The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 6, 1931, Page 3

Ht eo. a 5} at ee ui “reas 2S We Another Wave of Wage Cuts and of Lay-Offs Sweeps Canton, 0.; Militant Unemployed Council Leads Relief Fight Canton Stamping and Enameling Co. Post a) Notice of 10 P.C. Cut Effective Feb. 2 Republic Steel Lays Off 75 Chippers and Then Threatens to Lay Off More Dear Comrades :— Canton, Ohio. A wave of wage-cuts and lay-offs are taking place here in) Canton. On Friday, January 31, the Canton Stamping and | Enameling Co. posted a notice up that a wage cut would take | place the following Monday, February 2 A 10 percent cut on! day work and a 10 per cent cut on piece w ork. The workers here | talked of striking against thess wage cuts. But the bosses came, out with the rumor that they had other workers to take their)“ places if they came out. Arrest 6 in Newark for Oppesing Eviction of Negro Family ’ crowd by police followed, the meet- ing was broken up by force and a Negro worker, whose name could not be secured at the time, was arrested. Others arrested at the same time were Isabelle Stall and Bernard Ro- zanski, both members of the Young Communist League; Tom Myers- cough, H. Silverman and A. Kruz- painter, who is the delegate from Newark to the committee presenting the Workers’ Unemployment Insur- ance Bill to congress in Washington Feb. 10. . . March In Barberton. BARBERTON, Ohio, Feb. 5. — The Barberton Council of the Unemploye: Jed a hunger march here Feb. 2 t the city council where demands for! immediate relief were presented. The march started at the Central High School grounds at 6:30 p.m. and after some speaking about 300 in the line of march and hundreds walking | on the side walks proceeded through the two main streets of town to the city hall where a delegation of 5 was sent to see the city council. There were about 2,500 workers in front of the city hall the largest mass of work- ers ever gathered in Barberton which has @ population of 27,000. Many of the shops here are work- ing with small crews and there are 2,000 unemployed. The workers were militant, singing and shouting slog- ans, in spite of the mayor's threat when the committee went to see him about the permit that if there was) Singing and shouting of slogans he) ‘would set a cannon in the middle of | the street and blow the jobless into the canal. The mayor changed his mind when se saw the militancy of the workers. The police made no at- tempt to arrest the speaker or to in- terfere with the march even when the speaker very well exposed the fake relief measures and the mayor's ges- ture to “aid the unemployed work- ers”. The demands were $25 weekly relief to those jobless with depend- ents and $15 to those that are single; no evictions, no shutting off of light, water or gas; for free street care fare and against the forced labor in effect in Barberton where the unemployed must work for the city in order to be able to get $2 worth of food per week. Some of the unemployed have worked a week for 4c an hour. Those that refuse to work under these conditions are cut off from re- ceiving the $2 per week. The city council elected a special committee to investigate the unem- ployment conditions in Barberton and promised an answer in a short time. However we are building our unem- ployed council stronger every day | and if the city will not do anything| & | tant and are ready to strike as soon | 93 they are better organized by the | Some of the workers are very mili- Metal Workers’ Union. Four girls were told they were not needed any more and were paid off. The Unemployed Councils of Can- ton will struggle with the workers in this shop if they strike against! this cut in wages, for the em- | ployed and unemployed workers see the need of organizing and fighting together for better conditions. The Republic Steel laid off 75 chippers last week and there are | more to be laid off later. On Feb. 26 the drop forge laid off the entire shop. A Canton Worker. 5600 BANKS CLOSE IN TEN YEARS. WASHINGTON, D. C.—John W. Peole, comptroller of the currency, isclosed in his annual report that | | in the last ten years 5600 banks have $2,000,000,000 in deposits. During the first ten months of 1930 he said, 742 banks, with deposits Of $300,000,000, closed their doors. During the same period in the pri vious years there were 522 suspen sions with deposits of $200,000,000. Nearly as many failed in the last couple of months of 1930. (CONTIN OD FROM PAGE ONY) p. m. at Fourth and But- Voniwood Sts. . . NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 5.—The Unemployed Council of the Trade Union Unity Leogue is calling a hue demonstration on Tuesday, Feb. 10, }at 11 a. m., at Central Green, to sup- port the Workers’ Unemployment In- | surance Bill and to demand immedi- ate relief from the city officials, The demonstration will also protest against the bodily ejection of the two spokesmen of the Unemnlnyed Dele- gation, Lloyd Brown and R. S. King, who led a hunger march to the meet- ing of the board of aldermen last Monday night to demand immediate unemployment relief. The fake re- ef measures of the city authorities have been a miserable failure, and 12,000 unemnloyed workers are starv- jing in New Haven without any pros- pect of adequate relief. The Feb. 10 demonstration will the Unemployed Council before the for the Unemployment Insurance Bill have ben forwarded to the National Campaign Committee for Unemploy- for us we will continue the struggle ment Insurance. with a larger mass demonstration on! February 10. Sick Bladder and Kidneys are a for half a@ century “wae” have prescribed Santal Midy f quick Felief, Get it More doteee wg Santal Midy CAMP AND HOTEL NITGEDAIGET PROLETARIAN VACATION . PLACE OPEN THE ENTIRE YEAR Beautiful Rooms Heated Modernly Equiped Sport and Cultural Activity Proletarian Atmosphere $17 A WEEK CAMP NITGEDAIGET, BEACON, N.Y. PHONE 131 Enclosed find We pled-e to build RED SK EMORGENCY FUND Peis aOR Lael is. a * nab niin A hears ita Many workers are joining the un- | employed councils since the hunger march last Monday. The council meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 o'clock in the morning, | 8+ the Workers’ Center, 12 Temple St. Its demands include $1,000,000 | appropriation for the unemployed. Nine Connecticut delegates are | leaving for Washington this week, to present the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill to congress on Feb. 10. To Come Out At Milwaukee. MILWAUKEE, Wis., Feb. 5.—The | Milwaukee Campaign Committee for Unemployment Insurance and the Unemployed Councils are calling a demonstration on Feb. 10, the day on | which the National delegation pre- sents the demands to congress. The | demonstration will be held on the Old Court House Square, corner Wells and Jackson Sts., at 2:30 p.m. The 8,000 unemployed of Milwaukee who signed the petitions for the Unem- ployment Insurance Bill will come out on the square Feb. 10 and show their determination to force the bosses to act in the interests of the unemployed. Miserv among the workers in- creases Caily, the workers of the South: Side only a fe wdays ago re- volted against the brutality at the} Mitchell St. station of the Outdoor Relief and forced the bosses to re- ‘TO DUMONSTRATE I T'E MIEWAUEE elect a delegation to call upon the’ |mayor and present the demands of | city officials, Nearly 9,000 signatures | 2-3 Jobless in Gum King’s Flophouse Die Daily; Filthy Place (By a Worker Correspondent) CHICAGO, lil—Charity, Death |! for unemployed workers. Every day 2 or 3 bodies of dead unemployed workers, who died of starvation, are removed from flop |} house at 500 Union Street. This flop house was “thrown open” by Mr. Wrigley, millionaire chewing gum king, owner of || “Cubs” base-ball players, ete. ete, Dirt vermin and foulty air is for tomfort for the workers who are occupaing this “charity insti- tution.” Rules: if an inmate comes in after 2 or 3 o’clock p.m. to warm up and take rest after walking streets he can not go out any more or else he will lose his right to the shelters Faker “Tries Mislead _ | Texas White Workers (By a Worker Correspondent) SAN ANGELO, Texas, Feb. 2.—/ With mass misery on the increase | in south-western Texas, the bosses are doing everything in their power to divide the workers. Last night, E. B. Fulton, a faker, }got over 300 white unemployed to ysign a petition that only American | white workers should have jobs, while | Negro and Mexican workers must be thrown out of what little employ- ment they now have. Pulton, who is a tool of the bosses, also organized an organization called the San Angelo--Home Labor Asso- ciation, whose purpose is to spread division amongst the workers, in order to divert their growing resentment against the bosses who are responsible for their condition. Such methods will serve only to in- jerease the burden of misery and starvation on the working-class, as it will enable the bosses to use one closed their doors, tying up nearly | croup against the other and pay what | wages they feel. Workers! Don’t be ;mislead! The bosses are your ene- mies. They are the ones who exploit id underpay you, who throw you 1 the streets to starve. Organize ther, Negro, white and foreign , into Unemployed Councils and for workers’ unemployment in- EW HAVEN, AND LAWREN L the unemployed will not stool- | hitewesh the supervisor: aitempting to w hovtes in charge of the stations, ' ation was called. “At nd the workers were accused citing Bo much food. But so came to protest that they were eed to register some of the com- , pleints, | An unemnloyed council has been uilt o nthe South Side. . Textilers, Demonstrate. LAWRENCE, Mas: noon, » Feb. 5.—At Feb. 10, the workers of Law- under the leadership of the ployed Council of the National Textile Workers’ Union, will turn out in masses for a huge demonstration at the City Hall. | The textile workers, thousands of whom are walking the streets hunt- jing for jobs which are not to be} found, are in a fighting mood. They | responded with ‘enthusiasm to the program of the Unemployed Council as presented to the City Council. At the last meeting of the Unem- ployed Council, held at the Oliver | St. School, one of the largest audi- | ences Lawrance has ever seen packed | the halls and expressed their support of the demand for the unemploy- /ment insurance and immediate re- | lief. | Although the City Council has not | made any attempt to answer these | demands, it finds sufficient time to’ | discuss appropriations for an airport ; and to give funds to the B. & M. | Railroad for construction. Mean- | while hundreds of textile workers’ families are living at a semi-starva- | tion point—families of 4 or 5 sub- | sisting on one or two days a week | | } pay. Not only is the City Council trying to deceive the workers with polite answers, but one of the local priests has issued a leaflet urging the work- ers to pray for divine relief of un- employment and its attendant mis- | eries. Workers of Lawrence, come with | your wives and kids to the demon- stration Tuesday, noon, to the City Hall. Come direct from the mills to the demonstration! eee. PS WORST PERIOD IN HISTORY MILWAUKEE, Wis.—‘We are in | the midst of the worst depression in | the entire history of the world, and there is no relief in sight,” said Fred W. Sargent, president of the North- western Railroad, at a Milwaukee business men’s banquet. CUT THIS OUT AND MAIL IMMEDIATELY TO THE DAILY WORKER, 50 E. 13th ST., NEW YORK CITY RED SHOCK TROOPS For cnaomieas DAILY wis aeitadh EMERGENCY FUND CK TROOPS for the successful completion of the $30,000 DAILY WORKER DAILY the witnesses were | ‘ | “SBnélosed “find one dollar for re- | | “ONLY PAPER FOR OR EER DEW Om NEW YORK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1931 Page Three CHI. | Chicago lost little time in taking | advantage of the Daily Worker offer for a weekly district page. A release Sunday, Feb. 15 at People’s Auditori- um, 2457 W. Chicago Ave., at 3 p. m., |from which we quote: “The only way to build the Daily Worker in Chicago, and to make it the organ of the workers in our dis- trict is by discussing its editorial | problems, and at the same time deve- iop the group of workers correspon- dence.” From February 14 on there will be a weekly page of the Daily Worker issued for Chicago. The success of this weekly edition will of course, mostly depend on the support of the readers and of the Daily Worker itself. The Chicago district, choosing Wed- | nesday for its special issues, will gain | permanent circulation by means of! the district page and at the same) timb develop contacts which can be} drawn into the movement. There is no reason why every dis- trict in the country cannot follow this excellent example of building the Daily Worker circulation. Espectally | should such districts as Cleveland, Detroit, Pitsburgh, Minneapolis, Seat- tle and California organize district page. They should make arrange- ments to do so without further de- lay. Four columns of space on the second page is offered, districts com- ng first have a choice of any day except Saturday and Wednesday. We expect Cavieieaass action! . TO COVER TOWNS | iN MONTANA “I am arranging meetings in the surrounding town, and the main thing is the Daily,” writes Willis L. Wright, district organizer in Great Falls, Mont. He continues his report on two meetings held at | Sand Coulee, one at Geyser, sev- |'eral in Great Falls, and future on going from one town to another and work the whole game as I go.” ies “ACTION TAKEN,” WIRES SEATTLE After cutting from 400 to 250 in bundle orders, we received the fol- towing wire from William Phillips, | | Daily Worker representative: “Action taken. Increase bundle fifty. copies except Thursdays.” Av- tion is what we want! How about Red Builders News Club, Seattle? | rakes dee “BEST PAPER IN. aHE COUNTRY.” cwal of the Daily Worker,” writes i. C. Welch of Philadelphia, Pa. “It is the best paper in the country. Lvery working man, woman and child | should read it.” | . ° US WORKERS” | “Sending $1.50 for expired sub of} ‘Ye paper. Then I'll resubscribe, as Daily Worker is the only paper for) us workers, I wish our paper good} Biel S., Mt. Vernon, N. Y. from the Chicago district announces | @ special Daily Worker meeting for| machinery for handling a weekly) meetings to be held in Belt and | Fife,Mont., and ends: “I will keep | FIRST TO ORDER DISTRICT PAGE; OTHER DIST’S MUST FOLLOW ASKS ABOUT PRICE OF DAILY IN WEST | “We Red Builders News Club work~ stone of Reno, Nev. “Several com- tades have spoken to me about Red Builders charging 5c for the Daily Worker in Salt Lake City.” | It is. The Daily Worker may be | sold for 5¢ in all Western states, since this is the usual price of most news- papers there. Reno Red Builders may follow this example if they wish. ee € G, Allen, another of the Chicago Red Builders topnotchers, aged 47, a native, he sells about 40 every day and increases his sales. Was Communists are the ones which everybody should follow.” VORKS PART-TIME, -ENDS RENEWAL. | “In spite of the fact that I am part time unemployed,” eriedman, Los Angeles, Cal., | chought it necessary to keep the Daily | Worker in circulation, being the only working-class organizer in the U. 8. | A, which fights against capitalism ‘and the mislabor leaders in order to | protect working-class interests. En- | closed is $1.50 check as renewal of | Worker’ subscription.” . . AILY SWINGS VOTE IN AFL LOCAL | From a comrade in New York | City, we received a report of Paint- | ers’ Local 499, AFL, attended by 300, during which a proposal was | made to add 12 organizers at $150 | a week each, plus expenses even | higher than salary. The comrade quoted from Allen Johnson's series of New Jersey corruption in the Daily Worker exposing Brandel, president of the Hudson County Building Trades Council, made a motion that “We don’t need or- ganizers because they play together with the bosses,” and the yote was carried by an overwhelming maj- ority, with only two opposing. The “Daily” is the best club to use over heads of grafting officials in the A. F, of L. unions, Workers should’ thus arm themselves in laying bare future proposals forygraft jobs in the locals. “TE MASS MIGRATION TO SOVIET (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) advance of the Five-Year Plan in the Soviet Union in the surrounding of capitalist crisis in all other countries has made this process even concely- able. Duranty starts off by saying: “The Soviet Union will witness in the next few years an immigration flood comparable to the influx into the United States in the decade be- fore the World War, unless present indications prove faulty, “The success so far of the five- year plan and, perhaps, to an even greater degree the distress in cap- italist countries have already prod- uced unexpected phenomena in the shape of investigatory visits by groups or delegations of foreign workers. They now come not as heretofore, from curiosity or sym- pathethic interest in a Socialist State, but with the deliberate pur- pose of discovering whatever they can and whether their fellows at home would like to live here. “It is only the beginning as yet of this movement, and the first swallows of the coming migration are still scarce—so scarce that Rus- sians themselves with few excep- tions have not grasped the possible consequences. But it has begun and will have to be reckoned with in the future.” “A Workers’ Country.” He shows that automobile workers from America have already establish- ed themselves in the Soviet Union and are advising their friends to fol- low them. This movement is en- tirely aside from the problem of con- tracting for 13,000 engineers and technical experts already announced by the Soviet government, ‘The basis of the movement, Duran- ty points out, is the increasing misery of the workers in the capitalist coun- tries: “When the League of Nations Labor Bureau announces that there are 17,900,000 unemployed in the United States, Britain and Germa- ny, the Soviet can answer: “‘This the third year under the five-year plan requires from two to theee mien nem salle meron UNION AS WORLD CRISIS WORSENS but we could use twice that num- ber, and do not forket, foreign com- rades, this is a workers’ country run by and for the workers’.” As the Five-Year Plan speeds ahead in the Soviet Union, Duranty envi- sages a wholesale flood of emigration to the Workers’ Republic, He writes: “When the day comes that for- eign workers here may write home and say, ‘Things are pretty good here, why don’t you come along? There are jobs for everybody and plenty to eat. Russia is not so bad a place in which to live and there are no lay-offs or short time and you get all that is coming to you’—~ then immigration to the Soviet Un- fon will begin to rival the flood that poured into America. “At the present rate of progress that day is not far distant. The Bolsheviki themselves do not yet realize it, but unless world econo- mic conditions improve more rapid- ly than now seems likely this coun- try may soon find it necessary to create a special immigration com- missariat to handle the surplus labor of the capitalist world, for which Russia has an almost unll- mited demand and cemented op- portunities.” ‘The Soviet Union is forging ahead building Socialism, but even the pre- sent number of over 25,000,000 un- employed in the capitalist countries could not be absorbed in the Soviet Union. The task of the workers in the capitalist countries is to smash capitalism and do what the workers in the Soviet Union have done—es- In the United States, heretofore the pride of the capitalist world, 10,000,000 workers starve. The huge industry that the workers built and can run is idle. It can be set in motion un- der workers’ control, in the interest of the workers, by overthrowing cap- italism and establishing a Soviet state in the United States. The path followed by the Russian workers is ag will enable the American masses to free, themselves from starvation and capitalist, misery, ers hear a rumble,” writes F. Black~/| "| In spite of this miserable pay under | (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) cuts were instituted at the same time that Farrell, head of the giant,United ' States Steel Corporation, hypocriti- cally announced through the capital- ist pyess that “the wages of the steel | workers must be maintained at the} present level.” Half Are Jobless Approximately one-half of the steel workers in the industry are today unemployed. Those still working are | forced to exist on part time pay which averages 12 to 14 hours a week. | the double crew “stagger system,” the steel trust is constantly cutting the wages and introducing vicious speed workers being thrown into the ranks of the jobless. In many company | towns in the Youngstown area, at Teast two-thirds of the population is unemployed and facing starvation. Giant mills of the Youngstown Sheet Tube, Carnegie Steel and the Re-| writes C.| public Steel Corporation in the cities | of Youngstown, Warren, Campbell, Farrell, Niles, Struthers and New Castle have been cutting wages sys- tematically from department to de- partment ever since the beginning of Swift Police Try to the crisis. Cuts Approved By “Amalgafated” These wage cyts are being “‘sanc- tioned” by the fakers of the Amalga- mated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Works, which -works hand in hand with the steel manufacturers Many workeys from the rank and file of this organization have joined the MWIL. In Warren, Ohio, the as LWW. We bat new he “The j stronghold of this reactionary com- Dany union, the capitalist press has’ been defending this corrupt organiza- tign openly against the attacks of the MWIL. The steel workers are coming into the MWIL in all steels towns of the Mahoning Valley due to the con- centration program of the Metal League. The Foster meeting will be the opening gun in the Steel Organ. ization Campaign. ce Western Penna. Conference PITTSBURGH, Pa. (By Mail). — re district conference of the Hetal Workers Industrial League of West. ern Pensylvania held here concluded its two day session by sending a fighting message of solidarity to the striking miners in the Milman Coal Co., Dendell, Pa., undey the leader- ship of the National Miners Union. ‘The conference which was attended by 23 delegates from the largest. steel mills in the district was marked by | real enthusiasm for the rapid devel- | opment of struggle in the steel in-: dustry. The conference adopted a plan of action for future work and elected a distric} committee of nine, "mostly steel workers from the import- | ant mills, to carry on the work in the district. ‘The conference selected | Frank Hill, young worker from Me- Keesport as stydent for the Nattonal | |Trade Union School to be held in! New York beginning March 2. R. Woods was elected District Secretary. | STEEL CAMPAIGN |HEAD OF SOVIET LOGGERS UNION STARTS IN OHIO} TELLS OF REAL CONDITIONS OF TOILERS IN SOVIET TIMBER TRADE Work Under Union Conditions; Receive Free Transportation to and From Work Loggers Are Fully Insured; Hit Forgeries Used in Campagin: ‘of Lies MOSCOW.—In an interview given to press representatives _ the leader of the Soviet timber workers; Comrade Becker, dealt with the campaign against the Soviet timber trade and the charges of “forced labor” ete. Becker declared that the charges were based on perjured evi- dence and forged documents. The central committee of the up systems which result in more Woodworkers Union which organized 600,000 workers protested | against the dishonest slanders and declared categorically that nowhere in the timber trade, either at the camps or at the harbors, was forced labor of any kind employed. ©, trade was organized on the basis of a free agreement between the work- 3 ARRESTED AT FACTORY MEET Stop Speakers (By a Worker Correspondent) ST. PAUL, Minn, Feb, 2.—Three nembers of the Trade Union Unity League were artested while helding 4 factory gate meeting at the Swifts racking house plant in South St. | Paul this morning. The arrested are Boyington, Be1- son, and G. Carlson, charged wth “trespassing.” A laree number of the Swift’s workers were listening ‘to sneakers of the T. U. U. L. At first the company police tried to break up the meeting but failed. They sen! of help from the city police devart- ment and in a little while they ar- rived and they togetner succeeded tn dispersing the crowd and arresting the three speakers. One of the speakers, Carlson, was attacked oy the cops when he refused to stop ‘They were brought up for a hear- ing right away into the municipal court. The trial was set for Jan. 30th, as they pleaded not guilty. Boy- ington was given ten days for con+ tempt of court for telling one of the comrades in court to plead not guilty. The T. U. U. L. will continue to concentrate on So. St. Paul packing plants despite the attempts of the city and company thugs. The,,In- ternational Labor Defense is handling | the case. —M. RK. HOLDS 4 FARMERS IN PEONAGE | SHREVEPORT, La.—Ardis Wailer, farmer, is under $2,000 bail on charge of holding four Negro tenants in a state of peonage, forbidding them to leave his farm, which ts a few miles from Shreveport. This is the third peonage complaint filed recently by federal authorities. The timber ers and the timber trust. Permanent workers were employed in the fac- tories, sawmills, etc. and seasonal workers at the lumber camps. The timber trade demanded 1,600,000 workers, and the Soviet Union was in a position to meet this demand. Forced labor was totally unneces- sary. The great forests of the Soviet Union were in sparsely populated dis- tricts and this necessitated the transport of armies of workers to the logging districts. The! loggers were organized in artels and bri- |gades on the basis of voluntary agreement. The rights and duties of these workers were laid down both in collective (artel and brigade) and individual agreements. The loggers receive free transnort to their work places and back to their homes when the season is at an end. They re- ceive free board and lodging with extra rations. They are fully insured against all accidents, sickness, etc., and their wages are high. Each logger receives a copy of his working agreement and a paybook which contain his rights and duties plainly set out. Every fourteen days the wages are entered in the pay- book. The wages are paid according to piece-work rates, whereby, how- ever, each worker has a certain daily minimum wage guaranteed. Further special bonuses are paid. Copies of all forms of agreements in use are in our possession and can be exam- ined by any interested persons. ‘The beginning of the 1931 season shows a tremendous increase of pro- ductivity, owing to the fact that the workers have organized shock groups and are taking part in the socialist competitive scheme. In favorable areas the daily production per worker is from 10 to 12 cubic metres. Some brigades produce as much as 17 cubic meters per day per head. Such in- tensive production would be utterly impossible with forced labor. Forced labor is the least productive of all labor forms. Did you get a Red Shock Troop Donation List? If not, ask for one. “Can’t Stand Carroting for More Than Two Years:” Says Fur Worker By MYRA PAGE ‘ This is the fourth of five articles dealing with for workers’ condi- tions, as typified by the situation 4m Danbury. There are approxi- mately 40,000 fir workers in the United States, of whom 16,000 in round numbers are employed in the fur-felt branch of the industry, The industry is concentrated in the states of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.—Editor. “To work in fur plants is to give your life, and quick, too. We know it.’ It was a carroter speaking, one of three who sat crouched near their bowls of acid and putrid-smelling rabbit skins, eating a “hasty lunch. Two of us had managed to sneak in- to the plant during the noon-hour, in order to see at first-hand the con- ditions inside, about which we had heard so much. “Yes,” another broke in, “a man can’t stand carroting more than two years.” “How long have you been here?” “Going on five: I lost forty pounds since I came, and my+lungs is bad. cent cut made only $3.50 a day of 9% hours, while the majority were able to earn barely $3.00. As the skins are ripped and flung aside, fur flies into the nostrils and is inhaled into the lungs, causing coughing, sneezing and nose-blead. Sometimes an opener rips open a finger or thumb along with the skin, and then @ case of blood-poisoning may develop. At best, some precious weeks are lost from work. ‘We followed the opened skins into the clipping department, where the skins are fed into a machine which clips them. Sometimes a finger or hand gets caught in this machine, and is badly smashed. One young striker had recently lost two months from work in this manner. The air is so thick with fur in this section that many of the young gitls and men tending them tie handkerchiefs around their noses. “But oftentimes the foreladies tell you, you got to take those handkerchiefs off, its against the law,” some of the strikers told us. “The real reason is, they don’t want those coming for work or outsiders to see how bad it Is.” But what can a poor man do? We gotta earn our bread. But to give your life, that’s one thing; to give it for nothing, well, @ man can’t stand for that.” Talk of union and strike followed (everywhere one hears the workers talking of more strikes against starvation wages and killing conditions), our eyes smarted and frequently we coughed and sneezed from the strong acid fumes. All win- dows are kept closed, in order to save the fur. The half-hour for lunch was soon up, and work began once more. A worker directed us to where the first ee of the process took place—that of preparing the fur for use in hats. tioned, “tell him you're looking for @ job.” In @ narrow, musty-colored Toom with its low ceilings, walls and floor covered with acid-laden fur dust and lint, were a number of middle- aged women surrounded by piles of brown rabbit skins. Here the skins are ripped open and tails removed. Openers received before the threat- ened cut, twenty cents a basket, each one supposedly containing two hun- dred skins. “But they always slip in an extra ten or fifteen skins,” the girls tell you. The fastest hale Jon bas on Semen ree Sidivowe 4 Next the skins travel to the car- roters, who working in long rubber gloves, brush them down with mer- cury, urosol, nitric and other poison- ous acids that are so strong that eyes swell and wet from its effects, hair ts reddened or bleached, teeth fall out, gums develop sores, and throat and lung chronically infected, which in time leads to the dread tuberculosis, and a general breaking down of the various systems of the body. Recently a new acid was introduced which is stronger and even more deadly in its effects than any used before. The employers refuse to re- veal its nature, which the workers have nick-named “bleach acid.” In order to try and “stimulate trade and increase orders,” {at manufacturers have decreed that men’s hats this spring shall be in light gray. That means the brown skins must be bleached white, hence the new acid. All those who work on the skins during and after its treatment by this bleach acid find eyes actually closed, blinded, by its fumes. For this ter- teen dollars, except the cutters, who make twenty-two to twenty-five. Young girls and men then spread the wet furs to dry; also are sup- posed to wear gloves, which the com- pany has to supply, bu toften we don't get them; or our old pair wears out and they keep promising you new ones, but keep forgetting to get them.” Acid burns on the arms and hands and face are common, as well throat and lung trouble from the fumes. Recently one young boy fainted in the plant and when his mother and father, also fur workers, called a doctor, he warned them that only sunlight, plenty of milk and nourishing food, rest and a change of occupation could save his health. “But what could we do?” his mother explained, “it’s the one trade along with making hats, which is just as bad.” He stayed out a fe wweeks and then went back to work. Finally we went into the cutting and blowing departments, where the pelt is removed from the furs, along with all loose pieces. The cutter and five girls who work along with him are especially exposed to the acid fumes, Because of the dust and acids, those working in fur shops must drink a large amount of water. How- ever, water from the shop facets is impossible to drink because the acid fumes have corroded the popes 50 drinking water is brought into the shop from outside, but workers get it only if they pay fifteen cents for each woman and twenty-five. cents for each man. “You can faint for lack of water, and still not get > drink; and the forelady calls you a tight wad,” one woman told us in- dingnantly. Another matter which the workers are rightly very angry about is the lack of decent lunch rooms, and tollets and washing facilities. Fur- in most of the plants the women are required to ¢lean the toilets, and in one shop the em- ployer actually sends them up to his bookkeepers’ house during working hours to clean house for her, “And if we refuse, we're told we'll be fired.” ee rific work, carroters get around forty- five cents a basket, averaging from thirty to thirty-five dollars a week. How unnecessary these health haz- ards, are will be explained in tomor- row’s concluding article, along with the union's proposals fer eliminatiom