Q. You haven't any particular charge of the details?
A. We pay it, that is all. I don't remember all this. Our Mr. Mattes could tell you better than I can. Our mining wages are virtually out of our hands. Whatever the D.L.W. pay, we pay, and the men, on their part, agree to work through, in case of a strike, and we agree to pay in advance, dating from the commencement of the strike, that the railroad may settle with their men to pay.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Had there been any reduction prior to the 1st of August?
A. Our men, all excepting miners, had been reduced on the 1st of July. The reduction was ten per cent., some not that much, some more—averaging, probably, ten or twelve per cent., I suppose.
Q. Were there any men, under that reduction, that would make less than a dollar a day?
A. Our laborers were making less than eighty cents a day. The number of common laborers we have is very small. We don't have very many. I don't know how many we have, exactly. Our work is by the ton, as far as possible. Of course, it is better to have things by the ton.
Q. When was the reduction before the 1st of July?
A. I don't remember when we did last reduce. I could tell you this evening. Perhaps Mr. Mattes could tell you.
Q. Something has been said about a letter being read at the silk-factory—did you ever try to ascertain how that originated?—purporting to give some statement that you had made?