The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 12, 1926, Page 5

FLORIDA NEGRO MUST LIVE IN DIRTY SHACKS Evils of Segregation Are Widespread By a Worker Correspondent, TAMAPA, Fla., May 10, — The pro- perty-owning class of Tampa has selected certain districts in which the Negro workers must live, One of them is Lincoln Park, on the boundary line between Tampa and ‘West Tampa. It is south of the Hils- ‘borough River. All the sewerage runs into the river at that point. It is low and swampy, a ditch, encircling this section. No bridge is,over it, There are neither sidewalks nor pavements. It is more like a temporary camp, The hovels are built cross wise. Housing Conditions, In one case a Jot 95 by 100 feet has ten hovels on it. The law calls for three feet of space between each hovel, -Altho Tampa, has all modern improvements the colored sections of the city are without.such improve- ments as gas and water in the dwel- lings. This makes it necessary to have outside toilets very near them. Tampa's torrid summer heat makes the odor almost unbearable, The in- sects, thriving in these swamps, add to the discomfort. These hovels are constructed of used lumber from torn, down build- ings, They are not painted, Tampa, like other parts of Florida, has very heavy rainstorms. Yet these hovels are so constructed that the rain pours in from every direction. It costs only $400 all told to Muild one of these hovels of four rooms, each of which is seven by seven feet. Another section reserved for Negro workers is near the business section of Tampa—one of the most up-to-date business districts in the southern states. Boost Rents. Here the rent ds more than double that of the other section. One hovel in this section was rented for $4.50 a week in June, 1925. But the landlord, like other Tampa real estate men, increased the rent. In December) it was $15 a week. He could not get more out of this tenant so he gave him orders to move. The next tenant had to pay $24 a week—which is a 500% raise within 8 months. To meet the landlord’s de- mands of $24 a week it is necessary for the tenant to take in three roomers for each room. After a heavy downpour of rain the roomers threaten to move because their..already imadequate supply of clothing is wet. The landlord refuses to dovany repairing. Forced to Pay for Lumber, In another case, where used lumber was taken from an adjoining lot, the tenant was told to move. He pleaded piteously with the landlord because of the scarcity of shacks. The landlord’ then told him that he might remain if he paid $25 for the lumber which the landlord said was stolen. ; The tenant, too poor to pay, agreed to pay $5 a week for the five weeks, Working conditions of the Negro in Tampa form another interesting phase of the condition of the Negro workers of the south, _ The Seaboard Airline railway, the most important railroad entering Tampa, pays its workers in checks. In order to get these checks cashed, Negro workers must spend 25% of their. wages in stores cashing them. The profits on merchandise sold in the Negro sections amount to from 50 to 200%. Railroads Mulets Injured Workers. One of the Seaboard Airline checks for $10 received by one of these merchants had written on the face of it: “For full and final settlement of personal Injuries to left knee, left leg, left side, shoulder and head.” When asked how long he was laid Phniabers.Sdalities’? Club of Brooklyn, New York calls on all helpers to join the club. Meetings every FRIDAY night, 8:30 p. m., |] at + © 7 Thatford Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. ‘Telephone Lehigh 6022 ~ DR. ABRAHAM MARKOFF Surgeon Dentist 249 East 115th St., Cor. Second Ave, NEW YORK CITY bes ane Hours: 9 to M.; 2 to a iy, except Friday: Sunday 9 to 1 PM Special Rates to W. P. Members up the Negro worker replied that he was incapacitated for eight days with no pay, This worker was one of a number unloading a flat car of lumber. A switch engine backed against it, throwing this worker to the ground. The cable on another car broke just as it was hauling up lumber. The lum- ber struck the worker, breaking his jaw in two places as well as his arm, He was laid up in an hospital for six weeks, The doctor told him he would not be able to work for six months. The claims” agéit of the railroad sent fot him, ‘While he was in the hospital. He’offered him $25 as a final settlement. “When the Negro worker refusedto’accept, the claims’ agent told him-he; would have him dis- charged fromthe hospital and thrown into the street. He was put out of the hospital, The worker, of course, had neither money nor home, ‘When employes of the Seaboard Air- line come to stores*to do their shop- ping their foremen’are with them, The foreman. does: the purchasing with their money, which, he carries in his own pocket. rw Owing to, the fact, that they have been refused opportunities to go to primary schools many of these work- ers cannot figure out the cost of two or three small articles. The foreman does this for them and returns to them, at the énd of the week, what he considers is due them. Sub-Division Head Exploits Negro. A land-owner started development of @ sub-division of swampy land far removed from the city. The Negro workers doing this work had to live there: After a week’s work they would receive their pay. Invariably they re- turned to the city never to go back. This held up rapid development of the sub-division. So in order to make them stay. the landlord adopted on old but effective plan. He would send a worker to deliyer a bottle of bootleg Twenty-Six Years Around a Barber Chair THE 20 : _DAlLY WORKER On a great event. South Bend Holds May Day Celebration By A Worker Correspondent SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 5. — The workers of South Bend celebrated May Day with a demonstration that started Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock and lasted until 10 o’clock at night. Speakers in English, Hungarian and Lithuanian told of the significance of May Day, A dramatic sketch was pre- sented by the Hungarian Workers’ Educational Club. J. EB, Snyder, ably described the gal- lant fight of the 16,000 Passaic tex- tile workers against the textile bar- ons. He also brought out the need of the industrial workers co-operating with the farmers to fight their com- mon exploiters. As the celebration was going on in one room, in another workers were bringing in their lists with money they had collected for the benefit of the Passaic strikers. Many had spent May Day collecting relief funds for the strikers. WRITE AS YOU FIGHT! By M. PERLIN, Worker Correspondent. (Reprinted from the first Living Newspaper in the English language, Chicago) John is thirty-eight, was born in father was also a barber. Chicago, and a barber by trade. His ‘When John was ten years old his father used to stand him-on a.chair so that he could reach the customer and in his way he began his‘eareér of shaving faces. When he was fifteen years old he became a full fledged’ barber. He worked ih very high-toned places, such as the Morrison Hotel and the Drake Hotel. . For twenty-six years he served the rich people, until two years.ago;,when he took very sick with tuberculosis, He was'in the Windfield.sanitarium for.one year.and now he wanders from one barber shop to another—sick, homeless and penniless. He shows the barbers his license of two years ago and tells them that he has worked in. the-largest barber shops in Chicago, The barbers, taking pity on him, give hima few.cents for a meal or a bed. ‘This is John’s reward for serving the millionaires of Chicago for twenty- six years.) “whiskey” to another camp. On the way a man with a sheriff’s badge would overtake and arrest him. Then the foreman would appear. The man with the badge would release the worker in teturn for $200 paid by the foreman ani the worker would re- turn to the, camp to work out that amount. Over him, of course, would hang the threat of jail if he ran away. Child Labor. Child labor is common in the South, Little Negro girls ten years of age do domestic work in homes of people from eight in the morning until eight at night, the weekly wage running from $7 to $10 a week without room or board. Little Negro boys, of the same age, work as ice wagon helpers from 5:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the after- noon, every.day in the week, including Sundays, for less than $10 a week. The, Negro .worker, however, is not the only person exploited in Tampa. Workers’ Conditions. Street car.operators of “one man cars,” for example, get 47 cents an hour for @ 12;hour, every day in the week.. When an was made to organize them.45 men were summarily discharged. The cigars industry, the most im- portant. single,industry in Florida, is completely, demoralized, The average.cigarmaker makes $18 a week des; fact that the cost of living est iiner than in the Jarger northern cities. The cigar makers are very poorly organized. Civie em! Ae “no eke ia the rule. Cif rece! a cu ‘with athreat that if they ath & in wages " did not ‘ip fiiey would receive The American” Worker Correspond- ent is out. Did you get your copy? Hurry up! Send in your sub! it's only 50 cents, On to Moscow! Every point you get for subs sent in— WHETHER YOU WIN PRIZES OR NOT— counts for a vote for the Trip to Moscow! ‘Send in That Sub! Union Printers Hold Baseball Tournament in St. Louis, Aug. 21-27 By a Worker Correspondent INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., May 10—The annual baseball touranment of the Union Printers’ International Base- ball League will be held in St. Louis August 21 to 27. Teams representing twelve different cities in the United States and Canada are to participate. New York; Chicago, Cleveland, Cin- cinnati, Indianapolis, St, Louis, Bos- ton, St. Paul, Washington, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Detroit will be repre- sented. ‘The St. Louis games will be Played at the University of St. Louis baseball field, An elaborate enter- tainment program is also planned for the fans of the twelve cities, “Say it with your pen in the worker correspondent page of The DAILY WORKER.” The American Worker Correspond ent Is out! Did you subscribe? By KATE WOLODARSKY, (Worker Correspondent) (Reprinted from the first Living Newspaper in the English language, Chicago.) About twenty out of a few hundred inspectors employed in Mandel Broth- ers’ department store are stationed in the packing room in the third base- ment. That place is a living tomb, tho the superintendent insists that the third subway is the best spot in the “house.” An odor of underground dampness and a deafening noise of machinery strikes one the moment he gets down there, “Hell” In Mandel Bros, The working crew consists of for- eign-born, Americans who are being discriminated against by the bo: and the privileged few who rule over their co-workers, The following lit- tle story will complete the picture of Mandel’s packing room. ‘ When the supervisor assigns an in- ‘spector of one of the upper floors to the packing room the rest of the em- ployes sympathetically say: “Poor irl, she is being sent to the ‘Hell,’” ‘On one of my frequent visits to the “hell*'Y met a young woman who re- hae came from Russia to escape tie ‘Bo! Mae BOOK 3 PRIZES For Winning Worker Correspondence to Be Printed in the Issue of Friday, May 14th: S femal old td England?” by Leon Trotsky. A brilliant work that throws light on the great strike going on now. Cloth bound, y ABRa ices urbe of China,” by Jos. H. Dolsen. The latest publication eal and Shadows,” by Ralph Chaplin. Beatitifut poems written by the author while a class war prisoner In LéaVenworth, WIN A BOOK THIS WEEK!: 1 WORKER C RRESPONDENCE FROM THE SOVIET UNION MARIUPOL PORT INCREASES ITS TRADE RAPIDLY By IVAN EREMEITCHIK MOSCOW, U,.S. S. R., May 10, — Since last year Mariupol port has con- siderably revived, Where half destroy- ed ships were formerly standing, where the only thing being construct- ed was a dock, now smoke is wafting up from scores of foreign and Russian steamers, while old vessels’ are being repaired. Wight huge cranes with a capacity of 30 tons an hour have com- menced work. Great scoops filled with coal are dis- charged with a rumble into the gaping hold of some “foreigner.” Under a network of electric wires one hears the incessant murmur of electric mo- tors which have replaced the man Dower of dockers. Wagons roll, carts creak. Powerful mechanical loaders charge the steamers with grain rythm- ically, people Bustle along the gang- ways, the hold’of-the steamer is rapid- ly filled with golden wheat. Trade Grows Greater, The trade of the port is growing. This year 236,000 tons of coal have been exported (last year 19,000 tons), 61,000 tons of grain whilst altogether 205,000 tons will be exported (as against 105,000 tons last year.) No less than 78 fordign steamers have ar- rived and departed with cargoes whereas last year there were only 28; at the present there are 16 Italian, Greek, and othée/steamers in the port which will ‘beam away our Soviet coal and corn to foreign ports. And at evetitide when the lamps are lit up, and when the lights of the town glimmer fithe hills in the dis- tance, the port’workers slip off to the clubs and theater.from which the foreign seamen “cannot even be driv- en out with avétick,” as the saying has it. Seamen Greets Soviet Union. Foreign seamen who have come to Russia for the first time are bewilder- ed, but afterwards, as was the case at the opening of the “Metal Workers” Club, a seaman-from a British ship, Comrade .... fell on his knees be- fore the Red banner and embracing it, said in his lbwn tongue—“At the first call of the workers I shall march against the capitalists. I greet the Soviet power, I envy the workers of the Soviet Union, The Red Flag lives in my tormented heart and I kiss it with tears.” Not a whisper could be heard in the hall. His words went to much to the heart that they will long remain in the memory of those who heard him. Those who have already visited Russia before say to us—“How rapidly you are building. Last year it took months to load our ship and now”— and the speaker gesticulates with astonishment. Yes, we are building. We are get- ting stronger «4¢+ and the smoke rising up from the 16 steamers load- ing in our port every day is @ proof of this, . T RRM RR Al Ra A WHITE BECOMES A RED IN THE “GOLDEN LAND” travelled thru y countries till she reached the “Golden One,” the United States of Amerita. Here six months, she could hardly make herself under- stood in the English language. When I met her she was excitedly telling something to the boys and girls who worked near her. They did not understand&ijone word of what she had said anq her excited outburst brot forth smiles which they exchang- ed with each other. I could not re- main indifferent to the woman's trouble and asked her in her own language what had happened. A torrent of words flowed from the woman’s mouth. She forgot that the boss was standing near, she forgot UNEMPLOYMENT INCREASES IN INDIANAPOLIS Chamber of Commerce Hides Real Facts By a Worker Correspondent INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., May 10.—The Indianapolis chamber of commerce has organized a booster club. The cham- ber of commerce is getting alarmed over industrial conditions in the city. They are at their wits’ end to know what to do to keep the residents from leaving and thus adding hundreds of empty houses to the thousands that are now empty. This body has started a national campaign to advertise the city and bring people here. They seek to make a city hgving a population of a million. Newspaper Publicity Bunk. The out-of-town worker who reads this bunk no doubt thinks that there is a great boom and lots of work in this city. Any worker who thinks of coming ‘here to secure work should investigate a little before changing his residence. This newspaper bunk is a lot of rot. Indianapolis is in about the worst condition industrially of any city in the country of its class and has been this way for some time. Real estate sharks and business men are trying to do everything possible to keep the people from a general stampede to other cities. One firm in the moving business moved the household goods of fourteen families to Cincinnati alone in one week. Many Plants Idle, Several large plants have been va- cated and have been idle for many months. Among these are the Mid- West Engine Works plant, the Nation- al Motors company, Cole Motor Works and the Westinghouse plant. Many factories are only running part time. The big Presto Light company has been running only three days a week. The Beemis Bag company has been working four days a week four hours a day. This corporation has 18 fac- tories in other cities. It employs 10,- about the danger of losing her job, the words were choking her and she poured them out. Belonged to Russia Bourgeoisie, The woman wa: dentist by pro- fession. Raised in a well-to-do family, she had the opportunity to take up cultural studies in addition to her pro- fession, She liked languages best and thanks to that there was no environ- ment in whiche#he did not feel at home. us Needless to ad@ she had nevey ex- perlenced physi¢al’ labor, nor subord- ishevika, ‘This woman had| ination, She always lived far trom A ‘ .) 000 workers in India where the jute comes from to make the bags. Lay-Off Workers. The Kingan Packing company dis- charged 300 workers and cut the wages of those remaining about.30 per cent. It is said the Weidley Motor Works will go out of business. The Stevenson Gear company recently quit business, Another large factory is preparing to leave the city. Dozens of empty houses stand around every factory. Sometimes a dozen in a block. Wages Low. These are but a few reasons why wage workers should stay away from Indianapolis. Unskilled workers get as low as 20 cents an hour. Many restaurants only pay $10 a week for a 12-hour day. Some restaurants only pay $5 or $6 a week for dishwashers. Wages are low but the cost of liv- ing is just as high as it is anywhere else. Many workers who have been out of work for many months have become despondent. Some have com- mitted suicide. Suicide cases are very frequent. Despite these facts the newspapers continue to shout to the workers that things are fine and that they are get- ting better and better all of the time. The inference is that a boom is just ahead. The reader here doesn’t notice any signs of a boom and many are getting hungry waiting for it to come. Open your eyes! Look around! There are the stories of the workers’ struggles around you begging to be written up. Do it! Send it in! Write as you fight! WRITE AS YOU FIGHT! the working class districts and the summer months she spent inthe thick woods of South Western Ukraine, In the “Golden” country she works in a living tomb for a starvation wage, standing all day long on her feet. She forgot the color of the sky and the shine of the sun, and in addition to all that, that ignoramus of a supervisor keeps abusing her. He scolds her for the most trivial things and is so rude in his manner, she would not have talked that way to the maid in her father’s home, she said. rns from Experience. “Now,” she cried, “I understand what it means to be a proletarian and what is meant by exploitation. I'm ready to crush those exploiters, There is not any evil thing [ would not in- flict upon the bosses. Now I'm not only a socialist, I'm even a bolshe- vik.” “Yes,” I thot, "You are not the only one who has lead the life of a parasite in your native country and in the “golden land” came to the understand- ing of what is ‘right.’ What the bol- sheviks could not do by, agitation, American capitalism will acgomplish by exploitation.” ® WRITE AS YOU FIGHT! Buffalo Barbers Win Demands in Many Shops After a Short Strike i By a Worker Correspondent BUFFALO, N. Y., May 10.— The strike of the journeymen barbers has already been won in a majority of shops, The rest of the shops will prob- ebly sign the new agreement demand- ed by the barbers after the meeting of the Master Barbers’ Association, The men had been receiving consi- ‘derably less than, their new demand of $30 a week and half the profits over $40. In ‘spite of ‘this, their de- mands were. granted after only a few days of the strike.. The remaining twenty-five barters who are still out will reutrn to their shops victorious after the Master.Barbers’ meeting, it is deduced’ The boss barbers have been threat- ing to raiee the. price of hair-cufs from fifty cents to sixty-five cents in order to make the public bear the bur- den of the increase in wages. This move would be entirely on the initia- tive of the bosses, The journeymen have suggested no increase in prices. Carnegie Steel Works Fires Four for Refusal to Work Overtime By a Worker Correspondent EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa., May 10.— Last Thursday I went to the Carnegie Steel company’s employment office near Braddock, to get a laborer’s job. After waiting three hours in the of- fice, they told me to start to work the next day at 7 a. m. at 50 cents an hour. My work waa in the foundry where heat, dirt, dust and smoke was dense. On Saturday afternoon 3 p. m., when we were thru work and ready to go home, the foreman told us to work eight hours overtime. Some of the workers agreed to do so. Four of us decided not to work, as we were too tired and there was: no extra. pay for the overtime. In the name of the four of us, I told the foreman that we do not want to work overtime. The foreman was so mad that he fired us immediately. He gave us our time slip and called four company cops, who threw us into the street. 4 May Organize Silk Workers, HAZLETON, Pa-+(FP)—The. Unit- ed Mine Workers Union and the Unit- ed Textile Workers may soon be co- operating in @ campaign to organize the silk workers in the small towns of this anthracite district. Most of the loeal silk workers are the women rela- tives of union mine workers, Page Five CLOAKMAKERS MAY STRIKE IN MONTH OF JUNE Governor’s Committee Exposes Conditions By GOLDIE CHIBKA (Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK, May 10.—Two reports have recently been issued by the bureau of research, which the special governor's committee has established, showing taat the average cloakmaker earns $26.50 a week in the sub-manu- facturing shop and $36 in the inside shop. The cloakmakers have been em- ployed 37.4 weeks in the inside shop and 28.6 weeks in the sub-manufac- turing shop during the year of 1925. This research bureau is under the supervision of Professor L. Rogers. The reports have been prepared by the main statisticlan, Morris Coltchin, ~ These reports have been issued after a long and careful study of condi- tions in the cloak industry, Only a minority of the cloakmakers are employed in the inside shops. The majority of the trade receive the low wage of $26.50 a week working in the sub-manufacturing shops, The investigation committee agrees, that there is a tendency for condi; tions. to become worse. At the last hearing before the goy- ernor’s committee in Albany, a few weeks ago, the industrial council of the cloak manufacturers stated that the workers are soldiering on the job; The reports now show that the neces- sary cloaks are made by the workers in 28 weeks. The rest of the year, the cloakmakers are unemployed and condemned to starve with their fam- ilies. The cloakmakers, 35,000 to 40,000 in number, expect a general strike in New York this June. Their agreement expires then. The cloakmakers know that just as in other industries it will only be possible to better conditions by using the workers’ most effective weapon against the bosses—the general strike. Avella Miners Hold May Day Meeting By a Worker Correspondent. AVELLA, Pa., May 10. — In Avella approximately 1,100 miners are out of work. 400 are working two days a week. Avella is a small mining town with no other industries. The Workers * (Communist) Party and the Young: Workers (Communist) League held. a'” meeting at which several hundred miners attended. There was great en- thusiasm at the May Day meeting: Comrade Papcun a member of the na- tional executive committee of the Young Workers (Communist) League spoke at length on the British strike. Being a -stenographic report of a great (?) Madison Street debate between Pike and Ike (who cares if they look alike?). Photographs stolen from Bill Gropper. PIKE: “Didja hear about it Ike?” IKE: “Yeh—I know it. The Reds are at it again.” PIKE: “At it—man, they're sendin’ people to Rooshia as a prize. Can ya beat it?” IKE: ““Yeh—and the government wai couple years‘ago to send them there f'r nothi PIKE: “And they're givin’ every year's sub to their paper IKE: ernment.” oolish enough a away a book of cartoons with “1 know it—and the fool things poke fun at our gov- PIKE: “Sure and they're also givin’ away a fancy bust. "'m f'r givin’ all a bust alright—right in the eye! That’s me Ike— always f'r the government.” IKE: “That's and sinkers will ya?” PIKE: Can't—I'm broke.” e@ too. . . Say, loan me two-bits for coffee IKE: “So 'm ey too. And they say the Reds get all a. the eats they want in Roosh: PIKE: “The more it ain't so bad in Rooshia.” . Cripes—it's hell.” you talk the hungrier | get. Say, maybe IKE: “Well—maybe it ain't!” vi PIKE: “Yeh—and the Reds here stiff to Moscow ridin’ the cushions all trip meal ticket to work on, Can you beat it?” re “I always said Ike—them dam Reds is liable to do any IKE: thirg!” (At this point a cop urged them to “move conyinced both Ike and Pike that this eve. if you do have to pay for lunch.) is goin’ to send some lucky the way and with a round “long,” which be is a free country—. ”