The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-11
FRUIT-EATING IS PROHIBITED.
PENALTY FOR FIRST oFFENsE,
FINE OF 25 CENTS.
crf,f,ED nrGrrAD1u
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.


Half-past II found every one again at
work. Fingers few and the piles of pared
and cored peaches grew amazingly fast.
When had emptied the box set before me
the supervisor told me to take my box
sup" and check it. | interpreted sup" to
mean the locality where the autocrat pre-
sided, and carried my empty box to him.
Fifteen cents" said the factotum who
relieved me of the box, and the autoerat
placed my number upon card on which
the prices of the boxes were indicated and
opposite the price of the box which [ had
so laboriouslv emptied he punched one of
the tiny checks that stood for certain
amount of work with a liberal amount of
aching muscles thrown in.
1t was O'Clock. | had worked since 8.
NY wrists were tired, my fingers were
blistered, my head ached. l had pared
and cored fifty pounds of fruit and earned
Is cents. had not yet earned enough by
cents to pay for my "tools."
The fruit-crarier gave me another fifty
pound box and / set to work to try to pay
my debt to A. F. Tenny & Co. before l
went home. This box bad good deal of
green fruit in it. That is the reason why,
at I o'clock, after receiving the kindly help
of the supervisor, who, she said,
would be bounced" if it were
ever found out and of the
German woman who, while she was wait
ing to receive her wages, deity contributed
to one of the many small boxes, the second
punch on my card was opposite the Decent
mark. had paid for my tools and earned
IL cents besides.
The supervisor had encouraged me.
"That makes two boxes" she said. THAT
is as well as some of the best peelers have
done who had green fruit to handle"
s'How many boxes can they finish when
the fruit is ripe?" asked.
"Oh, that depends" she replied, and the
smile of the automaton was little broader
and lasted longer than any OF its predeces-
sors.
was informed that the prices for boxes
of apricots ran from to cents, apples
to 10, pears 10 to II, peaches IA to 16 cents.
The card gives a schedule of from to 20
cents, but the extremes, like certain alge-
braic characters, stand for unknown quan-
titles.
The day was bad. The evening was
worse. It was payday. The carefully
of coveted punches had been yielded to
the clerks st the Office. who had COM
puted the pitifully small amounts. A
desk was brought in and two clerks were
stationed there to distribute the scant
earnings The women lined up before the
Young fellows, whose tool is pen instead
of knife.
Portable and made the tired women in
nondescript gowns and wraps look the
shabbier. The faces of the fruit-cutters
were strained and eager. They crowded
and iostled and elbowed each other. or
tried to, but the foreman mounted a table
and turned his reproving cyclopean gaze
upon them.
"Get back there, he shouted every two or
three minutes, and once he caught the arm
nf
sciously crowding her neighbor. and
pushed her against one of the hard benches
with brutal force. / expected a show of
indignation at this, but was disappointed.
was curious about the wages of Lew
Kings employees at the Pacific Fruit-pack-
ing Company establishment and the next
morning found my way to the basement of
the building, opposite the Chinese consul
late, on Stockton street. Cinnamon were
at work at some of the tables, white women
at others.
The latter numbered probably seventy
five. The floor was flooded with water
from the tanks used for washing fruit.
Dampness is an insuperable objection to
my zeal Tor investigation. and / contented
myself with some conversation with the
women ana one OF the proprietors, Lew
Hing.
Their stories are the same. For
twenty-pound basket of fruit King pays
12I cents, and steady workers find it pos
slble to make dollar or more day.
whether sight of the dark, damp,
disease-breeding basement and the fact
that the workers stand at their task all
day In contact with the healthfuI surround
ings of the Folsom-street cannery,
where the sweet, fruity odors are enhanced
by an abundance of fresh air and sunshine
would make the employees of A. T. Tenny
q Co. content to remain where the COM
pensation appears to be much less is
question.
Suppose you were trying to earn an
honest livelihood by their occupation and
answer. ADA PATTERSON.