The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1906-07-24
SUGAR TRUST TYRANNY
OVER ITS MEN WORSE THAN
THAT OF THE JUNGLE"
The "System" of the Sweltering
Rehnaries-What Goes to Make
the Little White Lump
From Cuba to Dirty
Wharves of Viii.
liamsburg.

liamsburg.
This is the pain story cf sugar
and it's slave. 10 New York. They
make that pretty crystal lump Of
sweetness which you drop into your
morning cup of coffee. 1t looks so
clean and seems go pure white that
never a suspicion rises in the mind
of the taints mixed therein and the
horrible conditions under which it
is produced. WHAT really goes to
make this little lump is:
Ons ounce of sugar cane,
One dash of dirt,
One pound of fesh,
One quart of human sweat,
Twelve hours of slave. driven la
bor,
One half.starved family,
One corrupted United States Sen,
ate and
] One hundred per cent. trust profit.
If you look along the Brooklyn
| shore of the East River just above
the new Williamsburg bridge you
will see series of tall, dingy, red
brick buildings lining the water
front. These are the refneries of
the Sugar Trusts, of which the
Havemeyer are principal owners.
In the United States senate are
men who have proited by Wall
street transactions in Sugar Trust
stock. Elverton R. Chapman. a
broker, once went to Jail for refus.
ing to tell the senate who of these
men were his customers in sugar
speculations when favored legisla-
tion was being enacted.
| Under the shadow Of the tall re-
fneries are hundreds of small hous-
es Of mean and squalid type. They
shelter swarming population of
workers that 60 and come 10 day
and night ehifts from the great es-
tablishmen' The man who leaves
his home at 6 o'clock In the morn
ing to begin work gives his bed to
the tired iaborer who has just end
ed a nights tour of duty and sleeps
all day. Neither factory or bed is
ever empty. The hours of labor
are continue ts, measured only by
human endurance. Twelve hours
are reckoned an easy day, but when
fourteen, eixteen and eighteen hours
are passed under the spur of driv.
ing foreman, your lump of sugar
contains very nearly q human life,
It bas had other ingredients, too.
It was not always SO clean and
white aud SO delicately handled. II
came from Cuba: or perhaps from
far.of Java, in the hold Of a ship,
The cane that grew on the tropical
plantation was crushed in a mill
and the sweet juice flowed out to be
boiled aud crystalized into coarse
brown suga-. 1t was packed ir
bags, and 6nally laid on the dirty
wharf in front of the sugar re6nsr'
les. There it was turned over te
the Lithuaniars and Poles, the su.
gar slaves, for refining. They
shovsled ths sugar like coal. They
handled it as they would sand il
resembles. It was dumped into
bins, it was boiled In caldrons, il
was run through pipes, it was mix
ed with bone dust to clarity 1t, j
was run over dirty floors, trampl {
aod often times ground with dit
At IL o'clock noon y sterday th'
whistle blew on the tall refinery
Half an hour was given for dinner
Hundreds of men, clad only in un
dershirts dripping with sweat ant
blue overall trousers, rushed OH
for a breath of air and can O
beer.
Their mouths parched for beer
1t seems to be the only thing tha
quenches the thirst. Ice wat + gives
them cramps and makes their head
hurt in the intense heat. Variou
drinks have been tried, but bee
still remains the favorite. The av
er ge worker who earns $40 pc
week spends 81 of it for beer.
"Half of you stay here and clear
up" ordered the foreman on eacl
floor.
Then began the weekly cleanin!
of the refinery floor. It is no easy
JOB of sweeping and securing. Pici
and ak take the place Of broom NJ
mop. The hot, sticky sugar tina
has spilled and leaked in the pro
cess of refining dries into hare
mass on the cement and Iron floors
It is tramped on by the men an,
mixed with the dirt and debri