The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-09-19

UnstalIment 81
An old Ford lay in the yard. It's
motor already lacked several parts,
but when 1 inspected 1t, found
that it still had a steering wheel
and a hand brake. Its owner was
just going to make it into a chick
en- coop. Someone said that if we
provided gasoline, his son would
drive into Pittsburgh, with his car,
and bring the relief. We did not IA
vor this suggestion at the meeting
because the car, prepared to with
stand any attacks had to hold at
least three men. But with three
men in it, there would not be any
room in that little car for the pro-
visions.
A new council, another sugges-
ton.
Two men sat in the front car,
the third in the chicken-coop, the
Ford, and manipulated the steer
ing wheel and the hand brake.
They tied the old auto to the good
one, and now they could get a
weeks provisions into the two cars.
Two hours to the city, two back,
four hours, half an hour for load
ing. They could get back tonight.
Two big wash tubs we're put on
the fire.
We did not know yet whether
there would be. goulash, or potato
soup, or only black coffee for sup
per. 1t came out, that the commit
tee still had three dollars left. A
committee of five women and a
man would comb the stores and
bakeries in the neighboring town,
four miles away, and buy up yes
terday's bread for two cents
apiece. Go aheadp
BE back by eight, because sup
per will be ready then"
A committee of four men had
bought a big sack of potatoes
somewhere, and they set to peeling
them Immediately. The children
loitered dejectedly around the
kitchen lot, but they were no long
er crying. Slowly, one by one the
foragers came in, like ants, hauling
their booty to the common kitchen.
Some bags of potatoes, onions,
vegetables.
rAVRO arrived with his group.
u They gesticulated wildly and
their laughter could be heard while
they were still some distance away.
More potatoes, more onions. Three
boxes of macaroni, five pounds of
lard, a small sack of folur, salt,
sugar. ten cans of tomatoes, a good
sized piece Of bacon, and about
twenty pounds of meat, were their
spoils, along with q basket of stale
bread.
Gavro explained triumphantly.
Some of it they gave willingly,
some of it not so willingly. The
meat and bacon we took from the
butcher We took them off the peg
when the son of a gun wouldn't
even listen to us. Coming out, told
him not to yell so, we we're just
buying the meat on credit"
A Hungarian woman was the
chief cook. She threw the potatoes
and onions into one of the tubs so
that we should have potato soup
for supper; it was too late to cook
the meat. 1t would be good for to-
morrow.
1 MUST DECIDE.
After much debating, because the
men wanted to put the meat into
the tub, too, the woman became Of
Tended, took off her apron, and
said she would resign. She knew
how long that old meat had to
cook. At this, they called me in to
decide. / judged impartially; not
that 1 knew anything about cook
ing, but I knew we had to econo-
mize. 1 threw the macaroni end
the tomatoes and half of the bacon
into the boiling water. I had the
meat put away for the next day.
Maybe the relief car from Pitts
burgh would get stuck, and then
the meat would come in handy for
tomorrow's soup.
Later mora miners came, who
had originally intended to take
part in the meeting, but then had
decided that it would be just as
well if they came at the end. They
Immediately livened up, glow
spread over their wrinkled brown