524 



NAPHTHA-MOTORS. 



for a time incapable of labor. A usual stipula- 

 tion also provides a sum to defray funeral ex- 

 penses in case of death. In some cases there is 

 no payment of any kind except a given sum for 

 burial. In others, notably those formed among 

 mechanics, a fund is provided for the loss of 

 tools by accident or otherwise. Their origin 

 dates from an early age, but as a rule the socie- 

 ties are short-lived. The order of Freemasons 

 is probably the oldest, while the guilds of the 

 Anglo-Saxons, and the fraternities and unions 

 formed in trade organizations in Great Britain 

 date from time immemorial. By far the great- 

 er number are local. The organization of a 

 society is generally effected under the stress of 

 some difficulty. Some partake of the character 

 of convivial clubs, wbich meet periodically, 

 make their contributions or pay their fees to 

 the fund, and appoint a committee or officers 

 to manage their affairs. An effort was made 

 in England in 1793, to put the then existing or- 

 ganizations on a firm footing, by giving them 

 a legal status, to wit, permission to hold prop- 

 erty, to sue and be sued, and to make invest- 

 ments in a corporate capacity. The act was 

 followed by several amending acts up to the 

 year 1829, when all were repealed, and a new 

 law was passed, which, with slight changes, 

 has remained in force ever since. In the 

 United States there is a very large number of 

 societies having mutual aid for their object. 

 While the great mass are purely local, there 

 are many, like the Knights of Pythias and the 

 Ancient Order of United Workmen, that have 

 grown to national proportions. The national 

 unions have subordinates or branches in various 

 sections of the country, for which they legis- 

 late, and give aid and counsel whenever neces- 

 sary. While the societies are usually composed 

 of men of a single trade or calling, as the 

 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, there 

 are some whose aim is not confined to any par- 

 ticular class. During 1879 and 1880 there was 

 an extraordinary development of organizations 

 in the United States, and, in addition to nu- 

 merical growth, there was a consolidation of 

 interests that had not before been united, 

 though not discordant. The general aim was 

 to include all the unions and trade societies in 

 the cities or districts where they were formed, 

 and thus become a local parliament of aid and 

 labor. The same thing was developed in Eng- 

 land into a trades-union congress, or interna- 

 tional union, which sought to bring into its 



membership all the unions in the country, form- 

 ing one grand labor congress, which should 

 consider all general questions affecting labor, 

 and endeavor to influence national legislation 

 in a way that small bodies, having only a local 

 constituency, could not hope to do. The larg- 

 est organization of this kind in the United 

 States is known as the Knights of Labor. 

 While mutual aid societies have usually been 

 formed for the exclusive purpose of affording as- 

 sistance to their members only in cases of emer- 

 gency, the consolidation of organizations has 

 brought into existence an aggressive tendency, 

 so that while the sick are relieved, the dead 

 buried, the superannuated cared for, those suf- 

 fering from accidents protected, and the desti- 

 tute shielded, provision has also been made on 

 an enlarged scale for providing for those who 

 engage in strikes, or are subjected to lock-outs, 

 or otherwise affected by a conflict between capi- 

 tal and labor. As a rule, the international or- 

 ganization, whether consisting of a single trade 

 or calling, or made up of many, " guarantees 

 its moral and pecuniary support to all its mem- 

 bers in difficulties that may arise between them 

 and their employers." The amount of assist- 

 ance is generally gauged by the interests in- 

 volved, although it is often gauged only by the 

 amount paid by the member during his paying 

 period. Many mutual aid or benefit societies 

 make no distinction in the amount paid to their 

 members, but guarantee the same sick-pay, etc., 

 to a man of a month's membership as to one of 

 ten years. It is estimated that there are 3,000 

 mutual aid societies, or benefit guilds, in the 

 United States, and the great majority have had 

 an existence of but a few years. Of the larger 

 national organizations, the International Typo- 

 graphical Union, composed exclusively of com- 

 positors, was begun in 1850 ; the Brotherhood 

 of Locomotive Engineers about 1863 ; the 

 Cigar-makers' Union in 1864; and the Brick- 

 layers' Union in 1865. These are the oldest of 

 the organizations whose sphere has been en- 

 larged from purely benevolent actions to af- 

 fording aid in conflicts between employer and 

 employe', or in devising methods to coerce 

 capital. In the matter of securing membership, 

 the rules vary. In some a critical examination 

 is made by a competent physician, as in life- 

 insurance procedure, while in others members 

 are required to pay according to their youth or 

 age, and still others are assessed only in case of 

 certain specified contingencies. 



NAPHTHA-MOTORS. Withi n three years a new 

 species of motor has become familiar to all who 

 frequent the navigable waters of the United 

 States. Its peculiar fitness for the propulsion 

 of small boats has led to its most general use 

 in connection with launches of a size suited to 

 the needs of residents in sea-side coWages and 



the thousand resorts and watering-places along 

 our lakes and rivers. Almost every large 

 yacht now carries one of them as a tender, and 

 the compact little craft, with their neat, up- 

 right boilers, sometimes of brass and some- 

 times of shining nickel-plate, are every-day 

 sights in all the harbors of coastwise and inland 



