37
5.97
2.77
1.05
33.65
It will be seen from the above table that in both years the percentage
of females of the total number of employees at each specified rate
decreased as the wages advanced from $5 upward. A comparison of
the figures for the two years shows that the proportion o f females
increased in 1896 in the following six wage groups, namely, “ under $5,”
“ $5 or under $6,” “ $7 or under $8,” “ $10 or under $12,1” “ $15 or under
$20,1
” “ $20 or over.” There was a slight increase in the proportion of
females employed in all the establishments, taken in the aggregate, in
1896 as compared with the preceding year.
The fluctuations in the different wage classes are shown for all the
industries in the following table, the totals of males, females, and both
sexes, respectively, for all groups being represented by 100 per cent,
and the number o f employees in each wage class constituting parts of
this aggregate:
PER CENT OF THE TOTAL MALES AND FEMALES AT SPECIFIED WEEKLY WAGES
IN 77 INDUSTRIES, 1895 AND 1896.
•-------------------------------------------------------------- 1895.
1896.
Weekly wages.
Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total.
Under $5.......................................................................
$5 or under $6..............................................................
8.39
5.68
$6or under $7.............................................................. 8.57
$7 or under $8.............................................................. 9.55
$8or under $9............................................................. 9.16
$9 or under $10............................................................ 12.34
$10or under $12.......................................................... 14.10
$12 or under $15.......................................................... 16.07
$15 or under $20.......................................................... 12.17
$20or over................................................................... 3.97
T otal.................................................................. 100.00
26.99
19.17
18.47
13.36
9.01
5.91
4.25
2.16
.62
.06
14.62
10.20
11.89
10.83
9.11
10.18
10.80
11.41
8.30
8.22
5.64
8.82
9.55
9.51
12.35
13.88
15.93
12.22
2.66 3.88
100.00 100.00 100.00
26.82
19.15
18.33
13.77
9.27
5.67
4.22
2.00
.69
.08
14.48
10.19
10.97
9.43
10.10
10.63
11.24
8.34
2.60
12.02
100.00 100.00
The proportion o f business done by the 4,609 establishments consid
ered is shown in the following table. The percentages given represent
the relation o f the actual production to the greatest amount o f goods
that can be turned out with the present facilities, the latter being con
sidered as 100 per cent. The table also shows the average number of
days in operation.
229
MANUFACTURES IN MASSACHUSETTS.
PER CENT OE BUSINESS DONE AND AVERAGE DAYS IN OPERATION IN 77 INDUS
TRIES, 1895 AND 1896.
Industries.
Boots and shoes................
Carpetings.........................
Cotton goods.................... .
Leather............................. .
Machines and machinery.
Metals and metallic goods.
Paper and paper goods ...
Woolen goods....................
Worsted goods..................
Other industries................
Total........................
Per cent of
business done Average days
maximum in operation.
Estab ofcapacity
of
lish
ments. establishments.
1895. 1896. 1895. 1896.
605
12
169
143
371
382
123
122
27
2,655
4,609
62.04
73. 50
87.22
66.51
59.08
61.90
73.96
82.81
85.56
59.74
62.56
58. 61
68. 25
77. 33
58.35
56.78
59.10
70.77
69.50
70.30
57.03
58.98
284. 64
299. 63
297.36
294.73
297.55
284.14
287. 34
292.19
305.64
288. 09
291. 56
282. 30
241.14
279.53
286.13
292.16
278. 79
272.56
259.65
279.35
280.60
279.43
A comparison o f the two years 1895 and 1896 shows that in each of
the 9 leading industries there was a decline in the proportion of busi
ness done in the latter year. Of the 77 industries represented, only 17
exhibited an increase. The production in the 9 leading industries in
1896 ranged from 56.78 to 77.33 per cent of the full capacity of the
establishments. The average proportion of business done in all estab
lishments in 1895 is represented by 62.56 per cent and in 1896 by 58.98
per cent.
There was also a falling off in the number of days in operation in
1896 as compared with 1895 in each of the 9 leading industries and in
all the establishments taken in the aggregate. Only 18 of the 77 indus
tries show an increase in the number o f days worked. While the total
number of working days in 1896, exclusive of Sundays and holidays,
was 307, the average days worked in all the industries taken in the
aggregate was 279.43.
The next table presents the actual product per $1,000 of capital
invested in each o f the 9 leading industries, the average product per
employee, the percentages of industry product paid in wages, and the
percentages devoted to other expenses.
The largest industry product per $1,000 of capital invested is found
in the boot and shoe industry, $1,703.92, while the smallest, $326.37, is
found in the cotton goods industry. With respect to the industry
product per employee, the machines and machinery industry leads with
$1,003.15. The cotton goods industry again ranks lowest with regard
to this point, the industry product per employee being $472.06. When
the percentage of industry product paid in wages is considered, the
cotton goods industry leads, the percentage being 70.19, and the paper
and paper goods industry ranks lowest, the percentage being 47.52.
230
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
INDUSTRY PRODUCT, 'WAGES, AXD PROFIT AND EXPENSES IX 9 SPECIFIED
INDUSTRIES, 1896.
[By “ industry prod act” is meantthe actual resultof the productive forces in tlie industry; that is,
the added value created above the value of stock and materials consumed. The values presented in
this table under the designation “ industry product” are obtained by deducting from the total value
of goods made and work done in each industry the value of stock used, the difference being added
value or actual product due to the industry. In the division of the proceeds of each industry, one
part of this industry product is paid to the labor force in the form of wages, this being labor’s'share
of the product. The balance constitutes a fund from which are paid freights, insurance, interest on
loans (credit capital), interest on stock (fixed or invested capital), rents, commissions, salaries, etc.;
in fact, all expenses other than those for stock and wages. The remainder, if any, is the profit of the
employer. The entire balance of the industry product remaining after the deduction of the amount
paid in wages becomes a “ profit and minor expense fund,” and is thus designated in the table. Of
course it will be understood that the term “minor expense” is relative. The expenses paid out of
this balance are in themselves considerable in amount, and are only to be classed as minor lii compari
son with the generally larger amounts expended for materials (stock) and wages.]
Industries.
Industry
product.
Boots and shoes.................... $34,061,691
Carpetings......................I... 2, 371,772
Cotton goods.......................... 36,848, 019
Leather................................... 5,913,775
Machines and machinery .. 18,138,982
Metals and metallic goods.. 12,845, 987
Paper and paper goods........ 9,419,292
Woolen goods........................ 8. 269,142
Worsted goods...................... 6,965,696
of in
Industry product. Percentage
dustry product.
Profit and
Devoted
Wages. minor ex
Paid in toandprofit
pense fund. Per $1,000 Average
per
em
mi
of capital. ployee. wages. nor ex
penses.
$20,834,331
1,443,472
25,865,194
2,984,515
9,731, 509
7,218,118
4,476,285
4,963,615
3,818,327
$13,227,360 $1,703.92 $805.95 61.17
928, 300 393.95 560.44 60.86
10,982,825 326.37 472.06 70.19
2,929,260 806.79 931.74 50.47
8,407,473 764.27 1,003.15 53.65
5, 627, 869 728. 52 901.98 56.19
4,913,007 397.93 847.67 47.52
3,305,527 430.99 604.87 60.03
3,117,369 453.97 615.45 55.25
38.83
39.14
29.81
49.53
46.35
43.81
52.48
39.97
44.75
The following table shows the increase or decrease in the value of
goods made and work done each year, as shown by former published
reports, beginning with the year 1886:
INCREASE OR DECREASE IX VALUE OF GOODS MADE AXD WORK DONE, BY
COMPARATIVE YEARS 1886 to 1896.
in value of
Number of Increase
*■&made and work
establish goo
done
in
year as
ments con comparedeachwith
sidered in previous year. the
each year
compared. Amount. Per cent.
Years.
1886 and 1887 ..
1887 and 1888 ..
1888 and 1889 ..
1889 and 1890 ...
1890 and 1891..
1891 and 1892 ..
1892 and 1893 ..
1893 and 1894 ..
1894 and 1895 ..
1895 and 1896 .
1,027
1,140
1,364
3,041
3,745
4,473
4,397
4,093
3,629
4, 609
a
Decrease.
$13,919, 859
11,188, 095
9,653, 992
22, 838, 970
8,068, 053
33,180, 865
a 51,793, 852
a 56, 793,448
43,048, 021
a 31,376, 727
5. 29
3.61
2.45
4.37
1. 33
5.37
a 8.10
a 10.2 7
9.18
a 5. 51
RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
FRANCE.
Note sur le Minimum de Salaire dans les Travaux Publics en Angleterre,
en Belgique, en Hollande, en Suisse, aux Etats- Unis et en France.
Office du Travail, Ministere du Commerce, de l’lndustrie, des Postes
et des Telegraphes. 1897. 129 pp.
This report consists of an analysis of official documents relating to
the subject of minimum wages x>aid to employees on public works, or
in the public service, in England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, the
United States, and France, and is published by the Bureau of Labor
of France at the request of the superior council of labor (conseil sup6rieur du travail). The report further consists of extracts of laws and
regulations o f the various countries, States, and municipalities which
relate to the fixing of minimum wages and the hours of labor, ot
reports of parliamentary and other commissions which have investi
gated this subject, of proposed laws and regulations, and of other
similar documents.
NEW ZEALAND.
Sixth Annual Report o f the Department o f Labor o f New Zealand. For
the year ending March 31, 1897. Hon. R. J. Seddon, Minister of
Labor, xxviii, 55 pp.
This report contains an introduction, 28 pages; statistics concerning
persons assisted by the Department of Labor, 7 pages; accounts of acci
dents and legal decisions, etc., under the factories act, 4 pages; num
ber and wages of employees in factories, 40 pages; number and wages
of employees in railway workshops, 2 pages; report on accommodations
provided for sheep shearers, 2 pages.
I n t ro d u ctio n .— This part of the report consists of a review of the
condition of the labor market and of conciliation and arbitration dur
ing the year, discussions on the subjects of the shop and shop assistants?
act, hours of labor in factories and shops, workmen’s compensation,
the servants’ registry act, and domestic servants. It also contains indi
vidual reports of local inspectors of factories and of agents of the
Department o f Labor.
A steady advance is shown both in wages and employment during
the year. There has been a falling off in the number of the unemployed
assisted to the extent of about one-half of those aided in each of the
years 1893,1894, and 1895. The number o f persons employed in facto
ries and workshops has increased by several thousand, and the appli
cations to workovertime granted to those already in employment have
largely increased.
231
232
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
P ersons A ssist e d .—Detailed tables are presented showing by
occupations and localities the number of persons assisted by the
department in obtaining employment, their conjugal condition, nature
of employment given, whether public or private, number of dependents,
number of months unemployed, and cause o f failure to obtain work.
The total number of persons assisted during the year was 1,718, and
their dependents numbered 4,719, O f the dependents, 1,083 were wives,
3,437 were children, and 199 were parents and other relatives. O f the
persons assisted, 652 were sent to private employment and 1,066 to
Government works. The cause for failure to get employment was slack
ness of trade in 1,701 cases and sickness in 17 cases. Thirty-seven
families, consisting o f 37 wives and 67 children, were sent to workmen.
The following table shows the number o f persons assisted, and their
dependents, for each year since the founding of the department:
PERSONS ASSISTED, 1892 TO 1897.
Year ending March 31—
1892 (a) ............................................................................................................................................
1893...................................................................................................................................................
1894 ................................................................................................................................................
1895 ................................................................................................................................................
1896 .............................................................. ................................................................................
Tnf.fl.1______________________ - ____ . . __________- ________ - ____ ________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Men. Depend
ents.
2,593
3,874
3,371
3, 030
2,871
1, 718
17,457
4,729
7, 802
8,002
8, 883
8, 424
4, 719
42, 559
a June, 1891, to March 31,1892.
E m p l o y e e s in F a c t o r ie s .—The statistical tables presented cover
ail employees coming under the factories’ act during the fiscal year.
They show by localities and industries the number, sex, and average
weekly wages o f all employees, and also the ages o f those o f 20 years
and under. There were during the fiscal year 36,918 persons employed
in 5,177 factories. This is an increase o f 4,531 in the number of
employees and o f 530 in the number of factories.
E m p l o y e e s in B a il w a y W or k sh o ps .—The statistics presented
for employees in railway workshops are o f a character similar to those
for employees in factories. During the fiscal year 916 men and 137
apprentices were employed in the railway workshops and maintenance
depots.
DECISIONS OF COUNTS AFFECTING LABON.
[This subject, begun in Bulletin No. 2, has been continued in successive issues.
All material parts o f the decisions are reproduced in the words o f the courts, indi
cated when short by quotation m arts and when long by being printed solid. In
order to save space, immaterial matter, needed simply by way of explanation, is
given in the words of the editorial reviser.]
DECISIONS UNDEE STATUTOEY LAW .
C o n s t i t u t i o n a l i t y o f S t a t u t e — H o u r s o f L a b o r — Holden v.
Hardy and State v. Holden, 46 Pacific Reporter, pages 756 and 1105.—In
the above eases, appearing on page 387 of Bulletin No. 10 and page
508 of Bulletin No. 11 of the Department of Labor, the constitution
ality of chapter 62, Laws of Utah of 1896, making eight hours a legal
day’s labor in mines, smelters, etc., was affirmed by the supreme court
of the State. The cases were then brought before the Supreme Court
of the United States, which rendered its decision February 28,1898,
sustaining the decisions of the State court. A full report of the case
will appear in a forthcoming Bulletin.
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
Sta tu te — T a
x on
F
o r e i o n -b o r n
U
nnat
Fraser v. McGonway and Torley Company, 82
Federal Reporter, page 257.—This suit was brought in the United States
circuit court for the district o f Pennsylvania by John Fraser, a subject
of the Queen o f Great Britain, against the above-named company, a
Pennsylvania corporation. The cause of action arose under act No. 139,
Laws of Pennsylvania o f 1897, the title o f which reads as follows:
Eegulating the employment of foreign-born unnaturalized male per
sons over twenty-one years o f age, and providing a tax on the employ
ers of such persons, and prescribing a penalty for violation of the pro
visions o f said act, and directing the manner of collecting the same,
and providing that the amount of such tax may be deducted from the
wages of persons affected by the provisions hereof.
The circuit court rendered its decision August 26, 1897, and decided
that the act was unconstitutional. A statement of the facts in tbe
case appears in the following opinion o f the circuit court, delivered by
Circuit Judge Acheson:
The first section of an act of assembly of the State o f Pennsylvania
approved the 15th day o f June, 1897, provides:
“ That all persons, firms, associations or corporations employing one
or more foreign-born unnaturalized male persons over twenty-one years
of age within this Commonwealth, shall be and are hereby taxed at the
rate o f three cents per day for each day each of such foreign-born unnat
uralized male persons may be employed, which tax shall be paid into
the respective county treasuries; one half of which tax to be distributed
among the respective school districts of each county, in proportion to
u r a l iz e d
L aborers—
233
2955—No. 15----- 7
234
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the number of schools in said districts, the other half of said tax shall be
used by the proper county authorities for defraying the general expenses
o f county government.”
It is further provided by the act:
“ That all persons, firms, associations and corporations shall have the
right to deduct the amount of the tax provided for in this act from the
wages of any and all employees, for the use of the proper county and
school district as aforesaid.”
As the employer is authorized by the act to deduct from the wages of
the employee the prescribed tax, it is quite clear that the tax is upon
the employee, and not upon the employer. (Bell’s Gap R. Co. v. Penn
sylvania, 134 17. S., 232, 239,10 Sup. Ct., 533.)
* The court is here called upon to consider whether these provisions of
this act of assembly are in conflict with the Constitution or laws o f the
United States. The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution o f the
United States declares:
“ Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdic
tion the equal protection of the laws.”
The general purpose and scope of these constitutional provisions
were thus stated by Mr. Justice Field in delivering the opinion of the
Supreme Court of the United States in Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U. S.,
27, 5 Sup. Ct., 359:
“ The fourteenth amendment, in declaring that no Statecshall deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws,’ undoubtedly intended not only that there should be no arbitrary
deprivation of life or liberty, or arbitrary spoliation of property, but
that equal protection and security should be given to all under like cir
cumstances in the enjoyment of their personal and civil rights; that all
persons should be equally entitled to pursue their happiness, and acquire
and enjoy property; that they should have like access to the courts of
the country for the protection of their persons and property, the pre
vention and redress of wrongs, and the enforcement of contracts; that
no impediment should be interposed to the pursuits of any one, except
as applied to the same pursuits by others under like circumstances;
that no greater burdens should be laid upon one than are laid upon
others in the same calling and condition, and that in the administra
tion o f criminal justice no different or higher punishment should be
imposed upon one than such as is prescribed to all for like offenses.”
Congress has enforced the above quoted provisions of the fourteenth
amendment by legislation embodied in sections 1977 and 1979 of the
Revised Statutes. The former of these sections enacts:
“ A ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have
the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce con
tracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal bene
fit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property,
as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment,
pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no
other.”
It will be perceived that this statute, following in this regard the
constitutional provisions themselves, embraces within its protection not
citizens merely, but all “ persons” within the jurisdiction o f the United
States. The question of the extent of the application of these constitu
tional provisions with respect to persons was before the Supreme Court
in Yiek Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S., 356, 369, 6 Sup. Ct., 1064, and it was
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
235
there decided that tlie guaranties of protection contained in the four
teenth amendment to the Constitution embraced subjects of the Emperor
of China residing in the State of California. Mr. Justice Matthews, in
delivering the opinion of the supreme court there, said:
‘ •The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution is not confined to
the protection of citizens. It says: ‘ 1STor shall any State deprive any
person o f life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny
to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.7
These provisions are universal in their application to all persons within
the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of race, of
color, or of nationality; and the equal protection of the laws is a pledge
o f the protection o f equal laws.”
There can be no doubt that the fourteenth amendment embraces the
case of the present plaintiff, who, although a British subject, is, and
since about April 27,1803, has been a resident of the State of Pennsyl
vania, and whose right to reside within the United States is secured to
him by treaty between the United States and Great Britain.
Can the tax laid by the Pennsylvania act of June 15, 1807, be sus
tained consistently with the principles enunciated by the Supreme
Court o f the United States in the cases which have arisen under the
fourteenth amendment? I think not. This tax, as we have seen, is
imposed u at the rate of three cents per day for each day each of such
foreign-born unnaturalized male persons may be employed.” The tax
is of an unusual character, and is directed against and confined to a
particular class o f persons. Evidently the act is intended to hinder the
employment o f foreign-born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years
of age. The act is hostile to and discriminates against such persons. It
interposes to the pursuit by them of their lawful avocations obstacles to
which others, under like circumstances, are not subjected. It imposes
upon these j>ersons burdens which are not laid upon others in the same
calling and condition. The tax is an arbitrary deduction from the
daily wages o f a particular class of persons. Now, the equal protection
o f the laws declared by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution
secures to each person within the jurisdiction of a State exemption from
any burdens or charges other than such as are equally laid upon all
others under like circumstances. The B. R. Tax Cases, 13 Fed., 722, 733:
The court there, in discussing the prohibitions of the amendment, said:
u Unequal exactions in every form, or under any pretense, are abso
lutely forbidden; and, of course, unequal taxation, for it is in that form
that oppressive burdens are usually laid.”
It is idle to suggest that the case in hand is one of proper legislative
classification. A valid classification for the purposes of taxation must
have a just and reasonable basis, which is lacking here. R. R. Co. v.
Ellis, 165 U. S., 150,165,17 Sup. Ct., 261: Mr. Justice Brewer, in deliver
ing the opinion of the court there, said:
u It is apparant that the mere fact of classification is not sufficient to
relieve a statute from the reach of the equality clause of the fourteenth
amendment, and that in all cases it must appear not only that a classi
fication has been made, but also that it is one based upon some reason
able ground—some difference which bears a just and proper relation to
the attempted classification—and is not a mere arbitrary selection.”
I am o f opinion that the act of assembly of the State o f Pennsylvania
o f June 15,1897, here in question, is in conflict with the Constitution
and laws of the United States, and can not be sustained.
[For act No. 139, Laws of Pennsylvania of 1897, concerning which
the above decision was rendered, see page 283, post.]
236
E
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
m ployers’
L ia b il it y — A
s s u m p t io n
of
R is k — C o n s t r u c t io n
Beique v. Hosmer, 48 Northeastern Reporter, page 338.—*
Action was brought in the superior court o f Hampden County, Mass.,
by Lewis Beique against John R. Hosmer for damages for injuries
received while working on a building which was being constructed.
Judgment was rendered for the defendant, Hosmer, and Beique brought
the case on exceptions before the supreme judicial court of the State,
which rendered its decision November 24,1897, overruling the exceptions
and affirming the judgment of the lower court.
The facts in the case are sufficiently stated in the opinion of the
supreme judicial court, delivered by Judge Morton, which reads as
follows:
The hole through which the plaintiff fell was not cut by the defendant
or by his direction or that of anyone in his employ. It was cut by one
Prew, under authority from one Dodge, the general contractor, for pur
poses connected with Prew’s work, and not with that o f the defendant.
If, therefore, there was any negligence on the part of the defendant or of
his superintendent, it was not in causing the hole to be cut. It appears,
however, that the defendant and his superintendent knew for several
weeks before the accident that the hole was there, and it is said that
they should have covered or guarded it, or have warned the plaintiff o f
it. The plaintiff was an experienced workman. The building on which
he was working was in the process of construction. Obviously, the
condition o f such a building is not a permanent one, but is liable to
change as the necessities o f construction require. An experienced
workman must be assumed to know this and to have regard to it. It
is one o f the risks o f the business in which he is engaged. To require
his employer to warn him or to guard him against such a risk would be,
therefore, to compel the employer to protect him from a risk concerning
which, from the very nature of the case, the employer would have no
reason to suppose that the workman needed any warning or protec
tion. Though the hole had been there several weeks, there is nothing
to show that the defendant had any reason to suppose that the plain
tiff needed any warning or protection in regard to it.
W e think that the building was not “ ways, works, or machinery
connected with or used in the business” [Chapter 270, acts o f 1887] of
the defendant, and that, therefore, the hole did not constitute a defect
in the ways, works, and machinery o f the defendant. When completed,
the building would no doubt constitute a part o f the ways, works, and
machinery of the Lyman Mills, for which it was being erected; but,
while in the process o f erection, it could not be said, we think, to be a
part o f the ways, works, and machinery o f a subcontractor who was
helping to build it. Exceptions overruled.
of
St a tu te —
Em
ployers’
L ia b il it y — R
a il r o a d
C o m p a n ie s — D
e f e c t iv e
Pittsburgh and Western Ry. Co. v. Thompson, 82 Federal Reporter,
page 720.—This case was brought before the United States circuit court
of appeals for the sixth circuit upon writ of error directed to the circuit
court o f the United States for the eastern division of the northern dis
trict o f Ohio. Said writ was obtained by the above-named railway
Ca r s—
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
237
company, against whom a judgment had been rendered in the lower
court in a suit for damages brought against the company by Samuel M.
Thompson, guardian of Frank H. Wakelee, who had been injured while
in the employ o f the railway company as a brakeman. The decision of
the United States circuit court of appeals was rendered October 5,1897,
and the judgment of the lower court was affirmed therein. In its opin
ion said court construed the second section of an act o f the Ohio legis
lature passed April 2,1890, regulating the liability of railroad companies
for injuries of employees, which section reads as follows:
It shall be unlawful for any such corporation to knowingly or negli
gently use or operate any car or locomotive that is defective, or any
car or locomotive upon which the machinery or attachments thereto
belonging are in any manner defective. I f the employee of any such
corporation shall receive any injury by reason of any defect in any car
or locomotive, or the machinery or attachments thereto belonging, owned
and operated, or being run and operated by such corporation, such cor
poration shall be deemed to have had knowledge of such defect before
and at the time such injury is so sustained, and when the fact of such
defect shall be made to appear in the trial of any action in the courts of
this State, brought by such employee, or his legal representatives,
against any railroad corporation for damages on account of such inju
ries so received, the same shall be prima facie evidence of negligence on
the part o f such corporation.
The following is the language used in the opinion of the United
States circuit court of appeals, delivered by Circuit Judge Lurton, in
regard to the above-quoted section:
Propositions Nos. 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 presented different phases of the
question o f the presumption as to the proper inspection of cars and
machinery coming upon one road from another, and of the discharge of
duty by inspectors. Each of these requests was faulty in totally ignor
ing the Ohio statute of April 2,1890, the second section of which pro
vides that it shall be unlawful for any railroad company to knowingly
or negligently use or operate any defective car, and that, in actions by
an employee for an injury by reason of such defect, the company shall
be deemed to have had knowledge of such defect, and that this pre
sumption shall stand as prima facie evidence of negligence on the part
of the company. (87 Ohio Laws, p. 149.) This act was construed by
the supreme court of Ohio in Ry. Co. v. Erick, 51 Ohio St., 146,37 N". E.,
128, the court saying:
“ The presumption of knowledge of the defect before and at the time
of the injury is, by this statute, chargeable to the company; and this
statutory presumption can not be overcome by proof of facts which
only raise a presumption that the company did not have such knowl
edge. Competent and careful inspectors are presumed to properly
inspect the cars and their attachments, but such presumption would
not overcome the statutory presumption of knowledge of defects before
and at the time o f the injury. It would take an actual and proper
inspection, or its equivalent, to overcome the statutory presumption of
knowledge of such defects. It will be noticed that this section of the
statute also provides that, in the trial of a personal injury case against
a railroad company, the fact of such defect in its cars or their attach
ments shall be prima facie evidence of negligence on the part o f such
238
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
corporation. It will be noticed that it is not the servants or such as
are fellow-servants that are deemed guilty o f negligence, but the cor
poration itself. In such case, when the plaintiff has shown that he
was injured, and that such injury was caused by a defect in the cars or
their appliances, the statute raises the presumption of negligence on
the i>art of the company, and the burden o f proof is thrown upon the
company to overcome the prima facie case of negligence thus made by
the statute.”
There was no direct evidence that this car was ever inspected by
this company, and the question as to whether such an inspection was
ever in fact made by the plaintiff in error was submitted to the jury,
who found that no inspection was made when received by the defendant
company. The statutory presumption of negligence was therefore not
overcome. The judgment must be affirmed.
DECISIONS UNDER COMMON LAW .
C o n t r a c t o f E m p l o y m e n t — W r o n g f u l D i s c h a r g e — St. Louis,
Iron Mountain and Southern By. Go. v. Mathews, 42 Southicestern
Reporter, page 902.—This case was appealed from the circuit court of
Pulaski County, Ark., by the above-named railway company, against
which a judgment had been rendered in favor o f W . J. Mathews, as
plaintiff*, to the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision
November 6, 1897, and reversed the judgment of the circuit court.
The opinion of the supreme court was delivered by Judge Battle, and
the following, showing the reasons for the decision and the facts in the
case, is quoted therefrom:
The complaint filed in the action is as follows :
“ The plaintiff is by profession a locomotive engineer, and has been
such for many years, and for over four years past he has been in the
employment o f the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Ry. Co. as
such locomotive engineer, working under a contract, a copy of which
is herewith filed, and made part hereof. By article 1 of said contract
it is provided: <No engineer shall be discharged or suspended without
just and sufficient cause, and in case an engineer believes his discharge
or suspension to have been unjust, he shall make a written statement
o f the facts in the premises, and submit it to his master mechanic, and
at the same time designate any other engineer who may be in the
employ o f the company at the time, on the same division; and the
master mechanic, together with the engineer last referred to, shall, in
conjunction with the superintendent, investigate the case in question,
without unnecessary delay, and give prompt decision, and, in case the
aforesaid discharge or suspension is decided to have been unjust, he
shall be reinstated, and paid half time for all the time he has lost on
sucli account.7
“ By rules 13,14,16, and 17 of said contract it is provided that engi
neers shall be employed and discharged in the order o f their seniority,
the oldest engineer in service being entitled to be first employed,
and the youngest engineer in the service being subject to be first dis
charged in case the company should reduce its force.
“ The plaintiff was one o f the oldest engineers in the service of the
company, and, there being no possibility of the requirements of the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
239
service being diminished to such an extent as ever to necessitate his
discharge under the contract, his employment was for life, or during
good behavior.
“ The plaintiff was earning under that contract from $135 to $185 per
month, and would have continued to earn that sum during the remainder
of his natural life, but on the 2d day of January, 1891, in violation of
said contract, and without cause, the plaintiff was, by the defendant,
discharged from its service.
“ Plaintiff has pursued the steps required by said article 1 for rein
statement, but the master mechanic of the defendant, acting under its
orders, and without cause, refuses to reinstate him in the service.
“ The plaintiff therefore prays judgment for the sum of $10,000.”
Eules 13,11,16, and 17, referred to in the complaint, are as follows:
“ (13) When, from temporary slackness of business, an engineer in
road service is thrown out of employment, he will be reduced from pas
senger to freight service, from freight to pusher service, and from pusher
to switch-engine service, according to his seniority on the division. If
it is necessary to lay off an engineer, the youngest engineer in switchengine service will be taken off. This not to apply to switch engineers
who are not eligible to road or jmslier service by reason of not having
fired on the road, or having waived their rights to same.
“ (11) During slackness of business, employment for surplus engineers
will be found, if j>ossible, on other parts of the system where needed,
in preference to hiring new men, or i>romoting men already in service,
with the understanding that whoever accepts such temporary transfer
will be required to remain until business on his own territory justifies
his recall by his own master mechanic. Eo man to be promoted, or
engineer hired, during absence of such transferred engineer, and while
subject to recall to his own division, unless to meet an emergency or
pressing demand o f business; in which case such newly hired or pro
moted engineer shall hold no rights over the absent engineer. Men so
transferred will hold seniority rights on their own territory for a period
o f six months only, unless the master mechanic of the territory to which
they are transferred finds it necessary for dispatch of business to retain
them for a longer period. Further, they have a preference, in accord
ance with seniority, to any engine becoming vacant on their own terri
tory over extra men still remaining on said territory. If, after accept
ing such transfer, they return to their own territory before they are
recalled by their own master mechanic, they shall be considered new
men on said territory.
“ (1C) Promotions of engineers will be made according to seniority
from switch-engine service to jmsher-engine, if any, on the division, and
from pusher service to road service.
“ (17) When a passenger enginebecomesvacant, theoldest freight engi
neer on the division where the vacancy occurs is entitled to the same.
When a freight engine becomes vacant, the oldest freight [pusher?]
engineer in regular service on the division where the vacancy occurs is
entitled to the same. When any run becomes vacant, and the engineer
entitled to said run refuses same, he loses his right to this run only, but
will retain his rights, according to seniority, to next vacancy that may
occur. When a passenger run extends over two or more freight divi
sions, each division is entitled to representation pro rata upon said run,
each freight division selecting a representative in turn, as may be agreed
upon by the divisions interested. In the absence of regular passenger
engineer, when the extra passenger engineer is not available, the oldest
240
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
freight engineer on the division shall be assigned to this service. Any
freight engine becoming vacant for a period of fifteen days or more
shall be given the oldest extra freight engineer. No engineer shall be
allowed to run on territory other than that to which he is assigned,
except in case engineers assigned to such territory are not available.
This shall not apply to systems officers, specials.”
The defendant, answering, admitted that the plaintiff was a locomo
tive engineer, and was in its employ as such on the 2d day of January,
1894, and that it had entered into an agreement with the engineers in
its employment, which became effective on the 1st of January, 1892,
and was in force on January 1,1894, and that article 1 of the agree
ment is set out in the complaint; but denied all the other allegations
of the complaint, and averred that it discharged him from its service
on the 2d o f January, 1894, for gross negligence, and stated in what it
consisted.
The issues in the case were tried by a jury. In the trial it was shown
that the plaintiff was employed by the defendant as a locomotive engi
neer. On the 2d of January, 1894, while he was in the employment of
the defendant, he was in control o f one o f its locomotives pulling a
freight train going north. When near Higginson station, 50 miles north
of Little Bock, the boiler exploded. The company discharged him, and
he demanded an investigation, under article 1 of his agreement. He
designated M. W. Oadle as the person who should make the investiga
tion in conjunction with the master mechanic of the defendant. Oadle
and the plaintiff appeared before the master mechanic, and demanded
the investigation, which was granted. They made a joint examination
o f the boiler, and together discussed the cause o f the explosion. The
master mechanic reached the conclusion that the cause was the failure
o f the engineer to keep the boiler supplied with a sufficient quantity of
water, and so reported to the proper officer. Oadle made no announce
ment o f his conclusion—perhaps disagreed with the other arbitrator.
No appeal to the superintendent was made, and no other investigation
was demanded.
The names appended to the rules before referred to were those of
Frank Beardon, the superintendent of the locomotive and car depart
ment of the Missouri Pacific Bailroad Oompany, and of George O.
Smith, the general manager of the same company. The rules were
agreed upon by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the
company, and were accepted by them as modifications of the agreement
entered into by them, of which article 1 of plaintiff's contract was a
part. There is no direct evidence that these rules were made a part of
the contract o f the plaintiff and defendant adduced, except that the
plaintiff was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,
and the admission of the defendant that article 1 was a part o f their
contract.
Evidence was adduced in the trial on the part o f the plaintiff to show
that he was discharged without sufficient cause, and on the part o f the
defendant that the explosion o f the boiler was occasioned by the negli
gence of the plaintiff in permitting the water to get too low, and for
that reason he was discharged.
Appellant contends that the contract sued on is void, because it is
contrary to public policy. The reason given for this contention is that
it takes from it the right to discharge its employees without the
approval of a board o f arbitration, and thereby deprives the railroad
company of the power to discharge those duties imposed upon it by
law which can be fully exercised only when it is allowed to discharge
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
241
incompetent, careless, or inefficient servants, whenever, in its opinion,
it may be necessary to do so. It is true that appellant undertook to
reinstate any engineer who shall be discharged from its service when
ever, upon his complaint, its master mechanic and superintendent, and
an engineer selected by him, shall, upon investigation, decide that the
charge was or is unjust. But if we assume that this stipulation is void
because it is contrary to public policy, it may be eliminated without
affecting the remainder of the contract; for it is separate and distinct
from, and independent of, the other promises of the railroad company,
which are legal, and the whole contract founded upon one lawful con
sideration—the services of appellee. If, therefore, it be illegal, it is
void, and the remainder of the contract is valid. But appellee is not
seeking to enforce the article as to arbitration. He has abandoned
that, and now asks for compensation for the damages occasioned by his
discharge. Assuming that he can waive the arbitration, is he entitled
to recover t That depends upon the terms o f his contract. This brings
us at once to inquire what the stipulations of the contract were.
Appellee, for a stipulated consideration, agreed to serve appellant in
the capacity of an engineer. There was no contract as to the time he
should continue to serve. Appellant agreed to pay him according to
certain rates for his services, not to discharge him without just cause,
to promote him according to certain grades of service, and, when it
saw fit to reduce the number of its engineers, to discharge them in the
order of their juniority in service, first discharging the youngest, and
then the next, and so continuing until the number should be sufficiently
reduced. There might .have been in these promises an implied under
taking on the part of appellant to retain appellee in its service so long
as he should serve it acceptably as an engineer, unless he should be
sooner discharged in the manner indicated. But we fail to discover
any evidence of an agreement on the part of appellee to serve any
specified time. Hence there was no contract that he would serve, and
that the appellant would employ him, for any stated time—the agree
ment of both being necessary to fix the time of service—and, conse
quently, no violation of a contract by the discharge of appellee before
the expiration of any particular time..
For the reasons given, we conclude that there was no breach of the
contract, in the case before us, by the discharge of the appellee before
the expiration of any particular period of time, and that he was not
entitled to recover any sum except compensation for actual service.
Chief Justice Bunn, not agreeing with the conclusions of the court as
above, delivered a dissenting opinion, which reads, in part, as follows:
The judgment in this case is reversed mainly, if not altogether, on
the ground o f a want o f mutuality in the contract or agreement sued
on, in this, that the said contract, while it in effect binds the appellant
company to give the appellee permanent or life employment, with cer
tain exceptions, it does not compel the appellee to continue in its serv
ice for any particular period, or to continue at all. In support o f this
theory the majority of the court cites, and mainly relies upon the rule
of the common law as stated in, Railroad Co. v. Scott (Tex. Sup.), 10
S. W., 99, and Bolles v. Sachs, 37 Minn., 3!5, 33 H. W., 862, the first a
railroad case, and the other a trader’s employment case, and some cases
therein cited. The case at bar is quite different, and therefore the
authorities cited by the majority of the court, in my opinion, are more
or less inapplicable, principally because they are decisions in which it
242
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
was not necessary for tlie courts rendering them to look away from the
mere letter of tlie law, formulated in a different age, and in times when
men’s conditions as respect labor and employment, to the changed con
dition of things and circumstances by which we are now surrounded.
The case at bar is not for refusal to employ, but for discharging
unjustly and without a cause, which the contract forbade, and for
refusing to keep the agreement to investigate the causes of discharge,
and reinstate if found to be proper. The plea o f want o f mutuality in
the contract or agreement sued on is simply to the effect that a rail
way company can not obligate itself to keep a competent engineer in
its service for life, or as long as its business continues, and it needs the
services of such a one, because that one may have the option to quit
its service when his business, convenience, or pleasure may move him
to do so. I can not refrain from expressing the opinion that the deci
sion in this case is more far-reaching than any that has been rendered
by this court in a long time. I am of the opinion that the contract or
agreement sued on is not only not objectionable for want of mutuality,
but, on the contrary, is the result of the best thought of men, both pro
fessional and practical, whose lives have been devoted to the peculiar and
wonderfully complicated and intricate business of operating modern
railways. It is, in fact, a necessity to the employee, and an advantage
to the employer’s business at the same time, that some such arrange
ment be had between them; and I think it should be embodied in their
contracts rather than in attempts at legislation on the subject, for obvi
ous reasons.
Em
ployers’
L ia b il it y — A
s s u m p t io n
of
R is e :
by
Em
ployee
— Texas
and New Orleans B. B. Co. v. Bingle, 42 Southwestern Beporter, page
971.—Application was made to the supreme court o f Texas for a writ
o f error to the court of civil appeals of the first supreme judicial dis
trict of the State to bring the case of Bingle against the Texas and
New Orleans R. R. Co., in which a judgment for Bingle had been
affirmed by the court o f civil appeals, before it. Said application was
refused and the railroad company made a motion for a rehearing on the
same, and the supreme court rendered its decision November 29, 1897,
and overruled said motion. The original action had been brought by
Bingle to recover damages from the railroad company for injuries
incurred while he was in its employ.
In its opinion, delivered by Chief Justice Gaines, the supreme court
stated certain principles of the common law as follows:
after
G
iv in g
N
o t ic e o f
D
e f e c t in
M
a c h in e r y to
M
aster
The servant, by entering the employment of the master, assumes all
the ordinary risks incident to the business, but not those arising from
the master’s neglect. It is the duty o f the master to exercise ordinary
care to furnish him a safe place in which to work, safe machinery and
appliances, to select careful and skillful coworkers, and, in case o f a
dangerous and complicated business, to make such reasonable rules for
its conduct as may be proper to protect the servants employed therein.
The servant has the right to rely upon the assumption that the master
has done his duty; but if he becomes apprised that he has not, and
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
243
learns that the machinery is defective, the place unnecessarily danger
ous, or that proper rules are not enforced, he assumes the risk incident
to that condition o f affairs, unless lie informs the master, and the latter
promises to correct the evil. In this latter event, so long as he has rea
sonable grounds to expect, and does expect, that the master will fulfill
his promise, he does not, by continuing in the employment, assume the
additional risk arising from the master’s neglect. I f he then be injured
by reason o f that neglect, he may recover, provided it be found that a
man of ordinary prudence, under all the circumstances, would have
encountered the danger by continuing in the service. This we under
stand to be the rule in the English courts. It is the rule in the Supreme
Court of the United States, and is supported by the weight of authority,
E
m ployers’
L i a b i l i t y — F e l l o w -S e r v a n t s — A
s s u m p t io n
of
Moore Lime Go. v. Richardson*s Adminis
tratrix, 28 Southeastern Reporter, page 334.—In the circuit court of Bote
tourt County, Ya., Eichardson’s administratrix recovered a judgment
in an action for damages brought against the lime company above
named for the death of Eichardson, caused by injuries received while he
was in the employ of said company. The comjiany appealed to the
supreme court of appeals of the State, which rendered its decision
November 18, 1897, and reversed the judgment of the circuit court.
The evidence showed that Eichardson was a member of a gang of men
employed to wheel wood to the lime kilns, to move cars on the switch
to the points where they were to be loaded, and to load them; that one
Whitmer, a member of the gang, receiving the same pay and doing
the same work as its other members, usually directed them when and
where the cars were to be moved, and in doing this work it was the
duty of the other members of the gang to obey him; that Eichardson
was injured while obeying Whitmer’s orders, and as a result of said
injury died soon after. It was claimed by the administratrix that
Whitmer was negligent in not warning Eichardson of the approach
o f a car which struck him, and that his negligence was that of a vice
principal for which the lime company was responsible and not that of a
fellow-servant; also that the company was negligent in failing to adopt
safe and proper rules for the conduct of its business.
Upon these points the supreme court of appeals, in its opinion deliv
ered by Judge Buchanan, held as follows:
The ground upon which it is claimed that Whitmer, who was a mem
ber of the same gang, doing the same work, and receiving the same
pay as the plaintiffs intestate, was not a fellow-servant, is because he
was exercising authority over the gang, or acting as leader or foreman
in the work o f moving the cars. That this sort of superiority did not
make him a vice principal is clear under the decisions of this court. In
the case o f Machine Works v. Ford, reported in 27 S. E., 509, the ques
tion was whether the boss or foreman of a gang of hands (of which he
B
is k s b y
E
m ployee
,
etc
.—
244
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
was a member) engaged in moving locomotive wheels about the yards
of the locomotive works, which was under the management o f a super
intendent, was a fellow-servant or vice principal. In that case it was
held that such a boss or foreman was a fellow-servant, and that his
negligence was one of the risks which the members of the gang assumed
when they entered into the service. It was said in that case that, where
the execution o f work directed to be done by the master or his represent
ative is intrusted to a gang of hands, it is necessary that one o f them
should be selected as leader, boss, or foreman, to see to the execution of
the work. This kind of superiority of service is so essential and so uni
versal that every workman, in entering upon a contract of service,
must contemplate its being made in a proper case. He therefore makes
his contract of service in contemplation of the risk o f injury from the
negligence of a boss or foreman as well as from the negligence of
another fellow-workman. The foreman or superior servant stands to
him, in that respect, in the precise position of his other fellow-servants.
The manner of performing each of the various duties rested necessarily
upon the intelligence, care, and fidelity of the servants to whom [it]
was intrusted. If, in the performance o f it, the plaintiff was injured by
reason o f the negligent act of a fellow-servant, although that fellowservant was the foreman or leader of his gang, it was one of the risks
which he assumed. An employee does not assume all the risks inci
dent to his employment, but only such as are ordinarily incident to the
employment.
It is not shown that there was anything in the nature of the work
which made it necessary for the defendant to enact rules. Its failure
to do so was not proof of negligence, unless it appeared from the nature
of the work in which the servants were engaged (and it does not) that
the master, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have foreseen and
anticipated the necessity for such rules.
Em
ployers’
L ia b il it y — M
a s t e r ’s
P
r o m is e
to
Rem
ove
D
e
—Illinois Steel Co. v.
Mann, 48 Northeastern Reporter, page 417.—A judgment tor the plain
tiff, John Mann, in an action for damages for personal injuries brought
against the above-named steel company, was affirmed by the appellate
court of the first district of Illinois, and the defendant company
appealed the case to the supreme court o f the State, which rendered
its decision November 8,1897, and reversed the judgment of the lower
court. The evidence showed that Mann was a heater in the employ
o f the steel company; that the floor in front of the furnace where he
worked was in many places worn as “ smooth as glass;” that while
attempting to pull a paddle out of the “ bosh” and walking backward
over the floor he slipped on one of the smooth places and fell, receiv
ing* the injuries complained of; that he had on several occasions notified
his foreman of the dangerous condition o f the floor; that the defend
ant, through its foreman, had promised to repair it, and the plaintiff,
relying upon the promise, had continued in the employ of said defendant.
fect—
A
s s u m p t io n
of
R is k
by
E
m ployee
245
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
The opinion o f the supreme court was delivered by Chief Justice
Phillips, and the following, showing the reasons for its decision, is
quoted therefrom:
It is a recognized rule that it is the duty of the master to furnish to
the servant reasonably safe machinery and appliances with which to
perform his work; but when the servant discovers that the service
has become more dangerous than he anticipated when he entered the
employment of the master, or when he discovers defects in the machin
ery or appliances which make it unsafe for him to longer continue in
the employ o f the master, or from any other cause he concludes there
is danger in continuing further in the service, it is his duty to notify
the master of such danger, or of such defects in the machinery or
appliances connected with his work; and, upon the master being
notified, the servant has the right to continue in the employ of the
master for a reasonable time, awaiting the remedy of such defects.
He has the right to rely for a reasonable time upon the promise of the
master that such defect in the machinery, appliances, or other sur
roundings connected with his work will be repaired and made safe, and
the right to expect that such promise so made by the master will be
fulfilled. I f such expectation on the part of the servant, however, is
not fulfilled, and the defect remedied by the master within a reasonable
time, and the servant has full knowledge of the dangerous condition
of his machinery, appliances, or surroundings, and the knowledge that
he is subjected at all times to prospective injury, it is his duty to quit
the service o f the master, and not subject himself to further danger.
While it is true some cases hold the rule to be that, after having
informed the master o f any defects in machinery, tools, appliances, or
surroundings of his work, and the master having promised to repair
and make safe such defects, the servant has the right to rely upon such
promise, and continue in the employ of the master, expecting such
promise to be fulfilled, yet the rule in this State, and also in most other
States, holds that such expectation on the part of the servant may contin ue only for a time reasonable for such repairs to be made, or delects
remedied; and, if not so made within a reasonable time, the servant,
having full knowledge of such defects, will be considered to have waived
the same, and subject himself to all the dangers incident thereto.
Em
ployers’
L ia b il it y — R a il r o a d
CIATIONS —Eckman
C o m p a n ie s — R e l ie f
A
s s o -'
v. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy R. R. Co., 48
Northeastern Reporter, page 496.—This was an action brought in the
superior court o f Cook* County, 111., by Charles H. Eckman, against the
above-named railroad company, for damages for injuries sustained
while in the service of said company. The evidence showed that on
August 29,1891, while a freight train was standing on the main track,
Eckman was directed by a foreman to crawl under the engine and
tighten up a valve, and while so under the engine another train ran
into the rear end o f the freight train, thereby forcing the engine for
ward, and dragging him quite a distance, breaking his leg and ankle,
etc. The railroad company relied upon the fact that Eckman was a
246
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
member o f the Burlington Voluntary Belief Department, and that he
had received the benefits provided by that department as a complete
defense.
The Burlington Belief Department was organized June 1, 1889, and
its object was declared to be “ the establishment and management of a
fund, to be known as the irelief fund,’ for the payment of definite
amounts to employees contributing thereto, who are to be known as
‘members of the relief fund. ’ when, under the regulations, they are
entitled to such payment by reason of accident or sickness, or, in the
event o f their death, to the relatives or other beneficiaries designated
by them.” This fund consisted of voluntary contributions from the
employees, income derived from investments and from interest paid by
the company, and appropriations by the company, when necessary to
make up deficiencies. The railroad company had general charge of
the department, guaranteed the fulfillment of its obligations, paid
interest at 4 per cent per annum on monthly balances in its hands,
supplied all the necessary facilities for conducting the business of the
department, and paid all its operating expenses. There was also an
advisory committee, having general supervision of the department,
which consisted o f the general manager o f the railroad as chairman, six
members selected by the employees o f the different divisions of the
railroad company, and six members selected by the board o f directors
o f the company ; the chairman having no vote except in case of a tie.
The company agreed to pay any deficiency in the amount required to
meet the claims on the fund. No employee was required to become a
member of the relief fund, and any member could withdraw altogether
at the end o f any month. The members were divided into different
classes, depending upon the amount of their contributions. Each mem
ber contributed monthly a specified sum according to the class to
which he belonged, which was deducted from his wages, and placed to
the credit of the relief fund. All employees of the company who passed
a satisfactory medical examination were eligible for membership. I f a
contributing member was under disability, whether such disability
arose from an injury received while at work or from sickness, he was
entitled to be paid from the fund a certain sum per day, varying accord
ing to the contribution which he was making. In case o f his death,
the beneficiary designated by him was entitled to be paid a speci
fied sum as designated in the membership contract. The regulations
also provided a form of application which was used by Eckman,
in which he agreed to be bound by the regulations o f the relief
department, to the effect that a certain specified portion o f his
wages should be applied as a voluntary contribution for the purpose
o f securing the benefits provided ; that the application, on approval
by the superintendent of the relief department, should make him
a member of the relief fund, and constitute a contract between him and
the company; that his leaving the employment of, or discharge by, the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
247
company should terminate the contract, except as to benefits accrued
and as to death benefits. Said ax>plieation also appointed the benefi
ciaries in case of death, and contained the following agreement: “ I
also agree that, in consideration of the amounts paid and to be paid by
said company for the maintainance of said relief department, and of
the guaranty by said company of the payment of said benefits, the
acceptance by me o f benefits for injury shall operate as a release and
satisfaction of all claims against said company and all other companies
associated therewith in the administration of their relief departments,
for damages arising from or growing out of said injuryP Tlie regulations
provided further that, should a member or his legal representative
bring suit against the company for damages on account of injury or
death of such member, payment of benefits on account of the same
should not be made until such suit was discontinued,- and that, if the
suit should proceed to judgment, or be compromised, all claims on the
relief fund for benefits on account of such injury or death should be
thereby precluded. The company, since the organization of the relief
department, had from time to time paid in large sums on account of
the insufficiency of the contributions of members to meet claims on the
benefit fund, had paid operating exj>enses, and had given office rent
and the services o f officials and clerks free. The contributions of the
members had never been applied to any other purposes than the pay
ment o f benefits. No part of it had ever been used for the payment of
expenses.
Eckman made application for membership in the Burlington Volun
tary Relief Department July 18, 1890, which application was approved
August 4,1890. It provided that $2.10 should be deducted from his
wages monthly for the purpose of securing the benefits provided for a
member of the second class, with twice additional death benefits of the
first class. These benefits, as shown by the book of regulations, were,
for disability by reason of accident, $1 for each day of a period not to
exceed 52 weeks, with 50 cents a day thereafter during the continuance
of the disability. Any bills for surgical attendance were to be paid by
the relief department. The two additional death benefits of the first class
were $250 each, which, with the $500 belonging to the second class, made
the total death benefit $1,000, to which his beneficiary would have been
entitled in case o f death. Eckman received $245 for benefits, being
the amount he was entitled to under the regulations. There was also
paid on his account for nurses, medicine, and surgical attendance the
sum of $121.90. The receipt of these amounts as benefits due him from
the relief fund was not disputed.
Upon the above state of facts, judgment was rendered for the railroad
company, and Eckman appealed the case to the appellate court for the
first district of the State, which affirmed the judgment of the superior
court. He then appealed the case to the supreme court of Illinois,
which rendered its decision November 8,1897, and affirmed the decisions
of the lower courts.
248
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
From the opinion of the supreme court, which was delivered by Judge
Carter, the following is quoted:
The real controversy in this case is not whetherthe injury to the appel
lant, complained of, was caused by thenegligence o f the appellee company,
but whether the receipt by the appellant of the benefits provided by
the company under its contract with the appellant through its relief
department, mentioned in the record as the Burlington Voluntary
Relief Department, after the happening of the injury, constituted a
sufficient defense to the action. It was not disputed that after the
happening of the injury appellant received through this department of
the company in installments, from time to time, the aggregate sum of
$245 as such benefits on account of the injury and under his contract
of membership, and that there was also disbursed by said department
for appellant for nurses, medicine, and surgical attendance the sum of
$121.90. But it is contended, in the first place, by appellant, that the
company could not, by a contract in advance, exempt itself from liabil
ity to its employees for its gross negligence; that such a contract would
be contrary to public policy, and void. The correctness of this position
is undoubted, and it is not disputed on the part o f the appellee, but its
contention is that the contract here in question is not of that character;
that, on the contrary, it merely provided for an accord and satisfaction
after the injury has been received, and at the election of the injured
employee; and that after the injury in this case there was such accord
and satisfaction, and that the same is a complete bar to a recovery in
this suit. Contracts o f this character have been the subject of judicial
investigation in many cases in different States, and it has been almost
uniformly held, where the question has arisen as in this case, that they
are not void as being against a sound public policy.
In every case o f injury the injured party has the right to compromise
the damages for any valuable consideration, no matter how small; and,
if he chooses to accept a smaller amount than he might have been able
to secure at the hands of a jury, such settlement is nevertheless a full
accord and satisfaction, and a bar to the prosecution of any suit for
damages for such injuries. Here is an agreement made between the
railroad company and the appellant that the acceptance of the benefits
should release the railroad company from responding in damages as the
result o f an action at law. It is not this agreement alone that consti
tutes the release, but the acceptance o f the benefits therein stipulated,
well knowing that the acceptance of such benefits will have the effect
of a release. That the appellant knew what the effect o f the acceptance
of the benefits was, is not disputed. He was furnished with a hand
book, which plainly stated that an injured member may either accept
the benefits of the fund, or rely upon the issue of a suit; that he can
not do both. The agreement is not against public policy, as it merely
puts the employee to his election, after an injury has been sustained by
him, either to take the benefits of the relief fund, to which the appellee
has materially contributed, or to sue for damages in a court of law.
Appellant’s next contention is that the appellee had no right to go
into the insurance business, and that the whole relief department scheme
is both illegal under the insurance laws of this State, and ultra vires of
a railroad corporation.
That such relief department is not an insurance company has been
held in Donald v. Railway Co., 61 N. W ., 971, and Johnson v. Railroad
Co., 29 Atl., 854. The latter part of section 31 o f chapter 32 o f the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
249
Eevised Statutes of Illinois of 1881, as amended in 1883, provides that
u associations and societies which are intended to benefit the widows,
orphans, heirs and devisees of deceased members thereof, and members
who have received a permanent disability, and where no annual dues
or premiums are required, and where the members shall receive no
money as profit or otherwise, except for permanent disability, shall not
be deemed insurance companies.” While sick benefits, such as are
usually paid by secret and fraternal societies, are not mentioned in
express terms in the section quoted, we think they may be fairly con
strued to be within the spirit of the same. In fact, no mention o f the
payment of sick benefits occurs in any of our insurance statutes until
the statute o f 1893 on fraternal beneficiary societies. The business
done by the relief department was not prohibited by the statutes relat
ing to insurance companies in force at its organization, nor at the time
of the injury to appellant; but whether the contract, where it had not
been performed by the payment and receipt of the money, or whether
the organization of the relief department, would or [would] not be held
to be ultra vires the corporation, is a question not necessary to the
decision of this case. Appellant can not invoke that defense against
appellee after having received the benefits secured to him by his con
tract. It is a general rule that a corporation can not avail itself of the
defense of ultra vires where a contract, not immoral in itself, nor for
bidden by any statute, has been in good faith fully performed by the
other party, and the corporation has had the full benefit o f its per
formance. And this rule applies with equal force to the other party
setting up that the contract was ultra vires the corporation. The
appellee paid as it agreed to do, and the appellant has accepted such
payment, and the contract has been fully executed. It is therefore
immaterial to inquire whether the contract or the organization o f the
relief department was ultra vires the corporation or not. That ques
tion does not properly arise in this case.
A dissenting opinion was delivered by Judge Magruder, which reads
as follows:
It is not lawful for a railroad company to engage in the insurance
business. A corporation can only exercise such powers as are expressly
granted to it, or such implied powers as may be necessary to carry out
or effectuate its express powers. A railroad company is authorized by
its charter to carry freignt and passengers. It is a common carrier and
nothing else. The insurance of its employees is not one of its implied
powers. I f it be true that a railroad company can insure its employees
because they need insurance, then it can go into th ‘ tailoring or cloth
ing business because its employees need clothes, or operate a farm to
raise cattle and hogs and poultry and wheat and corn because its
employees need food. Such an extension of the implied powers of a
railroad company as is thus indicated would lead eventually to an
absorption by the railroad companies of all the employments and all
the business o f the country. Monopolies, created by the gradual
reaching out of railroads into the various departments of business in
no way connected with the original purposes of their organization, are
dangerous to the liberties of the people.
2955—No. 15— 8
LAW S OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR ENACTED SINCE
JANUARY 1, 1896.
[The Second Special Report of the Department contains all laws of the various States and Territo
ries and of the United States relating to labor in force January 1,1896. Later enactments are repro
duced in successive issues of the Bulletin from time to time as published.]
M IN N E SO TA .
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 127.—Convict labor— Jails.
Section 1. Any able-bodied male person over tbe age o f sixteen years and not over
tbe age o f fifty years now or hereafter confined in any county or village ja il in this
State under the judgment o f any court o f record, justice court or any tribunal author
ized to imprison for the violation of any law, ordinance, by-law or police regulation,
may be required to labor during the whole or part o f the time o f his sentence, as
hereafter provided, and such court or other tribunal, when passing final judgment
o f imprisonment, whether for nonpayment o f fine or otherwise, shall have the power
to determine, and shall determine, whether such imprisonment shall be at hard labor
or not.
Se c . 2. Such labor may be on the public streets or highways, or on or about public
buildings or grounds, or at such other public places in the county where confined,
and during such reasonable time o f the day as the person having charge of the pris
oners may direct, and not exceeding ten hours per day.
Sec . 8. A ll acts or parts o f acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Se c . 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved April 14, 1897.
C
h a p t e r
128.— Examination,
licensing, etc., of liorseshoers.
Section 1. No person shall practice horseshoeing, either as master horseshoer or
journeyman horseshoer, in any city in this State o f over fifty thousand (50,000)
inhabitants, unless he is duly registered as hereinafter provided, in a book kept for
that purpose in the office o f the city clerk in the city in which he practices.
Sec. 2. The city clerk o f every city in this State o f over fifty thousand (50,000)
inhabitants shall keep a book in his office to be known as the “ Masters and Jour
neymen H orseshoed Register/* in which shall be recorded the names o f all master
and journeymen horseshoers entitled to practice horseshoeing in said city; that said
book shall be furnished by said clerk and paid for by said clerk out o f the registra
tion fees to bo paid to him as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 3. No person shall be entitled to register as a master or journeyman horse
shoer without presenting and filing with the city clerk o f said city a certificate from
the board of examiners, as provided in section five (5) o f this act, except as herein
after provided.
Sec . 4. Any person who is practicing as a master or journeyman horseshoer at the
time of the passage of this act may register within six (6) months after the passage
o f this act, upon making and filing with the city clerk, o f said city in which he
practices an affidavit stating that he was practicing horseshoeing at the time o f the
passage o f this act, and upon complying with this section shall be exempt from the
provisions of this act requiring an examination,
250
LABOR LAWS— MINNESOTA-----ACTS OF 1897.
251
Sec. 5. A board o f examiners, consisting of one veterinarian, two master horseshoers and two journeymen horeshoers, which shall be called “ Horseshoers^ Board
of Examiners,” is hereby created, all o f whom shall be citizens o f this State, whose
doty it shall be to carry out the provisions o f this act, and make such rules and reg
ulations for said purpose as they see fit and not in contravention thereof.
The members of said board shall be appointed by the governor o f the State and the
term o f their office shall be for five (5) years, except that the members o f said board
first appointed shall hold office for the term o f one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4)
and five (5) years, as designated by the governor, and until their successors shall be
duly appointed.
The said board o f examiners shall hold sessions for the purpose of examining appli
cants to practice horseshoeing as a master or journeyman horseshoer at least once a
year in each city of the State o f over fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants, and shall
give public notice o f the time and place o f said meetings for said examinations, at
least one (1) month previous to time o f said meetings, and said board shall grant a
certificate to any person showing himself qualified to practice horseshoeing, and said
board shall receive as compensation for said duties a fee of two (2) dollars from each
person so examined. Three (3) members o f said board shall constitute a quorum.
No person shall be entitled to take said examination or receive said certificate who
shall not have engaged in the practice o f horseshoeing for the period o f at least three
(3) years prior to the time o f said examination. Said board shall select one o f their
own number as a secretary, who shall keep a record of all the proceedings o f such
board, which record shall be public property, and subject to examination at all
reasonable times and while in possession o f said secretary, by any person on demand,
and free o f charge therefor.
Sec . 6. Each person registering under the provisions of this act shall pay to the
city clerk of the city in which he registers the sum of twenty-five (25) cents, which
shall be received as full compensation for such registration.
Sec . 7. Any person who shall have duly registered in any one of said cities shall
be entitled to registration in any other of said cities to which he shall remove upon
filing an affidavit with the city clerk of said city to which he shall have removed,
stating when and where he has been duly registered.
Sec. 8. Any person wdio shall present to the city clerk o f any of said cities for the
purpose o f registration any certificate which has been fraudulently obtained, or
shall practice in any o f said cities as a master or journeyman horseshoer without
conforming to the requirements of this act, or shall otherwise violate or neglect to
comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved April 16, 1897.
C
h a p t e r
186.— Examination,
licensing, etc., of barbers.
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to follow the occupation of barber
in this State unless he shall have first obtained a certificate of registration as pro
vided in this a c t: Provided, however, That nothing in this act contained shall apply
to or affect any person who is now actually engaged in such occupation, except as
hereinafter provided.
Sec . 2. A board o f examiners, to consist of three (3) persons is hereby created to
carry out the purposes and enforce the provisions of this act. Said board shall
be appointed by the governor, one (1) member from those persons who may be
recommended by the several unions of journeyman barbers in this State which have
been in actual existence at least two (2) years prior to the making of such recom
mendation; one (1) member who has been for at least three (3) years prior to his
appointment an employing barber in this State, and the third (3d) a practical barber
who has been for at least five (5) years prior to his appointment engaged in such
occupation in this State.
Each member o f said board shall serve for a term o f two (2) years and until his
successor is appointed and qualified, except in the case of the first board, whose
members shall serve one (1), two (2) and three (3) years respectively, as specified in
their appointment.
Each member o f said board shall give a bond in the sum of five thousand (5,00))
dollars, with sureties to be approved by the secretary o f state, conditioned for the
faithful performance of his duties, and shall take the oath provided by law for public
officers. Vacancies upon said board caused by death, resignation or expiration of
the term of any member thereof, shall be filled "by appointment from the same class
of persons to which the deceased or retiring member belonged.
Sec . 3. Said board shall elect a president, secretary and treasurer, shall have its
headquarters at the State capitol; shall have a common seal, and the secretary and
president shall have power to administer oaths.
252
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Se c . 4. Each member of said board shall receive a compensation o f three (3) dollars
per day for actual service, and ten (10) cents per mile for each mile actually traveled
in attending the meetings o f the board, which compensation shall be paid out o f any
moneys in the hands o f the#treasurer of said board: Provided, That the said compensa
tion and mileage shall in no event be paid out o f the State treasury.
Se c . 5. Said board shall report to the legislature o f this State at each o f its regular
meetings a full statement of the receipts and disbursements o f the board during the
preceding two (2) years, a full statement of its doings and proceedings, and such
recommendations as to it may seem proper looking to the better carrying out of the
intents and purposes o f this act.
Any moneys in the hands of the treasurer o f said board at the time of making such
report, in excess o f two hundred and fifty (250) dollars, shall be paid over to the
State treasurer to be kept by him for the future maintenance o f the board and to be
disbursed by him upon warrants signed by the president and treasurer o f said board.
Sec . 6. Said board shall hold public examinations at least four (4) times in each
year in at least four (4) different cities in this State, at such times and places as it
may determine, notice o f such meetings to be given by a publication thereof at least
ten (10) days before such meetings in the capital o f the State and in the county where
such meeting is to be held.
Se c . 7. Every person now engaged in the occupation of barber in this State shall,
within ninety (90) days after the approval of this act, file with the secretary o f said
board an affidavit setting forth his name, residence and the length o f time during
which, and the places where he has practiced such occupation, and shall pay to the
treasurer o f said board one (1) dollar, and a certificate o f registration entitling him
to practice said occupation thereupon shall be issued to him.
Se c . 8. Any person desiring to obtain a certificate of registration under this act
shall make application to said board therefor and shall pay to the treasurer o f said
board an examination fee o f five (5) dollars, and shall present himself at the next
regular meeting o f the board for the examination o f applicants, whereupon said
board shall proceed to examine such person, and being satisfied that he is above the
age of nineteen (19) years, o f good moral character, free from contagious or infec
tious disease, has either (A) studied the trade for three (3) years as an apprentice
under a qualified and practicing barber, or (B) studied the trade for at least three
(3) years in a properly appointed and conducted barber school under the instructions
o f a competent barber, or (C) practiced the trade in another State for at least three
(3) years, and is possessed o f the requisite skill in said trade to properly perform all
the duties thereof, including his ability in the preparation o f the tools, shaving,
hair cutting and all the duties and services incident thereto, and is possessed or
sufficient knowledge concerning the common diseases o f the face and skin to avoid
the aggravation and spreading thereof in the practice o f said trade; his name shall
be entered by the board in the register hereafter provided for, and a certificate of
registration shall be issued to him authorizing him to practice said trade in this
State: Provided, That whenever it appears that applicant has acquired his knowl
edge o f said trade in a barber school, the board shall be judges of whether said
barber school is properly appointed and conducted and under proper instruction to
give sufficient training in such trade.
All persons making application for examination under the provisions o f this act
shall be allowed to practice the occupation of barbering until the next regular
meeting o f said board.
Sec . 9. Nothing in this act shall prohibit any person from serving as an apprentice
in said trade under a barber authorized to practice the same under this act, nor from
serving as a student in any school for the teaching o f such trade under the instruc
tion of a qualified barber: Provided, That in no barber shop shall there be more
than one apprentice to two (2) barbers authorized under this act to practice said
occupation.
Se c . 10. Said board shall furnish to each person to whom a certificate o f registra
tion is issued a card or insignia bearing the seal of the board and the signature of
its president and secretary, certifying that the holder thereof is entitled to practice
the occupation of barber in this State, and it shall be the duty of the holder’ o f such
card or insignia to post the same in a conspicuous place in front of his working chair,
where it may be readily seen by all persons whom he may serve.
Se c . 11. Said board shall keep a register in which shall be entered names of all
persons to whom certificates are issued under this act, and said register shall be at
all times open to public inspection.
Se c . 12. Said board shall have power to revoke any certificate o f registration
granted by it under this act for (A) conviction o f crime; (B) habitual drunkenness
for six (6) months immediately before a charge duly made; (C) gross incompetency,
or (D) contagious or infections disease: Provided, That before any certificate shall
be so revoked the holder thereof shall have notice in writing of the charge or charges
LABOR LAWS— MINNESOTA-----ACTS OF 1897.
253
against him, and shall at a day specified in said notice, at least five (5) days after
the service thereof, he given a public hearing and full opportunity to produce testi
mony in his behalf and to confront the witnesses against him. Any person whose
certificate has been so revoked may, after the expiration of ninety (90) days, apply
to have the same regranted, and the same shall be regranted to him upon a satis
factory showing that the disqualification has ceased.
Se c . 13. To shave or trim the beard or cut the hair o f any person for hire or reward
received by the person performing such service, or any other person, shall be con
strued as practicing the occupation of barber within the meaning of this act.
Sec . 14. Any person practicing the occupation o f barber without having obtained
a certificate o f registration, as provided by this act, or willfully employing a barber
who has not such a certificate, or falsely pretending to be qualified to practice such
occupation under this act, or violation ox any of the provisions of this act, is guilty
of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine o f not
less than ten (10) dollars or more than one hundred (100) dollars, or by imprison
ment in the county jail not less than ten (10) days or more than ninety (90) days.
Se c . 15. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved April 21, 1897.
C
h a p t e r
319.— Examination,
licensing, etc., of plumbers.
1. It shall not be lawful for any person, persons, firm or corporation
engaged in the plumbing business in any city or town having a population o f ten
thousand (10,000) inhabitants or more, which has a system of sewer or water works
in the State o f Minnesota, to employ as journeyman plumber in said business any
person, or persons, except those qualified to work as registered plumber ( s ) ; and no
person shall be qualified to work as a registered plumber, or to act as plumbing
inspector, unless said persons have (person has) made application and received from
the State board o f commissioners o f practical plumbing a certificate of competency,
and has complied with the provisions o f this act.
Se c . 2. I f any person or persons, after the passage of this act, shall engage in, or
work at the plumbing business as journeyman plumber in any city or town having a
population o f ten thousand (10,000) inhabitants or more which has a system o f sewer
or water works in the State o f Minnesota, without first complying with the provisions
o f this act, such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and subject to a fine
of fifty (50) dollars for each and every violation of said act; said fine to be sued for
in the name o f the State, and before any qualified justice of the peace in said State.
Sec . 3. The governor shall appoint biennially five (5) persons, who shall consti
tute a board o f commissioners, which shall be known and designated as “ The State
Board of Commissioners of Practical Plumbing,” and who shall be elected as follows:
Five (5) practical plumbers, two (2) o f whom shall be master plumbers engaged in
the plumbing business, and resident freeholders o f the State, two (2) shall be journey
men plumbers and freeholders of the State, the fifth (5th) to be one of the plumbing
inspectors of any first-class city in the State possessing the same qualifications,
whose duty it shall be to faithfully and impartially execute, or cause to be executed,
all the provisions and requirements of this act; they shall upon application and in
such manner and at such place as they may determine, provided said place of exami
nation shall be within the limits of the State of Minnesota, examine each and every
person who shall desire to work at the plumbing business, touching his competency
and qualifications; and upon being satisfied that the person so examined is com
petent and qualified to work at said business, they or any three (3) of them, shall
grant such person a certificate of competency, under the provisions o f this act, and
register him in their books as a practical plumber, which shall operate as full
authority to him to conduct aud engage in the said business o f plumbing.
S e c . 4. The commissioners appointed under this act shall hold their several offices
for the period o f two (2) years, without compensation, commencing from the first
(1st) day o f May, next succeeding the date o f the passage of this act, and thereafter
until their successors have been appointed and qualified; said commissioners shall
within thirty (30) days after notification o f their appointment, each subscribe to an
oath before the clerk of the supreme court of the State o f Minnesota, to impartially
and faithfully discharge the duties prescribed by this act; a failure to so qualify on
the part of any appointee, within the time and manner named, shall create a vacancy,
which the governor shall immediately proceed to fill by the appointment of some
other practical plumber as required by the provisions of this act, as also in cases of
death or resignation.
Sec . 5. The said board of commissioners shall demand and receive from each
applicant for a certificate of competency, whom they examine and pass, the sum of
three (3) dollars at the time o f issuance of said certificate, and the sum of one (1)
dollar for the renewal thereof, each and every year thereafter, on or before the first
Se
c t io n
254
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
day of M a y : Provided, That no person who shall he engaged in the general plumbing
business at the time o f the passage o f this act, shall be required to make applica
tion for such certificate of competency for the period o f one (1) year from the date
o f the passage of this act, commencing with the first day o f May? next succeeding
the passage of this act. Any person making application for examination under the
provisions o f this act and tendering the fee herein required, shall be permitted to
practice said occupation o f journeyman plumber until the first meeting o f the board
after the filing o f such application.
Se c . 6. The money received under the provisions o f the foregoing section shall
be used and applied by said commissioners to defray the expenses accruing or arising
under this act, and all surplus over and above the necessary expenses under this act
shall be returned to the state treasurer for the use o f the State.
S ec . 7. The said board o f commissioners are hereby empowered to make such rules
and regulations from time to time, for the proper execution o f the provisions o f this
act, as in their judgment they may deem necessary and requisite; and they shall be
required to make a report o f the condition o f the board to the governor biennially,
on or before the first day o f February.
Said board shall hold public examination at least four (4) times a year in cities of
over fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants successively at such times as it may deter
mine, and shall give notice o f such meetings by publication thereof at least twenty
(20) days before such meeting is to be held.
Sec . 8. This act shall take effect from the date o f its passage.
Approved April 23, 1897.
C
h a p t e r
360.—Employment
of children.
Section 1. Section one of chapter one hundred and seventy-one (171) o f the
general laws o f eighteen hundred and ninety-five (1895) is hereby amended so as to
read as follow s:
Section 1. No child under fourteen (14) years o f age shall be employed at any time
in any factory or workshop, or about any mine. No such child shall be employed in
any mercantile establishment nor in the service o f any telegraph, telephone or public
messenger company except during the vacation o f the public schools in the town
where such child is employed. No child under sixteen (16) years o f age shall be
employed at any occupation dangerous or injurious to life, limb, health or morals;
nor at any labor o f any kind outside o f the family o f such child’s residence before
six o’clock in the morning, nor after seven o’clock in the eveuing, nor more than ten
(10) hours in any one day, nor more than sixty hours in any one week, except in
accordance with the following express permission or condition, to w it: Children not
less than fourteen years o f age may be employed in mercantile establishments on
Saturdays and for ten days each yeaT before Christmas until ten (10) o’clock in the
evening: Provided, however, That this permission shall not be so construed as to
permit such children to toil more than ten hours in any one day, nor over sixty
hours in any one week.
Sec . 2. Section five of said chapter one hundred and seventy-one (171), general
laws 1895, is hereby amended so as to read as follow s:
S ection 5. Whenever it appears upon due examination that the labor o f any minor
who would be debarred from employment under the provisions o f sections two and
four of this act is necessary for the support o f the family to which said minor
belongs, or for his own support, the school board or board of school trustees o f the
city, village or town in which said child resides may, in the exercise o f their dis
cretion, issue a permit or excuse authorizing the employment of such minor within
such time or times as they may fix.
Se c . 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved April 23, 1897.
LABOR LAWS-----NEBRASKA— ACTS OF 1897.
255
NEBRASK A.
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 36.—Protection of children.
Section 2. It shall he unlawful, and it is hereby declared to be cruelty within
the meaning of this act, for any person employing or having the care, custody or con
trol o f any child willfully or negligently to cause or permit the life o f such child to
be endangered, or the health oi such child to be injured, or willfully to cause or
permit such child to be placed in such a situation that its life or health may be
endangered, or to cause or permit such child to be overworked, cruelly beaten, tor
tured, tormented, or mutilated.
Se c . 3. Any person or persons convicted under any of the foregoing provisions of
this act shall be lined in any sum not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned
in the ja il of the county not exceeding three months, at the discretion o f the court.
Sec . 7. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Sec . 8. Whereas an emergency exists, this act shall take effect and be in force
from and after its passage.
Approved by the governor April 10, 1897.
Chapter 39.— Inspection, etc., of factories and worTcshojhs—Free employment bureau.
An act to amend sections 2066 and 2068 of Cobbey’s Consolidated Statutes of Nebraska
of 1893 [sections 3314 and 3316 of the Compiled Statutes of Nebraska, 1895] and to
create a new section to be numbered 2071.
Section 2066. The commissioner [o f labor] or his deputy shall have power to enter
any factory or workshop in which labor is employed, for the purpose o f gathering
facts and statistics, or o f examining the means for escape from fire, and the provi
sions for the health and safety of operatives in such factory or workshop. He may
also post in such factory or workshop the laws now, or hereafter to be, made in
respect to child labor, fire escapes, hours o f labor, or others pertaining to the health
or safety o f employees; and i f the owner, manager or agent shall remove or destroy
the same he shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not to exceed fifty
dollars for each offense. And in caso the officer o f the bureau shall discover any
violation of, or neglect to comply with, said laws, he shall notify the owner or
occupant o f said workshop or factory in writing o f the offense or neglect, and if
such offense or neglect is not corrected within thirty days after the service of notice
aforesaid, he shall lodge formal complaint with the attorney of the county in which
the offense is committed or the neglect occurs, whereupon said officer shall proceed
against the offender according to law.
Se c . 2068. A t the time of the assessment of property for taxation for county and
State purposes, it shall bo the duty of the township and precinct assessors to enroll
the names o f all persons over 21 years o f age in their respective townships or pre
cincts, together with their several occupations; i f farmers or manufacturers, the
products o f their several farms or factories during the past year, and i f wage workers,
the time they have been employed during the past year and the wages they have
received for the same. It shall be the duty of the county clerks on or before the
first day o f July in each year, to forward a summary of such reports o f their respec
tive counties to the State bureau o f labor. The deputy commissioner of labor shall
compile said reports and shall embody them in his’biennial report to the governor.
Se c . 2071. The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized and directed, within
thirty days after the passage o f this amendment, to establish and maintain in the
office of the bureau of labor and industrial statistics and in connection therewith, a
free public employment office. The deputy commissioner shall receive all applica
tions for help made to him by any person, company or firm, and all applications
made to him for employment by any person or persons and record their names in a
book kept for that purpose, designating the kind and character of help wanted or
the kind and character o f employment desired, and the post office address o f the
applicant. It shall be the duty o f said deputy to send by mail to all applicants for
help, the name and post office address of such applications for employment as in his
judgment will meet their respective requirements and such other information as he
may possess that will bring to their notice the names and post office addresses o f
such unemployed laborers, mechanics, artisans or teachers as they may require. No
compensation or fee whatsoever shall directly or indirectly be charged or received
from any person or persons applying for help, or any person or persons applying for
employment through the bureau o f labor. Said deputy or any clerk connected with
the bureau, who shall accept any compensation or fee from any applicant for help
or any applicant for employment, for services as provided in this act, shall be deemed
256
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
uilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not
gsss
than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, or
imprisoned not to exceed thirty days. Any application for help or any applica
tion for employment made to said office shall be null and void after thirty days from
its receipt by said deputy, unless renewed by the applicant. Every applicant for
help shall notify said deputy commissioner by mail immediately after the required
help designated in his or her application has been secured, and every applicant for
employment shall notify said deputy immediately after securing the same. Such
notice shall contain the name and last preceding post office address o f each employer
or employee secured through such employment office, and any failure or refusal to
thus notify said deputy commissioner shall bar such applicant from all future rights
and privileges of said employment office at the discretion o f said deputy. Appli
cants for help shall be construed to mean employers wanting employees, and appli
cants for employment shall be construed to mean persons wanting work to do.
Approved by the governor April 13, 1897.
Chapter 54.— Protection of employees of street railway companies—Inclosed platforms.
Section 1. From and after the first day o f November, in the year o f our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven (1897), it shall be unlawful for any
person, partnership or corporation, owning or operating a street railway in this
State, or for any officer or agent thereof, superintending or having charge or control
o f the management of such line of railway, or the cars thereof, operating electric,
cable or other cars propelled either by steam, cable or electricity, which require the
constant services, care or attention o f any person or persons upon the platforms o f
such cars, to require or permit such services, attention or care o f any o f its employees
or any other person or persons between the first day o f November and the first day
o f April thereafter o f each year, unless such person, partnership or corporation, its
said officers or superintending or managing agents, have first provided the platforms
o f said car or cars with a proper and sufficient inclosure, constructed o f wood, iron
and glass, or similar, suitable material sufficient to protect such employees from
exposure to the winds and inclemencies o f the weather: Provided, That such inclo
sure shall be so constructed as not to obstruct the vision o f the person operating
such car, or to endanger or interfere with its safe management by the operator.
S e c . 2. From and after November first, in the year o f our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-seven (1897), it shall be unlawful for any such person,
partnership or corporation so owning or operating street railways using steam, elec
tric or cable cars, or any superintending or managing officer or agent thereof, to
cause or permit to be used upon such line o f railway between said November first
and April first o f each and every year thereafter, any car or cars upon which the
services o f any employee, such as is specified in section one (1) o f this act is required,
unless said car or cars shall be provided with the inclosure required by section one
(1) o f this act.
Se c . 3. Violations o f this act shall be punished as follows: I f the violation is by
a corporation it shall forfeit and pay the sum o f one hundred ($100.00) dollars; i f
the violation is by a person or a copartnership such offender shall be punished by a fine
of not to exceed one hundred ($100.00) dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not
to exceed three months. Each day that any o f said person or persons, partnership or
corporation, cause or permit any o f their said employees to operate such cars in vio
lation o f the provisions o f sections one (1) and two (2) o f this act, or cause or permit
cars to be used or operated in violation o f said section two (2) o f this act, shall be
deemed a separate offense: Provided} That the provisions of this act shall not apply
to cars used and known as “ trailing cars.”
Sec. 4. It is hereby made the duty o f the county attorney o f any county in which
any such street railway is situated and operated, upon any information given him by
any credible person, or upon the knowledge that he may possess, that any person,
partnership or corporation has violated any o f the provisions o f this act, to promptly
prosecute such person, members o f such partnership or corporation for such violation.
Approved by the governor March 31, 1897.
Chapter 75.— Convict labor—State penitentiary.
Section. 16. It shall be the duty of the warden, with the approval o f the gover
nor and the prison inspectors, to provide labor for the prisoners and keep them in
industrial employment, so far as possible and for the greatest practical profit to the
State and the general welfare and health of the prisoners. The warden may manu
facture articles for use in the prison and all other State institutions, or let the serv
ice o f prisoners for such purpose, and whenever there shall be any surplus of prison
labor which can not be so utilized to advantage or profit, the warden may let out the
LABOR LAWS-----NEBRASKA-----ACTS OF 1897.
257
service o f such unemployed or idle prisoners for a term of years, not exceeding three
years at any one time or for any one contract; and he shall he charged with the duty
of collecting for such services and collecting all other debts due to the State under
his administration. W hen the service of convicts confined in the penitentiary is let
out to contract, the warden shall be at all times charged with the custody, discipline,
control and safe-keeping of such prisoners and provide them with board and cloth
ing. As rapidly as it may profitably be done, the State shall provide for the employ
ment o f the labor o f the convicts on its own account to the end that the State may
eventually provide means for the employment of all prisoners without the interven
tion of contractors; and the warden shall be charged with the duty o f making the
State prison as nearly self-sustaining as possible and o f promoting, as far as circum
stances will permit, the welfare of the convicts.
S ec . 49. Chapter eighty-six (86) of the Compiled Statutes of 1895, and all other
acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed.
Se c . 50. Whereas an emergency exists, this act shall take effect and be in force from
and after its passage.
Approved by the governor April 12,1897.
Chapter 79.— Antitrust act—Exception in favor of laborers, etc.
Section 9. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent any assemblies
or associations of laboring men from passing and adopting such regulations as they
may think proper, in reference to wages and the compensation o f labor, and such
assemblies and associations shall retain, and there is hereby reserved to them all the
rights and privileges now accorded to them by law, anything herein contained to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 14. Chapter ninety-one a (91a), entitled “ Trusts,” o f the Compiled Statutes
o f Nebraska for the year 1895, is hereby repealed.
Approved by the governor April 15, 1897.
N E W JE RSEY .
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 114.—Incorporation of women’s worlc exchanges.
Section 1. Any society of women, associated together as a woman’s work exchange,
whose object is to furnish a depository for the reception, exhibition and sale of arti
cles made and contributed by women, may become* incorporated under the act to
which this is a supplement [chapter 130, acts of 1892, for the incorporation of societies
not for pecuniary profit, etc.], and with the same powers as in said act set forth and
provided.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved April 13, 1897.
Chapter 190.— Protection of street railway employees—Inclosed platforms.
Section 1. On and after the first day of November, one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-seven, it shall not be lawful for any company operating a street railway
or railroad, or other railroad operated as a street railway, by means o f electric
motors, to use upon its said railroad or railway any car, motor or vehicle for the con
veyance o f passengers, between the first day o f November and the first day of April
in any year, unless said car, motor or other vehicle shall be constructed with inclosed
or vestibuled platforms, provided with proper glazed sashes at the ends of the car
and with open doorways at the sides.
Se c . 2. For each day,- or part o f day, any such car, motor or other vehicle for the
conveyance o f passengers shall be operated and used in tbe operation of any street
railroad or railway operated by means o f electric motors, the company owning or
operating said car, motor or vehicle shall be liable to a penalty of twenty-five dol
lars, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, together with the costs
o f suit, by the person, board or other authority having by law control of the police
department of any municipality in which or through which said car, motor or vehicle
shall be operated; the said penalty, when recovered, to be paid into the treasury of
said municipality the same as the penalties collected for infraction of other police
regulations o f said municipalities.
Approved May 11, 1897.
258
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
N E W YORK.
ACTS OF 1897.
V ol . I.— General
Laws.
Chapter 261.— Salt springs law—Discharge of laborers fo r neglect
An act to amend chapter six hundred and eighty-four of the laws of eighteen hun
dred and ninety-two, entitled “ An act relating to salt springs, constituting chap
ter thirteen o f the General Law s.”
Section 1. This chapter shall he known as the salt springs law.
Sec. 33. The superintendent shall require the discharge o f every boiler, packer or
other laborer employed by any manufacturer who shall neglect or refuse to obey his
or his deputies’ directions in and about any salt works or manufactory respecting
the manufacture, packing or care of salt produced by such manufacturer, and to be
offered for inspection; and each person so discharged shall not be again employed
by any person in the manufacture o f salt without the consent of the superintendent.
Became a law April 15, 1897, with the approval of the governor. Passed, threefifths being present.
Chapter 266.— Wages preferred in assignments.
Section 1. Section twenty-nine of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws
o f eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, entitled “ An act in relation to assignments
o f the estates o f debtors for the benefit o f creditors,” is hereby amended to read as
follow s:
$29. In all assignments, made in pursuance o f this act, the wages or salaries
actually owing to the employees o f the assignor or assignors at the time o f the exe
cution of the assignment, shall be preferred before any other debt; and should the
assets o f the assignor or assignors not be sufficient to pay in full all the claims pre
ferred, pursuant to this section, they shall be applied to the payment o f the same
pro rata to the amount o f each such claim. All sums due to truckmen or eartmen
for the payment of freight and for the carriage of goods, wares and merchandise
shall be deemed and treated as wages for the purposes o f this act.
Se c . 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Became a law April 15, 1897, with the approval of the governor. Passed, threefifths being present.
Chapter 415.— In relation to labor.
An act in relation to labor, constituting chapter thirty-two of the General Laws.
Chapter X X X II
of the
General Laws.
THE LABOR LAW.
Article I .— General provisions.
Section 1.
Short title.— This chapter shall be known as the labor law.
Se c . 2. Definitions.— The term employee, when used in this chapter, means a
mechanic, workingman or laborer who works for another for hire.
The person employing any such mechanic, workingman or laborer, whether the
owner, proprietor, agent, superintendent, foreman or other subordinate, is designated
in this chapter as an employer.
The term “ factory,” when used in this chapter, shall be construed to include also
any mill, workshop or other manufacturing or business establishment where one
or more persons are employed at labor.
The term “ mercantile establishment,” when used in this chapter, means any place
where goods, wares or merchandise are offered for sale.
Whenever, in this chapter, authority is conferred upon the factory inspector, it
shall also be deemed to include his assistant or a deputy acting under his direction.
Sec. 3. Hours to constitute a day’s work.— Eight hours shall constitute a legal
day’s work for all classes o f employees in this State, except those engaged in farm
and domestic labor, unless otherwise provided by law. This section does not pre
vent an agreement for overwork for extra compensation.
This section applies to work for the State or a municipal corporation, or for
contractors therewith.
LABOR LAWS— NEW YORK— ACTS OF 1897.
259
Tli© wages for such public work shall not he less than the prevailing rate for a
legal day’s work in the same trade or calling in the locality where the work is per
formed. Every contract for the construction of a public work, shall contain a
provision that the same shall he void and o f no effect unless such rate is paid by the
contractor to his employees.
Se c . 4. Violations of preceding section.—Any officer or agent of this State or of
a municipal corporation therein, who openly violates or otherwise evades the jirovisions o f this article, relating to the hours of labor of employees, shall he deemed
guilty o f malfeasance in office, and may he suspended or removed by the authority
having power to appoint such officer or agent, i f any, otherwise by the governor.
A party contracting with the State or a municipal corporation therein, who fails to
comply with, or secretly evades such provisions by exacting and requiring more
hours o f labor for the compensation agreed to be paid per day than is fixed in this
article, shall forfeit such contract, at the option of the State or of such municipal
corporation.
S ec . 5. Hours of labor on street surface and elevated railroads.— Ten consecutive
hours’ labor, including one-half hour for dinner, shall constitute a day’s labor in the
operation of all street surface and elevated railroads, of whatever motive power,
owned or operated by corporations in this State, whose main line o f travel or whose
routes lie principally within the corporate limits o f cities of more than one hundred
thousand inhabitants. No employee o f any such corporation shall be permitted or
allowed to work more than ten consecutive hours, including one-half hour for
dinner, in any one day of twenty-four hours.
In cases of accident or unavoidable delay, extra labor may be performed for extra
compensation.
S ec . 6. Hours o f labor in brickyards.—Ten hours, exclusive of the necessary time
for meals, shall constitute a legal day’s work in the making of brick in brickyards
owned or operated by corporations. No corporation owning or operating such
brickyard shall require employees to work more than ten hours in any one day, or
to commence work before seven o’clock in the morning. But overwork and work
prior to seven o’ clock in the morning for extra compensation may be performed by
agreement between employer and employee.
Sec . 7. Regulation of hours of labor on steam surface and elevated railroads.—Ten
hours’ labor, performed within twelve consecutive hours, shall constitute a legal
day’s labor in the operation of steam surface and elevated railroads owned and
operated within this State, except where the mileage system of running trains is in
oi>eration. But this section does not apply to the performance of extra hours of
labor by conductors, engineers, firemen and trainmen in case of accident or delay
resulting therefrom. For each hour o f labor performed in any one day in excess of
snch ten hours, by any such employee, he shall be paid in addition at least one-tenth
of his daily compensation.
No person or corporation operating a line of railroad of thirty miles in length or
over, in whole or in part within this State, shall permit or require a conductor,
engineer, fireman or trainman, who has wrorked in any capacity for twenty-four
consecutive hours, to go again on duty or perform any kind of work until he has
had at least eight hours’ rest.
Sec . 8. Payment of wages by receivers.— Upon the appointment o f a receiver of a
partnership or of a corporation organized under the laws of this State and doing
business therein, other than a moneyed corporation, the wages of the employees of
such partnership or corporation shall be preferred to every other debt or claim.
Se c . 9. Cash payment of wages.—Every manufacturing, mining, quarrying, mer
cantile, railroad, street railway, canal, steamboat, telegraph and telephone com
pany, every express company, and every water company, not municipal, shall pay
to each employee engaged in its business the Avages earned by him in cash. No
such company or corporation shall pay its employees in scrip, commonly known as
store money orders.
Se c . 10. When wages are to be paid.— Every corporation or joint stock association,
or person carrying on the business thereof by lease or otherwise, shall pay weekly to
each employee the wages earned by him to a day not more than six days prior to the
date of such payment.
But every person or corporation operating a steam surface railroad shall, on or
before the twentieth day o f each month, pay the employees thereof the wages earned
by them during the preceding calendar month.
Sec . 11. Penalty for violation o f preceding sections.— I f a corporation or joint
stock association, its lessee or other person carrying on the business thereof, shall
fail to pay the wages o f an employee as provided in this article, it shall forfeit to
the people of the State the sum of fifty dollars for each such failure, to be recovered
by the factory inspector in his name of office in a civil action; but an action shall
not be maintained therefor, unless the factory inspector shall have given to the
260
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
employer at least ten days* written notice, that such an action will he brought i f
the wages due are not sooner paid as provided in this article.
On the trial of such action, such corporation or association shall not be allowed to
set up any defense, other than a valid assignment o f such wages, a valid set-off
against the same, or the absence o f such employee from his regular place of labor at
the time o f payment, or an actual tender to such employee at the time of the pay
ment of the wages so earned by him, or a breach of contract by such employee or a
denial o f the employment.
Sec . 12. Assignment o f future wages.— No assignment of future wages, payable
weekly, or monthly in case of a steam surface railroad corporation, shall be valid i f
made to the corporation or association from which such wages are to become due, or
to any person on its behalf, or i f made or procured to be made to any person for the
purpose of relieving such corporation or association from the obligation to pay
weekly, or monthly in case o f a steam surface railroad corporation. Charges for
groceries, provisions or clothing shall not be a valid offset for wages in behalf of
any such corporation or association.
No such corporation or association shall require any agreement from any employee
to accept wages at other periods than as provided in this article as a condition o f
employment.
Se c . 13. Preferences in employment of persons upon public works.— In the con
struction o f public works by the State or a municipality, or by persons contracting
with the State or such municipality, only citizens o f the United States shall be
employed; and in all cases where laborers are employed on any such public works,
preference shall be given citizens o f the State o f New York. In each contract for
the construction of public works, a provision shall be inserted, to the effect that if
the provisions o f this section are not complied with, the contract shall be void.
Se c . 14. Stone used in State or municipal works.— All stone used in State and munic
ipal works, except paving blocks and crushed stone, shall be worked, dressed and
carved within the State. There shall be inserted in each contract, or specification
hereafter awarded by State, county or municipal authorities, authorizing or requiring
the use o f worked, dressed or carved stone, except paving blocks or crushed stone,
within the State or such county or municipality, a clause to the effect that such
stone shall be so worked, dressed or carved within the boundaries of the State as
required by this section. I f a contractor o f the State or any municipality therein,
shall use stone, except paving blocks and crushed stone, which has been worked,
dressed or carved without the State, the State or such municipality shall revoke the
contract of such contractor and be released from liability thereon.
Se c . 15. Labels, brands, etc., used by labor organizations.— A union or association
of employees may adopt a device in the form o f a label, brand, mark, name or other
character for the purpose o f designating the products o f the labor o f the members
thereof. Duplicate copies o f such device shall be filed in the office o f the secretary
of state, who shall, under his hand and seal, deliver to the union or association filing
or registering the same a certified copy and a certificate of the filing thereof, for
which he shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar. Such certificate shall not be
assignable by the union or association to whom it is issued.
Sec . 16. Penalty for illegal use o f labels, etc,, injunction proceedings.— A person
manufacturing, using, displaying or keeping for sale a counterfeit or colorable imi
tation o f a device so adopted and filed, or goods bearing the same, shall be subject
to a penalty of two hundred dollars, to be recovered in an action brought in a court
of competent jurisdiction by the person aggrieved; one-half o f which penalty, when
recovered, shall be paid to the plaintiff and one-half to the overseer o f the poor of
the town or to an officer having like power of the city, wherein the person aggrieved
resides, for the benefit o f the poor o f such town or city.
After filing copies of such device, such union or association may commence an
action to enjoin the manufacture, use, display or sale of counterfeit or colorable imi
tations of such device, or of goods bearing the same, and the court may restrain such
wrongful manufacture, use, display or sale, and every unauthorized use or display
by others o f the genuine devices so registered and filed, i f such use or display is not
authorized by the owner thereof, and may award to the plaintiff such damages
resulting from such wrongful manufacture, use, display or sale as may be proved,
together with the profits derived therefrom.
Sec . 17. Seats for female employees in factories.— Every person employing females
in a factory shall provide and maintain suitable seats for the use o f such female
employees, and permit the use thereof by such employees to such an extent as may
be reasonable for the preservation o f tlieir health.
Se c . 18. Scaffolding for use o f employees.— A person employing or directing
another to perform labor o f any kind in the erection, repairing, altering or painting
of a house, building or structure shall not furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished
or erected for the performance o f such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders or
other mechanical contrivances which are unsafe, unsuitable or improper, and which
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
261
are not so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to the life
and limb of a person so employed or engaged.
Scaffolding or staging swung or suspended from an overhead support, more than
twenty feet from the ground or floor, shall have a safety rail o f wood, properly
bolted, secured and.braced, rising at least thirty-four inches above the floor or main
portions o f such scaffolding or staging and extending along the entire length o f the
outside and the ends thereof, and properly attached thereto, and such scaffolding or
staging shall be so fastened as to prevent the same from swaying from the building
or structure.
Sec. 19. Inspection of scaffolding, ropes, blocks, pulleys and tackle in cities.—
Whenever complaint is made, to the commissioner o f police, superintendent or other
person in charge o f the police force o f a city, that the scaffolding or the slings,
hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons or ropes of any swinging or
stationary scaffolding used in the construction, alteration, repairing, painting,
cleaning or pointing o f buildings within the limits of such city, are unsafe or liable
to prove dangerous to the life or limb o f any person, such police commissioner,
superintendent or other person in charge of the police force, shall immediately detail
a competent police officer to inspect such scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, blocks,
pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons or other parts connected therewith. If, after
examination, such officer finds such scaffolding or any o f such parts to be dangerous
to life or limb, he shall prohibit the use thereof, and require the same to be altered
and reconstructed so as to avoid such danger.
The officer making the examination shall attach a certificate to the scaffolding, or
the slings, hangers, irons, ropes or other parts thereof, examined by him, stating
that he has made such examination, and that he has found it safe or unsafe, as the
case may be. I f he declares it unsafe, he shall at once, in writing, notify the
person responsible for its erection of the fact, and warn him against the use thereof.
Such notice may be served personally upon the person responsible for its erection,
or by conspicuously affixing it to the scaffolding, or the part thereof declared to be
unsafe. After such notice has been so served or affixed, the person responsible
therefor shall immediately remove such scaffolding or part thereof and alter or
strengthen it in such a manner as to render it safe, in the discretion of the officer
who has examined it, or of his superiors.
Any officer detailed to examine or test any scaffolding or part thereof, as required
by this section, shall have free access, at all reasonable hours, to any building or
premises containing them or where they may be in use.
All swinging and stationary scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear four
times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed thereon,
when in use, and not more then four men shall be allowed upon any swinging
scaffolding at one time.
Sec. 20. Protection of persons employed on buildings in cities.— All contractors
and owners, when constructing buildings in cities, where the plans and specifications
require the floors to be arched between the beams thereof, or where the floors or fill
ing in between the floors are of fire-proof material of [or J brick work, shall complete
the flooring or filling in as the building progresses, to not less than within three tiers
of beams below that on which the iron work is being erected.
I f the plans and specifications of such buildings do not require filling in between
the beams of floors with brick or fire-proof material, all contractors for carpenter
work, in the course of construction, shall lay the under flooring thereof on each
story, as the building progresses, to not less than within two stories below the one
to which such building has been erected. Where double floors are not to be used,
such contractor shall keep planked over the floor two stories below the story where
the work is being performed.
I f the floor beams are of iron or steel, the contractors for the iron or steel work
o f buildings in course o f construction, or the owners of such buildings, shall thor
oughly plank over the entire tier o f iron or steel beams on which the structural iron
or steel work is being erected, except such spaces as may be reasonably required for
the proper construction o f such iron or steel work, and for th§ raising or lowering of
materials to be used in the construction of such building, or such spaces as may be
designated by the plans and specifications for stairways and elevator shafts.
The chief officer, in any city, charged with the enforcement o f the building laws
o f such city, is hereby charged with enforcing the provisions of this section,
Article II.— Commissioner
of labor statistics.
Sec. 30. Commissioner of labor statistics.— There shall continue to be a commis
sioner o f labor statistics, who shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the
advice and consent of the senate, and shall hold his office for the term o f three years,
and receive an annual salary o f three thousand dollars. He may appoint a deputy com
missioner of labor statistics, at an annual salary o f two thousand and five hundred
262
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
dollars, and a chief clerk at an annnal salary o f two thousand dollars, and such
other clerks and assistants as he may deem necessary and fix their salaries.
The term o f office o f the successor o f the commissioner in office when this chapter
takes effect is abridged so as to expire on the last day o f December preceding the
time when such term would otherwise expire, and thereafter the term o f office o f
such commissioner shall begin on the first day o f January.
Sec . 31. Duties and powers.— The commissioner o f labor statistics shall collect,
assort, systematize and present in annual reports to the legislature, within ten days
after the convening thereof in each year, statistical details in relation to all depart
ments o f labor in the State, especially in relation to the commercial, industrial,
social and sanitary condition o f workingmen and to the productive industries o f the
State. He may subpoena witnesses, take and hear testimony, take or cause to he
taken depositions and administer oaths.
Sec . 32. Statistics to be furnished upon request.— The owner, operator, manager
or lessee o f any mine, factory, workshop, warehouse, elevator, foundry, machine
shop ot other manufacturing establishment, or any agent, superintendent, subordi
nate, or employee thereof, shall, when requested by the commissioner o f labor sta
tistics, furnish any information in his possession or under his control which the
commissioner is authorized to require, and shall admit him to any place herein
named for the purpose o f inspection. AH statistics furnished to the commissioner o f
labor statistics, pursuant to this article, may he destroyed by such commissioner
after the expiration of two years from the time o f the receipt thereof.
A person refusing to admit such commissioner, or a person, authorized by him, to
any such establishment, or to furnish him any information requested, or who refuses
to answer or untruthfully answers questions put to him by such commissioner, in a
circular or otherwise, shall forfeit to the people o f the State the sum o f one hundred
dollars for each refusal and answer untruthfully given, to he sued for and recovered
by the commissioner in his name of office. The amount so recovered shall he paid
into the State treasury.
Article III.— Free public employment bureaus.
Sec . 40. Free public employment bureaus in cities o f the first class.— The com
missioner o f labor statistics shall organize and establish in all cities o f the first class
a free public employment bureau, for the purpose o f receiving applications o f per
sons seeking employment, and applications o f persons seeking to employ labor. No
compensation or fee shall he charged or received, directly or indirectly, from per
sons applying for employment or help through any such bureau. Such commis
sioner shall appoint for each bureau so organized, and may remove for good and suf
ficient cause, a superintendent and such clerical assistants as, in his judgment, may
he necessary for the proper administration o f the affairs thereof. The salaries of
such superintendents and clerks shall be fixed by the commissioner. Such salaries
and the expenses of such bureaus shall he paid in the same manner as other expenses
o f the bureau o f labor statistics.
Sec. 41. Duties o f superintendent.— The superintendent o f each free public employ
ment bureau shall receive and record, in a hook to he kept for that purpose, the
names o f all persons applying for employment or for help, designating opposite the
name and address o f each applicant the character o f employment or help desired.
Each such superintendent shall report, on Thursday o f each week, to the commis
sioner of labor statistics, the names and addresses of all persons applying for employ
ment or help during the preceding week, the character o f the employment or help
desired, and the names of the persons receiving employment through his bureau.
Such superintendent shall also perform such other duties in the collection o f labor
statistics, and in the keeping of books and accounts o f his bureau, as the commis
sioner may require, and shall report semiannually to the commissioner o f labor sta
tistics the expense o f maintaining his bureau.
Sec . 42. Applications; list of applicants.— Every application for employment or
help made to a free public employment bureau shall he void after thirty days from
its receipt, unless renewed by the applicant.
The commissioner o f labor statistics shall cause two copies o f a list o f all appli
cants for employment or help, and the character o f the employment or help desired,
received by him from each free public employment bureau, to he mailed on Monday
o f each week to the superintendent o f each bureau, one o f which copies shall he
posted by the superintendent, immediately on receipt thereof, in a conspicuous place
in his office, subject to the inspection o f all persons desiring employment or help,
and the other shall he filed in his office for reference.
Sec. 43. Applicants for help; when to notify superintendent.— I f an applicant for
help has secured the same, he shall, within ten days thereafter, notify the superin
tendent o f the bureau, to which application therefor was made. Such notice shall
contain the name and last preceding address of the employees received through such
LABOR LAWS— NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
263
bureau. I f any such applicant neglects to so notify sucli superintendent, be shall
be barred from all future rights and privileges o f such employment bureau, at the
discretion o f the commissioner of labor statistics to whom the superintendent shall
report such neglect.
Article I Y .—Convict-made
goods, and duties o f commissioner o f labor statistics
relative thereto.
Se c . 50. License for sale of convict-made goods.— No person or corporation shall
sell, or expose for sale, any convict-made goods, wares or merchandise, either by
sample or otherwise, without a license therefor. Such license may be obtained upon
application in writing to the comptroller, setting forth the residence or post-office
address o f the applicant, the class o f goods desired to be dealt in, the town, village
or city, with the street number, i f any, at which the business of such applicant is to
be located. Such application shall be accompanied with a bond, executed by two
or more responsible citizens, or some legally incorporated surety company author
ized to do business in this State, to be approved by the comptroller, in the sum of
five thousand dollars, and conditioned that such applicant will comply with all the
provisions o f law, relative to the sale of convict-made goods, wares and merchandise.
Such license shall be for a term o f one year unless sooner revoked. Such person or
corporation shall pay, annually, on or before the fifteenth day o f January, the sum
of five hundred dollars as a license fee, into the treasury o f the State, which amount
shall be credited to the maintenance account of the State prisons.
Such license shall be kept conspicuously posted in the place of business o f such
licensee.
Sec . 51. Revocation of license.— The comptroller may revoke the license o f any
such person or corporation, upon satisfactory evidence of, or upon conviction for
the violation o f any statute regulating the sale o f convict-made goods, wares or
merchandise; such revocation shall not be made until after due notice to the licensee
so complained of. For the purpose o f this section, the comptroller or any person
duly appointed by him, may administer oaths and subpoena witnesses and take and
hear testimony.
Se c . 52. Annual statement of licensee.— Each person or corporation so licensed
shall, annually, on or before the fifteenth day of January, transmit to the secretary
o f state a verified statement setting forth :
1. The name of the person or corporation licensed.
2. The names o f the persons, agents, wardens or keepers of any prison, jail, peni
tentiary, reformatory or establishment using convict labor, with whom he has done
business, and the name and address o f the person or corporation to whom he has
sold goods, wares and merchandise, and
3. In general terms, the amount paid to each of such agents, wardens or keepers,
for goods, wares or merchandise and the character thereof.
Sec . 53. Labeling and marking convict-made goods.— All goods, wares and mer
chandise made by convict labor in a penitentiary, prison, reformatory or other
establishment in which convict labor is employed, shall be branded, labeled or
marked as herein provided. The brand, label or mark, used for such purpose, shall
contain at the head or top thereof the words “ convict-made,” followed by the year
when, and the name of the penitentiary, prison, reformatory or other establishment
in which the article branded, labeled or marked was made.
Such brands, labels and marks shall be printed in plain English lettering, of the
style and size known as great primer Roman condensed capitals. A brand or mark
shall be used in all cases where the nature o f the article will permit and only where
such branding or marking is impossible shall a label be used. Such label shall be
in the form o f a paper tag and shall be attached by wire to each article, where the
nature of the article will permit, and shall be placed securely upon the box, crate
or other covering in which such goods, wares or merchandise are packed, shipped or
exposed for sale.
Such brand, mark or label shall be placed upon the most conspicuous part of the
finished article and its box, crate or covering.
No convict-made goods, wares or merchandise shall be sold or exposed for sale
without such brand, mark or label.
Se c . 54. Duties of commissioner of labor statistics relative to violations; fines
upon convictions.— The commissioner of labor statistics shall enforce the provisions
o f this article. I f he has reason to believe that any of such provisions are being
violated, he shall advise the district attorney of the county -wherein such alleged
violation has occurred o f such fact, giving the information in support of his con
clusion. The district attorney shall, at once, institute the proper proceedings to
compel compliance with this article and secure conviction for such violations.
Upon the conviction o f a person or corporation for a violation o f this article, oneh alf o f the fine recovered shall be paid and certified by the district attorney to the
264
b u l l e t in ; o p
th e
departm ent
op
labor.
commissioner o f labor statistics, who shall nse such money in investigating and
securing information, in regard to violations of this act and in paying the expenses
o f such conviction.
Se c . 55. Articles not to apply to goods manufactured for the use o f the State or a
municipal corporation.— Nothing in this article shall apply to or affect the manu
facture in State prisons, reformatories and penitentiaries, and furnishing o f articles
for the use of the offices, departments and institutions of the State or any political
division thereof, as provided by chapter four hundred and twenty-nine oi the laws
of eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
Article V .— Factory inspector,
assistant and deputies.
Sec . 60. Factory inspector and assistant.— There shall continue to be a factory
inspector and assistant factory inspector, who shall be appointed by the governor,
by and with the advice and consent o f the senate. The term o f office of each shall
be three years. The term of office o f the successor o f the factory inspector and
assistant factory inspector in office when this chapter takes effect shall be abridged
so as to expire on the last day of December preceding the time when each such term
would otherwise expire, and thereafter each such term shall begin on the first day
of January. There shall be paid to the factory inspector an annual salary o f three
thousand dollars, and to the assistant factory inspector an annual salary o f two
thousand five hundred dollars.
Se c . 61. Deputies and clerks.— The factory inspector may appoint, from time to
time, not more than thirty-six persons as deputy factory inspectors, not more than
ten o f whom shall be women, and who may be removed by him at any time. Each
deputy inspector shall receive an annual salary o f one thousand two hundred dollars.
The factory inspector may designate six or more o f such deputies to inspect the
buildings and rooms occupied and used as bakeries and to enforce the provisions o f
this chapter relating to the manufacture o f flour or meal food products. One o f
such deputies shall have a knowledge o f mining, whose duty it shall be, under the
direction o f the factory inspector, to inspect mines and quarries and to enforce the
provisions of this chapter relating thereto.
The factory inspector may appoint one or more o f such deputies to act as clerk in
his principal office.
Sec . 62. General powers and duties o f factory inspector.— The factory inspector
may divide the State into districts, assign one or more deputy inspectors to each
district, and may, in his discretion, transfer them from one district to another.
The factory inspector shall visit and inspect, or cause to be visited and inspected,
the factories, during reasonable hours, as often as practicable, and shall cause the
provisions of this chapter to be enforced therein and prosecute all persons violating
the same.
Any lawful municipal ordinance, by-law or regulation relating to factories or
their inspection, in addition to the provisions o f this chapter ana not in conflict
therewith, shall be observed and enforced by the factory inspector.
The factory inspector, assistant and each deputy may administer oaths and take
affidavits in matters relating to the enforcement o f the provisions o f this chapter.
No person shall interfere with, obstruct or hinder, by force or otherwise, the
factory inspector, assistant factory inspector or deputies while in the performance
of their duties, or refuse to properly answer questions asked by such officers per
taining to the provisions o f this chapter.
All notices, orders and directions o f assistant or deputy factory inspectors given
in accordance with this chapter are subject to the approval o f the factory inspector.
S ec . 63. Reports.— The factory inspector shall report annually to the legislature
in the month of January. The assistant factory inspector and each deputy shall
report to the factory inspector, from time to time, as he may require.
Sec . 64. Badges.— The factory inspector may procure and cause to be used, badges
for himself, his assistant and deputies, while in the performance o f their duties, the
cost o f which shall be a charge upon the appropriation made for the use of the
department.
Sec . 65. Payment o f salaries and expenses.— A ll necessary expenses incurred by
the factory inspector and his assistant in the discharge of their duties, shall be paid
by the State treasurer, upon the warrant o f the comptroller, issued upon proper
vouchers therefor. The reasonable necessary traveling and other expenses of the
deputy factory inspectors, while engaged in the performance of their duties, shall
be paid in like manner upon vouchers approved by the factory inspector and audited
by the comptroller. All such expenses and the salaries o f the factory inspector,
assistant and deputies shall be payable monthly.
Se c . 66. Suboffice in New York City.— The factory inspector may establish and
maintain a suboffice in the city of New York, if, in his opinion, the duties of his
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
265
office demand it. He may designate one or more of the deputy factory inspectors to
take charge of and manage such office, subject to his direction. The reasonable and
necessary expenses o f such office shall be paid, as are other expenses of the factory
inspector.
Sec. 67. Duties o f factory inspector relative to apprentices.— The factory inspector,
his assistant and deputies shall enforce the provisions of the Domestic Relations Law,
relative to indentures of apprentices, and prosecute employers for failure to comply
with the provisions of such indentures and of such law in relation thereto.
A rticle
Y I.— Factories.
Sec. 70. Employment o f minors.— A child under the age of fourteen years shall not
be employed in any factory in this State. A child between the ages of fourteen and
sixteen years shall not be so employed, unless a certificate executed by a health
officer be filed in the office of the employer.
Sec. 71. Certificate for employment, how issued.— Such certificate shall be issued
by the executive officer of the board, department or commissioner o f health o f the
city, town or village where such child resides, or is to be employed, or by such other
officer thereof as may be designated, by resolution, for that purpose, upon the appli
cation of the child desiring such employment. A t the time o f making such applica
tion, there shall be filed with such board, department, commissioner or officer,
the affidavit of the parent or guardian o f such child, or the person standing in
parental relation thereto, showing th j date and place o f birth o f such child. Such
certificate shall not be issued unless the officer issuing the same is satisfied that such
child is fourteen years o f age or upward, and is physically able to perform the work
which he intends to do. No fee shall be demanded or received for administering an.
oath as required by this section.
Sec. 72. Contents of certificate.— Such certificate shall state the date and place o f
birth of the child, if known, and describe the color o f the hair and eyes, the height
and weight and any distinguishing facial marks o f such child, and that, in the
opinion of the officer issuing such certificate, such child is upward o f fourteen
years o f age, and is physically able to perform the work which he intends to do.
Sec. 73. School attendance required.— No such certificate shall be granted unless
it appears to the satisfaction o f such board, department, commissioner or officer,
that the child applying therefor has regularly attended at a school in which read
ing, spelling, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography are taught, or
upon equivalent instruction by a competent teacher elsewhere than at a school, for
a period equal to one school year, during the year previous to his arriving at the
age o f fourteen years, or during the year previous to applying for such certificate,
and is able to read and write simple sentences in the English language.
The principal or chief executive officer o f a school,.or teacher elsewhere than at a
school, shall furnish, upon demand, to a child who has attended at such school or
been instructed by such teacher, or to the factory inspector, his assistant or depu
ties, a certificate stating the school attendance o f such child.
Sec. 74. Vacation certificates.— A child of fourteen years o f age, who can read and
write simple sentences in the English language, may be employed in a factory during
the vacation o f the public schools o f the city or school district where such child
resides, upon complying with all the provisions o f the foregoing sections, except that
requiring school attendance. The certificate issued to such child shall be designated
a “ vacation certificate,” and no employer shall employ a child to whom such a cer
tificate has been issued, to work in a factory at any time other than the time o f the
vacation o f the public school in the city or school district where such factory is
situated.
Sec. 75. Report of certificates issued.— The board or department of health or health
commissioner o f a city, village or town, shall transmit, between the first and tenth
day o f each month, to the office o f the factory inspector a list o f the names of the
children to whom certificates have been issued.
Sec. 76. Registry o f children employed.— Each person owning or operating a fac
tory and employing children therein shall keep, or cause to be kept in the office of
such factory, a register, in which shall be recorded the name, birthplace, age and
place of residence o f all children so employed under the age o f sixteen years.
Such register and the certificates filed in such office shall be produced for inspec
tion, upon the demand of the factory inspector, his assistant or deputies.
Sec. 77. Hours of labor of minors.— A female under the age o f twenty-one years or
a male under the age o f eighteen years shall not be employed at labor in any factory
in this State before six o’clock in the morning or after nine o'clock in the evening o f
any day, or for more than ten hours in any one day or sixty hours in any one week,
except to make a shorter work day on the last day o f the week; or more hours in any
one week than will make an average of ten hours per day for the whole number o f
days so worked. A printed notice stating the number of hours per day for each day
2955—No. 15----- 9
266
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
o f the week required of such persons, and the time when such work shall begin and
end, shall be kept posted in a conspicuous place in each room where they are
employed.
But such persons may begin their work after the time for beginning and stop before
the time for ending such work, mentioned in such notice, but they shall not be
required to perform any labor in such factory, except as stated therein. The terms
o f such notice shall not be changed after the beginning o f labor on the first day of
the week without the consent o f the factory inspector.
Sec. 78. Change of hours of labor o f minors.— When, in order to make a shorter
work day on the last day o f the week, a female under twenty-one, or a male under
eighteen years o f age, is to be required or permitted to work in a factory more than
ten hours in a day, the employer o f such persons shall notify the factory inspector,
in writing, o f such intention, stating the number of hours of labor per day, which it
is proposed to require or permit, and the time when it is proposed to cease such
requirement or permission; a similar notification shall be made when such require
ment or permission has actually ceased. A record o f the names o f the employees thus
required or permitted to work overtime, with the amount o f such overtnne and the
days upon which such work was performed, shall be kept in the office o f such factory,
and produced upon the demand o f the factory inspector.
Se c . 79. Inclosure and operation o f elevators and hoisting shafts: inspection.—
If, in the opinion o f the factory inspector, it is necessary to protect tne life or limbs
o f factory employees, the owner, agent, or lessee o f such factory where an elevator,
hoisting shafts, or wellhole is used, shall cause, upon written notice from the factory
inspector, the same to be properly and substantially inclosed, secured or guarded,
and shall provide such proper traps or automatic doors so fastened in or at all ele
vator ways, except passenger elevators inclosed on all sides, as to form a substantial
surface when closed and so constructed as to open and close by action o f the elevator
in its passage either ascending or descending. The factory inspector may inspect
the cable, gearing or other apparatus o f elevators in factories and require them to
be kept in a safe condition.
No child under the age o f fifteen years shall be employed or permitted to have the
care, custody or management of or to operate an elevator in a factory, nor shall any
person under the age o f eighteen years be employed or permitted to have the care,
custody or management o f or to operate an elevator therein, running at a speed o f
over two hundred feet a minute.
Sec. 80. Stairs and doors.— Proper and substantial hand rails shall be provided on
all stairways in factories. The steps of such stairs shall be covered with rubber,
securely fastened thereon, i f in the opinion o f the factory inspector the safety or
employees would be promoted thereby. The stairs shall be properly screened at the
sides and bottom. A ll doors leading in or to any such factory shall be so constructed
as to open outwardly where practicable, and shall not be locked, bolted or fastened
during working hours.
Sec. 81. Protection o f employees operating machinery.— The owner or person in
charge o f a factory where machinery is used, shall provide, in the discretion o f the
factory inspector, belt shifters or other mechanical contrivances for the purpose o f
throwingon or off belts or pulleys. Whenever practicable, all machinery shall be pro
vided with loose pulleys. A ll vats, pans, saws, planers, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting,
set screws and machinery, o f every description, shall be properly guarded. No person
shall remove or make ineffective any safeguard around or attached to machinery,
vats or pans, while the same are in use, unless for the purpose o f immediately making
repairs thereto, and all such safeguards so removed shall be promptly replaced.
Exhaust fans o f sufficient power shall be provided for the purpose of carrying off
dust from emery wheels, grindstones and other machinery creating dust. I f a
machine or any part thereof is in a dangerous condition or is not properly guarded,
the use thereof may be prohibited by the factory inspector, and a notice to that
effect shall be attached thereto. Such notice shall not be removed until the machine
is made safe and the required safeguards are provided, and in the meantime such
unsafe or dangerous machinery shall not be used. When, in the opinion of the fac
tory inspector, it is necessary, the halls leading to workrooms shall be properly
lighted. No male person under eighteen years o f age or woman under twenty-one
shall be permitted or directed to clean machinery while in motion.
Sec. 82. Fire escapes.— Such fire escapes as may be deemed necessary by the fac
tory inspector shall be provided on the outside o f every factory in this State con
sisting of three or more stories in height. Each escape shall connect with each
floor above the first, and shall be o f sufficient strength, well fastened and secured,
and shall have landings or balconies not less than six feet in length and three feet
in width, guarded by iron railings not less than three feet in height, embracing at
least two windows at each story and connected with the interior by easily accessible
and unobstructed openings. The balconies or landings shall be connected by iron
stairs, not less than eighteen inches wide, with steps o f not less than six inches tread,
LABOR LAW S— NEW YORK— ACTS OF 1897.
267
placed at a proper slant and protected by a well-secured hand rail on both sides, and
shall have a drop ladder not less than twelve inches wide reaching from the lower
platform to the ground.
The windows or doors to the landing or balcony o f each fire escape shall be of suffi
cient size and located as far as possible, consistent with accessibility from the stair
ways and elevator hatchways or openings, and a ladder from such fire escape shall
extend to the roof. Stationary stairs or ladders shall be provided on the inside of
every factory from the upper story to the roof, as a means o f escape in case o f fire.
Sec. 83. Factory inspector may order erection o f fire escapes.— Any other plan or
style of fire escape shall be sufficient if approved in writing by the factory inspector.
I f there is no fire escape, or the fire escape in use is not approved by the factory
inspector, he may, by a written order served upon the owner, proprietor or lessee of
any factory, or the agent or superintendent thereof, or either of them, require one
or more fire escapes to be provided therefor, at such locations and of such plan and
style as shall be specified in such order.
Within twenty days after the service of such order, the number of fire escapes
required therein shall be provided, each o f which shall be of the plan and style
specified in the order, or of the plan and style described in the preceding section.
Sec. 84. W alls and ceilings.— The walls and ceilings o f each workroom in a factory
shall be lime-washed or painted, when in the opinion of the factory inspector, it will
be conducive to the health or cleanliness o f the persons working therein.
Sec. 85. Size o f rooms.— No more employees shall be required or permitted to work
in a room in a factory between the hours o f six o’clock in the morning and six o’ clock
in the evening than will allow to each of such employees, not less than two hundred
and fifty cubic feet o f air space; and, unless by a written permit o f the factory
inspector, not less than four hundred cubic feet for each employee, so employed
between the hours of six o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning, pro
vided such room is lighted by electricity at all times during such hours, while persons
are employed therein.
Sec. 86. Ventilation.— The owner, agent or lessee o f a factory shall provide, in each
workroom thereof, proper and sufficient means o f ventilation; in case of failure the
factory inspector shall order such ventilation to be provided. Such owner, agent or
lessee shall provide such ventilation within twenty days after the service upon him
o f such order, and in case o f failure, shall forfeit to the people of the State, ten
dollars for each day after the expiration o f such twenty days, to be recovered by the
factory inspector, in his name o f office.
Sec. 87. Accidents to be reported.— The person in charge of any factory, shall
report in writing to the factory inspector all accidents or injuries sustained by any
person therein, within forty-eight hours after the time of the accident, stating as
fully as possible the extent and cause o f the injury, and the place where the injured
person has been sent, with such other information relative thereto as may be required
by the factory inspector who may investigate the cause of such accident, and require
such precautions to be taken as will, in his judgment, prevent the recurrence of
similar accidents.
Sec. 88. Wash room and water-closets.— Every factory shall contain a suitable,
convenient and separate water-closet or water-closets for each sex, which shall be
properly screened, ventilated and kept clean and free from all obscene writing or
marking; and also a suitable and convenient wash room. The water-closets used by
women shall have separate approaches. I f women or girls are employed, a dressing
room shall be provided for them, when required by the factory inspector.
Sec. 89. Time allowed for meals.— In each factory at least sixty minutes shall
be allowed for the noonday meal, unless the factory inspector shall permit a shorter
time. Such permit must be in writing and conspicuously posted in the main
entrance of the factory, and may be revoked at any time. Where employees are
required or permitted to work overtime for more than one hour after six o’clock in
the evening, they shall be allowed at least twenty minutes to obtain a lunch, before
beginning to work overtime.
Sec. 90. Inspection o f factory buildings.— The factory inspector, or other compe
tent person designated by him, upon request, shall examine any factory outside o f
the cities of New York and Brooklyn, to determine whether it is in a safe condition.
I f it appears to him to be unsafe, he shall immediately notify the owner, agent or
lessee thereof, specifying the defects, and require such repairs and improvements to
be made as he may deem necessary. I f the owner, agent or lessee shall fail to com
ply with such requirement, he shall forfeit to the people o f the State the sum of
fifty dollars, to be recovered by the factory inspector in his name o f office.
268
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Article Y II.— Tenement-made
articles.
Sec. 100. Manufacture of articles in tenements.— No room or apartment in a
tenement or dwelling house shall he used, except by the immediate members o f the
family living therein, for the manufacture o f coats, vests, trousers, knee pants, over
alls, cloaks, hats, caps, suspenders, jerseys, blouses, waists, waistbands, underwear,
neckwear, furs, fur trimmings, fur garments, shirts, skirts, purses, feathers, artifi
cial flowers, cigarettes or cigars. No person shall be employed to work in a room
or apartment o f a building in the rear o f a tenement or dwelling house at manufac
turing any of such articles, without first obtaining from the factory inspector a
written permit stating the maximum number o f employees allowed to work therein.
Before such permit shall be granted, an inspection o f the premises must be made by
the factory inspector. Such notice must be framed and posted in a conspicuous
place in each room or apartment to which it relates. It may be revoked by the
factory inspector if the health o f the community or o f the employees requires it.
Sec. 101. Register o f persons to whom work is given.— Persons contracting for
the manufacture of such articles, or giving out material from which they or any
part o f them are to be manufactured, shall beep a written register o f the names and
addresses o f the persons to whom such work is given to be made, or with whom
they have contracted to do the same. Such register shall be subject to inspection
by the factory inspector, and a copy thereof shall be furnished on his demand.
Sec. 102. Goods unlawfully manufactured to be labeled.— Such articles manufac
tured contrary to the provisions of this section shall not be knowingly sold or
exposed for sale by any person.
The factory inspector shall conspicuously affix to any such article found to be
unlawfully manufactured, a label containg the words “ tenement made,” printed in
small pica capital letteis on a tag not less than four inches in length, and an officer
finding such article shall notify the person owning or alleging to own such article
that he has so labeled it. No person shall remove or deface any tag or label so
affixed.
Sec. 103. Powers and duties of boards of health relative to factory-made articles.—
I f the factory inspector discovers any of the articles mentioned in this article to be
made under unclean or unhealthful conditions, he shall affix to such articles the
label prescribed in the preceding section, and immediately report to the local board
of health, who shall disinfect such articles, i f necessary, and thereupon remove such
label. I f the factory inspector is convinced that infectious or contagious diseases
exist in a workshop, or that articles manufactured or in process or manufacture
therein are infected, or that goods used therein are unfit for use, he shall report to
the local board o f health, and such board shall issue such order as the public health
may require. Such board may condemn and destroy all such infected articles or
articles manufactured or in the process o f manufacture under unclean or unhealthful
conditions.
Sec. 104. Owners of tenement and dwelling houses not to permit the unlawful
use thereof.— The owner, lessee or agent o f a tenement or dwelling house shall not
permit the use thereof for the manufacture o f any o f the articles mentioned in this
article contrary to its provisions. I f a room or apartment in such tenement or
dwelling house be so unlawfully used, the factory inspector shall serve a notice
thereof upon such owner, lessee or agent.
Unless such owner, lessee or agent shall cause such unlawful manufacture to be
discontinued within thirty days after the service o f such notice, or, within fifteen
days thereafter, institutes and faithfully prosecutes proceedings for the disposses
sion o f the occupant o f a tenement or dwelling house, who unlawfully manufactures
such articles in any room or apartment therein, he shall be deemed guilty o f a vio
lation o f this article, as i f he, himself, was engaged in such unlawful manufacture.
The unlawful manufacture o f any o f such articles by the occupant o f a room or
apartment of a tenement or dwelling house, shall be a cause for dispossessing such
occupant by summary proceedings to recover possession o f real property, as pro
vided in the Code of Civil Procedure.
Sec. 105. Copy o f articles to be posted.— A copy o f articles five, six and seven
shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each workroom o f every factory where
persons are employed who are affected by the provisions thereof.
Article Y III.— Bakeries and confectionery establishments.
Se c . 110. Hours of labor in bakeries and confectionery establishments.—No
employee shall be required or permitted to work in a biscuit, bread or cake bakery
or confectionery establishment more than sixty hours in any one week, or more than
ten hours in any one day, unless for the purpose o f making a shorter work day on
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
269
the last day of the w eek; nor more hours in any one week than will make an aver
age o f ten hours per day for the number of days during such week in which such
employee shall work.
Sec. 111. Drainage and plumbing o f buildings and rooms occupied by bakeries.—
A ll buildings or rooms occupied as biscuit, bread, pie, or cake bakeries, shall be
drained and plumbed in a manner conducive to the proper and healthful sanitary
condition thereof, and shall be constructed with air shafts, windows or ventilating
pipes, sufficient to insure ventilation. The factory inspector may direct the proper
drainage, plumbing and ventilation o f such rooms or buildings. No cellar or base
ment, not now used for a bakery shall hereafter be so occupied or used, unless the
proprietor shall comply with the sanitary provisions o f this article.
Sec. 112. Requirements as to rooms, furniture, utensils and manufactured prod
ucts.— Every room used for the manufacture o f flour or meal food products shall be
at least eight feet in height and shall have, i f deemed necessary by the factory
inspector, an impermeable floor constructed o f cement, or o f tiles laid in cement, or
an additional flooring of wood properly saturated with linseed oil. The side walls
of such rooms shall be plastered or wainscoted. The factory inspector may require
the side walls and ceilings to be whitewashed, at least ouce in three months. He
may also require the woodwork o f such walls to be painted. The furniture and
utensils shall be so arranged as to be readily cleaned and not prevent the proper clean
ing o f any part o f a room. The manufactured flour or meal food products shall be
kept in dry and airy rooms so arranged that the floors, shelves and all other facilities
for storing the same can be properly cleansed. No domestic animals, except cats,
shall be allowed to remain in a room used as a biscuit, bread, pie, or cake bakery or
any room in such bakery where flour or meal products are stored.
Sec. 113. Wash room and closets; sleeping places.— Every such bakery shall be
provided with a proper wash room and water-closet or water-closets apart from the
bake room, or rooms where the manufacture of such food product is conducted, and
no water-closet, earth-closet, privy or ash pit shall be within or connected directly
with the bake room o f any bakery, hotel or public restaurant.
No person shall sleep in a room occupied as a bake room. Sleeping places for the
persons employed in the bakery shall be separate from the rooms where flour or meal
food products arc manufactured or stored. I f the sleeping places are on the same
floor where such products are manufactured, stored or sold, the factory inspector
may inspect and order them put in a proper sanitary condition.
Sec. 114. Inspection o f bakeries.— The factory inspector shall cause all bakeries to
be inspected. I f it be found upon such inspection that the bakeries so inspected are
constructed and conducted in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, the
factory inspector shall issue a certificate to the persons owning or conducting such
bakeries.
Sec. 115. Notice requiring alterations.— If, in the opinion o f the factory inspector,
alterations are required in or upon premises occupied and used as bakeries, in order
to comply with the provisions of this article, a written notice shall be served by him
upon the owner, agent or lessee o f such premises, either personally or by mail, requir
ing such alterations to be made within sixty days after such service, and such alter
ations shall be made accordingly.
Article IX .— Mines
and their inspection.
Sec. 120. Duties o f factory inspector relating to mines; record and report.— The
factory inspector shall see that every necessary precaution is taken to insure the
safety and health o f employees employed in the mines and quarries o f the State and
shall prescribe rules and regulations therefor; keep a record o f the names and loca
tion o f such mines and quarries, and the names o f the persons or corporations owning
or operating the same; collect data concerning the working thereof; examine care
fully into the method o f timbering shafts, drifts, inclines, slopes and tunnels, through
which employees and other persons pass, in the performance o f their daily labor, and
see that the persons or corporations owning and operating such mines and quarries
comply with the provisions o f this chapter; and such information shall be furnished
by the person operating such mine or quarry, upon the demand o f the factory inspector.
The factory inspector shall keep a record of all mine and quarry examinations,
showing the date thereof, and the condition in which the mines and quarries are
found, and the manner of working the same. He shall make an annual report to the
legislature during the month o f January, containing a statement of the number o f
mines and quarries visited, the number in operation, the number o f men employed,
and the number and cause of accidents, fatal and nonfatal, that may have occurred
in and about the same.
Sec . 121. Outlets o f mines.—If, in the opinion o f the factory inspector, it is neces
sary for safety of employees, the owner, operator or superintendent o f a mine,
270
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
operating through either a vertical or oblique shaft, or a horizontal tunnel, shall not
employ any person therein unless there are in connection with the subterranean
workings thereof not less than two openings or outlets, at least one hundred and fifty
feet apart, and connected with each other. Such openings or outlets shall be so con
structed as to provide safe and distinct means o f ingress and egress from and to the
surface, at all times, for the use o f the employees o f such mine.
Sec . 122. Ventilation and timbering o f mines.— In each mine a ventilating current
shall be conducted and circulated along the face o f all working places and through
the roadways, in sufficient quantities to insure the safety of employees and remove
smoke and noxious gases.
Each owner, agent, manager or lessee o f a mine shall cause it to be properly tim
bered, and the roof and sides o f each working place therein properly secured. No
person shall be required or permitted to work in an unsafe place or under dangerous
material, except to make it secure.
Sec . 123. Riding on loaded cars; storage o f inflammable supplies.—No person shall
ride or be permitted to ride on any loaded car, cage or bucket into or out o f a mine.
No powder or oils o f any description shall be stored in a mine or quarry, or in or
around shafts, engine or boiler houses, and all supplies o f an inflammable and destruc
tive nature shall be stored at a safe distance from the mine openings.
Se c . 124. Inspection o f steam boilers and apparatus; steam and water gauges.—
A ll boilers used in generating steam for mining purposes shall be kept in good order,
and the owner, agent, manager or lessee o f such mine shall have such boilers inspected
by a competent person, approved by the factory inspector, once in six months, and
shall file a certificate showing the result thereof in the mine office and a duplicate
thereof in the office o f the factory inspector. A ll engines, brakes, cages, buckets,
ropes and chains shall be kept in good order and inspected daily by the superintend
ent o f the mine or a person designated by him.
Each boiler or nest o f boilers used in mining for generating steam, shall be provided
with a proper safety valve and with steam and water gauges, to show, respectively,
the pressure o f steam and the height o f water in the boilers. Every boiler house
in which a boiler or nest o f boilers is placed, shall be provided with a steam gauge
properly connected with the boilers, and another steam gauge shall be attached to
the steam pipe in the engine house, and so placed that the engineer or fireman can
readily ascertain the pressure carried.
Se c . 125. Use o f explosives; blasting.— When high explosives other than gunpowder
are used in a mine or quarry, the manner o f storing, keeping, moving, charging and
firing, or in any manner using such explosives, shall be in accordance with rules pre
scribed by the factory inspector.
In charging holes for blasting, in slate, rock or ore in any mine or quarry, no iron
or steel-pointed needle or tamping bar shall be used, unless the end thereof is tipped
with at least six inches o f copper or other soft material. No person shall be employed
to blast unless the mine superintendent or person having charge o f such mine, is
satisfied that he is qualified, by experience, to perform the work with ordinary safety.
When a blast is about to be fired in a mine timely notice thereof shall be given by
the person in charge o f the work, to all persons who may be in danger therefrom.
Se c . 126. Report o f accidents.— Whenever loss of life or serious accident shall
occur in the operation o f a mine or quarry, the owner, agent, marager or lessee
thereof shall immediately report, in writing, all the facts connected therewith to the
factory inspector.
S ec . 127. Notice o f dangerous condition.— I f the factory inspector, after examina
tion or otherwise, is of the opinion that a mine or anything used in the operation
thereof, is unsafe, he shall immediately serve a written notice, specifying the defects,
upon the owner, agent, manager or lessee, who shall forthwith remedy the same.
Sec . 128. Enforcement o f article.— The factory inspector may serve a written
notice upon the owner, agent, manager or lessee o f a mine requiring him to comply
with a specified provision o f this article. The factory inspector may thereafter begin
an action in the supreme court to enforce compliance with such provisions; and upon
such notice as the court directs, an order may be granted, restraining the working
o f such mine during such time as may be therein specified.
S ec . 129. Admission o f inspectors to mines.— The owner, agent, manager or lessee
o f a mine, at any time, either day or night, shall admit to such mine or any building
used in the operation thereof, the factory inspector or any person duly authorized by
him, for the purpose o f making the examinations and inspections necessary for the
enforcement o f this article, and shall render any necessary assistance for such
inspections.
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK— ACTS OP 1897.
271
A rticle X .— State board of mediation and arbitration.
Section 140. Organization of board.— There shall continue to be a State board
o f mediation and arbitration, consisting o f three competent persons to be known as
arbitrators, appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent o f the
senate, each o f whom shall hold his office for the term o f three years, and receive an
annual salary o f three thousand dollars. The term o f office o f the successors o f the
members o f such board in office when this chapter takes effect, shall be abridged so
as to expire on the thirty-first day o f December preceding the time when each such
term would otherwise expire, and thereafter each term shall begin on the first day
o f January.
One member o f such board shall belong to the political party casting the highest,
and one to the party casting the next highest number o f votes for governor at the
last preceding gubernatorial election. The third shall be a member of an incorpo
rated labor organization o f this State.
Two members o f such board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction o f busi
ness, and may hold meetings at any time or place within the State. Examinations
or investigations ordered by the board may be held and taken by and before any of
their number, i f so directed, but a decision rendered in such a case shall not be
deemed conclusive until approved by the board.
Se c . 141. Secretary and* his duties.— The board shall appoint a secretary, whose
term o f office shall be three years. He shall keep a full and faithful record o f the
proceedings of the board, and all documents and testimony forwarded by the local
boards o f arbitration, and shall perform such other duties as the board may prescribe.
He may, under the direction o f the board, issue subpoenas and administer oaths in
all cases before the board, and call for and examine books, papers and documents of
any parties to the controversy.
He shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars, payable in the same
manner as that o f the members o f the board.
Sec . 142. Arbitration by the board.— A grievance or dispute between an employer
and his employees may be submitted to the board o f arbitration and mediation for
their determination and settlement. Such submission shall be in writing, and con
tain a statement in detail o f the grievance or dispute and the cause thereof, and also
an agreement to abide the determination o f the board, and during the investigation
to continue in business or at work, without a lockout or strike.
Upon such submission, the board shall examine the matter in controversy. For
the purpose o f such inquiry they may subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance
and take and hear testimony. Witnesses shall be allowed the same fees as in courts
o f record. The decision o f the board must be rendered within ten days after the
completion o f the investigation.
Se c . 143. Mediation in case of strike or lockout. —Whenever a strike or lockout
occurs or is seriously threatened, the board shall proceed as soon as practicable to
the locality thereof, and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement of
the controversy. It may inquire into the cause thereof, and for that purpose has
the same power as in the case of a controversy submitted to it for arbitration.
Se c . 144. Decisions of board.— W ithin ten days after the completion of every exam
ination or investigation authorized by this article, the board or a majority thereof
shall render a decision, stating such details as will clearly show the nature o f the
controversy and the points disposed o f by them, and make a written report o f their
findings o f fact and of their recommendations to each party to the controversy.
Every decision and report shall be filed in the office o f the board and a copy
thereof served upon each party to the controversy, and in case of a submission to
arbitration, a copy shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county or counties
where the controversy arose.
Se c . 145. Annual report.— The board shall make an annual report to the legisla
ture, and shall include therein such statements and explanations as will disclose the
actual work o f the board, the facts relating to each controversy considered by them
and the decision thereon together with such suggestions as to legislation as may
seem to them conducive to harmony in the relations o f employers and employees.
Se c . 146. Submission o f controversies to local arbitrators.— A grievance or dispute
between an employer and his employees may be submitted to a board o f arbitrators,
consisting of three persons, for hearing and settlement. When the employees con
cerned are members in good standing o f a labor organization, which is represented
by one or more delegates in a central body, one arbitrator may be appointed by such
central body and one by the employer. The two so designated shall appoint a third,
who shall be chairman o f the board.
I f the employees concerned in such grievance or dispute are members of good
standing o f a labor organization which is not represented in a central body, the
organization o f which they are members may select and designate one arbitrator.
272
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
I f such employees are not members o f a labor organization, a majority thereof at a
meeting duly called for that purpose, may designate one arbitrator for such boaid.
Se c . 147. Consent; oath; powers o f arbitrators.— Before entering upon his duties,
each arbitrator so selected shall sign a consent to act and take and subscribe an oath
to faithfully and impartially discharge his duties as such arbitrator, which consent
and oath shall be filed in the clerk’s office of the county or counties where the con
troversy arose. When such board is ready for the transaction o f business, it shall
select one o f its members to act as secretary, and notice of the time and place o f
hearing shall be given to the parties to the controversy.
The board may, through its chairman subpoena witnesses, compel their attend
ance and take and hear testimony.
The board may make and enforce rules for its government and the transaction o f
the business before it, and fix its sessions and adjournments.
Se c . 148. Decision o f arbitrators.— The board shall, within ten days after the
close o f the hearing, render a written decision signed by them giving such details
as clearly show the nature o f the controversy and the questions decided by them.
Such decision shall be a settlement o f the matter submitted to such arbitrators,
unless within ten days thereafter an appeal is taken therefrom to the State board o f
mediation and arbitration.
One copy o f the decision shall be filed in the office of the clerk o f the county or
counties where the controversy arose and one copy shall be transmitted to the secre
tary o f the State board o f mediation and arbitration.
Sec. 149. Appeals.— The State board of mediation and arbitration shall hear, con
sider and investigate every appeal to it from any such board of local arbitrators and
its decisions shall be in writing and a copy thereof filed in the clerk’s office o f the
county or counties where the controversy arose and duplicate copies served upon
each party to the controversy. Such decision shall be final and conclusive upon all
parties to the arbitration.
A rticle X I .— Employment o f women and children in mercantile establishments.
Se c . 160. Application o f article.— The provisions of this article shall apply to all
villages and cities which at the last preceding State enumeration had a population
o f three thousand or more.
Sec. 161. Hours of labor o f minors.— No male employee, under sixteen years o f
age, and no female employee, under twenty-one years o f age, shall be required to
work in any mercantile establishment more than sixty hours in any one week, nor
more than ten hours in any one day, unless for the purpose of making a shorter
work day of some one day o f the week, nor shall any such employee be required or
permitted to work before seven o’clock in the morning or after ten o’ clock in the
evening o f any day. This section does not apply to the employment o f such per
sons on Saturday, provided the total number o f hours o f labor in a week o f any
such person does not exceed sixty hours, nor to the employment o f such persons
between the fifteenth day o f December and the following first day o f January.
Not less than forty-five minutes shall be allowed for the noonday meal of the
employees o f any such establishment.
Sec. 162. Employment o f children.— A child under the age of fourteen years shall
not be employed in any mercantile establishment, except that a child upward o f
twelve years o f age may be employed therein during the vacation o f the public
schools o f the city or district where such establishment is situated. No child under
the age o f sixteen years shall be employed in any mercantile establishment, unless such
child shall produce a certificate issued as provided in this article, to be filed in the
office o f such establishment.
Sec . 163. Certificate for employment: how issued.— Such certificate shall be issued
by the executive officer o f the board, department or commissioner o f health of the
city, town or village, where such child resides or is to be employed, or by such other
officer thereof as may be designated, by resolution for that purpose, upon the appli
cation o f the child desiring such employment. A t the time o f making such applica
tion there shall be filed with such board, department, commissioner or officer, the affi
davit o f the parent or guardian o f such child or the person standing in parental
relation thereto, showing the date and place o f birth o f such child. Such certifi
cate shall not be issued unless the officer issuing the same, is satisfied that such child
is fourteen years of age or upward, and is physically able to perform the work,
which he intends to do. No fee shall be demanded or received for administering an
oath as required by this section.
Se c . 164. Contents o f certificate.— Such certificate shall state the date and place
o f birth o f the child, i f known, and describe the color o f the hair and eyes, the height
and weight and any distinguishing facial marks o f such child, and that, in the opinion
o f the officer issuing such certificate, such child is upward o f fourteen years of age,
and is physically able to perform the work which he intends to do.
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
273
Se c . 165. School attendance required.— No such certificate shall he issued unless
it appears to the satisfaction of such hoard, department, commissioner or officer, that
the child applying therefor has regularly attended at a school in which reading,
spelling, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography are taught, or upon
equivalent instruction hy a competent teacher elsewhere than at a school, for a
period equal in length to one school year, during the year previous to his arriving
at the age o f fourteen years, or during the year previous to applying for such certifi
cate, and is able to read and write simple sentences in the English language.
The principal or other executive officer o f a school at which a child has been in
attendance, or the teacher who has instructed such child elsewhere than at a school,
shall furnish to such child or to the board or department of health, or health officer
or commissioner, upon demand, a statement of the school attendance o f such child.
Sec . 166. Employment of children during vacations of public schools.— Children
of the age o f twelve years or more who can read and write simple sentences in the
English language may be employed in mercantile establishments during the vacation
of the public schools in the city or school district where such children reside, upon
complying with all the provisions o f this section, except that requiring school
attendance. Certificates, to be designated as “ vacation certificates/' may be issued
to such children in the same form, containing the same statements and issued by the
same officers as the other certificates required by this article. Such vacation certifi
cate shall specify the time in which the child may be employed in a mercantile
establishment, which in no case shall be other than the time in which the public
schools where such children reside, are closed for a vacation.
Sec . 167. Registry of children employed.— The owner, manager or agent of a
mercantile establishment employing children, shall keep, or cause to be kept, in the
office o f such establishment, a register, in which shall be recorded the name, birth
place, age and place of residence of all children so employed under the age o f sixteen
years.
Such register and the certificates filed in such office shall be produced for inspection,
upon the demand o f an officer of the board, department or commissioner of health o f
the town, village or city where such establishment is situated.
Sec . 168. Wash rooms and water-closets.— Suitable and proper wash rooms and
water-closets shall be provided in, adjacent to or connected with mercantile estab
lishments where women and children are employed. Such rooms and closets shall
be so located and arranged as to be easily accessible to the employees of such
establishments.
Such water-closets shall be properly screened and ventilated, and, at all times,
kept in a clean condition. The water-closets assigned to the female employees of
such establishments shall be separate from those assigned to the male employees.
I f a mercantile establishment has not provided wash rooms and water-closets, as
required by this section, the board or department of health or health commissioners
o f the town, village or city where such establishment is situated, shall cause to be
served upon the owner of the building occupied by such establishment, a written
notice of the omission and directing such owner to comply with the provisions of
this section respecting such wash rooms and water-closets.
Such owner shall, within fifteen days after the receipt o f such notice, cause such
wash rooms and water-closets to be provided.
Se c . 169. Lunch rooms.— I f a lunch room is provided in a mercantile establishment
where females are employed, such lunch room shall not be next to or adjoining the
water-closets, unless permission is first obtained from the board or department o f
health or health commissioners of the town, village or city where such mercantile
establishment is situated. Such permission shall be granted unless it appears that
proper sanitary conditions do not exist, and it may be revoked at any time by the
board or department o f health or health commissioner, i f it appears that such lunch
room is kept in a manner or in a part of the building injurious to the health o f the
employees.
Sec . 170. Seats for women in mercantile establishments.— Chairs, stools or other
suitable seats shall be maintained in mercantile establishments for the use o f female
employees therein, to the number of at least one seat for every three females employed,
and the use thereof by such employees shall be allowed at such times and to such
extent as may be necessary for the preservation of their health. I f the duties o f the
female employees, for the use o f whom the seats are furnished, are to be principally
performed in front o f a counter, table, desk or fixture, such seats shall be placed in
front thereof; i f such duties are to be principally performed behind such counter,
table, desk or fixture, such seats shall be placed behind the same.
Se c . 171. Employment of women and children in basements.— Women or children
shall not be employed or directed to work in the basement of a mercantile establish
ment, unless permitted by the board or department of health, or health commis
sioner of the town, village or city where such mercantile establishment is situated.
274
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Such permission shall he granted unless it appears that such basement is not suffi
ciently lighted and ventilated, and is not in good sanitary condition.
Se c . 172. Enforcement of article.— The board or department o f health or health
commissioners of a town, village or city affected by this article shall enforce the
same and prosecute all violations thereof. Proceedings to prosecute such violations
must be begun within thirty days after the alleged offense was committed. A ll offi
cers and members of such boards or department, all health commissioners, inspectors
and other persons appointed or designated by such boards, departments or commis
sioners may visit and inspect, at reasonable hours and when practicable and neces
sary, all mercantile establishments within the town, village or city for which they
are appointed. No person shall interfere with or prevent any such officer from
making such visitations and inspections, nor shall he be obstructed or injured by
force or otherwise while in the performance of his duties. All persons connected
with any such mercantile establishment shall properly answer all questions asked
by such officer or inspector in reference to any of the provisions o f this article.
Se c . 173. Copy o f article to be posted.— A copy of this article s'hall be posted in
three conspicuous places in each mercantile establishment affected by its provisions.
A rticle X I I .— Examination and registration o f horseshoers.
Se c . 180. Application of article.— This article applies to all cities of theffirst and
second class.
Se c . 181. Board of examiners.— There shall continue to be a board o f examiners o f
horseshoers consisting o f one veterinarian, two master horseshoers and two journey
men horseshoers, all o f whom shall be citizens and residents o f cities o f the first or
second class. The examiners in office when this chapter takes effect shall continue
therein until the thirty-first day of December following the date o f the expiration o f
the terms for which they were respectively appointed, and thereafter their suc
cessors shall be appointed by the governor for a term o f five years.
Sec . 182. Examination o f applicants.— The board of examiners shall, as often as
necessary, hold sessions in the cities affected by this article for the purpose o f exam
ining applicants, desiring to practice as master or journeyman horseshoers. A
person is not qualified to take such examination unless he has served an apprentice
ship at horseshoeing for at least three years.
I f the person examined is shown to be qualified to practice horseshoeing, the board
shall issue to him a certificate stating his name and residence, the time when exam
ined, when and where his apprenticeship was served, and that he is qualified to
practice as a master or journeyman horseshoer.
Before he is entitled to be examined, an applicant must file with the board a
written application stating his name, place o f residence, and when, where and with
whom his apprenticeship has been served.
The board shall receive as compensation a fee of five dollars from each person
examined.
Se c . 183. Registration o f horseshoers.— Each journeyman or master horseshoer
shall present such certificate to the clerk of the county where he proposes to prac
tice, and such clerk shall cause his name, residence and place of business to be
registered in a book to be known as the “ master and journeyman horseshoed
register.” For each name so registered, the clerk is entitled to a fee o f twenty-five
cents. No person shall practice horseshoeing as a master or journeyman horseshoer
in a city of the first or second class unless he is registered and has a certificate, as
provided by this article.
Se c . 184. Practice without examination.— A person who has practiced as a master
or journeyman horseshoer outside a city o f the first or second class and within the
United States continuously for a period of three years may present to the board o f
examiners his affidavit, stating his name, age, place o f residence and when and
where he has practiced as such horseshoer. The board shall thereupon issue to him
a certificate stating the facts set forth in such affidavit, and that such person is
entitled to practice as a master or journeyman horseshoer, as the case may be.
The person to whom the certificate is issued shall present it to the county clerk of
the county where he intends to practice, and his name shall be registered, as pro
vided in the preceding section. Such person may thereafter practice as a master or
journeyman horseshoer in such county without examination.
The board is entitled to a fee o f one dollar for each certificate issued under this
section.
LABOR LAWS— NEW YORK— ACTS OF 1897.
275
A rticle X III.— Laws repealed; when to take effect.
Sec . 190. Laws repealed.— Of the laws enumerated in the schedule hereto annexed,
that portion specified in the third column thereof is repealed.
Sec . 191. When to take effect.— This chapter shall take effect the first day of June,
eighteen hundred and ninety-seven.
SCHEDULE OF LAWS REPEALED.
Laws of —
Subject of act.
1870, ch. 385 .......... All, except $ 4 ................... Hours of labor regulated.
1871, ch. 934 .......... 3 ............................................. Duties of factory inspectors as to appren
tices.
1881, ch.-298 .......... All, except § 2 ................... Seats for female employees.
1883, ch. 356 .......... All, except \ 3 ................... Bureau of labor statistics.
1885, ch. 3 1 4 ..........A ll.......................................... Scaffolding for use o f employees on build
ings.
1885, ch. 376 ..........A ll.......................................... Payment of wages by receiver of corpo
rations.
1886, ch. 1 5 1 ..........A ll...........................................Hours of labor on street, surface and ele
vated railroads in cities of over 500,000.
1886, ch. 409 .......... All, exceptfirst § 21.......... Factory inspector ; employment of chil
dren and women in factories, tenements,
etc.
.A l l ......................................... State board of arbitration and mediation.
1886, ch. 410
Superseded by L. 1887, ch. 63.
1887, ch 6 3 ...........A ll......................................... State board o f mediation and arbitration.
462
___
__
A
ll.........................................Amends
L. 1886, ch. 409.
1887, eh
..............Hours of labor of employees of street,
1887, ch 529 ......... All, except $2
surface and elevated railroads in cities
o f over 100,000.
1888, ch. 437 .......... A ll..........................................Amends L. 1871, ch. 934, § 3.
1889, ch. 380 ...........A ll......................................... Preference to citizens of State as laborers
on public works.
1889, ch. 3 8 1 ....... A ll......................................... Cash payment o f wages by corporations.
1889, ch. 385 .......... A ll......................................... Registration of labels, etc., by trade un
ions.
1889, ch. 560 .......... A ll......................................... Amends L. 1886, ch. 409.
1890, ch. 388 .......... All, except $ 2 ................... Weekly payment of wages by corpora
tions.
1890, ch. 394 .......... All, except §§ 8 ,1 3 ,2 0 ... Inspection o f mines.
398
...........A
ll.........................................
Amends
L. 1886, ch. 409.
1890, eh.
1891, ch. 2 1 4 ...........A ll......................................... Amends L. 1885, ch. 314.
1892, ch. 5 1 7 ...........All, except § 5 ................... Examination of scaffolding.
1892, ch. 667 .......... All, except § 2 ................... Safety o f workmen in mines.
1892, ch. 673 .......... A il......................................... Amends L. 1886, ch. 409.
1892, ch. 7 1 1 .......... All, except $ 4 ........... ....... Hours o f service on railroads.
1893, ch. 1 7 3 ...........All, except $ 6 ...................Amends L. 1886, ch. 409.
1893, ch. 2 1 9 .......... A ll......................................... Labels, etc., of trade unions.
1893, ch. 339 .......... A ll......................................... Amends L. 1892, ch. 667.
1893, ch. 6 9 1 .......... All, except $ 3 ................... Hours o f labor in brickyards.
1893, ch. 7 1 5 ...........A ll......................................... Amends L. 1892, ch. 517.
1893, ch. 7 1 7 ...........A ll..........................................Amends L. 1890, ch. 388.
1894, ch. 277 .......... A ll..........................................Stone used, in State or municipal works
to be dressed, within the State.
1894, ch. 373 ...........A ll......................................... Badges of factory inspectors.
1894, ch. 622 .......... A ll..........................................Amends L. 1870, ch. 385, § 2.
1894, ch. 699 .......... All,except $ 8 ................... Sale o f convict-made goods.
1895, ch, 324 .......... A ll..........................................Abolishes office of mining inspector.
1895, ch, 4 1 3 ..........A ll.......................................... Amends L. 1894, ch. 277.
1895, ch. 5 1 8 ..........All, exeept § 7 .................... Manufacture of flour and meal products.
1895, ch, 670 .......... A ll..........................................Deputy mine inspector.
1895, ch. 765 .......... A ll..........................................Amends L. 1892, ch. 667, § 1.
1895, ch,.899 .......... A ll.....................................P a y m e n t of wages of employees of co
partnerships by receiver.
1896, ch, 2 7 1 ......... All, exeept $ 6 ____ ______ Examination and registration of horseshoers.
1896, ch . 384 ---------All, except § 1 1 -------------- Employment of women and children in
mercantile establishments.
Sections.
276
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
SCHEDULE OF LAWS REPEALED— concluded.
Laws of—
Sections.
Subject of act.
1896, ch. 672 ...........A ll......................................... .Amends L. 1895, ch. 518.
1896, ch. 789 .......... A ll........................................... Amends L. 1893, ch. 691, § 2.
1896, ch. 9 3 1 .......... All, except §§ 5 , 6 .............Labeling and marking convict-made
goods.
1896, ch. 936 .......... All, except $ 5 .................. Protection o f persons employed on build
ings in course o f construction.
1896, ch. 982 .......... All, except § 6 .................. Free employment bureaus.
1896, ch. 9 9 1 ........... A ll..........................................Amends ht 1886, ch. 409.
1897, ch. 1 4 8 .......... A ll...........................................Amends L. 1896, ch. 271, § § 3 ,4 ,6 .
Became a law May 13,1897, with the approval o f the governor. Passed, a majority
being present.
Chapter 416.—In
relation to labor.
An act to amend the Penal Code, relative to violations o f provisions o f the labor law.
Section 1. Sections 384-b and 447-a o f the Penal Code are hereby amended to
read as follow s:
§ 384-b. Unlawful dealing in convict-made goods.— A person who
1. Sells or exposes for sale convict-made goods, wares or merchandise, without a
license therefor, or having such license does not transmit to the secretary of state
the statement required by article four o f the labor la w ; or
2. Sells, offers for sale, or has in his possession for sale any such convict-made
goods, wares or merchandise without the brand, mark or label required by article
four o f the labor la w ; or
3. Removes or defaces or in any way alters such brand, mark or label, is guilty o f
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor shall be punished by a fine o f not more
than one thousand nor less than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not
less than ten days or by both such fine and imprisonment.
§ 447-a. Negligently furnishing insecure scaffolding.— A person or corporation
employing or directing another to do or perform any labor in the erection, repairing,
altering or painting, any house, building or structure within this State, who know
ingly or negligently furnishes or erects or causes to be furnished or erected for the
performance o f such labor, unsafe, unsuitable or improper scaffolding, hoists, stays,
ladders or other mechanical contrivances; or who hinders or obstructs any officer
detailed to inspect the same, destroys or defaces any notice posted thereon, or per
mits the use thereof after the same has been declared unsafe by such officer contrary
to the provisions o f article one of the labor law, is guilty o f a misdemeanor.
Se c . 2. The Penal Code is hereby amended by inserting at the end of title twelve
the following new section:
§ 447-c. Neglect to complete or plank floors of buildings constructed in cities.— A
person, constructing a building in a city, as owner or contractor, who violates the
provisions of article one of the labor law, relating to the completing or laying of
floors, or the planking o f such floors or tiers o f beams as the work o f construction
progresses, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be pun
ished by a fine for each offense o f not less than twenty-five nor more than two
hundred dollars.
Sec . 3. The Penal Code is hereby amended by inserting at the epd o f title eleven
the following new sections:
§ 384-f. Failure to furnish statistics to commissioner of labor statistics.— Any per
son who refuses, when requested by the commissioner o f labor statistics,
1. To admit him or a person authorized by him to a mine, factory, workshop,
warehouse, elevator, foundry, machine shop or other manufacturing establish
ment; or,
2. To furnish him with information relative to his duties which may be in such
person's possession or under his control; or,
3. To answer questions put by such commissioner in a circular or otherwise, or
shall knowingly answer such questions untruthfully, is guilty o f a misdemeanor, and
on conviction therefor shall be punished by a fine o f not less than fifty nor more
than two hundred dollars.
§ 384-g. Refusal to admit inspectors to mines and quarries; failure to comply
with requirements o f inspector.— A person,
1. Refusing to admit the factory inspector^ or any person authorized by him, to a
mine or quarry, for the purpose of examination and inspection [ or]
2. Neglecting or refusing to comply with the provisions o f article nine o f the labor
law upon written notice o f the factory inspector, is guilty o f a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction therefor shall be punished by a fine o f not less than fifty dollars, or
by imprisonment for not less than thirty days.
LABOR LAWS-----NEW YORK-----ACTS OF 1897.
277
$ 384-h. Hours of labor to be required.— Any person or corporation,
1. W ho, contracting with the State or a municipal corporation, shall require more
than eight hours' work for a day's labor; or,
2. W ho shall require more than ten hours' labor, including one-half hour for dinner,
to be performed within twelve consecutive hours, by the employees o f a street sur
face and elevated railway owned or operated by corporations whose main line of
travel or routes lie principally within the corporate limits of cities of more than one
hundred thousand inhabitants; or,
3. W ho shall require the employees o f a corporation owning or operating a brick
yard to work more than ten hours in any one day or to commence work before seven
o'clock in the morning, unless by agreement between employer and employee; or,
4. W ho shall require the employees of a corporation operating a line of railroad
of thirty miles in length or over, in whole or in part within this State to work con
trary to the requirements o f article one o f the labor law, is guilty of a misdemeanor,
and on conviction therefor shall be punished by a fine of not less .than five hundred
nor more than one thousand dollars for each oifense. I f any contractor with the
State or a municipal corporation shall require more than eight hours for a day’s labor,
upon conviction therefor in addition to such fine, the contract shall be forfeited at
the option o f the municipal corporation.
§ 384-i. Payment of wages.— A corporation or joint stock association or a person
carrying on the business thereof, by lease or otherwise, who does not pay the wages
o f its employees in cash, weekly or monthly as provided in article one of the labor
law, is guilty o f a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor, shall be fined not
less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars for each offense.
§ 384-j. Failure to furnish seats for female employees.— Any person employing
females in a factory or mercantile establishment who does not provide and maintain
suitable seats for the use of such employees and permit the use thereof by such
employees to such an extent as may be reasonable for the preservation of their health,
is guilty of a misdemeanor.
§ 384-k. No fees to be charged for services rendered by free public employment
bureaus.— A person connected with or employed in a free public employment bureau,
who shall charge or receive directly or indirectly, any fee or compensation from any
person applying to such bureau for help or employment, is guilty o f a misdemeanor.
§ 384-1. Violations of provisions o f labor law.— Any person who violates or does
not comply with
1. The provisions of article six o f the labor law, relating to factories and the
employment o f children therein;
2. The provisions of article seven o f the labor law, relating to the manufacture of
articles in tenements;
3. The provisions o f article eight of the labor law, relating to bakeries and con
fectionery establishments, the employment of labor and the manufacture of flour
or meal food products therein;
4. The provisions of article eleven of the labor law, relating to mercantile estab
lishments, and the employment of women and children therein, is guilty o f a misde
meanor, and upon conviction shall be punished for a first offense by a fine of not less
than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars; for a second offense by a fine of
not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not
more than thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment; for a third offense by
a fine o f not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not
more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
§ 384-m. Illegal practice of horseshoeing.— A person who presents to a county
clerk, for the purpose o f registration, a certificate purporting to qualify him to prac
tice horseshoeing in a city of the first or second class, which has been fraudulently
obtained, or practices as a horseshoer in any such city without complying with the
provisions of article twelve of the labor law, or violates or neglects to comply with
any o f such provisions, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec . 4. The following parts o f acts are hereby repealed:
Chapter,
Section.
Section. Laws of—
1870 ......... ___ 385 . . . ............................... 4 1892................. ...........667............. ................. 2
1871........... . . . . 2 9 8 . . . . ............................... 2 1893................. .......... 691............. ............... 3
1883.......... . . . . 3 5 6 ___ ............................... 3 1894................ .......... 699............. ................. 8
1886............. . . . 4 0 9 . . . . 21, first appearing. 1895................. .......... 518............. ............... 7
1887........... . . . . 5 2 9 . . . . ............................... 2 1896................ .......... 271............. ................. 6
1889........... . . . . 3 8 1 . . . . ............................... 2 1896................. .......... 384............. .................11
1890
. .388 . . . ............................... 2 1896................. ...........936............................. 5
1890........... . . . . 3 9 4 . . . . ........................... 8,20 1896................. ...........982.............................. 6
1892.......... . . . . 5 1 7 . . . . ............................... 5
Became a law May 13,1897, with the approval of the governor. Passed, threefif hs being present.
Laws of— Chapter,
278
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
P E N N S Y L V A N IA .
ACTS OF 1897.
A ct No. 26.—Employment of men, women and children in manufacturing, establishments, etc.
Section 1. No minor, male or female, or adult woman shall he employed at labor
or detained in any manufacturing establishment, mercantile industry, laundry,
workshop, renovating works or printing office for a longer period than twelve hours
in any day, nor for a longer period than sixty hours in any week.
Sec . 2 (as amended by act No. 123, acts o f 1897). No child under thirteen years o f
age shall be employed in any factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry,
workshop, renovating works or printing office within this State. It shall be the duty
o f every person so employing children to keep a register in which shall be recorded
the name, birthplace, age and place o f residence, name o f parent or guardian, and
date when employment ceases, o f every person so employed by him under the age o f
sixteen years. And it shall be unlawful for any factory, manufacturing or mercan
tile industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or printing office, to hire or
employ any child under the age o f sixteen years, without there is first provided and
placed on file an affidavit made by the parent or guardian, stating the age, date and
place o f birth of said child. I f said child have no parent or guardian, then such
affidavit shall be made by the child, which affidavit shall be kept on file by the
employer and shall be returned to the child when employment ceases, and in no case
shall there be a charge to exceed twenty-five cents for administering the oath for the
issuing o f the above certificate. And after the first day o f January, one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-eight, it shall be unlawful for any manufacturing estab
lishment, mercantile industry, laundry, renovating works, printing office, mechanical
or other industrial establishment to employ any minor under the age o f sixteen years
who can not read and write in the English language, unless he presents a certificate
of having attended during the preceding year, an evening or day school for a period
of sixteen weeks. Said certificate shall be signed by the teacher or teachers o f the
school or schools which said minor attended, and said register, affidavit and certifi
cates shall be produced for inspection on demand by the inspector or any of the
deputies appointed under this act.
Sec . 3. Every person, firm or corporation employing men, women or children, or
either, in any factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry, workshop,
renovating works or printing office shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous
place in every room where such help is employed, a printed notice, stating the
number o f hours per day for each day o f the week required o f such persons; and in
every room where children under sixteen years o f age are employed a list o f their
names with their age.
Sec . 4. Every person, firm, association, individual, partnership or corporation
employing girls or adult women in any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile
industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or printing office in this State, shall
provide suitable seats for the use o f the girls and women so employed, and shall
permit the use o f such by them when they are not necessarily engaged in the active
duties for which they are employed.
Sec . 5. It shall be the duty o f the owner, agent or lessee on [o f] any such fac
tory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or
printing office where hoisting shafts or well holes are used, to cause the same to be
properly and substantially inclosed or secured, i f in the opinion o f the inspector it
is necessary to protect the life or limbs o f those employed in such establishments.
It shall be the duty o f the owner, agent, or lessee to provide, or cause to be provided,
such proper trap or automatic doors, so fastened in or at all elevator ways, as to
form a substantial surface when closed, and so constructed as to open and close by
action o f the elevator in its passage, either ascending or descending.
Se c . *6. It shall also be the duty of the owner o f such factory, manufacturing or
mercantile industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or printing office, or
his agent, superintendent or other person in charge o f the same, to furnish and
supply, or cause to be furnished or supplied, in the discretion o f the inspector where
dangerous machinery is in use, automatic shifters or other mechanical contrivances
for the purpose o f throwing on or off belts or pulleys. And no minor under sixteen
years o f age shall be allowed to clean machinery while in motion. A ll gearing and
belting shall be provided with proper safeguards.
Se c . 7. I t shall be the duty o f the owner or superintendent to report in writing to
the factory inspector, all accidents or serious injury done to any person employed in
such factory, within twenty-four hours after the accident occurs, stating as fully as
possible the cause o f such injury.
LABOR LAWS— PENNSYLVANIA— ACTS OF 1897.
279
Sec. 8. A suitable and proper wash and dressing room and water-closets shall be
provided for males and females where employed, and the water-closets, wash and
dressing rooms used by females shall not adjoin those used by males, but shall be
built entirely away from them, and shall be properly screened and ventilated, and at
all times kept in a*clean condition.
Sec. 9. Not less than forty-five minutes shall be allowed for the noonday meal in any
manufacturing establishment in this State. The factory inspector, his assistant or
any o f his deputies, shall have power to issue permits in special cases, allowing a
shorter meal time at noon, and such permit must be conspicuously posted in the main
entrance o f the establishment, and such permit may be revoked at any time the.
inspector deems necessary ? and shall only be given where good cause can be shown.
Sec . 10. I f the factory inspector, or any of his deputies, finds that the heating,
lighting, ventilation or sanitary arrangement o f any factory, manufacturing or mer
cantile industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or printing office is such as
to be injurious to the health o f persons employed therein, or that the means o f
egress, in case o f fire or other disaster, is not sufficient, or in accordance with all the
requirements o f law, or that the belting, shafting, gearing, elevators, drums and
machinery in any factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry, workshop,
renovating works or printing office are located so as to be dangerous to employees
and not sufficiently guarded, or that the vats, pans or structures filled with molten
metal or hot liquid are not surrounded with proper safeguards for preventing acci
dent or injury to those employed at or near them, he shall notify the proprietor o f
such factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry, workshop, renovating
works or printing office, to make the alterations or additions necessary within sixty
days, and any factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry, laundry, workshop,
renovating works or printing office requiring exits or other safeguards provided for
in fire-escape law, the same Bhall be erected and located by order o f [the] factory
inspector regardless [o f] the exemption granted by any board of county commission
ers, fire marshal or other authorities, and i f such alterations and additions are not
made within sixty days from the date o f such notice, or within such time as said
alterations can be made with proper diligence upon the part o f such proprietors,
said proprietors or agents shall be deemed guilty o f violating the provisions of
this act.
Sec . 11. It shall be the duty of the owner or owners of boilers used for the gener
ating o f steam to be applied to machinery in all industrial institutions subject to
factory inspection, to fam ish from time to time, as required by the factory depart
ment, reports or other evidence from competent authority as to the condition o f the
boilers used foT the generating o f steam, to the State factory inspector. He or h is depu
ties or other agents shall have the right, from time to time, to enter upon the prem
ises where such boiler or boilers are kept for the purpose o f inspecting the same and
determining their safety, and [if] any such boiler or boilers shall be found to be in
a dangerous condition and liable to explode, it shall be the duty o f the factory
inspector, or one o f his deputies, to notify the owner or owners thereof, his or their
agent or engineer in charge, o f such dangerous condition, and when so notified by
the State factory inspector, his deputy or other agent, it shall be the duty o f the
owner or owners thereof to immediately cease the use o f said boiler or boilers until
placed in safe condition.
Sec. 12. The factory inspector, in order to more effectually carry out the provi
sions o f this law, is hereby authorized to appoint a chief clerk for the department
at a salary o f fourteen hundred dollars per year, an assistant clerk at one thousand
dollars per year, and a messenger at six hundred dollars per year.
Sec . 13. A printed copy o f this act shall be furnished by the inspector for each
workroom o f every factory, manufacturing or mercantile industry where persons are
employed who are affected by the provisions o f this act, and it shall be the duty of
the employer o f the people therein to post and keep posted said printed copy of the
law in each room.
Sec. Id. Any person who violates any o f the provisions o f this act or who suffers or
permits any child or female to be employed in violation o f its provisions, shall be
deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not
more than five hundred dollars.
Sec . 15. A ll the acts or parts o f acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act
are hereby repealed.
Approved the 29th day o f April, A. D. 1897.
280
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
A ct No . 37.—Factories and workshops— Sweatshops.
Section 1. No room or apartment in any tenement or dwelling house shall he used
for the manufacture o f coats, vests, trousers, knee pants, overalls, skirts, dresses,
cloaks, hats, caps, suspenders, jerseys, blouses, waists, waistbands, underwear, neck
wear, furs, fur trimmings, fur garments, shirts, hosiery, purses, feathers, artificial
flowers, cigarettes or cigars; and no person, firm or corporation shall hire or employ
any person to work in any room, apartment, or in any building or parts o f building,
at making in whole or in part any o f the articles mentioned in this section, without
first obtaining a written permit from the factory inspector, or one o f his deputies,
stating the maximum number o f persons allowed to be employed therein, and that
the building or part o f building intended to be used for such work or business is
thoroughly clean, sanitary and fit for occupancy for such work or business. Such
permit shall not be granted until an inspection o f such premises is made by the fac
tory inspector or one o f his deputies. Said permit may be revoked by the factory
inspector at any time the health of the community or of those so employed may
require it. It shall be framed and posted in a conspicuous place in the room, or in
one of the rooms to which it relates. Every person, firm, company or corporation
contracting for the manufacture o f any o f the articles mentioned in this section, or
giving out the incomplete material from which they or any o f them are to be made, or
to be wholly or partially finished shall, before contracting for the manufacture o f any
o f said articles, or giving out said material from which they or any of them are to be
made, require the production by such contractor, person or persons o f said permit
from the factory inspector as required in this section, and shall keep a written reg
ister o f the names and addresses o f all persons to whom such work is given to be
made, or with whom they may have contracted to do the same. Such register shall
be produced for inspection and a copy thereof shall be furnished on demand made by
the factory inspector or one o f his deputies: Providing, That nothing in this section
shall be so construed as to prevent the employment o f a seamstress by any family for
manufacturing articles for such family use.
Se c . 2. Not less than two hundred and fifty cubic feet of air space shall be allowed
for each and every person in any workroom where persons are employed at such
labor as is hereinbefore described. There shall be sufficient means o f ventilation
provided in each workroom o f every such establishment, and said workroom or rooms
in said establishment shall be kept thoroughly clean, sanitary and fit for occupancy
for such work or business. The factory inspector and deputy factory inspector,
under the direction o f the factory inspector, shall notify the owner, agent or lessee
in writing to provide, or cause to be provided, ample and proper means for ventilat
ing such workroom or rooms, and to put said workroom or rooms in a thoroughly
clean, sanitary and fit condition for occupancy for such work or business, and shall
prosecute such owner, agent or lessee i f such notification be not complied with
within ten days o f the service o f such notice; and any factory or shop under this
act requiring exits or other safeguards provided for in the fire-escape law, the same
shall be erected and located by order o f the factory inspector regardless o f the exemp
tion granted by any board or [o f] county commissioners, fire i .rshals or other
authorities, and if such alterations and additions are not made within sixty days
from the date o f such notice, or within such time as said alterations can be made
with proper diligence upon the part o f such proprietors, said proprietors or agents
shall be deemed guilty o f violating the provisions o f this act.
Sec . 3. A printed copy o f this act shall be furnished by the inspector for each
workroom of every factory, manufacturing or mercantile house where persons are
employed who are affected by the provisions o f this act, and it shall be the duty o f
the employer o f the person employed therein to post and keep posted said printed
copy o f the law in each room.
Se c . 4. Any person who violates any o f the provisions of this act, or refuses to
comply with any requirements o f the factory inspector or a deputy factory inspector
as provided herein, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be pun
ished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than fifty dollars for a first
offense, and not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for a second
offense, or imprisonment for not more than ten days; and for a third offense by a
fine o f not less than two hundred and fifty dollars and not more than thirty days’
imprisonment.
Sec . 5. A ll the acts or parts o f acts inconsistent with the provisions o f this act are
hereby repealed.
Approved the 5th day o f May, A. D. 1897.
LABOR LAWS— PENNSYLVANIA-----ACTS OF 1897.
281
A ct N o . 95.—Regulations of "bakeries.
Section 1. No employee shall he required, permitted or suffered to work in a
biscuit, bread or cake bakery, [or] confectionery establishment more than six (6)
days in any one week, said week to commence on Sunday not before six o’clock post
meridian, and to terminate at the corresponding time on Saturday o f the same week.
No person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be employed in any bakehouse
between the hours of nine (9) o’clock at night and five (5) o’ clock in the morning.
Excepted from this rule shall be the time on Sunday for setting the sponges for the
night’s work following.
Sec. 2. A ll buildings or rooms occupied as a biscuit, bread, pretzel, pie or cake
bakery, or maccaroni establishment, shall be drained and plumbed in the manner
directed by the rules and regulations governing the house drainage and plumbing as
prescribed* by law, and all rooms used for the purpose aforesaid shall be ventilated
by means of air shafts, windows or ventilating pipes, so as to insure a free circula
tion o f fresh air. No cellar or basement, not now used for a bakery, shall hereafter
be occupied and used as a bakery, unless the proprietor shall have previously com
plied with the sanitary provisions o f this act.
Sec . 3. Every room used for the manufacture of flour or meal food products shall
have an impervious floor, constructed of cement or of tiles laid in cement, or of wood
which all the crevices shall be filled in with putty, and the whole surface treated
with oil varnish. The inside walls and ceiling shall be plastered, and either be
painted with oil paint, three (3) coats, or be lime-washed, or the side walls plastered
and wainscoted to the height of six (6) feet from the floor, and painted or oiled;
when painted, shall be renewed at least once in every five (5) years, and shall be
washed with hot water and soap at least once in every three (3) months; when limewashed the lime-washing shall be renewed at least once in every three (3) months. The
furniture and utensils in such rooms shall be so arranged that the furniture and floor
may at all times be kept in a thoroughly sanitary and clean condition. No domestic
or pet animal shall be allowed in a room used as a biscuit, bread, pie or cake bakery,
or in any room in such bakery where flour or meal products are stored.
Sec . 4. The manufactured flour meal food products shall be kept in perfectly dry
and airy rooms, so arranged that the floors, shelves and all other places for storing
the same can be easily and perfectly cleaned.
Sec. 5. Every such bakery shall be provided with a proper wash room and watercloset or closets, apart from the bake room or rooms where the manufacture o f such
food products is conducted, and no water-closet, earth-closet, privy or ash pit shall
be within or communicate directly with the bake room o f any bakery, hotel or public
restaurant.
Sec . 6. Every sleeping room for persons employed in every bakery shall be kept
separate from the room or rooms where flour or meal food products are manufactured
or stored, and shall be provided with one or more external glazed windows, each of
which shall be at least nine (9) superficial feet in area, o f which at least four and
one-half (4|) superficial feet shall be made to open for ventilation; and such sleep
ing places, when they are on the same floor as the bakery, shall be inspected in order
to maintain them in a condition o f cleanliness.
Sec . 7. No employer shall knowingly require, permit or suffer any person to work
in his bake shop who is affected with consumption o f the lungs, or with scrofulous
diseases, or with any venereal diseases, or with any communicable skin affection,
an<l every employer is hereby required to maintain himself and his employees in a
clean condition while engaged in the manufacture, handling or sale of such food
products, and it is hereby made the duty o f the board of health to enforce the pro
visions o f this section.
S e c . 8 . Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act, or refuses to
comply with any requirements as provided herein o f the factory inspector or his
deputy, who are hereby charged with the enforcement of this act, excepting section
seven, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a
fine not less than twenty nor more than fifty (50) dollars for a first offense, and not
less than fifty (50) nor more than one hundred (100) dollars for a second offense, or
imprisonment for not more than ten (10) days; and for a third offense, by a fine o f not
less than two hundred and fifty (250) dollars and [not?] more than thirty (30) days’
imprisonment.
Sec . 9. The factory inspector is authorized to issue a certificate o f satisfactory
inspection to a person conducting a bakery where such bakery is conducted in com
pliance with all the provisions o f this act.
Sec. 10. The owner, agent or lessee o f any property affected by the provisions of
sections two, three and five of this act, shall, within thirty (30) days after the
service o f a notice requiring any alterations to be made in or upon such premises,
comply therewith, and such notices shall be in writing and maybe served upon such
2955—No. 15----- 10
282
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
owner, pgent or lessee, either personally or by mail, and notice to the last known
address o f such owner, agent or lessee shall he deemed sufficient for the purpose of
this act.
Sec . 11. A copy o f this act shall he conspicuously posted and kept posted in each
workroom of every bread, cake or pie bakery, or confectionery establishment in this
State.
Sec . 12. This act shall take effect thirty (30) days after the same shall have been
approved and signed by the governor o f this Commonwealth.
Approved the 27th day o f May, A. D. 1897.
A ct No . 98.— Protection of employees as members of labor organizations.
Section 1. I f any officer, agent or employee o f any corporation chartered under
the laws o f this Commonwealth, or any foreign corporation doing business in this
Commonwealth, shall coerce or attempt to coerce any. employee of such corporation
by discharging them or threatening to discharge them from employment o f such
corporation because o f their connection with any lawful labor organization which
such employee may have formed, joined or belonged to, or i f any such officer, agent
or employee shall exact from any applicant.for employment in such corporation any
promise or agreement not to form, join or belong to such lawful labor organization,
or not to continue a member o f such lawful labor organization, of i f any such officer,
agent or employee shall in any way prevent or endeavor to prevent any employee
from forming, joining or belonging to such lawful labor organization, or shall inter
fere or attempt to interfere by any other means whatsoever, direct or indirect, with
any employee’s free and untrammeled connection with such lawful labor organiza
tion, be [he?] or they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof
shall be liable to a fine o f not more than two thousand nor less than one thousand
dollars ($1,000), and imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or either, or
both, in the discretion of the court.
Sec . 2. All acts or parts o f acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Approved the 4th day of June, A, D. 1897.
A ct No . 116.— Wearing of badges, etc., of labor organization.
Section 1. Any person who shall willfully wear the insignia, badge or button of
any labor or fraternal organization, or use the same to obtain aid or assistance within
this State, unless he or she shall be entitled to use or wear the same under the con
stitution and by-laws, rules and regulations of the above-named organization, shall
be guilty o f misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to
exceed one hundred dollars.
Approved the 10th day of June, A. D. 1897.
Act No. 127.— Joint appeals in suits of labor claimants.
Section 1. Hereafter in all contests over labor claims in cases of distribution
under the acts of Assembly of April twenty-two, one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four, P. L. 480 [Brightley’s Purdon’s Digest, twelfth edition, page 140, section 4],
and May twelve, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, P. L. 54 [Brightley’s
Purdon’s Digest, twelfth edition, page 2074, section 9], and their supplements, any
two or more o f such labor claimants may join in taking an appeal to the proper
appellate court from any judgment or decree of the court below adverse to their
said claims, and may file either joint or several assignments o f error on such appeal
as the nature o f the case may require, and on the hearing o f such appeal the appel
late court shall determine the rights of the several parties, respectively, in the same
manner as the said court might do i f the court below had decided in favor o f said
claimants, and the execution creditor or other person claiming adversely to said
labor claimants had taken the appeal.
Approved the 15th day of June, A. D. 1897.
A ct No . 130.— Mines—Receiving or soliciting money from employees unlawful.
.
Section 1 On and after the passage o f this act any mine superintendent, mine
foreman or assistant foreman, or any other person or persons, who shall receive or
solicit any sum of money, or other valuable consideration, from any o f his or their
employees for the purpose of continuing in his or their employ, or for the purpose o f
procuring employment, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall
be subject to a fine not less than fifty dollars, nor more than three hundred dollars,
and undergo an imprisonment o f not less than six months, or both, at the discretion
of the court.
Section 2. All acts or parts o f acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Approved the 15th day o f June, A. D. 1897.
LABOR LAWS— PENNSYLVANIA— ACTS OF 1897.
283
A ct No . 139.—Regulating the employment of aliens.
W hereas , It is the duty of the Government to enact such laws as shall protect
the citizen laborers of America against the laborers o f foreign nations who are brought
in direct competition with our own workmen in nearly all the different branches of
employment;
A nd, W hereas, Thousands of foreign laborers come to this State for the purpose
of obtaining employment, without any intentions o f becoming citizens and who dis
claim any allegiance to this State or nation, very few of whom ever pay any taxes for
the maintenance of local, State or National Government, and are thus brought into
unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers, and greatly impair their
welfare by depriving them o f their employment, or preventing them from receiving
fair compensation for their labor; therefore,
Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That all persons, firms, associations or corporations
employing one or more foreign-born unnaturalized male persons over twenty-one
years o f age within this Commonwealth, shall be and are hereby taxed at the rate o f
three cents per day for each day each of such foreign-born unnaturalized male persons
may be employed, which tax shall be paid into the respective county treasuries; oneh alf of which tax to be distributed among the respective school districts o f each
county, in proportion to the number o f schools in said districts, the other h alf o f
said tax shall be used by the proper county authorities for defraying the general
expenses o f county government. The distribution of the school fund to be made on
or before December first of each year.
Sec . 2. That it shall be the duty o f all persons, firms, associations and corpora
tions in this Commonwealth to ascertain whether any o f their employees are foreignborn unnaturalized male persons over twenty-one years o f age, and i f there be any
such, to keep a true and correct record o f the number o f sueh persons employed,
their names, place o f birth, together with the exact number o f days such persons
are employed during each month, which record shall be kept and be subject to exami
nation by the county commissioners, or any one designated by them for that purpose.
Sec . 3. That it shall be the further duty o f such persons, firms, associations and
corporations who may give employment to such foreign-born unnaturalized male
persons to make a quarterly report, under oath, on the first day of January, April,
July and October, in each year, to the county commissioners of the county in which
employment is given, which report shall contain a detailed statement of the number
o f such persons employed during the quaiter immediately preceding the day on which
the report herein provided for is to be made, together with the names, birthplace,
and the exact number o f days each o f such persons shall have been so employed
• during such preceding quarter, which report shall be accompanied with the amount
of the tax money due the proper county as provided by the first section o f this a ct:
Provided, That in case o f associations or corporations the duty of keeping the records,
making the reports and paying the tax as provided in this act shall devolve upon
the president and vice president, secretary, treasurer, managers, members of the board
of directors or other persons connected with the management thereof.
Sec. 4. Any person whose duty it is to keep the record of employment of such
foreign-born unnaturalized male persons, or to make the reports and pay the tax as
provided in this act, who shall fail to comply strictly with its provisions, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined for each offense
not less than two hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, at the discre
tion o f the court before which conviction shall be had, which fine is hereby made
payable to the respective county treasurers. It shall be the duty o f the district
attorney of the respective counties to proceed against anj^ person violating any pro
visions o f this act, and to collect any fines which may be imposed, in the same manner
as other debts are now collectible by law.
Sec. 5. It shall be the duty o f the county commissioners to furnish blanks to all
persons, firms, associations or corporations employing two or more foreign-born
unnaturalized male persons over twenty-one years of age, free o f cost, to make out
quarterly returns, and the said persons, firms, associations or corporations, [shall be
allowed] a reasonable compensation for rendering such reports. This act to take
effect on the first day o f July, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven: Pro vided, That all persons, firms, associations and corporations shall have the right to
deduct the amount of the tax provided for in this act from the wages o f any and all
employees, for the use o f the proper county and school district as aforesaid.
Sec. 6. All acts or parts o f acts inconsistent with the provisions o f this act be and
the same are hereby repealed.
Approved the 15th day o f June, A. D. 1897.
[For decision o f the United States circuit court on the constitutionality o f the
above law, see page 233, ante.]
284
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
A ct
N
o
.
141.—Convict
labor.
Section 1. From and after the passage of this act no warden, superintendent or
other officer of any State prison, penitentiary or State reformatory, having control o f
the employment o f the inmates o f said institutions, shall employ more than five per
centum o f the whole number o f inmates o f said institutions in the manufacture o f
brooms and brushes and hollow-ware, or ten per centum in the manufacture o f any
other kind o f goods, wares, articles or things that are manufactured elsewhere in
the State except mats and matting, in the manufacture of which twenty per centum
o f the whole number o f inmates may be employed.
Se c . 2. The officers o f the various county prisons, workhouses and reformatory
institutions within the Commonwealth o f Pennsylvania shall not employ more than
five per centum of the whole number of inmates in said institutions in the manufac
ture o f brooms and brushes and hollow-ware, or ten per centum in the manufacture o f
any other kind of goods, wares, articles or other things that are manufactured else
where in the State, except mats and matting, in the manufacture o f which twenty
per centum o f the whole number o f inmates may be employed: Provided, That this
act shall not apply to goods manufactured for use o f the inmates o f such institutions.
Sec . 3. No machine operated by steam, electricity, hydraulic force, compressed air
or other power, except machines operated b y hand or foot power, shall be used in
any o f the said institutions in the manufacture o f any goods, wares, articles or
things that are manufactured elsewhere in the State.
Sec . 4. Any warden, superintendent, or other officer or person having control o f
the employment o f inmates o f any o f the within mentioned State or county institu
tions or other penal institution or institutions wherein convict labor is employed
within the State of Pennsylvania, violating the provisions o f this act shall be deemed
guilty o f a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to pay a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars, or undergo an imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or both, at the discretion o f the court.
Sec . 5. This act shall take effect on the first day o f January, one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-eight.
Approved the 18th day o f June, A. D. 1897.
A ct No. 221.—Bureau o f mines.
Section 1. There is hereby established in the department of internal affairs o f
Pennsylvania a bureau to be known as the bureau o f mines, which shall be charged
with a supervision of the execution o f the mining laws o f this Commonwealth, and#
the care and publication o f the annual reports o f the inspectors o f coal mines.
Sec . 2. The chief officer o f said bureau shall be denominated chief o f the bureau o f
mines, and shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent
o f the senate, within thirty days after the final passage o f this act, and every four
years thereafter, who shall be commissioned by the governor to serve a term o f four
years from the date o f his appointment, and until his successor is duly qualified, and
shall receive an annual salary o f three thousand dollars and traveling expenses; and
in case of a vacancy in the office o f chief o f said bureau, by reason of death, resigna
tion or otherwise, the governor shall appoint a qualified person to fill such vacancy for
the unexpired balance o f the term.
Sec . 3. The chief ot the bureau of mines shall be a competent person having had
at least ten years’ practical experience in the working and ventilation o f coal mines
of this State, and a practical end scientific knowledge o f all noxious and dangerous
gases found in such mines. The said chief o f the bureau of mines so appointed shall,
before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath o f office
prescribed by the constitution, the same to be filed in the office o f the secretary of
the commonwealth, and give to the Commonwealth a bond in the penal sum of ten
thousand dollars, with surety to be approved by the governor and secretary of
internal affairs, conditioned for the faithful discharge o f the duties o f his office.
Sec . 4. It shall be the duty o f the chief o f the bureau to devote the whole o f his
time to the duties o f his office, and to see that the mining laws o f this State are faith
fully executed; and for this purpose he is hereby invested with the same power and
authority as the mine inspectors to enter, inspect and examine any mine or colliery
within the State, and the works and machinery connected therewith, and to give such
aid and instruction to the mine inspectors from time to time as he may deem best
calculated to protect the health and promote the safety o f all persons employed in
and about the mines; and the said chief o f the bureau o f mines shall have the power
to suspend any mine inspector for any neglect o f duty, but such suspended mine
inspector shall have the right to appeal to the secretary o f internal affairs, who shall be
empowered to approve of such suspension or restore such suspended mine inspector to
duty, after investigating the causes which led to such suspension. Should the chief
of the bureau o f mines receive information by petition, signed by ten or more miners,
LABOR LAWS-----PENNSYLVANIA-----ACTS OF 1897.
285
or one or more operators, setting forth that any o f the mine inspectors are neglectful
of their duty, or are incompetent to perform the duties of their office, or are guilty o f
malfeasance in office, he shall at once investigate the matter, and i f he shall be satis
fied that the charge or charges are well founded, he shall then petition the court
of common pleas, or the judge in chambers, in any county within or partly within
the inspection district of the said mine inspector; which court, upon receipt o f said
petition and a report of the character of the charges and testimony produced, shall at
once issue a citation in the name of the Commonwealth to the said inspector, to appear
on not less than fifteen days7 notice, on a fixed day before said court, at which time
the court shall proceed to inquire into the allegations of the petitioners, and may
require the attendance of such witnesses on subpoena issued and served by the
proper officer or officers, as the jud^e of the court and the chief of said bureau
may deem necessary in the case; the inspector under investigation shall also have
similar power and authority to compel the attendance o f witnesses in his behalf.
I f the court shall find by said investigation that the said mine inspector is guilty of
neglecting his official duties, or is incompetent to perform the duties o f his office, or
is guilty of malfeasance in office, the said court shall certify the same to the gover
nor, who shall declare the office vacant, and shall proceed to supply the vacancy as
provide [provided] for [in] the mining laws of the State. The cost o f said investi
gation shall, i f the charges are sustained, be imposed upon the mine inspector; but
if the charges are not sustained the cost shall be paid out of the State treasury,
upon voucher or vouchers duly certified as to correctness by the judge or proper
officer of the court where such proceedings are held. To enable the said chief of
the bureau o f mines to conduct more effectually his examinations and investigations
of the charges and complaints which may be made by petitioners against any of the
mine inspectors as herein provided, he shall have power to administer oaths and
take affidavits and depositions in form and manner provided by law : Provided,
however, That nothing in this section shall be so construed as to repeal section thir
teen of article two o f the act of assembly approved the second day of June, Anno
Domini one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, entitled “ An act to provide for
the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of
Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected there
with77 [Brightly7s Purdon7s Digest, 1895, page 1344, sections 42 and 43], and also
articles thirteen and fourteen o f an act o f assemby approved the fifteenth day of
May, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, entitled “ An act
relating to bituminous coal mines, and providing for the lives, health, safety and
welfare o f persons employed therein77 [Brightly7s Purdon7s Digest, 1895, page 1370,
sections 293 to 297, inclusive].
Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the chief o f the bureau of mines to take charge of
and preserve in his office the annual reports of the mine inspectors, and transmit a
copy o f them, together with such other statistical data compiled therefrom and
other matter relating to the work o f the bureau as may be o f public interest, prop
erly addressed to the secretary o f internal affairs for transmission to the governor
and the general assembly of this Commonwealth, on or before the first day o f March
in each year. It shall also bo the duty of the chief of the bureau o f mines to see
that said reports, or a copy of them, are placed in the hands of the public printer for
publication at the same date; the same to be published under direction o f the sec
retary of internal affairs as other reports of his department are now required by
law to be published, and in order that the chief o f said bureau may be able to pre
pare, compile and transmit his annual report to the secretary o f internal affairs
within the time herein specified, the mine inspectors are hereby required to deliver
their annual reports to the secretary of internal affairs on or before the fifteenth
day of February in each year. In addition to the annual reports herein required of
the mine inspectors, the said mine inspectors shall furnish to the chief o f the bureau
of mines, monthly and also such special reports or information on any subject
regarding mine accidents or other matters pertaining to mining interests, or the
safety o f persons employed in mines, as he at any time may require or may deem
necessary in the proper and lawful discharge of his official duties. The chief o f the
bureau o f mines shall also establish, as far as may be practicable, a uniform style
and size o f blauks for the annual, monthly and special reports o f the mine inspec
tors, and prescribe the form and character o f subject-matter to be embraced in the
text and the tabulated statements o f their reports. The chief of the bureau of
mines is hereby authorized to make such examinations and investigations as may
enable him to report upon the various systems o f coal mining practiced in the State,
method of mining, ventilation, machinery employed, structure and character o f the
several coal seams operated, and o f the associated strata, the circumstances and
responsibility o f mine accidents, economy of coal production, coal waste, area and
exhaustion o f coal territory, and such other matters as may pertain to the general
welfare of coal miners and others connected with coal mining, and the interests o f
coal mine owners and operators in this Commonwealth.
286
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
.
Sec . 6 Tlie chief of the bureau o f mines shall keep in his office a journal or record
o f all examinations made and work done under his administration, and copies o f all
official communications, and is hereby authorized to procure such books, instru
ments and chemical or other tests as may be found necessary to the proper discharge
o f his duties under this act, at the expense of the State. A ll instruments, plans,
books and records pertaining to the office shall be the property of the State, and
shall be delivered to his successor in office.
Sec . 7. The chief o f the bureau o f mines shall at all times be accountable to the
secretary o f internal affairs for the faithful discharge o f the duties imposed upon
him by law and the administration of his office, and the rules and regulations per
taining to said bureau shall be subject to the approval o f the secretary o f internal
affairs, who is hereby empowered to appoint an assistant to the chief o f the bureau,
at a salary o f fourteen hundred dollars per annum, and a messenger at a salary o f
three hundred dollars per annum: And provided further , That the salaries o f the
chief o f the bureau of mines, his assistant and the messenger, shall be paid out o f
the State treasury in the manner as other employees o f the department o f internal
affairs are now paid: Provided, That the chief o f said bureau o f mines may be
removed or suspended at any time by the secretary of internal affairs, when in the
opinion o f said secretary there has been a neglect o f duty or a failure to comply
with the law, or the instructions o f the secretary o f internal affairs.
Sec . 8. No person who is acting as a land agent, or as manager, viewer or agent
o f any mine or colliery, or who is interested in operating any mine or colliery, shall
at the same time serve as chief of the bureau o f mines under the provisions o f
this act.
Sec . 9. The mine inspector of each district of this State shall, within six months
after the final passage and approval of this act, deposit in the bureau o f mines an
accurate map or plan o f such coal mine, which may be on tracing muslin or sun
print, drawn to a prescribed scale; which map or plan shall show the actual loca
tion o f all openings, excavations, shafts, tunnels, slopes, planes, main headings,
cross headings, ana rooms or working places in each strata operated, pumps, fans or
other ventilating apparatus, the entire course and direction o f air currents, the rela
tion and proximity o f the workings of such coal mines to all other adjoining mines
or coal lands, and the relative elevation o f all tunnels and headings, and o f the face
o f working places near to or approaching boundary lines or adjacent mines; and on
or before the close o f each calendar year transmit to the chief o f the bureau of
mines a supplemental map or plan showing all excavations, changes and additions
made in such mine during the year, drawn to the scale as the first mentioned map
or plan. A ll such maps or plans to be and remain in the bureau o f mines as a part
o f the records o f that office.
Sec. 10. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Approved the 15th day o f July, A. D. 1897.
A ct No . 224.— Weighing of coal at mines.
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any mine owner, lessee or operator of any
bituminous coal mine in this Commonwealth, employing miners at bushel or ton rates,
or other quantity, to pass the output o f coal mined by said miners over any screen
or other device which shall take any part from the weight, value or quantity thereof,
before the same shall have been weighed and duly credited to the employee sending
the same to the surface and accounted for at the legal rate of weight fixed by the
laws of this Commonwealth.
Sec . 2. Any owner, lessee or operator of any bituminous coal mine, violating the
provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor, and shall, upon con
viction, for each and every such offense be punished by a fine o f not less than one
hundred ($100) dollars nor more than five hundred ($500) dollars, or by imprison
ment in the county ja il for a period not to exceed ninety days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court; proceedings to be instituted in any
court of competent jurisdiction.
Sec . 3. A ll acts or parts o f acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Approved the 15th day o f July, A. D. 1897.
A ct No . 225.— Examination, registration, etc., of anthracite coal miners.
Section 1. Hereafter no person whomsoever shall be employed or engaged in the
anthracite coal region o f this Commonwealth as a miner in any anthracite coal mine,
without having obtained a certificate o f competency and qualification so to do from
the “ Miners’ examining board” of the proper district, and having been duly regis
tered as herein provided.
LABOR LAWS— PENNSYLVANIA— ACTS OF 1897.
287
Sec . 2. There shall be established in each o f the eight inspection districts in the
anthracite coal region, a board to be styled the “ Miners’ examining board” of the
--------- district, to consist o f nine miners who shall bo appointed, in the same man
ner as the boards t.o examine mine inspectors are now appointed, from among the
most skillfal miners actually engaged in said business in their respective dis
tricts, and who must have had five years’ practical experience in the same. The said
persons so appointed shall each serve for a term of two years from the date on which
their appointment takes effect, and they shall be appointed upon or before the expira
tion o f the term o f the present members of the “ Miners’ examining board,” and they
shall be and constitute the u Miners’ examining board” for their respective districts,
and shall hold the office for the term for which they were appointed, or until their
successors are duly appointed and qualified; and shall receive as compensation for
their services three dollars per day for each day actually engaged in this service,
and all legitimate and necessary expenses incurred in attending the meetings of said
board under the provisions of this act, and no part of the salary of said board or
expenses thereof shall be paid out o f the State treasury.
Each o f said boards shall organize by electing one o f their members president, and
one member as secretary, and by dividing themselves into three subcommittees for
the more convenient discharge of their duties; each o f said committees shall have
all powers hereinafter conferred upon the board; and whenever in this act the
words “ Examining board” are used, they shall be taken to include any of the com
mittees thereof.
Every member of said board shall, within ten days of their appointment or being
apprised o f the same, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before a properly
qualified officer o f the county in which they reside, that they will faithfully and
impartially discharge the duties of their office.
Any vacancies occurring in said board shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore
provided from among such only as are eligible for original appointment.
Sec . 3. Each o f said examining boards shall designate some convenient place
within their districts for the meeting o f the several committees thereof, o f which
due notice shall be given by advertisement in two or more newspapers of the proper
county, and so divided as to reach as nearly as practicable all the mining districts
therein; but in no case shall such meeting be held in a building where any intoxi
cating liquors are sold.
Each o f said committees shall open at the designated place o f meeting a book of
registration, in which shall be registered the name and address of each and every
person duly qualified under this act to be employed as a miner in an anthracite coal
mine. And it shall be the duty of all persons employed as miners to be properly
registered, and in case o f a removal from the district in which a miner is registered,
it shall be his duty to be registered in the district to which he removes.
Application for registration only may be sent by mail to the board, after being
properly attested before any person authorized to administer an oath or affirmation
in the county in which the applicant resides. The form of application shall be sub
ject to such regulation as may be prescribed by the boards, but in no case shall any
applicant be put to any unnecessary expense in order to secure registration.
Sec. 4. Each applicant for examination and registration and for the certificate
hereinafter provided, shall pay a fee o f one dollar to the said board, and a fee o f
twenty-five cents shall be charged for registering any person who shall have been
examined and registered by any other said board, and the amount derived from this
source shall be held by said boards and applied to the expenses and salaries herein
provided and such as may arise under the provisions o f this a ct; and the said boards
shall report, annually, to the court o f common pleas o f their respective counties and
the bureau o f mines and mining all moneys received and disbursed under the pro
visions o f this act, together with the number o f miners examined and registered
under this act, and the number who failed to pass the required examination.
Sec . 5. It shall be the duty o f each o f the said boards to meet once every month
and not oftener, and said meeting shall be public, and if necessary, the meeting
shall be continued to cover whatever portion may be required of a period o f three
days in succession, and examine under oath all persons who shall desire to be
employed as miners in their respective districts; and said boards shall grant such
persons as may be qualified, certificates o f competency or qualification which shall
entitle the holder thereof to be employed as and to do the work o f miners as may be
expressed in the said certificate, and such certificate shall be good and sufficient
evidence o f registration and competency under this act; and the holder thereof shall
be entitled to be registered without an examination in any other of the anthracite
districts upon the payment o f the fee herein provided.
All persons applying for a certificate o f competency, or to entitle them to be
employed as miners, must produce satisfactory evidence of having had not less than
two years’ practical experience as a miner, or as a mine laborer in the mines of this
Commonwealth, and in. no. case shall an applicant, be deemed competent unless he
288
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
appear in person before the said board and answer intelligently and correctly at
least twelve questions in the English language pertaining to the requirements o f a
practical miner, and be properly identified, under oath, as a mine laborer by at least
ono practical miner holding miners’ certificates. The said board-shall keep an accu
rate record o f the proceedings o f all its meetings, and in said record shall show a
correct detailed account o f the examination o f each applicant, with the questions
asked and their answers, and at each o f its meetings the board shall keep said
record open for public inspection. Any miners’ certificate granted under the pro
visions o f this act, and the hereinafter mentioned act approved the ninth day o f May,
Anno Domini one" thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, shall not be transferable
to any person or persons whatsoever, and any transfer o f the same shall be deemed
a violation o f this act. Certificates shall be issued only at meetings o f said board,
and said certificates shall not be legal unless then and there signed in person by at
least three members o f said board.
Sec . 6. No person shall hereafter engage as a miner in any anthracite coal mine
without having obtained such certificate as aforesaid. And no person shall employ
any person as a miner who does not hold such certificate as aforesaid, and no mine
foreman or superintendent shall permit or suffer any person to be employed under
him, or in the mines under his charge and supervision as a miner, who does not hold
such certificates. Any person or persons who shall violate or fail to comply with
the provisions of this act, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof
shall be sentenced to pay a fine not less than one hundred dollars and not to exceed
five hundred dollars, or shall undergo imprisonment for a term not less than thirty
days and not to exceed six months, or either, or both, at the discretion o f the court.
Sec . 7. The persons who are now serving as members o f the miners’ examining
board as created by the act approved the ninth day o f May, Anno Domini one thou
sand eight hundred and eighty-nine, entitled “ An act to provide for the examina
tion o f miners in the anthracite region o f this Commonwealth, and to prevent the
employment o f incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines” [Brightley’s
Purdon’s Digest, twelfth edition, page 1340], shall continue under the provisions
of this act to serve as members o f the “ Miners’ examining board” until the terms
for which they were appointed under the provisions o f the said act approved the
ninth day of May, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, shall
have expired, and in the performance o f the duties o f their office they shall be sub
ject to the provisions and requirements o f this act.
Sec. 8. Nothing in this act shall be construed to in any way, excepting as herein
provided, affect miners’ certificates which have been lawfully issued under the pro
visions o f the herein mentioned act approved the ninth day of May, Anno Domini
one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine.
Sec . 9. It shall be the duty o f the several miners’ examining boards to investigate
all complaints or charges o f noncompliance [w ith] or violation o f the provisions o f
this act, and prosecute all persons so offending; and upon their failure so to do, then
it shall become the duty o f the district attorney o f the county wherein the com
plaints or charges are made to investigate the same and prosecute all persons so
offending, and it shall at all times be the duty o f the district attorney to prosecute
such members o f the miners’ examining board as have failed to perform their duty
under the provisions o f this a ct; but nothing herein contained shall prevent any
citizen, a resident o f this Commonwealth, from prosecuting any person or persons
violating this act, with power to employ private counsel to assist in the prosecution
of the same; upon conviction o f any member o f the miners’ examining board for any
violation o f this act, in addition to the penalties herein provided, his office shall be
declared vacant, and he shall be deemed ineligible to act as a member o f the said
board.
Sec . 10. For the purpose o f this act the members o f the said “ Miners’ examining
board” shall have power to administer oaths.
Sec. 11. All acts or parts o f acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Approved the 15th day o f July, A. D . 1897.
A ct No . 379.—Howrs of labor, etc., of employees o f State and municipalities.
Section 1. On and after the passage o f this act eight hours out o f the twentyfour of each day shall make and constitute a legal day’s work for mechanics, work
men and laborers in the employ o f the State, or any municipal corporation therein,
or otherwise engaged on public works.
Sec . 2. This act shall apply to all mechanics, workingmen and laborers now or here
after employed by the State, or any municipal corporation therein, through its agents
or officers, or in the employ o f persons contracting with the State or said corporation
for the performance o f public work, and in all such employment none but citizens o f
the United States, or aliens who shall have legally declared their intention to become
such, who have been residents o f the State in which such work is to be done for the
LABOR LAWS-----PENNSYLVANIA-----ACTS OF 1897.
289
six months next preceding the date o f such employment, shall he employed hy the
State or any municipal corporation therein, or hy any person or persons contracting
with the same; and every contract hereafter made for the preformance o f public
work must comply with the requirements o f this section: Provided, That nothing
in this act shall affect contracts in existence at the time o f the passage o f this act.
Sec . 3. Any officer or officers or agents o f the State, or of any municipal corpora
tion therein, who shall willfully violate or otherwise evade the provisions o f this
act, shall be deemed guilty o f malfeasance in office, and upon conviction thereof
may be removed by the governor or head o f the department to which said officer is
attached.
Sec . 4. Any person or persons contracting with the State or any municipal corpo
ration therein, and any officer or agent o f the State or any municipal corporation
therein, who shall fail to comply with, or attempt to evade the provisions o f this
act shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be
punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
Sec . 5. A ll acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Approved the 26th day o f July, A. D. 1897.
SOUTH C A R O L IN A .
ACTS OF 1897,
Act No . 286.— Violation of contracts by laborers after receiving supplies.
Section 1. Any laborer working on shares o f crop or for wages in money or other
valuable consideration under a verbal or written contract to labor on farm lands
who shall receive advances either in money or supplies and thereafter willfully and
without just cause fail to perform the reasonable service required of him by the
terms o f the said contract shall be liable to prosecution for a misdemeanor, and on
conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than twenty days nor
more than thirty days, or to be fined in the sum of not less than twenty-five dollars
nor more than one hundred dollars, in the discretion o f the court: Provided, The
verbal contract herein referred to shall be witnessed by at least two disinterested
Approved the 2d day o f March, A. D. 1897.
Act No. 294.— Hours of labor of employees of street railway companies.
Section 1. No incorporated horse railway company, electric railway company, or
other street railway company, and no officer, agent or servant o f such corporation,
and no person or persons or firm or joint stock company owning or operating any
line or lines of horse railways, electric railways or other street railways within the
limits of this State, and no agent or servant of such firm, joint stock company, per
son or persons, shall require, permit or sutler its, his or their conductors, motormen
or drivers or other such employees, or any o f them, in its, his or their service, or
under his, its or their control, to work more than twelve hours during each or any day
o f twenty-four hours, and shall make no contract or agreement with such employees,
or any of them, providing that they or he shall work for more than twelve hours
during each day or any day o f twenty-four hours.
Sec . 2. I f any corporation, or any officer, agent or servant of such corporation, or
any person or persons, or any firm or joint stock company, managing or conducting
any horse railway, electric railway or other street railway in this State, or any agent
or servant o f such person or persons, firm or joint stock company, shall do any act
in violation of the provisions of the preceding section, it, he or they shall be deemed
to have been guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction thereof in a court of
competent jurisdiction be fined one hundred dollars for each offense so committed:
Provided, however, That in cases of accident or unavoidable delay extra labor may be
permitted for extra compensation: Provided, The employees of the said corporations
of the city of Columbia, i f they so desire, to work more than twelve hours daily,
conditioned that they receive extra compensation for all work done over eleven hours.
Approved the 2d day of March, A. D. 1897.
Chapter 301.— Payment of wages by contractors.
Section 1. Section 2 of an act entitled “ An act to require contractors in the erec
tion, alteration or repairing of buildings to pay laborers, subcontractors and
material men for their services and material furnished,” approved March 2,1896 [act
No. 84, acts of 1896], be, and the same is hereby, amended * * * so that the said
section will read as follow s:
Sec . 2. Any contractor or contractors or subcontractors who shall for other pur
poses than paying the money loaned upon said contract expend and on that account
fail to pay to any or all laborers, subcontractors and material men out of the money
290
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
received as provided in section 1 of this act, and as admitted by such contractor or
contractors, or as may be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, when the consideration for
such work and material shall exceed the value o f one hundred dollars, shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or
imprisonment not less than three months nor more than twelve months; and when
such consideration shall not exceed the value o f one hundred dollars, shall be fined
not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not longer than thirty days: Pro
vided, Said contractor or contractors or subcontractors may have the right o f arbi
tration by agreement with said laborers, subcontractors and material men.
Approved the 2d day of March, A. D. 1897.
SOUTH D A K O T A .
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 57.— Education.
Chapter V II.— Compulsory education—Employment of
children in factories, etc.
Section 3. No child between eight and fourteen years o f age shall be employed
in any mine, factory or workshop or mercantile establishment, or, except by his
parent or guardian, in any other manner during the hours when the public schools
in the city, town, village or district, are in session, unless the j>erson, firm or corpora
tion employing him shall first procure a certificate from the superintendent o f the
schools o f the city, town or village, i f one be employed, otherwise from the clerk o f
the school board or board o f education, stating that such child has attended school
for the period o f twelve weeks during the year, as required by law, or has been
excused from attendance as provided in section one (1) o f this article; and it shall
be the duty o f such superintendent or clerk to furnish such certificates upon appli
cation o f the parent, guardian or other person‘ having control o f such child, entitled
to the same. Every owner, superintendent or overseer o f any mine, factory, work
shop or mercantile establishment, and any other person who shall employ any child
between eight and fourteen years of age contrary to the provisions o f this article,
shall be deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor, and for every such offense shall upon con
viction thereof be fined not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than twenty dollars
($20) and costs.
Approved March 10,1897.
Chapter 60.— Protection of employees as voters.
Section 40. Any person entitled to vote at any election held within this State,
shall on the day o f such election, be entitled to absent himself from any service or
employment in which he is then engaged or employed, for a period o f two (2) hours
between the time of opening and the time o f closing tne polls, and such voter shall
not because o f so absenting himself, be liable to any penalty, no [nor] shall any
deduction be made on account o f such absence from his usual salary or wages.
Provided, however, That application shall be made for such leave of absence prior
to the day of election. The employer may specify the hours during which such
employee may absent himself as aforesaid. Any person or corporation who shall
refuse to an employee the privilege hereby conferred, or who shall subject an
employee to a penalty or reduction of wages because o f the exercise o f such privi
lege or who shall directly or indirectly violate the provisions of this act, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Approved March 5, 1897.
Chapter 92.— Mine regulations—Safety apparatus.
Section^1. It shall be unlawful for any person to sink or work through any ver
tical or inclined shaft, where mining cages are used, at a greater depth than two
hundred (200) feet unless the said shaft is provided with an iron bonnoted safety
cage, to be used in lowering and hoisting employees, or any other persons, into or
from such shaft. The safety apparatus, whether consisting o f eccentrics, springs or
other devices, must be securely fastened to the cage, and be o f sufficient strength to
hold the cage loaded at any depth to which the shaft may be sunk. The iron bon
net must be made o f boiler sheet iron o f good quality, at least three-sixteenths o f an
inch in thickness and must cover the top o f the cage in such manner as to afford
the greatest protection to life and limb from any debris, or anything falling down
the shaft.
Sec . 2. Every person or corporation failing to comply with the provisions o f this
act, is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand ($1,000) dollars.
Sec . 3. Whereas, an emergency exists, this act shall take effect from and after its
passage and approval.
Approved March 2 , 189T.
LABOR LAWS— TENNESSEE— ACTS OF 1897.
291
TEN NESSEE.
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 14.—Protection of employees as voters.
Section 4. It shall he unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, hy himself
or any other person in his behalf, to make use of any force, violence or restraint, or
to inflict or threaten the infliction, by himself or through any other person, o f any
injury, damage, harm or loss, or in any manner to practice intimidation upon or
against any person in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from
voting for any particular person or persons, measure or measures^ at any election
provided by law, or on account o f such person having voted or refrained from voting
at any such election. It shall be unlawful for any employer, either corporation,
association, company, firm or person, in paying its, their or his employees the salary
or wages due them, to enclose their pay in “ pay envelopes ” on which there is written
or printed any political mottoes, devices or arguments, containing threats, express
or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opinion, views or actions
o f such employees. Nor shall it be lawful for any employer, either corporation, asso
ciation, company, firm or person, within ninety days o f any election provided by
law, to put up or otherwise exhibit in its, their or his factory, workshop, mine, mill,
boarding house, office or other establishment or place where its, their or his employees
may be working or may be present in the course o f such employment, any hand bill,
notice or placard, containing any threat, notice or information, that in case any
particular ticket or candidate shall, or shall not be elected, work in its, their or his
establishment shall cease in whole or in part, or its, their or his workmen be reduced;
or other threats, express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political
opinions or actions o f its, their or his employees.
Any person or persons, or corporation violating any of the provisions o f this section
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and any person, whether acting in his
indiyidual capacity or as an officer or agent of anj corporation, so guilty of such
misdemeanor shall be punished as hereinafter prescribed.
Sec. 5. It shall be unlawful for any corporation or any officer or agent o f any cor
poration to influence or attempt to influence, by force, violence or restraint, or by
inflicting or threatening to inflict any injury, damage, harm or loss, or by discharg
ing from employment or promoting in employment, or by intimidation or otherwise
in any manner whatever, to induce or compel any employee to vote or refrain from
voting at any election provided by law, or to vote or refrain from voting for any
particular person or persons, measure or measures, at any such election. Any such
corporation, or any officer or agent of such corporation, violating any of the provis
ions o f this section, shall be deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor and be subject to the
penalty hereinafter provided, and in addition thereto, any corporation violating this
section shall forfeit its charter and right to do business in this State.
Sec . 7. * * * any corporation or agent o f a corporation, guilty o f any offense
herein made a misdemeanor, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceed
ing one thousand dollars. * * * .
Approved February 11, 1897.
Chapter 39.—Convict labor.
Section 1. The board of prison commissioners, be, and are hereby authorized and
empowered to contract for the hire or labor o f convicts now confined or that may
hereafter be confined in the State penitentiary, not otherwise employed, to any per
son, persons, firms, companies or corporations desiring to carry on a manufacturing
or other business within the walls o f the State penitentiary.
Not more than 99 convicts shall be leased to any one firm or be employed in any
one business within the walls of the penitentiary.
Sec . 2. It shall be the duty o f said board o f prison commissioners in making con
tracts for the labor o f convicts under this act to let them to such person, persons,
firms, companies or corporations, and in such numbers as will yield the greatest
amount of revenue to the State o f Tennessee.
Sec . 4. No contract for the labor o f convicts, made under the provisions of this
act, shall extend beyond the 1st day o f March, 1903.
Sec. 8. It ‘shall be the duty o f the commissioners in making contracts to so make
them that competition with free labor shall be the least possible and that the manu
facturing industries established within the penitentiary shall be as diversified as
practicable or possible for the best interest of the State— at the same time having
due regard for the interests o f free labor.
Approved February 3,1897.
292
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
C
h a p t e r
98.— Separate
water-closets fo r female employees.
1. All persons hiring or employing female help in any manufacturing or
mercantile business or establishment, shall provide separate privies or water-closets
for such female help.
S e c . 2. No male person shall enter such separate privies or water-closets except
for the purpose of repairing or cleaning the same.
Se
c t io n
Sec. 3. A violation o f the foregoing sections shall be a misdemeanor punishable
by a fine o f not less than two or more than ten dollars.
Approved January 27,1897.
C
h a p t e r
107.— Trade-marks,
etc., of trade unions.
S e c t i o n 1. Whenever any person, or any association, or union o f workingmen, has
heretofore adopted or used, or shall hereafter adopt or use, any label, trade-mark,
term, design, device, or form o f advertisement for the purpose o f designating,
making known, or distinguishing any goods, wares, merchandise, or other product
o f labor, as having been made, manufactured, produced, prepared, packed, or put
on sale by such person, or association, or union of workingmen, or by a member or
members of such association or union, it shall be unlawful to counterfeit or imitate
such label, trade-mark, term, design, device, or form o f advertisement, or to use, sell,
offer for sale, or in any way utter or circulate any counterfeit or imitation or any
such label, trade-mark, term, device, or form of advertisement.
Sec . 2. Whoever counterfeits or imitates any such label, trade-mark, term, design,
device, or form o f advertisement, or sells, offers for sale, or in any way utters or cir
culates any counterfeit or imitation o f any such label, trade-mark, term, design, device,
or form o f advertisement, or knowingly keeps, or has in his possession with intent,
that the same shall be sold or disposed of, any goods, wares, merchandise or other
product o f labor to which or on which any such counterfeit or imitation is printed,
painted, stamped, or impressed; or knowingly sells or disposes o f any goods, wares,
merchandise or other product of labor contained in any box, case, can, or package, to
which or on which any such counterfeit or imitation is attached, affixed, printed,
painted, stamped or impressed; or keeps, or has in his possession, with intent that the
same shall be sold or disposed of, any goods, wares, merchandise, or other product o f
labor in any box, case, can, or package, to which or on which any such counterfeit or
imitation is attached, affixed, printed, painted, stamped, or impressed, shall be pun
ished by a fine o f not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not
more than three months.
S e c . 3. Every person, association, or union that has heretofore adopted, or used,
or shall hereafter adopt or use, a label, trade-mark, term, design, device, or form of
advertisement as provided in section 1 o f this act, may file the same for record in
the office of the secretary o f state by leaving two copies, counterparts or facsimiles
thereof, with said secretary, and by filing therewith a sworn application specifying
the name or names of the person, association, or union, on whose behalf such label,
trade-mark, term, design, device, or form of advertisement shall be filed, the class of
merchandise, and a description of the goods to which it has been, or is intended to
be, appropriated, stating that the party so filing, or on whose behalf such label,
trade-mark, term, design, device, or form o f advertisement shall be filed, has the right
to the use of the same; that no other person, firm, association, union, or corporation
has the right to such use, either in the identical form or in any such near resem
blance thereto as may be calculated to deceive, and that the facsimile or counter
parts filed therewith are true and correct. There shall be paid for such filing and
recording a fee of one dollar. Said secretary shall deliver to such person, associa
tion, or union so filing, or causing to be filed, any such label, trade-mark, term,
design, device, or form o f advertisement so many duly attested certificates of the
recording o f the same as such person, association, or union may apply for, for each o f
whi(h certificates said secretary shall receive a fee o f one dollar. Any such certifi
cates of record shall in all suits and prosecutions under this act be sufficient proof
of the adoption of such label, trade-mark, term, design, device, or form o f adver
tisement. Said secretary of state shall not record for any person, union, or asso
ciation any label, trade-mark, term, design, device, or form of advertisement that
would probably be mistaken for any label, trade-mark, term, design, device, or form
of advertisement theretofore filed by, or on behalf of, .any other person, union, or
association.
Sec. 4. Any person who shall for himself, or on behalf o f any other person, associ
ation, or union, procure the filing of any label, trade-mark, term, design, or form o f
advertisement in the office o f the secretary o f state, under the provisions o f this
act, by making any false or fraudulent representations or declarations, verbally or
in writing, or by any fraudulent means, shall be liable to pay any damages sustained
LABOR LAWS— TENNESSEE— ACTS OF 1897.
293
in consequence of any such filing, to he recovered by, or on behalf of, the party
injured thereby, in any court having jurisdiction, and shall be punished by a fine
not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding three months.
Sec . 5. Every such person, association, or union adoptiug or using a label, trade
mark, term, design, device, or form of advertisement as aforesaid, may proceed by
suit to enjoin the manufacture, use, display, or sale of any counterfeits or imitations
thereof; and all courts of competent jurisdiction shall grant injunctions to restrain
such manufacture, use, display, or sale, and may award the complainant in any such
suit, the court having jurisdiction, such damages, resulting from such manufacture,
use, sale or display, as may be by the court or jury deemed just and reasonable; and
shall require the defendants to pay to such person, association or union, all profits
derived from such wrongful manufacture, use, display or sale; and such court shall
also order that all such counterfeits or imitations in the possession or under the con
trol of any defendant in such case be delivered to an officer of the court, or to the
complainant, to be destroyed.
Sec. 6. Every person who shall use or display the genuine label, trade-mark,
term, design, device, or form of advertisement of any such person, association, or
union, in any manner, not being authorized so to do by such person, union, or
association, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by
imprisonment for not more than three months, or by a fine o f not more than one
hundred ($100) dollars. In all cases where such association or union is not incorpo
rated, suits under this act may be commenced and prosecuted by an officer or mem
ber o f such association or union, in behalf of, and for the use of, such association
or union.
Sec . 7. In y person or persons who shall in any way use the name or seal o f any
such person, association or union, or officer thereof, in and about the sale of goods
or otherwise, not being authorized to so use the same, shall be guilty o f a misde
meanor, and shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than three months,
or by a fine o f not more than one hundred dollars.
Approved February 6, 1897.
Chapter 125.—Convict labor.
Section 31. The board of prison commissioners, as a temporary means for the em
ployment of the more able bodied shorter time convicts, not otherwise employed or
that can not be employed within the walls or on the farm, shall be permitted, and it
is their duty to establish branch prisons and contract with any person, firm, corpora
tion or county or municipal authorities for building public roads, pikes, clearing
ground, farming operations, where competing the least with free or skilled labor;
* * *
Approved April 30, 1897.
TEXAS.
ACTS OF 1897.
Chapter 152.—Protection of wages of employees.
Section 1. Whenever any clerk, accountant, bookkeeper, artisan, craftsman,
factory operative, mill operative, servant, mechanic, quarryman, or common laborer,
farm hand, male or female, may labor or perform any service in any office, store,
saloon, hotel, shop, mine, quarry, manufactory, or mill of any character, or on
any farm, under or by virtue o f any contract or agreement, written or verbal, with
any person, employer, firm, corporation, or his, her or their agent or agents, receiver
or receivers, trustee or trustees, in order to secure the payment of the amount due
by such contract or agreement, written or verbal, the hereinbefore mentioned em
ployees shall have a first lien upon all products, machinery, tools, fixtures, appur
tenances, goods, wares, merchandise, chattels, or thing or things of value of
whatsoever character that may be created in whole or in part by the labor of
such persons or necessarily connected with the performance o f such labor or service,
which may be owned by or in the possession of the aforesaid employer, person, firm,
corporation, or his, her or their agent or agents, receiver or receivers, trustee or
trustees: Provided, That the lien herein given to a farm hand shall be subordinate to
the landlord's lien now provided by law.
Sec . 2. Whenever any person, employer, firm, corporation, his, her or their agent
or agents, receiver or receivers, trustee or trustees, shall fail or refuse to make pay
ments as hereinafter prescribed in this act, the said clerk? accountant, bookkeeper,
farm hand, artisan, craftsman, operative, servant, mechanic, quarryman, or laborer,
294
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
who shall have performed service o f a n y character, shall make or have made dupli
cate accounts o f such service, with amount due him or her for the same, and present
or have presented, to aforesaid employer, person, firm or corporation, his, her or
their agent or agents, receiver or receivers, trustee or trustees, one o f the aforesaid
duplicate accounts within thirty days after the said indebtedness shall have accrued.
The other o f the said duplicate accounts shall, within the time hereinbefore pre
scribed, be filed with the county clerk o f the county in which said service was ren
dered, and shall be recorded by the c o u n t y clerk in a book kept for that purpose.
The party or parties presenting the aforesaid account shall make affidavit as to the
correctness or the same. A compliance with the foregoing requirements in this sec
tion shall be necessary to fix and preserve the lien given under this a c t ; and the
liens o f different persons shall take precedence in the order in which they are filed :
Provided, That all persons claiming the benefit 'o f this act shall have six months
within which to bring suit to foreclose the aforesaid lien : And provided, further, That
a substantial compliance with the provisions of this section shall be deemed sufficient
diligence to fix and secure the lien hereinbefore given : Provided, That any purchaser
o f such products from the owner thereof shall acquire a good title thereto, unless
he has at the time of the purchase actual or constructive notice o f the claim o f such
lien holder upon such products, said constructive notice to be given by record o f
such claim, as provided for in this act, or by suit filed.
S e c . 3. Under the operations o f this act, all wages, i f service is by agreement per
formed by the day or week, shall be due and payable weekly, or i f by the month,
shall be due and payable monthly. All payments to be made in lawful money of the
United States.
Sec. 4. Any of the parties named in section 1 o f this act, may transfer or assign
their rights hereunder, and their assignee or assignees shall have the same rights
and privileges as are conferred upon such persons enumerated in section 1.
Sec . 5. Tne lien created by this act shall cease to be operative after six months
after the same is fixed, unless suit is brought within said time to enforce such lien.
Approved May 27,1897.
Takes effect 90 days after adjournment. [Adjourned May 21,1897.]
C
h a p t e r
163.—Examination, licensing, etc*, of plumbers.
1. Every city in this State having underground sewers or cesspools, shall
pass ordinances regulating the tapping o f said sewers and cesspools; regulating house
drainage and plumbing, creating a board for the examination o f plumbers, to be
known as the examining and supervising board o f plumbers; to provide for an inspec
tion o f plumbing. Said board shall consist o f the following five persons: A member
o f the local board o f health, the city engineer, the chief plumbing inspector, a
master plumber o f not less than ten years active in [sic] continuous business experi
ence, and a journeyman plumber o f not less than five years active continuous prac
tical experience. The mayor and the local board o f health shall make said appoint
ment, and shall regulate the length o f term each member shall serve; they shall fill
all vacancies occurring in the examining and supervising board o f plumbers; appoint
ments to said vacancies to be for the unexpired term of the member whose place is
filled.
Sec . 2. The examining and supervising board o f plumbers herein created shall
examine and pass upon all persons now engaged in the business o f plumbing, whether
as a master plumber, employing plumber, or journeyman plumber, in their respective
cities, and all persons who may hereafter wish to engage in the business o f plumbing
as master plumber, employing plumber, or journeyman plumber, within their
respective jurisdictions, and also all persons who may apply for the office of plumbing
inspector. They shall issue a license to such persons only as shall successfully pass
a required examination. They shall also register in a book to be kept for that pur
pose, the names and places o f business o f all persons to whom a plumber’s license is
issued. They shall not issue license for more than one year, but the same shall be
renewed from year to year, upon proper application.
Sec . 3. Each applicant for examination for plumber's license shall pay to such
person as the examining and supervising board o f plumbers may designate to
receive the same, the sum o f three ($3) dollars for each master plumber examined,
and the sum o f two ($2) dollars for each journeyman plumber examined, which fees
may be used by said board to defray any o f its legitimate expenses, the residue, i f
any, to be paid over to the treasurer o f the city in which said board shall operate.
Members o f the examining and supervising board o f plumbers shall receive no com
pensation for their services on said board. Said license shall be nontransferable,
and said examination and examination fee shall not be required o f the same person
more than once.
Sec . 4. In selecting the first or chief inspector o f plumbing, herein provided for,
the mayor shall act with the other four members o f said board above specified.
Se
c t io n
LABOR LAWS— TEXAS— ACTS OF 1897.
295
After said inspector o f plumbing shall have been chosen, he shall become the fifth
member o f the examining and supervising board o f plumbers in place o f the mayor.
S e c . 5. License shall not be issued to any person or firm to carry on or work at the
business o f plumbing, or to act as inspector o f plumbing, until he or they shall have
appeared before the examining and supervising board for examination and registra
tion, and shall have successfully passed the required examination. Every firm carry
ing on the business of plumbing shall have at least one member who is a practical
plumber.
S e c . 6 Any person, whether as master plumber, employing, or journeyman
plumber, engaged in, working at, or conducting the business o f plumbing without
license as provided in this- act, shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and on conviction
thereof, shall pay a fine of not less than twenty nor more than two hundred and
fifty dollars,
[Note.— The foregoing act was presented to the governor of Texas for his approval,
on Friday, the twenty-first day o f May, A . D . 1897, but was not signed by him nor
returned to the house in which it originated with his objections thereto within the
time prescribed by the constitution, and thereupon became a law without his signa
ture.— J. W . Madden, Secretary o f State.]
Takes effect 90 days after adjournment. [Adjourned May 21,1897.]
.
RECENT GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.
[The Secretaries o f the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments have consented to
furnish statements o f all contracts for constructions and repairs entered into by
them. These, as received, will appear from time to time in the Bulletin.]
The following contracts have been made by the office o f the Super
vising Architect o f the Treasury:
E l l i s I s l a n d , N e w Y o r k H a r b o r , N. Y .—January 22,1898. Con
tract with Warren Rosevelt, New York, N. Y ., for crib bulkhead and
dredging and filling therefor at immigrant station, $61,046.86. W ork
to be completed within one hundred and twenty working days.
P a t e r s o n , N. J.—January 31,1898. Contract with James E. Earley,
W ashington, D. C., for plaster models for ornamental marble, wood,
iron, plaster, etc., work for post-office, $2,832. W ork to be completed
within ninety-five days.
O m a h a , N e b r . —January 31, 1898. Contract with Angus McLeod
Company, Minneapolis, Minn., for the completion o f interior finish and
plumbing above first story, etc., o f court-house, custom-house, and postoffice, $79,477. W ork to be completed within twelve months.
W a s h i n g t o n , D. C.—February 2,1898. Contract with D. S. Hess
& Co., New York, N. Y ., for completion o f interior finish o f post-office,
$319,400. W ork to be completed within eight months.
P u e b l o , C o l o . —February 9,1898. Contract with Charles B. Kruse
Heating Co., Milwaukee, W is., for boiler plant, low-pressure and
exhaust steam heating and mechanical ventilating apparatus for postoffice, $15,835. W ork to be completed within one hundred working
days.
S o u t h O m a h a , N e b r . —February 21,1898. Contract with Charles
W . Gindele Co., Chicago, 111., for erection and completion, except heat
ing apparatus, o f post-office, $63,600. W ork to be completed within
twelve months.
296
@FedFRASER