The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1912-12-09
BOYS ARE SOLD
INTO SLAVERY
PARIS POLICE RAID GLASS
FACTORY AND FIND SCORES
OF SPANISH BOYS

Paris, Dec. S.-On complaint OF
the Spanish embassy, the police
have raided a glass factory at st.
Denis and found scores OF Spanish
infants toiling in what amounted TO
slavery. Besides being under the
legal age OF 13, they were also il
legally bound by contractors, who
had procured them in Spain and
later maintained them, receiving the
fruits of their labor.
On being interrogated The mana
gers OF the works said: They new
er receive less than 30c a day and
we can assure you that they are not
at all ill-treated by our staff. What
happens to them when they leave
the factory We can not tell, but 1t
is clearthat they are very badly
looked after. Their padrones pick
them up in their families, pay the
journey from Spain to Paris, and
| then become their complete masters.
We have often tried to make obser-
| vations of these men, but they Will
not listen, and say they can do as
they please
When the children were later in
terrogated they all declared that
| they were rs years old and well
treated and well fed and had moth
ing to complain Of" On the other
hand. their obvious condition was
so lamentable that even the magis-
trates who were conducting the ex'
animation, and may be expected to
be casehardened in such affairs,
were moved, and distributed bread
and chocolate TO the waits, who
fell upon the food in such man
ner as to give the lie to their state
ment of being we'll fed.
The only thing 10 be done was
to visit the quarters of the con-
tractors, most of whom occupy
houses in narrow and dirty street
called the Rue de L'Union. The
first lodging was one in which a
Spanish deserter named Fernando
kept thirteen boys he had brought
from Spain three years ago. When
the police entered they found a
state of hideous filth in the midst
Of which seven children belonging
to the night shift were lying on
straw mattress on the floor, while
the man was preparing meal con-
sisting Of pieces Of bread soaked
| in water, with stalks of cabbage
and lettuce picked out of the street
| garbage pals. Again all the chill
dren vowed they were very happy"
and would not say how they came
by the many wounds they had.
Half a dozen other similar rooms
were visited in the same street,
and always there was the same re-
pusiye spectacle of dirt and want.
Three of the masters" Duez, Con
zalaz and Sevo, had probably got
wind of the raid and had not been
seen for the last forty-eight hours,
having left their boys with nothing
to eat but a few crusts of bread.
In spite of this, the Magistrates
were not able to find motives for
criminal proceedings except in one or
two cases, where the declaration
of age had been fraudulent, but
they issued warrants against two
on these grounds, and the men were
arrested soon after.
1t is thought however, that most
of these vampires are wanted" in
their own country, and, therefore,
they will probably almost all be ex-
PEELED before long, and the children
either placed in charge of the state,
sent back to their homes, or, if old
enough, allowed to continue work
ing for their own benefit.
Eight of the worst cases, after
having been examined at the Com
missariat, were sent IN to the Hotel
Dieu Hospital, where, when they
were comfortably installed, one of
them expressed the feeling of them
all by saying: "Ah, how splendid
1t is here"