The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1896-01-23
STORY Of THE sNElTSHOP
Gen. Nelson Still Refuses to
Give Any Relief.
GRATITUDE FOR 1.-THE TIMES
GrewsOme Recitals of Work Among
Mail Sacks odornus with Decaying
Bits of FIesh-women Who Sit
Down to Cry Over WORKOUT Hands.
Waiting for the Call Bill.

| with feeling CT the deepest gratitude
towards Tile Times for its recital of the
condition OF affairs in the government mai
bag rcpair shop and with equal thanks &c
Senator Cab of Florida, who introduced a
| Joint resolution in Congress providing fol
| per dieil payment OF The employees in TIE
| workshops, the women who have been
| toiiing there are now Patiently waiting
FOR the action OF Congress on the resolution
They feel that that is the only thin g they
can do. With Gen. Nelson acknowledged
position regarding the matter they say it
is no longer any use 10 look 10 him for
helping band to lift them from the hole
of starvation wages. Thcy have therefore
appealed with trembling to Congress
Trembling, not because their cause was
unjust, bat because. OF tie barriers AID in
functions, either xpressed or implied,
that dismissal from even the scanty remuncr-
a;ion they got would follow if they made
an cutlery.
Gen. Nelson las done not a thing to
alleviate the unpleasant conditions com
planned OF, it is said. Tie surround ings OF
the women are as cEeeriess and disa gree
able as ever and tEey feel that IL Con-
gress should send a Committee OF disinter-
ested Inspectors To investigate the place
the latter would very soon report what 4
shame and blot the government sweatshop
Is.
THEY ALL THANK THE TIMES.
We are all indebted to The Times for
the manner in which it has ca He'd this case
TO the attention OF the public" said
woman who as an expert mailbag repaircr
gets 81 20 day as a ma ximum payment.
''Our next wish is that Congress Will
speedily take bod OF the matter and. in
addition 10 granting iGs living wages, will
put us in better quarters or improve the
ones we are now in.
III all the things were told that could
be related about THIS sweltshop they would
make a taie that would change. Hoods
Song OF the Shirt into prophecy.
c"uid rct',tc q dozen INSTANCES where weary
fingers, worn away at the ends. have piled
the needle ard thread while tears moist
ened the cloth the operator was sewing
Often, too. the tears have SO dimIn,d tine
eyes that have seen poor women have to
get up and leave the room for a while in
order to calm their feelings.
One who has never been in the repair
shop has no idea OF the filth ard dirt there
is about the mail bags sent there for re-
pair Frequently they come in with the
holes in them stuffed with every conceiya-
bic thing, from paper and wisps of straw
W a bOAitO vi ati
RAD ONIONS AND DEAD DOGS.
in the big postoffices where the bags are
thrown ava = in a corner, 1t is not uncommon
that u kitten climbs in the top or through a
hole in the side and goes to sleep. Other
bagsare thrown on top OF this sack and the
kitten is sinothered. Then the whole assort-
ment OF bags is sent off here to the repair
shop. possibly three months later, and the
dead Kitten is fnund b,.G OF
Such things as that are no fairy tales,
assure you. and on an occasion not very long
ago / saw three OF the girls in the shop
faint when little dead dog was tn ken from
q mail sack.
"One of the most weird. CHASTITY and I'M
pleasant tasks falls on Our hands when the
sacks from a mail car that has been in a rail-
road wreck are sent to the shop. 1t is not |
an infrequcnt occurrence that the unfortu- |
nate mail clerk il killed and his mangled |
body is thrown among the sacks. | have |
seen them come to the girls FOR repair when |
they were covered with blood and with |
here and there fragment of flesh sticking |
to them.
Why these bags cannot be cleansed be !
fore they come 10 the women or be permitted |
to go through mems hands first, so that |
some of tie most Objectionable things may |
be removed from them, | don't know. / |
simply know they are sent directly to U.s.
and we have to ba ndle them and iuhaIe all /
the dust and filthy doors that arise from
them"
MR.. NELSON ENRAGED.
A report has been made to The Times that
he mail bags are the product OF convict
abor in the Brooklyn prison. In order TO
ascertain the truth OF this statement a |
eporter called today upon Assistant Post
Nelson, who has charge of
his branch or the mail service and as soon
is his mission was made known to Mr.. Nell |
ON that official burst into a fit of rage
that the newspapers knew more
bout the government repair shop than he
lid.
When reminded in pleasant way that he
md not the newspapers should be the party
,cSt POSTED on such matters, he said that
lie considered he was running those shops
n the hest interests of the government
whatever he was doing, and, however, he
lid it, and that he should continue to do
20.
He would neither confirm nor deny the
eport, and, with an angry gesture de-
Jared that he desired to make no state
neDt whatever, either one way or the other.
Il cannot ina CINE who should make such |
statement. Who was it,"
''Whoever it was, are there any grounds
or the report?' was asked.
Il cannot imagine who should make such
statement" again came the reply, but
c IN ANYTHING mora IN ha1 rofbir,y @,