Arizona republican., 1910-03-05
FEATURES OF THE SHIRT WAIST
 STRIKE.

An example of what may he m, ! dangers of picksting. and an example ] also ol the relations that have existed | in many cases between employer anC | police, is in the story of Minnie Suss- man. writes Miriam Finn Scott in ths outlook. When Minnie'S shop went "i strike Minnie informed the girls that she had worked for the same firm in their Newark shop. which is twice as big as the shop in New York. and where conditions are of the worst She declared that unless the Newark shop was taken down" the 'work oi
 the New York shop would D.. done III
 Newark and the. would never wln Minnie Va: therefore appointed W:,a
 few other girls to picket fh- New
 ark shop. This news reached the -m ployer. who al once went to Newark While Minnie was talking [" one "i
 the nonunion girls. who was perfectly
 willing to listen to her, her employer
 jumped out of an automobile. sprane
 on her like a cat. grabbed her hy the
 throat and nearly choked her. She
 was helpless. but the girl she was
 talking to screamed. which caused .
 policeman to appear from around the
 corner. The employer then came to
 his senses. and immediately saw his
 danger. Slipping q handful of silver to the policeman. he ordered that
 Minnie be arrested on the charge of assanlting the nonunion girl.
 The policeman was about to obey when the employer noticed tha, Min nie was unconscious. and that the oth
 CT pickets were eager to he taken to court with her to testify as to what had really happened He quickly changed his mind. Slipping the po- liceman a further fee he order the of- ficer to call an ambulance. which the policeman did. Minnie was taken to the hospital where she remained for two weeks-and there was the end of the stor,-
 or all the wearying duties that have devolved upon the girls. none has been so trying and dangerous as this duty of picketing IL means long and weary hours of walking and waiting. often in bitter cold and rain, often with little food to keep you warm within and too little clothing to protect you from without. It means exposure to the street lOafer: it often means abuse and insult from the boss: it has meant. as has been shown, suffering from the lawlessness of the police and magis- trates, for merely performing an act which is a legal right according to the statutes of the state of New York.
 "One evening" related Rose Perr. little l5-year- old girl. "a friend and | were picketing q shop when a great big fat policeman came over to us. Holding up his club as q threat, he told us in a rough way, You girls go home and mind your own busi- nessG'
 We did not answer. but walked on. Just then scab came down from the shop and we quietly told her the usual thing: This shop is on strike; won't you please join the union" While We were speaking a thug came suddenly over and hit my friend right in the chest. She fell down, crying. I turn ed to the policeman. who saw the whole thing. and asked him to arrest the thug. All right he said. but you must come along as a witness
 ''i went with him. But at the sta ton house We were treated as the criminals. We were insulted by ev- erybody; men pulled at our hats and coats, talked to us in n way that is impossible for decent person to re- peat. We were thrown into cell and kept there six hours with drunken women-oh. the worst kind of women, When our case came up we had no chance to say word. In the court room was the employer with the scab. She was Italian and could not speak English, so the boss spoke for her. He made a complaint against my friend and myself: he said that we hit her; and the judge sent my friend and my self for five days to the workhouse." Some Of the actions of the magistrates seem almost unbelievable. but are only too sadly. too frequently. true.
 But despite it all-despite cold hunger. police brutality. magisterial insult and injustice. the shame and de graded companionship of the work girls have kept up their spirit. spirit that has brought them much sympathetic outside aid spirit that is. as I write, bringing toward a successful close the longest. biggest. bltterest struggle for better living ever waged by women in America.