davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
WORKERS WILL
AFFECT TEXTILE
LOCAL MERCER
Silk, Knitting Union
Join at Meet Tonight

A merger of the two textile locals
in the New York District of the
National Textile Workers Union
will officially take place here to-
night, when joint membership
meeting of both will be held at 1880
o'clock at 16 West 21st st. The To-
calls to be amalgamated into one
large enc are the Knit Goods Work
ers Union and the Silk Workers
Union.
The merging of the locals is ex-
pected to facilitate the carrying on
of the drive for the unionization of
the industry here, according to state
ments made by Sarah Chernoff, or
ganizer of the New York District
of the textile union.
To this melting are invited not
only the members of the union, but
also non-union workers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
5 SHOE FIRMS
FALL TO union
Sign Up, Grant Raises,
Drive Gains Roadway

Far from having reached the peak
of it's astoundingly successful three
week-old organization drive, the In
dependent Shoe Workers Union gives
evidence of being only on the up
ward swing of the wave that prom
Use sto leave the New York shoe
manufacturing industry completely
unionized. Since the end of last
week five more firms were COM
PEELED to aquiesce to the unioniza-
ton of their plants after coming
across with wage increases and other
! improvements of conditions.
In addition to this the unions
strike headquarters report that
three strikes called yesterday morn
ing and the evening before are still
in progress, with expectations that
the bosses will be forced to capitu-
late momentarily as conferences
have already been held with them.
The five employers reaching set
Elements with the union are the
Monte Carlo and Floral Shoe Com
panies, settled after short strikes,
and the Wolmicar Shoe Co., signed
up after a five-day battle. This
shop and those owned by the Septun
Shoe Company an dthe Phil Jay
Shoe Company were sikned up yes
terday, the strike in the Phil Jay
lasting only few hours, while the
Septun strike carried on since Friday
morning.
The shops on strike are the Gold
stein Shoe Co. of 1877 Spring ST.,
the Dan Palter Co., 151 w. 26th ST.,
of New York, and the Chandler Shoe
Co. of Brooklyn. All other shops are
i'll Brooklyn, since the industry is
concentrated in that borough and in
Long Island City.
The news of the victorious strikes
and the subsequent gains in wages
as we'll as other conditions has
spread to all sections of the indus
try. Scores of workers are coming
into the union headquarters repre-
senting themselves as committees
from their shops.
Many committees are coming to
the union from workers employed
ir the big Long Island factories
where hundreds are employed. Prep
arations are under way for extend
ing the struggle into that territory.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
Restaurant Union for
Organizing Campaign,

Announcement was made from
the offices of the Hotel and Restau-
rant Workers Union, affiliated with
the Amalgamated Food Workers
Union, that an organization drive is
about to be inaugurated. To this end
the union is calling a membership
meeting for this Thursday afternoon
at o'clock at the union hall, 1873
w. 51st St.
In a letter to it's membership. the
union secretary, S. Kromberg, re-
counts the exploitation the workers
in that trade are compelled to en-
dure because of the absence of or
ganization, and calls upon them to
join in the drive to unionize as
great part of the industry as pos
sible.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
5 old about three months too soon.

old about three months too soon.
Ready to Organize.
Are the chances for organizing
these exploited silk workers of the
anthracite region good? Yes. These
are many favorable factors, first OF
which is their terrible exploitation
increased by new wage cuts, speed
ups and other profit-making schemes
put over on them. Then they are
used to unions and strikes, because
probably in every family at least one
member belongs to the miners union.
Fundamentally they are independ-
ent and willing to struggle as is
shown in the occasional strikes and
their resentment at any new Gin
justices" Although they will stand
a whole lot that they are accus-
toned to, when the bosses put any
thing new over their reaction is po-
tentially militant. They are mostly
notive-born which enhances feel
ing of independence among the
workers and they do not and will not
suffer from fear of deportation. The
fact that they all speak English is
of course great help in organiza-
ticn work. (The fact that almost
all the mills are silk and are there
fore not SO apt TO close down as
cotton, knit goods or wool is also a
favorable factory
The difficulties of organizing the
workers in the anthracite region lie
partly in the fact that the mills are
widely scattered through this region
covering 500 miles. The workers are
practically all tied up with the United
Nine Workers Union through their
families. What world of differ
ence it would make in organizing
these silk workers if the National
Miners Union were in control.)
The idea of textile workers
union has been to a great extent
discredited by the actions of the
United Textile Workers organizer,
whose habit has been to lie low until
a strike occurred, rush in, sign up
the workers, collect their money, and
not show up again. Several workers
have said, II don't intend to line any
organizers pockets with money any
more, when the union does nothing
for the workers"
The great majority of the workers
are very young, and of course some
Of the young girls in the mills labor
under the delusion that they will gel
married and live happily ever after
outside the mills. But perhaps the
greatest difficulty is the universal
fear the workers have of losing Their
jobs. Work is often slack, and be.
cause most Of the workers do live
at home they generally want to wori
in one particular mill near where
they live, to save carfare and gel
to work and back quicker.
In spite of these difficulties some
organization work has been accom-
plished. A local has been established
in one of the mills. Workers Of othel
mills are visited and called to meet
ings and before long there will b,
more locals in the mills Of the Anth
racite affiliated with the Nationa
Textile Workers Union.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
Mill Owners and Their Slaves

the amount of work required is in
creased, or the price reduced, they
either quit in disgust, or are fired,
and new workers taken on, with less
wages.
Old Arguments.
The anthracite bosses use the
same musty lines as bosses else
where, as alibis for not paying a
living wage. They say, "You live at
home, so don't need SO much money!"
You live near the mill, and don't
have to spend money for carfare,
and Il am just trying to help your
'amily out, by hiring you," and SO
on, ad infinitum. The truth of the
matter is that the wages of the
young wage slaves, who do live at
home, are necessary part of the
family income. Some of the mothers
will say to you, Il believe in a
union, but if Jimmy should lose his
job, | don't know what we would do,
ne is our main support" A young
girl Of IT, who was next to me in
the mill where l worker, was the
sole support of family of six
children, besides the mother and
father, who was a miner, and had
been out of work for six months.
She made SO week. A girl making
S12 as winder was fired to make
room for new girl, hired for So.
This throwing out of old workers
and taking on new ones at less wages
is common practice among the silk
bosses. The pay envelopes are usu-
ally taken directly home, unopened,
and the money considered neces-
sary part Of the family budget. Some
mill workers in Scranton made out
budget of bare necessities; they
found that $20.40 was the minimum
needed week. These workers get
about half of the wages needed for
absolute necessities.
Weavers Rushed.
The Wrappers and weavers, older
girls and fellows, work terribly hard
for the money they get. They prob
ably average between 500 and $50
in 50-hour week. "Of course" one
girl said, Sin order to make enough,
the weavers in our mill have to work
all through dinner hour, and even
come in at $50, half hour early,
and work till $50, an extra half
hour" Although the workers are
only paid from Az to 10 cents yard
for the different kinds of silk they
weave, If there is any defect in a
yard Of cloth, often through no fault
of theirs, in many of the mills they
are locked a dollar for the defective
yard. The boss pays them few
cents a yard but they pay the boss
dollar for the same yard. One
worker who was told she had to pay
81 for having ends out for several
yards, said that if she was paying
for the material she would like to
have it. This was quite poser for
the boss who had gotten away with
this particular kind of graft for
years, and he finally said, well,
give me fifty cents and we'll call it
square," A worker on tie silks said,
"My boss must get his all right. l
saw ties selling for a dollar made
of silk that / only get IA cents q
yard for" 1t is not uncommon for
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
LOCAL 43 ACTIVE
AT SUNDAY meet
Int'l Women's Day to
Feature Big. Program

Members of Local 43 of the Mil
linery Workers Union will be rep
resented at the pageant of the
class struggle to be presented at In
ternational Women's Day celebra-
ton at 2 p. m. this Sunday at Gen.
trail Opera House, 9th St. and
Third Ave. Local 43 VII be sup
ported in the pageant by members
of the Office Workers Union and
other working class organizations.
Gertrude Prokosch, who taught
dancing at the Bryn Mawr summer
school for working girls, will be in
charge of the dancing. THE Print
tive Dance" "The Dance of the Ma
chine Age" and 1.-THE Dance of the
Revolution" will be featured at the
pageant.
Many Speakers.
Eight the War Danger" will be
the main slogan of the meeting when
speakers will express the economic
and political aspirations of working
women. Speakers include Rose
Wortis, secretary of the Needle
Trades Workers Industrial Union.
Albert Weisbord, of the National
Textile Workers Union; Juliet
Stuart Poyntz, head of the Depart
ment for Work Among Women of
the Communist Party of the U. S.
A.; Kate Gitlow, secretary of the
United Council of Working Women;
Pauline Rogers, of the New York
Working Women's Federation;
Gladys Schechter and Sylvia Mile.
of Millinery Local 43 and Anna
Fox of the Amalgamated Clothing
Workers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
Ey CLARINA NICHOLSON.

There are 250 mills in the anthra-
cite region of Pennsylvania, terri
tory covering approximately SEQ
square mills; 184 of these are silk.
81 are knit goods and five are cotton
mills. These mills are scattered
through 50 Of the towns, in the six
counties Of the anthracite-Laka-
wanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill,
Northumberland and Columbia.
There are probably about $4,000
workers in the mills, averaging from
rs to 200 workers per mil, though
there are some very large mills, the
G. K. Eagle, for example, in Shame
kin, which mas over 1000 workers.
The mills, which have sprung up
in the mining towns, draw in the
miners children, as soon as the law
allows, at the age Of IA, and some
times before. Of the mill workers
in the anthracite, the great major
ity are under 70 years vi age. in a
recent report gotten out by the Bur
. eau OF women and Child en-, of the
Fenn. Department Of Labor and In
dustry, IL is stated that one out of
every q children in Pennsylvania, Ia
and Is years cid, leaves school to
enter INDUSTRY, the textile mills alb
sorbing 81 per cent OF them.
Child Supports Family.
OF all the Ia and Is year old chill
dren IN Wilkes-Barre, the geograpn-
zeal center and second largest city
of the anthracite, 20 per cent go to
work to help support the family
These very young workers, under
20, are the quillers, winders, pickers
dorfers, silk carriers, bobbin girls
and boys, spinners-in fact, they
carry on most of the work of the
mills except the weaving and warp
ing. They slave for 8 hours day
SO hours a week, and often Sd hours
and get starvation wages. Their
average wage is probably about $12
/ a week, although great many get
$40, So and even So.
In most of the mills, the workers
are started with 81, $3.50 or So a
week, and do not get raise for q
year or more. In mill in Plymouth
Pa, the highest wage paid is $12 q
week. In the Arrow Silk Mil, in
McAdoo, the pickers are getting 81
and So for two weeks work.
Wages are paid every two weeks
and weeks pay held back, an eff
fective weapon Of the boss to hold
the wage slaves in the mill. This
means that new worker, probably
broke, has to wait three weeks fol-
his first pay. Another trick of the
bosses, used largely in the anthracite
is the use Of the bonus; workers who
work steadily for two weeks get q
So bonus. Many workers, too ill to
work, can't afford to stay home a
day, under this pressure. Workers
also, producing over certain amount
of work, are rewarded" with a
bonus, only to find after working at
! greatly increased speed, that the
amount they have to produce, is in
creased. "a fellow at our mill got
fired because he made too much" q
worker told me. After workers
who make too much are told that
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
MANY RALLY TO
s@&
HELP STUDENTS
AGAINST RULERS
Police Charge; Shoot
and Use Sabers.

MADRID, March IL. = Great
crowds gathered in Madrid tonight
after a day of demonstrations by
striking students, during which the
police at one time fired into. the
demonstrators, wounding one stu
dent probably fatally and several
others less seriously. e
At P. M. 10000 persons, .;nclud-
ing hundreds of students, were
gathered in the area. around the
Puerta Del Sol Arch and Alcala and
Sevilde Streets. .3.T
Heavy forces of police, mounted
and afoot, were on guard,r.Ruring
the evening students gathered at
various points.
Police charged the crowds repeat
edly to keep them circulating.
Fought Police. rs e.
The shooting today came after
numerous students had Fought with
police in several sections.Fa 1t oc-
Cured in the Paseo De La Castel-
lana, outside the office of Premier
Primo De Rivera. r.
The student critically wounded
vas Emilio Marchessi, 81 nephew
of an artillery colonel involved in
the recent revolt of that corps
against the government. yTs
Shortly before the shooting,
groups of students marched down
Alcala Street toward the headquar-
tiers of the Patriotic Union, shout
ing insults at the government. They
were charged by mounted police and
dispersed. Other students. started
toward the Catholic newspaper De-
bate, but were routed by police after
several were wounded. Thespeiice
used sabres in the encounter. sAt
least one student was cut.
Against Catholics.
Meanwhile other Students, sur
rounded the newspaper A. B. c. and
stoned the premises. When they
we're pursued by police they ran
toward De Rivera's office.
Two students and lieutenant of
police were injured in another en-
counter outside the ministry of pub
lie instruction. .9.e 81, 80. ,.ss
The strike is due. to general dis
satisfaction among students at re-
cent actions of the government af-
feeting education. Z ac
La wstudents objected to the, gov
eminent orderspermitting two CATH
ole universities riln4.by the ..Jesuits,
and Augustinian Fathers to issue
degrees in law, claiming that the cur
riculum did not coincide with the
state universities. si6sf@
The strike has spreadtfronn Ma ,
drid to cite sthroughout Spain. cAll
students were reported on strike in
Barcelona, although the government
said the strike there was .."partial."
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
YoungW orker Benefits
at Bronx YWL Social

Marching Guns" was produced
at the entertainment given by the
Upper Bronx Units l and of the
Young Workers League Saturday
evening, at 1880 Wilkins Ave-,
Bronx. Over 100 young workers at
tended the play and the dance which
followed, which was promoted for
the benefit of the Young Worker,
weekly organ of the Young Workers
League.
Ten dollars was collected for the
paper.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13

kept enslaved for lifetime.
The agents of the British govern
ment protect the infliction of this
penalty on the natives. Protests by
natives against the flogging results
in cruel punishment for those pro-
testing.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13

the silk bosses to force extra looms
on the weavers, until inhuman work
ing conditions result.
Worse for Night Shift.
The conditions of the day workers
with their starvation wages and ex-
hausting hours are bad enough, but
iii anything, the men ON the night
shifts are even worse off. In most
mills these fellows work from 6 at
night until in the morning, with
not minute off to rest, eat or
sleep. Where they do get a half
hour off, and fall down exhausted
on the floor for few minutes rest,
they are obliged to work until $50
in the morning. cts pretty bad in
winter" a young spinner, II, said,
but it's in summer that we really
lose weight" The deafening noise
of the machines, often resulting in
poor hearing, the harsh bright blue
lights which affect the sight of many
workers, and the intolerable heat
in some mills the windows cannot
be FUNDAMENTALLY result not
only in loss of weight but definitely
affect the health of these workers.
Working these long hours, IL
hours at a stretch, five days week,
allows these workers no recreation
at all the major part of their lives,
When they get home from work they
have something to eat, go to bed,
get up, have something to eat, and
go to work. Even on Saturday night,
the bosses, sometimes on threat of
discharge, force these night work
ers to toll from until IL. (They
stop at IL because the bosses can
not extend their profit-making greed
into Sunday, when the town is shut
DOWN.. For these six hours, the
workers are given pay for only eight
hours. No double time or time-and-
a-half. The spinners make from 20
cents to 35 cents an hour--a measly
$12 to S21 for so hours slavery. ut
is like being in prison." these work
ers say.
Strictly Non-union.
Occasionally, although completely
unorganized, workers of different
mills have gone on strike. Some
mills have signs posted up stating
that any worker who joins the union
or goes to a union meeting will be
fired. These terrorization methods
Of some bosses are supplemented by
others, with welfare" tricks to keep
the workers from rebelling. The
big Duplan plants, for example, scat
tered through the anthracite region
have lunch rooms with free coffee
free lemonade, gyms and basketball
teams. The workers get very little
money but a whole lot of coffee
The Duplan mill in Dorranceton ever
takes over municipal jobs and holds
continuation school in the mill fol
i its workers of IA and Is years old
Here hundreds Of children get "edu.
Gated" each week, presumably large
ly in how to become more docilt
wage slaves. It is said that although
up to 16 years of age workers are
obliged to go one day week to
continuation school that in the con
tinuation school in this mill thu
workers are apt to become 16 years
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13
HRY TO BLIND COSTA RIGA
SLAVES

SAN JOSE, Costa RIGA (By Mail).
The Republic Tobacco Co., Brit
:sh company controlling the tobacco
plantations in Costa RIGA, has intro
duced the block insurance scheme to
blind the workers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-13

In bourgeois soriety. living i:t,1
IL but n mems to increase ncrnmts-
lated labor. In oF-munist society
accumulated labor: is but "a means
to widen. to enrich, to promote the
existence of the lnbOrer.-Knr]
M~rx Communist ManifestOD-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07
BEETLE
l. ARVA-GREA7ZyE MARGsO-

THUS it is seen that the rapid spread Of the
Japanese beetle is due to its fight distri-
button on produce and nursery stock shipped
from infested areas and the action of strong
winds plus the fact that the type Of soil favor
able to its development is also the kind most
suitable for FARMS orchards and nurseries.
Another big factor in the spread of the beetle
In this country is the absence Of any of It's
natural enemies, of which there are several
varieties with which 1t has to contend In other
countries. While some Of the local birds are
great beetle eaters they are by no means able
to control the spread Of the insect.
Probably the most important enemy Of the
Japanese beetle is fly known as "Centeter
cinerea," followed closely by another type Of
fly called "ProSena Siberita." both of which are
thick in the beetle areas of Japan and have
now been introduced and bred in this country
to combat the "popillia japonica" and keep
him from getting homesick.
What with the Japanese beetle spreading
from North and the Mediterranean 1y spread
ing from South, the Department of Agriculture
is certainly put to it, waging war on these
enemies Of mankind. There is none of the
hypnotic glamor and noise of battle, but they
none the less deserve several medals for what
they have, done and are doing to preserve the
economic foundation of this particular phase
Of the country's well-being.
A NY time from now on you are liable to see
japanese beetle and in order that you
may recognize it and know something of its
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07

habits and the menace it holds if allowed to
go unchecked, few details of its life and
activities may be offered.
20 far there is no need for great alarm in
and about Washington, but be on the watch
this year, and do what you can to hold the
beetles down, then next year you will be pre-
pared to strike before they get real start.
The Japanese pest has life cycle of one
year, 1ve-sixths of this time being spent in the
soil as either an egg, larva or pupa. The
eggs are elliptical in shape, vary from trans
lucent white to a creamy color and are about
one sixteenth inch, in. diameter. Under OBJ
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07
Government Stirred by Whitening
Progress of the Japanese Beetle, So the
War Is On-Oriental Pest Eats All
Kinds of Plant Life and the District
of Columbia Is Within Range.

1t is readily seen that the rate Of progression
is on constantly increasing ratio
Early in the season they do not fly very far
but content themselves with eating the more
tender leaves nearby but as the season ad-
vances they go ever farther afield, seeking a
fresh food supply, and strong winds aid them
in scattering to other sections
In the early days the beetles and larvae
were carried long distances in shipments Of
produce and nursery stock. but since rigid
quarantine rules were established. this method
of spread has been successfully, checked. ....,r
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07

about It or its habits and control was left
more or less to its natural enemies. There
fore the Department Of Agriculture engaged in
q study. both in Japan and this country, and
SO far has developed much valuable informa-
ton and many interesting facts and has listed
more than 200 varieties of plants which this
pest finds edible.
It was found that the fruit and foliage Of
apples, peaches and grapes appealed particu-
larry to the japanese beetle, and that it was
also partial to corn. beans, shrubbery and rose
bushes, but perfectly harmless to man or beast,
neither singing, biting nor making any noise
which might be disturbing.
Investigation also proved that it, or its first
cousins. might be found in many parts of the
world but that it is not native to either North
or South America and is found only in these
continents when artificially introduced.
Although in New Jersey, when first observed,
something less than one-half of a square mile
OF territory was involved, 10 years later-in
1S26-2.5OO square miles of country had been
infested, which simply means that these active
little creatures spread at the rate of $50 square
miles in year!
While 1t is true that their yearly advance
Is only 10 to IS miles in straight line from
the central focal point when you spread this
all around the perimeter of the infested area