Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1906-03-10


lows
".Downers.' the men called them.
and the packing.housc had u special
elevator upon which they were raised
to the killing beds. where the gang
proceeded to handle them with an air
of businesslikc nonchalance which
said palmer than words that 1t was a
matter of everyday routine. 1t took Il
couple of hours to get them ont of the
way. and in the end Jurgis saw them
60 into the chilling.rooms with the rest
Of the meat. being carefully scattered
here and there so that they could not
he identified"
Mr.. Sinclair's description Of the meat
that Is put into cans Is sufficiently I'M
appetizing. but his account of how
sausages are made Is still more 80.
"There was never the least attention
paid to what was cut up for sausage"
he says; there would come all the way
back from Europe old sausage that had
been rejected and that was moldy and
white-it would be dOsed with borax
and glycerln. and dumped into the hop.
pers. and made over again for home
consumption. There would be meat
that had tumbled out on the floor. In
the dirt and sawdust. where the work.
ers had trnmped and spit amounted
billions Of consumption germs.
"There would be meat stored In
great piles In rooms. and the water
from lcaky roofs would drip over II.
| and thousands Of rats would race about
II. 1t was too dark In these storage
places to see well. but man could run
his hand over these piles Of meat and
sweep off handfuls Of the dried cXcre-
mcnt of rats. These rats were nu-
sancc. and the packc,, would put pol
soned bread out for them; they would
die. and then rats. bread and meat
would 20 into the hoppers together.
| This Is no fairy story and no joke; the
meat would he shovclcd into carts. and
the man who did the shoveling would
not trouble to lift out rat even when
he saw onc-thcre were things that
| went into the sausage In comparison
with which n poisoned rat was Il It'd.
Bit
The authors descriptions Of these nj.
legged denominations are merely incl.
dental to his portrayal Of equally ter.
rible social conditions In the stock
yards. Jurgls finds himself In jungle
OF wild beasts, all seeking to rend and
rob him. and the emotional interest OF
the story has to do with the terrible
losing fight Of this honest Lithuanian
family. The packing industry kills one
member after another. ruins and kills
Jurgis' young wife under heart.rendinp
conditions. kills his little boy, and
sends Jurgis himself forth into the
world tramp and then criminal
The whole story Is chamber Of hOr
rOrs.
The latter part describes social nj
GERS not usually mentioned In novel
The most sensational chapter Is tina
describing the unspeakable state Of
affairs said 10 have been permitted ant
promoted by the packers during TIN
big strike.
"They lodged men and women Of
the same floor" says the author, "an'
with the night there began a saturnali'
of acknowledgements such rs neve
before had been witnessed In America
And as the women We're the drcgs iron
the brothcls OF Chicago, and the Incl
try negroes, the nameless disease q
vice were soon rife, and this wher
food was being handled, which was sen
out to every corner of the ciyllizc
world"
The novel closes with the conversio
Of the hero TO socialism, in which h
is supposed to see cure for the evil
) of the beef trust."-Chicago Recort
Herald, February 20, 1906.
Extracts from Upton Slnclalr's no'
el, The Jungle Chicago Recor
/; Herald, Feb. 20, 1906:
/, Then there was the condemned mea
I industry, with its endless horrors. Tn
g people Of Chicago saw the governmeI
inspectors in PacklngtOwn, and the
; all took that TO mean that they wer
protected from diseased meat; the
2 did not understand that these 1863 IL
: spectOrs had been appointed at the r.
! quest Of the packers, and that the
D We're paid by the United States COY
I eminent TO certify that all the di'
] eased meat was kept in the State.
I There We're some cattle with broke
! legs, and some with gored sides, an
, some that had died, from what caus
= no one could say; and they We're all
be disposed of here In darkness an
, silence. "Downers' the men Gale
| them, and the packlng-house had
special elevator upon which they wer
, raised TO the killing beds where tn
gang proceeded to handle them, wit
/ an air Of businesslike n0nchalanc
! which said palmer than words that
I was matter Of everyday routine.
, There was never the least attentlo
paid to what was cut up for sausage
. Thousands Of rats would race over til
meat. These rats were nuisance
and the packers would put polsone'
bread out for. them; they would die