The New York Herald Newspaper, November 9, 1873, Page 6

“THE TROUBLE IN TRADE. Manufacturers Must Have Money. DIFFICULTY OF COLLECTING BILL The Cause of the Labor Distress. So general are the effects of the money panic and | so utterly beyond the anticipations of the most | cautious that almost all the large manufacturers or wholesalers find themseives hampered in every | direction, fhe decrease of trade and the conse- | quent faliing off of income has operated upon the | Small jobbers who buy direct from the manufac- tories, and they fond themselves unable to meet their bills when due, The entire commanity of consumers have, in anticipation of worse days to | come, cut their living eXpenses down the very closest possible figure, farnishing establishments and merchants of all Kinds find that their daily sales decrease with each week. Even the grecers, butchers and bakers | complatn that the community eat leas than at any Previous time within their recollection, Money | which has been usually expended for winter cloth- | ing finds readier use tor coal and rents, Men who | always rode to their places of business now find it | very convenient to walk, The reaction of this spasmodic effort at economy throughout the entire metropolitan community | has been to bring a very severe straiu upon the establisnments w? ich haye a large amount of capl- tal invested and whose heavy ranuing expenses have to be met by payment for goods sold on time. The men who sell strictly for cash know on closing thelr doors for the night the exact status of their ousiness; but the wholesale trade | is compelied to give credit and now finds itself | greatly tried by its customers, Tue present condi- | ton ol affairs, uncomiortable as it is, cannot be attributed to anything other than a sudden ft of economy caused soleiy by the shortness of the supply 01 ready casi. Reporters of the HERALD yesterday visited many of the manulacturing firms of this city and a por- tion of the inturmation ovtained is given velow. WOOD AND WILLOW WARE. The wood and willow ware business in ‘*his city is confined within comparativeiy narrow limits. | There is not @ mauuiactory in the city. All the | goods sold here are manufactured either in Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire or in Baltimore, From | Massacuasetts especially the largest quantities are | supplied, The prominent wholesale houses here | have customers all over the country, and doa Dusiness covering several millions of dollars an- nually. The swaller houses do principally a local trade, and, consequently, their business is of a | More fuctuating character, The principal houses are not endeavoring now to push a | trade. September and October are the best | months in the year for wood and willow ware Men, and these wonths being passed merchants | are not anxious to risk anything, preferring to sell | salely and let things take tueir course. Both coun- | try and city busivess 1s now done asa rule ona | stall scale only, for reasons common to every | business at present. Southern werchants went home without investing in these goods, believ.ng | that the panic was a Wall street bubble and would | blow over. Very Jew orders bave since been re- ceived from tnem. In general the trade is duii all over the country, though a few o1 the city mer- chants notice, or say they notice, only a small decrease from tue November receipts of last year, ‘Ihe smuller houses invariably report | business as very duil and collections as very | dificult, The hands employed in toe large whole- | Sale houses average about twelve for each, but the general average ior the twenty-seven houses in the trade in this city is about six, It may be said that no house yet has discharged any of the em- loyés, In the retail houses a reduction of perhaps lorty per cent on goods has occurred, though it should be added proprietors buy trom the agenis | a8 best they can und seil to customers as high as | they can. Taken aitogetber, this business has lost Its best month—Octuber—and is Dow much de- pressed. A firm of Washington street say that collections are dificult and thai they are not trying to make | sales. ‘Iheir suies now are not more than halt the | average O/ ordinary business, Trade, however, is | improving. Another dealer in Washington street reports bis sales as iair, but the collections much diminished. | Manufacturers, he says, cannot much longer hold out, because business is so generally dull, He re- | ceived a letter on krivay, offering him a certain class of goods at thirty per cent less than tue usual | cost, the manulacturer admitting that he Was | pressed cor money. City business is very dull. A lirm of Chamvers stieet states that in October their trade Was up to the usnai standard, but this month it has been deciining. They are not forcing trade, but continue to receive orders, though jor small quantities, In the city trade is bad. ‘Their instructions to their agents are to sell only to the best men, A firm of Fulton street say that their trade is duil, but that so far they have tound their collec- sons fair. It ts only about hali up to its standard, They are not trying to extend business, being con- tent to sell to their oid customers, Fully tity per cent was lost by the dulness in October. THE CANDY MANUFACTURERS. | Alas! not even candy has the panicleft ns. The most prominent candy manulacturers state that trade is very dul!, indeed. A confectioner in Cori: was very bad. There were to be made, and money enough to pay tor the li men, allof whom he he girls earned on an ay about $20 a week. to t strect said that trade | rely any collections came in scarcely fast He employed thirty put on bali time. The 6a we nd the men trade had | in th ail ics haa | ge He fallen off was particularly mauifest largely the House | | to have suiered the must. | only $26. NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, NOVE oad made a aiverence of abont five per cent in the price Oo: Cundies, Which Would amount to a reduc- tion of pour Ohe Cent per pound, Coliec- tious Were poor, and they were compelivd to extend credit in a great many cases. The low price of gold had also atfected the prices of the oLs whiol they used in the manulacture o1 candics, They had not .eit the general depression 80 muon pecanse their orders were 80 heavy during tie fal. eir South American trade was also good, for, of course, people im South America hud scarcely felt the pan at all, He expected a shght improvement curing the holidays, but wes unabie to give a decided opinion as to the eventual pros pects of the candy trade, MANUPAOLUSERS OF PAPER BOXES. Tn this line the depression is very great, and tho reports o1 the manuiacturers are ds gloomy as they well can be, A manuiacturer in Barclay street reports that he has put is hands—filty ip nuaber—on three-quar- ter time. His business is only a third of what ib generally is at ts season of the year, This brauch, he said, was greatly affected by the dry goous and other trades, and if their customers had notuing todo they certainly Wanted no boxes, ‘the trade in boxes was still somewhat brisk, owing to | the approacu oj tne holidays, His coilections wore ery good, “considering the hard times." Candy | boxes soid aiso with ireedom, and probably would uual che Ist of January, There wouid probaby be po general mmprovement in tie trade unt February next the alieady too iar advanced, Perhaps later, U tue duliuess shoud cou inue, they migit be com- peivd fo put their meu ou bail ime, The girls in tee employ earued irom $9 to $10 & Week on ab average, and the men from gly to $20 a week. Aura ob Fuiton street said thac their trade had not been so fat since 1800, They had put taeir pinety haads on three-quarter time two weeks ago. They had diactkarged pone Oo: their hands and did not intena dom, so. TLuere was a tailing of of thirty-three per ceat im their business, Coliectlons were fair, however, and al- though @ great many were siow in paying the diflecence was not murked. ‘The men earned about $16 & Week On an average, and the giris iro $5 to $9a Ww ’r.ces Were about the Same as belore the panic; in lact, they could not weil be er. ‘They expected uo improvement until about February, Their customers in the tobacco lune were apparently those Who were least ulfected; those iu the boot and shoe aad shir: line seemed “There never Was & better prospect,” said one of the firm, “than that before the panic, and the moment the faiiure of Jay Cooke Was annvunced it seemed to stop the whole business.” Auother firm said ‘y had employed their fail force of ninety-iive hands thus far, but thefte had been a falling off of tity per ceut in tueir sales and they would probabiy be compelled to put their hands on hali time tie middie Oi next Weex, Tey had always some giris who had parents or sisters: to support, and these they would keep, come wuat might. as bad as now, but the depressioa did not seem to last so long. They worked p.incipally for iarge jactories, and when these were shut down there Was notling for them tudo, They tuougnt there Would be no improvement before the Ist of Janu- None of their hands would leave them, he Said, On account of tue reduction of time, us they | Newark ts considered, is had always aided them in times of sickaess aud need, HAY DEALERS AND HAY SHIPPERS. In the hay trade the etfects of the panic have been generally feit, Mr. W. B. Browne, No, 286 Washington street, said there was great diMiculty in making collections, aud the price of hay was | much lower than it was before the panic, On Sep- tember 5 a ton of the best hay cost $81; now It cost This reduction was owing to the panic aud alsoto tue very high prices which had pre- viously prevailed. In Albany, Greene, Dutchess and other counties the crop Lad been very late indeed, and the stringency of the money market kept cus- tomers from buying to any considerable exteat. The hay dealers dre ail short of mouey, but taere had not, thus far, been a single suspension or failure. There were about 700 or §00 men employed work. @ week; drivers earned irom $12 to $l4and hay “rollers about $12 a week. Trade was very dull, and stable proprietors vought only what they re- quired tor immediate use, while they generally laid in a supply ior the winter at this time. There had been a saliing off of twenty per cent in the consumption. Before the panic the prospect was | very good; but larmers Were short 01 money, and had to send their hay early into the market. Mr. Kickerson, of Willlams & Rickerson, hay shippers, at 202 Washington street, said there was great depression in the trade. It was very ditfi- season being | In 1967, alter the panic, lt was just about | in this branch, and Lut iew of them were out of | ™ Their average earnings are irom $10 to $15 | P. than ever betore, He says the realy made clothlers, the s‘raw goods manulacturers, the hat, sume vast quantities oO! thread, this state oO! aluirs 18 felt Very much among the thresd manniacturers, ‘The principal part of tue Operatives im the thread iactory are females, and (hose of them who are expert can make about $9 & Week at an avers age. They tara out l),000 dozen of turcad per day. ‘there are two savings banks tn fhe town— the Wiilimantic Savings Institution and the Dime davings Bank, They hold @ little Over $500,000 of the savings of operatives. OF tue other manuls turing establishments are tie Windham Clein Mills and the Smith Manujacturng Company. The two together employ 500 looms and 700 hands, ‘They are working tuli time; butif the sapply con tinues to uugment without a corresponding do- mand they will be obliged to reduce the working hours aity per cent, ‘there is no disposition to reduce the force of hands 8 jong asthe = other =. method oo diminishin: the expenses answers its purpose. ‘here are three silk sewing thread milis—the Holland, the Paisiey and tue Conant. They are working full time witn a force of 250 bands. ‘the Attwood Ma- chine Company, employing fiity hands, is working halt time, ‘These coustitute the INDUSTRIES OF WILLIMANTIC. The operatives appear better provided in matter of house accommodation than esewhere. ‘here is one street of the town where the worng people live Wilch is lined with a superior class 01 irame houses, painted snowy white, and wi ha venerous space of ground around each, These houses rent irom $12 to $25 a mont), and, considering that bone of them has less than seven rooms, this seem reasonadle enongh, Mr. Burleson, the Superintendent of the thread mi thinks tuat even With hall/-cime earnings the wor! ing people Would still be able to live comiortably through the winter, They would have lite t» Spare, it is true; but itis only asmall minority chat lives from hand to mouth, aad, as A rule, they ore thriity iu their habits. Wall street, as usual, is blamed for whatever depression prevails, 2nd Jay Cooke is held responsibie for being the original source of all the anxiety and emb.rrassment irom Which the manwacturing centres suifer, BUSINESS IN NEW JERSEY. Latest Phase of Affairs im Newark, N. J.—Matters Growing Gloomlier Instead of Brighter—The Situation Among the Bsewers, Jewellers, Masons, Bricklay-= | ers, Carriers, Scamstresses, &o.—A Tour Among the Newark Marketmen—Sat- urday Turned Into Monday—A Poul- terer “Scared” for the First Time in His Business Lite. In Newark, which has been often styled the “Birmingham of America,’ owing to its extensive industrial interests, there are employed, in good times, in the various manulacturing and other industrial pursuits, from 40,000 to 50,000 persons—men, women, boys and girls, = The entire population is nowy about 125,000; | tne gUnited States ceusus of three years ago setit down at 112,000, but it is notorious that the census, possibly irom unavoidable causes, greatly underestimate | statistics, and, at least so lar as not to pe entirely reited | on, either in figures or tacts. In its list of indus- tries in Newark it omits abont a dozen or so, in- ciuding several most important trades, Under the head of *“manulactaring” it states that there were, altogerthe: dd in Newark in 1870, in | round figures, The following is its | Bakers... | Blacksmith. 40 Bookbinder ‘2 Hoot and shoemaker: | Brewe | Gigar makers and to Clerks in factori Comectione! Coopers...» Mill operatives Leather workers... + "785 Harness and saddle makers : BOT Machinists 535 5 10 and ‘dressmaker: 672 and Varnisners. 487 Paper mill operative eee Plasterers... ... hge Plumpers and g: > 5 Printers 1s rymer 55 Total number of p UODS.......46 ersons employed at all occupa. 87408 cult toselilor cash, Southern customers wanted sixty days’ credit, and were obliged to wait for the | proceeds of their cotton saes.belore they could ay. The demand trom Cuba was very good; but reights Were ligu, because very few vessels were going out, and the present freight rates asked by the owners of sailing vessels were from $2 50 to $3, gold, per baie. to the city trade 1t Was proper to state that car- men Were not seeding their horses as liberally as formerly. If a horse was earning but $1 or $2a day jor a carman he must feel like “pinching’’ him. Before the panic the price of hay (lor ship- jing) Was from $21 to $22 and now It is but trom Be to $21. The prices of the better grades of hay Were not so much affected. In the South their customers generally laid in a supply for three or four months at this time, but now they were only | buying what they required for immediate use. ‘Their sales for the Soutn were twenty-five per cent lighter than they generally were, and in the city the trade had ‘alien oi ten or fitteen per cent. Within the last three or four weeks hay dealers had reduced wages $2 a week, yet on the barges they had been hiring men at reduced rates, month or two an improvement in the trade might | be expected. THE STARCH MANUFACTURERS. ‘The starch manufacturers are not much affected by the stringency in the money market. One of the most prominent of them in Park place said: The starch business was less affected by the mon- etary crisis than any other branch of business. The collections were very good, indeed, particu- larly when compared with other lines. arch was culefy purchased by a class of customers that were not speculative > jor he said taey had “not depreciated a varticie” two years. o! that of any previous year, hasing trade (from the counter), w lus averaged from $50 to $125 a @ and now | hey amounted to about one-fourth of that. So general was the depression that even | who sold complaining that to buy sw the hucksters around the pu acent’s worth of candy, w children had no money with meats, thirty per cent since the pa He thought tl would be an umproveiment during the holidays un- less the stringency in the money market should grow worse, Another firm of Cortlandt street was very poor, and that they were not selling | more than half of w ey sold six weeks ago. | At first they felt the effect of the pantie very little; Dut of tate the depr: on in the trade had become very marked, Formerly they were working both days and nights, but now they had ceased working | o0ls, re which The consumption had fallen offat | said the trade | at night, and reduced their force of 90 to 60 hands. They had discharged about 30 girls. They knew where they were and would gladly take them back, but they couid not afford to lay ina large sto because the goods were perishable, This was generally the busiest season, and they expected to do in September, October, November and December iully as much as during the remainder of the year. He explained the dulness of the trade by saying that candy was re- garded by aay as aD article of luxury, and in diminishing thelr expenses they were apt to ex- ercise greater economy in the purchase of sweets, ‘The retail trade was greatly affected; peop not 80 much disposed to buy, and when they bought they bought small qnantities, As regards | collections, they nad had some calls for extension | of credits, but, upon the whole, not many more than usual. Whatever troubie they were to expe- rience on this score was yet to come. The decline in sugar had aifected the price of candy, and @ pound of candy that was worth be. | fore the nic thirty cents Was now only worth twenty-eight cents. This was the wholesale pri Dut the decline would not affect the retail pric They did not expect to make any further reduc- | tions of men or Wages. Their men averaged $14 a week (on full time) and their girls $6 a week. Mr. Golding, of R. L, Gilbert & Co., said that the depression in the candy trade excited considerable anxiety among all who were interested in this branch. Still they were running their full force of seventy hands as before, Which Was owing to their | very large orders received belore the panic. | ‘There was a reduction of one cent per pound in the price of stick cand which ‘was mainly owing to the decline in si . Coun- | try jobbers reported that they still had stock on hand which ought to have been disposed of a month ago. They intended to put their hands on half time from next week and that one-hail would ‘work the first three days and the other half the Jast three days Of the week, They paid most of ‘their hands from $9 to $15 a week, But even those who only earned $9 a Week had families to sup- port. Collections had generally peen good, but last week they were very slow. Their southero trade seemed to have been more aiected by the ee, ‘yr brane bce trade, rm in Barclay street said they stil! kept thelr Toll force Of 1240 men and 40 giris without re- clucing their wages or hours of work. Their orders since the panic have been smaller, but beiore the crash they were so very large that they had had ore to do thus far, Howeyer, after New Year's hey would probably feei wie eiect of the great | indeed; they had not t maller quantities oltener, nd, aud this before th manuta said that there alling of in the amount of sales, woich was wing to the pamic and also to the jute rade Was im @ very healthy coudi there had Leen no failures, tius far. § said, Was a8 necessary aS meat aud people could hot go without it. THE CANDLE MANUFACTURERS. the samme price that pre- jon and A representative of the firm A. Gross & Co., | said they were working | candle manufacturers, their full force, as naual. Trade was v years as they were now. not articles of luxury, but of nec West, where new terriiories are c have no occasion to do so." Collections, he added, were a little slow it was true, glad to have @ pretext for not paying their depts, and some men never paid at all. The panic had not materially affected the price of candles. On September 1 they were twenty cents a pound (or- dinary candles), and now they were about nine- teen cents @ pound, ouly one cent cheaper. He thought there would be no further reduction of the price, and that trade was in a very healtiy condi- tion, Another candle mannfacturer was called upon, and he gave also an encouraging account of the Present prospects of the candle trade. Candles, he said, were now in greater demand in this city than they had ever been betore, and no failures in this | line need be anticipated, —_- A Few Factories in Willimantic Half Time=The Thread Milis tress Apprehended. WILLIMANTIC, Conn., Nov. 6, 187 ests Is not yet felt here, The Willimantic Linen Company, started twenty years ago with a capita; of @ million, is the principal establishment of the power of 60,000 spindies and a force of 700 hands, the purpose of cleaning up and connecting the machinery with @ sct of new wheels, it will resume work next Monday, continue running full time until further notice, ‘nese mills are engaged exclusively in the manu- facture of thread. Besides the yarn wi themselves they receive an alditional suppiy from 3 the Dunham Manufacturing Company, which is Dn, running its mill on half time. Mr. A. B. Bure of the Willimantic Linen Company, teila me th though sbey bave no inteution jusi now of reauc- ing THE PRODUCTION OF THREAD, “erash” more keenly. The jower price of sugar ina | In auswer to the query, whether | prices were lower than they were bejore the panic? | ‘There were ho workmen employed in | Even this incomplete and underestimated state- ment proves how Very important a manutacturing centre Newark 18, 00th as regards quantity and variety of work. In order to appreciate its posi- tion as a turner-out o! fine hanaiwork in all sorts of skilled labor one must visit the Industrial Ex- hibition, now holding, which proves that Newark In regard | can show what no other city in the Union can—a grand display of its own mandiactures such as any entire State or couutry need not be ashamed of, , THK CONDIVION OF TRADE. . Yesterday a HERALD representative made a tour among @ namber of entlemen representing various industries, and found that, as a whole, Matters look gioomier rather than heretofore, Although there are no crowds of idle persons to be Seen on the streets, it is estimated that not less than one-fourth, or, say 12,000 persons, are entirely out of employment. ‘Of the other three fourths comparatively few are on {uil time and full wages. A large bumber are just at work, kept out of the streets and that is all. THE JEWELLERS, who are not mentioned in the census at all, num- ber in Newark, according to a good estimate, aboat 5,000 persons—that is, the trade employs that many men, girls and boys. According to gen- tlemen in this business there are of these 3,000 idie. About five per cent of the balance find steady work. The balance are on reduced time and some of the smaller shops are doing nothing at all, One idie jeweller said yesterday to the HERALD re- porter that he would “like to get work, God knows, put people need bread now more than they do jewelry.” THE BREWERS form a most important portion of the laboring men of Newark. Bosses complain of the dull times gen- | erally, but thas far they have not feit much depres- | sion. ‘They are now preparing for the spring sup- piy. The census figures are avout right regarding this industry. Ballentine’s, one of the largest malt | houses 1m te country, employs 120 hands. They intend to keep them all on during the winter. THE BOOT AND SHOEMAKERS tiis city, as all the factories — were outside of New York. The two largest | had worked their full force as | by the census. thought this year’s productioon would | The sre Wot quite sO brisk as before; customers | hopeful. were Wot pure ol was a | how. ‘ch, he | good | makers and milliners usuaily emp! nh 80 busy for twenty | making an average of $2 per day—some more, “Candles,” he said, “are | ing, there is a demand for cand.es . which coutinually on the increase, It would be the height of cruelty to discharge our men just | when winter sets in, and we are giad that we | pat there Were | orinose there ate 1b Newark sent 1h always some men in times like these wio were | Of these there are in Newark about 1,200, THE MANUFACTURING CENTRES. | Uneme | now, barrassed and on Full Time=No Diss | The embarrassment in the manufacturing inter- | the same One of the mills stopped two weeks ago tor | this we Y make | The the demand has falien offin & more inarked degree | number about 1,500 persons ail told, against 1,400 | Comparatively few are out of work entirely, but pearly aii the shops are running on short time. In this trade manufacturers are very Trade slacked off this year three weeks lyin so large quantities, but they were | earlier than usual, butitis believed things will The price | tarch Was at present trom nine to twelve cents | brighten belore very long. Of MASONS, BRICKLAYERS, &C., | there are usually employed about | numb 8. Not quite one-half are the census employed season, | brigut. 11s, however, 18 always tue duil season for | these workmen. ihe spring prospect is considered SADDLERY, HARDWARF, &¢. A run among the manufacturers in this line found tuat times were dull, but with a tendency to improve, Collections are poor, but during the week | orders began to come in, The have ali been | working on reduced time. One house has had to | close up and another is nearly wound up algo, | DRESSMAKERS AND MILLINERS. The census figures to the contrary notwithsrand- ing, there are, it 1s estimated, about 1,500 dress: | el iu Newark, some less, Many of these are entirely unein- ployed, bat the bulk find something todo. They make $1 now where they made $2 beore ule pres- ent panic, Work is neither steady nor certato. A | good Inany Wives find it necessary now, so dress- makers and milliners Say, to do their own work in these tues, Where belore they hired it done lor | them. CURRIERS, MOROCCO DRESSERS, ac. | One- | third, it is estimated, are out of employment alvo- gether, and the balance are on short time, some a | Half and some three-quarters. The prospect, then, | | does not appear to some to be very bright. ‘There | is plenty of stock on hand and sales are very light. THE TAILORING BUS) " One of the largest clothing stores on Broad street | Was visited, aud 4 member of the firm stated that he thought there were vetween 3,000 and 4,000 men and women employed tailoring In Newark. One- | third were men, the balance women, Avout one- | halt of the whole were idle, he thought, and the balance working on short hours, ‘ihere did not seem to him to be iach prospect of a change tor the better before spring. AT CENTRE MARKET | yesterday the dealers look bine and talked | gloomily, An intelligent green grocer and poul- terer, who does generally abont the best business in his line in the market, #aid he had never known things to be so dull, started business he had never feit scared until “All that poultry that you see hanging up here and there,” said he to the reporter, pointin, | to his own and other stands, “ought to be sol hours ago. Saturday ajn’t no more like Saturday, but like Monday.” Several other dealers told story exactly, as did also the buteners and hucketers generally, Those naving | rich customers suffer only slightly. ‘Those whom the poor generally trade with fee) their former sales reduced alarmingly, As another indication of the place. It embraces three milis, with a united | 2Wness of times in Newark, it may be stated that | # well known and highly popular minstrel troupe | Irom the metropolis spent three niguts in Newark k and did jittie more than pay expense | Whereas usually they have ondeniably reaped @ | rich harvest, and ail three wil | WHE MILLS OF MASSACHUSETTS. | | Mannfacturing Interests Only Slightly Affected hy the Financial Crisis—Monst of the Milly Running on full Time and No Reduction in W Lawrence, Nov. 7, This renowned and thrifty manufa like all others of its class in the Kastern States, has | shirt and glove makers are idle, and, as they con. | the | The first time since he | a EO, had a mantle of gloom cast over tts prosperity in consequence Of the pending monctary crisis. Hap- pily, however, the depressing eifect was nol 80 early experienced here ag in other tmdustrial | quarters im New England, and neither is it 80 serious, hor i it likely to be so lasting. Among tue causes Which conspire to this comparatively favorable condition of aifuirs is the fact that most | of the corporations m Lawrence are founded upon @ basis wbiek po ordinary furry in the money market ts calculated to disturb, Furtuerniore, the fabrics Manufactured in many of the mills are of a claracter whieh almost invariably Ond a ready | market, and, what is more singulur and grathying, | there appears to be euch an amicable fecting be- tween the employers and employed that they can- | not afford to do otherwise than stand by each other during @ temporary embarrassmen(, With scarcely asingie exception the manuiacturers here are de- termined to keep along in one way or anotaer un ul the appreach of more prosperous times, It is true they have in a few tusiances reduced the hours of labor in ‘he mills aud wages baye been lessened accordingly, Still further reductions in time and | wages may also be made, but the idea of suspond- | ing operations altogether is not harbored tor o single moment. Some of THR LARGEST MULTS IN THE WORLD that tue loss which would result to buildings and machinery Ou account of total suspension, to- gether with the scattering of many of their most | skilled operatives, would be such as they could not recover from tn a long time after work was sumed, Besides the various other industrial es- tablishments in tae city the woollen and cotion milis alone hive ana furmsh @ hvelinood for not less than TWELVE THOUSAND MEN AND WOMEN, and the hardship and suffering which would ensue during the winter if the manuiacturers suspended | altogether 1s feartul to contemplate. Serious as it would be, though, there are few mauulacturing cities in the East where it would be less, The rea- son Of this isthat the majority of the e nployés in Lawrence have been bere for a generation al- most, It may be fairly said of thein as a class that they have grown up with the city and with its manufacturiog industries. Many of them commenced work here twenty and twenty. five years ago with the same corporations py which they are now employed, and in hundreds of cases the children of tuese veteran operatives are also employed tn the same estabishments. While this condition of affairs may be noticeable in other manuwacturing centres it probably exists to a arger extent here than in any other section of New England. The English and German element is largely represented among the operatives, the Irish and American being limited in comparison, As a general thing they have been conspicuous for industry and frugality, and if they were suddenly thrown out of employment altogether they could get along for a few months at least. Along the shores of the Merrimac—‘*‘the Lold Merrimac,” in the language of the song—are hun- dreds of neat and tidy tenements and boarding houses, and between them and the river, within a stone’s throw, are the mammoth mills of the vartous corporations, These tene- ments are rented to the operatives on casy terms, and nearly every occupant has from hall a dozen to @ dozen boarders, from whom they derive a handsome revenue and proflt in addition to their own earnings. Besides those occupying rented houses there are between 2,000 and 3,000 occupying dwellings which they have bought from the corpo- rations, and 1u almost every case the estates are unencumbered, The three savings banks in the city have deposits from about 4,000 heads of fami- lies among the operatives and from almost anu equal number of the unmarried employés. Assum- ing that these institutions are of the anti-Rhode Island character, these facts go to show that, even under the most uniavorable future circumstances, the wolfcan be kept away from the door for the present, THE PACIFIC MILLS, The Pacific Mills, which loom up among the others like a Great Eastern among a fleet of tug- boats, are undoubtediy the most extensive on the American Continent. {called there this afternoon, and in an interview with one of the officials was assured that the idea of reducing pay or hours ot labor had not yet been entertained, and it was the hope and intention that they would be enabled to keep along as usual until times were better. Some idea of the magnitude of the business of tbe Pacific corporation can be iormed when it is stated that it furnishes employment to about FIVE THOUSAND OPERATIVES, and two-thirds of the number are young women. Their capital is $2,500,000, and their manutacturing mills are nine in number, including three large buildings for the exclusive manulacture of print cloths. Their cotton spindles number about 106,000 and worsted spindles about 24,000, and about 700,000 yards of various fabrics are turned out weekly, in which are consumed 71,000 pounds of cottun, to say nothing of 43,000 pounds of woo! em- ployed in the manufacture of worsted goods. The montbly pay roll amounts to about $150,000. The citizens of Lawrence—rival manufacturers as well as others—regard the Pacific Corporation as too formidable to be affected seriously by the present crisi. “Why, they are as ood = it = mots better = than «=the United tates Treasury itself,’ declared a prominent merchant whom I interviewed upon the gen- eral business of the city. ‘Progress and expan- sion,” he continued, ‘seem to be the creed of that mammoth and marvellously successful corpora- tion. During the last dozen or more years, while the stock has averaged double its par vaiue, and the twelve per cent semi-annual dividends have re- eatedly followed each other, the corporation has een constantly expanding, not by increasing or watering the stock, but by erecting splendid new mills irom the surplus earnings over the heavy dividends, spreading out until all their original grounds were covered, and then purchasing addi- tional territory for their enlarged business.”* OPINIONS OF A REPRESENTATIVE MAN. Among the prominent citizens of the city whom Tinterviewed on the subject of such vital interest to the . Merrill, the Postmas- ter, Secretary of the Republican State Committee, and a Butler politician of considerable renown. “Comparing our industries with those of other New England manufacturing cities,” he said, “we have touch reason lor taking pride in the solidity of our them tor their daily bread must feel grateful tnat their employers are exerting themselves to pro- vide them means to comiortably get through the coming winter. Generally our own mills have as yet experienced jess of the disturbing in- Nuences than those in other cities. A material reduction may possibly become necessary, but we trust the good sense of those whom it will most closely amect will accept the situation as a neces- sity. Itis far better tor ali concerned—for the mills and surely for the people—that there should be a reduction of the hours of labor, with a cor- responding dimmution of wages, than an entire stoppage or even partial stoppage of machinery. The wiser course, to whatever excent or end the curtailment may become necessary, is certainly to | give all some cmployment, even a moiety of con- stant pay, enough to meet immediate absolute ne- cessitics, than to run ouly @ portion of the mills on full time and throw @ part of the opera- tives entirely out of employment. Those of our corporations who have already feit compelled to reduce their production have wisely adopiea this course, and 60 long as, in the conlused condition of the markets, there were no sales, it was surely prudent to reduce—better to trim and curtail now—and be in readiness to catch the new breeze of prosperity than to rush unthinkingly Into ex- cessive production and risk possibie disaster and ruin, There peed be no apprehension that with the first promise of returning confidence and trade all of the mills tn Lawrence, whatever their redac- tion now, will make haste to return to PULL TIME AND THE MOSt ABUNDANT PRODUCTION. They are tn no possible danger of failure, lave ample resources, and the present trifing curtail- ment is alike Jor their saiety and the best interest ol their employés.”” WHAT THR MILLS ARE DOING. A® before stated, the Pacific milis are in ful) operation, and employing about 5,000 hands. The Washington mills, employing 1,400 operatives, are also running the same as before the panic. Jn the | worsted department business is mnasually lively and the machinery is ea in Operation until ten o’clock at night. The Pemberton mills have made no reduction in time or help, put the wages have been cut down ten percent. The duck mills are doing a larger busi- ness than ever before. being obliged to run four | pignts a Week until pearly midnight. The Law- rence Woollen Mill and the Methuen Mills are aiso running on foll time, with tui) pay, and with the same complement of hands as belore the panic, The Atiantic Mille and the Everett Mills alone, of ali the mannfactortes in Lawrence, have seriously felt the pressure of the times, and these establisn- ments are running on three-quarters time, and | the managers Uireaten to fully resume 16 @ short | the. ; THR STATE OF THR MARK In no marked degree has the crisis affected the markets save in the dry goods departments, and the abrinkage in this class of products has not been alarming. [he class of goods comprising sheet- ings, ehirtings, tickings, &c., which are extensively | manufactured here, bas fallen the most. The | latest quotations show & shrinkage of four per cent in narrow heavy brown sheetings, of fouricen per cent on wide brown slieetings, of from #ix to eight | per cent on bleached shirtings and seven per cent | on tivkings. In light browns, Atlantic I, there is a | juliing of of nine and @ half per cent. STATISTICS OF THE LAWRENOK MANUFACTURES, Below Lappend some recently comptied statistics Of the priacipal mauufactaring establishments in are located in this city, and the managers argue | jy, | | corporations: and the masses who depend upon | | MBER 9, 1873—QUADRUPLE SHEET. Lawrence, which at this time aro of pecutlar in Levert. — PACLFIO MILT. ok 500, 000 Srdating Lep't. Capital stock.. Nomber of mils (buildin, Spin ties, cotton eae 888 Spates worsted. . ae HEB tie’ C7 7) racite coa! used per annum be 20) oal used per annuin ne jubricating Moutuly ‘ Warmed Lighted by gas. Since the above statistica were prepared the Yacide corporation has built three new mills, alt of which gre Dow tt Operation, aud with these acqui- sitions they BOW employ about 5,000 hangs and run 20,000 more spindles than are included tu the jore- gomg stulement, AYLANTIC COTTON MILLS, Capttal stock his corporation, which has el 1.20 hand: ts now undergoing ex 8 ariticscan hardly be arranged with satitaction; a tew Ouths Will complete the enlargement aud remodelling. WASHINGTON MILLS. yt naive changes, and the Capital stock Number ot mi Spindies. olen 000 covton nd 440 woollen ved. A263 Males employe Fires PN 21136 Yards made yer week, 1L) 000 cotton, £0,000 worsted, 40,00 woollen and 5,000 <Hawis, Pounds of cotioh e nsumed per week. 18,900 Vounds of Woo! consumed per week. 40,000 P goodS MAUC......eyee4e Wool, worsted and cotton of anthracite coal per annu Gations of oil. Pounds ot starch. Water wheels Steam power dd 60 horse powe: € +8, 400 u pach Other materials used... glue, 45,00) Ibs ; tallow, 4,000 ibs PEMBERTON MILLS, eS -mnach mary inery, 9,300; wool, 14,:00 23,400 “Ti0' horse pow Capital stock Males employe Yards inaie per week Pounds cotton consumed pet week. Found clean wool consuined per week. Kani of goods made. .Cottonaves, canton” dann ing, &c., cotton, fancy cassuneres, repellunts, &c., wool Tous anthracite coal per annum, y Bushels charcoal per anuum. Gallons oil. Jounds starch Water wheels... Steuin powe! Otter materi digo, soda ash, potas! ES ARLINGTON Capital stock... unber of midis * NULOSseceeees 4,08) yng. ‘33 Female oye w5 Males employed...... M5 Yaids made per week 50,00 Youn ts cotton yarns consumed per week 4,000 Lounds clean wool consumed per week, 5.0) Yurds dyed per week. ....-... 50,000 hinds 0: goo.!s made—iadies’ worsted dress goods. Tous anthracte coal per anaun, 600 Bushels charcoal per annum, 10 Cords wood per annum. 10 Gailons oil per annum. 2.250 Water wheels—3 swain, % Steam power—I Allen engin power. Other important industrial interests of the city compr.s The McKay Sewing Boston and Maine Assaeelt Pi Jerome & Bacon's paper Munroe Paper Company. Joslyn & Burnett's iron Wright Alpaca Company... Butler & Kobinson’s worsted { PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRY. A Bad Outlook for the Winter—The Situation at Altoona—Railroad In- texests Affected—Tom Scott Gloomy. ALTOONA, Noy. 6, 1873, This central manufacturing place and station of the Pennsylvania Railroad feels the flnancial dif ficulties of the country as well as other places neurer the seabord, but not so muchas where manulactures are independent of a great and Wealthy corporation and can be dispensed with. The average force employed before the panic in the foundries and various machine shops, all connected with the Pennsylvania Railroaa, was about 2,500, Since the panic some 400 men have been discharged. For the rest the working time has been reduced from ten to eight hours a day, Wages have not been cut down except in proportion to the reduction of time. All the workmen discharged were single men, re- gardiess of their skill, from the humane considera- tion of saving families trom distress, To show how the men appreciate this and how kindly they feel toward each other I may mention the fact that a single man, who was retained oo account ot his superior skill, voluntarily gave up his work in order to give place to another workman who has @ family. THE REDUCED LAKOR BY DISCHARGE amounts to abont seventeen per cent, and by less hours of work to twenty per cent—in all, thirty- seven per cent. There are rumors of a further re- duction of force, as well as of wages being reduced, But from conversations with the managing men and best informed people here there 18 reason to believe no other changes will be made, The freignut business of the railroad requires more locomotives, It never was larger, if so large, particularly in the transportation of gtaln and other produce of the West to the Atian- tic seaboard. The amount of this freight is unpre- cedented, while the coal and other products or- dinarily transported are not less. This fact of such unusual quantities of Western freight coming over the Pennsylvania Railroad promises well for our Joreign export trade and shows the hopeful condi- tion of our commerce, The company has been compelled to take the locomotives of passenger trains for freight trains in consequence of the GREAT INCREASE OF PREIGHTING BUSINESS eastward. Ailtuough the work of building new locomotives has been suspended. comparatively the impression jis that it will soon have to be resumed. Then there are thirty or more lo- omotives now resting here for extensive repairs, besides the other work that is needed on cars. Of course the railroad must be Kept at worh, and cannot get along without the needed rojiing stock. Happily, then, there is httle reason to Jear any further serious interruption of the manufacturing works at this place or of the distress to working people that results therefrom. The 12,000 to 14,000 population of Altoona lives and depends upon the Pennsylvania Kaiiroad and its Works chiefly. In fact the town has been built up by this interest. There is little farming imme- diately around, But there is ashopkeeping, trad- ing and banking business connected with tne rail- yoad and its works. Consequently all this has suf- fered from the falling off of work and wages. The worst blow that has struck this industrious and growing place, except the partial suspension of Jabor spoken of, is the COLLAPSE OF THE LLOYD BANKING HOUSE here, Connected with the house of Lloyd, Ham- iiton & Co., of New York, and a number of atii- jJated banking establishments throughout Pennsyl- vania, the failure of the N York house brought itdown. The Pennsylvania Railroad banking pus- iness here was done at Lioyd’s; but it does not appear that the company has sustained any loss or, ai least, any serious joss, The Lioyd house had, however, @ great number of deposits from the people of Altoona, It claims to have large assets, though they cannot be turned imto money just now. The depositors, not being able to get their money, cannot pay their debts nor carry on their business as usuai. Building, which was very active before the financial trouble, is suspended. One humble working builder, standing idle and ina gloomy mood in @ store, telling his sorrowful story, said he Was compelled to cease work, and that ont of the $4,000 or $4,000 owing him he could not collect acent. Lioyd, it appears, has invested largely into bankruptey real estate, and if he be forced by hie creditors into bankruptcy his assamed ass of houses and lots would be offered jor sale @ community that has no money. THE OUTLOOK seems to be a poor one both for him and the de- positors, The real estate has been held, prepetly, ata highly inflated value, like ratroad stocks and other things, and if soid when there is no money with which to purchase it must come down very low, This at present, then, isa great trouble for Alatoona, The protesting of Tom Scott's Texas Pacific Nail. road paper, It is said and believed, will not afect the business of the Pennsylvania Ratlroad, though iteaused the stock to decline, This is true, no doubt, as far as the carnings of the road go. Its intrinsic material wealth will remain, however much the stock tambles, or if Tom Scott should never be heard of any more. So ttis with all the great internal improvements of the country. The trouble Jies in the great railroad Magnates and speculators having intlated stovke above their real value, and hav. ing upoA the fictitious means thus ore engaged in new works and made contracts whieh they cannot now carry ont ‘The crise is bringhig ‘une to a proper level. The worth of a thing will bo cetimated by what tt fairly cost and what in- terest 11 will honestly yield. And here it may be well to remark tha (6 i@ eUrrently reported Uae the partial suspension of work, inorder to reduea expenditures, by the Peuvsyivania Kauroad Cou pany was for the purpose cuiefly 0: MAKING A DIVIDEND, and thus to bolster up the stock, If so, this ts another instance of trtfing wits and oheating the public for s eculative objects, Speaking ot Tom scott L uvay say that generally sympathy ta expressed ior him in his embarrassments. 4 ls said he fees them. A irieud of Scott, wao had just seen hin, remarked to me that ‘the Colonct looked greatly depressed.” Jay Cooke, on the contrary, I understand, iolds & high head, Not withstanding his morning and evening famiiy press and grace before and alter meals, 9 bears himself haughtily and obtams little oympatny trom the Opie. have been i upon pretty good authority tuat Cooke and Scott are contemplating making an ongiaught On Congress this winter for eid te their Pacific Railroads, Nort and South, A CURIOUS PHASE OF THE DiFFIJULTIRS. In some parts of rennsylvania, on and near the Ohio vorder, a uew kind of currency is being used. Jonn Smith, the manusacturer, promises to pay sam Jonea (iis Workman) or order, three months aiter date, £6, $10 Or more doliars, all drawn in form and on good paper. Tue grocer or dry goods men tukes these notes readily without diecoun but puts tae discount ou the enhanced price o| the govas without telling Sam Jones he Goes But money ienders, and tere are such even these interior counties, will discount the notes when issued by substantial people. How far this willgono one can suy. It 18, ab least, @ curious hase of the financial ditiiculties of the country. Reourring to the manufacturing induswry of t State may mention that oa my joursey | meta Philadelpula hatter who used to ewploy fiity to sixty hands. He was cowpelled to discharge all. He had expected a large full trade and pra pared for it, but the panic ioilowing the Jay Cvoke Jailare swept away his expectations aod business, He told me that the felt hat manuiacturers of Reading, who used to pay $10,000 a week in wazes, had all suspended work. In these umes people wear their oid hats, and, in fact, are bringing themselves down to such things ouly as are abso intely necessary. - Even the bootviacks complain ol the hard times, In passing through Philadel- phia @ bright litile fellow at the depot wanted to give me @ shine at reauced rates. He said he used to make often $2a day, but now never over $1. People are retrer ce uing in the tuxury o/ Dlack- ing, Many speculations are mavie, | find, as to the future, the currency and other matters 0! & finan cial nature, and one grave gentleman on tie cars was endeavoring to figure out wuen we should reach specie payments through Mr, Secretary Richardson's tinportant sciome of issung two hundred silver dollars a week. THE PITTSBURG SITUATION, —+— No Change for the Better and No Hope of Better Times Until Spring=A Manu- factarcr’s and a Workman’s View. PrrrspuRG, Nov. 6, 1873, The gloom that has hung like a pall ever the tne dustries of this manufacturing city for the pase tew weeks, I regret to state, shows no signs of dis- appearing, or even of becoming less oppressive i its density. On the contrary, depression and un- easiness are more maniiest, and the number of loiterers observable on we principal tuorough- fares indicate additional suspensions or redaction in the number of employca at this or that establishment, The uumber of workmen on the streets indulging in unsought holidaya is agad, sad commentary on the dulness of the times, also of an overflowing labor market, and tells a story of the suffering and misery that must follow the ushering in of the keen, bitter winds and snows of the winter months, There is NO CHANGE FOR THE BRTTER at any one of the great iron workshops of this city. About three-fourths of them have the balf-pay sya- tem still in vogue, while a few have been able to pay in full, In probably half the mills a reduction has becn made of one-fourth or one-thira of the number of men employed, while, in numerous cases, wages have been reduced from ten to fifteen per cent. The majority of the mills are run on singie turn—that is, worke ing on halftime. Orders are slacking with the ar- rival of every day, and there must be total suspen- sion unless orders flow in more rapidly than they do at present. AN INTERVIEW WITH A MILLIONNAIRE, Twent over to the south side this afternoon to have a talk with George W. Jones, of the firm of Jones & Loughiins, of the American Iron Works, @ concern that nas few equals in magnitude in the world. They employ upwards of 3,000 men, and pay out every month to their employés alone something like $100,000, end have branches of their establishment in almost every large city of the country. Jones is a gentleman of perhaps forty years of age, as plain in the matter of dress as he is polished in manners, I asked him what he thought of the situation, when he told me that he had for weeks past been keeping up his courage in the expectation of see- ing a rift in tue financial clouds, but he felt now discouraged, You see, I had no idea that tnis stringency would last be- yond sixty days; but it has, and the worst of it is here now. The bottom hag been touched, and we can’t recover from it till spring, ho matter how things work. No concern in the country regrets this crisis more than we do, jor our trade all aiong, both in eee and West, has been such as Jew lirmsenjoy. We could ail along compete with English manulactures in the quality of product, and have had until within a tew weeks oe to fill which tested the full capacity of these works. “Have you been obliged to discharge any consid- erable number of your employés?” RETAINING THEIR MEN AT ANY COST, “No; I think about 200 would cover the number. These, in fact, have not been discharged, but re- tired for a lew weeks, when they are 4 given employment, be the time ever so short. You see werun our mits day and night. We can’t see economy, as others do, in running single turn, and by this means we retain all our hands. Of couse they do not find as steady employment as it was once in our power to give them. Do you know that it would almost break my heart to turn my men out m the streets in the face of a bitter winter, men whom I have had with me jor twenty years, among whom have been brought up and associated with, I may say, a life time. If T couldn't give them work I Know what they woulddo, I live close by them and they would come to me for something to eat, and God knows this shall never be denied them, Furthermore we have 235 houses, comiortable ones, which will afford quite a number of people sheiter jor the time in any event.’ “De you apprehend a general suspension of the Pig iron milis of Pittsburg ?” “I G0, With the exception of three or four. We purpose holding out all winter, which we are enabled to do from the fact that we are an old and well established firm and consequently orders come in steadily, By the reduction we have made in the wages of our workmen, and the arrange- ment of working this particular force this week and that force the next week, we are sanguime of working along smoothly enough. but there will be suffering and much of it. We cannot escape it. Why there are sixty iron milis in Pittsburg, em- ploying, 1 may say, on the average 500 men each, A suspension of these sixty imilis will throw $0,000 men on the streets.” THE RARNINGS OF MILL MEN. “What is the average earnings of the men em- ployed in the mills 1? hey will average about $2 50 a day. Some men in our mills make clear $16 and $20 a week; these are rollers, heaters and others, having charge ol important departments, These are re- sponsible men and worth the money. Other skilled mechanics earn irom $16 to $20 a week. ‘The best paid laborers are the coal miners, who dig on an average 150 bushels of coal each day, for which they receive five cents per bushel, earni $7 50 aday, Coal is at an outrageous price an must get a tumble.” “Has iron fallen In price, and how much higher, if any, 1s it than previous to the war?” “Our card prices now and those before the war almost tally. Iron can be bought low now. A New York firm asks us to send on 200 tons, as they have room for it. But to our query, ‘When will ‘ou pay for it—in a year?’ ‘No.’ ‘In five years?’ ‘No.’ “Well, then, wien? ‘We can’t tell and will make no promises.’ One consolation we have, and that is, the stock of iron in all oar branch houses is small, especially scanty in our Kastern ones, When the Cookes fell we were in good shape, thank for- ” ba 4 yon know from personal observation that the money paid your employés is hoarded, and, consequently, virtually withdrawn trom circula- aon?” “Indeed itis. Why the payroll of the Cambria fron Works at Jonnstown foots up monthly $150,000, Welly formerly the little bank at tat place looked as regularly as pay day arrived for the heaviest end of this amount. It never was disappointed, for on toat day about $80,000 was deposited by the workmen, How has it been the hist = two i? jot ®& greenback has been put into it; m the Cooke collapse frightened all so seriously. We pay out $100,000 each month, and I am sate say little or nothing of it finds its way into the banks. Jost look at the newspapers chronicling the arrest ofa drunken man, The sion Of & banker—laughingly—ts found in his clothes.’ “Do you think, Ordo you know from conversa- tion with vonr men, that this labor crisis will inter- jere With the tide of amigration?” THE CRISIS AND IMMIGRATION. “fT would say it will not, and [can’t account for it only on the principle that misery loves com~- pany. There are plenty of them at work nore to-day who have this week forwarded money to the old country to bring out some relative or iriend, aud others next week will follow their ex- pie, The truth of the matter 18, the workmen have not yet realized their ieartal position, and tt is criminal im the newspapers to treat this labor crisi# with the indifference many of them do. Lia. boring men should ve made to understand the Palnul places they ocenpy, Should be cautioned against indulgence in speculations to whieh ous oF them of tate have been traught, aad also abo