The contractors have offered to take the men back and pay them the wages
they ask, on the "piece" system, which means that they will give a
certain sum for each garment they make.

The leaders of the strike will not consent to this. They think that
paying by the piece will make it possible for the sweating system to
come into use again, and this they say is a much worse evil than the one
they are now trying to cure.

* * * * *

A surprising discovery was made at West Point the other day.

The quartermaster suddenly discovered that four of the cannon captured
in the Mexican war by General Scott's army had been stolen.

These guns had been lying for years in Fort Clinton, which is an
earthwork overlooking the Hudson River, and only about four hundred feet
from the row of brick houses occupied by the officers of the post.

One of these guns was particularly valued by the War Department, as it
had been captured at Monterey.

The cannon had been in the fort for many years, and as it was never
supposed that they would be stolen, there had been no special guard
placed over them.

No one had the slightest idea how the guns had been stolen. Every
attempt was made to discover the thieves, and at last Colonel Ernst, who