The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-08-14
NOT IN THE CATALOGS.

Every season cOme Io IhSoC shores by mail elegant volumes from the Mail Order Houses. Neat with out being gaudy, they allure the thrifty housewives of the north. and in ruturn good Alaskan money goes out to the states to the various houses for goods which arrive cheaper than would they cost in Nome. So there and then everyone one congratulates himself upon his bargains.
 Now it is not with intention of boosting home trade that this paper refers to something appertaining to most of these mail order houses which does not appear in the cata- log. And that is the labor condi- tions that therein prevails. But it is part of a liberal eduction to know how the other half lives, and to understand how they live in the mail order houses is not the plea santest reading in the world. But it will explain a whole lot. It will explain how your groceries, your hardware, how your clothing and nick-nacks are laid down in the far north cheaper than you can buy them here, and you can appreciate as never before the fact that it comes out of the hide of labor.
 Now for the educational facts. From a recent number of Solidarity, we make no apology for reprinting an article which throws light on this lurid subject and after you have read it, if you still think of adding to the exploitative capacity of mail order firms, well and good. It's up to you. But there are some like the savor of tears and the salt of suffering attached to all their enjoyments. Here's the reprint:
 "MONTGOMERY-WARD CONDt-
 TIONS.
 Although not nearly as terrible as in most large concerns (there is not one place of business that is run for the benefit or interest of the em- ploye), the conditions at Montgome- ry Ward & Company are bad enough, indeed; and should be ex- posed as well as every other place nf toll cWaat apH Ia hnr
 About four thousand workers are employed, estimating one thou sand men and the remaining three thousand, women and girls. The main body of employees, both men and women's wages range from $6 to SIP per week. A few, such as managers, etc., receive little more for their services as "slave-drivers. There are men with large families getting SIP, and women supporting their children and invalid husbands, receiving $8 per week. How do they make ends meet? Well, when they are at the verge of starvation, per haps, they complain or sniffle around the boss, who tells them he will do all he can for them. Of course we think he intends to fatten the pay envelope. but he does not.
 He sends the Charity or Welfare Committee around, that takes care of just such circumstances. This Welfare Division receives donations from the employees of the firm, the donations consisting most of old 
 "They thank the boss that hires
 them,
 They kiss the hands that drive :, them.
 And when their shirts become
 shabby and torn,
 (Every day of the week tha: shirts
 been worn,
 And to buy a new one they cannot
 afford;
 'Tis all they can do to pay the
 board,)
 So they go to the Charity and
 look like lord
 In the shirts of the bosses of Mont
 gomery Ward"
 In order to impress upon the minds of the employees the kindness and charity they show their half-paid slaves, these charitable acts are pub iished in I'M. w. & Co.'S Store