Montana labor news., 1933-02-02
1T Is Impossible to Exaggerate
These Conditions"

n lew DlOckS away from lHlS spot
is a little church, at which one of
the locals of our Unemployment Com
mittee regularly meets. Very many
of the members of this local were
regularly living at the dump. | Wis
tied the local and told the members
that wanted them to give their tex
periences." To them evidently hat
word was only understood in a relig-
ious connection. | had hardly made
the suggestion when a mulatto
stepped forward and made one of the
most amazing statements which ! had
ever heard from human lips. In SIM
pie language she told how two years
ago her husband had lost his work as
a dishwasher, but the Lord had taken
care of him, her and the two children.
The gathering fervently cried, praise
the Lord" The Lord had guided their
feet to the garbage dump, where they
had always had enough to eat. The
speaker was young-looking, neatly
dressed and clean in appearance. They
had been living at the dump better
than two years" Then the little girl
was taken sick with ptomaine poison
ing, and again the Lord interviewed.
He brought them in contact with our
committee, who put them in touch
with the relief agency. Then the Lord
sent a doctor. "HallelujahW shouted
the crowd, and a young man fell on
his knees . Now the little girl was
getting better but was still confined
to bed.
Further questioning revealed that
the man washed windows and did
other odd jobs for the landlord. For
this he received no wages but was
allowed to live rent free, and for two
years they had been eating at the
garbage dump. The woman told me
she could pick up meat, cabbage, neck
bones and sometimes canned goods.
The meat she would take home, wash
it with soda, scald it and eat it. Their
gas had been cut off, and since then
she had no mean of cooking it, but
went to a family that lived down
| stairs and cooked with them.
In a great many cases, on account
of gas having been pretty generally
cut off, families make a practice OF
going to some one place where there
is a gas stove or other means of
cooking, and there they will prepare
the meals for the whole group. l
am we'll acquainted with a colored
lady missionary who is now an active
worker in our committee. She told
me she did not herself eat anything
she picked up at the dump because
she felt that would be like eating the
husks that the swine did eat, and she
did not think the Lord intended her
to do that. She only went to the
dump for kindling wood. She did not
think, however, that the food she did
eat was any better than she could
get at the dump. She was in the habit
of going around to the stores and
begging for the "~left-overs" which
were about to be thrown away. Some
four or five families had made a prac-
tice of coming to her home, as she
still had the means of cooking. She
would bring her 'left-overs" and they
would bring their "~left-overs" and
what they got at the dump. They
would cut out the bad parts and make
"stews." They brought meat, frank
furters, cabbage, %turnips, mustard,
beans, chicken "legs' (meanlng the
claws), and "giblets." Others whom
| have talked with have spoken OF a
dish called "fish-head soup"
| have heard people express curlos-
ity as to what they did with the stuff
they put in the gunny sacks. 1t Is
hard for some people to believe it is
used as human food, and the sugges.
ton was made to me that it was IN
tended to feed pigs. There was al
least one pig running about among
the shanties at Summit and it seemed
to be a great favorite. It's diet,
imagine, was about the same as tina
of its human companions.
Another lady with whom | mao
friends introduced me to her very sick
ly and emaciated boy. She said n
only weighed 80 pounds, and that tn
school authorities had stated ne wa
subnormal. She burst into tears a
she told me how she felt he must hav'
> some meat, as there was not sufflcien
nourishment in the vegetables. Sn'
: had got into the habit of taking OF
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