Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-06-06

EldAEkhCAAt u ~ -
V.-Trentment of Employees.
The lack of consideration for the
health and comfort of the laborers in
the Chicago s~tockyards seems to be a
direct consequence of the system Of
administration that prevails. The vari-
GUS departments are under the direct
control of superintendent who claim
to use full authority In dealing with
the employees and who seem to ignore
all considerations except those of the
account book. Under this system prop
er care of the products and of the
health and comfort of the employees is
impossible, and the consumer suffers
in consequence. The insanitary condi-
tons In which the laborers work and
the feverlsh pace which they are forced
to maintain inevitably affect their
health. Physicians state that tubercu-
losis Is disproportionately prevalent In
the stockyards. and the victims of this
disease expeetorate on the spongy
wooden floors CT the dark workrooms.
from which falling scraps of meat are
shoveled up to be converted into food.
Even the ordinary decencies of life
are completely ignored. In practically
all cases the doors of the toilet rooms
open directly into the working rooms,
the privies Of men and women fire.
quently adjoin, and the entrances are
sometimes no more than a foot or two
apart. In other cases there are no
privies for women In the rooms in
which they work and to reach the near
est it is necessary to go up or down a
couple of flights Of stairs. In one no
ticeable instance the prlvy for the wo-
men working in several adjoining
rooms was in a room in which mon
chiefly were employed, and every girl
going to use this had to pass by the
working places of dozens of male oper
atives and enter the privy, the door Of
which was not six feet from the work
ing place of one of the men operatives.
AS previously noted, in the privies for
men and women alike there are no par
titions, but simply a long row of open
seats. Rest rooms, where tired women
workers might go for a short rest, were
found as rare exceptions, and in some
establishments women are even placed
in charge of privies, chiefly for the pur-
pose, it was stated, to see that the girls
did not absent themselves too long
from their work under the excuse Of
visiting them. In some instances what
was called a rest room was simply one
end of the privy partitioned off by a
six foot partition from the remaining
~inclosure. A few girls were found
using this not only as a rest room, but
as the only available place in which to
sit to eat their luncheon.
Much of the work In connection with
the handling of meat has to be carried
on in rooms of q low temperature, but
even here n callous disregard was ev-
erywhere seen for the comfort of
those who worked in these rooms.
Girls and women were found in rooms
registering a temperature of 3S de-
grees Il. without any ventilation what
ever, depending entirely upon artificial
light. The floors were wet and soggy
and in some cases covered with water,
so that the girls had to stand in boxes
of sawdust as a protection for their
feet. In a few cases eve drippings
from the refrigerator rooms above
trickled through the ceiling upon the
heads of the workers and upon the
food products being prepared. A very
slight expense would have furnished
drier floors and protected them against
the tricklings from the ceiling. 1t was
asserted by the superintendent Of
these rooms that this low temperature
was essential to the proper keeping Of
the meat, but precisely similar work
was found in other establishments car
ried on in rooms kept at a fair tem1
p%erature. In many cases girls of six
teen, seventeen and eighteen years
stand ten hours a day at work, much
of which could be carried on while
sitting down.
In several establishments well man
aged restaurants were provided for
the clerical force, and in M instance
a smoking was provided for
them, but no provision was found any
where for a place to eat for the male
laborers. In pleasant weather they eat
their luncheon sitting outdoors along
the edge of the sidewalk or any place
where they can find standing room.
In winter, however, and In inclement
weather their lunches have to be eaten
in rooms that in many cases are sti-
fling and %nauseating, Eating rooms
are provided in a number of places
for women workers in the various de-
%partments, and in most of the large
establishments coffee is served them
at a penny a cup. Beyond this meager
consideration for their convenience at
mealtimes scarcely any evidence is
found that any one gave a thought to
their comfort.
The neglect on the part of their en-
ployers to recognize or provide for the
requirements of cleanliness and decen.
cy of the employees must have an in
fiuence that cannot be exaggerated in
lowering the morals and discouraging
cleanliness on the part of the workers
employed in the packing houses. The
uvholn Giftiation 40 vn say II In fhaeo