﻿OOLITIC Li:\IESTOXE IN^DIJSTEY 



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objected to their doing any higher class of labor. However, one 

 of the mills at Bedford is almost entirely operated by Italians, 

 one of whom is their efficient foreman. Generally they are 

 thought to be more steady than the American laborers, bnt less 

 capable of the higher kinds of work. Most employers prefer not 

 to employ them, believing that in the long rim American labor 

 is more satisfactory. 



The stone cutters, m.any of whom are foreigners, do not prop- 

 erly come within the province of this paper, since they are for 

 the most part itinerant workmen, going wherever there is work 

 for them. Relatively few of the producers of cut stone employ a 

 considerable number of cutters continuously. Most cutters are 

 employed by contractors and do their work on the site of build- 

 ing. 



The reports of the Department of Inspection indicate that 

 few or none of the workmen in the oolitic industry are below six- 

 teen years of age. This statement is inaccurate, but the propor- 

 tion is quite small and probably does not exceed two or three 

 per cent of the total number of workmen. ]\Iany employers 

 avoid the employment of boys because of their greater liability 

 to injurs- through their own carelessness or inexperience. Such 

 as are employed serve as signal boys to pass the orders of the 

 ledge boss to the derrick runner, as helpers on drills, as water 

 boys, and rarely as side-men on channelers or as operators of 

 "dinky" boilers for steam drills. Their wages vary from seventy- 

 five cents to one dollar and fifty cents per dsiv of ten hours. 



It might seem that the annual earnings of the workmen in the 

 limestone industry would scarcely be sufficient to keep them 

 above the want line, nor indeed would they be if the conditions of 

 jife were not unusual. For the environment of the workers is 

 still essentially rural. Many live in small cottages built on land 

 belonging to the producer who employs them; even those who 

 live in towns may be said to lead a rural life, since the to^vns are 

 small. Neither Bloomington nor Bedford, the largest towns in 

 the ,oolitic area, boasts a population of more than eight thousand. 

 Under such conditions the cost of living is relatively low, and 

 what would be a star^-ation wage in the city may afford a com- 

 fortable living here. 



The standard of living am.ons: the workmen in the oolitic 

 stone industry is fairly good, judged by that of the working- 

 classes in general. Wages may fairly be considered adequate 

 during the period of employment. Some of the more frugal ones 



