The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-06-11

It is possible that repcas of some Of these filthy
grimy brick or stone dwellings, could be found in
parts of East London or Glasgow But great num-
Der of workers in China live in mere huts GROUPED
near the mills factories on any waste ground
available. This saw both at Shanghai and Hankow
Some that saw at Shanghai were Just outside the
Ewo Cotton Mills, owned by one of the two largest
British firms out East. They consist of low huts
with not more than SIT. head room made of BAN
boo poles stuck into the ground and covered with
mud plaster. The police frequently come and burr
these houses down. being too nsanitary; but they
are soon rebuilt At other times, except in periods
of drought, winds and heavy rains often carry off
the roof or wash away the whole house. These huts
consist of just room, containing a bare mat or
two to sleep on brick oven, bowls and sometimes
a broken chair or table. The surrounding stencil
almost overpowering. There was stagnant wa
ter and, of course, no drainage system or SANTA
ton. Skin diseases appeared to be very prevalent.
The following is another description furnished by
Chinese Y. M. c. A. investigator, of one of these
huts, of which there apparently many thous-
ands in various parts of Shanghai, built of bamboo
mud lime and straw:
"The house with six inmates father, mother and
four children, occupied space of about loft by
Aft The roof, built of bamboo mating and straw
now in a dilapdated state, lined underneath with
SCOT and cobwebs, lets in water even in a shower.
The walls, riddled with holes, are caving in and
and storm. There is no flooring, everything rests
on an uneven mud floor. There is no drainage and
no lavatory. The house is surrounded by garbage
heaps and cesspools. Ones throat becomes inflamed
in this neghborhood in ten minutes On rainy DAYS
water contaminated by refuse and manure enters
and floods the house to depth of several inches
After storm the author has the inmates. NOV
ing about in water and mud up to the knees and
little children covered with filth confined to the
spaces beds and chairs. In this place which they
called home is to be found their living room. bed
room, kitchen and bathroom all in one In this par
teuar working community there are nearly 400
such homes"
Some of the mill owners, notably the Japanese
Nagai Wata Kaisha Cotton Spinning and Weaving
Company Ltd, have built special quarters to be
rented by their workers and their families at a low
rental This is of course, immense advance on
a mud hut; but from what have seen elsewhere
/ doubt whether employees in Japanese mills and
other factories not practically prisoners housed
in compound.
viii conclude this section on housing in the mod
ernized industrial cities of China, by quoting Mr.
Thomen Tchou Director of the Shanghai Benevolent
Industrial Institution. Mr. Tchou has recently con-
Quoted an enquiry, report of which is published
by the international Labor Office into the problem
of China's modern slums, the slums into which are
crowded the Chinese workers, drawn into the great
industrialized foreign Treaty Ports as our own
workers were drawn into the factory towns of Lam
cashire at the time of the Industrial Revolution
Mr.. Tchou says that these slums, which have grown
up recently around Shanghai's great new Western
factories, horrible that their equal has never
been seen in the Western world nor in China in past
generations, except in abnormal times of famines
floods, and similar calamties."