upon conditions over which she has no control, and the result is that absolutely no relation appears to exist between earning power and manner of life. None of these workers has a grading of "excellent." Looking first at the races represented, we find Galicians, Russians (the various Slavic people who are subject to the Czar), Poles, Austrians, Slovaks, and Lithuanians, with 1 German and 1 American. The typical situation is this: The people of "Packingtown" live in houses having from 3 to 12 rooms, each house containing from 2 to 4 families. Each family takes, in addition, from 1 to 7 lodgers. These people do not crowd for the mere love of crowding. The heads of the families (like the women lodgers, in whom we are interested) suffer from the irregularity of work in the packing industry, and in order to meet their own cost of living take as many lodgers as possible. Also the owner of the cottage (frequently a worker in "the yards") may be paying for the home in monthly installments. In order to reduce the debt as quickly as possible, he also takes lodgers. In one of the worst cases of overcrowding 8 persons-men and women-were sleeping in a room approximately 10 by 15 feet. In another case, where 3 small rooms and a back veranda furnished all the space afforded by the dwelling, a night visit found 2 families (with a father, mother, and 1 child in each) sleeping on the bare floor at one end of the veranda, while 2 of the men lodgers slept between the wall and the staircase at the other end. Three other men slept in 1 room, while the 2 girl lodgers occupied the other bedroom. Sometimes a girl lodger occupies the same bedroom with the man and wife of the family. Frequently she has a bed in the kitchen, which also serves as a sitting room for the family and lodgers. In not a single case among these workers was there a regular sitting room. One girl, who occupied the kitchen as a bedroom, sat up until 10 o'clock at night "reading 'good books"" until the men lodgers had retired and she could go to bed. Conditions outside the house are also frequently insanitary. One outside closet, with sewer connections of varying degrees of effectiveness, often serves for all of the families and lodgers in a cottage. Garbage and offal are sometimes thrown out of the window. The streets, frequently unpaved, have great hollows in which pools of stagnant water stand for weeks at a time. The report of food is little more encouraging, schedule after schedule showing "bread and coffee" for breakfast, "bread or cake" at noon, and "bread and soup" (generally containing boiled meat) for supper. The people of the neighborhood can buy scraps of fairly good meat from the butchers for 2 or 3 cents a pound. A girl usually pays for her room by the month, either buying her own food, which is cooked with that of the family, or else paying the landlord for it by the week. The report on amusements is more hopeful. Chicago is developing a remarkable system of small parks, several of the most perfectly equipped of these being located in the stock-yard sections. Here there are bathing and swimming pools, gymnasiums, and reading rooms. There are moving pictures and other entertainments in the park houses and band concerts in the open air. Of 60 per cent of the girls reporting on amusements, all but 11 per cent report "visits to the parks," "band concerts in the parks," or "moving pictures at the parks." In these centers of recreation Chicago is surely realizing one of her best dreams of democracy. Ten girls report "saloon dances" as their source of amusement. In the close whisky-laden air of a small room opening into the main saloon by a large open. doorway, as many couples as can be accommodated dance to the music of several rasping violins and perhaps a bass viol. It may be said that the conditions under which the adrift women employees of the packing houses live, while distinctly "below grade,” are such as naturally result from the congestion of population and other conditions which distinguish this section of the city. CHAPTER VI. LIVING CONDITIONS OF WAGE-EARNING WOMEN IN MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, MINN. Minneapolis and St. Paul had in 1905, according to the report of the Minnesota bureau of labor, 14,539 (a) women engaged in the classes of employment covered by this investigation. In department and other retail stores 3,201 of this number were employed. The other industrial division, factory, mill, and miscellaneous employments, include the remaining 11,338. In order to ascertain the number of women "adrift" (") in each of these classifications, information on this subject was collected from 446 wage-earning women in the two cities. Two hundred and twenty-four were store employees, of whom 162, or 72.3 per cent, were found to be living at home, and 62, or 27.7 per cent, were found to be adrift, i. e., practically without homes in the cities and entirely dependent upon themselves for support. If this percentage is representative, there are 2,314 wage-earning women in the stores in the two cities who are living at home and 887 who are adrift. Of 222 women employed in factories, mills, etc., 181, or 81.5 per cent, were found to be living at home, and 41, or 18.5 per cent, were adrift. Basing a computation upon these percentages, 9,240 of the 11,338 so employed are living at home, and 2,098 are adrift. Therefore, the whole number of wage-earning women in stores, factories, mills, and miscellaneous employments who are living at home or with relatives is approximately 11,554, while 2,985, or approximately 20.5 per cent of the total number, are adrift. (c) From a large proportion of the 446 women who were visited to determine the number adrift, complete industrial data were secured. a Tenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of Minnesota, 1905 and 1906. In various establishments, this number is inclusive of the clerical force, whereas this investigation excludes such occupations. Practically without homes and entirely dependent upon themselves for support. For detailed explanation of the use of the word "adrift" in this report, see page 10. c Minneapolis: Total number of women in department and other retail stores, 2,013; number adrift (approximately), 558. Total number of women in factories, mills, etc., 6,172; number adrift (approximately), 1,142. Total number adrift (approximately), 1,700. St. Paul: Total number in department and other retail stores, 1,188; number adrift (approximately), 329. Total number in factories, mills, etc., 5,166; number adrift, 956. Total number adrift, 1,285. Grand total of those adrift in the two cities, 2,985. |