Montana labor news., 1933-02-02
By WILLIAM H. SEED.

the malodorous refuse tipped on a
garbage dump; putting into little gun
ny sacks scraps Of bread, decayed
fruit and vegetables, etc, and biting
pieces out of it as they did sol
This was the sight that met my eyes
one cold day last spring at a spot
near Lake Calumet, where the refuse
of Chicago was being dumped into the
marsh. There were several score of
people so engaged.
This set me to work drawing at
tention to a state of things which,
| soon discovered, existed at all the
garbage dumps around the city. ]
found my statements met with incred-
ulity. The Workers Committee on
Unemployment, however, decided that
an investigation should be made, and
appointed me chairman of a special
committee for that purpose.
The completed report of this COM
mittee, packed as it is with details and
with notes by the various prominent
people who took part, is available for
those who wish more information. In
this article I give just a general i'm
preston which | wish | could leave
with every man and woman in this
America of ours.
At Lake Calumet soft garbage" is
no longer dumped, but only cinders,
etc, so no more eating takes place
there, but there are plenty of other
such places. The dump at 31st street
and Cicero is typical, except for the
fact that only men live there. Women
and children are not allowed to live
at the dump but they regularly eat
there. 1t is the site of an old kiln,
the furnaces of which are used as
dwellings,. In addition to the kilns,
the men have constructed huts Of the
type with which we have become only
too familiar. There are many thou
sands of such shanties around Chi
eago, particularly in the neighborhood
of garbage dumps, constructed out Of
old boxes, biscuit tins, pieces of old
oilcloth etc, picked up on the dumps.
These "homes' repay study. Some
of them are dirty beyond description,
but many of those who have lived
in them for months and years have
made neat little dwellings of them,
whose clean-swept floors and neat APP
p~earance are eloquent testimony of
the essential worthwhileness and deep
rooted self-respect of the unfortunate
people who have constructed them and
made them their homes.
Our investigating committee count
ed about one hundred and fifty of
these shanties at 31st and Cicero.
There are more at Summit. Some of
them even have little gardens at
tached. On the other hand, on the
marsh at Lake Calumet, | have seen
a man living in the overturned body
of a wrecked automobile, and have
seen women and children living in
shanties made of corrugated iron and
old boxes, with no sanitary con-
veniences.
You may see the trucks unloading
garbage. This garbage has lain for
several days in the dust bins and has
been transported in the garbage carts
to the dump. The odor can be better
imagined than described. On a hot
day one can hardly see the stuff for
flies, which arise in clouds every time
one puts ones foot down. AS the
garbage truck tips on end and moves
away, you see anywhere from 20 to
80 men, women and children jump
upon the garbage, many of them car
rying sacks, and picking up whatever
can be eaten.
At Ohlsen's the small dump at 35th
and LaSalle streets, which is a pri-
vate incinerator, the committee inter-
, viewed a large number of colored peo-
pie. This dump is in the center Of
the colored section.
Seeing Things at First Hand.
-
; | have visited this dump a number
of times, and the committee made one
of its regular visits there. 1t was
a sight to see DR.. Graham Taylor IN
terviewing an out-of-work housemaic
as she picked up pieces of water
|, melon rind and ate them. DR.. Taylor
: had cautioned me against exaggera
ton. He has since told me it is i'm
: possible to exaggerate these condl
!, tions. Several truckloads had beeI
dumped just before the committee
arrival. At one side of the malodor
8 GUS mess, two hefty Negroes wer'
shoveling it into the furnaces. At tn