The evening world. Newspaper, June 7, 1906, Page 3

. THE WORLD: THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 7, 1906, - UPTON SINCLAIR'S OWN STORY OF HOW HE WAS LED T0 EXPOSE BEEF TRUST ! Author of “The Jungle” Is Rampant During Strike. HORRORS TRUST PROBE UPTON SINCLAIR, Death Lurks in the Knife Men Grip and Slash With. R. Writing Especially for They (the negroes) were wanted to break the strike, and when it Ho ts a boef-boner, and that | ngerous trade, espectally when was broken they would be 1 t pre mia rs re on plecework and trying to earn a brid Your hands are slip- The Evenin World. would never eee them again; s and women were brought In and your ife Is slippery. © tolling like mad, when 2 by the car load and sold to and 1 was let love fn somebody happens tc speak to you o 1 bone, Then your hand the yards, © % * slips up on the blade, and there 1s a f And that ‘vould not = They lodged men and women on the same floor; and with the night be mo bad, only for the deadly contagion » git may heal, but you il. Twice now, within the last t years, Nikolas has been HUMAN BEINGS GROUND te 8 Se can been witnessed in Ame! lying at home with blood-potsoning—once fe se months and once for brothels in Obica, and seven, The last time, too, he lost his job, and pint six weeks more y DOWN BY PITILESS TRUST. country negroes, the pre soon fife; and this of standing at the doors of the packing-hc at 6 o'clock on bitter where food was being handle hich out to every corner of the winter rnings, with a foot of snow on the gr and more in the eae clyilized world.—FROM “THE JUNGLE air. There are learned people who can tell you of the statisties that beef- eae 6 ince the ‘ , boners make 40 cents an honr, but perhaps these ple have never CSE Gradually Becoming WMHS oI c S| ke. At night they slept In rooms where niecat was prepared during the looked tnto a beef-boner's hands —FROM “THE JUNG y Strike, Men Sinking to Lower and | day; old paintrooms and meat storerooms were turned Into dining-rooms The reason for this attitude any one who chooses to go there might dis- cover by watching the scenes in front of the o'clock In the morning. Several times I was on hand at six o'clock in the morning, and five or six hundred men standing shivering in the darkness, half covered with falling snow, stamping about to keep from freezing, | were waiting for the packing-house doors to pen. whistle blew, and still these wretches were standing, the door through which the bosses would come out, | until nearly 6 und would probably have stood there longer {f the police- man had not en them away, In all tue tlmes that I watched this aight by day and bedrooms at niz with little sop: pn between the sexes at- tempted. The one desire of the packers was to keep all hands contented and get the work done. I met a man who worked there during the strike who eald that in the | dining-rooms in the daytime hundreds of men would be crowded, smoking | pipes and eating tn their shirt sleeves, with bloody hands and arms, the Icle In the series | place belng without a single window or fire-escape. Food would be scat-| tered about on the floor 4 1 {t in the daytime, At night the rats simply swarmed abou » 80 that the men put their cots on the dining-ta to escape from them. “tlme etations” at 7 Lower Depths of Misery and Despair, Human Beings Made to Sink Lower and Lower, | At 7 o'clock thé gazing longingly at The crowd stood the pla or of “The Jungle.” In atment of the men and women who | A In another room !n {mmodiate proximity to where meat was being pre- é aret ents from which, as shown by stigators, the Beef Trust sends h a nauseating disregard of the he rep out fr const even life. Sinclair's articles will be published in The Evening ng u ; UPTON SINCLAIR. eC y, New York World.) | II, | t instalment of this series the report of the Pres!- en made public; therefore it will not be worth | a of Mr, ne World next S BY by the Press Publis! (Copy 10, Since I wrote the fi on h dent's comm while to tell much about the revolting ‘conditiofs, the filth and disease which I in the pret n of meat. Mr, Neill and Mr. Reynolds are) intimate friends of President, who possess his confidence and who went Gut there to get the exact truth, and I dn not believe that the public will req any tion of their statements. | he report says a few about the conditions under which the men work, the terrific pressure which is maintained and so on. At the time when I was in Chicago affairs were probably at thelr very worst, the great tke had been concluded only two or three months before, and the evils which {t had brought {n its train bad only slightly disappeared. It would exceed human power to portray the hell on earth which existed in Packingtown during the beef strike of 1904. The yards are bad enough at any time, but just then the labor forces of the packers were disorganized and the work was Intrusted to an Insufficlent number of absolutely ignorant workers of the most) degraded and brutalized types of humanity. “Green” negroes had been brought up from the far South by the carload—even criminals had been {mported, and hun dreds of the yilest women of the city had been brought in to cook for them, | Some of the slaughter-houses were turned {nto lodging-houses; by far the! greater portion of the working forco lived in the yards all through the words Slept in Same Rooms Where Meat Is Prepared. Lodging-House Laws Broken by Packing-House Bosses. There was a law forbidding the use of buildings as lodging-houses unless, they were licensed for the purpose and provided with proper windows, stairways, fre-eseapes; but here in a “paint room,” reaohed only by an enclosed “chute,” a room without a single window, and only one door, a hundred men were crowded upon mattresses on the flcor, Up on the third story of the “hog-house" of Jones's was a store- red wo be the fil laundry of the workers piled up; the washing would be dono and cl hanging up to dry tn the me. pom. At night these wads of thugs and abandoned women would pour out Into the streets and ali n the “yards,” and there would be dancing, singing and brawl- ing and orgies beyond I talked with a woman physictan who studied the conditions during the strike, and finally became so horrified at what she saw that she got access to Mr. Armour personally, and her rep- resentations to him were the cause of the final end of the trouble. Many of these green negroes stayed on after the strike, and they are now working in Packingtown—a constant source of degradation. And the unions being entirely helpless, the packers now drive the men without mercy arfi use them up faster than ever before, At the time when I was fn the like a football team, yet they description ds the kiiling gang worked exactly! were expected to keep this up from 7 o'clock {n the morn night, with only i half an hour for lunch; and if there hap- pened to be a rush'of cattle they would likely be Kept on until 9 or 10 o'clock at night. What wonder {f often a man’s knife slipped and he cut himself and got a horrible, gan- grenous wound? This danger of blood pofson ts one of the spectres which the Packingtown laborer has always before him. He can never tell at what minute he will strike a bone and will cut himsetf and be laid ly starve until he can get at work again. I know a Man—an expert workuian—who had been at the trade for seventeen years, who often lost as much as four months in a y from this cause. I always made {t a point to ask cattle butchers to show me thelr hands; thelr fingers would be so scarred from the old wounds and swollen and distorted that they woutd look more like jellyfish than members of the human body. The situation of the cattle butcher ts particularly hard in the winter, for the killing beds have no heat whatever. Winter tn Chicago ts fre- Danger of Blood Poison a Spectre ot Packingtown, up to wateh his fam! Quently severe, but it is not quite so bad when the men fre actually working; sometimes they have to stand around for hours before they work, an numbed. then started off with’ a sudden rush while compl rost gathers on their arms, and the pillars of the buiid- ing are Ao cold \that if they put thelr hands upon them the flesh adheres. They wrap thein feet in old rags to keep them warm, and these become Soaked With froken blood and grow larger and larger until the man {s scarcely able to walk. Then you can see them sticking their feet into the hot carcases of the newly slaughtered anfmals to thaw Out One of the things pointed out {n the President's report {s that the men are provided with no places to eat. It 1s diMcult to imagine what this mieans in the winter time. I saw them crouching in the stairways of the packing houses and outside under the sheds tu Average Waces of | based | of course grown worse oe thing I had observed bit saloons are the most and that also as a conse- d to resort went to the snloon-keeper. My reply was that for that the co: 8 pay their men {n checks, and convenient places in which these can be cashed; quence of the lack of dining-rooms th 3 to the saloons in winter. The packer then dropped the subjec Prior to the Ia. 139 nn officers mado a computation, nd that the average weekly ditions have making aturday night and got ‘4 13 less than ed a week's wages for son, | their men like dogs. There n fs shown for} tain hour in the) » be done; they are laid off with- dea when the work will start} ly; If enough ‘ore the whistles {me and do not ter n was batween § A friend of s for me stated that he wage | Investigatio and gaihered tp the 1 their checks cash i there w pome a5 low man in Pa ull 6 It fs Hit th fs no p even though r ightest ceremony,. ar ain. They are che men happen to be on hand the bt blow, and cheat them aat way. make a full hour, even th h they five minutes, they get nothing for {t. If any ¢ r is made in fon of their work they have no redr there is always one complaint: “If you go els Plunged Their Feet Into Beet Carcasses tor Warmth, t pon the k do not like {t you can where. ~heds; the men might exactly as cee There was no he well have worked out of doors The men would tie up their fe pers and old sacks, and these would be soaked in blood a d then soaked again, and . sO on. Now them pl ng, you would see hot carcasses of er jets. The cruel sed knive: nite with frost and would be accidents. ho were t water and hot blood vitation and | I happened to see but one man actually hired. The conditions in Packingtown have reached their present state of degradation by the natural process of competition, or rather, there is com- petition of labor while there fs no competition of capital, There is but one Yast employing trust and a body of absolutely unorganized and helpless laborers. As ® result lower and lower types of human beings are coming there, There has been a regular procession of the races through Packing- town; the industry was founded by skilled cattle butchers from Germany; then they began the Importing of Irishmen. After the strike of 1894 they sot to work deliberately to crowd the labor market so as to prevent further troubles; firm they brought Poles, then Bohemians, then Lith: and now finally Slovaks, These are nearly all undersized, wretched people who cannot speak English, and who {mpress one as having no more intelligence: than a dumb animal. The bosses beat them and Kick them and spit in thetr faces. I saw sights of this sort which fairly made my blood boiL YX Saw A poor, wretched Lithuanian pushing a truck {n one of Swift & On‘ cellars; {t was loaded with hams, and the poor fellow was scarcely able to stir it on the level floor, He came to a silght Incline and could not it up, and the bose fell upon him and pounded him over the head, finally sclzing him by the collar and throwing him out of the place, I presume that he was “firing him. Another and stronger man took his place, CONGRESSMEN MAY GO TO PACKINGTOWN. Speaker Cannon Advocates Accept- ance by Agricultural Committee of Packers’ Invitation. SHINGTON, June 1. —Chatrman Inworth, of the House Commi Agriculture, and Speaker Cannon «ly tn favor of the committes's nee of the invitation extended feet trons to vist Chisago and rpend o week inspecting the pack- plants, nomes 1. packers erduy’s the charges made against the paoking- houses. He practioally disquaittea himself at the beginning of his testi mony by saying that he had no knowl- edge of many of the charges. Mr. Rey- noldo and I saw the Incidents we named," w Eyeglasses Bought “Over a Counter” In a dry goods or jewelry store may SEEM right when put them on—but they PROVE INJURIOUS, Trust thg examination of Wilson, who represented before the committes at mairing, extemied the in- pproached the committas- man Wadsworth talked the matter over aker Carmo to~tay and AU: : earnet the Speaker favored it, If the caret ne nae Ane ‘ mittee goes to Chicago its expenses 1 d trust the making of ¢ 1 be pacd out of the con: fund] Basses to a competent, practic 16 Houre. optician. We give you the ser- vices of BOTH at ONE COST © plan here agpears to be to di ws the Agricultural bil to e until almost the day of ad} . and then force tt through with any meat Inspection amendmen Wadsworth-Lorimer pubsti- Gives the packers all they t Eyeglasses—if required—$1.00 up, 54 East 23d St., near 4th Ave. 50 East 125th St., near Mad Ave 442 Columbus Ave., Sist & 82d ‘ts, WH Karris Oculists and Opticians. loner Nat! the adjo I did not expect Mr. made treque rnment he sal Wilson to prot sat d 7 ) get a Oop si room, without a window, {nto which were crowded seyen hundred men age U nder away from the falling snow. In conversation f Sie 2 i Bi nou dhe bate eprings ofcots) andiwith: thel second vabitt to $5 a Week. with one of the packers I spoke of the hor mbuneher aleeping up 2 Ace h r hat there were not use them by day.—FROM “THE JUNGLE. bly low wages that were pald to the men. and OM “THE JUNGLE" i On 'C ANSWET at there was no use in paying any more, because the balance yes z ear beara a ee a ee one om wat : | _ BEEF TRUST FEELS EFFECT Canning the Canned Goods WAY IS NOW CLEAR FOR 1 BY WALTER A, SINCLAIR, 7 OF | HE | TRUST I do not care for porterhouse; no longer yearn for ham. t | IT seem to lose my appetite for luscious “lamb what am.” A ead, depressing feeling ‘cross my system seems to steal Whenever {dle fancy lingers * ae z Ea see es eet Bon in That the consumption of beef and) rales agent of the Sulzberger-Schwars- N ner sole ane ungers round a thought of yeal i other ments, both fresh killed and tn | child Con-pany. No longer 4s there craving now for pickled piggies’ feet. At Inst = ‘ Be tina, haa materially decreased since the| Denles Exposure's Influence | And something seems to tell us that no longer will we “meat.” ) M Mer ns, hi t s for New Bide A man speaking for E. G. Dill, gon- Bologna sau voll with c te fi t y jeral manager of the National Packing | 8: pects eee sees Bot Bo 40 Well with cooling drinks ii vs nee att per pase Cy \Company, which is the distributing | ince people queried, “What Is missing In the missing links?" av w : |agent of the Omaha Packing Company | A rebate never worried us, but uow we seem to feel ‘ more important distributing |and other large Western packing- Right squeamish when they use “all of the hog except the squeal,’ ‘ t f a decline to way definitely that there | houses, sald: And though {t seems to be a joke, we hear nobody laugh Ons Ht 1 fas been @ decrease in orders from | “Our sales have in no way decreased ements facieneel eee obody laug | consumers, but plead ignorance as to since the alleged exposures were made. i potted-chicken”’ is related to chopped calf. i 4 the effect, raying that the result may | Naturally, we expect a decrease on ac- ha : " * ¢ | not be determined for several weeks. | count of the hot weather yesterday and Oh, Teddy, see the Muck-Rake Man with Patch Upon His Pants, t Among the distributora who refueed | to-day, but I will not have the reports With greasy apron worn in front to otherwise enhance | to discuss the effect of the expose were | of those sales for two or three days yet. The appetizing pictures drawn by Reynolds and by N elll 1 the New York representatives of Swift |I understand the same condition exte Ot dainty ways chaersine a by Neill ) with other packers’ agents, y ways of serving up ham, beef, lamb, pork and v Ha NGletolae ina ieee aah nG Carin Here, wallowing in slime, we flnd High Mucky-Muck-Rak Nie Pi trade and the result has been beneficial, And all that we can do 1s “CAN” the meat the é,° AD Hy canbers can, a if I belleve, Some of the retailers are de- -~ — poe malay Make Yourself Known] | massing «'cnange tom enicas® See |aoor manages ot th com ; but so far as I am able to tell, there | “We always sell less me hy haa been no decided or startling de-| than in winter, and w [orease in general sales, Of course, the | 4, Porn to give lgures. 1 ai, t § season % ; | packers expect a falling off, and for|no more than !s sual, Be a ete at James Butior B | | that reason Issued a etroujar, What the | lear some talk robs i aun | Vegetat i. 7 i BURL seat vs a. ciroular ts Iam not permitted to say. / 4, not tuiiere thace von | Uv KACei Increases, | D. > | nd all who received It have been asked [any of our custnncre Hort large oA ED wlio conducts unenteae DE&ENEN | 0 keep tts contents from the public.” | meat.” Sy aN R ROW | Won't Take Chicago Beef. May Taboo Canned Meats. he Bd Fi Tho city for the Austine | tinned sty, c SHRUNK QUARTER sites A. P, Wileon, manager of the plant of | Nichols c! ind SInEAanT oie Hip RANE ETON Adams Brotherm, on Barclay street, near | /4rge jobbers In ‘canned 1 ot RuaNAverO ences eA: | “Moat of our tinned reat, : up for us expressly, and we kr There has been no decrease in the ihe recent exps ars t of G& Amount of orders, ‘Tho only thing no-| them rscqiuently and canned, - ticeable ts that the country butcher (ofa gi. am wales But | shopkeepers are dpallned se take any | Nill lm The publis mind may "ws SS meat except that of Chicago packing, (#0 prejudiced that tinned meais will be — 7 taboom, I vill ou Je on There's nothing mysterious about bie ‘Dhoy frequently specify in thetr orders |ty yetermine tf that, hee heen = NLU Bib aa CaS e the tell-|) that they do not want meat from the|fiet.” : " joes Glanopla eerie elias What -You| CM¢oM#® Packing-houses; but I know | rae ontie Comins aia eT he last ten A Want or Have to Offer, and Where You | stat the Chickgo beot is best and ciean-|the subject in this manne | "My salesmen may be able to tel! PEE Ge fe BG aN est, and we soon will overcorae the) "Tho exposures were concerning cheap| more than T can Tents bun ena ; 7 y ‘ound, ‘or! fants are NO} pCiudice which the ne a iceniceal Andie no such arti-| tell me has been wold, so that 1 . weepaper repo ; P t more convincing than any other sort! of the investigation have created in |, D Ponsecuently oureales cannot | my Ip to @ certain stindant, of an advertisement, Their great VALUE | trae snesices eva GbOb a tockss of our mouts mY Low's, & butcher in Wash. Hes in the fact that they “TELL” MORE| “ah gayles-zahn Company, sixth ave- {GNM brand, and ar : “T} eat. panava ute oft PEOPLE IN NEW YORK CITY than can if the report of the President perceptibly in th t few 1 yy | Rue and Tenth street, ts perhaps the|ventizators. In several w we 'm t pe Saye Dut od \ he told through the agency of ANY i 1 rept iGe ts CBS RC ther, 7 er sl in New i i 01 my recula customers have spec Let World W: he compeny supplies most of | “Franvia II. Lemgett & Company sald, |packing houses, hag ne q 1 ‘orld Wants Work oe etets and hundreds of restaurants | 0 far as they wore able to fall az this | he would ‘not te nd boarding houses, while having a . heen no decrease in the| that account : Wonders For You. pales of canned meats, but the whale: | would not we caultato Me ° very large trade emong families, The gale he would-not-be sur- of canned meats,’ parkway, Atterlury System Clothes Ready*-to-Wear, $20 to $45, Your tailor makes up the goods gf your choice, In the piece, the pattern may~ please you—completed, it may~ not, Ready-to-wear garments be- gin where the tailor ends— and if they~ are Atterluirn System Clothes you have the double assur- ance that you are getting the tailor’s quality~ and as good or better than the tai- lor’s style at abou: half what the best tailor charges, “. Ask the -Man Who Wears The Cojunbia, Harvard and Universi:y* Sack Suit -edels, moderate and con In the new Quak ¢ Wes!minster greys, miral blue and black. $20 to $45. We aso sell -Men'sSatis Haberdashery, Hats, ory” Shoes. THREE STORES 183 Broadway Near Dey Sunway 39-41 Cortlandt St. 6th and Oth Ave tations.