The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-02-14
STARVING
STRIKERS.
Pitiable Condition of the Cotton
Mill Operatives
At New Bedford and Other
Points in Strike District.
HOUSES SET UP.
Mad Rush for a Contribution of
Fish.
Window Smashed by the Eager
and Hungry Crowd.

New Bedford, Mass, Feb. 1.-THE
visitor to New Bedford, will be struck
by the thousands Of idle people to be
seen on the streets, the silent factories,
which give out no sign of life, the
empty 1900 houses which have been va
Gated by operatives now in refuge in
other places, but, saddest of all, viii
he be struck by the restitution which
drives men, women and children to fish
markets and soup houses, more like
ravenOus beasts than the thrifty en-
plOye with his deposit in the savings
bank, which New England economists
have so persfstently painted. The fol-
lowing description from the New Bed
ford Evening Standard tells the story:
mo one anticipated that there would
be an unbridled onslaught or any such
scenes as led one young fellow who was
caught IN the rush at DOlIard'S fish
market to remark that if he had known
beforehand what he was going through
he would have borrowed a football rig.
When the distribution at DOllard'S
commenced it was intended to distrib-
ute 500 pounds of fish which had been
contributed by a Boston firm. Soon a
crowd gathered and the sidewalk be-
came packed, the later Corners extend
ing out into the street and well onto the
street car track.
Everything went along decently and
in order for a few minutes, but the pro-
ceeding appeared slow to the waiting
multitude, and every one in the crowd
was seized with an idea that the supply
would soon he exhausted and that some
would get left. Then a wild rush was
started, everybody apparently being de-
termined that he would not be the I'M
fortunate. In the crush the men who
had charge of the distribution We're
swept away from the barrels, through
the market and almost against the wall
in the rear. One man caught in the
rush, while trying to extricate himself,
was forced through the large show win
dow in front.
when the contribution from Boston
was exhausted the crowd was still
clamoring and an equal amount from
Mr.. Dolard's own stock was dispensed
before it was possible to clear the
place. The breaking of the window per-
mitted a little ruse on Mr.. DolIard's
part and the passage of a dozen or two
ed to transfer the excitement and the
crowd on the sidewalk.
Each person was given a fish weigh
of twice that size"
Besides these scenes at the fish mar
ketS half a dozen soup houses have
been set up in various parts of the city
around which are to be found men, wO-
men and children clamoring for their
share. All this has been done despite
the local city pride which would have
prevented it, the efforts of those in
charge of the affairs of the Door and
that mythical bank account. Here is
one of the richest cotton spinning CEN
ters in the union, where the factory
dividends of a generation have made
them prodigal, where it was asserted
the help" was in heaven when COM
pared with the condition of their south
ern brothers. They had been enjoying
that superior wages which the Ark
wright club thought so exOrbitant that
it could stand a 10 per cent cut and
yet within one week after they have
been closed out they are penniless and
starvingi
Indeed" said Mrs. Harriet Picker
ing, one of the most intelligent of the
strikers. there is suffering among the
ers and they would not have their pow
erty known, but live on a crust and
look smilingly at the world. But yes
terday a neighbor of mine, the father
of a family, fell upon the floor in a
dead faint. DR.. Huff was sent for and
he said: Poor man, it's only the hun
gerH My Cod" exclaimed the lady.
wringing her hands in a paroxysm of
grief the world does not know how we
are starving even now, while we walk
around and try to look cheerful"