The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-16

Josephine Rhinehardt. Her slight FRI
Her complexion was yellow. Her eyes
closed. She had been brought to the
hospital early in the morning of
Thursday. She had watched the NRA
parade pass the day before. And
after it was all over she tainted ). i.
tainted of hunger.
DIR. Volpe of Flower Hospital Am
bulance Service did not take long to
tell what was wrong with Josephine.
1.-THE woman is starving" he said.
Josephine had come to New York
from Newark, where her sister lived,
to get the few remains of her clothes
that had been rescued from former
janitress job. Having nothing to do.
she wandered around town, and
watched the NRA parade. A For
gotten Woman, on the sidelines,
tainted from hunger, while workers
were forced, at the point of the loss
of their jobs, to parade for Nation
al Recovery"
Yesterday she lay in Bellevue
Hospital, on a cot, in Ward AS. Her
story is one that might happen to
any working woman. Her life is as
troubled, and her worries as great
as the next.
Josephine's father and mother
came to America from Germany when
Josephine was only eight years old.
"You see, I'm more American than
German. I'm 48 now, and I've spent
40 years in America" she said.
Her father rented small farm in
Jersey. Josephine was the youngest
in a family of ten children. The
older girls and boys left home, and
she and those that remained had to
work hard just to make the rent"
In the summer she worked in the
fields. All the year round she cleaned
house, cooked. Crop failures, taxes,
the hard life of the American tenant
farmer, were all known to Josephine.
And worst of ALL" Josephine said,
81 never had anyone to talk to. 1t
was lonely. My big brothers and sis
tiers left home to work in the cities.
My mother died, and my father got
married again, and I had a step
mother. She also had children. And
I didn't like to clean after her chill
dren, and I didn't like to be bossed
around in the house that used to be
ours, so I left home when I was six
teen"
Josephine came to New York. She
worked as a housekeeper, as a house
cleaner, as a washerwoman, as a
presser, as a janitress, as a furnace
woman. Always work, work, work
r. it never ended, the work. And
worked so hard and got so little.
1.-THE last place I worked at was
four years ago. was a janitress in
an apartment house on seth st. and
York Ave. A. Mr.. Baumgarten was
the agent. I had two rooms, and got
two or three dollars a month. did
so much for them. cleaned the cell
lar, and swept the sidewalks; ]
chopped wood, and filled two cellars
full Of wood. And what did get i.
nothing for it nothing.
THE cellar was full of water. hao
TO sweep the water out. 1t took me
three days to do 1t. I nearly died
I ruined my shoes. They came apart
because they were SO wet. The place
was cold water apartment. They
wouldn't let me order coal to make
the water hot.
II had to eat more bread than
meat. I'd never have enough. I got
weaker and weaker. If you go in q
store you have to pay for what you
buy. IA
Sometimes the people the first
floor would give me some I cd. They'd
bring down their leftovers, and I'd
be thankful to get something to eat
Then they fired me. That broke
me. Here I was, working SO hard so
could have some place to live, and
something to eat. And they fired me.
| They threw me out. The new 5anitor
moved in. They told me TO Ego. I
wouldn't go. I was too sick. 1 was
hungry, and lonely, and overwbrked.
They took me away in an af,bu-
lance Hurry up the driver said to
me. We've got other work to do