The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 22, 1926, Page 12

a - —_ = The Humble Charwoman (The Case of “Mrs. G.”) By FLORENCE PARKER. The charwoman! To some of you, no doubt, the word may conjure up visions of a stout, comfortable “body,” full of bustle and good-humored gos- sip. Certainly the type exists. One of my friends is fortunate in receiving three weekly visitations of just such a “char-lady,” as he imvariably calls her. And herein lies the point of the matter: there are charladies, but there are plain “chars,” as weH. The for- mer may possess comfortable homes, may work some hours a week to help out the husband’s or children’s earn- ings. The latter undertake the work in grim earnest in order to keep body and soul together. The charlady is able to select jobs comparatively easy and congenial. The “char” has to take any job that offers. es 2 @ I should like to tell you something about a gallant little “char” of my acquaintance—her story is but a re- plica of countless others in many of its details, Mrs. G., or Liz as she is more gen- erally known, is small, thin, and fer- rettytooking. She has a hunted look in her eyes. Her makeshift clothes hang about her shrunken form in lop- eided disorder. Her hair hangs about her head in much the same fashion. Liz apparently has no time to stop and consider the blessed advantages of bobbing. By the look of her she might be anything between 45 and 60, As a matter of fact, she is 38. see Lia works chiefly at cheap lodging houses, where she has worked up 4 connection. Their mistresses, often harassed enough themselves, try to get what is known as “the last ounce” out of her. Such scrubbing, scouring, beating, and polishing as Liz is set to do ought gurely to leave the lodging houses at the height of spick-and-span- mess. Unfortunately, the ancient dwellings, and the furniture and fit- tings within them, have so long been subjected to the murkiest kind of grime that they seem unable to shake it off, even under the ministrations of such an expert and indefatigable worker as Liz. - *e ¢ Liz goes out to work at whatever time may be required of her. The hour at which she leaves off charing varies. Sometimes, but as a tule only during “spring-cleaning” time, she is lucky enough to be able to go on working without more than a half hour’s break or go from 7:30 a. m. to 9:30 p. m és Liz’s working day, however, neither begins nor ends with her out-oor charing. Not by a long way. This insignificantdooking little creature has a family of four at home, and they, and the home, such as it is, require looking after. The family consists of an ailing husband and three young children; the home, of two “basement backs.” Liz had had two other chil dren, who had died in infancy: “mer- cifully for them and everyone con- cerned,” is the mother’s dreary con- clusion, as she thinks of the fate of the three who are left all day in the charge of her irascible and disabled husband. (It would be equally cor- rect to say that he was left in their charge.) . e*ee¢ He had been foreman at a laundry works. He and Liz had been getting along fine, and had a tidy bit put by. Then the accident had happened ow- ing to some defective machinery. He had been injured and incapacitated from further work. He had a beggarly sum as “damages,” and a pension which did not suffice to cover even the most elementary needs of the fam- ily. He is unable to earn a penny at home, even by such means as ad- dressing envelopes, and the like, as the shock of the accident hag shatter- ed his nerves and robbed him of all power of concentration, eset 8 So Liz, the little wife and mother, who in the ordinary way would have had enough to do in looking after the kiddies and the home, and cooking, Liz has had to step in and play sole bread-winner as well. Now you will understand why I find it difficult to limit her ~working-day to any special hour. Of contin tthe naighsbors do what they can, but... “Mrs. G. looks so bedraggled I scarcely like to have her seen: about the place,” said a new employer of Liz recently — the smartly-dressed landlady of a superior ‘“board-resi- dence.” “And did you notice that greedy sort of look in her eyes? I went over the things in the larder yesterday, after she had gone—I feel sure we shall miss something one of these days.” Child Slavery Tobacco fields in the United States are slave pens for children! The Children’s Bureau of the United States department of labor is author- ity for this statement. An investiga- tion conducted by the bureau was fol- lowed by a report that did not sum up the situation in those words—but the facts of the investigation more than justify them. “Thousands of little children, boys and gitle, are being forced to toil long hours at nauseating labor in the to- baceo fields of the South and New England,” says the report. They must perform “two of the most tedious.and disagreeable tasks” in to- bacco cultivation: “sucking” and “worming.” Sucking consists of breaking off the side branches of the tobacco plants, Worming is the task of picking worms off the leaves and squashing them, The report reveals that the children engaged in this range from 7 to 12 ‘years of age in the South and in the Connecticut valley one-third of the children are between those ages, Ono- third of the total are girls, The in- vestigators found the hourg of work to be between ten and thirteen hours @ day—and these in the hottest months, “The children complain that their backs ache from working over the plants; that pulling off the suckers hurts thelr hands; that the strong odor from the tobacco makes them il, | “Worming is 6o disagreeable and, according to some workers, so irr tating to the skin that premiums are occasionally offered for It, or the children are threatened with severe punishment if any worms are found on the tobacco after the work is finished.” Such is child labor in but one—and that a comparatively small—industry in the United States. Even more atrocious than the conditions in the tobacco plantations is the slavery of children in the cotton mille of the South, the canneries and fruit farms of the West and the knitting and silk mills of the “more civilized” states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, not to speak of “cultured” Massachusetts, Stand by Sacco and Vanzettl, What is the life of a worker to a capitalist? Nothing. One or two slaves less makes no difference to the sys- tem, But the life of a working class miH- tant is considered by the capitalists a positive menace to thelr profits and power, That's why Bacco and Vanzettl kept in jail, ‘ That's why the determination to take the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti, For the reasons that the capitalists are against Sacco and Vanzetti, the workers are for them, Come to the masg demonstration against the frame-up of these two workers that will be held in Chicago, in Plasterers’ Temple, on Friday, May 28, under the auspices of the Chicago branch of the International Labor De- But, My Dear! The Story That Will Come True When— (Future photo by Wm. Gropper) “But, my dear,” said the girl with a twinkle im her eyes, “this is so sud- den! I hope my ‘sweetie’ will do this soon, but I did not expect my boss to do it.” But the boss was in earnest. “Don’t go out on strike,” he pleaded. “Don't go out and you'll get what you want. Honest t’gawd I'll see that you girls get a raise this week and the wash- room will be cleaned and the ventila- tion system’ put in.” “But, my dear,” said the girl (with the same little twinkle) “you chased me out of the office a month ago be- fore we were organized. You fired Marie and Anna, and you threatened the rest of us. And now you are will- ing to do all this!” But the boss didn’t remember. “I'll make you forelady and your siop com- mittee will be O. K.—but don’t pull the strike. My gawd, girlies, what a chance ya got!” “But, my dear (same twinkle), how different you talk! And DO get off your knees. (I wish my ‘sweetie’ was on them!) If you give our de mands there will be no strike. And, my dear (still the same little twin- kle), you sureshave taught the giris what a union can-do.” Now, all this has happened—ask the girls in the Ladies’ Garment Workers. And it will happen again and often, if women will learn what the men are learning. A union will mrake the boss do what your husband may not have done! A PEEK EACH WEEK AT : MOTION PICTURES “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp.” HERE'S this about our movies. No matter how much we cuss at “eter- nal triangle’ dramag (and I do) with their poor, neglected wives who fall victim to handsome hell-raisers; and the jazz films where shapely sylphs are easier to look at than the scenarios are to stomach; and the sob-sister “mother-love” things, which are worse than any—there are occasional pic- tures of welcome relief like “Tramp, ‘Tramp, Tramp.” You'll enjoy this picture: good old hokum and slapstick, that’s true, but knit with cleverness and good clown- ing. The young “hero” in love with a youll double oyer with Jaughter (just as the girl on my left did, and, mind while other contesting hikers lose and a chicken under his sweater, which breaks thru with its beak at the wrong moment. We stayed to see this scene over again—and the fok lowing one, with our hero in jail and on the rock-pile. “Making little ones out of big ones” has not been known as a funny situation, but Harry Lang- don makes it that. When you see him cracking stones with a loaded re volver, given him to assist in his es- cape, you will lose your dignity, There are, and have been, better films, Harry Langdon, the comedy BPE BB i if eak ag Ey i f i zHB 3 gba Dg BS ai bie 35 ge 3 Be ait coed | ig: FF i a fe Walt Carmon, Workers go to movies, You do, What movie haye yoy seen this week and what have you to say about it? Serious “drammer,” pr plain hokum—» whatever you haye seen—tell us about it, Make your review short—no more ground thru the blocking of the road, |than 600 words—and send it In to ven ny — with a berry: bbe Magazing O wenedet ante stained % country sheriff with @ watermelon in his pants aan eho i