The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-08-16
By REBECCA GRECHT.
PART II.

n one adjoining. A cement floor.
Several barred windows, through
which on one side could be seen the
East River, and on the other well
come vision of grass and trees. And
beds, beds, beds,-iron cots, one right
next to the other, with not even walk
ing space between. This constituted
/ the quarters of the imprisoned fur
pickets in the Workhouse for Women.
We were greeted with cries of joy
by group of comrades who had been
given a 3-day sentence the day be-
fore, and were already occupying the
room. They had been expecting us
| since morning. Men prisoners, under
guard, had been setting up iron cots
all day, for the additional guests.
All Together.
How glad we were to find our
selves all together, instead of in
separate cells What mattered it that
our two rooms had twice as many in
mates as they should have had, even
under prison rules, or that we had to
climb over other beds to get to our
own? We're we not all comrades {?
That word seemed especially dear to
US, then.
The situation was not so terrible,
after all. We could survive it. 1t
was really entirely up to us-how we
reacted. And at the most, we'd be
confined only for ten days. Mill
tants have endured far more than
that, as penalty for their activity in
the battle against capitalist exploita-
ton.
These thoughts could be read on
the faces of our comrades, as we
examined our property bed, with
three blankets, one as a covering and
two in place of a mattress; a small
straw pillow; some aluminium utensils
for our food; piece of soap; hand
towel to be shared by two or three
comrades.
Queer Food.
We did not have time or energy to
investigate our surroundings more
closely. We were hungry, and our
only concern, for the moment, was to
get food. We had arrived after the
supper hour, but the matrons were
gracious enough to give us our intro
duction to prison fare that night.
Two slices of white bread, half baked,
with a strange, unpalatable flavor, a
plate of spaghetti, evidently medical
| ted, repulsive to look at and worse to
eat, and. some muddy tea-that was
supper.
Shall we ever forget that tea? 1t
was the puzzle of the workhouse. We
held a conference to decide what it
contained, how it could be described
1t might have been dish water Pos
sibly, in the far distant past, it's chief
ingredient may have resembled a tea
leaf. The drop of milk it was sup
posed to contain may have once upon
time actually come from a cow
But opinions differed, and not being
able to make chemical analysis, we
never came to any conclusion.
Suffice it to say that none of us
drank it, that first night. Nor die
we eat the spaghetti.
Then Darkness.
At nine o'clock the lights were
turned out. And much was forgotten
, no doubt, as we slept in utter weari-
ness, glad that one day was gone.
The next morning few of US hello
a consultation. Some comrades were
leaving that day. A few had received
a five-day sentence and would leave
on Monday. The RESTS in all, were
to serve 10 days or more. 1t was
evident that some sort of order hac
to obtain, some system had to be or
gained We had to establish firm
: feeling of comradeship, or the dis
comforts and irksomeness of prison
life might cause US, naturally enough
! to vent our dissatisfaction upon one
another And we were determined tc
keep up our spirit and courage.
Organization.
We called all the comrades to-
gether, spoke about the situation, and
elected a committee of three, to- take
charge Of our little community.
The first matter we took up was
the question of food. The supper OF
, the night before, the mornings break.
fast of a bit of cereal, watery milk
and sugarless coffee, had made u;
realize what problem that would be
Comrades, we said, you must forget
about all the good things you ate be.
fore. Forget that you liked your
mothers cooking, or your own, or the
restaurant meals you may be accus-
toned to. We must keep up oul
strength, and not weaken ourselves
physically. Let US try to eat every
thing-as much as we can.
And try we did. Gradually the
food line heightened, when meal time
came around. The beans, the watery
soup, the mashed potatoes-all very
highly seasoned with pepper to OBJ
literate the taste of what had beer
: put in; the bit Of meat, sometimes
! sickeningly sweet, sometimes hard as
. wood, the dry bread and spaghetti al
of this we learned to eat. Some ever
began to drink the "tea," welcome
after a constant diet of starch. But