The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-07-21
BY J. v. KNIGHT.

ARMED DEPUTIES AND T.
BY J. v. KNIGHT.
special Correspondence to The PresS
PITTSBURG, Pa, July 21.-The
truth concerning the riots that fol-
lowed the strike of the 5000 men
of the Pressed Steel Car Co., at
McKees Rocks, is not that herd"
of Ignorant" foreigners went out
to do violence simply because they
were looking for trouble.
The truth Is that the steel COM
pany has SO imposed upon these pa
tient laborers that they were goad-
ed to desperation. Being men of
muscle, they know only the one
way of redressing their wrongs, and
they met the polite, intelligent and
prolonged violence of their employ
ers with the vulgar, unthinking vio-
lence of men who know only the
power Of their hands.
Conditions at the Pressed Steel
Car Cos works are described as
amounting to slavery. The Pitts
burg newspapers refer to them as
the Shame of the CITY,"
The lowest wages, the worst
working conditions, the most bru-
tai treatment, looking to the death
Of every human impulse and In
stinct, graft, robbery. the swapping
of human souls for profits, have for
wears marked the Pressed Steel
Car works as the most outrageous
industrial institution in the United
States. The great, gloomy mills
are called ameng the men tine
slaughter house." and of man
who goes to werk in them it Ia said
that he has taken the last
chance"
In these mills a human life Ia
worth less than rivet. Hivets
cost money. Human lives cost
nothing. -
The may brity of the workers are
Hungarian OF Slavish, who are
slow to absorb the English Ian
guage and American customs. So
they have been imposed on as
brutal men impose on dumb beasts.
These workmen have been as pa
tent at their work as horses,
Every day sees one or more OF
them killed-slaughtered These
very deaths are unknown save to
the workmen who see their bodies
hacked and butchered In the pitt
less machinery and the death traps
which fill the big works. The steel
company never reports deaths or
accidents, and the public Is thus
kept ignorant Of the company's
violence" Even the local coroner
keeps no record of men killed.
When an ambulance enters the
yards, no matter how grewsome it's
errand, the gates close on the fact,
for every employee is warned
against making any statement to
the public.
When some poor 'hunKy," as the
foreigners are called, Is manned at
his work the foreman or other
petty boss pushes the bleeding
body aside to make room for an
other living man. and the wheels
do not stop for an instant.
Until the present uprising these
strangely silent people nave even
spoken of themselves as the com
pany's men" Long oppression and
constant bullying at the hands of
the bosses have made them. even
consider themselves as slaves.
They live in dingy, two story frame
houses, jammed close together,
looking like long, black rows OF
rough boxes. These houses have
four stalls each, described as
rooms" They rent for $12
monthly. It has been charged that
while the workmen are not forced
to live In these company houses,
they do not long remain at their
Jobs II they rent elsewhere. 1t is
the same way with the company's
store. No one Is forced to buy
there, but as the company owns all
the property around the mills and
merchants who have tried to es-
tablish business to run In opposi-
ton to the oompany's stores, have
never been able to get sites for
stores, the men are practically
forced to buy Of the company.
Many of these men earn less than
81 a day, some less than 81. Out
of these wages they pay their rent
back to their employers, and the
price of every mouthful Of food
that they and their family eat
comes out of their envelopes. The
company's stores give the men
credit and the amount due the
store Ia subtracted from the con-
tents of the wage envelope. When
a mans rent and food bill equals
his wages he receives no money
at all.
There are some 10000 women
and children and old ana crippled
people dependent upon these 5000
strikers. No decent American
farmer but would furnish better
quarters for his hogs than those
in which live these sour crushed
victims of the company known as
"The Last Chance" and "The
Slaughter House."
How the children survive efs
mystery. AS soon as the boys are
old enough they are put to work.
The girls marry almost as soon as
they reach their teens.
The interior of company house
IL more hideous than the exterior.
i There is the bare floor, one or two
chairs, a soap box or two for com.
pany and cheap iron cots bought at