New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-27
NATION BUSHES AID
TO STRICKEN SALEM

some with those who have thrown open
their homes, and some VINO may never
be found-arc waiting.
One of the first efforts OF the
authorities to-day was to try to reunite
separated families, but there are still
many who have not been reached, and
il is believed that some of the excite
ment. that has acted like drugged wine,
will have to die down before all the
missing have been accounted Tor.
Typical Mill Town.
Prior to the fire there were two
Salems-the Salem of history and of
the Puritans, with its points of interest
that each year attracted thousands OF
visitors, and the modern Salem, typl-
cal mill town, with its shoe, leather and
cotton factories, employing thousands
of laborers from all points of the globe.
In the last thirty years Salem has be-
come one of the most cosmopolitan OF
the smaller cities in America, and the
old family names. to use the words OF
John F. Hurley, who has filled the office
/ Of Mayor at intervals for the last dozen
I or more years, have been more conspic-
uous on the tombstones in the Broad
Street Cemetery than in the active life
Of the city.
Politically the city has been domi-
mated BY men of foreign birth and blood.
With the exception of the cotton mills,
operated by the Naumkeag Steam Cot
ton Company, one of the oldest cotton
spinning corporations in America, the
manufacturing Of the city has been in
the same hands, and to a great extent
/ the professions, notably that of law,
have been dominated by foreigners. In
the banks the old families are most
prominent. In mercantile life their
power and eminence have long been on
the wane, the decline dating back to the
. time when Salem ships, that once sailed
/ on every sea, began to become curiosi-
ties.
Poverty and Wealth Rub Elbows.
As in most of the older New Eng
land cities, the poorer sections and the
factory districts abut on the best parts
of the town Within pistol shot of the
exclusive homes in Lafayette ST. are
the tenements of the mill workers, the
Gignifed resident of Chestnut st. rubs
elbows with recently naturalized Poles
and Armenians when he goes 20 vote,
and the little descendants of the Dud-
legs and the Endicotts 60 to school
with children who first saw the light of
day IN the Balkans or in Sicily.
Manufacturing is responsible for the
change in the character of Salem's
population. The cotton mills were the
first 70 employ non-English speaking
help in large numbers. Originally OPP
Grated by New England help, with a
sDrinkling of Scottish and English
weavers, this class of employees was
succeeded by French Canadians, who
began settling in Salem in large num-
bers in the late 70's. These continue
to predominant in the cotton mills,
though of late years Greeks and Turks,
as well as Poles and Italians, have
come into the mills in large numbers.
The same is true of the leather fac
tories, except that the native labor
was supplanted by Irish immigrants,
who in turn have gwen way 10 a great
extent 20 the Pole, the Greek, the
Armenian, the Turk and the Russian.
The shoe factories, of comparatively
recent growth in Salem, though shoes
have been made in the city since Col
cnial days, are manned in the main by
English-speaking help.
Old Witch House Gone.
To the casual visitor before the FIRE
who did not arrive with note and guide
book in hand there was little about the
city to distinguish il from any other
Of the older New England towns. For
the visitor who came 10 look at the
places where history was made there
was much to see. Perhaps the most