The Iron Age 1902-12-18: Vol 70

‘THE IRON AGE TuHurspay, Dt The Locke Electric Reck Drill. The principle of the Locke electric drill is the con verting of rapid rotary motion into reciprocating mo tion and the drill is, therefore, a percussion drill, some what similar to the usual form of air drills. It is essen o CEMBER 18, 1902 extension shaft, bB, Fig. 2, thus doing away with the usual flexible shaft of other electrie drills. It can be detached easily and carried back from the work by one man, as it weighs only 95 pounds, or two men can handle the whole drill without disconnecting. The motor runs in ball bearings, as shown in the section. It is shunt THE LOCKE ELECTRIC ROCK DRILL. tially a ball bearing machine, is made dust and water proof, and only requires a few drops of oil at intervals of an hour or more to keep it in perfect working order. The shank or base of the drill is made to fit the clamp or saddle usually used upon the ordinary 414-inch column or arm. The motor is direct connected by means of a hollow wound, *% horse-power, makes 2500 revolutions per min- ute and uses a 220-volt direct current. Any other motor, such as rotary steam or air, will operate the drill equally as well provided it gives the required number of revo- lutions. The drill strikes the rock 300 to 350 blows per minute, and the spring E, which imparts the forward motion to the piston, has a final compression at the end === ee zs om a 2 THE IRON AGE. December 18, 1902 of the back stroke of 720 pounds, thus giving a very copied the patented instrument even in its minute de- great forward velocity to the piston. The drill will tails. Few patents that come before the courts are en- rarely, if ever, stick in the rock when crossing seams _ titled to more liberal treatment; this is a case where, or soft spots, as the peculiar mechanism has much _ upon the undisputed testimony, the inventor has accom- greater power to pull the drill back than the spring has plished something which has been of unquestioned bene- to drive it forward. fit to the electrical world. The complainants are entitled The construction of this drill, which is built by the to the usual decree for an injunction and an account- Locke Drill Company of 11 William street, New York, _ ing.” will be understood from the accompanying section. The motor A is mounted at one end of the guide bars upon A : . n Electrically Equipped House, which move the drill proper. At the outer end of the i i P extension armature shaft B is a pinion engaging with It is considered highly probable that no other house a gear placed in the case. This gear is mounted upon a in America has so many applications of electricity made hollow shaft, within which the piston moves. The shaft within its walls as the residence of Charles R. Barnes, is formed with an interior ball run or race arranged to 69 Glasow street, Rochester, N. Y. Mr. Barnes is the engage the ball C. A cam is formed on the piston in New York State electrician, which goes a great way in engagement with the ball. It will now be understood accounting for his many uses of the electric current in that the revolution of the gear shaft will cause the ball the house he calls home. The question of economy has to travel along the cam and so withdraw the piston not been allowed to enter into the arrangement of the against the resistance of the spring E. The piston is various apparatus, for the application of electricity is a released when the ball reaches the shoulder of the cam science and fad with Mr. Barnes, and in the work he and the forward striking movement of the drill rod F has found ample opportunity to display his inventive takes place. A rifled bushing provides for the partial genius. Of course, it costs a great deal more to heat turning of the drill rod at each stroke. The drill is fed a house by electricity than it does by coal, even in this to the work by the screw G. All adjustments can be period of fuel scarcity. easily made and ample provision has been made for The supply of current is taken from an electric light quick repair, circuit, and the switchboard is installed in the library. For convenience of transportation the drill can be This switchboard is equipped with five double throw separated as follows: Motor, 95 pounds; drill base, side switches, so arranged that it is possible to regulate the Tue IRON AGB a2 G Fig. 2.—Longitudinal Section. THE LOCKE ELECTRIC ROCK DRILL. bars and feed screw, 53 pounds; front and back cylinders — supply of current for each heater, and it is possible to give and interior mechanism, 91 pounds, making a total of a minimum, medium ormaximumamount of current to the 239 pounds. heaters, or to turn all the energy into one room, which ne of course regulates the supply of heat given off. Elec- The Voltmeter Patent Decision. tric heaters are placed in the front hall, the front and ' rear parlors, the library, the dining room and in all of : In the final hearing in a suit in equity Judge Coxe the sleeping rooms. The heaters are about 2 feet long, | of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern Dis- 12 inches high and 8 inches wide, very much resembling i trict of New York has just granted a perpetual injunc- an oblong box painted black. Each heater has a fuse * ; tion against J. Franklin Stevens and Elmer P. Morris, that will blow in case of a short circuit. In the sleeping Hi doing business as the Keystone Electrical Instrument rooms it is possibie for the occupant to turn off the cur- t Company. The court decrees that the complainants, the rent by a switch at the head of the bed, and to throw it re Weston Electrical Instrument Company, have the sole on in the morning, if the room be cold. ; Ht right to manufacture alternating current measuring in- The kitchen is equipped with electrical cooking de- ; i struments based on the dynamometer principle; the com- Vices that would make any woman happy. It has an a plainants are also granted the right to recover from the — electric stove with an electric oven, Coffee and tea may : defendants the profits which have accrued to them /%e made, meats cooked and pastry baked by electricity. ; through such infringement and also the damages sus- In the dimng room an electric chafing dish is operated | tained. The decision, which is probably one of the from one of the sockets of the chandelier. It is also pos- most sweeping of its kind ever rendered, says in part: sible to heat flat irons and curling irons by electricity : “ Many of the perplexities which usually beset patent in this up to date residence. Electric fans are numer- causes are entirely absent here. We are enabled to start ous. Last Christmas Mr. Barnes had an electric Christ- with several fundamental propositions which cannot be mas tree decorated, it is said, with about 600 one candle- successfully disputed. Mr. Weston was the first to dle power lamps of three colors, red, white and blue, make a successful commercial voltmeter for measuring and this will again be a feature of the coming holiday alternating currents. The device of the patent is small, celebration. Still another electrical feature of the house simple, compact, easily operated and requires no pre-_ is an electro-therm, a novelty on which Mr. Barnes is liminary adjustment; it can be operated at any angle likely to seek a patent. It is a flexible electric pad 14 x by an unskilled workmam and will measure direct as 10 x 4 inches, made up of a number of flexible wires, well as alternating currents. There were no instru- carefully insulated frem each other, covered with as- ments entitled to be considered as anticipations; the bestos and wound with flannel. It is used for medicinal invention is not disclosed in any prior patent or publi- purposes, and takes the place of a hot water bag or eation. Infringement is clear; the defendants have _ similar device. December 18, 1902 The Eight-Hour Bill. Recent Hearings at Washington. WASHINGTON, D. €., December 16, 1902.—The hear- ings on the Eight-Hour bill before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor were coucluded on the 12th inst., and the measure is new under consideration by the com- mittee in executive session, the general expectation being that a report willbe agreed to before the holiday recess ad- journment, which will be taken next Saturday. As to the conclusions of the committee with respect to the bill, it can only be said that, while indications point to a favorable report, vet the expressed convictions of more than one member that the bill should pass appear to have been shaken by the extraordinary character of the testimony presented within the past week. On no oceasion during the five years this measure has been pending in Congress have so many important interests been heard against the bill as have opposed it at the hearing just closed after sessions occupying four days. The witnesses included A. C. Dinkey, general su- perintendent of the Homestead plant of the Carnegie Steel Company; Edwin 8S. Cramp, vice-president and general manager, and J. H. Mull, assistant general man- auger, of the Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company; J. Walter Jenks, manager of the American Steel Hoop Company; Johr Kirby, Jr., general manager of the Dayton (Ohio) Mfg. Company and president of the Dayton Employers’ Association; E. F. Du Brul of the Miller & Peters Mfg. Company of Cincinnati, vice-presi- dent and commissioner of the National Metal Trades As- sociation: A. H. Bullard, secretary of the Bullard Ma- chine Tool Company of Bridgeport, Conn., and secretary of the Connecticut Manufacturers’ Association; F, How- ard Mason, secretary of the Buffalo Merchants’ Ex- change; D. A. Tompkins of Charlotte, N. C., manufac- turer of cotton machinery; William M. Carroll of the American Leather Company of New York, vice-prest- dent of the National Association of Manufacturers; Mar- shall Cushing, secretary of the National Association of Manufacturers; Francis H. Stillman of New York, man- ufacturer of bydraulic machinery; Alonzo B. See of the See Elevator Company of New York; J. Linton Thomp- son of the Thompson & Norris Company of New York; Andrew F. Wilson of the I. S. Remson Company of New York, aud others. Legal arguments were made ayvainst the bill by Joseph K. McCammon, Hilary 8S. Herbert and L. E. Payson, representing the leading iron and steel manufacturers and shipbuilding concerns, and its passage was advocated by Messrs. Gompers, Morri- son and Duncan of the American Federation of Labor, and O’Connell of the International Machinists’ Associa- tion. Dayton Manufacturers. John Kirby of Dayton, Ohio, the first witness, stated that he represented the Barney & Smith Car Company, ‘ar builders, employing about 2200 men; the Stillwell- sierce & Smith-Vale Company, manufacturers of hy- draulic machinery, steam pumps, &c., 1200 men; W. P. Cullahan & Co., manufacturehs of hydraulic machinery, gas engines, &c., 300 men; the National Cash Register Company, manufacturers of cash registers, 2700 men; the Dayton Malleable Iron Company, manufacturers of malleable iron castings, 750 men; the Dayton Mfg. Com- pany, manufacturers of railroad car trimmings, 225 men; the Davis Sewing Machine Company, manufacturers of sewing machines, 900 men; the Brownell Company, manufacturers of boilers and engines, 450 men; the Stod- dard Mfg. Company, manufacturers of agricultural im- plements, 400 men; the Buckeye Iron & Brass Company, manufacturers of oil presses and brass goods, 300 men; the Computing Scale Company of America, manufactur- ers of computing scales, employing about 450 men. He also represented the Employers’ Association of Day- ton, Onio, embracing about 200 different concerns. Con- tinuing he said: “Manufacturers of our city feel that the passage of the proposed bill would eventually greatly cripple the industries of this country. It is but a stepping stone for the enforced adoption of a general eight-hour law THE IRON AGE. 3 throughout the country, and if such a result would fol- low we feel that instead of accomplishing what the ad- vocates of the bill are seeking—namely, the welfare of the wage earner—the reverse would be the result. In the first place the general eight-hour day would neces- sarily increase the cost of production at least 25 per echt. That being the case, it seems to me, and to all of us, that it would mean a limitation of the products of this country to its own borders, or practically so. That seems to me to be the most serious objection to the bill as it stands now, although the bill relates, of course, as IL understend, to Government contracts only. Then, again, there are many establishments which do work under Government contracts, either as subcontractors or as contractors direct. We, as manufacturers, under- stand thoroughly that it is almost impossible and thor- oughly impracticable to operate a portion of our plant or employees for eight hours a day on certain work and nine or ten hours a day on other work. It would simply mix up everythibg and cause very serious complications. As I understand the bill, if the employees are worked more than eight hours a day on Government contracts there is a penaliy attached, and that penalty is imposed by an official of the Government, which would make it i very serious problem to straighten the matter out. It would impose great difficulties and complicate the work, and it would be an injustice to the employer. In addi- tion to these objections it seems to me this is a matter Congress has no right to interfere with. It should cer- tainly be left to the contracting parties, the employer and the employees. I have had great experience with the working classes and I thoroughly believe that a large majority of the workingmen of this country are op- posed to the passage of this bill. An enforced eight-hour day would result in bringing all mechanics down to the level of ‘eight-hour men.’ I know of many mechanics who would like the opportunity and who are very anx- ious at all times to improve the opportunity to work overtime and to increase their earnings. That was my own feeling when I was at the bench and at the lathe, and I used every possible opportunity to earn as much money as I could, and I think that is the reason why I am not an ‘eight-hour man’ to-day.” Upon being asked by the chairman whether “in this free country a manufacturer could not refuse to take a Giovernment contract if he did not like its terms,’”’ Mr. Kirby answered in the aftirmative, but added that the United States was far from being a free country, so far as the manufacturers were concerned, in view of the activity of labor organizations, whose representatives were advocating the pending bill and the “ infamous anti-injunction and anti-conspiracy Dill.’ The National Metal Trades Association, E. F. Du Brul of the Miller & Peters Mfg. Company of Cincinnati, vice-president and commissioner of the National Metal Trades Association, said that he appeared especially for the association of which he was commis- sioner, composed of abont 200 firms employing in the ag- gregate about 20,000 men, while about as mauy more were employed by members of local associations allied With the national body. He said a large proportion of the members of the association were contractors on Gov- ernment work, supplying machinery of all kinds, ma- chine tools, projectiles and a great variety of manufac- tures of. iron and steel, &c.” ‘“ Our association,’ said he, “is an organization of manufacturers which was brought into being by the unrestrained demands of la- bor unions in our business and to control the business. It is a defensive association, pure and simple, dealing with nothing but the labor question for our members. We think that this bill has a great bearing on the busi- ness of the members of our association. It is our be- lief that the labor unions are going too far. We have no quarrel with theirattempts to bettertheircondition. We bave no quarrel with any reasonable attempt to increase social benefits that might come from the short hour move- ment, but we feel that the short hour movement is a social movement which will work out in time and which is working out every day gradually and economically. We feel that it is unwise to force this movement in any way. We find in our business that the unions, and par a BREE OE AEB TD Ae TODS ATER T PERI NP TX m2 wn Nt eae LOPE soceet * Gereeey eRe oye octr: * he * 3 4 THE IRON AGE. ticularly the machinists’ unions, with whom we have our principal dealings, have a way of restricting the output of the factories. The international officers, as I under- stand, disclaim, as a rule, any attempt to interfere with or restrict production, but I am judging by the fruits. They say that they could produce as much in eight hours as they now produce in ten. I know and be- lieve that no man can restrict production without fall- ing shori 25 per cent at least. Our association was or- ganized to regulate that very condition. In machine shops we are putting in effect what is called the pre- mium plan. The machinists’ union is opposed to the increase which the premium plan brings about. That increase is just in propértion with the increased produc- tion. The machinists’ union has on a number of occa- sions struck and demanded that this plan should not be allowed to go into effect, and has demanded its abolish- ment the same as piecework in a number of instances. That is one of the demands that we feel justified in fighting right from the start. “This bill, as it is drawn, seems to our association to be forcing things. There is a great movement taking place all over the country which the public does not quite un- derstand, and is not yet quite familiar with. That is the movement of the organization of employers pure and simple to handle labor questions. These organizations in time come to certain agreements with the unions af- fecting their business. These agreements have in a great number of cases been found satisfactory and in others unsatisfactory. Our own agreement with the machinists’ union is unsatisfactory. They had a strike last year, and the strike, I believe, was called a short hour strike. The short hours were not an issue with our association during the strike, which we fought and won. We had already granted short hours, and in considera- tion of the reduction of the working hours we felt that no limitation should be put upon the management of the shop or the production. “The fact is that the machinery business is not ona nine-hour basis, as some testimony in this hearing tends to show. The machinery business—the manufacturing trade—is practically on a ten-hour basis, although there are places in different localities where they work nine hours. ‘That is their privilege. They can work six hours if they choose. We find that a union or any asso- ciation which gets concessions before they are ready for them are more harmed than they are benefited. Per- sonally, I believe the day will come when the increase of skill and the increase of production on account of the automatic machinery coming in will bring about shorter hours or a shorter working day. That is a social movement. Our whole fight last year was upon the proposition that we are tying our hands in the restric- tion of production. It was plainly specified in our agree- ment, which was broken by the strike, and which pro- vided for arbitration, that there was to be no restric- tion on production, but that agreement was broken. Our conviction was so firm on that point that we had it specified in the agreement that there should be no restriction of production. 1 have innumerable cases in the office of the National Metal Trades Association showing deliberate restrictions by men, authorized by the International Association of Machinists. “As to the effect of this bill on our people we may take as an illustration the case of the manufacturers in Cincinnati who are making machine tools for the Government. They cannot run those shops longer for the market and shorter for the Government. It would amount to an increase in the cost of the Government work. Suppose the Government work were made in separate shops? It would mean an increase in the cost, which, after all, the public has to pay for. It has been our experience that coercion seems to be at the base of the labor question, and this looks to us like a coercive movement. It is equivalent to saying: ‘ This man shall not be permitted to work over eight hours a day.’ That looks to us as though the American Federa- tion of Labor were attempting to coerce. They are not able to force the other mag. They take the wrong method of accomplishing their purpose. They cannot make use of the Government machinery and legislation December 18, 1902 as a club on the great number of men who are not ready to-day for the eight-hour movement. They have not come to it yet. Otherwise they would all be affiliated with the Federation of Labor, which they are not.” A. H,. Bullard’s Testimony. A. H. Bullard, secretary and treasurer of the Bullard Machine ‘Tool Company. and secretary of the Connecti- cut Manufacturers’ Association, said that his company and others in the same trade throughout Connecticut had come to the conclusion that it would be impossible for them to supply materials or do work for the Gov- ernment under the proposed bill. Continuing, he said: ‘*We manufacture machine tools of standard types for the open market, but when the Government calls for our tools we are obliged to comply strictly with certain specifications, which would not meet the conditions of the trade in general and therefore have to be made to order. It is a question with us whether any of our goods would be excepted from the operation of this bill and certainly many of them would not. Occasionally we build a machine for Government work only, for making cartridge cases, for work on gun carriages, castings, projectiles, &c., and if we built such a machine for the open market we might put it in stock and carry it for a hundred years and there would be no call for it unless the Government would buy it. This bill would certainly hit us on every such machine and would em- barrass every department, for these goods are carried through in common with commercial goods in every process of manufacture. We put in a lot of castings into the foundry and a few of them may be for the Government, but on those Government castings we could only work eight hours, the result being that we would be obliged to limit all our work to eight hours, for we could not separate the castings or segregate the work- ing force. The same thing would be true in the machine shop and throughout our plant. No manufacturing estab- lishment could be conducted partly on an eight and partly on a ten hour basis, and at the present time, especially it would be an utter impossibility to hire men who would work one day eight hours on Government work and another day ten hours on commercial work, with no regular time of service. “One of the most objectionable features of this bill is that it prohibits a man from working more than eight hours, no matter how much he may desire to do so. Suppose he has been sick a week and wants an oppor- tunity to make up a little lost time. Under this bill he cannot do it. Further, the whole establishment is placed at the mercy not only of the Government inspector, but of any one who may report to him an alleged viola- tion of this law, under which a penalty of $5 per day for each man who works a moment over eight hours, is assessed. These reports may not be true, but if the inspector believes them the money is withheld from the contract price and there is alsolutely no relief short of special legislation by Congress.” Daniel A. Tompkins, Daniel A. Tompkins of Charlotte, N. C., a manu- facturer of cotton and éotton oil machinery, argued that the movement to reduce the hours of labor must be permitted to work itself out in accordance with natural laws and that to attempt to force it was a very serious mistake. “ Formerly,” said he, “ many of our industries worked 14 hours a day, but that practice has gone out entirely without legislation. The facts with regard to the long days of old are wholly misunderstood, how- ever. While it was a long day, it was an easy-going, slipshod day in which the men took things easy, instead of the busy, clean cut ten-hour working day of present times. I am _ reminded in _ this connection of a story of old Mr. Mason, of the Mason Machine Works, well known in New England, who in the early days ran his machine shop on an 11-hour basis. It was an easy going shop where the workman who wanted a glass of beer could slip out and get it and nothing would be said. He could cut his time a little in the morning and at noon or any other time and it would be passed over. One day a delegation called op December 18, 1902 the old gentleman while he was busily employed at his desk. He knew what was up, but pretended not to see them. Finally the spokesman said, ‘Mr. Mason, we wish to better our condition; we would like to work ten hours a day.’ He promptly replied, ‘ Well, I am mighty glad to hear it; you never did do it!’ “Now, in the course of time, with improvements in machinery and in the skill of operatives it may be prac- ticable to go to an eight-hour basis, and if it is the manu- facturers will know it just as soon as the workmen and will be prompt to take the step. You cannot force such a thing by act of Congress, and especially by an act which prohibits a man who wants to get on in the world from working a little harder than his fellows.” A Protest from Henry G. Morse. Thomas Hopkins, representing the New York Ship- building Company, then read the following protest sub- mitted by President Henry G. Morse of that company: “We desire to enter our protest against the passage of the bill now before you restricting contractors from working more than eight hours per day on Government work, for the following reasons: “1. Under the proposed law we would either have to refuse to take Government work or would be required to do merchant work on the same eight-hour basis, for the reason that it is impossible to operate a plant except- ing on a uniform number of hours per day on each class. “2. The cost of war ships built under such a law would be fully 20 per cent. more than at present and would not result in any better work. We do not under- stand it to be the province of Congress to give something for nothing. “3. We have taken occasion to obtain the average price of labor in several of the shipyards of Great Britain and find that we are paying labor in this coun- try an average of 33 per cent. more than is paid there. We have also investigated the cost of living and find that there is a very slight difference, from which we conclude that laboring men in this country under present conditions are very much better paid than in any other country, and any law which would tend to further in- crease this would be very detrimental to the shipping interests in this country and to the country at large in preventing exportation. “4. It is desirable for the good of the country that conditions should be favorable for ship owners to have their ships constructed at home and that the money paid for ships should be retained in this country. At the present time the cost of iron and steel is more than 50 per cent. higher than in Great Britain or Germany. ‘Tne cost of auxiliary machinery and outfit for shi) averages from 15 per cent. to 50 per cent. more than in Great Britain and the cost of labor 33 per cent. more; the average cost of a ship to-day being from 35 per cent. to 40 per cent. more than in Great Britain and Germany. It would therefore seem to be against the interests of the ship owner, the shipbuilder and the country at large to pass any law which would still further increase the cost of ships. “5. About four years ago the cost of material and labor was such that it was deemed probable that a yard built on modern principles, with all possible labor saving devices, might be able to construct ships in this country at a cost of not more than 15 per cent. above the cost of foreign ships, and it was deemed probable that the own- ers of ships would be willing to pay this additional cost. With this belief the stockholders of the New York Ship- building Company have expended during the last four years nearly $10,000,000, and have produced a plant which is credited with being the most fully equipped of any in the world, and under normal conditions would be able to build ships at a cost not exceeding 15 per cent. to 20 per cent. above foreign built ships. At the present time the conditions are abnormal, both as regards labor and material, and any action on your part looking to the further increase of cost would be detrimental to the best interests of the country at large. “6. Labor is receiving in the shipyards as much pay as in other classes of manufacture; otherwise, it would not be employed in these busy times in constructing THE IRON AGE. . 5 ships, but would seek other employment; therefore you should pass no law which is detrimental to a particular industry at a time and under conditions when no hard- ship has been imposed upon any class by the conditions now prevailing in the shipyards. “7. The writer believes that this effort to pass ap eight-hour bill for certain classes of work emanates from the representatives of the labor organizations of the country, who hope by the passing of this bill to embar- rass the shipbuilding companies and eventually to force them to an eight-hour per day basis, with the hope that tunis may sooner or later prevail in all branches of manu- facture. Should their hopes be realized the cost of all that we have to export from this country would increase from 20 to 25 per cent. and the possibility of exporting would be effectually prevented. No individual increases his wealth by consuming all he produces; the same is. true of the country at large. The wealth of this country came from our being able to dispose of more of our prod- ucts than we consumed. Why should you take action to prevent shipbuilders from following in the steps of other successful manufacturers? “We presume that all members of Congress under- stand that labor expects to earn as much in eight hours as it now does in ten. The navy yards of the country are working on an eight-hour basis and are paying fully as much per day of eight hours as the manufacturers do for a ten-hour day.” Francis H, Stiliman. Francis H. Stillman of New York, a manufacturer of hydraulic macninery, said that in his shops he worked 54 hours a week and the pending bill would seriously interfere with his operations. His Government work amounted to about $15,000 a year, and while only @ small part of his total product, it would be extremely difficult to carry it upon an eight-hour basis. Chairmap McComas suggested that inasmuch as some of the goods manufactured by the witness were actually sold in the open market he would be exempt from the operation of the bill, but Mr. Stillman was not disposed to take that view of the case, asserting that he had just made a con- tract with the Government for $5000 worth of work, practically all of which was of a very special character. ° If the bill did not apply to his case he did not think it would to anybody unless they were engaged exclusively upon Government work. James Henry Mull, assistant manager of the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company, pro- tested against the passage of the bill on the ground that it would be impracticable as applied to shipbuilding, im which industry it was necessary at times to take advan- tage of daylight, of tides and of various other condi- tions that could not be modified to fit an eight-hour day. Fifty or 60 per cent. of the Cramp Company’s work was for the Government and it would be impossible to main- tain two different time systems in the same yard, as great dissatisfaction would be aroused among the men if as much pay were granted for eight hours’ work on a Government job as for ten hours on merchant work. Continuing, Mr. Mull said: “We undoubtedly antagonize the labor unions, who are the champions of this bill, because we have in- augurated a contract system in our work whereby the man becomes a sub-contractor and he uses his own free will as to whether he shall work eight, ten or twelve hours a day. This bill would prevent that man from enjoying the personal liberty which he now has of carry- ing on his business, and we oppose the bill, not onl, in the interest of ourselves, but in the interest of the work- men, who, in the past, when a strike was about to take place that it was claimed would benefit them, have stood by us and said that they did not want to change their working hours. I ought, perhaps, to speak more specific- ally and in detail of the system that is in operation with us. For instance, about 50 per cent. of the entire con- struction of a ship is carried on under this contract sys- tem. A drawing will come out from the office, for in- stance, of the keel of a ship. A proposal for bids to erect and assemble this keel is written up by a contract com- mittee, and specifications are made, just the same as the 6 THE Government will give out a specification for a bid on the ship in its entirety. This proposal is posted up in conspicuous places throughout our yard. The workmen at the meal hours and before and after working hours go and view che places where the contracts of certain parts to be bid upon are posted. On these specifications there may be 1000 pieces of work, and the workman bids on one, naming the price which he will charge the com- pany for the completed work. He figures on the time it is going to take to complete a contract for any part he may decide upon. They do not give us the number of hours. I do not wish to have it construed as piece work. ic is not. It is purely and simply a contract system. Then we select from all the bids submitted to us that of the most competent man with the fairest price, and he receives the job. who gets the job. It is not always the lowest bidder We have it printed in our specifica- tions that he must be a competent man and be passed upon by the foreman. This man will receive the con- tract and he proceeds to carry it out. The system has this effect, that he has the privilege of using apprentice boys and improvers. These are boys who have never had an opportunity to learn a trade and who have per- haps started to work in the shipyard as rivet heaters, passer boys or general utility boys. After they become 19 or 20 or 21 years of age it would be unfortunate for those boys to have thrown away the greater part of an opportunity to learn receive the opportunity through this By this method they are enabled to learn something alongside of an intelligent and efficient their lives without a trade, but they contract having had system. mechanic, and they are practically serving an appren- ticeship, although, perhaps, of age. When the boy be- comes an improver we give him an opportunity to earn enough money to pay his board and to clothe himself and to get along nicely. “If this bill should go into effect, as it is largely sup- ported by the American Federation of Labor and the International Association of Machinists, those particu- lar organizations would not permit the system of con- tract, which we employ in our yard and under which it is possible for a man to become an intelligent busi- ness man and capable some day or other of going into any line of business and contracting in any particular line of work that line of would lx we do not enters into the contruction of our Therefore, the bill in that unjust, in my opinion. In the summer time attempt to reguiate the working day. business. respect length of the men’s We do not care to control them. If they want to come at 4 o’clock to save working in the sun and heat of the day—if they wish to work in the early The morning and late at night—that is their privilege. l American bill would destroy their privileges as free citizens.” Mr. Mull said the bill ble to conduct a trial would make trip of a wa Government requirements, and especii be a breakdown at sea his company would be fi amount. Referring to statements previously mi: the Cramp yard discriminated Mull said that hatever against organized pre ference night nonunion tended strictly to their business. r as efficient service to their emplo reason that they recognized much time and attention to tall r endeavor to } work and p by the time. They Ss transport the United IRON AGE. December 15, 1902 States Government during the Spanish war—work which we wished to carry on for the United States Govern- ment by special request. That work was done in our yard, and every effort was made to hasten the work, and our loyal men were so patriotic that they kept at their work until they fell in their tracks. Notwithstanding that, we had men connected with the International As- sociation of Machinists there in the yard conspiring to prevent the ship from sailing. It came out through the reporters on the newspapers who had attended their meeting. The object was to show that their strength was greater than we admitted it to be. They claimed that they had large bodies of men there who were go- ing to quit. They did it to injure our company. While we were fitting out the ‘Thomas’ and preparing for the trial trip of the ‘Alabama,’ which was about to tuke place, we discovered that we had enemies in our We found that certain parts of the ‘ Alabama's’ machinery had been taken apart and disarranged. The steering gear brackets were disordered and broken. It had we not that left the dock she would have surely gone aground and ranks. meant, discovered it, when the ship probably been destroyed. Another circumstance I wish to cite: They had taken valves off the dynamo engine and put nuts and bolts in the pipe. Had we started up Without having discovered that there would have been light machinery; and what would cause greater Gonsternation than total darkness in n collapse of the electric a battle ship?” Mr. Mull was questioned closely by Chairman McComas and whether the perpetrators of these crimes were punished, to which Mr. Mull re- Senator Dolliver as to plied that the company’s counsel, after full investiga- tion, advised that it would be better not to give publicity to the incidents, because there was a strike on and the necessities of the Spanish War were such as to make it desirable to avoid disturbances. The company had the documents and the out his statements, however, «The War Department sent a special agent to Philadelphia to investigate the affair on the transport and found the facts to be as stated. In this case the guilty man was discharged but not prose cuted, evidence to bear rhomas ’ The Testimony of J. Waiter Jenks, J. Walter Jenks, inanager of the American Steel Hoop Company, stated that evidence given by M. M. Garland of the Amalgamated Steel he appeared to contradict the Workers at an earlier that in agreement between the Republic Lron & Steel Com- and the that no man should work over wholly that maxi- Association of Iron and stage of the hearings. The statement there was Amalgamated Association eight minimum pany hours was false, being the limit instead of the When, of the period mum. himself, negotiating with the rate com- i Amalgamated Association, two of his under no condition would they and he felt left to a vote 70 per cent. would llers declared that an eight-hour limit convinced matter were disadvantage to same view. It was a great ht-hour basis. for the reason that invariably produced during the lat- he output was more than proper- ime was reduced from ten to f the committee asked point, nen warn xiuced a The Testimony of A. C. Dinkey. mnNkKeY ntendent of Mr. Dinkey said in know large plant k 12-hour shifts does not rk An armor plate 1s different p » of steel from that used h steel smelting December 18, 1902 THE work, ship work or tank construction, although it is all made in similarly constructed furnaces. In the latter case we have simply a highly refined product of pig iron or pig iron and scrap, in which the various degrees of hardness required are controlled chiefly by the vari ous quantities of carbon contained in the finished prod uct. In the case of an armor plate we not only use the best steel product that we know how to make, but, in addition, such materials are used that the resulting prod- uct shall be an alloy of iron, chromium and nickel. To produce the best quality of such material under a com pulsury eight-hour law I believe to be impracticable, and I believe that I should have no difficulty in making such ailovs, in competition with another who was com pelled to work on an eight-hour requirement, show uniformly superior results. I feel positive in my own mind that the operation of tempering an armor plate is compelled to op that I have no trouble, operating by our own system, of ex in the same class: if one person were erate under an eight-hour requirement, should ceeding his results in any competitive trial “ With respect to labor difficulties, cost of production and output, my conclusions are that our industry would be very seriously affected if we should attempt to op- erate under the requirements set forth in this bill. You ean readily understand that it would be so1 practicable for us to change our factory methods on 97 per cent. of our output to accommodate the requir ments placed upon 3 per cent. of the output which is for the Government. If we should inaugurate an eight-hour day for part of the works we would immediately face two complaints. The eight-hour men would receive too little per aliem and would consequently be dissaisfied, and the 12-hour men, if any change were made in the hour rate of the eight-hour men, would immediately ask for the same hour rate granted to the dissatisfied eight hour men. * Now the 97 per cent. of our product is sold in com petition with neighboring mills in our district and sim! lar mills in other districts, and these mills, as I before, are operating under a 12-hour shift. In selling our product we must meet this competition If it were possible to operate at a less cost with eight-hour shifts, I would like to say that our organization contains enough skilled men in the operation of steel mills to insure the adoption long since of such a method if favorable re- sults could have been secured thereby I wish to say again that in my opinion it is altoge practical work a part of the men in a given factory on eight-hour shifts anu the balance on 12-hour shifts, and that the re sult of such a trial will be strife, turmoil and dissatis faction. There is another impractical poil pulse eight-hour requirement which would the very great embarrassment of vi ig would prowa hy ive IRON AGE. 7 the great interest which manufacturers at large are tak- ing in the measure and the vigorous campaign which the association has set on foot to prevent the passage of the bill. The number and character of these communi cations evidently surprised the committee and refuted conclusively the statement so often made by the advo- cates of the bill that it was opposed only by a few man ufacturers of iron and steel and by certain shipbuilding companies. The publie sessions of the committee closed on Fri- day, the 12th inst., ments for and against the bill with an interesting series of argu which were marked by yreat warmth on both sides and by many lively ex- changes hetween the ibor leaders and counsel for the manufacturers. The discussion was opened by Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of La bor, who was followed by James Dunean, national see tary of the Granite Cutters’ Union. Their arguments were substa e Same Ss se heretofore made before the H[louse Committee Judge J. K. MeCammon en discussed the bill at length. devoting himself almost xelus S ns na tures Hle quoted a irge numbe if court deeisions in support of his f | ( stitution, and he dwelt Sy il en sis it decis s declaring 1 n stitutionsl the eight ou ] wor ' s enacted , Judge MeCam ons arg ent was forcible and apparently made a deep press Tt n tl C’O ' tres espe ally the quo ions 1 rele I P| the op nions of the Ohio and New York Supreme Courts e former court having declared e Ohio la d since the beginning of the present session of Congress Col. Hilary Herbe ex-Secretary of the Navy, urged the committee to reject the bill on the ground that it was a form of paternalism and was socialistic in its tendecies and would undoubted \ be followed by othe measures demanding the Government ow nership of pub utilities, &e. No measure could be brought forward hat would be more of a menace to the great industries Which have been built up in this country by manufac turers who have been permitted to manage their own business without governmental interference. The im portation of foreign methods, he said, was un-American ind in the end would injure tl vO n even more t ( i il List S S sensa n by ving sts Nev News Ship gy . stig d Was v ship I s s on Foie rahe, open ener al PE se i mia parrens ore ia eer ee ‘ a a a a a 8 THE IRON AGE. tion, but did not believe it true. As to the “ Thomas,” he was informed “ by the representative of a metropoli- tan newspaper ”’ that Major Carson, who was in charge of the ship as the representative of the Quartermaster’s Department, had stated that he knew nothing of the incident, ‘of which he would have been advised had it occurred.” Upon the conclusion of the argument Messrs. McCam- mon and Payson submitted a series of amendments to the bill, striking out the provision prohibiting an em- ployee from working more than eight hours if he chose to do so and eliminating other objectionable features. If the amendments should be adopted the measure would be wholly unsatisfactory to the labor leaders, and there is no expectation that the modifications will be made. Chairman McComas is considering the adviability of providing an exemption for all manufacturers making “articles” such as are “ usually purchased jin the open market.” The bill in its present form exempts only manufacturers of such “‘ materials” as may usually be bought in open market. W. i. 0. EO A New Oil Testing Machine and Some of Its Results.” BY ALBERT KINGSBURY, PROFESSOR APPLIED MECHAN- ICS, WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC, As the result of computations from Tower’s data, Reynolds found that the minimum thickness of the oil film and the difference of the radii of the brass and journal were 0.000375 and 0.00077 inch respectively, the load being 100 pounds per square inch and the diameter of the journal 4 inches. In 1899 the writer experi- mented with a journal 3.82 inches in diameter and 10 inches long, bearings and journal having exactly the saine radius. 'The chords of the bearing surfaces were 3 inches each, the speed SO and 190 revolutions per minute, and the journal was flooded with machinery oil. By measurement of the displacement of the bear- ings the oil film was found to have a mean thickness of from 0.00021 to 0.00023 inch under loads varying from 27 to 270 pounds per square inch. A condition essential to the formation of such films, as shown by Keynolds, is that the rubbing surfaces should have a very slight inclination to each other in the direction of their relative motion. This condition is generally fulfilled by a slight difference in the radii of the journal and the bearing, due to the original loose- ness of fitting or to wear. When the loads are very great or the surfaces irregular, or when the conditions are otherwise such as to make the necessary inclina- tion impossible, it is well known that the action of the lubricant is imperfect and frequently very defective. In such cases the theory of Reynolds, which so clearly ac- cords with experiment for the conditions of perfect lu- brication, becomes quite inapplicable; nor has any the- ory been formed which applies to these imperfect or ex- treme conditions, Such cases occur in pivots, where the surfaces are necessarily parallel, in cylindrical bearings which are too closely fitted, in any portion of any bear- ing surface where the pressure is unduly high, and in heavily loaded bearings generally. Under any of these circumstances the effect of the lubricant in reducing friction depends mainly upon the body or oiliness. The nature of this property, or combination of properties, is not well understood, but it appears probable that it is an intensified viscosity in that part of the fluid within the region of attraction of the surface molecules of the metal. In any well fitted journal in which perfect lubrication exists the fricticn is determined by the speed, the pres- sure and the viscosity of the oil. Varying any one of these factors while keeping the others constant, there is some value of the variable for which the coefficient of friction is a minimum and which at the same time marks very nearly the limit of the variable for the con- dition of perfect lubrication. In tests made on the machine illustrated the load * Abstract of paper read at the New York meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. December 18, 1902’ and the speed were kept constant, the viscosity of the oil being varied in each case by varying the temperature, For each of the three oils the minimum coefficient of friction is reached at a temperature of about 180 de- grees F., with the given speed and pressure. As the temperature varies either way from this value the co- efficient of friction increases; on the one hand increasing with the viscosity of the oil, the metallic surfaces being completely separated by 9 measurably thick film; on the other hand increasing because the decreased viscosity permits the surfaces to approach so that some parts of tne nominal bearing areas are subjected to very intense pressures, 1p to the limits of strength or plastici