Amador ledger., 1906-07-20

and worry, the boss sized him up at
glance and there was no work for him
in Packingtown, and Ona, whom he had
married meantime was about to be-
come mother.
Then is recited in THE JUNGLE, tale
OF gradual and heart-rending downfall
in the wearing out by inches, of a.
strong man. Jurgis gets a job in the
terrible fertilizer vaults where his head
nearly splits with the poisonous dust
and the sitting fumes of ammonia.
His father dies from the effects of the
awful speeding UP" and the Shiny
wet in which he has to work, ankle
deep. Ona, the beautiful. the once
blithe young bride succum1s to the
hateful System" and Jurgis. powerful
man that he is, his strong spirit broken
by the brutality and irresistible power
of the bosses. becomes a great gaunt,
hollow eyed ghost of his former self.
The story is tale of the gradual
determination of splendid, virile
European family, ground to death by
System" by a pitiless monopoly,
which cares no more or not as much
for its workers than it does for the
carcasses of the animals it converts in
to food. Incidentally the description
Of this process is sufficiently revolving
to turn the stomach of the stoutest
beefeater.
Oh! could Jurgis, and Ona, and the
rest of them, with their frugality and
their Drawn, and their love Of life and
work, and joy of a home, have gone
into some rural district to work out
their salvation, what different story
would have been THE JUNGLE. Some
other name for the book would have
been necessary. What if they could
have gotten dozen acres, or five acres
of good land somewhere and bought it
for what they sQuandered uselessly for
their house in Packingtown-theyw were
turned out and the house resold the |
first month they failed of payment
what different history woud have
been told by the authori
What if the great packing trust, in
stead of killing men and women, should
provide that its employees could live on
an acre Of ground each, or half acre, |
out on the great fertile prairies of |
Illinois, quickly reached from the stock |
yards by modern trolley, so that when |
they were of necessity, perhaps, "laid |
Off for period of a week, or six |
weeks, or on ''half time" they would |
have piece of rich land which they
could till and raise enough potatoes and |
corn and beans and cabbage to keep |
them from starving to death. But the |
packing trust-Mr. Ogden Armour and |
other millionaires and multi-million-
aires-would make less money; it |
would decrease its dividends perhaps |
several per cent, and that is not to be |
thought of. By getting the best out of |
"a man, all there is in him in a few
short years, this unnamable Thing can
turn him out and get new blood. 1t |
is evidently most profitable to speed a |
man up to the wrecking point and |
then get new men. This process of
traficking in human life, coupled with |
the abominable and poisonous adultera- |
tions and use of diseased animals |
which Mr.. Sinclair describes at first |
hand, enables Mr.. Armour and the
others to make very satisfactory per-
centages of prolific pile up millions |
of dividends year.
1t is all a very great story, THE
JUNGLE if not beautiful one, and well
worth the reading, simply that the
reader NAV learn something about the
stuff we eat, and at what cost of suf-
fering it is produced.