The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-11-03

R~"S@~~s'S
was the same thing as evicting him
from his home. /
He and the two women spent all
day and half the night discussing It.
It would be convenient downtown to
the childrens place of work; but then
Maria was on the road to recovery
and had hopes of getting a Job in the
Yards; and though she did not see
her old-time lover once q month, be-
cause OF the misery of their state, yet
she could not make up her mind to go
away and give him up forever. Then,
too, Elzbieta had heard something
about chance to scrub floors In Dur.
hams offlces and was waiting every
day for word. In the end 1t was de.
cided that Jurgis should go down.
town to strike out for himself. and
they would decide after he got job.
AS there was no one from whom no
could borrow there and he dared not
beg for fear Of being arrested, It was
arranged that every day he should
meet one OF the children and be given
fifteen cents Of their earnings, upon
which he could keep going. Then oil
day he was to pace the streets with
hundreds and thousands of other
homeless wretches, inQriring at stores,
warehouses and factories for a chance
and at night he was to crawl into
some doorway or underneath a truck
and hide there until midnight, when
he might get into one of the station
houses and spread newspaper upon
the floor. and lie down in the midst
OF a thrOng of "bums" and beggars,
ree!iing with alcohol and tobacco and
flthy with verrnin and disease.
So for two weeks more Jurgis fought
with the demon of despair Once he
got a chance to load a truck for half
a day, and again he carried an old
woman's valise and was given a quar-.
ter. This let HIM into lodging house
on several nights when he might 9TH
erwise have frozen to death: and Il
also gave him chance now and then
to buy a newspaper In the morning
and hunt up jobs while his rivals were
watching and waiting for a paper to
DO thrown away.
In the end Jurgis got chance
through an accidental meeting with an
old'timc acquaintance OF his union
days. He met this man on his way
to work IN the giant factories of the
Harvester Trust; and his friend told
him to come along, and he would
o1eak Q good word for him to his boss.
whom ne knew we'll. So Jurgis trudg.
ed four or five miles, and passed
through a waiting throng Of unemploy.
cd ut the gate under the escort Of his
friend. His knees nearly gave wav
Deneath him when the foreman, after
looking him over and questioning him.
told him that he could find an opening
for him.
How much this accident meant IN
Jurgis he realized only by stages: for
he found that the harvester works
were the sort Of place to which philao.
TN opists and reformers pointed with
pride. 1t had some thought .or its en-.
pioyes; ITS workshops were big and
roomy; It provided restaurant where
the workmen could buy good food at
cost; 1t had even reading room. and
decent places where its girl hands
could rest; also the work was free
from many Of the elements of Aim
ana responsiveness that prevailed at
the stockyards. Day after day Jursis
discovered these things-things never
expected nor dreamed OF by HMM.
III this new place came to seem q t;nd
or q heaven to him "A~
IL was an enormous establishment
covering hundred and sixty acres of
ground, employing five thousand neo.
pie Jurgis saw very little Of n n,
Sourse-it was all specialized work
ne same as at the stockyards: each
me OF the hundreds OF parts NJ n
moving machine was made separate.
~ and sometimes handled by hmm.
y. ureos OF men. Where Jurgis worked
tnere was machine which cnt GA