The Romance of Norwalk

at the top. The operator seated at one end of the machine feeds the fur on to a moving belt that conveys it to a cham¬ ber where it is met by a blast of air that sends it whirling to fill the chamber with floating fibres of fur. “On the floor of this chamber is a slowly revolving table upon which has been placed a dampened copper cone per¬ forated with little holes. In the center of the turn table an exhaust fan operates to draw the air inward through these holes. As the cone revolves the floating fibres of fur are gradually drawn on to the cone by the suction of the air until it is covered with a thin film held together by the damp¬ ness of the cone. The process takes about one minute. When all the fibres have been drawn on to the cone, the doors of the chamber are opened and wet cloths carefully laid on the newly formed body. A tin cover is placed on the cone and the whole thing is placed on a platform and automatically immersed in a vat of hot water. The cover and wet cloths are then removed, the cone turned bottom side up and the hat body carefully peeled off. The object of the immersion in hot water is to enable the operator to handle the delicate film, as otherwise it would fall apart. This whole process requires the most expert workmanship, as the least slip would result in disaster.” The next operation in the hat making is the “sizing,” whereby the cone shaped body, which is two and one half times as large as necessary for the hat, is reduced to its proper size. Following this, the hat body, still in cone shape, is dyed. If derby hats are to be made, the hat body is stiffened with a solution of shellac in alcohol, before dye¬ ing. After the hat bodies are dyed and dried, they go through the process of blocking where they assume the first recognizable resemblance to a hat. After being sandpapered to remove any hairs which may still be sticking to the felted body, the hat body is ready for the final processes of finish¬ ing, shaping, and trimming. Thus ends the biography of a Crofut and Knapp felt hat. HATTING 279 STRIKE OF 1884-1885 The Norwalk hat factories, including of course, the C. and K., have lived through two great strikes, one in the fall of 1884 and the spring of 1885 and the other during the year 1909. The strike of 1884, which commenced in the month of November, was precipitated by a wage cut of 25 per cent ordered by the Crofut and Knapp Co. during a dull season, when business was very poor. The company felt that it could not pay full wages in such bad times and it believed that the hatters would prefer a 25 per cent cut to no work at all. On the contrary, the hatters decided that the wage cut was not necessary and that they would starve before they would take it. Close to a thousand men had left their benches by December 1, announcing that they were prepared to stay out six months before they would work for what they termed “starvation wages.” John S. Seymour, of counsel for the Hatters’ association, in a three column letter in the local papers explained some of the grievances of the strikers. He addressed his com¬ munication to Messrs. Crofut and Knapp, A. Solmans, Coffin, Hurlbut and Co., and Edwin Adams, all of local hat companies. His letter, bitter and sarcastic, accused the hat companies, among other things: Of being banded to¬ gether to reduce wages; of forcing the men to abandon their labor organization before they could be re-employed; of trying to get a bill through the legislature banning labor associations; of getting the police and the mayor to pro¬ tect the “scabs” who went to work in the “open shop” after the strike commenced; of reducing wages 25 per cent (this had particular reference to the C. and K.) and of selecting the lull between the fall and spring trade to do this when to shut down for a couple of months “would benefit the company.” The Crofut and Knapp company in response maintained that it had to choose between a 25 per cent wage cut and a complete shutdown and felt the former would be prefer¬ able to the latter; that it had no objection to the strikers 280 ROMANCE OF NORWALK talking to the so-called “scabs,” if violence was omitted, but that it had a perfect right to institute an open shop if the union men did not care to come to work for the wages of¬ fered. In the meantime, A. Solman’s hat factory was filling all orders: E. Adams had reorganized his factory and the C. and K. was running Factory No. 2 full blast. Just five minutes before 1 1 on a Friday night, January 22, 1885, the Crofut and Knapp Co., Factory No. 2, on the corner of Water and Tolies sts., was blown up with dynamite. Seventy-five panes of glass were shattered, a blue stone sill, four inches thick, on which the explosive had rested, was blown into thousands of pieces, great holes were torn in the walls, the ceilings riddled, and a number of men sleeping in the building were hurled from their beds by the force of the explosion. The ear splitting noise was heard in Stamford. Blame for the explosion immediately was attached to the strikers, who promptly denied any part in the affair. They in turn laid the blame on the hat manu¬ facturers who, they said, had attempted to blow up their own factory, so as to gain sympathy for their cause and to turn it from the strikers on whom they planned suspicion for the deed should fall. The account of the explosion which was characterized by the Sentinel as “a dastardly at¬ tempt which for hellish wickedness has scarcely a parallel in the evil deeds of men, rather fiends,” was given in the local paper as follows: “The explosive was probably placed on the sill of the window in the southeast corner of the building, corner of Water and Tolies sts. This part of the building was used as the tip room and in it were several sewing machines, the safe and tables. In the other end of the building were sleeping Messrs. Howard Knapp and John Scott. The engineer and watchman were in the engine room about 30 feet distant and on the second floor 13 workmen were asleep in an apartment fitted up for their accommodation. The explosion tore out the window, breaking in pieces the win¬ dow sill four inches in thickness, shattered the windows in HATTING 281 that part of the building and several things in the room. Portions of the flying debris tore great holes in the wall. On the outside the effects are seen on the fence across the street, where the terrific power of the destructive agency spent a great part of its force. Messrs. Knapp and Scott were thrown out of their cots and the men in the other part of the building were considerably shocked, but no one re¬ ceived any injuries other than the shock. “The explosion was felt throughout the city but as it was after most people had retired, but few were aware of its cause. Portions of the cartridge were found, one piece having been imbedded in a fence post on the opposite side of the street. A sewing machine standing near the window was flattened down on the table. Had the infernal material exploded in the interior of the building, it undoubtedly would have been torn to pieces and lives sacrificed. The cartridge was a piece of two inch iron pipe with a cap screwed on each end and was unquestionably made by novices and prob¬ ably at home or hereabouts. “The damage has in the main been repaired and the factory has continued in operation Avithout interruption. ReAvards amounting to $1,200 have been offered. Mayor Taylor called a special session of the council Saturday after¬ noon and $500 reward Avas offered by the city. In addition to this $500 has been offered by the employers and $200 by the Hatters’ association. The mayor has put on extra po¬ lice to guard the factories and men patrol each of them every night. A. Solmans has had lanterns placed on the outside of his factory and has them lighted at night.” This last precaution on the part of Mr. Solmans Avho is now president of the South Nonvalk Savings Bank, Avas felt not only to be a very Avise precaution but to be indicative of the rapid strides being made in outside factory illumina¬ tion. Papers all over the country commented on the ex¬ plosion in Crofut and Knapp’s. The Hartford Courant roundly denounced the hat workers here for using dynamite to bring their employers to terms, and congratulated Hart- 282 ROMANCE OF NORWALK ford on the fact that it harbored no dynamiters. The Dan¬ bury News laid the blame on some “malcontent.” The Hart¬ ford Post spoke scathingly of the abuse of dynamite in Norwalk. The Bridgeport Leader saw in the explosion an extremely bad effect on Norwalk’s reputation which might end in the city’s losing all manufacturing establishments which would not care to settle in such a lawless neighbor¬ hood. The New York Herald Tribune, concluded its edi¬ torial comment with the following piece of advice: “South Norwalk boasts only three constables who are not on duty at night. If the residents of the town wish it to retain its reputation as a good place for manufacturers to establish themselves, they would do well to protect the capital now invested there, even if they have to double the strength of the constabulary.” By this time, the tenth week of the strike, many of the old-time hatters commenced to complain that they wished they had never listened to the “big union leaders.” It ap¬ pears that in the beginning, the leaders gave the strikers the idea that the strike would only last a few days since “the bosses couldn’t hold out any longer.” By the beginning of the tenth week, the strikers were beginning to get a little bit skeptical.