Full text of Employers' Welfare Work : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 123

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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS




CHAS. P. NEILL, Commissioner

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1913




CONTENTS.
Page.

Employers’ welfare work:
Introduction............................................................................................ 5-7
Manufacturing establishments:
Machine-shop products—
Cleveland Twist Drill Co............................................................
7,8
Cleveland Hardware Co..............................................................
8,9
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co............................................. 9,10
Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co............................................... 10,11
United Shoe Machinery Co......................................................... 11-13
International Harvester Co............................... *........................ 13-19
Westinghouse Air Brake Co.........................................................19-21
Electrical supplies—
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.................................21-23
General Electric Co.................................................................... 23,24
Western Electric Co....................................................................24,25
Woolen mills—
Talbot Mills................................................................................25,26
American Woolen Co.................................................................. 26,27
Pocasset Worsted Co................................................................... 27,28
Cleveland (Ohio) clothing factories—
Chamber of Commerce................................................................ 28,29
H. Black & Co............................................................................29,30
Joseph & Feiss Co.......................................................................30,31
Paint factories—
Sherwin-Williams Co.................................................................. 31,32
Lowe Bros. Co............................................................................32,33
Foodstuff factories—
H. J. Heinz Co........................................................................... 33,34
Shredded Wheat Co....................................................................34-36
National Biscuit Co.................................................................... 36,37
Lowney Chocolate Co.................................................................
37
Huyler’s.....................................................................................37,38
Miscellaneous—
Solvay Process Co.......................................................................38,39
Thomas G. Plant Co................................................................... 39,40
National Cash Register Co...........................................................41-43
* Gorham Manufacturing Co.......................................................... 43,44
Printing and publishing—
Forbes Lithograph Co................................................................. 44,45
New York Evening Post............................................................. 45,46
Curtis Publishing Co.................................................................. 46-48




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CONTENTS.

Employers9welfare work—Concluded.
Mercantile establishments:
Department stores—
Page.
Bloomingdale Bros. Employees’ Mutual Aid Society.................. 48,49
Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Co............. ........................................... 49,50
Marshall Field & Co....................................................................50-52
Wanamaker’s.............................................................................. 52-54
R. H. Macy & Co.................................. .................................... 54,55
Gimbel Bros............................................................................... 55,56
William Filene’s Sons Co............................................................ 56-60
Mail-order houses—
Sears, Roebuck & Co.................................................................. 60,61
Thomas Manufacturing Co...........................................................
61
Public utilities:
Telephone companies—
Chicago Telephone Co.................................................................61-63
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co.................................... 64,65
New York Telephone Co.............................................................
66
Miscellaneous—
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co...................................................66,67
Commonwealth Edison Co............................................... ...........67,68
Edison Electric Illuminating Co.................................................
68
Niagara Falls Power Co...............................................................69,70
Railways—
Union Pacific Railroad Co.......................................................... 70,71
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co...................................71,72
Interborough Rapid Transit Co................................................... 72,73
Express—
Wells, Faijgo & Co.............................................................. ........ 73,74
Hotel—
Hotel Astor........................................ - .................... ...............74,75
Conclusion................................................................. ............................75,76




BULLETIN OF THE

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
WHOLE NO. 123.

WASHINGTON.

MAY 15, 1913.

EMPLOYERS’ WELFARE WORK.
B T ELIZABETH LEWIS OTET, P H . D.

INTRODUCTION.

There is a tendency in labor circles to condemn employers’ welfare
work. It is claimed that much of it is tinctured with paternalism
and fosters a spirit of dependence on the good will of the employer
incompatible with the aims of labor, and as a result the workers
never reach their full development. The demand is for rights not
charity; that workers be paid enough and then left to order their lives
as they see fit. It is rather taken for granted that welfare work is
done at the expense of wages; that if the employer were without this
particular fad the sum expended on it would be added to wages.
This view is based on an assumption impossible of proof, but a priori
argument is of course against it, as welfare establishments paying a
lower wage would be unable to compete in the labor market with the
ordinary establishment doing no welfare work. An eminent French
authority has recorded of France that it has never been shown that
the average wages in welfare establishments are lower than in others,
nor does the little evidence in this country prove it.1 In the cotton
industry in the South the presence or absence of welfare work bears
no relation to wages.2 A further objection to welfare work is that
it is begun and maintained to prevent strikes and labor organizations.
Obviously from the quid pro quo relation of employer and employee
this position is well taken, particularly when one considers the em­
ployer’s prompt declaration of his motive in instituting welfare
work: that it is good business policy and results in a better labor
force. It has been said that the employees in the McCormick plant
of the International Harvester Co. refrained from a sympathetic
strike when the operatives of the Deering Works in the same corpo­
1 Levasseur, Questions Ouvrifcres et Industrielles en France, 1907, p. 808.
2 Report on Conditions o f Women and Child Wage Earners in the United States, Vol. I ;
Cotton Textile Industry, p. 594.




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

ration struck because of the extensive welfare work in the former
plant.1 To cite French experience again, the verdict there is that
establishments with welfare work have been less exposed to labor
troubles than those without.2
There is, on the other hand, quite a strong sentiment in favor of
welfare work. In a large philanthropic society, composed chiefly of
capitalists and employers, a special welfare department has been
organized with committees in different parts of the country especially
to interest employers in improving the working and living condi­
tions of their employees. Their methods are educational, “ conserva­
tive and nonaggressive.” The endeavor is to show employers what
other employers have done for their employees, and to make “ tactful
and comprehensive suggestions” to them. It is perhaps significant
that this organization does not believe in resorting to legal enactment
to assist in securing the conditions desired. It would imply a politi­
cal faith of nongovernmental interference in the relations of em­
ployer and employee.
The aim of this study has been to give an account of what is
done for the welfare of employees in certain establishments noted
for welfare work, with the hope that it would become clear what is
the legitimate field for such work. Nearly 50 establishments were
personally visited. For convenience these are grouped under three
heads—manufacturing establishments, mercantile establishments, and
public utilities.
It should be noted in this connection that the character of the labor
force determines to a certain extent the conditions in the place of
work. Thus stenographers and clerks will not put up with the same
lavatory facilities as factory girls. Where office women are em­
ployed on a large scale with no available lunch room near by, the
company is very apt to operate one for them. In a cotton mill, how­
ever, where many women are employed, a dining room is so rare as
to be almost unheard of. Moreover, the kind of output may be a
factor in deciding whether there shall be welfare work. Where
foodstuffs are manufactured the demand is for cleanliness. It might
not be considered as meeting such requirements to have employees
eating their luncheons in the workrooms, accordingly dining rooms
are either provided or employees are required to eat outside of the
place of work. Similarly in department stores in large cities a lunch
room of some kind becomes a necessity, as eating lunch at the place
of work is out of the question.
No comment, has been made to ascertain the validity of labor’s
criticisms, as it would involve a study of wages, strikes, and unions
1 John R. Commons, “ Welfare work in a great industrial plant,” Review of Reviews,
1903, vol. 28, p. 79.
2 Levasseur, Questions Ouvriferes et Industrielles en France, 1907, p. 804„




em plo yers’ w elfare w ork .

7

clearly beyond the scope of this article. Nor has the writer under­
taken to recount the defects in the welfare work already organized
or to suggest changes. Such criticisms must be based on a more
prolonged and intensive study of the individual establishment than
was possible in the present instance. Where comments are made on
the effectiveness of welfare work—that is, whether the employees in
an establishment actually use the club rooms, lunch rooms, etc., or
belong to the benefit societies—the employer’s opinions and estimates
have been accepted.
MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS.
m a c h in b -S h o p p r o d u c t s .
CLEVELAND TW IST DRILL CO.

The Cleveland Twist Drill Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, endeavors to
make the working conditions agreeable for employees. There are
separate lunch rooms for men and women, where they obtain food
at cost. Periodicals and magazines are subscribed to for the men,
while the women have a special rest and recreation room with a
couch for reclining. "Well-ventilated individual lockers are pro­
vided the employees. Shower baths have been put in for the men
in the hardening department, where the work is of such a nature
as to make a bath after it desirable. Convenient washing troughs,
with warm water and soap and towels are also furnished the men.
Within the shop spot lighting is rather general. The dry emery
wheels are provided with blowers to keep the air free from the per­
nicious dust. In some departments the problem of furnishing good
ventilation is very difficult, as, for example, where the drills are
dipped into boiling oil after being hardened. Hot or boiling oil
necessarily gives rise to disagreable odors.
The employees have been encouraged by the company to form a
mutual benevolent association to care for their disabled fellow
workers. The members are divided into two classes—junior mem­
bers, those under 18 years of age; and senior members. The dues
are, respectively, 15 and 25 cents a month. The amount of sick bene­
fits for juniors is $3 a week and for seniors $5, running for a period
of three months in cases of continued disability. Before being en­
titled to any sick benefits the member must have been disabled two
consecutive weeks. Certain accident cases are debarred from bene­
fits—accidents arising from bicycle racing or other sports and from
intoxication, or accidents occurring while in any other business. The
investigating committee, of which the president is permanent chair­
man, has charge of the ill or disabled members. The association
relieves members of assessments when the treasury has as much as



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

$300 in it, and not until the funds are reduced to $200 does it again
levy any assessments. If there are not sufficient funds in the asso­
ciation a special levy may be made upon members to meet the de­
mands. Once the association ran 22 months without collecting dues.
Certain fines imposed.by the company, such as failure to ring up
when coming to or going from work, go to the association. There
are about 200 members, or about one-third the number of employees.
CLEVELAND HARDWARE CO.

The Cleveland Hardware Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, makes frequent,
changes in its industrial betterment in order to hold the interest of
the employees. Its aim is to get the employees to take over the
work, as, for example, in the Mutual Benefit Association. The
company started it, contributed $100, and then induced the em­
ployees to take charge. This association is very like that of
the Cleveland Twist Drill Co., with employees holding all the admin­
istrative offices. Membership dues are of two kinds—50 cents a
month for senior members and 25 cents for juniors. Members paying
the former sum receive $5 a week sick and disability benefits for the
first 13 weeks and $2.50 for the second 13 weeks, while those paying
the latter sum receive one-half the amounts. After 26 weeks, members
can draw no more benefits during that year. Junior members are under
18 years. At the death of a senior member $125 is paid his heirs,
and one-half the sum in the case of a junior member. When the
amount in the treasury reaches $1,500, the dues are reduced one-half
until the $1,000 mark is reached. The association is in a flourishing
state, with a membership covering practically all the 800 men
employees.
The office force and foremen have a dining room where they pay
10 cents for luncheon. This sum covers the cost of food and service,
but not the lighting, heat, and space charges. Plants are in the
windows, and one side of the room is fitted up for a lounging room
with easy chairs, lounges, etc. Adjoining this room is the employees’
library—the first betterment work of the company. Several auto­
graph copies of books donated by their authors when the work was
started are kept there. At present this library is a station of the
city public library. The office women are provided with dean
aprons twice a week at the company’s expense.
The company was the pioneer in having an emergency hospital.
It has fitted up a small hospital room in the shop and has a
nurse from the Visiting Nurses’ Association in charge. She spends
part of the day in the shop, dressing wounds, etc., and the rest of
the time she visits the sick in their homes and incidentally acts as
truant officer in case of absences. When employees are not at work



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9

without an assigned excuse, she goes to their homes to be of service
in case of sickness. This feature of betterment work has more than
paid for itself in reducing absences.
There are about 100 women employed in the shops on the presses
which take off extra useless parts of iron. These are Krainers and
Poles for the most part and represent an unskilled grade of labor.
As the machinery is profusely oiled, the work is dirty and greasy,
necessitating a change of clothing before leaving the works. The
company has accordingly provided a spacious room with individual
steel lockers. There are wash basins with hot and cold water and
soap and towels furnished by the company. The room is in charge
of a woman employed by the company who likewise has charge of
the unpretentious dining room. This room simply provides a place
for the women employees to eat their lunch out of the workroom.
Here hot coffee is furnished them for 1 cent a cup. The men em­
ployees have similar wash rooms, but no dining rooms.
BROWN & SHARPE MANUFACTURING CO.

The welfare work of the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co., of
Providence, takes the form of improved shop conditions and greater
comforts for employees. The workrooms are artificially ventilated,
the air being changed once every 40 minutes. The emery wheels
are all supplied with blow pipes. The wash rooms are in charge of
a janitor, who also cares for the special rooms where the employees
keep their clothes. Here there are racks on which the men may
lay their clothes. Some such arrangement as this is a necessity where
the work requires a change of clothing. In the foundry, shower
baths have been installed; elsewhere in the shops the washing facil­
ities are long iron troughs with faucets at intervals.
There are no lunch or recreation rooms. In the office there is a
retiring room for the 150 women employed.
As the workmen are machinists and mechanics—skilled laborers—it
is to be expected that a library would attract them. The company
maintains one for its employees and allows every employee the priv­
ilege of taking out books free. These may be kept two weeks. To
make the library easy of access to the men it is in charge of the time­
keeping department, by which all of them must pass, and is open
once a week.
The employees have organized the Brown & Sharpe Mutual Relief
Association to pay disability and death benefits. The dues are of
two classes, according to the wages received. Persons whose weekly
pay is $8 or more contribute 5 cents a week. Those whose pay is less
than $8 contribute 2£ cents a week. At the death of a member the
members are assessed 10 cents each to pay a benefit of $100 to the



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

family, of the deceased. When, however, a reserve of $500 has been
accumulated, the assessments for death benefits cease until the reserve
is diminished. The members may be further assessed in the discre­
tion of its board of directors, but not more than twice a year. The
assessment may not exceed 50 cents for members of the first class and
25 cents for second-class members. The disability benefits are $1 a
day or 50 cents, according to membership, for a period not exceeding
13 weeks. The administration of affairs is entirely by the members,
who elect president, vice president, and all the other officers. The
association has a membership of 3,259 out of 4,800 employees.
The company has 170 apprentices taking a four-year course. Be­
sides the shopwork, they attend a special school two hours a day, where
they are taught mathematics, mechanical drawing, and kindred sub­
jects. A schoolroom is regularly fitted up in the building. A boy,
in order to be apprenticed, must be between the ages of 16 and 18,
and shall have received an education equivalent to that required for
graduation from the grammar schools of Providence. The appren­
tices are paid for their work 8,10,12, and 14 cents per hour, accord­
ing to the number of years’ service.
W ALKER & PRATT MANUFACTURING CO.

The foundries of the Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co., manu­
facturers of stoves, at Watertown, Mass., are built in the midst of a
beautiful and spacious lawn, dotted with clumps of shrubs and flow­
ers. The grounds have been laid off by a landscape gardener. Adja­
cent to the lawn are several attractive cottages, built by the company
for their employees. These are rented more cheaply to employees
than similar houses in the neighborhood. The plan has not met
with sufficient success, however, to justify the company in building
more of them, as was originally intended. Its failure may be due
to the fact that the laborers are highly organized. Union labor has
steadfastly opposed itself to employers’ welfare work, holding that
the aim and tendency of such work are to shackle labor with grati­
tude and to diminish its freedom in the bargaining process.
The union shop has worked well; in 10 or 12 years there have been
no strikes. In the molding department there is a shop committee of
three or five men appointed by the members to meet the management
and discuss their difficulties. In the event of their failure to come to
an agreement the employers send for their representatives, the
Stove Founders’ . National Defense Association, and the men for
their central union.
The shops are light and sanitary and are equipped with the neces­
sary washing facilities. There are shower baths for foundrymen and
molders. Each employee has his own individual metal locker for



em plo yees’ w elfare w obk .

11

his change of clothing. A Boston firm supplies the men with fresh
towels and soap for 5 cents a week. There is no lunch room, but hot
coffee is brought to the men in the shops at a small cost—about 2
cents a cup.
The employees have organized the Walker & Pratt Mutual Benefit
Association with the administration entirely within their own hands.
All employees may become members. Each member is assessed 85
cents a month and may be further assessed should it become neces­
sary. Sick and disability benefits are $5 a week for a period not ex­
ceeding 12 weeks in any one year. On the death of a member his
beneficiaries receive $100, one-half of which is contributed by the
company. The president of the association appoints two members o f
the board of directors to investigate each case asking benefits.
UNITED SHOE M ACH IN ERY CO.

The United Shoe Machinery Co., at Beverly, Mass., has no welfare
department in name, but turns over work of that character in large
measure to the secretary of the United Shoe Machinery Mutual Belief
Association, whose salary the company pays.
The relief association pays sick, disability, and death benefits to
its members. The dues are of four classes, dependent upon the wages
of members, and range from 10 cents a week down to 10 cents every
fifth week. The benefits are $9 a week for members of the first class,
$6, $3, and $1.50 for the second, third, and fourth classes, for a period
not exceeding 13 weeks. Unlike most associations, a member who
has received benefits for 13 weeks may, after three months’ work,
draw further benefits. Should the disability fund be more than
$2,000, dues cease until it is reduced to $1,000. Each member is
assessed 25 cents at the death of a member to pay a benefit to his
family. Not over $200, however, is paid in such cases. The dues are
deducted from the weekly wages by the paymaster of the company.
The affairs of the association are administered by its own elected
officers. There is further a charity fund to help cases of need not
covered by the insurance. This fund is maintained by the proceeds of
various entertainments, a minstrel show, opera, etc., and a news stand
in the factory. Whenever the fund amounts to more than $500 the
surplus is turned over to the disability fund. There are about 1,700
members of the association, including some of the women employees.
The company looks after the comfort of employees by providing
them with individual lockers, wash rooms, and bathtubs. Soap and
towels are also furnished. There is a recreation room for the women
employees. It is provided with couches and a piano. A restaurant
supplies food to employees at low prices.




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The welfare manager has organized various social clubs. The
musical club, open to all employees, furnishes talent for the minstrel
show. There is, besides, a band of 24 pieces which meets for weekly
practice. An instructor, paid by the company, has charge of it. The
employees have a football team and twice a week the members of the
team stop work earlier for practice. On Saturday afternoon they
play match games. There are cricket and baseball teams also.
The company has started the United Shoe Athletic Association
and has just completed a very handsome country clubhouse at an
expense of nearly $28,000. The building has an auditorium with a
stage, bowling alleys, reading room, card, pool, and billard rooms.
There are tennis courts and near by is the gun club, with trap shoot­
ing. The membership fee, $2 a year, is considered within the means
of every employee that wants to join. Twenty-five per cent of the
members of both organizations may be outside of the United Shoe
Machinery Co.
The company runs a farm to supply vegetables for the restaurant.
A certain amount of land is set aside for the employees who want to
raise vegetables, etc., and each man may have 5,000 square feet. The
company plows and fertilizes the plot and charges a small per­
centage. In 1910 about 65 employees cultivated plots.
The United Shoe Machinery Co., in cooperation with the publicschool authorities of Beverly, has organized the Beverly Independent
Industrial School, in accordance with the recommendations of the
recent Massachusetts Commission on Industrial Education. In the fac­
tory the company has organized a separate department and equipped
it with all the necessary machine tools to accommodate 80 boys at a
time. There are two groups of 80 boys, one at school and one in the
shop each week. In the shop they are under the charge of the ma­
chinist instructor, elected by the school authorities, but whose salary
is paid by the United Shoe Machinery Co. The boys receive piece
wages for all product that is passed on by the regular factory inspec­
tor at one-half the factory’s regular piece price. The company sup­
plies all the material for the shopwork, but has no authority or
supervision over the school. A representative of the company is a
member of the board of trustees and supervises the department of
the factory used by the school, but he is subject to the authority of
the board of trustees. I f the company should become dissatisfied
with the management of the school, the only means of expressing
its dissatisfaction would be by the withdrawal of its coopera­
tion. The pupils are taught drawing, shop mathematics, machineshop practice, the art of keeping records of the work done in the
shop, science, business and social practice, civics, etc., in the town
high school by regular instructors. They are not indentured, but




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13

are free to leave when they see fit. The introductory course covers
two years, after which additional courses may be offered. The only
requirement is that the pupils must be 14 years of age and shall have
completed the sixth grade.
Like many other employers in Massachusetts, the company has
endeavored to get the employees to join the Massachusetts Savings
Bank Insurance and Pension System, and has acted as agent for
banks issuing such policies. Over 400 men have taken out pension
insurance.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO.

Too often welfare work is whimsical, the outcome of the particu­
lar fad of the president of the company, emphasizing unimportant
details and failing to see the significance of such work. This charge
can not be made against the International Harvester Co.’s welfare
work. Becently it was recognized as a regular department of the
manufacturing department, with a superintendent and assistant in
charge. For some years previous to that time the work had been
rather left to the individual plants, and it was found that the super­
intendents in many cases objected to having the expense charged to
the plants, so that the welfare interests did not receive the attention
desired. Accordingly, in the reorganization it was decided to make
the superintendents of the 20 plants an advisory board to organize
and promote welfare work. Out of their number an executive com­
mittee of five, composed of representatives from the various localities,
was selected. The superintendent and assistant are regularly paid
officials appointed by the advisory board. Their duties are to coop­
erate with the officers at the various works in promoting welfare
work, to make the necessary investigations and inspections, and to
collect information on what is being done at other manufacturing
establishments. The welfare department seeks to promote protection
against injury, sanitation and health, educational work, charities,
recreation, savings and loans, and civics. Besides these activities,
the International Harvester Co. conducts other welfare work inde­
pendent of the welfare department, such as old-age pensions, indus­
trial accident insurance, and an employees’ benefit association.
The protection against injury has been very thorough. A general
standard for guarding each type of machine has been aidopted
throughout all the 20 plants, and each plant is required to come up
to the standard. Belts, gears, sprockets, and chains are guarded in
every way. In front of dangerous machines provision is made to
prevent slipping. Each emery wheel has a hooded steel covering
and an exhaust fan and the operator must wear glasses to protect
bis eyes. Foundrymen are told to. wear congress shoes and hard
cloth trousers to protect the feet and legs from burns. An exhaustive



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BULLETIN OF THE BUKEATJ OF LABOR STATISTICS.

pamphlet of rules and instructions, pointing out the dangers of the
various machines and instructing employees what to do, printed in
10 languages, has been published by the department to be distributed
among the employees. In each plant a safety inspector must be
appointed by the superintendent, who regularly inspects each depart­
ment to see that the machinery is properly guarded and that the
rules are enforced.
At the Wisconsin Steel Co. a committee of three workmen is
appointed by the superintendent of each department to make a thor­
ough inspection of their department and to suggest any measures
which they think might reduce accidents. These committees go
over their departments once a month. It was said by the vice presi­
dent of the company that the committees’ recommendations were
excellent; out of 448 suggestions 404 were adopted. This arrange­
ment is found to arouse great interest on the part of the men, and
by changing the personnel of the committees a number of workmen
become interested and can assist in keeping new employees out
of danger. Notices of accidents in any department and how they
occur are posted, and whenever a workman is disabled for some
time the committee investigates and makes suggestions to prevent a
repetition.
It was found that numerous accidents resulted from bad lighting,
so a general standard was adopted. For general machine-shop light­
ing one-quarter candlepower per square foot of floor area is the
minimum, and in foundries where smoke and vapor increase the
darkness one-half candlepower per square foot. Eighty-candlepower
Tungsten lamps in enameled bowl-shaped reflectors, hung 10J feet
above the floor at intervals of 18 feet, give the desired light. Wher­
ever a more intense light is needed, as, for example, on a machine
tool, an 8-candle power lamp under an enameled cone shade is hung
at the requisite angle. One of the advantages to the company has
been the reduction of defective product. Similarly every effort has
been made to have the fire escapes as convenient and safe as possible.
Besides trying to guard the machines and so to make them less
liable to cause accident, the company has requested all the manufac­
turers of the machines it uses to equip the machines before leaving
their shops with every possible device to prevent injury to the
operators. In most cases such devices can be better and more cheaply
designed than the harvester company can attach them later.
In modem factories which are sanitary in themselves, with proper
heat, ventilation, toilet facilities, etc., these conveniences are often
useless because the foremen and employees fail to do their part The
welfare department is constantly endeavoring to better conditions in
this respect. A standard has been adopted for lavatory equipment.




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15

Where the work is dirty and necessitates a change of clothing there
are shower baths for men. Janitors are in charge of the wash rooms
for men, and where women are employed there are matrons. Soap,
towels, and lockers are provided for the employees. There are rest
rooms for women also. In some plants the rest room has a piano or a
graphophone. The drinking water is everywhere pure. In many of
the works there are lunch rooms; indeed, wherever they are desired
the company supplies them. There is always a small charge for the
food—enough to cover the actual cost. At some plants only coffee
and hot soup are provided. At all the plants there is equipment for
first aid to the injured. At the McCormick works two physicians
are installed in the temporary hospital. Again, at some of the works
there is a visiting nurse, and wherever a nurse is required she will
be in attendance.
At the McCormick works there has been some form of apprentice­
ship for a number of years. No boy who has not received a sixthgrade education is taken. There are about 50 or 60 apprentices at
present. These are regularly indentured for 4 years. At first the
boys were required to attend night school, but this plan did not have
the good results desired, as in many cases it was discovered that they
did not go to school. The company then decided to have the boys
taught at the works. They are now instructed in shop mathematics
for two hours a week on the company’s time by teachers selected from
the works.
The welfare department has secured a deposit station of the Chi­
cago Public Library at the Deering works clubhouse in Chicago, so
that the employees have easy access to books. The Harvester World,
a monthly magazine issued under the supervision of the advertising
department, is sent free to all employees of the company. News
from all the plants of the company is distributed in this way.
The handsome clubhouses at some of the works furnish conven­
ient centers for recreation. The Deering works clubhouse in Chi­
cago represents an expenditure of about $27,000. There are ladies’
rooms, reception hall, smoking room, pool room, bowling alley, a
gymnasium outfit, and an assembly hall seating 600 persons. But
apart from clubhouses, the foremen at most of the works have organ­
ized clubs to promote social life. These have charge of the annual
picnics for employees, they arrange entertainments, dances, etc.
There are baseball teams, athletic associations, tenpin clubs, etc.
Every sort of work is done, from a loan exhibit of prints at the St.
Paul Twine Works, to an international tenpin match between the
teams of two other works.
Besides their activities at the works, the welfare secretaries take
a keen interest in the welfare of the neighborhood and are constantly




16

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEATT OF LABOR STATISTICS.

ready to lend a helping hand for civic improvement. Thus one finds
the assistant secretary working for the establishment of a kinder­
garten in the public school near one of the works.
No doubt the great strides made in guarding machinery are in
part due to the International’s policy of insuring their employees
against accidents. This plan became effective in 1910. Its purpose
is of course to furnish prompt compensation for injuries resulting
from accidents occurring during employment, and in case of death
from an accident, to provide compensation for the relations of the
deceased. Not all employees are eligible to membership, only those
employed in the works, twine mills, lumber mills, steel mills,
mines, and on the railroad. The office and clerical force are excluded.
The acceptance of benefits operates as a release of all claims against
the company. The amount of compensation is as follows:
In case of death, three years’ average wages, bat not less than
$1,500 nor more than $4,000.
In case of other injuries, one-fourth wages during the first 30
days of disability; if the disability continues longer than 30 days,
one-half wages during the period, but not for more than two years
from the date of accident. I f the employee is totally disabled, after two
years he is paid an annual pension of 8 per cent of the death benefit,
but not less than $10 a month. All this is done without contribu­
tion from the employees; if, however, the employees contribute, the
one-fourth wages paid by the company during the first 30 days
of disability is increased to half wages. In this event employees
earning $50 a month must contribute 6 cents a month, those earning
not more than $100, 8 cents; those earning more than $100, 10 cents.
Evidently this arrangement has been made with the hope of inducing
employees to cooperate with the company in the prevention of acci­
dents. To quote from the company’s prospectus, “ under this plan
the company and the employees equally divide the payment of bene­
fits during the first 30 days of disability, and thus every employee
becomes financially interested in guarding against accidents and in
seeing that his fellow workmen are equally careful. It is hoped that
this mutual interest will lead to active cooperation on the part of
the employees and that thereby accidents will be reduced to a mini­
mum.”
There are classes of special benefits for the loss of hand, foot, or
eye. I f the injury necessitates the amputation of a hand or a foot,
one and a half year’s average wages is paid, but not less than $500
nor more than $2,000. In the case of the loss of both hands or both
feet, four years’ average wages, but not less than $2,000. In case of
the loss of sight of one eye, three-fourths of the average yearly
wages; and in case of the irrecoverable loss of sight of both eyes four




em plo yees’ w elfabe w obk .

17

years’ average wages, but not less than $2,000. The acceptance of
special benefits excludes other benefits. No special benefits are paid
on yearly wages in excess of $2,000.
When the accident results in the death of an employee, the widow,
children, or dependent relatives are paid as follows:
If death results before the expiration of 16 weeks, three years’
average wages, but not less than $1,500 nor more than $4,000.
I f death results between the end of the sixteenth week and the end
of the fifty-second week, two years’ average wages, but not more
than $3,000, minus all the disability benefits that have been previ­
ously paid. In the event of the death of an unmarried person with­
out dependent relatives, reasonable medical expenses are paid, and
$100 for burial.
This department is administered by a board composed of five mem­
bers appointed by the associated companies. Their decision is ordi­
narily final; but if any employee is dissatisfied he may appeal to the
trustees of the Employees’ Benefit Association, half of whom are
elected by the employees. Their decision, reached by a majority
vote of those present, is final.
The pension system was inaugurated in 1908 by the International
Harvester Co., and for this purpose the treasurer of the company
has an allowance of $100,000 a year. I f the pensions should exceed
this amount in any one year, the rate will be proportionately reduced
to come within the appropriation, unless the board of directors
should otherwise order. All male employees that have been 20
years or more in the service of the company, on reaching 65 years,
may at their own request or at the discretion of the pension board be
retired and receive a pension. On reaching 70 years of age they
must be retired unless they hold executive positions. All women
employees on reaching 50 years of age, after 20 years of service, may
be retired, and on reaching 60 years must be retired. A temporary
absence because of illness or reduction of force does not count against
continuity of service unless it exceeds six months. The amount the
pensioner receives is 1 per cent of the average annual earnings dur­
ing the 10 years preceding retirement for each year of active service,
but in no case is the pension to be less than $18 a month or more than
$100. Thus an employee receiving an average of $800 a year the last
10 years of work, who has been at work for 25 years, is entitled to
$200 a year; but this sum is less than $18 a month, so he receives $216
a year. The pension board has discretionary power in continuing
allowances to widows and orphans. The acceptance of a pension
does not prevent the recipient from engaging in other pursuits not
prejudicial to the interests, of the company. The pension fund is
administered by a board of five, appointed by the directors of the
93208°—Bull. 123—13----- 2



18

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

company. In July, 1910, after nearly two years, there were 70 per­
sons receiving pensions.
The Employees’ Benefit Association was organized by the company
at the same time as the pension system. The company makes a large
annual appropriation, ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, according to
the number of members, and agrees to advance the necessary funds for
benefits, to guarantee the safety of the fund, and to pay 4 per cent
interest half yearly on the average balances. The company’s con­
tribution is used primarily for the expenses of conducting the asso­
ciation; whatever is left may be used for benefits, but every cent the
employees contribute goes for benefits to members. A board of trus­
tees of 30 members, 15 of whom are elected by the members of the
association, one from each works, has general charge of the affairs of
the association and appoints the superintendent. The superintend­
ent has under his direction all of the business of the association.
All employees of the company who apply are members of the asso­
ciation. Membership is divided into two classes, A and B. Class
A includes all members not employed at the manufacturing plants
or mines and all those not entitled to benefits from the industrial
accident plan. Class B includes all those covered by the industrial
accident insurance. They receive benefits for sickness, injuries, and
deaths, except injuries and deaths incident to their employment.
Practically any employee who passes a satisfactory medical exami­
nation may join. The death payment for those over 45 years of
age is less. The contributions from class A are I f per cent of wages
received, from class B, 1$ per cent of wages, deducted semimonthly
from their pay. Members of class B in addition must make small
monthly contributions to increase the accident insurance, as has been
noted elsewhere.
The sick benefits are one-half pay for a period of 52 weeks, except
for the first week. At the expiration of that time the beneficiary is
entitled to no further benefits except death benefits. I f he resumes
work with the company, he may enter the association again as any
other new employee. The accident benefits are the same as sick bene­
fits, but class B receives these only for accidents off duty. There
are special benefits in case of accidents such as the loss of feet or
hands or eyes.
In case of death due to sickness, the benefits equal one year’s aver­
age wages; of death caused by accident, the benefit amounts to two
years’ average wages. Death benefits are paid by the association to
class B only in case of death from accident while off duty, as the
industrial insurance covers accidents resulting in death while on duty.
An unmarried person in class B, by contributing one-quarter of 1 per
cent of his wages, may entitle the beneficiary named in his applica­
tion to receive accident death benefits, i. e., two years’ wages. Under



em plo yees’ w elfare w ork .

19

the industrial insurance plan, at the accidental death of this indi­
vidual only hospital bills and funeral expenses are paid. During
the year 1910, $218,703.13 had been paid out for benefits. The aver­
age membership for the year was 23,246, or about two-thirds of all the
employees.
WESTINGHOTJSE AIR BRAKE CO.

The Westinghouse Air Brake Co. at Wilmerding, Pa., recently
appointed an inspector of sanitation and safety. As the name im­
plies, his duties are primarily to see that the machinery is properly
guarded to afford protection to life and limb and that working con­
ditions are as sanitary as possible. He has put in several safety
devices, always requiring that the device be mechanical and move
easily and without trouble. A part of his sanitation work has been
to have the shops sprayed twice a week with a germicide—some coaltar product such as creolin. Notices are posted throughout the works
calling attention to the importance of disinfection. Great care is
taken to secure good ventilation.
The toilet rooms are in charge of a special janitor, and soap and
towels are supplied by the company. Shower baths are provided in
the foundry. There is a combination dining and rest room for the
women employees in the shop. The company employs a cook and
coffee is furnished free. Several extra women are steadily employed,
so that the women operatives can easily absent themselves when they
are ill without causing inconvenience to the company and loss of
employment to themselves.
In addition to his safety and sanitation duties, the inspector has
charge of the educational department for foreigners and of the relief
department. Evening classes in English are conducted for the for­
eigners and a small fee charged. The relief department is the pioneer
among the Westinghouse industries. The Westinghouse Electric &
Manufacturing Co. has modeled its relief work so exactly after this
that the account given below is sufficient. For the month of Septem­
ber, 1910, $1,621.32 was disbursed, and during its seven years’ ex­
istence, up to 1910, $128,670.12 has been expended for relief. There
is a small emergency hospital at the shop, with a medical staff. The
company, besides, maintains several cots in the hospitals in the
vicinity.
The pension system was begun in 1908. The company laid aside
$100,000 as a pension fund, and whenever it is necessary a further
annual appropriation, not exceeding $10,000, is made. If, however,
that sum should prove insufficient, a new basis of pension rates is to
be made. All employees on reaching 70 years of age are to be retired,
and those who have been in the company’s employ continually for



20

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

20 years are pensioned. Employees between 65 and 69 years of
age who have been 20 years employed by the company and who are
incapacitated may be retired and pensioned, and persons who have
been injured and incapacitated may likewise in the discretion of the
board of pensions be pensioned. Certain precautions are, of course,
taken to define incapacity, continuous service, etc. In order to be­
come eligible for a pension employees under 50 years must apply for
membership to the relief department. If the application is refused,
however, they do not lose their eligibility for a pension. The
monthly pension rate is 1 pet cent for each year of continuous service,
based on the average monthly wage during the last 10 years of
service. Thus an employee who has been 30 years in the employ of
the company and who received an average wage of $80 a month for
the past 10 years will get a pension of $24 per month. In no case
is a pension allowance less than $20 a month or more than $75. The
pension system is administered by a board of pensions of five, ap­
pointed by the board of directors, and the members hold office during
the pleasure of the directors. The pension board has discretionary
powers in awarding pensions to individuals who nearly fulfill the
requirements.
There is a handsome Y. M. C. A. in Wilmerding with 1,700 mem­
bers, seven or eight hundred of whom are employees of the Air
Brake Co. The company built and equipped the building and
turned it over to the Y. M. C. A. as the best agent to administer it.
It still acts as the directing head, however, through a welfare com­
mittee of five officers of the company, appointed by the company.
Moreover, the seven directors of the Y. M. C. A. are selected with
their approval. The company contributes handsomely and makes
up any deficit. The clubhouse is equipped with the usual accom­
paniments of such a building, a swimming tank, an auditorium (seat­
ing 600 persons), a gymnasium, and classrooms of all sorts.
Here the apprentices of the Air Brake Co. attend school three
hours a day three days a week for about three-fourths of the year.
There are 40 of these and they are apprenticed for four years, receiv­
ing a bonus of $150 at the end of their apprenticeship. They are
under a special superintendent, who devotes his entire time to them.
Ttie Y. W. C. A., organized later and much smaller in its scope, has
a membership of 250. In its building are lounging and lunch rooms,
where free coffee is served at noon by the company. At the request
of the company, the Y. W. C. A. operates two free kindergartens, one
for the neighborhood children and another on the opposite side of the
town for the foreign children.
When the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. settled at Wilmerding, it
had, of course, to build houses to provide homes for its employees.
The result is that about 80 per cent of the houses are owned by the



em plo yees’ w elfare w obk .

21

company. It has been the steady policy to encourage the employees
to own their homes, and accordingly the houses are sold to them on
the installment plan. The company houses, which are very pleasing
and well kept, are said to be lower in rent than those owned by out­
siders. To provide pretty surroundings, premiums are awarded by
the company for the best-kept lawns in the. borough of Wilmerding,
not only for company houses but for all.
ELECTRICAL. SUPPLIES.
WE8TINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING CO.

The colossal works of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Co., at East Pittsburgh, Pa., employing 14,000 persons of all nation­
alities, presents an instance of welfare work well adapted to the needs
o f employer and employee. The character of the work is so highly
technical and the industry so decidedly in its childhood, still with an
ever-widening field of activity opening out before it, that it is but
natural to expect that the employer’s efforts should be directed toward
promoting the employee’s knowledge of the trade and increasing his
skill. Thus the Casino Technical Night School, supported by the
company, enables its students to study the fundamental principles of
engineering and shopwork. While it allows persons not employed by
the Westinghouse industries to attend the evening classes, the school
is principally for Westinghouse industries. The regular four-year
course consists of mathematics, arithmetic, algebra, geometry and
trigonometry, foundry, pattern and machine shop practice, mechani­
cal drawing, mechanics, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, and elec­
tricity. The graduates who are employed by the Westinghouse Elec­
tric Co. are eligible for application to the two-year engineering ap­
prentice course. In addition to the four-year course a preparatory
department offers instruction in reading, writing, spelling, eta, and
there is a department in English for foreigners. There are 395 men
students enrolled in this school. For the women of the community
a two-year course of instruction in household arts, cooking and sew­
ing, stenography, typewriting, and music is offered. One hundred
and fifty-four women are enrolled. A small tuition fee is charged,
$10 for men and $3 to $5 for women. Students are expected to attend
regularly and are dropped for irregular attendance. The school
work is conducted in a commodious modem public school building,
with well equipped laboratories, in Turtle Creek, a town near by.
The faculty numbers forty odd. The company contributes about
$3,000 a year to the school, and furnishes the equipment.
The apprenticeship plan of the company embraces two kinds of ap­
prenticeships, a trade and an engineering apprenticeship. The for­
mer is open to nontechnical men, and the latter only to graduates



22

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

from technical schools and colleges. A two-year course of four hours
a week is given the trade apprentices under a capable staff of instruc­
tors, with pay for the time spent in the classroom. Two hundred
and twenty-odd students are enrolled here.
The Westinghouse Club at Wilkinsburg was started by the com­
pany for its young engineers and now has a membership of 750.
The members pay a small membership fee of $4, and $4 more for the
use of the well-equipped gymnasium. An excursion section takes the
members to the numerous mills and factories of the locality and a
technical section furnishes lectures on transformers, railway equip­
ment, motors, etc. Besides the educational feature, there are glee
and mandolin clubs, dances, and other forms of entertainment.
The Electric Journal is a monthly publication issued by the com­
pany, to which the technical employees contribute. It has the second
largest circulation of any electrical magazine.
Care has been taken to make the working conditions good by proper
lighting and ventilation. The women employees’ dressing rooms in
the shop are in charge of a matron. There is no dining room for
them, but hot coffee is taken out to them in the shop at noon. The
office women have a dining room with rest-room facilities, etc. Near
the works there is a food dub for office employees, where they can get
their noon meal. At one time the Casino Club—operated by the
company for men employees—had a dining room for the men em­
ployees, but it has been abandoned. There are pool tables and bowl­
ing alleys for their amusement, for the use of which a small fee is
charged.
The company organized a relief department for the employees
about five years ago. Members contribute from 50 cents up to $1.75 a
month, according to the wages received. Sick and accident benefits
are paid for a period of 39 weeks, ranging from $5 a week up to
$16.25, according to the monthly contribution, and at death $100 to
$150 is paid to the beneficiaries and the same amount is paid by the
company. As is usual, the acceptance of disability benefits operates
as a release of all claims against the company, unless within 10 days
notice is given to the superintendent of the intention to seek
indemnity.
In the government of the relief department the Westinghouse com­
pany preponderates. It exercises general power, takes charge of all
the funds belonging to the department, is responsible for their safe­
keeping, and guarantees the integrity of the society. It pays interest
at the rate of 4 per cent per annum on the monthly balances in its
hand; pays all the operating expenses of the department, about
$12,000, besides providing the necessary rooms for the work. If the
department is unable to meet its expenses, the company advances the
money. The first vice president of the company appoints the super*



E M P L O Y E E S 9 W E L FA R E W O R K .

23

intendent of the relief departments, and all other appointments, physi­
cians and medical examiners, etc., are subject to his approval. The
employees are represented through an advisory committee of 14, seven
of whom are elected by themselves, one from each of the subdivisions
of the shops. The other seven are appointed by the first vice presi­
dent, who is ex officio member and chairman of the committee.
Eight members and the chairman constitute a quorum. In the event
of a clash between the workmen and the company, the balance of
power lies with the company. No officer, foreman, assistant foreman,
inspector, or office employee of the company is eligible for election to
represent the members. The committee has general supervision of
the workings of the department. To give some idea of the scale of
the relief department, three doctors and general assistants are em­
ployed in addition to the superintendent, and there is a well-equipped
and commodious emergency hospital. There are 7,000 members of
the relief department—all men. The statement of the month of
September, 1910, shows that 254 men received a total of $3,006.94
benefits—for sickness, $1,656.75; accident, $1,050.19, and death, $300.
Since 1907, $71,827.61 has been paid out in benefits, $38,869.55 for
sickness, $24,533.06 for hurts, and $7,425 for deaths.
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.

The General Electric Co. at Schenectady, N. Y., shows consideration
for the welfare of its employees in a number of ways. The workrooms
are spacious, light, well ventilated, and clean. Where grinding is
done, there are exhaust fans to rid the air of dust. Similarly the air
in the buffing shop is excellent. The lavatory facilities are good.
There are shower baths in the foundries and blacksmith shops, where
it is necessary for employees to change their clothing before leaving.
Elsewhere throughout the works there are individual washbasins.
In most of the shops there are individual steel lockers, which are
grouped about the room. It is said that the employees prefer to
have their lockers where they work—under their eyes, so to speak. It
has been claimed that where all the lockers are placed side by side,
the chances of vermin spreading are much greater.
There are two splendidly equipped restaurants for the employees—
one for the office force, and the other for the men. The men’s restau­
rant was built at a cost of about $40,000. Nine hundred men are fed
here at a time, and practically at cost. There is a lunch counter also.
The company operates a farm to supply the restaurant with fresh
vegetables. The women do not go to the restaurant; but in the princi­
pal buildings where they are at work there are lunch counters for
them. Their orders for food are sent to the main restaurant and
filled in the general kitchen. Tea, coffee, and cocoa are sold them at
2 cents a cup. They can secure a good luncheon for 15 cents.



24

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

The company has an emergency hospital for the men employees,
complete in every respect. Three trained nurses are employed and
the company has made an arrangement with the leading city surgeons
to send important cases to them. The hospital gives first aid to the
injured and subsequent dressings.
As is usual in electrical works, much emphasis is placed on appren­
ticeships. There are over 400 trade and electrical apprentices.
They are given four years of training and have a regular corps of
instructors.
The employees of all the Edison interests have organized a mutual
benefit association, and at Schenectady there is a branch association.
Any person, employed by the Edison interests, over 18 years of age
and under 45, may become a member. Persons over 15 and under 18
may become half-rate members. The initiation fees are $1 and 50
cents, respectively. No women are eligible to membership in the
association. The dues are 50 cents and 25 cents a month until the
funds are reduced to $3,000, whereupon the dues are increased to 60
and 30 cents. Should the sum in the treasury fall below $1,000 the
members may be assessed, but not more than $1. Sick benefits are
$6 or $3 a week, according to the class of membership. No member
is entitled to benefits for more than 13 weeks in 12 consecutive
months. In case of death, $100 or $50 is paid the deceased’s family.
The affairs of the association are administered by a president and
board of directors chosen by the members.
WESTERN ELECTRIC CO.

The Western Electric Co. in 1906 set aside $400,000 as a pension
fund. The president of the company may withdraw annually sums
not over $150,000 to be devoted to pensions. Should the allowances
exceed the amount available from the pension fund a new rate is to
be established. All employees who have reached 60 years of age
and have been in the employ of the company for 20 years con­
tinuously may be retired and receive a pension. Any employee
30 years in the service of the company, or any employee of 55 years
who has been 25 years with the company, may be pensioned. Any
employee who has been 10 years or more in the company’s employ,
and who has become totally incapacitated through injury or sickness,
may receive aid from the pension board, in the discretion of the
board. The basis of the pension is 1 per cent for every year of
service of the highest average earnings in any 10 years of service. In
November, 1910, there were 46 persons on the pension roll receiving
a total of $2,688.
In the New York office the welfare work for the stenographers is in
charge of the chief stenographer. There is a comfortable lunch
room on the cafeteria plan, where food is sold at cost. At one end



em plo yees’ w elfabe w obk .

25

of the room is the recreation room, with easy chairs, a cot for resting,
etc. Off this room there is a balcony, where employees may take
the fresh air at noon. There are wooden lockers to hold outer gar­
ments, etc.
The shops have no lunch rooms, but have lunch counters. The
orders are taken in the morning and brought out to the employees
in the shop.
At the gigantic works at Hawthorne, HI., near Chicago, there is
a large lunch and dining room, where food is served to employees
at cost. One floor of this building is devoted to the restaurant and
the other to amusements. There is an emergency hospital, with a
physician and three nurses constantly in attendance, where first aid
is given the injured. There are tennis courts, baseball diamonds,
etc., with an athletic committee in charge. The employees have a
band of 55 pieces. There is, besides, an orchestra and a mandolin
club.
About 100 apprentices are at work here under a regular supervisor
of apprentices. The boys are paid by the hour, working in the
shops most of the time and attending school an hour a day.
WOOLBN M ILLS.
TALBOT M ILLS.

The Talbot Mills, North Billerica, Mass., owns the houses in
which nearly 200 of its employees live. Most of these are double
tenements, but some have as many as six tenements. They are frame
buildings, kept in excellent repair, and rent from $3.75 a month up
to $14. The better houses have furnaces, hot water, bathtubs, etc.,
but all have a supply of running water with inside faucets and sani­
tary sewerage. Each house stands in a well-kept green lawn, with
shrubs and flowers, and along the streets there are huge old elms.
As there are no fences, the village looks like an expansive park. The
company has further beautified the streets with grass plots and flower
beds. To encourage the employees to plant flowers and make their
lawns pretty, each year prizes are offered for the best-kept premises,
for vines, window and porch gardens, flowers, and vegetable gardens.
The prizes are from $1 to $5. The winners are further allowed to
select a book or magazine on gardening. The company furnishes
lawn mowers, trellises, and flower boxes. Each autumn the prizes
are awarded at a stereopticon exhibition of the lawns of the winners.
Persons desiring to enter the contest must give notice of their inten­
tion. Winners of prizes in one year are not allowed to compete for
the same class of prizes the next year, but may, of course, compete
for others. The company issues a handbook for planning and plant­
ing home grounds, to help employees in beautifying their premises.



26

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The village is further made attractive by the Thomas Talbot Me­
morial Hall, founded in 1891 by the heirs of Thomas Talbot. The
hall is a handsome stone and shingle building in a large expanse of
green. It is fitted up for all sorts of entertainments, with an assem­
bly hall, supper room, and kitchen, etc. The mill library and read­
ing room is open in the evening after working hours. There are
over 4,000 volumes. Books may be taken out twice a week at a small
charge—50 cents a year. The company employs the librarian.
The company has provided a lunch room in the mill office for em­
ployees, where those who live too far away to return home for dinner
may eat their lunch. Tea, coffee, and milk are furnished them at
nominal rates. There are individual lockers in part of the mill.
In 1903 the company inaugurated a system for pensioning old
employees wha become incapacitated for labor. No person is pen­
sioned who has not been at least 15 years continuously in the employ
of the company. The amount of the pension is 1 per cent for each
year of service of the average yearly wages for the last 10 years of
employment. If the employee has been over 35 years in the com­
pany’s service, he is pensioned on half pay. No pension shall exceed
$500. Employees on reaching 70 years of age may retire at pleasure
and receive a pension. Further employment for pensioned employees
must be with the company’s approval. Up to 1910, 7 years after
the system was introduced, 16 persons had been pensioned, receiving
an average, pension of $227 a year. At that time there were 8 pen­
sioners on the roll. The company has further made every effort to
interest the employees in the Massachusetts Savings Bank Insurance
and Pension System and acts as agents for the banks issuing such
policies.
AMEBICAN WOOLEN CO.

The American Woolen Co., with its immense group of 35 mills,
conducts welfare work for the employees at most of its establish­
ments. The Wood Worsted Mill, at Lawrence, Mass., probably
represents the most that is done in this way. The company makes it
very plain that the welfare work is merely a part of good business
policy, aiding it in securing labor. Across the street from the huge
building, housing 5,300 persons, the company operates a restau­
rant in a single-storied unpretentious structure. Between 400 and
600 employees have their noonday dinner here daily at reasonable
rates. A good dinner may be obtained for 15 cents. This depart­
ment is run at a steady loss. At each end of the restaurant there are
recreation rt)oms, one side for men and the other for women. There
is a piano in the women’s room and magazines and' periodicals in
both rooms.




em plo yees’ w elfare w ork.

27

The company houses its employees to the extent of about 200 apart­
ments in both apartment houses and cottages. These are situated in
attractive streets laid off by the company after the most approved
method of city planning. There are grass plots on each side of the
sidewalks, trees, a sweep of small lawns unbroken by fences, etc. In
one section there are as many as 42 apartments in brick houses; in
another 36 apartments in wooden houses. All have modern con­
veniences. The 6-roomed apartments rent from $2.85 to $3.15 a week.
There are 52 individual frame cottages, renting for $4.15 a week.
These homes are occupied by skilled employees, the great bulk of
the unskilled living elsewhere. The company contemplates further
building.
Within the building there are no special comforts for employees,
no individual lockers, no soap and tbwels, no special dressing rooms,
etc. The employees’ wearing apparel is hung about the large work­
rooms. The washbasins are troughs. There are shower baths for the
firemen. Eight escalators, or moving stairways, transport the em­
ployees from the main floor to their workrooms, saving them the
climb up several flights of stairs.
POCASSET WORSTED CO.

The Pocasset Worsted Co., near Providence, considers that the
welfare work it has instituted has not evoked sufficient interest
on the part of employees to warrant a large expenditure. The work
started with a club for overseers, to compete with the saloons, and in
1907 the company built a handsome clubhouse, at an expenditure
of seventeen or twenty thousand dollars. The house is a one-story,
shingle building, with a wide veranda, in a small garden just off the
street. There are reading rooms with periodicals, billiard rooms,
bowling alleys, a piano, and an auditorium seating nearly 300 per­
sons. To make the employees fed that the house was actually theirs
and to be run as they desired, it was turned over to a board of gov­
ernors consisting entirely of employees. At first it was free, but
later it was considered wiser to charge the small fee of $2 a year for
membership in the club. It was believed that this charge would
induce the employees to take firmer hold and rid them of any possi­
ble feeling that they were objects of the company’s bounty. The fee
charged did not cover the cost. At one time the membership was
200, but it has dwindled to 60. The management considers that one
of the difficulties has been the nearness to Providence. Employees
can easily take the street car right into the city and find amusement
and recreation there. Another and more radical trouble, it was
explained, has been that the operatives are foreigners—Italians—
many of them girls, with no idea of club life; to an Italian parent
the notion of a daughter going in the evening to a club in company
with other young people is unthought of.



28

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The company has built houses for its employees. These are double
frame tenements, two stories high, with a small front porch in some
instances. They usually have six rooms—four large and two small
rooms—and rent for $1.50 to $2 a week. They are without bathtubs.
At one time there were bathrooms in some of the houses, but as they
were not used they were removed. The toilet rooms are outside in
the yards. Each house has a small yard, which the company likes
to see well kept. To encourage employees .in keeping their premises
neat and in planting flowers, the company offers prizes for the most
attractive yards. These range from $70 to $5.
Like most textile mills, the mill itself is without adequate provision
for the employees’ clothes. There are no individual lockers, so that
the employees must keep their outer garments or change of garments
hanging about the walls of the room. The wash rooms are without
soap and towels, nor is there a special matron to see that the rooms
are kept in order.
CLEVELAND (OHIO) CLOTHINO FACTORIES.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Hitherto welfare work has been for the most part an individual
matter with the employer and the business community has taken no
concerted action. In Cleveland, Ohio, the chamber of commerce
gave the impetus to welfare work, and so far as is known this is the
first instance in America of an organization of business men taking
up industrial betterment. In 1899 an industrial committee was
appointed to assist in bettering the relations between employer and
employee and to make it something more than dollars and cents.
The committee has insisted that the “ fundamental basis of all wel­
fare work must be found in fair wages, reasonable hours, and sani­
tary conditions of labor; that these provisions are not a matter of
option with the employer, but that every employee has a right to
expect them. No amount of special features can rightfully be sub­
stituted for fair wages and reasonable hours, clean, light, wellventilated workrooms, and adequate provisions for safety and sanita­
tion; and any plans which endeavor to take their place are pretty
certain to fail.”
The plans have embraced the following features of welfare work:
“ General improvement in the environment and surroundings of
workmen being of greatest importance;
“ Clean windows and floors, light and well ventilated workrooms,
and adequate sanitary arrangements, forming the basis of further
improvement. These are usually of small expense, but of greatest
effectiveness;




E M P L O Y E R S 9 W E L FA R E W O R K .

29

“ Dressing rooms in which employees may remove clothing worn
in the shop and don that which they can with self-respect wear in
the street or in the car. In these are often found:
“ Individual lockers of wood or iron or steel wire;
“ Toilet facilities, including well equipped lavatories;
“ Baths, both shower and tub, where the nature of the work is such
as to make them advisable;
“ Lunch rooms, in which the employees can eat the lunch brought
from home, or
“ Restaurants, where meals are furnished at cost by the firm;
“ Rest rooms, where employees may go after lunch or in case of
sudden illness;
“ Reading rooms and libraries, usually in connection with the rest
rooms;
“ Mutual benefit associations, in which the payment of regular dues
on the part of the members—a sum often increased by contributions
from the firm—insures, in case of illness or death, a benefit to the
men or to their families;
“ Entertainments and suppers given by the firm;
“ Prizes for suggestions as to the business or for long and faithful
service;
4 Outings and picnics and classes in various subjects pertaining
6
to the business.”
That its efforts have been fruitful may be seen in many of the
manufacturing plants’ of the city.
The industrial committee has also emphasized the employers’ obli­
gation to the community to beautify his place of business. One of
the employers has declared that “ no builder has the right to make
hideous the city which showers so many benefits upon him.”
h . b l a c k & CO.

This thought must have been dominant in the construction of the
factory of H. Black & Co., manufacturers of women’s clothes. The
building is rather a rare instance of beautiful factory architecture.
It; is of brick, with a long low facade and a red tile roof. The nec­
essary water tank is inclosed in a graceful tower. Growing flowers
at the windows and a trim lawn give the setting. Within there is $
handsome pottery frieze and an artistic drinking fountain.
The most interesting feature of the firm’s welfare work is its democ­
racy, the bulk of the betterment work for the 700 or 800 employees
having been placed in the hands of a house committee of women.
The committee numbers about 15 or 20, chiefly forewomen, who
serve three months and then elect their successors. The committee
originally looked after the sanitary conditions and cleanliness of the



30

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

shop, but with time the work grew so*that a nurse was installed under
its supervision to attend to these duties. It was through, the efforts
of this house committee that the emergency room, a small hospital
fitted with reclining chairs, and a cot, was established. The nurse
has charge of the department and gives first aid to the injured. She
makes a tour through the factory several times a day and sees that
everything in the washrooms is in order. She urges employees to
use separate towels, as doing away with the possibility of communi­
cating disease. She has charge of the cuspidors and reports persons
who spit on the floor.
The house committee recently arranged a lunch room on the top
floor of the house for employees, where they can eat the lunches
they bring and supplement them with hot beverages sold at cost. At
one side of the large lunch room there are individual lockers.
A magazine for the employees, The Wooltex News, is published
by the company. Employees are urged to contribute articles and in
this way make the magazine their own. A small library has been
started. There are several social organizations among the em­
ployees, a bowling club, a baseball team, a fortnightly or musical
club. The latter gives concerts during the noon hour.
JOSEPH & FEISS CO.

The Joseph & Feiss Co., of Cleveland, desires to develop a right
“ spirit ” among its garment makers, and lays great stress on the
word “ spirit ” rather than on welfare work. Indeed, welfare is not
mentioned. The company is eager to foster good personal relations
between employer and employee and proud of the results of its 60
years of experience both in the sanitary condition of the shop and
in the personnel of its employees.
The shop is designed to be a model factory building, with plenty
of space around it to admit light and air. The saw-tooth roof
gives uniform light throughout the workroom, an essential in stitch­
ing dark garments. The ventilation is good. The lavatories are
most sanitary and comfortable, with individual basins and hot and
cold water. Each employee is given a locker for exclusive use, and
to avoid eating luncheon at the place of work separate dining rooms
for men and women are provided. Here coffee, tea, and milk tore
furnished them for a small sum, just enough to cover the expense.
There is a nurse’s room for rest and emergency cases. A matron
is in charge, who stands ready as Mend and adviser to aid the women
employees in every way possible; but she does not have the title of
welfare secretary. She looks after the “ spirit ” of the institution
and has the power to discharge any woman employee who runs
counter to this spirit. One of her duties is in connection with the



em plo yees’ w elfare w o r k .

31

penny savings bank, or Clothcraft Penny Bank—to see that econ­
omy is developed among the women employees, and through her
personal relation to exercise oversight over their earnings. The
penny bank pays between 6 and 7 per cent interest on deposits. It
also lends to employees in need of advances on their wages at a rea­
sonable rate of interest, and in this way undertakes to prevent the
extortion of money sharks.
There are various forms of club life. The men’s club has the -use
of the factory consultation room, which is open to the members in the
evening. There is a baseball team, and during the noon hour the
men play ball on the ground back of the shop. There are various
sewing clubs among the women, but no formal organization.
The men employees of the company in the down-town shop have
organized a mutual benefit association with about three or four hun­
dred members. They pay 50 cents a month and receive a sick benefit
of $1 a day for a number of weeks. In case of death $300 is paid
the legal heirs of the deceased. The company contributes an amount
equal to that which the employees give.
PAINT FACTORIBS.
SH ERW IN -W ILLIAM S CO.

The Sherwin-Williams Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, manufacturers of
paint, is convinced that the welfare work it has instituted has amply
repaid the company in more intelligent and conscientious work on the
part of its employees. One of the direct results has been to make
employees remain longer in the service of the company.
In a paint factory it is especially important to keep the air of
the workrooms free from the dangerous lead dust. Accordingly, a
ventilating system has been installed to do away with the dust as
much as possible, and every effort is made to keep the shop clean.
The men working about the white-lead vats are compelled to take a
shower bath every day. Twice a week they are given a clean suit
of working clothes. Shower baths and spacious lavatories have been
installed to enable the employees to change their clothing. A dining
room is provided for the men employees, where they can get a hot
lunch at cost or else may eat the food they bring with them. The
women employees may have their luncheon in the lunch room for
the office force and have recreation where they can rest after lunch.
Pure drinking water is furnished, and the buildings are supplied with
Eed Cross chests to give aid in case of accidents. The men have a
club room with periodicals, etc., and in addition a branch station of
the city public library is located in the company’s building. Once
a year an annual outing of all employees takes place. There is no
system of profit sharing, but the employees are given the chance to
purchase the stock of the company on easy terms.



32

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

Like many of the other Cleveland manufacturing plants, the em­
ployees have organized a mutual benefit association which has a
membership of 1,000 in the various works of the company, or about
60 per cent of the total number of employees. The association pays
a sick or disability benefit of 50 per cent of the wages provided the
member’s average weekly earnings are not in excess of $10. In that
event, he receives a weekly benefit of $5. Benefits are not paid for
less than 2 weeks or for more than 12 weeks within a year. At death,
$25 is paid the heirs of the deceased. The regular dues are 1 cent
on each dollar of the weekly wages, or at most 10 cents a week, and
are collected by the paymaster of the company.
LOWE BROS. CO.

The Lowe Bros. Co., an establishment manufacturing paint, in
Dayton, Ohio, has a unique feature in its welfare work. Sev­
eral years ago Henry C. Lowe, the president of the company, died,
and in his will provided that his stock—a majority of the stock—
should be held in trust by his brother for 10 years, and during that
time the dividends should be paid to the employees of the company.
These were to be divided according to salary into three groups. The
first group—group A—embraced all those receiving $2,500 a year and
upward; 25 per cent of the dividends were to be divided among these.
Group B, including those receiving salaries from $1,000 to $2,500 a
year. Fifty per cent of the dividends were divided among them.
Lastly, group C took in all receiving less than $1,000 a year and got
25 per cent of the dividends. Each member of group A in 1910
received $200, group B, $100, and group C $12. In 10 years the
sum to be divided will amount to about $80,000.
The High Standard Club of the women employees was organized
in 1902, and includes all the women in the company’s employ, about
forty. Its object is to promote sociability among the members and
to further their interests in literary and musical matters. It is a
member of the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs and each year the
company pays the expenses of the delegates to the annual meeting.
Meetings are held every two weeks in the factory during the lunch
time, when the company allows the members an extra hour. The
program for the year includes lectures on travel, hygiene, books, re­
views, great men, literature, and music. The annual dues are 60
cents.
The company famishes and operates a lunch room for the women
employees and gives them coffee free. Coffee is taken out to the men
in the shops. There is a piano in the dining room purchased by the
High Standard Club. One of the dressing rooms is provided with
individual lockers, a couch for retiring, and other conveniences. Soap



em plo yees’ w elfare w ork.

33

and towels are furnished the employees. The women’s aprons and
the men’s overalls are laundered by the company. The elevators may
be used by the employees on coming to work and on leaving. Lockers
and comfortable washing troughs are provided for the men in the
paint work and time allowed in which to put on or take off their
overalls. The men who are at work over the white lead, which is
dangerous, are kept only 30 days on that particular job and then
are given work elsewhere for 90 days. To make the working condi­
tions as sanitary as possible, respirators and electric fans are pro­
vided. Every year the company gives an annual picnic.
The employees have organized their own relief association with
some aid from the company at the start. Only sick and accident
benefits are paid. The membership is divided into two classes, con­
sisting of those whose weekly pay is in excess of $6 and those whose
pay is $6 or less. Weekly dues are 10 and 5 cents, and benefits of $6
and $3 a week are allowed for 12 weeks. There are about 50 members
at present. The association recently reduced the dues one-half, as its
flourishing condition warranted a reduction.
FOODSTUFF FACTORIBS.
H . J . H EIN Z CO.

Welfare work at the H. J. Heinz Co., in Allegheny, Pa,, began over
30 years ago, when the management realized that the better care of
the business included the better care of operatives. The fact that
food products were handled made sanitary working conditions im­
perative, and no doubt this accounts for much of the welfare work.
Thus the clean uniforms and white caps that do so much to promote
tidiness and orderliness, and the manicurist who tends the nails of
the women employees, can be explained by the importance of cleanli­
ness in handling the product. Similarly a dining room for em­
ployees is something of a necessity in a place where foods are handled.
It would hardly do to have employees eating their lunches about the
workrooms where a captious public may enter and inspect. The
walls of this dining room are covered with pictures, some of them
copies of famous paintings, and here coffee costs the female operative
1 cent a day. A dressing room is requisite also, as outer garments
hanging about in the shop would not produce an agreeable effect.
There are wooden lockers here, shared by two or three girls, and
couches for retiring and rest. Soap and towels are provided by the
corporation. An attendant is at hand in this room to see that
comforts are provided. Medical care from a woman physician is
furnished free.
Beginning with an annual picnic in the early days, the company
has continued this feature and now once a year it suspends operations
98208°—Bull. 123—13----- 3



34

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

for a day and takes about 4,500 persons for a picnic. Several other
things are provided for the comfort and pleasure of the employees.
On top of one of the numerous buildings there is a pretty roof garden,
with handsome plants and flowers and an awning against the sum­
mer’s sun. Here the employees may take in Pittsburgh oxygen during
the 30-minute lunch period. Near by the company has a natatorium 40 by 25 feet, with needle, shower, and tub baths open to all
employees free of charge, the only requirement being that the bathers
bring their own suits. Different hours are set apart for men and
women. About 25 persons a day—mostly men—use the natatorium.
In the summer every Saturday afternoon, about 50 girls are taken
down the river in a launch for an outing. The large convention
room is the scene of various entertainments given by the company to
its employees. At Christmas, presents are distributed to every per­
son in its employ. Vaudeville shows, mostly of talent in the works,
and lectures and dances make up the round of entertainments
throughout the year. Drawing classes are conducted in the conven­
tion hall. Sewing and cooking classes tire provided for the women,
the forewomen teaching.
A premium for good work is given the girls, in the form of a small
percentage on the total output. This is divided twice a year and
practically every girl receives it.
The employees have a sick-benefit association to which, in its in­
fancy, the firm subscribed; but now the association does not need that
help. There are two classes of members—children paying 5 cents a
week and adults paying 10 cents. A sick benefit of $6 a week for 10
weeks is paid, and at death, $50.
The office force is very handsomely quartered in the Administra­
tion Building, with a dining room, suitable dressing rooms, and con­
veniences.
SHREDDED W H EAT CO.

The factory of the Shredded Wheat Co., at Niagara Falls, is situ­
ated in a beautiful expanse of trim green lawn, relieved by shrub­
bery and flowers. Indeed the building itself, practically all windows,
might be taken for a huge greenhouse, rather than a workshop, were
there not already a greenhouse on the grounds. The company has,
besides, grounds running down to the river, where the men em­
ployees play baseball. The building has spacious, high-pitched
workrooms, with light on every side, and everything within it, from
the floors to the white caps and aprons of the women employees, is
immaculate. The company supplies the employees with caps and
aprons, but does not launder them.
Every care has been taken to make the working conditions of the
employees sanitary and comfortable. By a wonderful system of



EM P LO Y E E S ’ W E L FA R E W O R K .

35

ventilation, the air throughout the entire building is changed every
15 minutes. There is no such thing as a crowded workroom. All the
toilet rooms and lavatories are clean and sanitary. The wash rooms
are handsomely fitted with porcelain stationary stands, and soap and
towels are supplied free. Individual steel lockers are provided so
that the necessary change of apparel before going home is made easy.
There are tub baths for the women. A woman employee is specially
detailed to have charge of the lavatories. The men employees have
both shower and tub baths.
A large lunch room is equipped for the women employees, where a
hot lunch is practically given them every day. The price of articles
on the menu is stated and each employee is allowed food to the amount
of 15 cents free. The men have a lunch counter and secure a luncheon
of soup, meat and potatoes, dessert, and coffee for 10 cents. The
prices charged do not cover the cost of the food.
Adjoining the women’s lunch room there is a beautiful large rest
room, presided over by the welfare secretary. The room is pleas­
ingly furnished in mission furniture, with comfortable chairs, writ­
ing desks, and couches. Plants and flowers add to the attractive­
ness. Periodicals, books, and various games and amusements are
here to entertain the employees. There is also a station of the city
public library, so that employees can secure any special books they
may want. In order that the women may really rest, relief periods
of from 20 minutes to 1 hour are granted them each day, which they
may spend here. Usually a 10-minute rest period occurs in the
forenoon and again another in the afternoon. The length of time
depends of course on the character of the work. An hour is given
for lunch. Often after lunch the girls spend the rest of the hour
dancing in the large auditorium, which has a seating capacity of
1,000 persons. There is a piano and the women employees are
allowed to have dances here in the evenings when they choose. The
annual Christmas entertainment for employees, which is quite elabo­
rate, takes place here. Besides this, once a year the company gives
the employees an outing. One year they had a trip to Toronto and
another year to Ontario Beach.
%
The welfare secretary devises various clubs and social gatherings
for the women. They have organized a flower fund and send flowers
to women who are ill and away from work. There is no emergency
room, but when the women employees are ill they are either sent
home or to a hospital in a carriage at the company’s expense.
At the instance of the company, the employees have organized a
relief association. At first the company contributed as much as the
employees, until there was $1,000 in the treasury. The dues are
collected by the company through wage deductions. Members are
of two classes, those whose weekly wages are $6.50 or more, and those



36

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

whose wages are less. The former contribute 5 cents a week, the
latter 2| cents. In case of illness or disability, first-class members
receive $1 a day and second-class 50 cents a day. No member is
entitled to more than 13 weeks’ benefit in a year. The affairs of the
association are administered by officers elected by the members.
About 50 per cent cf the employees belong to the association*
NATION AL BISCUIT CO.

The National Biscuit Co., while objecting to the term “ welfare
work,” provides a number of comforts for the employees in its large
group of factory buildings. There are two lunch rooms, one for the
office force and one for employees, where food is sold at reasonable
rates. In addition, stationary coffee urns are placed in the fac­
tories, where coffee is sold for 1 cent a cup and milk at 2 cents. A
completely equipped emergency hospital, in charge of a trained
nurse, cares for employees temporarily indisposed. Adjoining the
hospital is a library and reading room for employees. The dressing
rooms have special allotments for employees’ outer garments. As the
employees manufacture foodstuffs and as cleanliness is an advertis­
ing virtue, the company launders overalls and aprons for the em­
ployees. It grants the women two rest periods, one during the fore­
noon and one during the afternoon, extending from 15 to 40 minutes,
according to the character of the employee’s work. Where the work
is particularly exacting and monotonous, as, for example, at the
closing machine, the employee is given a long period of relief and a
change to some other work. This system of rotating monotonous
occupations has worked successfully. Care has been taken to provide
backs to benches for the comfort of the women.
There is no profit sharing, but the company has been interested in
the employees’ becoming owners of the preferred stock of the cor­
poration. In 1901 the plan was established by which employees
could purchase preferred stock on installment. The first and partial
payments are in amounts of $5 or a multiple of this sum. The com­
pany purchases the stock and carries it for them at market price,
crediting intermediate dividends. Not more than six months is
allowed to lapse between partial payments. Only one share may be
be bought by this plan at a time. The employee is charged 4 per cent
interest on the unpaid balance of the stock. Over 8,000 shares have
been bought in this way, exclusive of the stock owned by officers and
managers. As an illustration of the extensive ownership of stock
by employees, out of 7,560 shareholders in 1910,2,528 were employees.
The employees have organized the National Biscuit Company Em­
ployees’ Association, to furnish disability and death benefits. The
members pay 35 cents a month and in case of sickness receive a



E M P L O Y E E S ’ W EL FA R E W O R K .

37

weekly benefit of $5 for the first 12 weeks, and after that $3 a week
for the next 12 weeks. At death the sum of $100 is paid to the legal
representative of the deceased. Affairs are administered through
officers chosen by the members. The relief committee visits the sick
once a week and reports to the association. The dues are not suffi­
cient to maintain the association; accordingly the funds are reen­
forced by entertainments, balls, picnics, etc. There are 450 members,
about half of whom are women.
LOW NEY CHOCOLATE CO.

The Lowney Chocolate! Co., on the outskirts of the village of Mans­
field, Mass., has the advantage of large grounds and rural conditions
in its welfare work. The factory has light and air on all sides, and the
naturally good ventilation is further aided by fresh air being blown
into the workrooms. This system helps do away with fine cocoa dust
and smoke and fumes from roasting cocoa beans. TheVash rooms are
comfortable, with soap and towels furnished. The male employees’
overalls and the women’s aprons are laundered by the company.
Lunch and recreation rooms are missing, as there is no need for them.
Most of the employees live near enough to have their noon meal at
home. Some distance from the factory, in a large open field, the
company has erected a very attractive clubhouse of bowlders and
shingles for the employees. There are bowling alleys, pool tables,
magazines, eta, here. No membership fee is charged, but employees
pay a small sum for the use of the bowling alleys and pool tables.
Several times a year ladies’ evenings for the women employees are
held.
Like most manufacturing establishments in the country, the com­
pany has had to house its employees. This has led the company to
build a number of tenements, which it rents at low rates to its
employees. These are two-story frame double tenements, with a
porch. Inside there is running water, but no bathtubs. Around
each house there is enough space to have a small vegetable garden.
A six-room house rents for $10 a month.
There is no profit sharing, but a bonus of 5 per cent is paid on all
wages earned within a year, a custom rather common in the confec­
tionery industry. In order to be eligible, the employee must have
been with the company the 1st of January of the preceding year.
Thus those receiving the bonus in January, 1913, must have been with
the company in January, 1912.
h t jy l e r ’ s.

Huyler’s grants to its employees a vacation in summer with full
pay. Every girl in the factory department who has been employed



88

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

by the company for two years gets one week with pay in summer.
Heads of departments have a longer holiday. At the retail shops
every employee six months with the company has a holiday. At
Christmas employees are given a present of a week’s salary, and in
some departments more than this. Once a year a bonus is given to
department heads and assistants dependent on the company’s profits.
Cases of accident and illness are cared for by the company on their
merits. Lunch rooms are provided for the women employees where
they may eat the lunches they bring with them, and there is also a
recreation room with a matron in charge.
MISCELLANEOUS.
SOLVAT PROCESS CO.

The Solvay Process Co., near Syracuse, N. Y., began its welfare
work over 25 years ago with the children of employees, as it was
thought best to lay the foundation for the future with these. A sew­
ing class was the first betterment work organized for them. This
grew until the company built Guild House, a clubhouse large enough
to include the various welfare activities. There is a large audito­
rium, Guild Hall, with a stage and a seating capacity of 600. The
work is under the direction of the King’s Daughters, to which the
wives and sisters of the officers of the company belong, but a paid
welfare superintendent has direct charge. There are besides a num­
ber of instructors for the classes. The policy of the welfare depart­
ment has been to charge a small fee for instruction, with the idea that
the work would be more appreciated by the employees. There are
several classes in dressmaking, started primarily for mothers, with
a small fee of 25 cents a month. Cooking lessons are also given in
the evening. The children may have piano instruction for 25 cents a
lesson, also lessons in embroidering and dancing, and in housekeeping
and sewing, all at very low prices. There are various dramatic and
amusement clubs for the children.
A day nursery also is conducted in Guild Hall primarily for the
children of widows whose husbands were employed at the Solvay
works, but at present children of any widows are taken. There are
about 15 children in the nursery.
Guild House formerly had a library for the employees, but the
village of Solvay now has a Carnegie library of its own, which has
made the other library superfluous. The company has also built a
gymnasium, and classes in physical culture are conducted for men
and children. It has provided both a dining room and a lunch coun­
ter for employees outside the works in the patrol building. Here
the men can obtain a well-prepared luncheon at very moderate rates,
barely enough to cover the cost. At present there is some talk of the



em plo yees’ w elfare w o r k .

39

company having a beer saloon, where it could be sure that the for­
eign employees would secure a good grade of beer and not in exces­
sive quantities.
There is an emergency hospital, a small room in the patrol build­
ing, fitted up to render first aid to the injured or ill. The company’s
patrolmen who police the works have been required to attend a course
of lectures on giving first aid to the injured and to be examined on
the lectures. One winter recently as many as 250 persons attended
the lectures in Guild Hall on first aid to the injured. Various firstaid stations have been placed in the works.
The company set on foot an employees’ mutual benefit society.
Only employees of the company may become members and they
must pass a physical examination and pay an initiation fee. The dues
are 30 cents a month for members who receive a salary over $5 a
week and 15 cents for those whose pay is less. Sick and accident
benefits are $6 a week for persons receiving $5 a week or more and $3
for those whose wages are less than $5. Benefits are not paid for
a longer period than six months. In case of death, a benefit of $100
or $50, as the case may be, is paid to the widow of the deceased. The
company contributes about one-half as much as the members pay and
collects the dues through the paymaster. About seven-eighths of
the total number of employees are members of the association.
There is a system of profit sharing among the chief employees,
officers of the company, foremen and assistant foremen. The policy
has been to enlarge the group of participants, but not to extend it to
the rank and file of employees. No doubt the failure of the pension
plan, which has since been abandoned, with the numerous lawsuits on
the part of the beneficiaries, has had a tendency to retard the inclu­
sion of all employees. The participants receive a bonus according
to salary and the dividend paid stockholders.
The company has a mechanics’ school for its apprentices. These
boys are paid and attend school one-half the time and work in the
shop the rest of the day. A special committee has charge of the
mechanics’ school and employs an instructor to teach the boys in
the works. When they go into the shop they are under the charge
of a foreman.
THOMAS G. PLAN T CO.

The Thomas G. Plant Co., of Boston, has done much to improve
working conditions for its 5,000 employees. The huge factory is built
in the form of a hollow square, so that all the workrooms are well
lighted. On the top floor, where the shoe leather is cut, the roof has
saw-tooth skylights to increase the light. The ventilation through­
out the building is admirable, and every effort is made to keep down
dust. The lavatories are very sanitary and clean. Individual lockers



40

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

of perforated iron are placed about in the workrooms near the
machines, and are turned over to employees on their making a small
deposit—enough to cover the cost of the key. There is a check-room
for umbrellas and wet garments. Separate elevators are installed to
transport the women employees to the upper floors. The company
has a lunch counter for the employees, where food is sold at cost.
Employees who bring their lunches eat them in the workrooms.
Apart from good workroom conditions the company conducts rec­
reation work—the name it gives the usual welfare work. The ground
around the building has been converted into a noonday-rest park for
the employees, with a beautiful, trim, green lawn and flowers. There
is besides a roof garden covering over half of the roof space. Part of
this is reserved for women and part for men, with separate stairways
leading to each section. A dance hall for women, open at noon and
on special occasions in the evening, a pool room and bowling alleys for
men, open every evening after working hours until 10 o’clock, give
the much-needed amusement. The men pay a small fee for the use
of the tables and the alleys. A handsomely furnished reading room,
with attractive ferns and flowers from the company’s greenhouse, has
been opened to the employees. There is a branch station of the
Boston Public Library here, besides books owned by the company
and numerous weekly and monthly periodicals.
A woman physician, constantly in attendance, has the medical care
of the employees under her supervision. There are rest rooms and
an emergency hospital, with a nurse regularly employed, in the
building. Twice a week an oculist spends the forenoon at the fac­
tory and may be consulted free by the employees. He fits them with
glasses at very reduced prices.
The company, with the aid of employees’ dues, maintains the
Thomas G. Plant Co. Relief Fund Department. Out of this fund
sick, accident, and death benefits are paid. There is at present over
$5,000 in the treasury. The dues are 10 cents each week for adults
and 5 cents for employees under 20 years of age, and they are de­
ducted from wages by the paymaster’s department. In case of sick­
ness or accident the members receive $7 and $3.50 a week. No mem­
ber can draw benefits longer than seven weeks in one year. Benefits
do not become due until the member has been incapacitated one week,
except in case of severe injury. At death $100 or $50 is paid the
beneficiaries of the deceased, according to the amount of the weekly
dues. A medical examiner is employed to report upon the condition
of disabled members and to decide upon the members’ claims for
benefits. The administration of the relief fund is entirely in the
hands of the company, and all the receipts of the fund are held by
the company in trust for the relief department.



EMPLOYEES’ WELFARE WORK.

41

NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO.

The National Cash Register Co., at Dayton, Ohio, has long been a
synonym for employers’ welfare work. Since its beginning in 1893
it has had a special welfare department and has been one of the
pioneers in America in such work. This department numbers eight
persons, and in addition to the regular welfare work has charge of
the entertainment of visitors.
The office building is a model of light and ventilation. The officers’
lunch room, seating 250 persons, is situated here. Luncheon is served
to the office force at a cost sufficient only to cover the actual price of
the food. Service, china, and heat are supplied by the corporation.
This room is also used for the conventions of selling agents.
In the factories light, airy, and sanitary workrooms are every­
where the rule, and everything is kept spotlessly clean by the uni­
formed janitors. The lavatories are in charge of janitors and janitresses. Fresh towels and soap are provided free, and there are bath­
tubs in each lavatory and shower baths for the men. The employees
may bathe once a week at the expense of the company. This applies
only to time workers, who are given 25 minutes. Pieceworkers are
not recompensed for the time lost.
Special attention is paid to the welfare of the women employed in
the shops. They are provided with freshly laundered aprons and
sleevelets twice a week, the company maintaining a laundry for this
purpose. In whatever building the women are employed there is a
beautiful rest room, equipped more like the sun parlor of a luxurious
hotel than the resting place for the employees of a factory. Here a
piano, easy-chairs, couches, and plants add to the attractiveness. Dur­
ing the forenoon, at 10 o’clock, the women are given 10 minutes’ rest
and again in the afternoon they have a 10-minute recess. The restau­
rant of the National Cash Register Co. was abandoned some time
ago, but since then simple food at a low cost is served the women
employees in the shops. Soup costs 2 cents a bowl and coffee 1 cent a
cup. The cooks are employed by the company.
The health of all the employees receives especial attention. Con­
nected with the welfare work there is a handsomely equipped
hygiene department of four rooms, under the charge of a physician,
who comes one hour a day. A nurse and assistant are in attendance
constantly. The physician examines all candidates for employment
before they are employed and is thus able to reject those having tuber­
culosis. This department renders, of course, first aid to the injured.
The National Cash Register house extension is an interesting in­
stance of welfare work, first begun by the company, and later com­
pletely turned over to the employees. About four years ago the
president of the company gave the entire charge of it to the Men’s



42

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

Club of Rubicon, the little suburb where it is situated. This attrac­
tive building has two resident workers. There is a spacious audi­
torium; and the usual club activities, classes of all sorts, dancing,
and sewing classes for women are conducted here. The dues of the
Men’s Club of Rubicon and the charges for the classes and receipts
from entertainments and dances support the building. Here the
company’s apprentices have their evening classes in mechanical draw­
ing, etc.
Apprenticeships were started about four years ago. There are
now in the different shops about 175 apprentices, from 17 to 19
years of age, who are under the charge of a supervisor of ap­
prentices. They work in the shops all day directly under the
foreman and he gives an account to the supervisor of their work.
The night school is compulsory. Every six months the boys are
examined and prizes awarded for the best school work. The length
of the apprenticeship term varies with the character of the work. As
the apprentices are paid less than the journeymen, it is probably true
that the company saves something by having them, but the saving of
money is not the chief object—rather, the training of their men.
There is a library of 26,000 volumes for the employees, including
technical works as well as fiction. The books are rented for a week
at a charge of a penny and may be renewed. The library is said to
be on a paying basis. Theater tickets are purchased for employees
desiring them, not at a lower price, but seats are secured before the
tickets are on sale, so that employees have a choice of seats.
The Boys’ Gardens Co. is an unusual kind of welfare work. This
company was incorporated in 1910 with a capital stock of $40. The
stockholders are 40 boys from 10 to 15 years of age taken from the
neighborhood. The fact that their parents are not employed by the
National Cash Register Co. does not affect their eligibility to the
school. They have an attractive frame clubhouse, which was
formerly used for some other kind of welfare work, and a large plot
of ground attached for their horticultural activities. Each boy is
given a plot 10 by 100 feet to cultivate under the direction of the
expert gardener, and his tools. The course covers two years, and at
the end of the term diplomas are given the graduates. From the
middle of March to the 1st of November two hours’ work a day is
required of each boy. In the classroom they are taught the horti­
cultural side of gardening and bookkeeping. Great stress is placed
on keeping accounts, as the boys administer the financial affairs of the
garden company. The produce of the gardens is sold to the officers’
lunch room. Prizes are awarded annually for the best garden and
the best bookkeeping.
The National Cash Register Relief Association was suggested by
the company 14 or 15 years ago, and for several months fostered by



em plo yers’ w elfare w obk .

43

it until it became self-sustaining and independent. The assets are
now over $6,000 and the association pays its secretary. It affords
relief to members in case of sickness, injury, or disability, and pro­
vides funeral benefits in case of death. The weekly dues are 10 cents
for persons whose salary is over $6.50 a week and 5 cents for those
under $6.50. Sick benefits are a dollar a day for the first class of
members, and not over 50 cents for the second class for a period not
exceeding 13 weeks. There are 1,800 members, and in 1909 over
$5,100 was disbursed in benefits. In order to enlarge the membership
a small commission is given for securing new members.
The great attention paid to every detail, from the bicycle sheds
for employees, with the compressed-air stands for inflating tires, and
the barber shop for the waiters in the officers’ lunch room, up to the
exquisitely dainty china, with the Napoleonic wreath and letter “N ”
stamped on it in gilt, and the beautiful tennis courts and baseball
fields, makes the large works resemble the home of an aesthetically
minded Croesus. There must be nothing in the entourage that is not
pleasing to the eye.
GORHAM M ANUFACTURING CO.

The Gorham Manufacturing Co., near Providence, R. I., employing
2,000 persons, has surrounded its plant with a large park of 30 acres,
kept in perfect condition. Part of the grounds overlook a small
lake, so that the expanses of green and water make a beautiful sight.
There is a large athletic field for employees.
Over 20 years ago the company built for the employees a club
house—the casino—to which it has later added considerably. The
casino is a large, low, rambling, brick and shingle building of pleas­
ing appearance. Downstairs there is a large lunch room for employ­
ees where they can buy their lunch or eat the lunches they bring with
them, a table d’hote dining room, a ladies’ dining room, and library.
The food is sold at low prices. Upstairs there is an officers’ dining
room and several sleeping rooms for traveling salesmen. The library
has several thousand volumes and is particularly cozy and comfort­
able. In the ladies’ dining room there is a piano. Sometimes enter­
tainments and dances are given in the main hall. There is no welfare
secretary to take charge of the work, but there is a committee of em­
ployees and members of the company.
A savings bank has been started to encourage thrift and to lend
money to employees who wish to build their own homes. The sav­
ings bank pays 4 per cent interest. In addition, there is a workmen’s
loan association which lends money at reasonable rates to employees
desiring to borrow. This has suffered no losses. Most of the stock,
the par value of which is $5. is owned by employees.



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS,

Since 1903 the company has been pensioning its employees who
have been disabled through age or ill health. Persons on reaching
70 years of age who have been 25 years in its employ may be pen­
sioned in the discretion of the company; also persons 65 years of age,
after 30 years of service; and of 60 years, after 40 years of continuous
service. The monthly pension rate is 1 per cent for each year of em­
ployment of the wage paid at the time of enrollment in the pension
system. No pension may exceed $1,000 a year, however. There are
18 pensioners on the list, receiving an average pension of $40 a month.
The maximum pension is $86 and the minimum is $13.50.
PRINTING AND PUBLISHING.
FORBES LITHOGRAPH CO.

The Forbes Lithograph Co., near Boston, has its welfare work in
charge of a welfare manager. She made it her first duty to see that
working conditions were good, that the shops had good ventilation,
thorough cleaning, proper toilet equipment, individual lockers,
suitable chairs, etc. She stands between employer and employee,
interviews all the women and janitors seeking employment, and
before an employee is discharged makes a personal investigation of
the case. She visits absent employees, and if the employee is ill and
can not afford a physician the company sends one. One of the
members of the corporation has endowed a bed in the Massachusetts
General Hospital, to which their accident cases are sent. When the
bed is not in use for accident cases it may be occupied by the families
of employees. . In the plant there is an emergency room for tempo­
rarily incapacitated employees.
In a small shed adjoining the factory the company operates a res­
taurant and rest room for the employees at noon. Hot dinners are
sent from here into the workrooms. No attempt is made to make a
profit, but the restaurant is supposed to pay for itself.
The company has started a loan and savings bank for the employees,
which has already about 100 depositors. The savings feature was
taken up at the instance of employees who hoped, by making weekly
deductions from their wages and placing them with the company, to
be able to save enough to make a deposit in a regular savings bank.
The employee agrees to have the company take from his pay envelope
each week 25, 50,75 cents, a dollar, or multiples thereof, as he sees fit.
No change in the weekly amount is allowed without one month’s no­
tice, except when a department is running on short time. The com­
pany pays 5 per cent interest, compounded semiannually. When the
deposit amounts to $50 an account is opened in a savings bank in the
name of the depositor and the company’s responsibility ceases. Out
of the savings plan the loan feature grew, so that the savings would



em plo yer s’ w elfare w o r k .

45

be left undisturbed. The company agrees to lend to its savings de­
positors on application a sum not over $5 more than the sum in trust
with the company at the rate of 1 per cent per month. It was hoped
the high rate of interest would discourage borrowing, but at the same
time the company realized that emergencies arose when borrowing
was necessary. The difference between the 1 per cent per month
on loans and 5 per cent per annum on deposits the company holds and
at the end of the year, if there is a surplus, divides pro rata among
the depositors. 'Die deposits may be withdrawn on 60 days’ notice.
The company recommends its employees to take advantage of the
Massachusetts savings bank insurance and pension system. Fortyodd have adopted the recommendation.
The employees have organized the Forbes Mutual Relief and
Benefit Association, to which about two-thirds of the 600 employees
belong. Sick and disability benefits of $5 a week for a period not
exceeding 12 months are paid, and at the death of a member his fam­
ily receives $75, to which the company adds another $75. The dues
are about 10 cents a week. Each year the association gives several
entertainments—a minstrel show, for example—the proceeds of which
go into its treasury.
N EW YORK EVENING POST.

The New York Evening Post is perhaps unique among newspapers
in the provisions made for the comfort of employees. On the eleventh
floor of its large building there are a kitchen and a lunch room, with
a separate lunch room for the women employees—the proof readers—
where lunch can be obtained at reasonable rates. The lavatories, in­
dividual lockers, and a rest room bespeak special consideration for
women employees. There are shower baths for the stereotyping and
press-room employees. On the eleventh and twelfth stories the bal­
conies, from which a fine view of New York is obtained, are used as
smoking balconies by the employees. The ventilation of the building
deserves special mention. In both the basement and the penthouse
on the roof there are huge exhaust fans to suck out foul air from the
building at the same time that fresh air is being pumped in. In the
main composing room, where the air is apt to be impure from crowd­
ing and from oil, gas, and metal fumes from the linotypes, a separate
duct through which bad air is drawn out has been placed above each
linotype machine.
The employees in the composing room and its dependencies have
organized the Evening Post Benefit Association, to which the
Post contributes half of the benefit. The dues are 10 cents a week,
and in case of need members may be assessed. It has not been neces­
sary to resort to assessments, as the funds in the treasury have been



46

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

ample to meet the needs. Sick benefits of $6 a week are paid for a
period not exceeding 13 weeks in 12 months, and no person having
drawn this benefit for 13 consecutive weeks is eligible for another
benefit until a year has elapsed. In case of death the family of the
deceased receives $150. All the officers are elected by the membership.
There are about 90 members, or as many as are eligible for member­
ship. The married men of the association have combined in a special
group within the association to pay a benefit on the death of a mem­
ber’s wife. This dub entails no charge on the unmarried members of
the association.
CURTIS PU BLISH IN G CO.

The welfare work at the Curtis Publishing Co., in Philadelphia,
the home of the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies’ Home
Journal, is in charge of a salaried welfare manager and a staff of three
assistants. As is usually the case, the manager’s work is largely with
the women employees, of whom there are about 1,000. It is considered
very necessary that there should be some one to whom the women feel
free to apply in matters affecting their work. One of her duties is
to see that the women employees secure positions to which they are
best adapted. In this way advancement is more probable. With this
end in view, each week she makes it a point to see the heads of depart­
ments to find out the standing of employees. Every employee stay­
ing one year with the company gets an increase in salary, and after a
year’s employment the women employees in the various shop depart­
ments get one week’s holiday with full pay. The office force, follow­
ing the usual custom, has two weeks’ holiday with pay.
The Curtis Building, the company’s new quarters, is the last word
in sanitary and artistic construction. Every device for the comfort
of employees has been adopted and on a scale of magnificence fairly
overwhelming. In the basement at the entrance there are spacious
cloak rooms and lockers, an umbrella checking system, and an ar­
rangement for drying damp clothing, all under the supervision of a
matron. Handsomely appointed elevators transport the women em­
ployees to the well-ventilated and light workrooms. The toilet rooms
are provided with soap and towels and are in keeping with the rest
of the building. The lunch room and cafeteria for the women em­
ployees, where hot food is served at low rates, or where employees
may eat the lunches they bring with them, is rarely beautiful. The
walls were frescoed by Maxfield Parrish. The rest room, done in
soft, lazy tones, with lounging chairs, plants, and fresh cut flowers,
more nearly resembles a hotel de luxe lobby than a place for working
girls, except that it is in better taste. Periodicals and a library of
1,500 volumes are kept here in charge of a regular librarian. About



em plo yees’ w elfare w obk .

47

1,000 books are circulated each week. A paper, Ourselves, is pub­
lished every month for the employees. The recreation room at the
top of the building, with the roof promenade, is another monument
to architectural skill and beauty. The completely appointed hospital
has a nurse constantly in attendance. In addition a physician comes
every day to overlook sanitary conditions and to examine new em­
ployees.
The younger office boys are organized into a Curtis Junior Club,
under the care of a salaried worker who promotes their dub interests.
A summer camp about 15 miles from Philadelphia is maintained by
the company, where the boys may spend their vacation and week ends.
Life in tents and open air, with boating, swimming, and other sports
to beguile the time offsets the confinement of office. In the summer of
1912, 257 boys spent week ends at Camp Tekenink and 41 boys spent
all their vacation there. Three dollars a week is charged for board
and 30 cents for the week end.
A savings fund society has been organized, to which employees
contribute 25 cents a week for each share they may hold. They may
take out as many as 20 shares, that is, save $5 a week. Members of
the society may obtain loans for not less than one month at the rate
of 6 per cent and to an amount equal to nine-tenths of what they
have paid into the fund. The society pays over 6 per cent interest
and has paid as high as 11 per cent. A vacation fund to which em­
ployees can contribute each week from 1 to 52 cents gives them the
opportunity to save for their summer holidays. Over 300 are saving
in this way.
The Curtis Mutual Benefit Society provides disability benefits and
a sum at death to defray funeral expenses. Any employee is eligible
to membership, but it is not compulsory. About one-third of the
employees belong, the number being equally divided between men and
women employees. There are four classes of membership, depend­
ent upon the health and salary of the applicant. No employee is ad­
mitted to more than one elass. Class A is open to all employees in
robust health, irrespective of earnings; class B, only to employees in
robust health earning $7 a week or more; class C is open to all em­
ployees not in robust health; and class D to employees not in robust
health earning $7 a week or more. The dues of classes A and C are
5 cents a week, and of classes B and D 10 cents. The sums received
from the unrobust are kept apart as a special fund to be used for
them, and no money may be taken from the general fund of the
society for their use. When the society’s general fund reaches $1,500
no collections are made from healthy contributors until it is reduced
to $600. The disability benefits are $2.50 and $5 a week for a period
not exceeding 13 weeks in a year for 5 and 10 cent dues, respectively,
and the death benefits $50 and $100. Members may be assessed when



48

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

the treasury demands it. The society is administered by officers
elected by the members. The welfare manager is ex officio a member
of the board. The company assists by donations and when a paid visi­
tor is necessary in investigating cases of illness bears all the expenses.
MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS.
DBPARTMBNT STORBS.
BLOOMINGDALE BROS. EMPLOYEES’ M UTU AL AID SOCIETY.

The Bloomingdale Bros. Employees’ Mutual Aid Society, of New
York, is perhaps something unique among department stores. This
association was organized in 1881 to do away with the annoying sub­
scription lists customary when misfortune befell a fellow worker.
Later the association had various bequests left it by members of the
Bloomingdale family, so that now the society is enabled to extend
larger bounty than the ordinary employees’ mutual aid society de­
pendent only on the dues of members. It is obligatory upon all em­
ployees of the company to become members of the society and to sign
an application for membership at the time of employment. The mem­
bership is divided into grades and classes. The first grade consists of
those whose weekly pay is $3 and less, with monthly dues of 10 cents.
The second grade consists of those whose pay is from $3.01 to $4.50,
with monthly dues of 30 cents, and the third of those whose weekly
pay is over $4.50, with monthly dues of 50 cents. The classes cover
members prior to February, 1900, who are no longer in the employ of
the company, but who may still receive benefits by the payment of
50 cents monthly dues. The sick benefits amount to full wages up
to $6 a week, the maximum benefit in any case, for a period not ex­
ceeding 12 weeks in 12 months. Members of the classes receive $6
a week benefit. Benefits are not paid at full rate, until after the
first week’s illness, and at half rate for an illness of one week. No
benefits are paid in cases of illness lasting less than one week. In
case of death the beneficiaries of the deceased receive $30, $40, and
$50, according to the grade. The heirs of a class member at his death
receive $50. The society employs a regular physician, who comes
daily to Bloomingdale Bros, for free consultation. The physician
must attend sick members if they live in Manhattan. I f they live
outside, the member must send a weekly certificate from the attend­
ing physician, sworn to by a notary, in order to secure the benefit.
The president of the association has power to grant a sum not over
$25 in cases of distress.
The bequests are administered by a self-perpetuating board of trus­
tees, who may, however, delegate the management of the funds to
the board of officers of the society. By this means, and by the fact
that the president of the society is ex officio a member of this board,



E M P L O Y E E S’ W E LFA R E W O R K .

49

and the secretary of the society is secretary to the board, the will of
the employees is represented. The Fanny Myers Fund is supported
by its own earnings, contributions designated for the fund and 10
per cent of all moneys received, except dues and interest on other
funds. It is used for the relief of the sick and distressed. The
other bequests are used in the same way.
The Lyman G. Bloomingdale Vacation Fund is maintained to give
female members of the society a vacation during the summer, and is
supported by contributions from the employees. Every woman em­
ployee, after being with the company, i. e,, a member of the society,
for one year, has one week’s vacation with board, wages, and trans­
portation. By means of the funds the society cares for tuberculous
members. All the officers of the society are elected by the members.
The accommodations for employees in the store are adequate. The
company, as is essential in a city of distances, when the lunch period
is short, provides a lunch room for employees where they can get
lunch at cost or eat the lunches they bring with them. There are
lockers for some of the employees but not for all. The lavatories are
in charge of a janitress.
GREENHUT-SIEGEL-COOPER CO.

The welfare work of Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Co., of New York
City, is in charge of a special secretary who devotes her entire time to
the employees’ interests. She is given large powers and stands ready
to give assistance whenever it is sought. The management has laid
special emphasis upon the fact that the secretary should not seek to
help unless employees want help; in other words, nothing should be
done to cause them to feel that their independence is being encroached
on. The secretary visits the employees in the homes in cases of illness
or distress, or at the hospitals. A small fund is placed at her dis­
posal to be used where it is most needed. At one time when the com­
pany maintained a summer cottage for the women employees, she had
charge of it, and acted as hostess. One of her chief duties is to aid
employees in increasing their efficiency. A list of employees who
stand at the foot of their department in sales is sent to her, and she
then endeavors in a tactful way to find out the cause of their short­
comings. As often happens, she learns of cases where she can be of
assistance. The secretary represents the efforts of a big corporation,
employing thousands, to get at the individual and try to bring about
personal relations such as exist in a small business between employer
and employee.
The company provides a recreation room with comfortable chairs,
books, and attractive surroundings. There is a branch of the New
93208°— Bull. 123— 13--- 1



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

York Public Library here, so that books can be procured easily.
The lavatories are in charge of a maid, who sees that they are in order.
There are lockers for the employees, one for two or three persons.
The lockers are disinfected every week. A lunch room supplies em­
ployees with lunches at cost. The company gives lunches free to their
young employees, the children who earn $3 and $3.50 a week. In many
cases it was found that these children were improperly nourished at
home, so the company decided to give them their food twice a day
if necessary. An emergency hospital with a special employee in
charge is provided. All employees who have been with the company
one year are given one week’s vacation with pay.
The Siegel-Cooper Co. Employees’ Association cares for employees
when they are ill or in distress. All employees are members of this
association, although it is not obligatory upon them. The dues are
graded according to salary, and are 10, 20, 30, and 40 cents a month.
These are collected by the paymaster of the company. A permanent
fund of $10,000 must be always in the treasury, and should it fall
below that amount the members may be assessed. The sick benefits
are half pay, except for persons who receive more than $25 a week,
in which case they receive $12.50 a week. Benefits in no case extend
over six weeks in a consecutive year and are not paid for less than
one week’s illness. Death benefits of $50 and $100 are paid to the
legal heirs of the deceased. If the deceased employee had not been a
full year with the company a fractional part only of the benefit is
paid. The board of directors may, in its discretion, make loans to
members needing such assistance, but it may not lend more than $100
in a year or $50 at one time. These are repaid in installments, de­
ducted from the borrower’s pay. They further may turn over a
special monthly allowance of $25 to the welfare secretary, to be used
by her for the benefit of members. When a member is in poor health,
needing a change, the directors, upon the recommendation of the
physician, may send him away and pay all expenses, not over $100,
however; or they may assume the hospital expenses of a sick or dis­
abled member needing treatment, up to $100. The association em­
ploys a physician to attend the members in the store free, and his
prescriptions are filled for members on the premises of the company
free of charge. He is on hand all day and may be consulted by em­
ployees. The employees elect all the officers, thus putting the or­
ganization within their hands, with one limitation, however—that
no person other than the head of a department is eligible to the office
of director.
M ARSHALL FIELD & GO.

Welfare work at Marshall Field & Co.’s large department store
in Chicago is not organized, but from tune to time there have been



em plo yee s’ w elfabe w o rk .

51

adopted such ideas as seemed desirable. Indeed, there seems to
be a very evident desire to avoid the name welfare work from fear
of its being construed as paternalistic. It became, however, very
evident that an establishment employing 5,000 women should have a
woman in the office to whom the women employees might apply, and
so about three years ago such an office was created, but without a
title. The woman in charge advises the women employees on any
matter they ask about, and makes herself useful in a thousand
little delicate adjustments.
Great care has been taken for the comfort and health of employees.
Everywhere the ventilation is good. Practically all the tenth floor
has been devoted to their interests. A splendid lunch room, where em­
ployees may bring their luncheons or be served at a very low cost,
has been provided for their use. The culinary department is under
the same manager as the tea room and restaurant for customers, so
that the quality of the food is exceptional. In the employees’ de­
partment the company endeavors simply to break even. Near by
is the rest room, attractively furnished with comfortable easy-chairs,
a pianola, and copies of excellent pictures, where the employees may
lounge during the noon hour. Every two weeks recitals or dramatic
readings are held here at noon. There is a reading room adjoining
for the use of both men and women, with periodicals, newspapers,
and several cases of books. The Chicago Public Library is made
accessible to them by the company’s signing slips for them. The
toilet room is magnificently equipped and employees have their
own lockers in a locker room. Two splendid medical rooms, one for
men and one for women, in charge of a nurse, are also provided for
those who may be taken suddenly ill. The nurse is often sent out
to look up the sick. The company has wards in one or two hos­
pitals. During illness employees receive one-half pay.
The choral society is a large organization, with 160 members.
These rehearse every week after working hours, and once a year they
give a concert, with a very pretentious program. They have ren­
dered “ The Creation,” “ King Olaf,” “ Mendelssohn’s Hymn of
Praise,” and Coleridge-Taylor’s “ Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast ”—
which may indicate the character of the organization. This society
also puts up a cup to be played for by the four baseball teams.
A two weeks’ holiday, with full pay, is given every employee who has
been with the company for a year, and one week when the employee
has been there only six months. During the summer the annual pic*
nic of both the retail and wholesale house, numbering about 8,000
persons, takes place jointly, and the baseball teams from both
branches of the business play match games. Employees are paid for
practicable suggestions and rewarded for errors detected in the com­
pany’s advertisements. They also are allowed to purchase goods at



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

special prices, which means a very considerable reduction. I f the
boys employed by the company desire to join the Y. M. C. A. the
company pays one-half of the membership fee. Women report for
duty half an hour later than the men and leave 10 minutes earlier in
the afternoon.
Of more lasting value than the welfare work in the ordinary
acceptation of the term are the efforts made by the company to train
and advance employees. A preliminary training is given applicants
before beginning work, and during the busy season a beginners’
meeting is held, to which all the new employees are sent. They are
taught by means of charts and later are examined on what they have
learned. For the regular employees there are salesmanship confer­
ences, where they are taught effective and intelligent salesmanship,
which of course ultimately increases their earning capacity. Special
care is bestowed on the younger boys and girls, the junior help, to
enable them to advance. One of the superintendents has the juniors
in charge, and the boys and men feel free to go to him at any time
with their requests and complaints, while the women and girls go
to the social secretary.
w a n a m a k e r ’s .
Wanamaker’s handsome department store, in Philadelphia, makes
many special provisions for the physical comfort of the employees.
There are lavatories—with soap and towels—in charge of a maid, for
the women employees; also, individual lockers, etc. The lunch room
provides wholesome food at moderate prices, 10 cents for a meal, and
there is also provision made for employees bringing their lunches
with them. An emergency hospital, fully equipped, in charge of a
trained nurse and a house physician constantly in attendance insures
the care of employees in case of illness or accident. By way of fur­
ther health precaution, the physician makes a physical examination
of employees.
Of the various forms of welfare work the John Wanamaker Com­
mercial Institute is the most unusual. This is the name given the
school for younger employees. It is held morning and evening, and
a staff of 25 instructors teach reading, writing, arithmetic, stenog­
raphy, correspondence, bookkeeping, commercial geography, and
law and business methods. Children under 16 years of age, cash
boys and girls and beginners, are required to attend school two hours
a day, from half past 7 to half past 9, and are taught the commonschool branches. There are about 300 children in this department.
Boys from 16 to 18 years attend evening school twice a week. They
are given their supper in the store after working hours and then go
to school. . Each year diplomas are awarded and commencement
week is a time of much ceremony. Graduating exercises are held in



em plo yees’ w elfare w o r k .

53

Egyptian hall, the magnificent auditorium in the store. The
alumnae and alumni of the school have formed associations. The
idea in starting the school was to give those children who could not
continue their education an opportunity to learn while earning their
living. The management is of the opinion that the employer owes
to the employee a social service.
Connected with the school are various organizations, like the
Wanamaker band for men and boys. There are 80 in the band,
and these are uniformed and taught at the expense of the store.
A cadet battalion of 300, uniformed also, is another feature of the
school. The children are all taught singing, calisthenics, and military
drill. A junior savings fund has been started, with nearly 2;000
accounts of the young people.
It has long been a policy of the company to give employees who
have been in the service some time a summer vacation with pay.
A camp in New Jersey, on Barnegat Bay, the Barracks, is maintained
by the store for this purpose. There is a house for the women and
army tents for the boys, and ample grounds for drilling, tennis, and
land sports of all kinds, besides the pleasures of boating, sailing,
fishing, etc. The cost of a week’s visit, including board and railway
transportation, is $3.25. The main expenses are borne by the store,
but the cadets have a camp fund, made up from the proceeds of con­
certs, entertainments, and subscriptions of friends.
The woman’s league is an educational organization for the older
women. The membership fee is 50 cents a year, which entitles the
member to join any of the score of classes. These are in dressmaking,
millinery, stenography, physical culture, dancing, etc. Regular class­
rooms have been set aside for the work. The John Wanamaker
Choral Society is an organization for all employees. The members
are taught by a trained musician. There is a library of several
thousand volumes for the employees, and a magazine, The Wana­
maker Originator, is published at irregular intervals and distributed
free among them.
The salaries of employees are advanced every six months according
to merit. A record of each employee is kept on a card for the purpose,
and at the end of six months the cards are examined and if the indi­
vidual merits it, the salary is advanced. A bonus or commission on
the sales of employees during December is given. The delivery men
receive a bonus in February, according to length of service and
rate of salary. At one time there was profit sharing among em­
ployees, but that gave way to half-yearly salary advances.
The employees have an insurance society, the Wanamaker Mutual
Insurance Association, of Philadelphia, to which any employee
may belong. There are five sections of members, graded according
to salary, from those receiving $3 a week and less up to $10 a week



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

or more. The dues range from 10 cents a week for the first section
up to 60 cents for the fifth section. The sick and accident benefits
are $1.50, $2.50, $4, $5, and $6 for the respective sections, paid for a
period not exceeding 18 weeks in 12 months. For the first week only
half of the benefit is paid. At the death of a member his legal rep­
resentative receives a sum ranging from $50 up to $200. In case of
sickness lasting longer than 13 weeks and resulting in death within 2
years, the death benefit is paid the legal representative. Employees
on the pension roll are entitled to the same benefit at death as if they
had been active members, minus the monthly dues which they would
have paid if in active service. Dues are deducted in the pay offices
from the salary of members. With the exception of the treasurer,
who is appointed by the firm, the officers of the association are all
elected by delegates from each department in turn chosen by the em­
ployees of that department. The total sick benefits disbursed in 1908
amounted to $17,237.13, and death benefits to $5,838.25, while the
receipts amounted to $26,359.10. At the end of the year there was a
balance of over $2,000 in bank.
R. H . M A C T & CO.

K. H. Macy & Co. allot much space in their large New York
department store to the comfort and well-being of their 5,000 em­
ployees. There are spacious wash rooms in charge of a matron, indi­
vidual lockers for all employees to keep their outer clothing in, a
large recreation room, lunch room, emergency hospital, library, etc.
The reception room has a number of comfortable chairs, a stage, and
a piano. Lectures on some general topic are given here once a week at
half past 8 in the morning. Various entertainments take place here
also. Near by is a completely equipped emergency hospital, with
four cots, for employees, with a nurse constantly in attendance. The
nurse has charge of the employees’ library likewise. The volumes
have been donated by the members of the company and number
nearly 1,000. A book may be taken out and kept one week. The
company employs a physician, whose duty it is to examine every
employee, so that none may be employed to menace the health of
customers and employees. Employees may also go to the physician’s
office for consultation. The lunch room is on the cafeteria plan, food
being sold at cost; thus the price of a portion of meat is 5 cents, soup
3 cents, coffee 1 cent.
The company is very liberal to employees. At Thanksgiving every
married employee receives a turkey and at Christmas the delivery
men, the victims of the rush period, are rewarded. In summer a
vacation house is opened at Central Valley, N. Y. Each employee
who has been with the company one year is given a week’s holiday with



em plo yees’ w elfabe w obk .

55

full pay, railroad transportation, and board at the vacation house.
The house is in charge of a matron. Every year a ball is given by
the employees and the company to help raise money to defray the
expenses of the house. The Mutual Aid Society owns the ground,
about 17 acres, on which the vacation house is located.
The Macy Mutual Aid Association was organized in 1885. Its
object is to provide and maintain a fund to assist members during
sickness and their dependents in case of death. All employees on
entering employment become members of the society and agree to
have dues deducted from their wages by the company paymaster.
Memberships are of four grades, according to weekly wages: The
first grade comprises employees receiving $8 a week or more; the
second, those receiving from $6 to $8 a week; the third, $4 to $6;
and the fourth, those receiving less than $1. The dues are graded
and are designated from time to time by the board of directors.
Members are not entitled to sick benefits for less than five days or
for more than eight weeks during the year. Death benefits are also
paid to whomsoever the executive committee deems the proper per­
son. The officers of the society are elected by the employees. The
deficit of the association the company meets.
GIMBEL BROS.

The welfare work of Gimbel Bros., in Philadelphia, is in charge
of a social secretary whose entire time is devoted to the work. She
is well versed in the technique of the business, having been once
an employee of the firm, and furthermore knows the business
from the employee’s standpoint. She teaches in the school of in­
struction for employees, and comes in touch with them in every
capacity—work, sickness, and play, besides organizing their enter­
tainments and clubs.
The employees have comfortable lavatories, lockers for their hats
and coats, etc. In the sub-basement there is a lunch room where
food is served on the cafeteria plan at a small cost. Employees
bringing lunches with them are also provided for here. In summer
they have luncheon on the roof garden. The roof is fitted with awn­
ings, swings, seesaws, easy chairs, etc., and flower boxes. The lunch
room is self-supporting. In the sub-basement also is the recreation
room for women employees. There are couches here where they may
rest. The emergency hospital, for customers, in charge of a regis­
tered nurse, serves for women employees also.
There are various dubs, baseball teams, and basket-ball teams for
the men and boys. An orchestra of the employees has been formed,
with a regular instructor. Entertainments are given every Friday
morning by the employees from half past 8 until 10 o’clock, with
music and recitations.



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BULLETIN* OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Gimbel Bros. Employees’ Mutual Aid Society provides sick, acci­
dent, and death benefits for its members, and in cases of extreme need
special benefits. Each year the society spends a certain sum, not
exceeding $1,000, on special benefits—assisting patients suffering
from tuberculosis to live ah outdoor life, paying rent, providing fuel,
etc. A relief committee, which cooperates with the welfare secretary
is appointed for this purpose. Great precaution is taken that the
names of persons receiving special relief shall not be known. All em­
ployees are members of the society and pay 5 or 10 cents a week,
according to whether their salary is lees or more than $15 a week.
This sum is deducted from their wages. Sick benefits are $2.50 or
$5 a week for a period not exceeding 14 weeks in a year. During the
first week of disability the benefits are one-half. At the death of a
member $50 or $100 is paid to his beneficiaries. Members contribut­
ing 5 cents a week have no voting rights. In 1907, 682 persons re­
ceived sick benefits amounting to $11,366.25 and 31 members received
nearly $650 as special relief. The death benefits paid in the same
year amounted to $1,660.50. The affairs of the society are adminis­
tered by a board of managers elected by the members. These are
usually heads of departments. Several times a year the society gives
entertainments, to which admission is charged, to swell the funds in
the treasury.
Gimbel Bros., in New York, make comfortable provision for their
employees in their handsome new store. The lavatories are hand­
somely equipped and on each floor there are individual lockers for the
persons employed on the floor. This is a new feature, for ordinarily
lockers are either in the basement or at the top of the house. There
is a commodious lunch room for employees where food is served on
the cafeteria plan at low prices. Employees who bring lunches may
eat them here also. Part of the room is for men and part for women.
There is also a recreation room, with a piano, where employees some­
times dance during the lunch hour. The emergency hospital, with
nurse in attendance, is at the service of those who are temporarily ill.
This hospital is fitted up in the most complete way. Perhaps one of
the wisest features of the welfare work is the 20 minutes’ recess
allowed women employees in the afternoon.
W IL LIA M FILENE’ S SONS CO.

The extensive welfare work of the William Filene’s Sons Co., in
Boston, differs fundamentally from the usual betterment work in that
the employer has nothing whatever to do with it. It is done entirely
through an association of employees, the Filene Cooperative Associa­
tion, of which every employee is a member. The aim of the associa­
tion, as the constitution reads, is “ to give the members a voice in their



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57

government, to create and sustain a just and equitable relation be­
tween employer and employee, to increase efficiency, and to add to
social opportunities.” Every employee has voting power. The ad­
ministrative officers of the association consist of a council, composed
of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and seven others.
These are elected by the association, to hold office for one year, and
for this purpose elections are held twice a year. A nominating com­
mittee elected by the members posts the nominations, which are then
voted on by secret ballot by the employees. The council directs all
the work of the association and makes the necessary rules and regula­
tions. Should any regulation of the council not be agreeable to the
members, 4 per cent of them can petition the council to present the
regulation to all the members to vote on. A majority vote of the
membership against a rule nullifies it. The association, through its
council, has still larger powers. The council can initiate, or amend,
or cancel a rule of the store. I f five-sixths of the council are in
favor of a rule, and it is not vetoed by the general manager, it goes
into effect within a week. In case of a veto by the store authorities,
however, a two-thirds vote of the members in a mass meeting can pass
the rule over the veto. This right was recently exercised with regard
to the store apparel of employees. The council made a rule that em­
ployees wear white and black in winter. The board of managers of
the store objected to this and wanted them to wear all black instead,
but the members upheld their council and voted over the heads of the
store management to wear white and black.
The members of the association have also the power of initiation,
amendment, or cancellation of any rule either of the council or the
store management by a two-thirds vote. In the case of veto by the
store management a two-thirds vote passes it, while in case of veto by
the council a majority vote passes it.
The council elects annually a counselor who takes the place of a
welfare secretary. She cooperates with them, making monthly re­
ports, etc., and is ex officio a member of every committee, in this way
keeping in touch with all the activities of the association. She is
paid by the association. Through its finance committee the associa­
tion administers its own finances. The Filene Co. has given the
association shares of the stock, which yield it a revenue independent
of receipts from other sources..
One of the most important features of the association is the arbi­
tration board. This "board consists of one member from each section
of the store, elected by secret ballot, and of one member from the
record office and one from the general offices of the store. The raison
d’etre of the board is to adjust any difference between an employee
and the firm, and between two employees in store matters. In case
of dismissal, when the board is appealed to and votes for reinstate­



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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

ment by a two-thirds majority, the employee is forthwith reinstated.
In any other case, such as deduction of salary, a majority vote of the
board is sufficient to make the firm execute its orders. As this mech­
anism involves getting together* a number of persons to constitute a
quorum, a smaller special arbitration board of three members may
be appointed at the request of the appellant, upon the written order
of the chairman of the regular board. The appellant names one
member, the defendant another, and the two together a third, who is
chairman. The proceedings are in due form before this special board,
and its decision*is final. Over 500 cases have come up before the arbi­
tration. board, showing that this privilege is used very freely.
The association operates a deposit and loan bureau, among its many
activities. The officers in charge of this are elected by the members.
The firm guarantees against losses and pays 5 per cent interest on
deposits, compounded semiannually. The members may deposit
sums from 5 cents upward, but not until the sum reaches $1 does it
draw interest. No fractional part of a dollar draws interest. Loans
may be made to employees* ati a rate of interest not exceeding 12 per
cent. A legal note must be given, and where the sum borrowed is
more than $10- the note must be indorsed by a responsible person or
secured either by salary assignment, or first mortgage on Boston real
estate, or the usual collateral. In no case is a note for longer than six
months accepted. This bureau expects soon to become* affiliated with
a cooperative bank, enabling employees to save by this means as well
as to borrow upon real estate. It has also acted as an insurance agent
for one of the State savings banks since the passage of the* Massa­
chusetts law in 1907 authorizing savings banks to establish an insur­
ance department.
The F. C. A. Insurance Society provides disability and death
benefits for its members. The officers are elected by the members.
There are five classes of membership with monthly dues of 25, 30,
35, 50, and 60 cents, and weekly benefits of $4, $5, $6, $8, and $10 for
a period not exceeding six weeks in twelve months. The death
benefit in every case is $50. An employee may insure in any class,
provided the benefits do not exceed the weekly salary. Members may
be assessed 10 cents in case of the death of a member and, upon twothirds vote of the members, assessed for special emergencies. An
emergency fund of $5 may be drawn upon in cases of special need
where members have already received full benefits. A visiting com­
mittee is appointed by the chairman to visit the sick and report on
theif condition. Upon leaving the employ of Filene’s a member for­
feits membership.
The firm has allotted considerable space for the comfort and
recreation of employees. There is a lunch room, a smoking room
with tables and games for men, a dancing room, a library, etc. A



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59

clubhouse committee, elected by the members, has charge of these
activities. The lunch room furnishes breakfast, lunch, and supper
on the cafeteria plan. The food is sold a little above cost, to cover
the expense. The lunch room has recently opened a department to
sell provisions and market stuffs.
All the other welfare activities are in charge of committees ap­
pointed by the president. Thus the health committee cares for the
health of employees and has charge of the rest room and medical
rooms. A registered nurse, paid by the firm, is constantly in attend­
ance to care for emergency cases. Two physicians come twice a week
that the employees may consult them about health matters at no ex­
pense to themselves. The health committee must report any insani­
tary conditions in the store to the counselor. The lecture committee
provides lectures on educational topics, the entertainment committee
has charge of social gatherings of members, and the athletic committee
tries to further athletics and gymnastics. An arrangement has been
made by which the employees have the use of the Normal School of
Gymnastics. There are basket-ball teams, classes in dancing, etc.
The publication committee got out the Echo, a store paper, which has
since been discontinued. The library committee supervises the li­
brary, the dues of which are 2 cents a week. There are several
hundred books on the shelves and a number of magazines are sub­
scribed for. To interest employees in the workings of the store and
to encourage them to think for themselves, suggestion boxes have
been placed about the building. A suggestion committee with a
representative from the firm’s office goes over the suggestions each
week and makes awards for good ones. A choral club has been or­
ganized, and it engages a regular musical instructor to train the
members. The charges are 10 cents a week.
Arrangements have been made with wholesale coal dealers by which
coal is sold to employees at less than retail prices by taking a certain
number of tons a year. The cooperative store committee, a newly
organized committee, has begun selling dry groceries to employees
at cost. Another feature of the work is to secure suitable rooms for
employees in Boston and good places for summer holidays. The
summer vacation cottage, which was formerly maintained for em­
ployees, has been supplanted by this activity. Employees may pur­
chase goods from the firm at 20 per cent discount
The cooperative association allows its members to form subsidiary
associations. The women employees have, accordingly, organized a
girls’ club, and the men employees a similar club for men, chiefly to
promote sociability, efficiency, and loyalty to the store.
There is a profit-sharing plan by which certain department execu­
tives—buyers, assistant buyers, floor superintendents, and assistant
superintendents, and executives whose work is general rather than



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

departmental—participate in merchandise profits, i. e., the profits in
selling. The corporation gets its profits in merchandise discounts,
which is a constant and arbitrary percentage applying to all pur­
chases. The plan is practically this, that after a certain fixed profit
has gone to the capital stock, any profit over and above this amount
is divided among certain executives.
The corporation has recently adopted a minimnm. wage scale. No
female employee is to receive less than $8 per week, and no male em­
ployee less than $6 for the first six months, $7 for the next six months,
and $8 if employed for one year or longer.
MAIL-ORDER HOUSBS.
SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. is beautifully situated in a large park-like
plot of green. The green sweep of lawn is so extensive that there
is room for a dozen tennis courts and two baseball diamonds.
Great care is taken in the interior arrangements of the building
for the comfort of the 9,000 employees. The offices are spacious, light,
and well ventilated. The toilet rooms are well equipped and supplied
with soap and towels. There are individual lockers for about onethird of the employees. The large dining room operated by the firm
enables the employees to get their luncheons very reasonably and
quickly. There is besides a cafeteria which is cheaper, and tables
and napkins are supplied for employees who bring their lunches with
them. The charges to employees just cover the price of food and
service. A physician is in charge of the medical department and
spends the forenoon at the building. Employees needing medical
attention are free to consult him. There is a small emergency hos­
pital or rest room, with several nurses in constant attendance. The
firm maintains a deposit station of the Chicago Public Library at
the establishment, employs a regular librarian and publishes a library
bulletin. Besides the public library books the firm has a small library
of standard fiction of its own.
As is usual where the force is chiefly clerical, the firm gives a short
summer vacation, but only to persons who have been in their employ
some time. For those who have been employed for three years, one
week’s holiday with pay is granted; while for five-year employees
two weeks are given.
For the benefit of their employees the company started an em­
ployees’ savings department, and pays 5 per cent interest com­
pounded quarterly on all savings. The employees have established
the Seroco Mutual Benefit Association, with the departmental mana­
gers of the company as officers and directors. These are indirectly
voted on, however, by the employees. The company pays for all the



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61

clerical work connected with the association. All employees under
50 years of age, in good physical condition and of good moral char­
acter, are eligible to membership after three months’ employment.
The dues are graded according to salary and range from 5 cents a
month for a weekly salary of $4.50 or less, up to 60 cents a month for
a weekly salary of $16. A sick benefit of about three-fourths the
weekly wage is paid for a period of 10 weeks after the first three
days of consecutive illness. The death benefit runs from $25 to $150,
according to salary. Where a member has been in the association
for one year, the death benefit is doubled if the treasury admits of it.
The statement for the year ending May, 1910, shows that there were
2,287 members, that $14,073.15 had been disbursed for sick benefits,
and $2,040 for death benefits.
Athletics play a large part in the welfare work. There are eight
department baseball teams, which form an interdepartment league.
During the summer months these teams have games every Saturday
afternoon on the baseball grounds of the firm. There are a dozen
tennis courts, most of them for the employees. Nets and dressing
rooms are provided. At the end of the season a track and field meet
is held.
TH OM AS M AN U FACTU RIN G CO.

The Thomas Manufacturing Co., a mail-order house of Dayton,
Ohio, employing about 100 persons, gives an annual picnic for all
the employees and their friends and at Christmas has an entertain­
ment for them, at which handsome presents are distributed. The
employees have organized the Thomanco Club, to which about 65 per
cent of them belong. The club has social meetings and dances.
During the winter months the company equipped a part of one floor
as a dining room and kitchen, and there the club served luncheon at
actual cost, covering the expense of food, rent, and service. The
dues are 25 cents a month, and are being devoted at present to pay for
a piano the club recently purchased. The company aids the club
financially in its dances. A comer of another floor of the building
is used as a rest room for the women employees. There they have
a piano and rocking chairs. There is also a cloak room for the
women employees.
PUBLIC UTILITIES.
TELEPHONE COMPANIES.
CH ICAGO TELEPH O N E CO.

The Chicago Telephone Co. lays great emphasis on the fact that
their betterment work is done solely to promote efficiency of service
to the public, and will hear nothing of the term welfare work. It
was found that very often the women employees at the switchboards



62

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

would not bring wholesome or suitable lunches with them. This
would hare its effect on the afternoon work, resulting in false calls,
wrong numbers, etc., for the patrons. The company accordingly
began serving lunches to the telephone girls, and now in nearly all
the exchanges nourishing noonday meals are served free. Where
there is no lunch, hot coffee is served. Efficiency demanded that the
women employees should rest from the monotony of switchboard
work. They work 2 hours consecutively at the boards and then are
given a rest period of 15 minutes, and at noon they have half an
hour for lunch. In order to get a complete change from work the
company provided rest rooms at the exchanges, with comfortable
chairs, couches, magazines, and books. The employees contribute 5
cents a month for books. The amount thus raised is doubled by the
company and new books are bought with it. These rooms are ex­
tremely pleasing, with attractive furniture and hangings and flower
boxes in the window. A prize is awarded by the company monthly
to the exchange making the lowest per cent of error in the service.
Often the prize is a pretty picture or a piece of furniture for the rest
room. The yards of the exchanges are turned into flower gardens,
with benches and swings, where the women may enjoy out-of-door
life. The women plant and tend the flowers themselves. All this
furnishes a pleasant change from indoor work. Some of the big
down-town exchanges have roof gardens for the same purpose. The
toilet rooms are clean and provided with towels and soap, and each
girl has an open grating locker.
The telphone school which trains the employees in the duties of the
switchboard has about 250 pupils and a number of teachers. The
course lasts four weeks, during which time the employees are paid.
Every applicant for a position must enter the training school. Before
she is accepted she is examined physically by a trained nurse, to see
that eyes and ears are in good condition to make an operator. I f she
has tuberculosis or a contagious disease she is not accepted. By this
means the company is able to protect its other employees. Lectures
on hygiene are given twice a week in the school.
Care has been taken to make the conditions in the workroom good.
The workrooms are well ventilated. The operating employees, those
at the switchboard, have high backed stools with rests for their feet.
The local exchanges are the centers of recreation. The operators
organize social clubs and give picnics, dances, and various entertain­
ments. At Christmas the exchanges send out baskets to poor fam­
ilies whom some of the operators know to be worthy.
A choral society of the women employees, numbering about 100
members, has been organized, with annual afternoon and evening
concerts, so that all the telephone force may have an opportunity of



em plo yees’ w elfare w ork .

63

hearing the concert. One year the company arranged to have the
employees visit the galleries of the Art Institute after closing hours in
the evening. On that occasion they were personally conducted ty
Chicago artists. Athletics are fostered by an annual track and field
meet with the employees of the Western Electric Co., the manufact­
uring company of telephones, on the athletic fields of the latterjaear
Chicago. The Operating Bulletin, a monthly magazine published by
the traffic department for the benefit of the operating forces, has a
circulation of 5,000. It contains matter of interest for the employees,
with information about the exchanges. Women employees are urged
to contribute to it, or make drawings. One month the cover of the
magazine was a drawing by an employee. Sometimes the prize pic­
ture awarded the exchange with the lowest percentage of errors for
the month forms the cover of the magazine. The editor of the
magazine is in charge of the social betterment work.
The Chicago Telephone Employees’ Benefit Association provides
sick, accident, and death benefits for its members, the employees of
the company. Practically any employee not over 50 years of age
may become a member. The membership is divided into 11 classes,
according to the monthly wages of employees. These range from
$22 a month up to over $90. The dues run from 20 cents a month
up to $1, according to the rate of wages of the member. There is
besides an initiation fee of 50 cents or $1. Benefits amounting to
one-half the daily wage are paid for sickness covering five suc­
cessive days. Disability benefits are not paid for longer than 26
weeks in a year. Where a member is permanently disabled, however,
the board of trustees may authorize an extension to 52 weeks. The
death benefits are from $60 to members of the first class up to $300
for members of the eleventh class. The association is managed by
a board of trustees made up of the president of the Chicago Tele­
phone Co., ex officio chairman of the board, and 12 trustees. Six
of these are chosen by the directors of the telephone company and six
are the representatives of the employees, chosen by the members of
the association through their delegates. The board of trustees ap­
points a manager, who has charge of all the business of the associa­
tion. The telephone company contributes an annual amount equal
to 50 per cent of the dues and initiation fees paid in each year, and
accordingly has the custody of the fund, guaranteeing its safety
and paying 4 per cent interest. Members may appeal from the de­
cision of the manager to the trustees. The statement for the fiscal
year ending September, 1910, shows an average number of members
of 4,163, with $43,009.15 receipts and $32,536.35 disbursements;
$22,613.65 was paid out in sick benefits for 1,362 claims, $4,633.85
for accident benefits for 270 claims, and $1,455 for death benefits.



BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO.

The New England Telephone & Telegraph Co., and associated
with it the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., conducts the same
sort of work for the employees as the Bell telephone companies, else­
where. like the Chicago company, the term welfare work is con­
sidered objectionable, and efficiency work is substituted for it.
It is recognized by the company that its dependence for good
service on the human machine makes it the starting point of its
work. It is of prime importance that the operators—the women
at the switchboards—must not be overloaded, i. e., have too many
calls to answer at a time. Records are kept which enable the com­
pany to ascertain how heavy a load an operator can carry. The load
is kept so low that it can be increased 25 per cent. Again, the oper­
ators have a 15-minute relief period in the forenoon and again in
the afternoon to freshen them that they may give better service.
Good service is emphasized, and a standard is set for each exchange.
A healthy rivalry between the exchanges is fostered. A careful in­
dividual record of each operator is kept to assist in promoting her.
The comfort of the women employees—the operators—is cared for
with rest rooms and lunch rooms. The employees are encouraged to
have a personal interest in the rest rooms, and at many of the ex­
changes in New England the women have even given some of the
furnishings themselves. At Salem the rest room had no pictures,
so the operators sold soap and with the proceeds bought six large
pictures, standard works of art. They bought curtains and flowers,
a rug, magazines, etc., to make the room pleasing. The rooms are
well furnished with mission furniture, with easy chairs and couches.
Many of the current periodicals are subscribed for, and in Boston in
many of the exchanges there is a station of the public library. The
lavatories are spacious and clean and individual towels are supplied.
The employees have individual lockers also in which to keep their
outer clothing. A matron has charge of the rest room and lavatory.
In the large exchanges a separate lunch room is provided, but in
smaller exchanges the tables for lunch are located in the rest room.
Cooking utensils and dishes and the services of the matron are
given free. The company furnishes coffee and cocoa free through­
out cold weather. The girls get their own food and make their
arrangement with the matron, who is not allowed to charge any­
thing for her work. Each matron is supposed to have had training
in nursing, so that she can help care for an emergency case. In the
largest exchange in Boston there is a fully equipped hospital room.
In the other departments of the telephone company a lunch room is
provided for the clerks, with coffee and cocoa free.
Like the other telephone companies in large cities, a school is main­
tained to train new operators in the mysteries of the switchboard.



em plo yee s’ w elfabe w o rk .

65

When it is known that about one-third of the operating force leaves
each year, it is apparent how important the school is. The course
lasts four weeks and each week a class is graduated. About 70 pupils
are in the school at one time. After a week’s trial the physician, a
woman, examines the physicial condition of each student, particularly
the condition of the blood, and in this way undesirable applicants are
kept out, the chances being that if the applicant’s health is poor
she will not make a good operator. The physician also lectures on
hygiene. Like the exchanges, the school has rest and lunch rooms
and hot cocoa is given the pupils.
The company tries to encourage economy among its employees.
The Stamp Savings Society of Boston has a station in many of the
large offices, the telephone company giving the necessary clerical
work. The Stamp Savings Society is a separate organization, inde­
pendent of the company. It is not a savings jpank, but an agency
for the deposit of small sums. No interest is paid, but the idea is
that with a small sum saved in this way the depositor will be en­
couraged and more likely to open an account in a regular savings
bank.
The employees have organized the Telephone Employees’ Associa­
tion of New England, with a two-fold aim—to promote social inter­
course and knowledge of the telephone and to provide disability and
death benefits. The members are divided into two classes, A and B,
according to their interest. Only male employees of the company
and its allied companies are eligible to membership. The dues are 25
cents a month for members of class A, the social side, and for class
B from 50 cents up to $1, according to the member’s age. Members
of class B receive a disability benefit of $10 a week for a period
not exceeding 13 weeks in a year. A committee of members ap­
pointed by the secretary investigates each case. At death the bene­
ficiaries receive $200. The members elect their own officers. In 1909
there were 802 members of class A and 1,263 members of class B.
Class B had a revenue of $15,876, including the company’s annual
contribution of $1,500. Tfie disbursements for sick benefits amounted
to $6,921.91 and for death benefits $2,400. The amount disbursed
for benefits was paid out to 134 persons, averaging about $51 for each
person.
Besides this organization, there is the Telephone Society of New
England, purely educational in its aim, numbering 500 members.
Its membership is made up entirely of men, heads of departments,
higher clerks, etc. The society meets once a month, when a paper on
some subject connected with telephoning is read.
The company publishes a monthly magazine, Telephone Topics,
for the employees, just as in Chicago.
93208°—Bull. 123—13----- 5



66

BULLETIN 01? THE BUKEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.
S W

TOKK TELEPIIOKE CO.

The welfare work done by the New York Telephone Co. is along
the same lines as that in Boston and Chicago. The women employees
of the traffic department have a school, medical examination,
retiring rooms, and the lunch rooms with tea, coffee, and cocoa free,
just as elsewhere. There is also the New York Telephone Co.
Employees Mutual Benefit Society for male employees over 18 years
of age. The company contributes one dollar for every dollar of dues
the members pay. This same form of society the Long Island and
New Jersey divisions of the New York Telephone Co. have organized.
Sick, accident, and death benefits are paid. The New York Tele­
phone Society is an organization for men interested in the scientific
and commercial aspects of telephoning. It corresponds to the New
England Telephone Society. The New York company publishes
every month The Telephone Review, containing matter of interest
to employees.
MISCBLLANBOUS.
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSTTBANCE CO.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.’s building in New York is
fitted with many comforts and conveniences for the 3,000 clerks.
There are suitable lavatories, individual lockers, and large dining
rooms for men, women, and officers. Here at noon the women clerks
get a hot lunch, in the main free. The large auditorium, which the
women clerks are allowed to use for a recreation room, has a piano in
it. There is a gymnasium completely equipped, with a physical direc­
tor in attendance every afternoon. Once a week the gymnasium is
reserved for the women clerks. Also, part of the roof of the building
is used for recreation by the employees. In the medical division of
the company’s work a retiring room is provided, to which any emer­
gency case among the clerks needing medical attention is brought.
The company maintains a large library in’ the building, not only for
its own employees, but for those of the other tenants of the building.
A librarian is in charge of the 5,000 books, and each month a bulletin
is published announcing accessions to the library. Every employee
who has been with the company a year is given two weeks’ vacation
each year.
The company’s most important welfare work is the Metropolitan
Staff Savings Fund, to which it contributes half as much as the indi­
vidual depositor saves. Any employee, after one year, whose earn­
ings are not in excess of $3,000 a year, may become a depositor in the
fund, but no employee may deposit in one year more than 5 per cent




em plo yee s’ w elfare w o rk .

67

of his earnings. Should a depositor withdraw his savings—if he
were leaving the company’s employ, for example—he is hot entitled
to the company’s contribution, but only to his savings with 3 per cent
interest. Should an employee die in the service! of the company, or
become incapacitated through old age or ill health, or after 20 years’
continuous service wish to retire, he then receives all of the amount
standing to his credit, including the company’s contributions and
forfeitures up to the close of the last fiscal year, plus any subsequent
deposits and interest thereon at 3 per cent. Should a depositor leave
and forfeit his right to the company’s contributions, the contribution
is divided among the depositors of his class according to the amounts
standing to their credit with the company. Thus the forfeit of a
superintendent, assistant superintendant, agent, supervisor, or in­
spector is credited to depositors who are superintendents, etc. Simi­
larly, the forfeit of a member of the clerical force is credited to
clerks. I f the withdrawing depositor has been a depositor for less
than five years the company receives a percentage of its subscription,
graded according to the number of years, up to five years. In the
home office in 1910, 1,900 persons were depositors, while there were
5,500 outside depositors. In December, 1909, there were $974,176.80
in the fund. The fund is administered by trustees appointed by the
board of directors of the company.
The advantages of the savings fund are that it combines the bene­
ficial features of a savings bank, inducing habits of thrift, life insur­
ance, and a lump pension after 20 years’ continuous employment.
COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO.

The Commonwealth Edison Co., of Chicago, which furnishes elec­
tricity for light and power, has an employees’ savings fund. Any
employee who has been six months in the company’s service may de­
posit in the fund either 3 or 5 per cent of his monthly salary. In
order to obtain 6 per cent interest, compounded semiannually, the
deposits must be left for five years, unless the depositor leaves the
company’s service. I f for any reason the depositor leaves or with­
draws his savings within that time, only 4 per cent interest is paid
on the deposits. I f an employee fails to make the payments—3 or 5 per
cent of his monthly salary—only 3 per cent interest is allowed on his
deposits. At the expiration of a year any employee may change the
amount of his monthly deposit from 3 or 5 per cent of his earnings,
as he chooses. About 1,500 of the 3,000 employees belong to the fund.
At the Edison Building, where the office work is done, there is a
library of several thousand volumes—technical and scientific—for
the employees. A librarian is in attendance and gets out a weekly




68

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

digest of important articles in current periodicals to aid the men in
their reading. The library is also a station of the Chicago Public
Library. There are branch libraries at two of the company’s sub­
stations. A magazine—The Edison Round Table—is published for
the employees and distributed among them.
The company has for several years awarded night-school scholar­
ships to employees who came up to the requirements set—at least
one year’s service with a good record, sufficiently good health to
undertake night-school work, studious habits, etc. The scholarship
covers the cost of tuition for the course, which must bear relation to
the employee’s work for the company. There are several clubs organ­
ized for study among the employees. In the construction department
the wiremen have a study circle, and in the engineering department
there is a “ Get Together Club ” in which papers on scientific subjects
are read and discussed.
The women employees are given an annual outing or picnic, to
which each employee may invite a guest. The expenses are borne
by the company. There is a rest room for them in the Edison Build­
ing. There are bowling teams, a baseball team, etc., supported by
the company. All the indoor employees are physically examined by
the company physician. The company has adopted the merit system
for the employees earning less than $2,000 a year. Every three
months they are rated according to their attendance, punctuality, per­
formance of duty, etc., so many points being allowed for each head.
A record is kept of the marking, which is considered by the committee
on changes in the pay roll.
The Quarry and Fisk Street power houses of the company have
considered the comfort of the 409 men employees in various ways.
There are shower baths and wash rooms, a dining room where food is
sold at cost, and an assembly or lounging room with periodicals.
EDISON ELECTRIC ILLU M IN ATIN G CO.

The Edison Electric Illuminating Co., of Boston, carries on a cer­
tain amount of Welfare work at present and contemplates extending it
in a service building to be erected in the near future. The company is
extremely liberal to employees in granting vacations and sick-leave
privileges. A social club of employees assists its disabled members
when necessary. The members contribute $1 a year and the com­
pany makes a donation. A permanent fund is thus created, out of
which special appropriations are made to disabled members. There
is an assembly room or small auditorium in the building in which
lectures on scientific subjects are held for the employees. The com­
pany expends quite a large sum for these lectures.




em plo yee s’ w elfare w o r k .

69

NIAGARA FALLS POWER CO.

The Niagara Falls Power Co. and its allied companies, including
the Canadian Niagara Power Co., have an employees’ beneficial asso­
ciation. The companies agreed to contribute each month a sum equal
to the dues of the employees. The initiation dues are $2 and each
member contributes 50 cents a month for the first 18 months that
he belongs to the association, and after that period 25 cents a month
unless the funds in the treasury fall too low to allow it. When the
funds are below $1,000 all the members must pay 50 cents a month.
When the treasury contains $2,000, old members contribute only 25
cents a month. The dues are deducted from the wages of members
by the company. Members are paid sick or disability benefits for a
period not exceeding 26 weeks in one year, at the following rates:
For the first entire week, $7.
For the following 12 weeks, $1 a day, provided there is more than
$500 in the treasury, otherwise $5 a week
For the next 13 weeks, $3.50 a week.
No benefits are paid for illness lasting less than one week. In case
of the death of a member, his family receives $100. All the officers
are elected by the members. A sick committee of four members visits
members who are ill and investigates all claims for relief.
The company appropriates some of the receipts from the admission
fees charged visitors to the power houses to the employees’ associa­
tion. Other appropriations from this same source are made to endow
a bed in the Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital for the use of disabled
and sick employees and to other local hospitals.
At one time the company laid off on its lands a model industrial
village called Echota. The houses had lawns in front of them and
were lighted with electricity and were rented to employees at very
low rates, lower than elsewhere. The company would also sell homes
to employees who desired it. Of late the policy has been to sell the
houses for homes.
At the beginning of 1911 the company’s pension system became
operative. Every employee on attaining the age of 65, who has been
10 years in its employ, may be pensioned. Employees on reaching
50 years of age, who have been continuously in the service for 15
years and have become unfitted for any position, may be pensioned.
The annual pension allowance is 1£ per cent for each year of service
of the highest amount of salary received by the beneficiary within
the past 10 years. In no case, however, is the pension to be less than
$20 a month, or greater than $100. I f the company sees fit the
pension rate may be reduced. Leave of absence, suspension for disci­
pline, or temporary suspension due to reduction of force does not




70

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

affect continuity of service. The acceptance of a pension does not
debar the recipient from engaging in business. Persons suing
the company for damages because of personal injury within three
years of the date of retirement are not entitled to a pension. The
pension system is administered by the executive committee of the
directors.
RAILWAYS.
U N IO N PACIFIC RAILROAD CO.

The Union Pacific Railroad Co. pensions employees on all the rail­
way lines it operates. All officers and employees on reaching 70 years
of age are retired and those who have been in the service 20 years
receive a pension. Certain classes of employees, such as locomotive
engineers and firemen, conductors, flagmen, brakemen, train bag­
gagemen, yardmasters, switchmen, those engaged in the actual run­
ning of the trains, may be retired earlier, at 65 years, and after 20
years’ service pensioned. Officers and male employees who become
permanently disabled after 25 years of service may be retired and
pensioned, and women employees after 20 years of service. Officers
and employees between 61 and 70 years of age who have become in­
capacitated may be retired and pensioned. Disabled and incapaci­
tated persons under 70 years of age are, of course, subject to a physical
examination. Continuous employment is the basis in reckoning the
length of service. Leave of absence, suspension, dismissal, followed
by reinstatement within the year, or temporary stoppage of employ­
ment because of reduction of the force, does not affect the continuity
of service. The pension rate is 1 per cent of the average monthly
earnings of the last 10 years before retirement for each year of serv­
ice. Thus, 40 years of service is remunerated with 40 per cent of the
last ten years’ average earnings. A pension fund of $100,000 is set
aside, with yearly additions of $50,000 if necessary. Should this sum
not prove sufficient the rate of pension is to be proportionately re­
duced.
At the close of 1909 there were 531 persons on the pension roll.
With the adoption of the pension plan an age limit for new em­
ployees was set. No new person inexperienced in railway work over
35 years of age is employed except where the work requires profes­
sional qualifications. Pensioners may engage in other work not preju­
dicial to the interests of the'company. A board of pensions, con­
sisting of certain executive officers of the railway, administers the
2>ension fund subject to the approval of the president. From its
decision there is no appeal.
A system of railway clubs is in operation for the employees. These
are located at convenient points for lay-overs. They have recreation




EMPLOYERS’ WELFARE WORK.

71

rooms, libraries, billiard rooms, and baths, and bedrooms renting at a
nominal figure. At some of the clubs restaurants are attached. A
hospital fund is administered by the company out of which medical
aid is supplied to employees, who are required to become members
and to contribute 50 cents a month. In addition to caring for the sick
the fund pays a death benefit of $50.
ATCH ISO N , TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILW AY CO.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. has equipped a
large number of reading rooms and clubhouses, about 18 in all, along
its lines. These are usually located at the points where employees
have their long lay-overs. Some of these buildings are very commo­
dious and handsome. In some there are sleeping rooms and in a few
cases restaurants. The rooms are rented to employees at 25 cents a
night. The newer buildings are equipped with pool and billiard
tables, an auditorium, shower and tub baths, etc., all the requirements
of a complete clubhouse. The reading rooms are in charge of a
superintendent of reading rooms whose entire time is devoted to this
work. The company’s motive in instituting this work is to surround
the employees with educating influences; to develop them and in­
crease efficiency. As the motto of the reading room runs: “ Give a
man a bath, a book, and an entertainment that appeals to his mind
and hopes by music and knowledge, and you have enlarged, extended,
and adorned his life; and as he becomes more faithful to himself he
is more valuable to the company.”
A monthly magazine is published for the 60,000 employees and dis­
tributed gratis among them. The company has three apprenticeship
schools, one each at Newton, Topeka, and Los Angeles, with a.scholarship at Armour Institute in Chicago.
The company began pensioning employees in 1907. All employees
who have been in the service for 15 years on reaching 65 years of
age may be pensioned, or employees who become permanently in­
capacitated in the service of the company. No employee, however, shall
receive a pension who shall make or enforce a claim against the rail­
way for damages because of injury or accident within three years
prior to the date when he is to be retired. With the pension sys­
tem came an age limit for persons taken into the service. No person
who has been taken into the company’s employ at 50 years of age or
older shall be eligible to a pension. No pension less than $20 or
more than $75 a month is allowed. For each year of service there
is allowed a pension of 1£ per cent of the highest average monthly
pay of the employee during any consecutive 10 years of employment
up to $50 and three-fourths of 1 per cent of any excess of such




72

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS,

average monthly pay over $50. In 1910 there were over 200 em­
ployees on the pension roll. The pension fund is administered
by a board of pensions appointed by the president and acting during
his pleasure. It is distinctly understood that the company does not
confer any contractual right to a pension, but reserves the right to
discharge any employee when it sees fit.
INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT CO.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Co., of New York City, main­
tains as their greatest welfare work a voluntary relief department
for their 10,000 employees, and guarantees the fulfillment of all the
obligations. It takes charge of the department, pays all its expenses,
and is responsible for the safe keeping of the funds. Sick, accident,
and death benefits are paid to such of the employees as contribute, it
being optional with them whether they shall join. As a matter of
f&ct, about 5,700 men, or 57 per cent of the employees, belong. Any
employee not over 45 years of age, upon passing a satisfactory physi­
cal examination, may belong. There are three classes of member­
ship, dependent on the monthly earnings of employees, the first class
for employees at any rate of pay, the second for those receiving $35
or more a month, and the third for those receiving $75 or more. The
first class pays 75 cents dues a month and receives after the first
week sick or accident benefits of 50 cents a day, the second pays
$1.50 per month and receives $1 a day, and the third pays $3 per
month and receives $2 a day. The benefits extend until the dis­
abled member has recovered. For the first 52 weeks they are at the
full rate, and after that at half rate. A member after drawing sick
benefit for 52 weeks, who is declared to be able to return to work by
the medical examiner, must work at least 13 weeks before again draw­
ing benefits at the full rate. Should he become disabled before 13
weeks have elapsed, he receives benefit at half rate. In the event of
death, the beneficiary of the deceased receives $250 for members of
the first class, $500 for members of the second class, and $1,000 for
the third. Members are allowed to take out additional death bene­
fits double the original benefit by payment of a small monthly sum
dependent on the age at which it is taken. Contributions or dues are
deducted from wages and are paid in advance. The acceptance of
benefit for injury or death operates as a release of all claims for
damages against the company.
The table following gives light on the various rates.




73

EMPLOYERS* WELFARE WORK.

CONTRIBUTIONS AND BENEFITS OF EACH CLASS OF MEMBERS OF THE RELIEF
DEPARTMENT.
First
class.

Second
class.

Third
class.

Monthly pay................................................................................................
<0
(>)
(8)
Contribution per month:
$0.75
C la s s ....:..............................................................................................
$1.90
$3.00
Additional death benefit, equal to death benefits ol class—
.30
1.20
Taken at not over 45 years of age....................................................
.60
.45
.90
1.80
Taken at over 45 years and not over 60 years of age.......................
1.20
2.40
Taken at over 60 years of age..........................................................
.60
Disablement benefits»per day, including Sundays and holidays:
AccidentFirst 52 weeks..................................................................................
.50
1.00
2.00
After 52 weeks..................................................................................
.25
.50
1.00
SicknessAfter first 6 days and not longer than 52 weeks..............................
1.00
2.00
.50
After 52 weeks..................................................................................
.25
.50
1.00
Death benefits:
For class.................................................................................................
250.00
500.00 1,000.00
Additional that may be taken...............................................................
1,000.00
250.00
* 1Any rate.

2$35 or more.

*$75 or more.

The administration of the department is in charge of a superintendant and an advisory committee of seven. This committee provides
for representation of the members in that three members are elected
by the Eastern and Western divisions of the Manhattan Railway
lines and the Subway division. Each division chooses one member.
In 1910 there were 5,687 members, and during the year over
$68,000 had been disbursed for sick, accident, and death benefits,
while over $78,000 had been received from contributions. The con­
tributions of members very adequately cover all disbursements.
At the terminals the company has constructed for the men build­
ings equipped with reading and smoking rooms and recreation and
pool rooms. There are exceptional toilet facilities and shower baths.
Lunch rooms also are operated, and food is furnished employees at
considerably less cost than they can obtain it elsewhere.
EXPRESS.
WELLS, FARGO & CO.

The Wells, Fargo & Co. has instituted a pension system for its
employees throughout the country. All employees and officers on
reaching 70 may be retired, and if they have been 25 years in the serv­
ice pensioned; officers and employees over 60 years of age who have
been 25 years in the service and have become incapacitated may be
retired and pensioned. The pension allowance is 1 per cent for each
year of service of the average monthly earnings during the last 10
years preceding retirement; thus in any event a minimum of 25 per
cent of wages. The company has made a rule that no person over 35
years of age who is inexperienced in the business shall be employed.




500.00

74

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

The administration of the pension department is in charge of a
board consisting of the managers of the Atlantic, Central, and
Pacific departments, the general auditor, and the cashier of the bank
at San Francisco. Since the system was started, in 1903, 47 persons
up to 1910 had been pensioned; in 1910 there were 30 on the
roll. The maximum pension paid amounted to $288.75 and the
minimum $12.85.
The company has also started a system of libraries for employees
in the various departments. In the Atlantic department there is a
library of 5,100 volumes at Jersey City, called the Wells-Fargo
Atlantic Library Association. The library is self-supporting, the
members contributing 10 cents a month. The company at first
doubled their contributions, but that is no longer necessary. Now
it gives the space, the employees buying books and paying the libra­
rian’s salary. The company is liberal in various ways. At Thanks­
giving, employees who have been in the company’s services six months
are given turkeys. If an employee wants to join the Y. M. C. A., the
company pays half of the fee.
The employees at Jersey City, New York, and Brooklyn have a
benefit association paying disability and death benefits. The dues
are 1 per cent of the monthly salary and weekly benefits are 20 per
cent of the monthly salary. Thus, a member earning $15 a month is
assessed 15 cents a month and receives $3 a week. Members earning
$50 and over are assessed 50 cents and receive $10 weekly. Members
receiving less than $40 a month have no voting rights. Sick benefits
run for a period not exceeding 26 weeks in a year, and no benefits are
paid for disability lasting less than one week. Members of two years’
standing leaving the employment of the company may still retain
membership in the association by paying the highest assessment. In
case of death the member’s family receives $100, and upon the death
of a member’s wife he receives $50, and upon the death of a child
under 15 years of age $25. The administration of the society is
through officers elected by the members. There are similar societies
throughout the West. In Chicago the dues are 50 cents a month and
benefits $1 a day for a period not exceeding six months, and death
benefits are $50. Not over 25 per cent of the employees are members
of the association in the West.
HOTEL.
HOTEL ASTOE.

The Hotel Astor, in New York City, employs about 800 persons, 400
of whom are women. The women sleep in the building and are
quartered in dormitories, as many as 30 persons in some instances
sleeping in one room. Where the scrub women sleep the beds are



em plo yee s’ w elfare

WOBK.

75

double deckers of white iron with comfortable springs. One person
sleeps above the other with about 2 or 2 feet of space between the
-J
top of the lower mattress and the springs of the bed above. There
are in the rooms wooden-bottomed chairs—not rocking-chairs—and
stationary washstands. Clothes are hung around the walls on pegs
with perhaps a shelf above for hats. Some of the rooms occupied by
the maids, who represent a higher step in the social scale, had white
iron grating lockers, and the beds were ordinary single iron beds.
Everywhere the sheets were changed once a week and in summer
twice. The rooms all had outside windows, but no means of darken­
ing them. This was noticeable in the case of scrub women, who
begin work at 2 a. m., and have to sleep during the day. Com­
fortable bathrooms with porcelain-lined tubs and lavatories were
conveniently near. For the women employees there is a special
laundry with the most modem appliances. The servants are fed from
a special kitchen. There are several dining rooms for the various
social grades of those employed. Thus the maids do not dine in the
same room with the laundresses and charwomen, nor the captains
in the hotel dining rooms with the waiters. The tables are usually
long, magnified benches with scoured tops and the seats are benches.
There is no sitting room for the servants nor are they allowed to
receive any company, as the hotel, like any other big industry, could
not take on the added responsibility which the presence of visitors
would incur. The servants seek their pleasure and recreations out­
side the hotel. There is a house physician, who attends sick servants
in the house as well as guests.
CONCLUSION.

The sphere of welfare work would appear very definitely marked.
Where the standard of living of employees is low, where illiteracy is
prevalent, where an increase in wages fails to call forth increased in­
dustry on the employees’ part, but merely means idleness and stopping
work until the surplus is spent, where shiftlessness and extravagance
are common characteristics, the employer’s efforts to better such condi­
tions are welcomed. Any agency of improvement is highly desirable.
Again, in localities that are rapidly becoming industrialized and ceas­
ing to be agricultural, during the period of transition before public
opinion has met changed conditions with suitable laws, the employer
with a lively sense of his social duties may well undertake in his
capacity as employer to create better standards. In all these in­
stances, however, along with the welfare work in his own establish­
ment, he might show a further recognition of his obligation? to
society by trying to crystallize the higher standards in his own mill
or factory through legal enactment and not by opposing the passage
of laws which tend to secure these benefits for ail workingmen.



76

BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

It is manifestly absurd to claim that .employers’ welfare work
may lead to industrial feudalism. The general mobility of labor,
essential to modern industrial conditions, precludes the possibility of
permanent personal relations between employer and employed. The
effects of general education and political democracy in developing
the individual’s self-consciousness will prevent paternalism.1
The sphere of welfare work must not be confounded with that of
legislation nor should it be used as a means of retarding wise labor
laws. If it should have this effect and make workroom conditions,
the safeguarding of machinery, or the prevention of child labor and
night work for women dependent on the employers’ kindliness or
sympathy, its effect becomes at once deleterious instead of beneficial.
Sanitary conditions within the factory should be a legal obligation.
The following statement from a well-known philanthrophic society
actively pushing welfare work is not likely to clear up the distinction
between the employer’s sphere and that of the State.
“ The beginning of all welfare work must be directed toward meet­
ing the pressing necessities for the physical well-being of employees
in their place of work. These most pressing needs are provisions for
cleanliness, pure drinking water, adequate toilet rooms, ventilation,
light, separate lockers for outdoor clothing, and dressing rooms.”
These are clearly not matters which should be left to the humanity
or altruism of the employer. They are things which concern the
welfare of society as a whole, and should be under the direct super­
vision of the State. That these needs of employees are under the
protection of the State is, of course, shown by the large and con­
stantly increasing body of labor laws affecting hours of labor, nightwork for minors and women, sanitation, humidity, air space and
ventilation of factories, wash rooms, dressing rooms in foundries,
seats for women employees, and numberless other working conditions.
Indeed, it is safe to predict that the time is not far distant when
much of present-day welfare work will be a requirement. This
tendency has recently been amply illustrated in the case of employ­
ers’ compensation to workingmen for accidents, a conspicuous fea­
ture of welfare work. Three States have made either insurance or
compensation in especially hazardous or dangerous trades compul­
sory, while eight more have made compensation or insurance elective,
in some instances in all industries. While the laws leave it optional
with employers to make compensation, if they do not elect to do so,
the customary defenses of negligence, fellow servants’ negligence, and
assumption of risk are abrogated so that the law will be compulsory
in effect.
1 Philippovich, Grundriss der politichen Oekonomie, V ol. II, p. 196.




INDEX.
Accident and sickness benefits. (See Benefit funds or associations, etc.)
Page.
American Woolen Co., Lawrence, Mass., welfare work of________________________26, 27
Amusements and entertainments.
(See Recreation for employees, welfare work
looking to.)
Astor Hotel, hotel company, New York City, welfare work o f____________________ 74, 75
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., welfare work of______________________ 71, 72
Athletic, musical, and theatrical clubs. (See Recreation for employees, welfare
work looking to.)
Baths. ( See Comfort of employees, welfare work looking to.)
Benefit funds or associations affording relief in cases of accident, sickness, disa­
bility, or death:
Bloomingdale Bros___________________________________________________________ 48, 49
Brown & Sharpe. Manufacturing Co_________________________________________ 9,1 0
Chicago Telephone Co________________________________________________________
63
Cleveland Hardware Co_______________________________________________________
8
Cleveland Twist Drill Co____________________________________________________
7, 8
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago__________________________________________ 67, 68
Curtis Publishing Co_________________________________________________________ 47,48
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., Boston------------------------------------------------------68
Forbes Lithograph Co________________________________________________________
45
General Electric Co__________________________________________________________
24
Gimbel B ro s___________________________________ •
_____________________________
56
Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper C o ___________________________________________________
50
H. J. Heinz Co-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34
Interborough Rapid Transit Co_______________________________________________72, 73
International Harvester Co__________________________________________________ 16-19
Joseph & Feiss Co___________________________________________________________
31
Lowe Bros. Co________________________________________________________________
33
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co_____________________________________________ 66, 67
National Biscuit Co__________________________________________________________ 36, 37
National Cash Register Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 42, 43
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co_____________________________________
65
New York Evening Post______________________________________________________45, 46
69
Niagara Falls Power Co____________________________________________________
New York Telephone Co______________________________________________________
66
R. H. Macy & Co____________________________________________________________
55
Sears, Roebuck & Co_______________________________ _________________________ 60, 61
Sherwin-Williams Co__________________________________________________________
32
Shredded Wheat C o __________________________________________________________ 85, 36
Solvay Process Co___________________________________________________________
39
Thomas G. Plant Co_________________________________________________________
40
United Shoe Machinery Co___________________________________________________
11
Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co___________________________________________
11
Wanamaker’s _________________________________________________________________ 53, 54
Wells, Fargo & Co-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------74
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co___________________________________ 22, 23
William Filene’s Sons Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------58
Bloomingdale Bros., New York City, welfare work o f_____________________________ 48,49
Bonus systems:
Huyler’s ______________________________________________________________________
38
Lowney Chocolate Co_________________________________________________________
37
Solvay Process Co___________________________________________________________
39
Wanamaker’s _________________________________________________________________
53
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co., Providence, R. I., welfare work o f--------------- 9 ,1 0
Cafeteria. (See Comfort of employees, welfare work looking to.)
Chamber o f Commerce, Cleveland, Ohio, activities of, in welfare work____________ 28, 29
Chicago Telephone Co., welfare work or___________________________________________ 61-63
Classes for study. (See Education o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Cleveland Hardware Co., Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work o f________________________
8, 9
Cleveland Twist Drill Co., Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work of______________________
7, 8
Clothing factories, Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work in______________________________ 28-31
Clubs,^ athletic, social, etc. (See Recreation for employees, welfare work lookComfort of employees, welfare work looking t o :
American Woolen Co_________________________________________________________ 26, 27
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co-----------------------------------------------------71
Bloomingdale B ro s ___________________________________________________________
49
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co___________________________________________
9
Chicago Telephone C o ________________________________________________________ 61, 62
Cleveland Hardware Co_______________________________________________________
8, 9
Cleveland Twist Drill Co_____________________________________________________
7




77

78

INDEX.

Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking to— Concluded.
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago---------------------------------------------------------------68
------------- 46, 47
Curtis Publishing C o -------------------------------------------------------------------------•
Forbes Lithograph C o ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------44
General Electric Co-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------23,24
Gimbel Bros__________________________________________________________________ 55,56
Gorham Manufacturing C o -----------------------------------------------------------------------------43
Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49, 50
H. Black & Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29, 30
H. J. Heinz Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33, 34
Hotel Astor, New York City-----------------------------------------------------------------------------74,75
Huyler’s----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- 37,38
Interborough Rapid Transit Co_______________________________________________
73
International Harvester Co___________________________________________________ 14,15
Joseph & Feiss Co____________________________________________________________ 30, 31
Lowe Bros. C o ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32, 33
Lowney Chocolate Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
Marshall Field & Co__________________________________________________________ 50, 51
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co----------------------------------------------------------------------66
National Biscuit C o ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------36
National Cash Register Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 41, 42
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co--------------------------------------------------------64
45
New York Evening Post---------------------------------------------------------------------------------New York Telephone Co_______________________________________________________
66
Pocasset Worsted Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27,28
R. H. Macy & Co---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------54
Sears, Roebuck & Co__________________________________________________________
60
Sherwin-Williams C o --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------31
Shredded Wheat C o -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34, 35
Solvay Process Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38, 39
Talbot Mills__________________________________________________________________ 25,26
Thomas G. Plant Co--------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- 39, 40
Thomas Manufacturing Co___________________________________________________
61
United Shoe Machinery Co___________________________________________________
11
Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co--------------------------------------------------------------------10,11
Wanamaker’s _________________________________________________________________
52
Westinghouse Air Brake Co-----------------------------------------------------------------------------19
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co------:----------------------------------------------22
Western Electric Co----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24,25
William Filene’s Sons Co------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------56-59
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago, 111., welfare work o f-------------------------------------- 67,68
Curtis Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Pa , welfare work o f----------------------------------------46-48
Death and disability benefits. (See Benefit funds or associations, etc.)
Department stores, welfare work in----------------------------------------------------------------------- 48-60
Dressing rooms and lockers. (See Comfort of employees, welfare work looking to.)
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., Boston, Mass., welfare work o f--------------------------68
Education o f employees, welfare work looking t o :
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co------------------------------------------------------71
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co-----------------------------------------------------------------10
Chicago Telephone Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62, 63
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago---------------------------------------------------------------- 67, 68
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., Boston-------------------------------------------------------68
General Electric Co----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24
H. J. Heinz Co-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34
International Harvester Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _ 15
Marshall Field & Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------51,52
National Cash Register Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 41, 42
New England Telephone & Telegraph Cb----------------------------------------------------------- 64, 65
New York Telephone Co----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------66
Solvay Process Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38, 39
Talbot M ills--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26
Thomas G. Plant Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40
United Shoe Machinery Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12,13
Wanamaker’g _________________________________________________________________ 52, oo
Wells, Fargo & Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------74
Westinghouse Air Brake Co
__— --------------------------------------------------- — 20, 21
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co_^-------------------------------------------------- 21, 22
William Filene’s Sons Co-------------------- - - -------------------------- ----------------------------- _. gg
Electrical supplies, welfare work in establishments manufacturing---------------------- - 21-25
Entertainments and amusements.
(See Recreation for employees, welfare work
looking to.)
_0
Express companies, welfare work o f---------------------------------- ------------------------------------ 7o, 74
Foodstuff factories, welfare work in--------------- ------------- - ---------------------------------------- *3-38
Forbes Lithograph Co., near Boston, Mass.. welfare work o f---------------------------------- 44,45
General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y., welfare work of-------------------------------------- 2.3, 24
Gimbel Bros., Philadelphia, Pa., welfare work o f - ------ - - ---------- — — -----------------------55, 56
Gorham Manufacturing Co., near Providence, R. I., welfare work of---------------------- 43, 44
Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Co., New York City, welfare work of---------------------------------- 49, 50
H. Black & Co., Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work o f---------------------------------------------------- 29,30
H. J. Heinz Co., Allegheny, Pa., welfare work o f---- -------------- ----------------— - -------- 33, 34
Hospital, emergency. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Hotel Astor, New York City, welfare work of--------------------------------------------------------74, 75
Huyler’s, welfare work o f------------------------------- -— ---------------- — - — - — - — --------------o7, *58
Insurance against sickness, etc. (See Benefit funds or associations, etc.)
Interborough Rapid Transit Co., New York City, welfare work o f--------------------------72, 73
International Harvester Co., Chicago, 111., welfare work o f------------------------------------ 13-19
.Toseph & Feiss Co., Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work o f------------------------------oO, 31
Lavatories and toilet facilities. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking
to.)




INDEX,

79

Page.
Jultoctieb and reading rooms. (See Education o f employees, welfare work look­
ing to.)
Lockers and dressing rooms. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Lowe Bros. Co., Dayton, Ohio, welfare work of___________________________________ 32, S3
Lowney Chocolate Co.. Mansfield, Ma&&, welfare work o f---------------------------------------37
Lunch rooms and restaurants. (See Comfort of employees, welfare work looking
to.)
Machine-shop products, welfare work in establishments manufacturing____________ 7-21
Mail-orde** houses, welfare work of------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60, 61
Marshall Field & Co., Chicago, 111., welfare work o f-----------------------------------------------50-52
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., New York City, welfare work o f_________________68, 67
Musical, athletic, and theatrical clubs. (See Recreation for employees, welfare
work l i k i n g to.)
National Biscuit Co., welfare work of----------------------------------------------------------------------36,37
National £ash Register Co., Dayton, Ohio, welfare work o f________________________41-43
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co., welfare work of_________________________ 64, 65
New York Evening Post, welfare work o f-------------------------------------------------------------- 45,46
New York Telephone Co., welfare work o f-------------------------------------------------------------66
Niagara Falls Power Co., welfare work o f-------------------------------------------------------------- 69, 70
Outings and picnics. (See Recreation for employees, welfare work looking to.)
Paint factories, welfare work in---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31-33
Pension systems:
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co------------------------------------------------------- 71, 72
Gorham Manufacturing Co___________________________________________________
44
International Harvester Co___________________________________________________ •17,18
Niagara Falls Power Co----------------------------------------------------------------------------------69, 70
Talbot Mills__________________________________________________________________
26
Union Pacific Railroad Co____________________________________________________
70
United Shoe Machinery Co___________________________________________________
13
Wells, Fargo & Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------73, 74
Westinghouse Air Brake Co__________________________________________________ 19, 20
Western Electric Co__________________________________________________________
24
Picnics and outings. (See Recreation for employees, welfare work looking to.)
Pocasset Worsted Co., near Providence, R. I., welfare work o f____________________ 27, 28
Printing and publishing establishments, welfare work in__________________________ 44-48
Prizea. (See Education o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Profit sharing:
Lowe Bros. Co_________________________________________________________ ,____ ..
32
National Biscuit Co__________________________________________________________
36
Solvay Process Co____________________________________________________________
39
William Filene’s Sons Co----------------------------------------------------------------------------------59, 60
Public utilities, welfare work o f__________________________________________________ 61-66
Railway companies, welfare work of_______________________________________________70—
73
Reading rooms and libraries. (See Education of employees, welfare work look­
ing to.)
{Recreation o f employees, welfare work looking to :
American Woolen Co_________________________________________________________
26
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co___________________________________
71
Bloomingdale B ro s ___________________________________________________________
49
Chicago Telephone Co_____ - __________________________________________________ 62, 63
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago__________________________________________
68
Curtis Publishing Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------47
Edison Electric Illuminating Co., Boston--------------------------------------------------------68
Gimbel Bros----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 55, 56
Greenhut-Siegel-Cooper Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49, 50
H. J. Heinz Co_______________________________________________________________ 33, 34
International Harvester Co------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15,16
Joseph & Feiss Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30, 31
Lowney Chocolate Co_________________________________________________________
37
Marshall Field & Co__________________________________________________________ 51, 52
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co_______________________________________________
66
R. H. Macy & Co_____________________________________________________________54, 55
Sears, Roebuck & Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------61
Shredded Wheat Co__________________________________ ________________________
35
Thomas G. Plant Co__________________________________________________________
40.
Thomas Manufacturing Co___________________________________________________
61
Union Pacific Railroad Co-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70, 71
United Shoe Machinery Co___________________________________________________
12
Wanamaker’ s --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------53
Western Electric Co__________________________________________________________
25
Westinghouse Air Brake Co__________________________________________________
20
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co___________________________________
22
William Filene’s Sons Co____________________________________________________ 58-60
jtest rooms. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Restaurants and lunch rooms.
(See Comfort of employees, welfare work look­
ing to.)
R. H. Macy & Co., New York City, welfare work o f------------------------------------------------- 54, 55
Sanitary arrangements and ventilation. (See Comfort of employees, welfare work
looking to.)
Savings banks, funds, e tc .:
Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago__________________________________________
67
Curtis Publishing Co--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------47
Forbes Lithograph Co_________________________________________________________ 44, 45
Gorham Manufacturing Co___________________________________________________
43
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co_____________________________________________ 66, 67
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co_____________________________________
65
Sears, Roebuck & Co__________________________________________________________
60
William Filene’s Sons Co___________________ ________________________________
58




80

INDEX.

Page.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, 111 welfare work of-------------------------------------------------60,61
Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, Ohio, welfare work o f___________________________ 31,32
Shredded Wheat Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y., welfare work of____________________1
___34-36
Sickness and accident benefits. (See Benefit funds or associations, etc.)
Solvay Process Co., Syracuse, N. Y., welfare work of-----------------------------------------------38,39
Talbot Woolen Mills, North Billerica, Mass., welfare work o f_____________________ 25, 26
Telephone companies, welfare work of--------------------------------------------------------------------61-66
Theatrical, musical, and athletic clubs. (See Recreation for employees, welfare
work looking to.)
Thomas G. Plant Co., Boston. Mass., welfare work o f--------------------------------------------- 39, 40
Thomas Manufacturing Co., Dayton, Ohio, welfare work o f-----------------------------------61
Toilet facilities and lavatories, (see Comfort o f employees, welfare work look­
ing to.)
Union Pacific Railroad Co., welfare work o f------------------------------------------------------------- 70, 71
United Shoe Manufacturing Co., Beverly, Mass., welfare work o f--------------------------- 11-13
Vacations. (See Recreation for employees, welfare work looking to.)
Ventilation and sanitary arrangement. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work
looking to.)
Walker & Pratt Manufacturing Co., Watertown, Mass., welfare work o f-----------------10,11
Wanamaker’s Philadelphia, Pa., welfare work o f---------------------------------------------------- 52-54
Wash rooms. (See Comfort o f employees, welfare work looking to.)
Welfare work. (See Benefit funds or associations, e tc .; Comfort, e tc .; Education,
e tc .; Recreation, etc.)
.
Wells, Fargo & Co., welfare work o f - - - - - - -------- ------------- ------ ------------------------------73,74
Westinghouse Air Brake Co., Wilmerding, Pa., welfare work o f----------------------------- 19-21
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.. East Pittsburgh Pa., welfare work o f- 21-23
Western Electric Co., Hawthorne, 111 welfare work o f - - -------------------------------------- 24, 25
William Filene’s Sons Co., Boston, Mass., welfare work of-------------------------------------- 56-60
Woolen mills, welfare work in------------------------------------------------------------------------- -— 25-28




.,

.,