Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-16
THE STRIKERS IN PULLMAN
Distress Prevailing Among the Families Of
the Workingmen.
Supported by the Union and Only
to the Pullman Company.
A Chicago special to the Philadelphia Press

says:
All of George NJ. Pullman's working peo-
pie In his town of Pullman are not starving
to death, but some of them are. Before the
strike began they had a little money and
some employment. Then they had credit
at the stores In THE Arcade and by close
calculating managed to feed themselves like
human beings. and If all are not starving
1t Is fact that if anybody fancies that
they are lolling In the lap Of luxury he is
very far from the truth.
There are now left in the town about
5000 of the people who were once employees
of the Palace Car Company. These people
are fed by the supplies by committee of the
American Railway Union. whose distribut-
Ing point is in Kenstngton, which adjoins
Pullman on the south.
Every man receives a ticket from his
union which entities him to bread, meat
sugar and coffee or tea when the union
has anything to give. The union is doing
business strictly and does not indulge the
fancy tastes of its members. They get no
butter. milk. eggs or anything like that
tials.
The people beside showing particular
traces of want in their faces show that
they are distract and that their minds are
troubled. But they have some sort of an
Indefinite, vague hope that their troubles
viii be settled some time soon and that
they Will once more be able to eat but
ter. and give chicken broth to their sick
wives and babies. although as to how 1t
Is to be brought about they have not the
least idea IN the world.
Objects of Charity.
If the strike goes on, as they think it
will, the time will come when they will
be compelled to beg the great American
public for bread, and that time is certainly
not far distant. They know this, and hence
have done nothing to lose the good opinion
of the public. II they leave the union and
go back to work they say their feet will be
deeper in the quicksands OF wretchedness
than ever before.
Pullman is an Industrial principally
1t should be said before going any further
that the Pullman company has never lost
money since the big engine did its first lick
of work. Everybody in Pullman knows
that the company has never done business
at a loss. The reason it began to cut
wages was because 1t was not making as
much money as it had made in other and
better times. But Pullman has never been
a losing game.
The correspondent of the Press, who had
been listening to the company's side of
the story for several days, went out yes
terday for the purpose of getting the opin-
affair, and he got il without any trouble
whatever They spoke quietly and peace
fully.
The town of Pullman might stand for
ages before these people would pull down
the houses over their own heads In Watt
avenue there are rows OF dingy brick
houses filled with strikers and their fami-
lies The weather is quite warm. and dur
ing the day the men and women sit upon
the long steps before the houses and the
little ones play bare-footed in the streets.
1t Is a picture of a great tenement district
in some vast city. There is absolutely
nothing to eat in some of the houses.
One of the Victims.
Before one of these doors sat a delicate
looking middle-aged woman. mendng a
stocking and talking TO another woman
with baby at her breast. The first wo-
man spoke English well.
rs there much distress in Putnam" she
was asked.
"Well." she replied, with ssme show of
interest. there certainly is. We are most
of suffering with hunger There Is also
a fair proportion of sick people in town,
and these are in great need of little delica-
cieS which now they cannot have We get
our supplies from the union. and it gives
us only bread and meat, and now only oc-
casionally.''
Have mary of the families moved
away?"
Yes. some of them have gone but most
of US are not able to go. You see, we
haven't had cent of money for SO long,
and money is necessary
why are these flats so crowded."
There is good reason for that" the
woman replied. I'VE get meat, but it is
raw. 1t must be cooked. Coal is scarce
Rather, coal is not scarce, but We have no
money to buy 1t, and we try to get along
the best we can on what We can borrow or
get on credit or pick up from the railroad
tracks. To do this the families have
clu5bed together. and two or three of them
live together in one fiat The place is
healthy enough, and we don't suffer, ex-
cept for a little crcwding.''
do the men want to go back to work =?
VIII they give up the striker
They want the work, but they will not
quit the union. L haven't heard one word
like that since the strike began. They will
fight it out"
DO they hope that Mr. Pullman will give
in?"
She Strengthened her body up. and her
big, gray eyes sparkied. Give in, Nc.
George VI. Pullman will see every brick in
a ruin, before he will move one inch. Oh,
we know what kind of man Pullman is. :"
Why They Do Not Go Back.
''Why would it not be wise. then, for the
men to give up the union and go back as
plain Employer"
THE woman S eyes softened. why" 81 G
said. lit would be wise. We could better
ourselves by doing so. But If they went
back to work they would be worse thar
they were before. 1 think the times must
have been very hard for Pullman to cut the
wages the way he has done. 1 know the
time when my husband was making S, a
day and over. and when l would as soon
live here as anywhere. But they cut the
pay and cut it until he was getting only
.35. Then we pay san rent. The $14 Is
for the fiat and the seventy-one cents is
for water. We had to go In debt. We owe
cid bills for meat and groceries, and now
we owe several months of back rent. These
debts will have to be paid and at the last
rate of wages we never will be able to make
1t up.
1--WE must have more pay. or get out. or
die, or do Something
HAS the rent been lowered?''
NO. That's where the trouble is. If they
had cut the rent when they cut the pay they
would have been all right. But the rent
kept going on just the same and the pay
was cut and we found that we never had a
cent to buy clothes with and were deeper
and deeper in debt all the time
In the Pullman Slum.
The "brickyards'' of Pullman are its
poorer quarters. They lie on to the south
and are reached after a rather long walk
from the center of the town.. There is
squalor and want In this section of the
town as well as in the other districts. Its
of inl,r ha