Muncie, IND.; News of Local 23, Hemingray has stock on hand of insulator styles 40, 71, 72, 9 & 12

MUNCIE, IND.

By Harvey Hickman

Conditions at the Hemingray plant are about the same as last month; one tank is working with nine shops and the men are splitting up their time by working two days, on and two days off. The firm has on hand quite a stock of ware in some lines, but in others they have not enough for a good shipment, their stock being mostly of No. 40, 71, 72, 9 and 12, and with the small shipment sent out each day enables them to keep the one tank going. The firm has gone to a large expense, making improvements on and in No.1 factory, in which they have built a new tank and an automatic lehr. I am not in a position at this time to say just when they will start it, or what they are going to do, but the tank is built for automatic machines, in which, I understand, they are going to use the Reeves flow-on. At present they have several of the machines built and give them a workout now and then in the mould room.

Brother Jackie Ross has asked me to let the trade know that he has a fine big baby boy. Jackie is the midget presser at the Hemingray plant and he is getting so old that he has dried up till he only weighs about 90 pounds, and has been married for twenty some years; he was very much surprised when the stork stopped off at his home and left a nine-pound boy. So in order that the community might know it, he ran a paid advertisement in both the morning and evening papers for a week.

Brother William Casey, who was on the sick list for about six months is back to work again laboring at the Hemingray.

Brother Charley Lang, who had 12 years' experience in the United States army, has been chosen as captain of the Muncie Aerie of Eagles drill team and under the direction of Brother Lang expect to make a new record for the Magic City Eagles.

Brother Luke Wilmuth is also on the team and expects to make a record as he also has had military training.

Brother John Fitzgibbons, who was a member of our local for many years, has announced himself to be a candidate on the Republican ticket for nomination of mayor of Muncie. Brother Fitzgibbons attended our last meeting in which he made a few remarks in regard to his platform on which he is running, and there is no question in my mind that the members of Local Union No. 23 and organized labor that he is the best out so far, and to find a better one regardless of politics, I don't know where we would go to find him unless it would be his manager, Brother Robert Bailey. The laboring class of Indiana, especially the unorganized, has a big debt to pay to the organized crafts for their part they took in the last session of the Indiana state legislature, when several of the crafts had lobbyists representing them, and it was only through these lobbyists that several bills detrimental to the laboring class were defeated at the past session, is no sign that they are dead forever. When those bills went to the junk pile in the past session they had a string tied to them, so that when the next sessions opens up they can pull them out again, and organized labor will have to go through the same fight to defeat them, and we, the members of Local Union No. 23, hope by that time that there will be some steps taken, especially by the locals of Indiana, that the members of the A. F. G. W. U. have a lobbyist representing them at the next session of the legislature to help defeat those un-American bills.