New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-31
Consumers League lmpreSseS
Six When Advertised Speak
er Fails to Appear.
LOW PAY IN FOUL SHOPS
Factory Orator Says Workers
Support Themselves and
Send Money Home
on Sc a Week.

"a ~. arithmetic of the Consumers
League OF New York City, six can do it,
Cog when Mrs Frederick Nathan, presi-
dent of the league found that Mrs. Kelley,
who is general secretary of the National
Consumers League. could not keep her
engagement to speak at yesterdays an
nual meeting of the local league she hur-
Rod right down TO one of the East Side
halls where the girl strikers conGregate
and brought a half dozen of them TO take
Mrs. Kelley's place.
But before the girls spoke or anything
else happened Mrs. Nathan made an an
nolncement which delighted the mem
hers Of her organization. II was that Mrs.
Ann Woerishoffcr mother of Garcia
Woerisboffer. who was killed in an auto
mobile accident in the summer of 1911,
while making tour of inspection Of the
factories Of the state. had in that dauGh-
,ers memory made the league a gift Of
NNN The money will he used as the
nucleus Of a fund which the league will
now set out TO raise.
There was a lot of clapping a this, and
then the girl strikers appeared.
The audience seemed TO think them
pretty good argument for better condi-
tons for workers when they filed, SIX
tired looking, badly dressed Yiddish girls,
on 10 the stage OF the Aston Theatre.
where the meeting was held. Only two or
them spoke, one in English and one In
Yiddish. The one who spoke In English
was Dora Rebec known as leauer
among her shopmates. Dora was not bit
feazed by the big audience, neither was
she self-conscious. She could have given
some trained speakers lessons IN SIM
plicity as she stood telling the women be-
fore her how many of the girls worked
for 81. s. and IS a week, and they did not
get that all the time. either. for in sum-
mer work was slack, and sometimes they
could not earn more than g or g 80
week.
And We don't work in shops that are
very sanitary. either" she added. Some
times they arc not swept for many days,
and We have to push away from us the
dirt with our feet. And the insects run
over us. our machines are not cleaned
and they smell badly. and because we
arc not allowed to spend more than haIt
an hour or twenty minutes at our luncheon
We must eat sitting by the machihes'
which are not clean"
pcoplc vino understood German. by
hard listening. could make out part OF
the Yiddish speech. but it didn't matter
about making il out. because Miss Mary
,,tin. author of The Promised Land,
VAS there to turn it into English
Part of Soant Wage to Russia.
This is a little girl Of sixteen she
said. "who makes only s. a week. ana
mart Of that she sends home to her
PARENTS in Russia She works so many
hours in the shirt factory that at night
when she comes home she fails INTO the
bouse she is SO tired. She would Ike
10 learn something for education Dut II
is not possible. she is too tired.
These" she added, pointing to the SIX
little striking garment workers, are VII
nesses Of the truth that these girls are
M, maid enough. And think of II, most
IF them take from their money something
IN send to their poor parents in Russia
In her own speech, later in the pro-
sramme. Miss Antin appeared nalVeiy
confident that the Consumers League
and unjust conditions. She toid stories
of the delight and hope consumers
capue literature had brought TO Factory
,i,le whose only reading before they saw
,bis literature was Socialist matter given
49,, bv the unions" She believed In
tho unions. but she seemed 10 leei ''o'
their literature department needeo d cen
sor who would substitute consumers
oasue leaflets for the mental paDulum
they now sent out
the case OF the cannery childreh "d0
presented by Miss Mary Chamberlain
the young woman who worked IN can
neries herself and then tod me si Ias.
f,c,ory investigating commission ido'
On n.ba, sbe saw there. Miss ChdfnDei
lain said the cannery owners useu 10 WI
ber {, wasn't bad for children 10 %oihh
g. csnnnries because II was Just play
cb;Idrens Twelve Hour "Play Day
III shipping beans twelve hours Gay
is NAV" she observed, Il wonder why
isn't introduced on our recreation piers
l wonder that Froebel didn't incIuue IL III
his kindergarten system. III lts pay l
wonder why the Gamers don nave 'heii
own children do il. ! wonder why '"o
whole community doesn't turn Out "'
haIf-past o'clock in the morning 10 en-
iov the diversion Of preparing NeGetapies
for canning. as those EXPORTED c"i'-
dren do.
Yes: they get up at half-past ocioch'
and often work twelve hours before theS
ca IN he'd one of the cannery owners
protested IN me that he didn't wake Inc
children up and get them out at half-pas'
(. Well. he didn't have TO. Their parents
did IT,
4 remember one small boy friend /
had found him up at midnight.
When did you get up this morning
! asked.
.''Oh. half-past T. he said But don't
mind. I'm "A man. My little sister now
she cried when she got up.
He had sore fngers-the ENDS spit
from coaseless shipping OF beans; but lie
didn't mind that. either.
The man on the programme was Abram
J. Elkus. counsel for the factory lnNes-
tigating commission Mr.. Elkus COM
planned that fifteen minutes wasn't much
time to describe the work OF the comihis-
sion. but he did his best.
An our Investigations Of the conditions
under which women work. he said,
tended 10 show that the intensity of the
work Is ever increasing. The complexity
Of modern machinery, with the develop
ment Of the system OF paying by the
piece has added q special strain upon all