Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-11-12
OUT OF WORK.
TIE NORTH WHEELING POLANDERS WILL
SOON BE IN WANT.
Sons Of Them Have Had No Work for Six
Months How They Are Existing Up
Near the stop" Mill.

talk about living" said 3 promi-
nent North Wheeling business man last
evening to a reporter Of this paper;
there is a sight there that car be du-
plicated IN few Of our cities, and 1 have
seen a good many sights" He pointed
to the long brick row on North Main
street known as the "old Thalman
row." This celebrated row is Lear the
Top mill.
This old brick, one OF the oldest in
Wheeling, is a structure nearly two
hundred feet long and about forty feet
wide. 1t is of two stories with an attic,
and in it live promiscuously about
seventy-6ve Polanders.
The greater number of these for
eigners have been idle for about six
months, or since the Top mill blast fur
nace shut down, as nearly all OF these
laborers were employed there.
The Quandary is how they live, but a
visit to their row shows plainly that
hunger is abroad among them.
A REGISTER reporter visited the row
last evening. Few people ia the city
probably have any conception of the
way these foreigners, out OF work, are
managing to live.
After running the gauntlet OF Po-
landers leaning against the railing Of
the rickety boardwalk, a sort Of porch
was reached. The apartments were
dimly lighted by candles aud wood fires.
Wandering in the darkness, owe ash
barrels and other rubbish, the reporter
managed to get TO a large room. In
this were probably forty of the foreign
ers. They were all poorly clad, and
most Of them sat on the floor. There
were among them the old gray-haired
man and the babe, and men and women
OF various ages. The room, which had
no carpet, was filed with smoke
from old strong pipes, Hungarian
cigars and cigarettes. One form of
these cigars has a straw through 1t and
is one Of the strongest cigars made. On
an average one OF these can be annexed
for an hour. Few Americans can
smoke them. They make their W
cigarettes, and men and join 10
the smoking.
1t takes a great amount Of beer to
supply them. as they substitute it
largely now for food.
A large tub was placed in the middle
OF the floor and all seemed on the tip
toe Of expectancy. Pretty oon quite a
racket was heard aud big, powerful
Polander rushed in with a beer keg on
his shoulder. 1t didn't take long to
empty the contents into the tub. Some
seemed so thirsty that they made a dive
for the tub, and began to drink like a
horse from a trough. They had to be
pushed away by force. All were finally
supplied with tin cups and gourds, and
the drinking began. 1t didn't take
nan minutes to drain the contents,
A table was substituted for the tub,
and pretty soon some kind Of a strong
smelling cooked meat was brought in
and placed on the table, with 10 dish
under it. The Polanders jumped from
their places on the door, and
with old case knives, ~pen-kniveS,
and sticks they attacked the meat.
Some even went ia with their fingers.
The smaller ones stood back, and occa-
%Sionally got a chunk. One fellow was
feeling the effects OF the beer so much
that be could not come to get his meat.
Some OF the others seemed to derive
great benefit from hurllng pieces Of
the meat at him. BE managed, how
ever, to get them about all gobbled up
and eaten. The racket the hungry
crowd made in getting away with the
meat was hideous. They would ges-
ticulate much, and several times seemed
about to fight.
The meat eaten the foreigners began
to feel good. They danced and sang in
their native ann and evidently
thought they were treating the news
gatherer to a highly pleasing event.
They gradually left the dance and
assembled a rickety stairway till the room
was nearly deserted. Evidently the
second story rooms are their sleeping
apartments. These, too, we're dimly
lighted, but once up there one can
manage to see the forms OF about
dfty persons stretched out on
the floor, making quite a large showing.
As soon as one Of the foreigners from
down stairs would arrive he would look
for a place to lie down, and would not
be down long before he would be snor-
ing at a tremendous rate, the racket the
Polanders made being something awful.
or course some have beds, but they are
among the few.
There is a store in the row where
the foreigners do their buying, and how
they manage to keep it going no n
knows.
Unless these persons get work soon
there is sure 10 be- much suffering
among them this winter.