Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-02-06
WILL FIND OUT
| HOW MEN LIVE
ON S1.6O ADAY
Legislative Committee to In
quire Into Condition of
! Roosevelt Strikers.
QUINN DETERMINED TO
HAVE THE WAGES RAISED
VIII Begin Session Next Week
at Scene of Fatal
II Riots.

Special to the Evening star.

Special to the Evening Star.
TRENTON, Feb. 6.-The Assembly
committee appointed to inquire into
the causes that led to the fatal shoot
ing by deputies of two strikers at
Roosevelt on January 10 last will
begin its sessions next week. The
exact date - be set when the mem
6ers meet here Monday night.
The committee. which is composed
of William ~. Runyon, of Union;
Charles C. Pilgrim. of Essex; Oliver
J. West, of Gloucester: Charles A.
Wo1verton, Of Camden, and Arthur
"A. Quinn, of Middlesex, win sit at
! Roosevelt and will inquire not only
into tine cause or the shooting, but
INTO living conditions here as well to
determine If $1.60 a day Is a fit wage
for any man to support family on.
To Call Plant oficisls.
officials Of the American Agricul
tural and Chemical Company, whose
TWO plants. the Williams & Clark and
the Liebig, are idle because the la
borers are striking for restoration
! of the 50 a day they got previous to
last October, instead of the s1.60 a day
the company has been paying them
since then, will be called to tell if
they think their employees can live on
$3.50 day. They will also be asked
TO tell what they know of the shoot
ing.
Mayor Joseph a. Hermann, of
Roosevelt. who has been in sympathy
with the strikers demands, will be
II :, Iaa,
mayor of the borough OF Roosevelt
for many years, and he is familiar
with conditions, inside the plants and
out.
Sheriff Edward r. Houghton, OF
Middlesex, also will be called. Sheriff
Houghton engaged and swore in the
deputies, all from the O'Brien Detec-
tive Agency in Newark, who later
tired the fatal shots. 1t is possible
that jeremiah T. OiBrien win be a
witness.
The bulk OF testimony, however, viii
come from the strikers themselves.
Storekeepsrs and Others who come tn
contact with them in financial way
win aIao be called
How They Live on s1.so Day.
1t is a matter OF wonderment to
many how & man can live on as little
as $3.50 day, bl1x these men, most
os them f,reigner& know how to get
along-if they are single. II they are
married, that is a different thing.
The unmarried men generally live
with ''boarding dboss.' The board
ing boss and his wife and children
live in one OF the six or eeven-roorn
houses which are plentiful in Roose-
4 f.-~x a
teen to twenty-five boarderS. Each
boarder pays him 81 or So a month.
This entities him TO a place to sleep.
his washing, a cup of-coffee in the
morning and his cooking.
He buys all his own food, raw,
through the housewife. Each one has
a book" with the grocer and the
butcher. When the wagons come
around in the morning with provi-
sions the housewife takes out all the
individual books and orders for each
one.
Meat Is a Luxury.
She does not, of course, order a
variety. One day she buys soup
meat, another day she buys pot roast,
some days she buys no meat at ALL
because the boarders can't afford 1t
every day But each mans portion is
debited in the book, and at the end
of the week or month he settles with
the grocer and butcher.
In this way every man can suit
his purchases to fit his pocketbook,
and some days, If he has an extra
I half-dollar, he can tell the frau" to
order him steak, which he can enjov
without having to share 1t with the
other boarders.
The tsi.1ardf,,o t.are, NJ tfu
family, too, profit by this arrange
rnerlt. They have to spend little for
food, because by common UNDER
standing 1t has come to be the prac-
tice for the housewife to take a bit
There and bit there from the various
orders, and thus feed her own family.
So It can be readily seen that if a
man attains the estate of q board
7. ing boss" he can raise family with
a fair guarantee of being able to pro-
vide for Them With the other fellow,
however, 1t is different. He has to
depend entirely on what is left of his
S160 day after he pays his board
bills, and like as not he has to send
some of it to relatives in the "old
country, ri
Quinn to Fight for Higher Wages.
One member of the committee, AS
semblyman Quinn, of Middlesex, is a
labor leader, and Will make strong
! light to have the wages Of the men
increased. Some idea of the attitude
ne will take was shown in the reSo-
luton he introduced In the House two
weeks ago. calling for an immediate
investigation and referring to the
employers in very strong terms, Mr.
Quinn, who lives in Perth Amboy
only few miles from Roosevelt, is
vice-president of the Carpenters and
Joiners' Union OF America. of which
Sheriff Houghton, of Middlesex, is a
] member Assemblyuan Quinn does
not find favor with the sherifrs
&action throughout the strike.
B The committee has been waiting
TOR the grand jury to take action be-
Tore commencing its probe Now that
the jury has-acted, the legislative in
''ztr ry will be started as early as pos
t:sit Q.
ia The COMMITTEES will make it's report
40 the Legislature. The report will
contain accommodation that will be
INCORPORATED in a bill and presented
10 the House and Senate.
Newark Decision Reversed
pscisi to the Evening Star.