The Peoples Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, December 6, 1901 Page: 1 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
'I lie Peoples Voice
VOLUME 10.
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, FRIDAY, DECEMHER 6, 1901.
NUMBER 20
How the Poor Live in Chicago A I'right-
ful Picture of the Rule of Pluto-
cracy.
Those who believe that people are
happy and prosperous should read
these facts, gleaned by a live re-
porter for a Chicago paper.
Three prominent Chicago club
women last week visited the sweat-
shops in the Ghetto district, and the
sights they witnessed proved a re-
velation to them. Huddled together
in small, dirty, ill-ventilated rooms,
with the atmosphere so foul that it
sickened them to breathe it, they
found women working fourteen hours
a day for the sum of 26 cents!
in a room about 30 by 20 feet, making
cigars. The proprietor, E. Eppstein,
was prosecuted some weeks ago by
govenment officials for using a fradu-
lent factory number on his cigar
boxes. Children working there are
said to receive about $1 a week, and
the sanitary conditions of the place
are pronounced horrible.
The odor was so overpowering that
Mrs. Van Der Vaart grew sick and
had to be assisted down stairs and
taken to the Hull House, where she
had to remain during the rest of the
day.
In a large tenement-house, filled
with garment workers, at 137 Ewing
The investigating committee was street, the investigating committee
composed of Mrs. H. M. Van Der
Vaart, chairman of the industrial
committee of the Illinois Federation
of Women's Clubs; Miss Anna E.
Nichole, and Dr. Cornelia H DeBey.
They were accompanied by George
J. Tompson, secretary of the Cigar-
maker's union, and later, when they
had been denied admission to some of
the sweatshops, the services of
Assistant State Factory Inspector
E. T. Davies were secured.
When the day's work was over the
club women said they had never be-
fore realized the full meaning of the
"Song of the Shirt" and that the
sights they had seen would make an
interesting discussion at the mext
meeting of their respective clubs.
They found little children half fed
and altnO'it naked sitting on the
tloors of the dirty rooms where their
fathers and mothers worked. "Wear-
ing their lives out to keep them in,"
was the way Mr. Thompson put it.
The first place that the party led
by Mr. Thompson visited was on
Thirteenth place in the rear of an
old frame building. They found
thirteen persons crowded in a small
room, and ten sewing machines run-
ning with a lightinglike rapidity.
The men who operated the machines
were expert workmen and were mak-
ing pants for a wholesale house.
The proprietor of the sweatshops re-
ceives $1 a dozen for making the
pants.
The man who appeared to be fore-
man and put the finishing touches on
the garments said he made $1.40 a
day by working from fourteen to
fifteen hours. The others, some of
them girls' received a much smaller
sum.
At 11 Newberry avenue, on the
fourth floor of the building, the
party found little children making
cigars, for which they are paid from
$1 to $2 a week. The proprieter,
Samuel Cohen, said that their par
ents had assured
were old enough
violating the state laws, but they
did not look it. Cohen, his wife, and
five children were all in the room,
and the foul air and smell of wet to-
bacco made the place sickening.
At 477 Sangamon street forty men
women, and children were crowded
found two women working on boys'
pants. One of the women appeared
to be (55 years old, but she worked
and stitched as if her life depended
on every movement of worn fingers.
Twenty-six cents a dozen is the price
for the work, and by hard work the
two women can turn out two dozen a
day. The room presented a sight of
such abject and misery that the club
women said they could scarcely bring
themselves to realize that human
beings could live in such an atmos-
phere. A few pieces of old wornout
furniture were set around the room
and on a clothes line stretched be-
tween two hooks on either wall hung
the day's washing.
Another family in the same build-
ing was living under the same con-
ditions, except that the women said
they received 28 cents a dozen for
making pants, and made about a
dozen pairs a day. The air in the
house was stifling, and the hallways
were filled with little children, dirty,
naked, and half starved.
"We have seen enough here; please
take us away," said one of the club
women, and the party left for the
next.
At 227 De Koven street twenty-
six girls were working in two small
rooms making pants and vests. The
lioor space of both rooms did not ex-
ceed 12x20 feet, the girls being
jammed together. In some of the
places the party found that the
cooking was done in the same room
as the work, for rents are high and
wages low, and the inhabitants must
live.
In one of the cigar factories
visited Mr. Thompson was surprised
to see the men spread paste all over
both sides of the wrappers. Being a
practical cigar-maker he watched
the performance, and remarked that
it must smell nicely when lighted,
to say nothing of the flavor.
"Oh, no," said the men who had
it is all right."
' "Not today, thank you," saici
Thompson, as he prepared to leave
the place. The men and women who
make this class of cigars make less
than 50 cents a day and work from
day-light until midnight.
in one cigar factory was a woman
with deathly pallor on her face.
him the children rolled it; "try one
to work without
Superb : $kcttlttg
Of New Fall fancies, the whole
Store is laden with bright, new
and attractive Goods. Visit us.
New Dies*
Fabrics.
Triple Knee
"LfATiitR Stocking"
New i.p-to the
season
M iiiinerv.
New & St) lisb
Fu r i
II us.
Nrw Ho-
New ( i loVr.K
and Mittens.
ew oc My Msn ./
. <&,
Hake
*«•«• Sh,,r?
} X-? ''r'fTiH -sriiijlHr*.
*■1 ' iMi " * h v- l'i —
| N i- -
Underwear.
New Shins
Waists, Suits.
VVrh'itfg,
Come ^et your share ot the Urat of
«r*r*r Bargains. *r«r<r
lower than
ever
ImMd
Her hands hung listlessly by her
side as her head swayed and drooped.
It was at the noon hour. To a ques-
tion the lips moved, but no sound
escaped them.
The visitors found similar condi-
tions in the cloathing sweatshops.
The factory inspector said the laws
were inadequate to meet these con-
ditions. When the sanitary condi-
tions in a sweatshop are complained
of, all the factory inspector can do
it to report the matter to the city
health department. then, under
the law. a family can work in any
kind of place and deny admission to
the inspector unless some one is em-
ployed by him and receiving wages.
Some of the worst cases, it is said,
are where whole families are work-
ing, living, cooking and sleeping in
the same room, and although the
atmosphere may reek with filth,
the factory inspector is powerless to
change the conditions.
There are 4,000 sweatshops in Chi-
cago. giving employment to over,
40,000 persons. Dr. De Bey charac-
terized the conditions in one cigar
lactorv as "fiendish " George Thornp
son said last night that there were a
number of places known to him
where the conditions were worse
than any yet visited.
Oklahoma's New Governor.
Last Saturday morning President
Roosevelt removed Wm. Jenkins as
Governor and appointed Thomas B.
Furguson of Watonga, Okla , to
succeed him In taking this action
the president attached to the papers
the following memorandum:
"GovernorJenkins of Oklahoma is
hereby removed because of his im-
proper connection with a contract be-
tween the territory and the Okla-
homa Sanitarium company. The de-
cision is based purely upon his own
written statements and his oral ex-
planations of them at the final hear-
ing
"One of the duties of the territori-
al governors is to enter into a con-
tract with some person or corpora-
tion for the keeping of the insane in
the territory. Governor Jenkins
made such a contract with the Okla-
homa Sanitarium company, a cor-
poration, the promoters of which re-
served $10,000 of its stock for the
governor and subject to his orders.
"In the governor's explanation of
this he told the promoters at the
time they desired him to sanction
the contact that it was 'an impor-
tant contract, and I had some
friends whom 1 would like to have in-
terested and to whom 1 owed some
political obligations which 1 would
not be able to pay by appointment
or anything of that kind '
"The stock was delivered to the
bank subject to the governor's order
and was turned over to these friends
whose political services the governor
thu- sought to reward. The extent
of the favor to the governor or his
friends is suggested by the fact that
the only known sale of the stock
since the contract was given out was
at double the price paid for it.
"As the performance of the con-
tract was to be one sole business of
the corporation it is obvious, either
that the territory was obi gated to
pay far more than the service was
worth, or that its helpless wards were
to have the enormous profits contem-
plate.! tauen out of their keeping.
"The governor's confessed rela-
tions to the matter disclosed such an
entire lack of appreciation of the
high fiduciary nature of the duties of
his office as to unlit him for the fur-
j tlier discharge of them.
| "A sound rule of public policy and
] morals forbids a servant seening
or accepting any personal benefit in a
transaction wherein he has a public
I duty to perform. A chancellor would
nut lor owe moment retain a trustee.
| W(t3<$ ':Ji'-dealings of trust, reserved
I an advantage to himself. The
thought is not to be tolerated that
the president can be less vigilant or
exacting ill the public interest.
(Signed) "Theouoke roosevelt."
The new governor was appointed
on the recommendation of Hon.
Horace Speed and M. A. Low of the
Rock Island Railroad. The new gov-
ernor has been a resident of the ter-
ritory since 1889 and has resided at
Watonga in Blaine county since lvl'2.
There No Use Quoting Prices
On Our Complete Line of
HA « DW ARK
Implements, Stoves, Ranges, Wagons, Buggies,
Paints, Oils, Glass, Guns, Ammunition and
Sporting Goods of all kinds but come anil we'll
show you.
Beardsley Hardware Co.
At the last congressional convention |
he was chosen Republican Territorial j
chairman and managed the last cam- j
paign in the territory. He has ]
always been a steadfast friend of |
Congressman Flynn and though fre- |
quently mentioned as a likely candi- j
date for the nomination as delegate j
to congress steadfastly refused to be- j
come a candidate against his friend!
Flynn. For the past niue years he \
has Edited the Watonga Republican
one of the strong and influential
Republican papers in the territory.
In 1897 he was appointed postmaster
at Watonga but later resigned in
favor of his wife. In the appoint-
ment of Ferguson the president has
the same as personal taxes,
estate is sold for delinquent
anddeeds are issued in two
fromdate ot sale
Real
taxes
y ears
BUILDING AND LOAN-
Four Associations are Chartered in Okla-
homa, Governors Report, Territorial
Laws are Favorable to Local In-
stitutions of This Character-
Four building and loan associations
are chartered under the laws of the
territory and in successful operation
at present. These institutions are
great factors in building up communi
ties and assisting people toown their
recognized the wish of the dominate j own homes, thus making them better
faction of the Republican party citizens and it is to be regretted that
headed by Congressman Flynn. The j there ja not ()ne in e t(jwn jn the
announcement of the appointment
of Ferguson lias brought forth a big
roar from some of the newspapers
and politicians in the territory; but
this was to be expected. Our ac-
quaintance with the new governor,
which is limited, causes us to think
that some of the criticisms in the
territory.
j The territorial laws are very fav-
i orab'.e to local institutions of this
character, exempting their stock
and securities from taxation.
The Guthrie association, which is
1 the largest in the territory, having
... „ i c ^i been in operation sines 1800, has as-
press are uncalled for. It is not ab- 1 '
1 slsted in the building of over two
solutely necessary that this territory
should have a dude for governor or
even a man that is perfect in all the
forms of etiquette. Strict integrity
coupled w.th good business sense and
executive ability are much more es-
sential traits in a governor and if
the new governor possesses these
traits in a marked degree, the ques-
tion of how he feeds himself, while it
may worry a few dudes, will not dis-
turb the rest of the people of the ter-
ritory to any great extent.
Pay Your Taxes.
The first half of the personal taxes
is due December 15, and become de-
linquent the third Monday in January
when a penalty of one and onehalf
per cent is added.
At the time of paying the first
half the taxpayer tnay pay all of the
taxes if he desires, but no rebates
are allowed
If the first half has not been paid
on the first Monday in March a tax
warrant beariug eighteen per cent
interest and cost is placed in the
sheriff's hands for all the taxes.
If the first half paid before the
third Monday in January, the last
half may run until July 15, on which
day it becomes delinquent and a
penality of ten cents for advertising
and one-half per cent per month is
added
If the last half is not paid by July
15, a warrant is issued bearing eigh-
teen per cent interest and cost.
Real estate taxes become due and
delinquent and a penalty attaches
hundred homes. They now have
140,000 loaned out to members and
pay dividends averaging 14 per cent
per annum on 1800 shares of stock.
The Oklahoma City has 1729 shares
of stock in force; $29,070 loaned oil
real estate security and paid 17 per
cent dividends the past two years.
The Norman association has 875
shares in force, $27,175 loaned on
real estate, and paid 18 per cent di-
vidend the past year.
The Shawnee association has $8,333
loaned on real estate and is paying
profitable dividends to the members.
Eight or ten outside associations
are operating in the Territory, but
there is no way of ascertaining what
amount of business they are doing oi
their reliability.
School Report District 24.
Number of pupils enrolled 43; per
cent of attendance 87; those averag
ing 95 or more: Mary Joe Lessly,
96 2-9; Melville Lessly, 90 7-9; Clyde
Shottenkirk, 98 2-3; Those averaging
90 or more; Fred Sammetinger, 91,
Gertrude Grotts, 94; Oma Hughes, 91,-
Hattie Keller, 90; Anna Lou Lessly,
91; Roger Lessly, 94; Ida Miser, 91;
Jake Haun, 94; Minnie Arnold, 92;
Noah Arnold, 90; Marion Miser, 91.
Bennie Hardisty, 90; Kngie Denhata,
90; Polly Keller, 94; Number of tar
dinesses 11, number present every
day this month 17; Co., Superinten
dent visited the school this month.
Florence Miller.
Teacher.
^ (/vvvvvvvvvvvwwwviA/vw/^wwvwwvwvyv^
Money!Money! Money! s
YES—We have au unlimited
amount to loan on farms.
Time from six months to ten
years. Interest as low as the
lowest.
We Lead on Terms Others Follow
omi-i tN li' K'A iN( (If!,
Office Opera House Block. Attorney-At-Lnw
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Allan, John S. The Peoples Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, December 6, 1901, newspaper, December 6, 1901; Norman, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc117499/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.