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CHARITIES PUBLICATION COMMITTEE IO5 EAST 22D STREET, NEW YORK -^mt wmM RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION HOMESTEAD THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN Bv margaretj(./byington// FORMERLY DISTRICT AGENT, BOSTON ASSOCIATED CHARITIES; ASSISTANT SECRETARY, CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT, RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION THE PITTSBURGH SURVEY FINDINGS IN SIX VOLUMES Edited by PAUL UNDERWOOD KELLOGG NEW YORK CHARITIES PUBLICATION COMMITTEE MCMX . ] uu ,JU 53/34^ s ^A Copyright, 19 10, by The Russell Sage Foundation PRESS OF WM. F. FELL CO. PHILADELPHIA > £/!/(// EDITOR'S FOREWORD THE family as a social unit takes us back into shadows be- yond where history begins; the town carries with it a thousand written memories of walled boroughs, county markets and communes, where self-government had its beginnings. But the mill with its acres of tracks and sheds, its continuous opera- tion, its intricate plan of discipline, of interlocking processes, of insistent demands upon human nature, is a newer institution. Factory production is less than two centuries old. The power transmission through which the modern plant with its thousands of workmen has expanded and developed, is scarcely as many generations old. Electrically charged wires have become the binding nervous cords of industrial mechanism well within the memory of living men. Miss Byington's study is essentially a portrayal of these two older social institutions, the family and the town, as they are brought into contact with this new insurgent third. Has their development and equipment kept pace with mechanical invention? Have they held their own against the mill? Is the balance of life and work preserved? Or have we, in the industrial town of twen- tieth century America, not a "deserted village" such as Goldsmith lamented in eighteenth century England, but a more serious, anti- thetical problem in an overcrowded, overwrought aggregate of households. The query is, not shall "every rood of ground main- tain its man," but shall the day's work afford an adequate basis for American livelihood? Such a description, however modest in scope and put forth in the homely imagery of domestic life, deals thus with the forces which are wrenching at the very structure of society. There are other, perhaps more obvious circumstances, which give this book a distinctive place in the general scheme of these volumes. The colleagues in the field work of the Pittsburgh Survey took up special EDITOR S FOREWORD factors affecting the welfare of the wage-earning population — such as sanitation, housing and public education; Miss Byington's com- mission was to analyze these factors as they enter jointly into the life of one of the small industrial communities which are character- istic of the Pittsburgh District, and especially to analyze them as they bear upon the well-being of family groups. Her book also complements Mr. Fitch's volume on wages and the general labor conditions in the steel industry. In carrying out this commission, Miss Byington made an in- timate case study of 90 households, employing methods of budget taking which have been developed for standard of living inquiries. She brought to her work, as basis for comparisons, an acquaint- ance with tenement conditions in New York and Boston. The resulting data have some rather obvious statistical shortcomings, which are explained in the appendix; but as a transcript of everyday economic existence, they served at once to re-enforce and to check up the impressions which grew out of her personal contact with the people who earned the money, and ate the food, and lived in the houses, and worshipped in the churches of this town. If the book inevitably brings out sharply the odds of life with which many industrial communities have to reckon, we trust that the loyalty of Homestead residents will not take offense that theirs should have been the town thus singled out for study. "The rank and file of the people are with you," said an old mill man. To housekeepers and steel workers, to pro- fessional and business people, who gave freely of their time and information, we cannot offer thanks, for the book is partly theirs. Theirs, also, are the two irrepressible, grim interrogations which underlie both the statistical tables and the bits of neighborly gossip with which the author has enlivened her narrative. In their bearings upon contemporary economic and social conditions, these are questions for a nation as well as for this community. The first has to do with the town: how shall local self- government keep abreast of a nationalized industry? The second has to do with the family: here is a town de- pendent upon one of the great industries of America, which has profited by brilliant invention, by organizing genius, by a national policy of tariff protection. It was studied at the close of the EDITOR S FOREWORD longest period of prosperity which has been known by our genera- tion. What has that prosperity brought to the rank and file of the people whose waking hours are put into the industry? Miss Byington has summed up in a single phrase the nega- tive aspects of the situation so far as the men are concerned, who "turn daily from twelve hours in the din of the huge mills to home, supper, a smoke and bed." What steel production holds out to the families of these men she sets forth within the covers of this book. Paul U. Kellogg Director Pittsburgh Survey Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Editor's Foreword v PART I THE MILL AND THE TOWN Chapter I Homestead and the Great Strike 3 Chapter II The Make-up of the Town 12 PART II THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING HOUSEHOLDS Chapter III Work, Wages, and the Cost of Living 35 Chapter IV Rent in the Household Budget 46 Chapter V Table and Dinner Pail 63 Chapter VI Other Expenditures: The Budget as a Whole ... 81 Chapter VII Of Human Relationships 107 Chapter VIII The Children of Homestead 118 PART III THE SLAV AS A HOMESTEADER Chapter IX The Slavs 131 Chapter X Life at $1.65 a Day 138 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter XI page Family Life of the Slavs 145 Chapter XII The Slav Organized 158 PART IV THE MILL AND THE HOUSEHOLD Chapter XIII The Mill and the Household 171 APPENDICES APPENDIX I. Methods of Budget Study 187 II. Tables giving general description and average weekly expenditure of each of the 90 budget families . . 206 III. Employes in Homestead Plant of the United States Steel Corporation classified according to skill, citizenship, conjugal condition, etc., Mar. 1, 1907 . 214 IV. Classification and Earnings of Employes in Three Representative Steel Plants in the Pittsburgh District 215 V. An Act to Enable Borough Councils to Establish Boards of Health. State of Pennsylvania. 1893 218 VI. Report of the Board of Health of the Borough of Homestead for the year ending December 31, 1908 222 VII. Record of Casualties on Unprotected Grade Cross- ings, Homestead, 1905- 1907 233 VIII. Seven-Day Labor 236 IX. Cost of Living in Pittsburgh 237 X. Ratings on Men Employed in Iron and Steel Industry, by Prudential Insurance Company of America . 243 XL Carnegie Relief Fund 245 XII. Accident Relief Plan of the United States Steel Cor- poration 249 XIII. The Carnegie Library, Homestead 255 By W. F. Stevens, Librarian XIV. Slavic Organizations in Homestead . . . .271 XV. Population of Homestead and Munhall, 1910 . 276 Index 281 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Homestead Plant: Carnegie Steel Company . Frontispiece Pittsburgh Survey Map i Homestead from the Pittsburgh Side of the Monongahela Of the Old Time Irish Immigration (In color) Head: Slavic Day Laborer (In color) Detached Dwellings of the Better Type. Sixteenth Avenue Munhall "The Mansion" The Street Glen Alley, a Few Blocks from Frick Park, Homestead Double Grade Crossing Near the Heart of Homestead An Unpaved Alley .... Where the Mill Meets the Town Slavic Laborers Back Yard Possibilities in Homestead Back Yard Possibilities in Homestead — II A One-Room Household A " Front Room" Row of Detached Workingmen's Houses in Munhall; Mill Stacks Showing above Housetops Frame Houses. Five rooms and bath Brick Houses. Four rooms and bath Residence Street "Buckets" The Street Market .... Where Some of the Surplus Goes Eighth Avenue at Night, Homestead A Nickelodeon Audience in Homestead On the Outskirts In the Crowded Section Spontaneous Recreation Center, Homestead, 1907 Saloon Corner, Saturday Night .... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Lights of Kenny wood Park 113 Carnegie Library, Munhall 116 Orchestra; Carnegie Library 117 BandStand 117 In Carnegie's Footsteps 119 The Brook in Munhall Hollow 121 Draughting Room, Schwab Manual Training School .124 Carpenter Shop, Schwab Manual Training School . .124 Machine Room, Schwab Manual Training School . . .127 Slav: Calling (In color) 129 Section of Ward Two, Homestead, 1908 132 Slavic Court 133 Summer Evening in a Court 137 Wash-Day in a Homestead Court 141 Into America Through the Second Ward of Homestead 144 When Meadows Have Grown Too Many Smokestacks . 145 Out of Work (Homestead Court, Spring of 1908) . .148 A Contrast— I 152 A Contrast— II 152 Gathered for a Bit of Gossip 157 Washing up After a Day in the Mill 157 Greek Catholic Church 161 Old Worlds in New (In color) 164 Going Home from Work 1 73 Type of Steel Worker: Thirty-five Years from Germany 176 Type of Steel Worker: Slav 178 Type of Steel Worker: Pennsylvanian 180 Balcony and Entrance, Carnegie Library, Homestead . . 258 LIST OF TABLES TABLE _ PAGE i. Total population, and number and per cent of native and foreign born in Homestead, 1900 13 2. Total population, and per cent of native white and foreign born in four boroughs of Allegheny County, 1900. ... ... 13 3. Total employes, and number and per cent of various racial groups in the Homestead Plant, Carnegie Steel Co., July, 1907 13 4. Homestead and Munhall taxes, 1907 20 5. Analysis of 90 budget families. — By racial group and normal weekly wage of man -38 6. Men employed in the Homestead Mill in July, 1907. Number and per- centages. By racial groups and degree of skill 40 7. 90 budget families. — By racial and expenditure group .... 44 8. Average weekly expenditures of 90 budget families in 1907: amounts and percentages. — By chief items of expenditure and racial group. . 44 9. Average weekly expenditures of 90 budget families, amounts and per- centages. — By chief items of expenditure and expenditure group . . 45 10. Average weekly expenditures of yy house-renting families, amounts and percentages. — By chief items of expenditure and expenditure group . 45 1 1 . Average amount of rent per week paid by the 77 house-renting families. — By expenditure and racial group 50 12. Expenditure for rent of yy house-renting families. Average amount and percentage of total expenditure. — By racial group 52 13. Expenditure for rent of yy house-renting families. Average amount and percent of total expenditure. — By expenditure group ... 52 14. Families having running water in the house and indoor closets. — By weekly rent 54 15. 18 house purchasers among 90 budget families. — By normal weekly in- come and by racial group 57 16. Average weekly expenditure for food of 90 budget families and per cent of total expenditure. — By racial group 68 17. Same as Table 16. — By expenditure group 68 18. Average weekly expenditure for food of 90 budget families. — By racial and expenditure group 68 19. Average expenditure for food per man per day of 90 budget families. — By racial and expenditure group 69 20. Twenty-one families spending less than 22 cents per man per day for food. — By expenditure and racial groups 72 21. Itemized account of food expenditures for one week by a thrifty house- keeper 76 22. Itemized account of food expenditures for one week for a poor house- keeper 76 23. Two weekly food budgets of a thrifty family 78 24. Average weekly expenditure of 90 budget families for various items. — By expenditure group 84 25. Ratio of weekly expenditures for various items between different ex- penditure groups 84 26. Number of persons insured in 90 budget families and per cent of families carrying insurance. — By expenditure group 91 xiii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 27. Number of persons in 90 budget families insured in regular companies and lodges. — By racial group 91 28. Expenditures of a family for one week in 1907 (Normal time) and in 1908 (Time of depression) 98 29. Budget families whose income included money drawn from the bank or goods secured on credit. — By income and racial group .... 99 30. Food purchased on special order for boarders during month account was kept 139 31. Food expenditures of a Slavic family for one week 141 32. Two hundred and thirty-nine Slavic families in 21 courts. — By numbers, nationality and number of lodgers 143 33. Number of persons per room in the 21 courts in families which took lodgers compared with the number in families which did not take lodgers, January, 1908 144 34. Number of births in each ward in Homestead for 1907. — By racial group . 146 35. Number of deaths of children under two years of age in each ward in Homestead for 1907. — By racial group 146 36. Ratio of children born in each ward in Homestead in 1907 to deaths of children under two in the same ward. — By racial group . . .146 37. Average weekly expenditure of 29 Slavic budget families . . . .152 38. Average expenditure of Slavic families compared with those of other races spending more than $15 per week 156 39. Average expenditures of two groups of 10 families each, those spending $15 or more a week and those spending less than §12, with the ratio of increase 156 40. Membership, dues and benefits of 9 Slavic societies in 1908 .... 162 APPENDIX I 1. Analysis of 90 budget families. — By racial group, occupation and normal weekly wage of man 200 2. Average normal weekly income and income from specified sources, of 90 budget families. — By racial group 201 3. 90 budget families. — By number of families having income from given sources in normal times and by racial group 201 4. Average size of families, and of families including lodgers.— By expendi- ture and nationality groups 201 5. 90 budget families. — Number of persons per room by racial group . . 202 6. Number of house-owning and house-renting families having water in house, and number having two or more persons per room. — By ex- penditure group 202 7. 90 budget families occupying tenements of specified number of rooms. — By racial group 202 8. 90 budget families occupying specified number of rooms. — By expendi- ture group 203 9. Cost of certain articles of food in nine cities and ratio of the cost of these articles in other cities to the cost in Pittsburgh. — By cents per pound . 203 10. Total average weekly expenditures of house-renting families expending less than $12 a week, and proportions spent for food and rent by racial group 204 11. Average expenditure for food per man per day, by size of family and expenditure group 204 APPENDIX II Tables giving general description and average weekly expenditure of each of the 90 budget families 206 xiv LIST OF TABLES APPENDIX III PAGE Employes in Homestead Plant of the United States Steel Corporation classified according to skill, citizenship, conjugal condition, etc., Mar. i, 1907 214 APPENDIX IV Classification and earnings of employes in three representative Steel Plants of the Pittsburgh District. October 1, 1907 215 3600 4250 4750 ■SCALS : 500 F-T TO ViCtt PART I THE MILL AND THE TOWN CHAPTER I HOMESTEAD AND THE GREAT STRIKE HOMESTEAD gives at the first a sense of the stress of industry rather than of the old time household cheer which its name suggests. The banks of the brown Monon- gahela are preempted on one side by the railroad, on the other by unsightly stretches of mill yards. Gray plumes of smoke hang heavily from the stacks of the long, low mill buildings, and noise and effort dominate what once were quiet pasture lands. On the slope which rises steeply behind the mill are the Carnegie Library and the "mansion" of the mill superintendent, with the larger and more attractive dwellings of the town grouped about two small parks. Here and there the towers of a church rise in relief. The green of the parks modifies the first impression of dreariness by one of prosperity such as is not infrequent in American industrial towns. Turn up a side street, however, and you pass uniform frame houses, closely built and dulled by the smoke; and below, on the flats behind the mill, are cluttered alleys, unsightly and unsanitary, the dwelling place of the Slavic laborers. The trees are dwarfed and the foliage withered by the fumes; the air is gray, and only from the top of the hill above the smoke is the sky clear blue. There is more to tell, however, than can be gained by first impressions. The Homestead I would interpret in detail is neither the mill nor the town, but is made up of the households of working people, the sturdy Scotch and Welsh and German of the early immigration, the sons of Yankee "buckwheats," and the daughters of Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. Set off against the hill streets, lined with these English-speaking homes, are the courts where all Austria-Hungary seems gathered afresh. Here are lodging houses filled with single men, where the " boarding bosses" keep accounts in Russian, Slovak or Hungarian; alley 3 homestead: the households of a mill town dwellings where immigrant families are venturing a permanent home in one or two rooms, near by the Slavic church where their children are christened and receive their first communion. It is the home life the mill town leads on the wages the mill pays that has been the subject of my study. The glaring evils and startling injustices found on every hand in the congested sections of large cities supplied the first and strongest impetus toward social reform in this country. But many of the unwholesome living conditions which we associate with the poorer city neighborhoods are repeated in the average mill town with less excuse and with as bitter effects. Further- more, industrial conditions, such as low wages and long hours of labor, have as direct an influence upon home life as high rents and bad sanitation, and their influence can be studied in a com- munity which grows up about a single plant more easily than in one which presents the complications of a great city. With a knowledge of tenement districts in New York and Boston as a basis of comparison, I spent the greater part of a year in Home- stead, studying the family side of the labor problem as presented there. Homestead* is a community of approximately 25,000 people, chiefly mill workers and their families. There is today no labor or- ganization among them. Trade unionism belonged to an earlier chapter in the history of the town. A generation of boys has now grown up and entered the mills without knowing by per- sonal experience what unionism is, or, except by hearsay, what the great strike of 1892 was about. Yet, as the history of the town has been largely the history of the mill, I must first sketch the development of both, and the labor struggle which fifteen years ago determined the relations between them. As late as 1870, two farms, the old McClure and West home- steads, occupied the site of the present mill and town. Scattered along the river on smaller holdings were the simple homes of a farming population. To get to Pittsburgh, seven miles down stream, the people had either to travel the distance by road or cross the river and take the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Brad- * Politically, as will be noted later, Homestead is made up of three inde- pendent boroughs : in common speech the one term covers them all. HOMESTEAD AND THE GREAT STRIKE dock, two miles away. In 1871, the Homestead Bank and Life Insurance Company, which had bought the farms, cut them up into building lots and put them on the market, intending that Home- stead should be a residential suburb. With the building of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad in 1872, it became possible for people doing business in the city to live in Homestead. In 1874 the first church, St. John's Lutheran, was erected, and the little village began to have a social life of its own. In 1878, when its population was about 600, Bryce and Highbie opened a glass factory and the town's industrial history began. Ten houses, the first to be built for rent, were erected on Fifth Avenue for the married workmen. The land above the works was still an open field where farmers from the nearby country drove their cows to graze. In 1 88 1, when Klomans built a steel mill on the banks of the river, the step definitely determining the future of Home- stead was taken. The Klomans mill was absorbed by the Carnegie Steel Company in 1886, and became in turn one of the most im- portant plants of the United States Steel Corporation on its or- ganization in 1 90 1 . The site of Homestead made its part in this in- dustrial development almost inevitable. Situated on the Monon- gahela River, six miles below its confluence with the Youghiogheny and seven miles above the point where with the Allegheny it forms the Ohio, the town has unusual facilities for water carriage, as well as the supply of water necessary for the processes of steel manufacture. Railroad and lake routes bring iron ores from the mines of Michigan to meet here the fuel needed to reduce them. The river, which is navigable from Fairmont, West Virginia, — a distance of over one hundred miles, — runs through a region of bituminous mines. It has been this nearness to the coal beds which has made the Pittsburgh District a steel center, and the level space in the bend of the river at Homestead the floor of a great steel mill. By 1892, 8000 people had gathered at Homestead, though the town still kept many of its village characteristics. The population was composed of a fairly homogeneous group, most of them speaking the same language and mingling freely in school, church and neighborhood life, as well as within the 5 homestead: the households of a mill town mill. While it is impossible to secure any definite figures as to the make-up of the population in those days, certain facts give us a general picture of the earlier situation. Among the families visited for this study, half of the Americans and about half of the foreign born, who came from Great Britain and Western Europe, had been 15 years in Homestead; of 264 Slavs, however, only 31 were living here before the strike of 1892. The churches founded before 1892 were Lutheran, Presby- terian, Methodist, Baptist, United Presbyterian, Episcopal, and German Evangelical. It was not until 1896 that a Slavic church was built. During the ten years following the starting of the mill, there was still much immigration to the United States from Great Britain and Germany, and the growing town was in a large measure recruited from these peoples. The good pay offered in the mills attracted also American boys. Apparently, the officials fostered this natural gravitation to the industry. In a letter written in the early days, Captain Jones, of the Edgar Thomson Works, said, "My experience has shown that Ger- mans, Irish, Swedes and 'buckwheats' (young American country boys), judiciously mixed, make the most effective, tractable force you can find. Scotsmen do very well, are honest and faithful. Welsh can be used in limited quantities. But Englishmen have been the worst class of men — sticklers for high wages, small pro- duction and strikes."* According to an old resident, the men of each nationality often grouped themselves in separate mills, and, when there were good openings, sent to the old country for their friends. The ties thus created had their share in making possible an early de- velopment of trade unionism, for along with uniform standards of living, existed the opportunity to organize in order to secure con- ditions which would make those standards possible. Almost immediately after the opening of the mill the men formed a lodge of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, and within a year there was a small, quickly settled strike. The Homestead lodges grew steadily in power until they held an assured place. The wage scale was each year fixed by agree- ment between committees representing the Amalgamated Associa- * Bridge, J. H.: Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company, p. 81. 6 HOMESTEAD AND THE GREAT STRIKE tion and the employers in the industry. Within the mill also the men had much influence, and in many minor points con- trolled the action even of the superintendents. There developed, however, a diversity of interest, not between the different races but between two main wage groups,— the less skilled men, many of whom are paid by the day, and the highly skilled workers upon whom the output of the mills depends, who are paid by the ton. The lodges of the Amalgamated Association, consisting almost entirely of the tonnage men, were charged with ignoring the interests of the day men. A man employed there at the time told me that some of the highly skilled workers, such as rollers,— who were really sub-bosses and were paid on the basis of the out- put of the gang under them,— made as much as $300 in two weeks. The rank and file felt with some bitterness that not only were the capitalists securing far more than their share of the proceeds of labor, but that these few among the workers were also unduly favored. False standards in some cases were developed by the abnormally high pay, and the tendency of the few to spend care- lessly what had been earned thus easily gave the town a reputation for extravagance. A woman said, "My father used to earn $300 in two weeks and yet he never saved anything, and never tried to buy a house; that was because he drank. Why, now we have paid for our house and have money in the bank and the 'mister' never makes more than $25 a week." The reckless expenditure of the exceptionally paid men, however, apparently no more than reflected the general spirit of the Pittsburgh District in days when new processes were doubling output and money was easily made. This, then, was the situation at the time of the great strike in 1892, which in so many ways influenced the future of Home- stead. Within the five years preceding, the Carnegie Steel Com- pany had doubled its capital and had increased the number of employes in Homestead alone to about 4000, 800 of whom were members of the Amalgamated Association. In 1889, a sliding scale had been introduced by which the rate of pay per ton varied with the market price of steel, under the proviso, however, that if the latter fell below $25 per ton no further reduction in wages was to be made. This agreement did not affect the wages of the day men. In the spring of 1892, the Association voted to renew 7 homestead: the households of a mill town the contract on the old terms, but the company demanded that the base should be $22 instead of $25 and that the contract should expire in January instead of July. After a number of conferences, the company advanced its minimum to $23 and the men reduced theirs to $24, but no concessions at all were made in regard to the date of expiration of the contract. The men felt that in case of disagreement and strike they would be at a far greater disadvantage in the winter when lack of work would be more keenly felt. The company, on the other hand, claimed that as its commercial con- tracts were frequently made to date from January 1, it was necessary to know at that time what was to be the labor cost for the ensuing year. Behind these ostensible points of disagreement, however, lay one fundamental issue which, though seldom mentioned, was the keynote of the strike, — trade unionism. The Amalgamated Association had been taking to itself more and more power. A small group secured the desirable positions; the permission of the Association had to be obtained before any of its members could be discharged. It stood in the way of lowering individual wage rates, and in general not only obstructed the free hand which the company wanted but interfered with many details of operation. In 1889, H. C. Frick became chairman of Carnegie Brothers and Company. As he had aroused the antagonism of the labor world through his suppression of the strike in the coke region a few years before, the mill men feared that he would crush the Amalgamated Association. More keen, therefore, than their in- terest in the points at issue was the belief that if they failed in this strike, the power, if not the very existence of the union, would go. This fear accounts for the pertinacity with which the struggle was fought to the finish and for the deep-seated bitterness which followed the men's defeat. The strike began June 30. The Association, which had been so recently indifferent to the condition of the day men, now realized, since many of the latter could be put into the skilled positions, that the strike could not be won without their assistance. A call was thereupon issued for them to strike, and the day men, with every- thing to lose and almost nothing to gain, went out too, and HOMESTEAD AND THE GREAT STRIKE remained faithful supporters to the end. A committee of fifty men, called the advisory board, conducted the strike. Shortly after the trouble began, the company attempted to bring into the mill some 300 men in charge of Pinkerton detec- tives. The strikers had feared that the company would do this, since Mr. Frick had called in the Pinkertons at the Connellsville coke strike and bloodshed had followed. The detectives started up the river in boats in the early morning of July 6, and a scout who had been stationed by the strikers came on horseback to warn the town. The story of that morning, as it is retold among the people of Homestead, suggests vividly the ride of Paul Revere to rouse other insurgents more than a century earlier. Men and women hurried to the mill, weapons were hunted up and barricades erected. Which side fired the first shot is still a debated question, but a miniature battle followed in which seven persons were killed and others wounded. The Pinkertons finally surrendered, were brought into the town and later were returned to Pittsburgh. There are conflicting stories as to the incidents of the day, stories of bloodshed and cruelty. The one clear fact is that the mob fury latent in most men was wakened by that first shot. It is hard to believe that the sober, self-contained workmen who told me the story fifteen years afterward had been part of the frenzied crowd on the river bank. As is so often the case, however, that July morning over- shadowed in the minds of the public the true character and sig- nificance of the determined struggle, which under conservative leadership lasted four or five months. For after the first clash the question became one of endurance, and though the state militia were called in no further disturbance of any magnitude arose. One woman, the owner of a number of small houses, told me that in the latter part of the strike she rented some of them to non-union men, but that contrary to her expectation she experienced no personal annoyance. Quietly, stubbornly, the men continued the fight. The contributions which poured in from fellow workmen and the public prevented physical suffering ; sympathetic strikes kept up their courage, as did the difficulty of the company in finding men to take their places. In the mean- time the life of the town went on, changed but little by the in- 9 homestead: the households of a mill town dustrial conflict. The local papers tell of weddings, of picnics, of church suppers and of the casual comings and goings of the towns- people, while in the mill below was being contested, though in a waiting game, the issue which was to determine in many respects the future of the village. Since the whole town was in one way or another dependent on the mill, the interest even of small merchants and others not directly concerned was of course intense. While some of the people appreciated the weak points in the claims of the Amalga- mated Association, the general feeling was so strong that no one would express an opinion unfavorable to the union. The mild tone of the local papers leads one to believe that they did not reflect the state of the public mind, with its resentment at the presence of the soldiers and its alternations of hope and despair as to the outcome of the summer. About the middle of October the men realized that they had failed, and went back — those who could get their old jobs — at a wage determined by the company. A few were refused positions, and many others who found that their places in the mill had been taken by the strike breakers had either to take inferior positions or go elsewhere. The resulting bitterness made itself felt for years in the relation of the men to the Carnegie Company. When you talk with a skilled and intelligent man who is still refused work in any mill of the United States Steel Corporation because of the part he played in that strike, over fifteen years ago, you realize why the passions it aroused have not died out. For most of the town, life resumed its normal course. Newspapers in New Orleans and St. Paul and San Francisco ceased to discuss Homestead; it drop- ped back to its place among industrial towns, facing for good or ill the problems which this changed labor situation created. Looking back from the vantage ground of the present, one is impressed by the vital character of the questions at issue. The particular change in the wage scale which was ostensibly the point under dispute, was, comparatively speaking, a small matter; the significant fact is that every cut since has been accepted by the men without hope and with no effective protest. There was involved a question of social equity apart from 10 HOMESTEAD AND THE GREAT STRIKE whether the union carried its interference in mill administration to unwarranted lengths, or whether the company had grounds for adopting its inflexible policy of suppressing any labor organiza- tions among the men. This question was whether the workmen in the industry were to profit in the long run by improved and cheapened processes of production; in other words, was mechani- cal progress to mean a real increase of prosperity to the com- munity as the years passed. If the Homestead strike had been won by the men, the company would have continued to recognize that settled employes have some claims with respect to the terms of their employment, and to grant them a voice in the wage adjustments which from time to time determine what share of the proceeds of production belongs to labor. It may well be I questioned whether the standards of living for steel employes would have settled to their present levels. The union ceased to exist, and since that date thosje^onrrnon factors in employment which circumscribe a man's life, — his hours, his wages, and the conditions under which he works, — and which in turn vitally affect the well-being of his family; these he was to have less and less share in determining. CHAPTER II THEMAKE-UP OF THE TOWN THE strike ended, mill and town continued their rapid growth until little is now left to suggest the village which in 1870 we saw developing on the farms beside the river. The changes of the intervening years, however, except for the influx of the Slavs, have been gradual and unnoticed. Their history is unwritten, and our real interest lies rather in the present develop- ment, in the type of town which the great plant and its 7000 employes have created at Homestead. The population is typical of the newer American industrial centers as distinguished from the New England village or the western county seat. It is a town primarily of workingmen— a town of many transients. It is, moreover, strikingly representative of the two waves of immigra- tion, — the first, of Teutons and Celts, the later, of Slavs— and of the great social cleavage between them. While at the date of this study there were no detailed sta- tistics of nationalities making up the population, the census of 1900 reported for the borough of Homestead, 4528 native white of native parents, 3781 native white of foreign parents, 3594 foreign born white, 640 Negroes, and 11 Chinese; that is, about 36 per cent of the population was native white of native parents. This percentage is fairly typical of mill towns in the steel district, as shown by a comparison with nearby industrial boroughs (Table 2). Facts obtained as to the birthplace of men employed in the mill in July, 1907, the greater number of whom live in Homestead, give with fair accuracy the racial groups represented in the present foreign born population. Of 6772 employes, 1925, or 28.4 per cent, were native white, 121 colored, 398 English, 259 Irish, 129 Scotch, 176 German, 3603 Slavs,* and 161 other European * In this book "Slav" is used as a general term to include Magyars and Lithuanians, as well as those belonging to the Slavic race. For an exhaustive and thoroughly interesting account of the immigration to this country from Austro-Hungary see Balch, Emily Greene: Our Slavic Fellow Citizens. New York, Charities Publication Committee, 191 o. 12 ,.# # -■r Drawn by Joseph Stella Of the Old Time Irish Immigration THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN TABLE I. — TOTAL POPULATION, AND NUMBER AND PER CENT OF NATIVE AND FOREIGN BORN IN HOMESTEAD, igOO Total Popula- Native White of Native Pa- rents Native White of Foreign Pa- rents Foreign Born White Colored tion Number Per cent Number Percent Number Per cent Number Per cent 12,554 4528 36.0 378. 30.1 3594 28.6 65, 5- 2 TABLE 2. — TOTAL POPULATION, AND PER CENT OF NATIVE WHITE AND FOREIGN BORN IN FOUR BOROUGHS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, I9OO* Native Native White of White of Foreign Colored Total Popu- Native Foreign Born White Borough Parents Parents lation Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent Braddock 15654 4887 31.2 5098 32.6 5105 32.6 564 3-6 Duquesne 9036 27 £5 2088 30.6 2628 29.1 3448 38.2 195 2.2 Millvale 6736 31.0 3056 45-4 .58. 23.5 1 1 0.2 Sharpsburg 6842 2766 40.4 2539 37-i 1279 18.7 258 3.8 TABLE 3. — TOTAL EMPLOYES, AND NUMBER AND PER CENT OF VARIOUS RACIAL GROUPS IN THE HOMESTEAD PLANT, CARNEGIE STEEL CO., JULY, I907 Total Number and Per cent of Em- ployes Native White English Irish Scotch German Other Euro- peans Slav Colored 6772 1925 398 259 129 ,76 .61 3603 121 1 00.0 28.4 16.6 53-2 1.8 *Twelfth U. S. Census, 1900. 13 homestead: the households of a mill town nationalities. These figures show the absence of Italians as a factor in the labor situation in the mills, and the predominance of Slavs, who form over 53 per cent of the total number employed. As Germans and British tend to amalgamate with the native whites the community has fallen more or less naturally into two major groups, — the English-speaking and the Slavs. The Negroes form a third group, much fewer in numbers, allied to the first group by a common speech, but resembling the second in the attitude toward them in the earlier days when they were looked down upon as intruders of alien blood. In Homestead, Negroes are not engaged in domestic service as in most northern cities, but are employed in the mill or in the building trades. Of those who are now in the mills, some came in the first instance as strike breakers and have advanced to well-paid positions. I call to mind especially a man who, starting as a laborer, is now a roller, the highest skilled of the steel workers. These men have in the main come to adopt the same standards as their white neighbors, and are usually treated with genuine respect by the latter, but there is still some sense of resentment roused by the success of the Negroes or their pretensions to gentility. An interesting instance of this attitude came to my attention. A white woman who had been for many years a resident of Homestead was especially vexed because a nearby house had been sold to a Negro. Some weeks later I visited the wife of this colored property owner, who had been ill, and she told me feelingly how good her white neighbors had been to her. She spoke especially of this older resident who had complained to me, and mentioned how she had brought dainties and finally helped persuade her to go to the hospital. Thus, though social distinctions still exist and the colored people have their own lodges and churches, the more prosperous among them are winning respect.* The break between the Slavs and the rest of the community is on the whole more absolute than that between the whites and *There is a totally different class of colored people, who run houses of ill fame and gambling resorts on Sixth Avenue; a " sporty " element which is much in evidence and creates for the race an unpleasant notoriety. These people frequently appear in police courts and form a low element in the town's life. 14 THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN the Negroes. Neither in lodge nor in church, nor, with a few exceptions, in school, do the two mingle. Even their living places are separated; the Second Ward, except for those who owned homes there in earlier years, has been largely abandoned to the newer immigrants. This sharp division, while partly due to the barrier which differences in language and custom create, is in- tensified by a feeling of scorn for the newcomers on the part of the older residents. They are "Hunkies," that is all, and many an American workman who earns but a few cents a day more looks upon them with an utter absence of kinship. The more intelligent Slavs, who desire better things for their people, feel this lack of understanding keenly, for they realize the handicap it means in their upward struggle. The change from the early homogeneous group of workmen in Homestead is due in part to the fact that the general tide of immigrants now setting toward the United States comes from the Slavic countries, and in part to the increasing demand for manual laborers able to do the hard, unskilled work in the mills. This heavy labor the English-speaking group is now less willing to perform and here the Slav finds his opportunity. The population of the town has also been affected by the fact that the steel industry calls for the work of men only. In the census for 1900, we find that of the 12,554 people in Homestead borough, 7,141, or 56.9 per cent, were males, while in Allegheny County as a whole the males formed 52 per cent, and in the entire United States but 51.2. The preponderance of males was even greater among the immigrant population in Homestead, constituting 63.4 per cent of the foreign born. Furthermore, of the men employed in the mill, 35.3 per cent are unmarried, though only 10.2 per cent are under twenty. The large transient bodyi of single men, as we shall see in Chapter XI, constitutes a serious/ menace to home life among the Slavs. Other transients are also numerous, and their presence lessens the effective civic force of the community. Among them are many young college graduates employed in the mechanical departments of the mill, who do not consider themselves permanent residents. My acquaintance with those met in two boarding houses in Homestead showed me that their interest in the town was casual. Few take any active share 15 homestead: the households of a mill town either in local politics or in movements to improve local condi- tions. The families of the English-speaking workers, however, are bound together by common interests and common ties. They live near enough to see each other easily, their lives are molded by similar forces and as a result a more than usual degree of sym- pathy exists among them. This is shown perhaps most strikingly in the great kindnesses of neighbor to neighbor in times of distress. Such acts are not looked upon as charity. If a man is ill, the men in his mill take up a collection for his needs as friend for friend, knowing that when the need is theirs he will return the kindness. A man told me of his experience when he was laid up four months with rheumatism. He had begun to worry about bills, for when pay day came no pay was due him. But his "buddy" walked in with an envelope containing a sum of money. Later, when this was exhausted, the men made another gift. He accepted it very simply, almost as a matter of course, the thought of similar gifts he had made, and others he would make, keeping him from feeling any sense of obligation. This sense of community of interest I found helped greatly to strengthen the fraternal organ- izations. In the main, then, this is a town of wage-earners. None of those extremes of wealth and social position that exist in cities are found here. There is a small social circle composed of business and professional men and the officials in the mill. As some of the most skilled workmen earn more than the minor officials over them, the line between workmen and superintendents is not a sharp one. In the days of small industries the mill owner lived in the mill town, maintaining there his social as well as economic leadership, stimulating its activities and playing his part in movements for its well-being. But the individual mill owner is a thing of the past. Stockholders have taken his place. They are scattered all over the country and know their property only as a source of dividends, giving in return neither interest nor stimulus to the workers; and managers and superintendents, however public spirited, shift and change. 16 / -w/ Drawn by Joseph Stella k I &# - Head: Slavic Day Laborer THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN These are some of the changes in the social make-up of the borough which have come with that business development which has made the Homestead mills part of a national industry, and with that labor policy which has opened the doors to all comers and has tolerated no control of the situation by the men on the ground. Under such conditions of growth it is well to ask how adequately the physical difficulties of building a town on the river bank have been mastered; what has been the development of civic and political institutions to meet the needs of the changing com- munity; and what the economic development of the borough, outside of the great industry itself . My inquiry into these things has been limited intentionally to certain aspects of the situation as reflected in the household life. We have seen that industrial factors — easy access to ores, water, transportation, etc. — made Homestead an ideal mill site. As a site for a town it is not ideal.* The river in hollowing its way through the hills sometimes left a narrow rim along its banks, but more often the descent to the water's edge is abrupt. The larger level space at a sharp bend was chosen as the site for the mill. As the plant was at first small the buildings did not monop- olize the entire river front, and the low ground then open to the river furnished ample room for the homes of the workers. The mill, however, grew rapidly and spread over more and more of the level, till now its buildings stretch for a mile along the water. In its growth it has encroached on some of the territory already occupied by houses. The last to go were the rows of little shanties inside the mill grounds erected to shelter the strike breakers of 1892, — a settlement called Potterville, after the superintendent in charge during the strike. These houses were demolished some four years ago and the tenants had to move to the already crowded districts just outside. This congestion, due to the desire of the employes for homes near their work, is increased by the steepness of the hill behind, a weary climb after the labor of the day. As the site of the mill was extended up the river, houses were built further along the hillside and also along the ravines where the slope was more gradual. In this way the town pushed *See map, facing page 1. I 7 homestead: the households of a mill town out beyond the narrow triangle with its base on the river, which formed the original borough. Instead, however, of extending the boundaries of Homestead to cover this new territory two additional boroughs were created, Munhall on the east and West Homestead on the west. Consequently we have the curious anomaly of a town that is a social and industrial unit parceled off into three politically independent boroughs. Munhall, the eastern part of the hill, was originally sepa- rated from Homestead by a ravine, and was largely the property of John Munhall, one of the oldest residents of the town. Ad- joining was the site of the Pittsburgh City Poor Farm. It was here that the state militia were quartered in 1892. Soon after the strike, the property was bought up by the Carnegie Land Company, now a constituent part of the United States Steel Corporation. Before any lots were offered for sale, streets were laid out, sewers, running water and electricity put in, and houses planned and erected. The majority of the larger houses were sold to mill employes, and those that the company still owns can only be rented by them. In 1 901, on application of the property owners, the borough was incorporated.* It included not only the land owned by the Carnegie Land Company, but three- quarters of the mill property itself. Munhall thus forms a geo- graphical triangle similar to Homestead, the mill occupying the base on the river and the residence portion lying on the hill above. Beyond Munhall lies the "Hollow," a deep ravine with a meandering stream at the bottom and with irregular rows of houses, often hardly more than shanties, on either hand. Forty- four acres of land hang upon the sides of the two abrupt hills. The land is owned by the John Munhall Estate; and the 250 frame, box-like houses, many of them no larger than two rooms, *This action was taken under a provision of the state constitution that any section of a township may, with the approval of the county court, be formed into a borough on the vote of a majority of its electors. The site of the Carne- gie steel plant at Homestead was formerly part of Mifflin township and the town- ship collected all the tax. It was found that the tax rate on other parts of the township was being reduced to a minimum while the bulk of the tax receipts coming from the steel plant was being used in rural parts and very little spent in the neighborhood of the works. The new borough of Munhall was organized and the taxes paid by the works were thereafter expended within its boundaries. THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN are owned mostly by unskilled laborers in the mills. The Munhall Estate lets the land upon which the workers build their houses on ten-year leases. Like the Cabbage Patch in which the Wiggses lived, it is a "queer neighborhood where ramshackle cottages play hop-scotch" over the crooked ditch and up the hillsides. The property is not surveyed into streets, there being only one public thoroughfare, an unpaved dirt road running lengthwise of the hollow; and, along most of the road, the owner seems in building his house to have "faced it any way his fancy prompted." The borough has installed street lights along this road, and has placed perhaps half a dozen upon the private property of the estate; but there are no sewers nor other public improvements. A branch line of street cars running through the Hollow connects with a rather promising suburb called Homeville, built on the hill slopes at the end of the ravine. Another branch line runs straight back from the river over the top of the hill to Home- stead Park and Lincoln Place, suburbs attractively situated on high ground. Whitaker, which adjoins Munhall to the east, has a population of about 2000, largely wage-earners. As these men work in the mill, and their families shop in Homestead, they might fairly be included in the Homestead census. Hays, toward Pittsburgh, is another borough that is at least in a meas- ure a part of the Homestead community. Nearer by, formed by the extension of Homestead to the west, in much the same way that Munhall was created to the east, is West Homestead. Disregarding the outlying settlements, these three boroughs may be said to make up the fairly compact but politically divided community which has been gathered to- gether by the Homestead mill. Though West Homestead con- tains less wealth than Munhall, it includes the plant of the Mesta Machine Company, the only other considerable industry in the town. Each of these separate boroughs elects its own officials, makes its own ordinances, and provides through taxation for its own needs. Through this division the taxable properties of the great industries are separated from the central borough, which has by far the largest population and which, with the exception of Munhall Hollow, includes the sections where the poorest workers live. On this point, I can quote from Shelby M. Harrison, a 19 homestead: the households of a mill town colleague in the work of the Pittsburgh Survey, who compares the fiscal situation in Homestead and Munhall as follows : The mill-worker resident in Homestead is affected by the tax question from at least two directions. First, over three-fourths of the mill property is located in Munhall borough where, except in 1907, the tax rate has never been over half that in Homestead, the borough in which a majority of the mill workers live. In 1907, property in Munhall paid a total borough and school tax of 8J mills on the dollar, while in the same year Homestead property paid 15 mills.* This artificial division into separate taxing districts of a community which is in practically all senses a TABLE 4.— HOMESTEAD AND MUNHALL TAXES, I907 Assessed Valuation of Property MlLLAGE Total Tax Boroughs 1 CO 3j Munhall .... Homestead §6,957. 6 30 9,120,765 3i 4! 7 81 '5 % 57.400.45 136,81 1.48 Total .... $16,078,395 $194,211.93 unit, however that division may have come about, relieves the Steel Corporation from much of its local responsibility as a property holder. Its relief means a heavier burden upon the residents of Homestead; some one must build and maintain schools and public works, protect person and property, and support local government. The burden is further accentuated by the tendency among assessors, com- mon in all industrial centers, to value small properties at much nearer their full market value than they do large properties — especially large manufacturing plants. Con- servative estimates by persons familiar with the situation * In 1908, the rates were, Munhall, 8| mills, Homestead, 16 mills; in 1909, Munhall, 81 mills, Homestead, 18 mills. In 1910, with no statement or explana- tion to the taxpayers, the Homestead borough council jumped the borough millage from 10 to 13. The school tax for 191 o is 9 mills, the total local rate thus reaching 22 mills, or 2.2 per cent of the assessed value of property, a rate 2| times that in Munhall. THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN indicate that the mill property in both boroughs is not assessed upon more than 30 per cent of its actual value, whereas Homestead residence property will average an assessed valuation equal to 80 per cent of its market value. Thus, in reality, the tax rate upon much the greater part of the mill property must be more than cut in two for pur- poses of comparison. A rate of 8£ mills on a 30 per cent valuation is equal to 2.5 mills on full valuation; and 15 mills on an 80 per cent valuation equals 12 mills on full value; so that the real tax rates closely approximate 2.5 mills for the corporation against 12 mills, practically five times as much, for the everyday Homestead taxpayer. The same percentages would hold with respect to county taxes. On the other hand, if this social and industrial unit were made a municipal unit, then instead of Munhall paying a tax of 8| mills on the dollar, as in 1907, and Homestead paying 15 mills on the dollar, the united boroughs could receive the same total revenues as before by paying 12 mills upon the same valuations. This would reduce the tax rate for the Homestead householder by three mills, or 20 per cent less than his present rates. It would raise the tax rate on a majority of the corporation property 3! mills, or 45 per cent. Raising the assessed valuation of the property of the steel company to the general level would reduce the householders' rates still further. Second, the Homestead borough government aggra- vates this heavy burden of taxation instead of lightening it. In direct contrast to conditions in Munhall, where the influence of the Carnegie Steel Company practically domin- ates borough action and has made the local government efficient and without suspicion of graft, an appreciable part of Homestead's public funds has been squandered upon enterprises that have failed, the cost of improvements is excessive, and the city's finances are looked after in an utterly haphazard fashion. In 1907-8, $95,000 was out- standing as delinquent taxes — much over half the sum annually assessed in taxes for the borough. Although the borough bears a big debt burden, and although its bonds stipulate that a sinking fund must be established for their retirement, no sinking fund has existed for a number of years. Yet borrowing is resorted to with small concern. In 1907 the bonded debt amounted to $441,500, and the current debt to $16,933, — $458,000 in all.* The borough * In March, 19 10, the borough was $621,776.03 in debt, — certainly near, if not actually beyond, the limit of its borrowing privilege, — and was arranging to homestead: the households of a mill town has been selling bonds from time to time to pay current expenses— a broad, easy, spendthrift course, paved with engraved promises, which, if persisted in, must lead to ultimate loss of credit and bankruptcy." The mill's escape, then, from the local government burden, and the town's aggravation of that burden, come down on the families of working people, either as house-owners or as payers of the high rents current in the borough. HOMESTEAD AS A CIVIC UNIT It is with Homestead borough in 1907-8 that this household study is primarily concerned, and in judging its public activities we must consider the limitations of borough resources noted, and the state restrictions upon borough authority, coupled with the industrial conditions which, as we shall see, circumscribe the effective citizenship of the mill workers. These have had a part in the failures in self-government which have characterized this community, along with many others in America. For while the town has grown steadily both in population and territory, civic interest and the well-being resulting from sound political organiza- tion have not kept pace with this growth. The school board and the board of health have the respect of the town, and men of standing are willing to serve on them. But the borough legisla- ture, a council of fifteen members, has been controlled in Home- stead by the type of small politician to be found in office wherever wholesale liquor dealers dominate politics and where the local government is used merely as a feeder for a state political machine * Townspeople with whom I talked had apparently ceased to expect intelligent action on their part. Serious charges of dishonesty in float $45,000 additional bonds. The borough clerk's published estimates of muni- cipal assets total only $509,874.28 —over §100,000 less than its total indebtedness. In authorizing the new bonds a resolution was adopted providing for the main- tenance of a sinking fund in the future. Homestead borough's system of public accounting is neither a system nor accounting; the borough treasurer was not only without a personal bond for several months recently, but he allowed several thou- sand dollars of certificates to go to protest while the books of the clerk showed that the treasurer had money of the borough in his possession sufficient to pay them. Some years the borough auditors have not audited the accounts of the treasurer giving as a reason that the treasurer kept no books. * John F. Cox, the Republican "boss" of the borough, was in 1908 speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which has long since ceased to represent the people of Pennsylvania. 22 ''The Mansion" The company-owned home of the Superintendent. The purpose in providing it is, of course, to make it practicable for the responsible executive to be within call of the works. Pholn by Tline The Street Homestead's only outdoor playground in 1907. These children, through no will of their own, live within sound of the mill. There was as yet no provision for their simplest recreational needs in the scheme of things laid out by their elders. THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN awarding bids for a garbage plant and of bribery in connection with other matters had been brought against members in 1904. While the testimony given at the investigation leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader that there had been crooked dealings, it was suppressed and led to no action. Apart from these allegations of dishonesty, the council has acquired a reputation for general inefficiency. It has been slow to insist on sanitary regulations necessitated by the increasing density of population. The first forward step from the primitive sanitation of village days was taken the year after the strike, when the streets were paved, and sewers and town water put in. A large percentage of the houses, especially the cheaper ones, nevertheless had neither running water nor toilets in them in 1907-8.* The water supply of the borough is drawn from the Monon- gahela River. This stream is contaminated by the sewage of many small towns, as well as of two cities, McKeesport and Con- nellsville, the former with a population of about 40,000 and the latter of 10,000. In addition the water, some of which drains from the mines, has been used over and over for the processes of steel and coke manufacture, and is impregnated with chemicals, especially sulphuric acid. One Homestead resident said, "No respectable microbe would live in it." In this probably lies the explanation of why the typhoid death rate in Homestead has been low (6 deaths in 1907) in contrast to Pittsburgh. While these chemicals may destroy the bacteria to a considerable extent, they are not in themselves ingredients of good drinking water. This water was formerly pumped directly from the river into the reservoir, but in 1904-5 a number of wells were driven at a short distance from the river, with the idea that the water draining into them would thus be gravel-filtered before it was pumped into the reservoir. I was told, however, by a physician and a town official that these wells do not supply enough water, and that when they give out the reservoir is again filled directly from the stream. After this plant was constructed the water was analyzed by the *Tam told that there has been a marked increase in these sanitary improve- ments since. (See Appendix VI. p. 222. Report, Homestead Board of Health For comment on the Pittsburgh Survey, see p. 224.) 23 homestead: the households of a mill town state board of health and reported safe for drinking. When I first went to live in Homestead I attempted to use water that had been boiled but not filtered, and found it exceedingly distasteful. Local physicians forbid people to drink the borough water unless it has been boiled and filtered, and many refuse to use it at all for drinking purposes. Most residents seemed to accept such a situation as a matter of course. Until recently conditions in Pittsburgh and McKees- port have been equally bad,* so that Homestead had no compelling nearby example to make its people realize that a satisfactory water system was possible. Instead of attempting to improve the town supply, many have drawn their drinking water from wells. No ordinances govern the location of these wells. In the courts of Slavic dwellings they are often near drains which carry waste water to the privy vaults, and when the pavements are broken this water must leak into the wells with but little filtration. Moreover, the board of health does not inspect the wells nor analyze the water from them, except at private expense. One outbreak of typhoid was traced directly to a well which had been used by a number of families because the water was supposed to be particularly good. Not only is the quality of the water supplied by the borough of Homestead poor, but there is no ordinance requiring running water in tenements. The borough clerk does not know how many houses are without it since he charges the water tax to each property holder in a lump sum with no indication as to the number of families supplied. The landlords, who seem to be influential with the council, naturally oppose such a requirement, and becaus : of a shortage in dwelling houses have been under no pressure to put in water taps in order to rent the older or cheaper buildings. The men with larger wages and more influence move into houses which at least have running water in the kitchens. Immigrant laborers continue to carry water in and out from a common hydrant in the court. In different sections, also, I found young American families who had no running water in the house, and * Munhall borough today purchases filtered water from the South Pitts- burgh Water Company. McKeesport treats and mechanically filters its water; Pittsburgh has built huge sand filtration beds. These plants have been put into operation within the last three years. 2 4 THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN who complained that they could not afford to move to better quarters. But though the husbands had votes and had friends with votes, it apparently never occurred to them to attempt to secure what they wanted through public action. More serious is the indifference of many of the residents, including the officials, to the evils resulting from unflushed privy vaults. Though a borough ordinance requires that vaults be connected with the sewer, it demands no adequate means of flushing them. Physicians felt that conditions in the Second Ward near the mill were so bad that the council should pass an ordinance requiring that all closets be placed within the house and properly flushed; yet no steps were taken to secure it. There are, furthermore, no building laws, except one which requires that buildings on the business streets shall be fireproof. In regulating overcrowding or other unsanitary conditions the board of health has authority to act in cases which can be classed as nuisances.* Under the authority thus granted it has insisted in many instances upon the cleansing of vaults, the destruction of particularly un- sanitary closets, and upon turning some of the boarders out of especially overcrowded tenements. Thus, in 1907 the sanitary officers reported that they had compelled the cleaning of 848 yards and 176 cellars, and the opening of 254 closets; forced owners to abandon 42 outside closets and place new ones in houses; had 201 stopped sewers cleaned and 48 new sewer connections made; removed 64 boarders from overcrowded houses and com- pelled the cleaning of 48 rooms found in unsanitary condition and the windows of 161 rooms in residences and of 12 in schools. There are, however, no municipal regulations as to overcrowding, ventilation or sanitation that would create specific standards which all property owners might be compelled to meet. The death rate for 1907, 24 per 1000, indicated the need of * Borough Ordinance: — Whatever is dangerous to human life or health; whatever renders the air or food or water or other drinks unwholesome; and whatever building, erection or part or cellar thereof is overcrowded or not provided with adequate means of ingress and egress, or is not sufficiently supported, ventilated, sewered, drained, cleaned or lighted, are declared to be nuisances, and to be illegal, and every person having aided in creating or contributing to the same, or who may support, continue or retain any of them, shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this ordinance, and also be liable for the expense of the abatement and remedy thereof. 25 homestead: the households of a mill town further sanitary precautions. Of the 416 deaths, 94, or 22.6 per cent, were from pneumonia and tuberculosis, and 65, or 15.6 per cent, were from marasmus, cholera infantum and convulsions. That is, 38.2 per cent of the total number of deaths were from diseases closely connected with lack of sufficient air, good food and intelligent care of children. Altogether, the public seems to take little active interest in the situation. The burgess,* in 1908, reported that the results of an investigation of overcrowding in the lodging houses, which he himself had made, aroused no general interest. Inefficient as the local government may be in dealing with sanitary problems, the general run of landlords give no evidence of a greater sense of responsibility for solving them. This is illustrated in the conditions permitted by the big private estate in the adjoin- ing borough of Munhall. The "run" in Munhall Hollow amounts to an open sewer bringing down filth and debris from other settle- ments farther up the valley through which its tributaries pass. In the hot summer months, the stench becomes almost unbearable, making it frequently necessary to haul lime in by the wagon load, to be dumped along the bed of the creek. When the rains are heavy in the spring, the valley is often so flooded that the water fills many of the cellars and even comes in much above the first floors of the houses at the lower end of the hollow. It may be well to note how this peculiar form of landlordism affects the home life of a considerable group of mill employes. The system of leasing followed by the Munhall Estate makes it more or less easy to shift responsibility for the continuance of primitive con- ditions in the Hollow. By the terms of the short-time leases, the tenants agree to pay a stipulated land rent, and all taxes and water rates in addition. The local rule is that public improvements, such as paving, sewers, etc., shall be assessed one-third against the bor- ough and two-thirds against abutting property owners; and natur- ally improvements are not made unless there is a demand among property owners for them. Since the agreement of the tenants to pay taxes includes the two-thirds of the cost of public improvements, they do not urge the building of public works which will benefit the Munhall Estate and might only tend to raise rents every ten years. * The burgess is the chief executive officer of the borough. 26 THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN The agent, on the other hand, maintains that the houses do not belong to the Estate, and that it is not responsible for bad conditions inside a tenant's lot and house; the land rents are low and the tenant should take enough interest in his home to improve it. Furthermore, the most serious sanitary problem, as the Estate sees it, and the one to be dealt with first, is the brook, both when it keeps within its banks and when it overflows them. The agent feels that this is not even a Munhall borough problem; for since the stream and its tributaries drain a wide area, the state of Pennsylvania is best fitted to act and the responsibility is laid at its door, and until it acts other things must wait. Munhall Borough in turn clears its skirts of responsibility for the Hollow on the ground that the land is private property and that its condition is the concern of the Munhall Estate. The borough has not yet regarded the condition of the Hollow as a possible menace to the health of the whole community. Meanwhile, a very appreciable proportion of the residents of Munhall, those with the scantiest resources of health and pocket- book, live in this damp, odorous gap between the hills, contending with disease, floods and an occasional fire. To turn from questions of public health to those of good order, we find the situation if anything less promising. The borough police force has for years failed to enforce the liquor laws. The man who was chief in 1908 formerly ran a gambling place under the guise of a club,* and while he was held to be capable, it was commonly reported that he owed his position to the liquor interests. I was told that the numerous "speakeasies" vvere left undisturbed as long as they bought from the wholesalers in power. In Munhall there are no saloons; in Homestead, over 50, eight being in a single block on Eighth Avenue next the mill entrance. A Homesteader summed up the situation in this way: "We have at least 65 saloons, 10 wholesale liquor stores, a number of beer * In 1908 this place, the Colonial Club, was closed, and a new chief of police was elected. There is also a new burgess, Thomas L. Davis, superintendent of a mill in the Jones and Laughlin Stee! Co., the largest independent plant in Pitts- burgh. He is a Welshman, but has lived in Homestead for many years. A general toning up of the police situation has accompanied his administration. Moreover, the Taxpayers' League, which was organized to carry on a good government cam- paign, succeeded in electing one member of the Council, M. P. Schooley, a man of personal independence and civic spirit. 27 homestead: the households of a mill town agents, innumerable 'speakeasies,' and a dozen or more drug stores," — and this in a community of 25,000. In common with the whole industrial district, Homestead suffers from a system of aldermanic courts which prevails through- out Pennsylvania, and is ill devised to serve other than rural com- munities. The system is especially open to petty tyranny and corruption in dealing with an immigrant population. All misde- meanors are tried before local "squires" or justices of the peace, who can impose fines or short terms of imprisonment, and can also act in civil suits involving amounts of less than $300. These jus- tices and the constables who serve under them are elected by the voters of the borough and serve for a period of five years. They receive no salary but are paid certain fees; for example, the fee for issuing a warrant is fifty cents and the same sum for a hearing in a criminal case or for taking bail in such a case. The constable receives one dollar for executing a warrant or for conveying the defendant to jail. These men are often uneducated, with no training in the law, and dependent for income on the number of arrests made. Obviously, many fail to comprehend the impor- tance of dealing equitably with minor offenders. Of the cases of disorderly conduct reported in the newspapers from January 1 to March 31, 1908, there were 121 in which sentence was pro- nounced. Of these, 80 were either discharged, or fined costs or $1.00 and costs. Ten out of the 121 were sent to the jail or workhouse, and four of these were sent at their own request because they had no home to go to. Such treatment by magis- trates and constables of course has little deterrent effect. On one point the borough government cannot act because of its legislative limitations. In dealing with disorderly houses, for example, the owners can be arraigned only on a charge of disorderly conduct, for which a small fine or a short period in the workhouse is the maximum penalty. No local action can be brought against them on a criminal charge. In 1907 the district attorney of Allegheny County raided a number of houses in Home- stead. Without his co-operation, however, the borough is unable to take thoroughgoing measures to eradicate them. The limitations of borough autonomy are brought out in even sharper relief in its relation to an outside corporation, the 28 H 1 1 3£ 7 ft 1 i^LjfaL-i a :; Double Grade Crossing Near the Heart of Homestead Photo by Iline An Unpaved Alley THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN railroad. The ordinance, for example, which requires that the speed of trains inside borough limits shall be limited to six miles an hour, is almost totally disregarded. One fast train which goes through late in the evening, makes but little reduction in speed, merely sending out a prolonged shriek of warning to the passer-by. Two railroads run through Homestead parallel to the main street, one two blocks and one three blocks from it. Many children on their way to school must cross the tracks, and the same is true of all the traffic going from the main street to Pittsburgh. Yet until 1908 the crossings, all level with the street, were without gates, and flagmen stationed at them left at 6 p. m .* The Pennsylvania courts had declared that a borough has no power to enact ordi- nances affecting outside corporations, can neither enforce a speed limit, nor require a railroad to put safety gates at the crossings nearest its business centers. HOMESTEAD'S ECONOMIC STATUS Enough has been said to indicate that politically the citizens of Homestead have not succeeded in creating an altogether wholesome sanitary or civic environment for their homes. Of equal influence upon household life is the economic development of a community of 25,000 people. Here we find the dominance of the one industry and the nearness of Homestead to Pittsburgh important factors. Homestead is now the market for the three boroughs and also for the outlying districts. Since the branch car lines into the surrounding country have made it possible for women living back from Homestead to shop here, the demand for good local stores has increased. The main thoroughfare, Eighth Avenue, is a typical two- and three-story business street with banks, real estate offices, numerous butcher shops and bakeries, grocery and furnish- ing stores, the latter displaying modish garments on sale for cash or "credit." A low white building bears the imposing sign " Home- *The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie tracks (New York Central System) have since been guarded with gates; the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston (Pennsylvania lines) are without gates. Gatemen and flagmen alike are as heretofore off duty at night. See Appendix VI I, p. 233, for list of casualties. 29 homestead: the households of a mill town stead's Department Stores." At frequent intervals saloons and nickelodeons offer entertainment after their kind. The few shabby looking hotels, obviously making more money from their bars than from their rooms, are characteristic of any town so near a great city. The row of shops offers all the necessities of life and the housekeeper need not journey to the city unless she wishes. Pittsburgh, to be sure, is near. It takes only fifteen minutes on the railroad and forty-five on a street car, and as the fare in the latter case is only five cents, many women make their more im- portant purchases from the greater variety of goods and the bar- gains offered by the big stores. For the most part, however, they rely on the local dealers. Business interests have not adequately met certain other needs of the town, notably the provisions for amusement. These are meagre and in winter monotonous and not inspiriting. In summer opportunities for relaxation are afforded by two parks owned by the street railway company, each situated within a five-cent fare of the town. On the line to the suburb Lincoln Place is Homestead Park. Here is a baseball ground which a league of business men utilize for games after business hours; swings, roller skating and a dancing pavilion offer their attractions to the young. Kennywood Park, on the hills beyond Homestead toward Duquesne, is the liveliest outdoor pleasure ground within reach of Pittsburgh. It is the popular place for large picnics. There is, too, a small park on the hill in Homestead which was given to the town by Mr. Henry C. Frick. It is attractively laid out in lawns and flower beds and offers a refreshing glimpse of green to the passer-by. With these parks and the numerous trolley lines into the country, the needs of summer recreation are fairly provided for, but, as has been said, when winter comes people must return to a limited range of amusements. The number and character of these are affected by the nearness of Pittsburgh. People with leisure or those who desire a better class of entertainment naturally prefer to attend lectures, concerts and theatres in the city, where they can have the best. Most towns of the size of Homestead have a local theatre where fairly good companies come for a one-night stand. In Homestead, public amusements, aside from the enter- 30 THE MAKE-UP OF THE TOWN tainments offered by the Carnegie Library, have been limited largely to skating rinks and nickelodeons. Of the business enterprises, those which doubtless most closely affect the lives of the residents are the real estate com- panies. Real estate, except in Munhall, is largely in the hands of local firms, who recognize that they have a definite part in building up the town and who take a genuine pride in it. By making it possible for those with small incomes to buy houses and by creating a sense of confidence through fair dealing (such as considerateness when purchasers strike hard times), the real estate men have helped to increase the number of house-owners. Even in this form of enterprise, in which the business life of Home- stead is at its best, the resources of the community have not been sufficient to meet the demands of its growth. Houses have not been built fast enough, and in 1907 rents were high and people found difficulty in securing suitable homes. The town's lack of economic self-dependence is serious and fundamental. A large machine manufactory and the steel mill employ practically all the inhabitants except those who provide for the needs of the workers. Financially, therefore, Homestead is almost entirely dependent on the outsiders who own these indus- tries, — non-residents who for the most part lack any interest in the future development of the town as distinguished from the mill. Some few may make gifts, — even notable ones, as in the case of the park, the library and the manual training school, — and small building loans may be granted employes; but the profits of the industries are not in any large sense re-invested in the town. The setting of the average Homestead household is now fairly complete before us. On the one hand is the inexorable mill, offering wages and work under such conditions as it pleases; on the other is a town politically failing to maintain a sound environment for its inhabitants and not possessed of independent business resources sufficient to serve them. It may well be questioned whether, with labor organization among the working people, the civic conditions would today be any better than they are. Democracy has pretty much the same 3i homestead: the households of a mill town weaknesses in small cities as in large. Certain it is, however, that the employers in Homestead who have assumed entire authority within the mill gates, have not assumed positive responsibilities toward the well-being of the community which has grown up out- side them. And of the indirect and too often negative influences of the industry upon the normal life of the community, there are, as we shall see, many evidences. In reviewing the relations of the mill to its employes in the first chapter, I pointed out that the strike, which shut the men off from any part in the terms of their work, left them still two vantage grounds from which they could control much that entered into everyday living, — the town and the home. We now see how and where the town fails to create those civic and sanitary con- ditions which should make for mental and physical efficiency. The problem then becomes largely one of the home. It is in the individual household, supported on the customary wages paid by the mill, that we must seek the meaning of life in Homestead. 32 PART II THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING HOUSEHOLDS CHAPTER III WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING IF YOU are near the mill in the late afternoon you will see a procession, an almost steady stream of men, each carrying the inevitable bucket, hurrying towards the great buildings for the night's work. A little later the tide turns and back come the day men, walking slowly and wearily towards home and supper. Thus the life of the town keeps time with the rhythm of the mill. This is brought out also by the way the town reckons dates from the year of the great strike; by the trend of its development, conditioned by dependence upon one industrial enterprise owned by outsiders; and most clearly of all by the part the mill work plays in the lives of the men themselves. While I shall not attempt to go into the technique of steel making, the general process can be stated in a few words. The crude iron brought to Homestead in huge ladles from the "Carrie" blast furnaces across the river, is taken to the open-hearth de- partment where it is put into the furnaces, mixed with scrap iron, ore, and certain chemicals, and brought to a melting heat. The open-hearth furnaces are then tapped and the metal is poured into ingot molds to cool. As the steel is needed for use the ingots are reheated and go to the "rolls," ponderous and wonderful machines, which turn out steel rails, sheets of plate for war vessels, beams for constructing skyscrapers. The conditions under which the work is carried on seem to an outsider fairly intolerable. The din in the great vaulted sheds makes speech hard. Men who have worked near the engines, though their organs of hearing remain in physically good condi- tion, sometimes become almost oblivious to ordinary sound. Some work where the heat is intense; and before the open doors 35 homestead: the households of a mill town of furnaces full of white-hot metal they must wear smoked glasses to temper the glare. This heat, exhausting in summer, makes a man in winter doubly susceptible to the cold without. While for the men directing the processes the physical exertion is often not great, most of the laborers perform heavy manual toil. And everywhere is the danger of accident from constantly moving machinery, from bars of glowing steel, from engines moving along the tracks in the yard. The men, of course, grow used to these dangers, but a new peril lies in the carelessness that results from such familiarity, for human nature cannot be eternally on guard; men would be unable to do their work if they became too cautious. The nature of the work, with the heat and its inherent hazard, makes much of it exhausting. Yet these men for the most part keep it up twelve hours a day. It is uneconomical to have the plant shut down. In order that the mills may run practically continuously, the twenty-four hours is divided between two shifts. The greater number of men employed in making steel (as distinct from the clerical staff) work half of the time at night, the usual arrangement being for a man to work one week on the day and the next on the night shift. At the request of the men, the night turn is made longer, so that they can have the full evening to themselves the other week. Their hours on the day turn, there- fore, are from 7 a. m. to 5:30 p. m.; this leaves thirteen and one-half hours for the night shift. In certain departments the regular processes are continued straight through Sunday and the crews work the full seven days out of seven; this is the case, for instance, in the blast furnaces, such as the Carrie group which are practically a part of the Homestead plant. The officials claimed in 1908 that in the rolling mills only necessary labor, such as repairing, was done on Sunday. Yet my colleague, Mr. Fitch, estimated that for Allegheny County as a whole one steel worker out of five worked seven days in a week. Moreover, a majority of the men have to be on duty either Saturday night or Sunday night, thus breaking into the day of rest.* * Mechanics, and day laborers in the yards work ten hours a day. For a full discussion of the extent of twelve-hour and Sunday work see Fitch, John A.: The Steel Workers, a companion volume in the series of The Pittsburgh Survey, p. 166 ff. For recent action of the United States Steel Corporation curtailing some kinds of Sunday work, see Appendix VIII, p. 236. 36 WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING These are the demands which the mill makes on the Home- stead men. Even the details of family life depend on whether " the mister" is working day turn or night turn; and the long shifts determine the part the steel worker plays in his household and also in his community. Financially, all time is marked off by the fortnightly "pay Friday." On that night stores are open all the evening. The streets are filled with music, and the German bands go from saloon to saloon reaping a generous harvest when times are good. Beggars besiege the gates of the mill bearing pathetic signs, " I am injured and blind — my eyes were destroyed by hot steel," and the full pocketbook is opened. It is the night for settling scores, and the bills which have accumulated for two weeks are paid and a fresh household account opened. The influence of mill work upon the home is most direct of all through the wages themselves, since wages, by limiting ex- penditures, set bounds to the attainment of a family's ideals. As a means of interpreting the household life of Homestead, therefore, I studied the everyday life of families who represented different earning and racial groups in the town's population. Ninety of the families visited kept a detailed account of all pur- chases for four weeks or more. The inquiry was not, however, primarily statistical, but rather a study at first hand of family life. 1 1 was not easy to become acquainted with the mill employes since there were no agencies, such as settlements or trade unions, to put a stranger confidentially in touch with them. Introduc- tions, secured mainly from clergymen, made it possible, however, to approach people, and paved the way for more familiar relation- ships as the weeks went on. Suspicion was often aroused and some refused to assist in the investigation. Keeping personal accounts is arduous (many of us have abandoned the praiseworthy habit), and it was not surprising that busy women declined to add this task to their burdens, or else failed to keep up the daily entries once they had begun. My 90 families were thus the residue of a much larger number; some of them dropped out; the entries of others could not be depended upon. Repeated visits to "see how the book is getting on," gave an opportunity to secure that intimate knowledge of family life which most of all was desired. One of my assistants, an American, became a resident of the town, 37 homestead: the households of a mill town living like other residents and sending her son to the Homestead schools. The young widow of a Slavic mill worker secured the budgets from the immigrants. As an interpreter in the Home- stead courts she held to a marked degree the confidence of her people, and from her I gained an insight into Slavic customs and points of view which was invaluable. The fairly complete picture of the households thus obtained made the budgets more significant and also threw light on the community life. TABLE 5. — ANALYSIS OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES. — BY RACIAL GROUP AND NORMAL WEEKLY WAGE OF MAN* Racial Croup Number oj families Under $12.00 $12.00- $14.99 $K.OO- $19.99 $20.00 and over Per cent earning under $12.00 Slav . Eng. sp. Eur.f . Nat. white . Colored 29 '3 25 23 2! 2 2 6 % 4 4 6 8 2 i 72.4 77 0.0 8.7 Total . 90 24 21 22 23 26.6 * For detailed analysis, see Appendix I, Table 1, p. 200. t This group included English, Scotch, Irish and German families. A few words of personal description from these individual studies will illustrate the make-up of the representative groupings of the table. The men earning less than $12 a week were largely Slavic day laborers, many of them newcomers, although three had been here fifteen years or more. Some were lately married, starting life in a single room, and some had families of four or five children to maintain. The group of men earning $12 to $14.99 a wee ^ included more varied types; such as a middle-aged Englishman, semi- skilled, whose thrifty wife was managing on this wage to bring up their six children; two Americans with equally large families (one of six children, the other of seven), whose work also demanded little skill, and who also had wives who to some extent made up for the low wages by skilful housekeeping; a third American, unambitious, who held a poorly paid "pencil" job,* and who * Clerical or semi-clerical position. 38 WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING already counted on his fourteen-year-old son to help provide for the household; a colored teamster, who with three children to support, called on his wife to earn a little, by cleaning for her neighbors; and, in contrast to these, a Slav who had worked seven years in the mill and was now an engineer. This group and the succeeding one were drawn from the better paid day men and the lower paid tonnage men. Among the steel workers earning $15 to $19.99 were two Slavs and a Scotchman who were helpers at the open-hearth furnaces, an Irish machinist, one American with a good "pencil job" and another who did semi-skilled work at the rolls. The part which personal choice plays in spending when incomes are large enough to give some margin, was illustrated by the families of the men in this group. Here, an American on the clerical staff of the mill with a clever wife and two small children, saved little, for they had chosen instead to have an attractive five-room house; there, a Slav with the same income and the same sized family lived in two rooms which were shared by two lodgers, and already had a bank account of $400; another, an Irish machinist, drank up part of his wages, and his wife had not the gift of home-making. The group of men earning $20 and over were good workmen and good providers as well. For instance, one was a Slav who came to America over twenty years ago to begin life here as a miner, and who now is a citizen and has a comfortable four-room home; another, a Scotchman, intelligent and interesting, whose home is a model of thrift, and whose four children are to have the best that American public schools can give. Nine out of 15 of the steel workers in this group were tonnage men. There are two main factors which determine the standards of living of such wage-earning families: one, external circum- stances which the family cannot control, such as money-wages, location, educational and social opportunities; the other, the ideals which it is continually struggling to reach. No account of individuals or families which fails to take both external cir- cumstances and personal ideals into consideration can be complete; both are necessary to reveal the latent power in the people of a community. The problem presents itself to the mind of the 39 homestead: the households of a mill town wage-earner in simpler English: " How much can 1 make? What shall I spend it for?" As the second question is always that of a choice of wants, the decision as to which seem worth working and paying for is perhaps the clearest mark of a family's mental development. If we collect data as to family expenditures and compare the answers thus made to these two questions, we can estimate the character and self-dependence of a laboring com- munity; and, in turn, can measure what home life the wage- earner's pay makes possible. What in the first place then are the wages paid in Homestead ? As a background to the study of the 90 budget families, we were fortunate in securing an authoritative statement regard- ing the men employed in the Homestead plant in March, 1907, classified by racial group, degree of skill, etc. Of the total 6,772 men, 1,266, or 18.7 per cent, were skilled; 1,556, or 23 per cent, semi-skilled; and 3,950, or 58.3 per cent, unskilled. TABLE 6. — MEN EMPLOYED IN THE HOMESTEAD MILL IN MARCH, I907. NUMBER AND PERCENTAGES. — BY RACIAL GROUPS AND DEGREE OF SKILL Racial Group Skilled Semi-skilled Unskilled Total Per cent Unskilled Slav . . . . Eng. sp. Eur. Nat. white . Colored 80 398 767 21 459 358 707 32 3064 ' 367 45' 68 3603 1123 1925 121 85.0 32-7 23.4 56.2 Total . Per cent 1266 ,8.7 .556 23.0 395o 58.3 6772 A careful study of wages showed that unskilled laborers received $ .16J an hour for a ten- or twelve-hour day; the semi- skilled, including both day and tonnage workers, earn $2.00 or I3.00 a day, and the skilled, $2.50 to $5.00, a small percentage earning more than that.* ♦Beginning May 1, 1910, the prevailing rate for common labor was raised to \y\ cents an hour in Homestead. This was part of a general advance put into effect" by the United States Steel Corporation, equal, it was announced, to an average of somewhat over 6 per cent on the rates previously paid. 40 WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING These figures represent earnings, moreover, at the height of a long period of prosperity. The first and most important fact revealed by them is that the pay of over half the men in the Homestead mills in 1907 was that of common laborers. Eighty- five per cent of the Slavs, 23.4 per cent of the native whites, 32.7 per cent of the English-speaking Europeans and 56.2 per cent of the colored were classed as unskilled, receiving less than $12 a week. This will reveal the situation as it actually is to those who have heard only that wages in the steel industry are high. Its reputation for big wages is based on the earnings, especially in the early years of the industry, of the rollers, heaters and other skilled men, a fraction of the total force. The new machine processes call for an increasing number of unskilled positions, and however much the personnel of these workers shifts, this group with a low maximum wage must be considered a constant factor in Homestead life. Even among the English-speaking employes, unskilled work with its low wage is not always a merely temporary stage in mill work, a period of apprenticeship, to be endured until time and promotion bring a larger income. For instance, among the men over forty years of age in the families keeping budgets, 46 earned over $15 and 12 earned less than that sum. About a fourth of the total number of those earning less than $15 were over forty. Of the men earning $12 to $14.99 a week, the six English-speaking Europeans were on an average forty-five years old; the four native whites, forty-five. A second fact is scarcely less distinctive from an economic point of view. Family life in Homestead depends for its support almost entirely upon the men's earnings; women and chidren rarely work outside the home since the steel plant and machine works cannot use them and there are no other industries in the town. Of the 90 budget families there were only nine in which the income was supplemented by women's wages, and even in these, with the exception of three colored households where the women partly supported the family by days' work, the money thus gained formed only a small percentage of the income.* On the other hand, the mill offers work at good pay to young men, *See Appendix I, Tables 2 and 3, p. 201. 41 homestead: the households of a mill town and the husband's wage is frequently supplemented by that of the son. Among the native white families, the husband and son in normal times contributed 92.3 per cent of the total income; among the English-speaking Europeans 98.7 per cent. Among the immigrant families, however, and among all those in which the man's earnings fell within the day labor rate, our budget studies disclosed that another and exceptional source of support was resorted to; namely, payment from lodgers. It is upon the women of the household that this burden falls. In families where the man's wage was normally less than $12 a week, more than half found it necessary to increase their slender income in this way. What this means in congestion and in lower standards of living we shall see in a discussion of the Slavic house- holds. The third distinctive fact in the Homestead situation in regard to earnings has been the steadiness of employment. Regu- larity no less than rate of wages determines what a family's annual receipts amount to, and the family adjusts its grade of living more or less closely to this expected income. I was told that from the time of the depression of 1 893 up to November 1 , 1 907, the mills had run almost without a break. Tonnage men who are paid by out- put of course feel temporary lulls, but if a given department in a mill is not working full time, the day men in that department receive a full day's pay as long as the mill runs at all. How far income standards which are thus rendered stable by regular work in the Homestead mills have been jeopardized by rate cuts which may or may not be justified by changes in process, but against which the men have no check, and what intense efforts they put forward to increase their speed and keep their weekly earnings up to former levels, are issues of labor admin- istration which are gone into by my colleague, Mr. Fitch.* That most of the men will receive a full fortnight's pay regularly year in and year out, has given a sense of security even in the face of repeated reductions in the rates. It has created a basis for the development of common standards of living which would be impossible where employment was fluctuating. * Fitch, John A.: The Steel Workers, Chap. XIV. 42 WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING In Homestead, then, we have a community where half the workmen are day laborers, where families are almost solely dependent on the man's earnings, and where a man's earnings one month are fairly like those of the next. Therefore, if the period covered by the investigation had been a normal one, we could have put opposite each other a family's usual earnings, and what the money went for, as shown by account books, and have drawn direct and simple deductions as to the relation between wages and costs of living for each group. An industrial depression pre- vented this. The period covered extended from October i, 1907, to April 1, 1908. Within six weeks after the first budgets were started the trouble began, and by the middle of December the mills were running only about half time, a situation which lasted during the remainder of the investigation. Incidentally, this change brought us special data showing how people met hard times. But, as few families were receiving full wages, many household accounts dropped below what would have been normal for them. Recognition of this situation called for a special treatment of the budget material as a whole. While the depression, as we have seen, prevented statistical deductions as to how families ordinarily spent their wages, it did not seriously conflict with a main purpose of the economic side of the study. This was to find out what ele- mentary standards of living are possible on an income say of $12 a week in Homestead. To ascertain this, in my major tables I aban- doned all reference to normal wages and divided the families ac- cording to the amounts they actually expended per week during the period studied, including what was purchased on credit. Rents and the prices of food stuffs did not change during this period, and, with these constant, $12 a week would, in general, buy the same whether the payments were made out of the lowered earnings of a family in slack times, or out of the total wages of a low paid man when the mills were running full. As all accounts were dis- carded in which there was a discrepancy of five per cent between income and expenditure during the five to eight weeks studied, the entries showed accurately what the families spent for this period, and afforded a basis of fact to correct and strengthen the impressions received in the more general survey of the situation. 43 homestead: the households of a mill town The study of much larger groups of families carried over more representative periods would be essential for an adequate inter- pretation of the standards of living in such an industrial town.* But as a simple gauge of the influence of mill town employment upon home life, the items of our budgets, — rent, meals, clothing, help for the housekeeper, and amusements — served to indicate how far earnings will go either for the unskilled immigrant, who seeks a foothold in this country, or for the American, who looks to his work in the steel industry as a permanent basis for a liveli- hood.! These budgets, moreover, reflect the character of the working people of Homestead. No less important than the question of how much people spend is the question of what they buy and more important than all, what they want. To learn these things we must catch something of the spirit of their homes, for no account of household expenditure, however detailed, can in itself reveal the struggle people make to attain their ideals. And without knowing these ideals we cannot judge how much the limitations which any system of wages imposes concern society. TABLE 7. — 90 BUDGET FAMILIES. — BY RACIAL AND EXPENDITURE GROUP Racial Group Under $12.00 $12.00- 1 14.99 $15.00- $19.99 $20.00 and over Total Slav Eng. Sp. Eur. Native White Colored. 14 3 4 1 1 5 7 4 3 1 8 6 3 3 12 29 '3 23 Total . 32 16 23 "9 90 * The colored group form less than two per cent of the working force in the mill. They are included, therefore, not as numerically significant, but as affording interesting points for comparison with the Slavs. f For statement as to the methods of inquiry and statistical treatment em- ployed, see Appendix I, p. 187. 44 WORK, WAGES, AND THE COST OF LIVING TABLE 8. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURES OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES IN I907, AMOUNTS AND PERCENTAGES. — BY CHIEF ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE AND RACIAL GROUP Num- ber of Fam- ilies Aver- age Ex- pendi- ture Rent Food Fuel Insurance Other Racial Group s a a V. a. 8 a 5 8 a s 1 a. "a 1 a a § a Colored . Slav . Eng. Sp. Eur . Nat. White . 23 29 '3 25 $12.39 13.09 16.97 20.47 $2.43 2.00 2.9. 3.. 6 19.6 '5-3 17.1 ■5.4 $4.8439.1 5.98457 7-55 44-5 7-44 363 I.82 .38 •45 .84 6.6 2.9 2-7 $ .92 .88 1.03 1.21 5-9 l3-4i 3.86 5.03 7.82 27.5 29.5 29.6 38.2 TABLE 9. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURES OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES, AMOUNTS AND PERCENTAGES. — BY CHIEF ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE AND EXPENDITURE GROUP Num- Aver- age Ex- pendi- ture Rent Food Fuel Insurance Other L.xpenditure Group ber of Fam- ilies a a a a a 1 "" ~ 1 *- a a "5 a s i a a a § "a X 0, ^ ! a! ^ a. ^ a. "<: a! Under $12.00 . 3 3 $9.17 $1.8820.5 $4.1645.3 $.38 41 $ .70 7 i $2.05 22.3 $12.00-$ 1 4.99 . 16 13.32 2.2917.2 5.8644.0 ■77 5.8 •5' 3-8 3.89 29.2 If 15.00-$ 19.99 . 23 17.59 2.73 15.5 7.1140.4 .66 3-8 1.05 6.0 6.02 34-2 $20.00 and over 19 25-56 3-73 14-5 9.38 36.7 .90 3-5 1.86 7-3 9.68 37-9 TABLE 10. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURES OF 77 HOUSE-RENT- ING FAMILIES,* AMOUNTS AND PERCENTAGES. — BY CHIEF ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE AND EXPENDITURE GROUP Aver- Rent Food Fuel Insurance Other Num- ber of age weekly Expenditure ^ a ^ ^ ^ ^ ^» •g ^ ^ Group Fam- Ex- a § 3 25 23 $13.09 16.97 20.47 12.39 $5.98 7-55 7-44 4.84 44-5 36.3 39.1 TABLE 17. — SAME AS TABLE 1 6. — BY EXPENDITURE GROUP Expenditure Number of Families Average Weekly Expenditure All Purposes Average Weekly Expendi- ture for Food Group Amount Per cent Under $12.00 . $12.00-$ 1 4.99 . $i5.oo-$i9.99 . $20.00 and over ?6 23 19 $ 9.17 13.32 17.59 25.56 $416 5.86 7.11 9.38 45-3 44.0 40.4 36.7 TABLE l8. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURE FOR FOOD OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES. — BY RACIAL AND EXPENDITURE GROUP Under $12.00 TO $15.00 TO | $20.00 All $12.00 $14.99 $19.99 AND OVER Families Racial Group > i * "o" ^ rof ies ge ture rof ies ge lure -a - a 1* 1 "1 * 1* tq ►0 a 5 s 1* 2"S -S "a s g 1* Avera Expend * a is. 11 Slavs 14 $448 9 $5.99 7 $8.47 3 $7.12 29 $S-98 Eng. Sp. Eur. . 3 5.93* 4 6.39* a 3 12.45* 13 7-55 Nat. White 4 4.29 1 5.92 8 12 9.26 25 7-44 Colored . 11 3.22 6 5.40 5 7.00 1 8.45 23 4.84 Number of families 32 16 23 19 .. 1 90 Ave. expenditure $4.16 $5.86 $7.11 $9.38 .. $6.32 ♦The families in the English-speaking European group were much larger than in the other groups, averaging 7.1 persons per family as against 5.2 in the Slavs, 4.8 in the native white and 3.8 in the colored families. This influenced their total food expenditure in the lower income groups. 68 TABLE AND DINNER PAIL 1 1 2, who averaged $3.22 per week. The amplest was among English-speaking Europeans who were earning the wages of skilled men and who in dollars and cents spent four times as much for food as the former (Table 18). The food expenditure of Slavs ranged from $4.48 a week for the families under $12 to as high as $7.00 and $8.00 a week; the native whites from $4.29 to over $9.00.* But all such statements as to average food expenditures for entire households are inaccurate in so far as families differ in size. Professor Atwaterf overcomes this difficulty by reducing household expenditures to a per capita basis. In line with his calculations as to the comparative amount of food needed, we have assumed that the average woman eats .8 as much as a man, children over fourteen the same, and children under fourteen, .5 as much. TABLE 19. — AVERAGE EXPENDITURE FOR FOOD PER MAN PER DAY OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES. — BY RACIAL AND EXPENDITURE GROUP Under $12.00 $12.00- $14-99 $15.00- $19.99 $20.00 AND OVER All Families Racial Group trg 3* 2^ S § >• -a. fcq 11 3* 8 1"? ?! s § 1^ 2-3 v. • < ° 1^ 2"5 * s r 54 ^ s Slav Eng. Sp. Eur. Nat. White . Colored .... 14 3 4 1 1 $ .25 • '9 .21 .30 5 4 6 $ .29 • 19 .19 .24 7 3 8 5 $.36 •25 .28 •34 3 3 12 1 $ -3' •35 .36 29 '3 25 23 $.29 •24 •32 .30 Total Families Average expenditure . 32 $ '.26 16 $ .24 23 $: 3 . 19 $ -37 90 $.29 The per capita food expenditure among our 90 budget families is shown in Table 19 for both racial and expenditure *The naive report of the Committee on Trade and Commerce to the Pitts- burgh Chamber of Commerce November 18, 1909, estimates that a liberal provision of food for a family of five would in Pittsburgh cost $1 1 .88 a week. See Appendix IX, p. 238. f Bulletin 21, U. S. Department of Agriculture. homestead: the households of a mill town groups. Here, as in the case of other tables in which the 90 families have been cross-classified into racial and economic groups, the subgroups are obviously too small to do more than suggest general tendencies, which commended themselves to me as noteworthy in view of many conversations with housewives. While the expenditure for food per man per day in each racial group usually increases as expenditures increase, we may note distinctions among them. The native whites and English- speaking Europeans spend in the three lower expenditure groups decidedly less than either Slavs or colored. A reference to Chapter IV will show that with rent this proportion is reversed, the native whites and English-speaking Europeans spending larger amounts for rent in these lower economic groups. That is, their families seem to have a higher standard of housing, which they maintain when the income is low by making sacrifices in other lines. With them, the desire for a good home may outweigh that for more varied and palatable food. The Slavs, on the other hand, who put up with poor housing, will not skimp to a great extent on food.* My inquiry was concerned, however, less with relative ex- penditures for food than with the question of how well people could live on the amounts actually spent. The depression did not enter in here as a disturbing factor, as prices in Homestead were unaffected by the hard times. Accurate figures on this point were difficult to secure, but undoubtedly any change would have been immediately noted by the housewives. Many of them ex- pressed their belief that prices kept about as usual. In a study of a number of household budgets in New York City in 1907, Professor Underhill of Yale estimated that 22 cents per day per man was in general the minimum for which an ade- quate supply of food could be procured. f This figure was based on a study of the nourishing quality of food measured in calories * See Appendix I, Table 10, p, 204. My Slavic families, moreover, were for the most part smaller in size. They could spend as much as 25 cents per day per man, even in the lowest expenditure group, without making the average outlay for food per family noticeably large. f "Comparisons between the amounts spent for food by well nourished and poorly nourished families indicate that in general when less than 22 cents per man per day is spent for food, the nourishment derived is insufficient." Report on Nutrition Investigation, Frank P. Underhill, Ph. D. ( in Chapin, The Standard of Living among Workingmen's Families in New York City, p. 319. 70 TABLE AND DINNER PAIL and proteids; the former representing the heat-producing fats and sugars, and the latter the tissue builders — meat, bread, beans, etc. Careful experiments have been made to determine both the amount of each of these elements which given foods contain, and also the amount necessary to keep a man in a condition of physical efficiency. Having before him the actual costs to the housekeeper and the nourishing value of the articles eaten by certain house- holds, Professor Underhill was able to estimate for what sum the ordinary purchaser could secure a sufficient amount of food to maintain a male adult in physical well-being. By the use of Professor Atwater's ratios as to the relative amount of nutrition needed by men, women and children, such a standard per man per day affords a test of how well the food purchased by a family meets its physical needs. As we have seen that the Federal Bureau of Labor Report for 1907 rates food prices very nearly the same in New York and in the Pittsburgh district,* and as there were no indications of re- ductions in the local markets during the weeks of my inquiry, we may accept Professor Underhill's standard of 22 cents a day as fairly applicable to our Homestead budgets of the same year. Recurring then, with this standard in mind, to a closer scrutiny of actual expenditures for food among English-speaking Europeans and native whites, we find (Table 19) that the average cost of the former was 24 cents per day per grown man, and that of the latter 32 cents. As was to have been anticipated, families with few children and comparatively large incomes spent gener- ously for food (from 28 to 39 cents per man in the higher expendi- ture groups). But the average for all English-speaking Europeans (24 cents) barely exceeds the amount necessary to supply sufficient nourishment even with wisdom in the choice of food. The average in both racial groups for those spending less than $15 per week fell below that amount. * To apply proportions rigidly, the Pittsburgh district minimum would be 22.9 cents. No attempt was made by the writer to carry on independent experi- ments in food values as to Homestead dietaries. An analysis was made of the food expenditure of an exceptionally thrifty housekeeper, however. So far as esti- mates for proteids and calories can be drawn from account books, without weigh- ing the actual food stuffs used, this indicated that even with careful purchasing, less than 22 cents would not provide the standard of nourishment in Homestead. 7' homestead: the households of a mill town Altogether, in 21 out of the 90 budget families (Table 20) less than 22 cents per man per day was being spent for food. Low wages, hard times, and large families, all were factors in depressing their consumption below this minimum. Of these families, 14 expended less than $12 a week for all purposes, seven a total of more than that. TABLE 20. — TWENTY-ONE FAMILIES SPENDING LESS THAN 22 CENTS PER MAN PER DAY FOR FOOD. — BY EXPENDITURE AND RACIAL GROUPS Expenditure Group Slavs English- speaking Europeans Native White Colored Total Under $12.00 $I2.00-$I4.QQ i15.00-liQ.QQ . i2o.oo and over . 5 2 2 2 2 5 1 '4 4 3 Total . 5 5 5 6 21 In the case of the seven families whose expenditures ranged above $12 per week but whose per capita outlay fell below the minimum of sustenance, size was an important factor. English or American families with nine children (one instance), seven children (two instances), or six (three instances) obviously found it necessary to economize closely on food if the other stand- ards of American life were to be maintained. It may be worth while to note here that I found with all budget fam- ilies* expenditure for food per person decreasing steadily with the increase in the size of the family. This was true in each ex- penditure group. For example, among families whose total ex- penditures were less than $12 per week, those with two to four in the family spent an average of 24 cents per man per day for food while those with five or more in the family averaged but 19 cents. In the $12 to $14.99 g rou P> tne P er capita sum fell from an average of 29 to 23 cents; in the $15 to $19.99 group, from 41 to 24j;ents; and in the group spending $20 or over, from 48 to * Appendix I, Table 1 1, p. 204. 72 TABLE AND DINNER PAIL 32 cents. This general decrease is in part due to the fact that the housewife can buy more economically for a large family, and also that when the family is small and the sense of economic pressure less heavy she indulges in more costly articles. With respect to the lower expenditure groups, the controlling factor no doubt is that with only a certain fairly definite share of the earnings available for food, that food must be divided among a certain number of mouths. This will be clearer if we look at the case of 14 families whose expenditures were below $12 a week and who spent less than the minimum standard. On the basis of 22 cents a day per man, a normal family* must spend $5.08 per week on food alone, or 50 per cent of the earnings of a day laborer working the ordinary ten-hour day of the yard laborers in the mill. This is in excess of the percentage which any group studied allowed for food. Unless such a man works overtime or Sunday, or the family supplements the man's earnings by lodgers, lives in a court, or has few or no children (with the Slavs one or all of these factors are often present) ,f this allowance for food must be cut down if the other items of expenditure are to be met. Among these 14 families, there were some whose income was always at this low margin, as well as some whose weekly expenditures had been depressed by temporary lack of work. The necessity to cut down on food is the same in one case as in the other and as a matter of fact, omitting the Slavs, half of all budget families whose expenditures were below $12 a week, spent less than the sustenance standard for food. Where the family is above the normal in size, this pressure is accentuated. It is conceivable that a desire to save might lead a family to be niggardly in its food expenditures; though the Slavs, among whom we would first look for such practices, due to their keen desire to lay by money, averaged 25 cents per man per day in the under $12 group. A more extensive study would no doubt have elicited cases where drunkenness, shiftlessness, sickness or other ♦Man, wife, three children under 14. See U.S. Bureau of Labor, 18th Annual Report, p. 20. f Two other alternatives are for women or young children to go out to work — alternatives not present to any extent in Homestead. 73 homestead: the households of a mill town immediate causes of small or squandered earnings reduced a family's food expenditures below this standard. A consideration of these tables, however, has shown us unmistakably how near to the line of under-nourishment must be the families of large size or low incomes. More important than that 21 families fell below 22 cents for food, is the fact that, including the Slavs, the average expenditure for food of all our budget families spending from $12 to $14.99 P er week was but 24 cents per man a day. That gives a margin of but two cents a day which can only too quickly be lost through a housewife's failure to get the most for her money at market, to select nourishing food, or to secure the nutrient values out of what she puts on the stove. In view of the occurrence of the hard times, these figures should not be taken as an accurate expression of customary food expenditures in Homestead in pros- perous years. They do show what Homestead housewives felt it necessary to spend for food when they were economizing. We must remember, also, that many unskilled housekeepers cannot provide enough nourishment on a minimum outlay requir- ing wisdom in the choice of food. The sufficiency of food pur- chased cannot be measured altogether by the amount spent. Perhaps in this expenditure more than in any other there is a chance for women to display their skill, an asset which must be included in the family resources. Two households, undoubtedly extreme types, will serve to illustrate this point. The first was a Scotch family of seven who had been in this country for about fifteen years. Besides the three younger chil- dren in school there were two sons at work, whose wages brought the family income up to $32 a week. The six-room house was none too large to make them all comfortable and enable them to have a pleasant sitting room. As I stepped into the kitchen one frosty morning, I was greeted by the odor of preserves which the wife was making ready to vary the monotony of dinners to be eaten from a "bucket." We fell to discussing methods of economy and she told me many of her thrifty ways; about the pig they would buy as soon as cold weather came, to provide salt pork and ham for the winter; the pickles and preserves she was putting up; the $50 she was saving to buy the winter's supply of dry groceries from the wholesaler's. That this thrift did not amount to par- 74 TABLE AND DINNER PAIL simony was shown by the good gas range and washing machine in view, and by evidences of ample provision of food. By planning ahead, by extra labor, by wise buying, even luxuries were secured on a food expenditure of only 24 cents per person a day. The other extreme was shown in the home of a poor, unin- telligent woman who had gone to work at the age of eleven, and could neither read nor write. As enough to pay the rent was the only contribution to the family purse made by her husband, a ne'er-do-well, she herself was obliged, by washing and by taking a lodger, to provide money for food and clothes. This money, which averaged $4.50 a week, was very irregular, as the lodger was frequently out of work. With a wayward boy in school and a sickly baby at home, she had but little time and thought to give to housekeeping. Food was bought daily by the five and ten cents' worth, — pork chops, cheap preserves at ten cents a jar, two quarts of potatoes, a loaf of bread, etc. — a pitiable record viewed either from the standpoint of the children's health or of the pocket-book. The least nutritious food was bought in the most expensive way, because of ignorance and of a small and uncertain income. The items of her expenditures (at 25 cents per day) were deficient in the elements which provide heat and energy to the body, and lacking in the foods which replace worn- out cells. The sample week's account from each of these budgets on page 76 shows the contrast in their methods of buying. Usually the housekeeper buys a large order of supplies on Saturday and supplements it during the week with additional purchases of meat, vegetables and other foods. Among Home- stead women no subject provokes discussion more readily than econ- omy in buying. Some claim that the chief evil of Homestead life is an extravagance fostered by the ease with which families buy on credit. As the accounts run for two weeks and are settled on " pay Friday," the family never catches up. A number of women expressed their conviction that when prices of articles like butter and eggs are not constant, the grocers are inclined to overcharge a little for goods on credit. Moreover, it is much easier to be extravagant when no cash is paid out and the price is simply jotted down in the "book." A woman who tried this method once, found it so expensive that at the end* of two weeks she threw the book into the stove and would never use one again. 75 homestead: the households of a mill town TABLE 21.— -ITEMIZED ACCC UNT OF FOOD EXPENDITURES FOR ONE WEEK BY A THRIFTY HOUSEKEEPER Saturday Milk . 49 lbs. flour Bananas Grapes . .08 '75 •<5 • 2 5 Cabbage Monday Milk . 2% lbs. beef Steak . Pie. . Tuesday Milk . Tea . Cheese . 2 doz. eggs Coffee . Candy . Grapes . .08 .60 .60 •25 .10 Wednesday Milk . .08 Friday 16 lbs. ham Spices . Vanilla . Milk . .$2.00 . .10 . .10 . .08 .% .05 TABLE 22. — ITEMIZED ACCOUNT OF FOOD EXPENDITURES FOR ONE WEEK BY A POOR HOUSE- KEEPER Saturday Bread .... Jelly .... Coal 10 Pork (3 lbs.) 50 £ pk. potatoes 15 Cabbage 12 2 lbs. sugar 11 £ lb. prunes 05 Can corn 10 2 loaves bread 10 \ doz. eggs 14 Cooking apples 10 \ lb. butter 18 1 lb. cheese 20 Monday .08 Lima beans Tuesday 2 lbs. boiling beef . . . .25 Can peas 10 Can syrup 10 \ doz. fig cakes 06 Baking powder 05 \ pk. potatoes 15 Bread 05 Pork chops 15 Wednesday Boiling Beef 15 Barley 05 i doz. pickles 05 Bread 05 Thursday Can molasses 10 i doz. rolls 10 .10 .1 1 .10 76 Pudding 2 lbs. sugar Turnips Tea \ lb. \ doz. doughnuts Friday Pie . Sausage Can corn Bread . Jelly . . TABLE AND DINNER PAIL Women expressed varied opinions upon the economy of buying in Pittsburgh. There were those who believed that even when prices were slightly lower in the city, the saving was more than counterbalanced by the time and carfare expended in the trip. Some housekeepers also claimed that low priced goods purchased from wholesale houses in town were of so poor a quality that it was not economy to buy them. Then, too, the women felt that loyalty to Homestead demanded that they purchase in their own town as far as possible. So, though on Saturday afternoon the cars are filled with women carrying baskets home from Pittsburgh markets, the larger part of the purchases are made in Homestead. Hucksters, who come out each morning with goods from the Pitts- burgh commission houses, sell fruit and vegetables. Though some of these men undoubtedly give poor quality and short measure, the older housekeepers usually find a trustworthy one and become regular patrons. Many women show a genuine pride in their skill in buy- ing and in utilizing different cuts of meat. One woman as- sured me that it was no economy for her to buy pieces which contained bones, gristle and fat, since her family would not eat them. If instead of buying such cuts at 10 cents a pound she paid 15 for solid meat, her money really went further. I shall not soon forget the enthusiasm with which one young wife described a special potato meat pie, her husband's favorite dish, which she made from the ends of steak too tough to use in any other way. These women are anxious not only to practice economies, but to conceal them by good choosing and skilful cooking. When sickness or lack of work reduces wages temporarily, the amount available for food is lessened. During the depression I was surprised to see how quickly certain housewives rose to the emergency in their determination that the family should feel this change as little as possible. Sometimes this meant a serious cutting down of the amount essential to physical well-being; at other times economies were accomplished by foregoing luxuries and by the purchase of simpler but more nutritious food. Here is an interesting budget, the two accounts having been kept by the same woman, one in December, when the man was working stead- ily; the other later in the winter when, having lost his regular 77 homestead: the households of a mill town employment, he took laborers' work at little more than half his former pay. While the cost in the second account dropped noticeably, a rough calculation indicates that the nutrient value remained almost the same. This was accomplished, at least in part, by doing without meat and with less fruit, both expensive in proportion to nutrition. TABLE 23. — TWO WEEKLY FOOD BUDGETS OF A THRIFTY FAMILY (1) Account When Man Worked on Full Pay (2) Account When Man Worked on Half Pay Article Cost Pounds Cost Pounds Meat . Beans. Milk . Cheese Butter Eggs . Flour. Bread. . Potatoes . Turnips, etc. Green veg. Canned veg. Fruit . Sugar. Sundries . $1.81 .06 .12 .21 •'7 .14 •47 .21 .05 il 1 2. 1 •5 2 % 1.2 .8 2 -3 5-5 12.0 2.2 2-5 20.3 7' $0.75 .06 !i .42 •3' .10 .1 1 .40 .28 .42 5-7 •7 1 0.0 •3 5:1 10.3 3-3 3.6 1-3 12.0 9-3 Total . . $5-" 69.8 $3.84 60.4 Such economy is usually instinctive rather than the result of special knowledge or interest in food values. Both in good times and bad times this woman failed to give her family sufficient of the tissue builders. The housewives expressed some scorn of the theoretical aspects of the problem as taught in the cooking classes of the Schwab Manual Training School, feeling that prac- tical experience was of more value than any theory. As the girls who attended the cooking classes were many of them only in the grammar grades, they probably did not make clear at home the everyday applications of theories expressed in unfamiliar terms. Proteids and calories seem to bear so little relation to pork and beans. 78 TABLE AND DINNER PAIL The four prize housekeepers I knew were daughters of Pennsylvania farmers. They had learned as country girls how to work, how to provide, and how to economize, and how at the same time to create a real home atmosphere. Girls, on the other hand, who had worked in factories or been clerks, lacked the practical training necessary to help them solve the problems awaiting the young wife of a wage-earner. To my surprise also I found that in some instances domestic service was a no more satisfactory preparation for housekeeping. I remember a kitchen where all was wretched, the children unwashed, the woman untidy, the room unswept. Though the man earned $3.20 a day, his wife, trained as a servant in a wealthy home, had learned extravagant ways and realized helplessly that she could not "get caught up" with her bills, manage her home efficiently, or train her children. "He doesn't see," she said, "why it is though he earns twice what he did when he married me, we are still behind, and he doesn't even carry any insurance." The task of solving these problems demands, as already suggested, no mean degree of patience, of practical skill, of intelli- gence and interest. We demand that the worker save, and forget that this often can be accomplished only by constant, intelligent watchfulness on the part of the wife, or by doing without some of the essentials of a normal, healthful life. The marvelous success of some women should not blind us to the fact that they are exceptional housekeepers. After watch- ing the busy lives and the problems of these women, I came to believe that the woman who can keep her home healthful and attractive on $15 or less a week has in her elements of genius. Many a woman who can keep house fairly well on an income that does not require close economy would find herself, I am sure, sadly at a loss to maintain a satisfying table on 25 cents a day per man — the level upon which, in a period of hard times, my "under $15" budget housekeepers managed their expenditures for table and dinner pail. If these per diem tests are indicative, this would allow little more than enough to maintain the physical effi- ciency of a workingman's household even with the most skilful ex- penditure; a margin of only 15 cents a day to make good any lack of skill, or to provide a leeway for the purchase of appetizing 79 homestead: the households of a mill town trifles. A round of food chosen solely for its value in proteids and calories would be an undue tax on the housekeeper's brain. Only skilled housekeepers can set a table that is both nourishing and appetizing for such a sum. Buying nourishing food at a small cost is not a task com- pleted once for all. These are three-times-a-day problems. Even the most skilful fail at times to buy wisely, and what is to be anticipated for those whose large families make such heavy demands on them that they are unable to find the time to plan and provide ahead of the need; those with an uncertain income; those especially who are just incapable and unintelligent? If vigilance is relaxed or if some disaster lessens income, the food supply is bound to fall below what is essential. 80 CHAPTER VI OTHER EXPENDITURES: THE BUDGET AS A WHOLE THE vital problem which in normal times confronts these homemakers is not provision against physical destitution. With the wages given in the steel mills, that may safely be assumed for the families of the English-speaking workers. The question is whether when they have met their rent and food bills there is money enough left to provide for the other vital needs of mind and body. The answer to this question was partly revealed by a study of the detailed items of expenditure from which the accompanying tables were drawn. Once the food and rent account had been paid, the margin for other family expenditures, during the period studied, ranged from $3. 14 a week in the group spending under $1 2, to 1 1 2.45 among those spending over $20. This margin increases proportionately, as well as actually, with increased income; for while only a little over one-third of the expenditures of families spending under $12 goes for other needs than food and shelter, the proportion in the higher groups approaches one-half of the total outlay. At every level, this increasing margin must be distributed among three main spheres of expenditures: (1) for other home and personal needs, such as fuel, clothing, furniture, service and minor housekeeping items, through which, no less than through rent and food, the family expresses its household standards; (2) sundry outlays for social purposes such as edu- cation, recreation, religion and the like, through which the family shares in the community life; and (3) savings and insurance through which the family provides for old age or for such emer- gencies as sickness, accident and unemployment. Since the margin is often not large enough to provide equally for all these ends, each family reveals something of its inherent 6 81 homestead: the households of a mill town character by the choices it makes. One family chooses present pleasures as against the comfort of owning a house; one mother music lessons as against pretty clothes for the children. In each sphere some items are regarded as essentials, and others as non- essentials. As between expenditures in these three directions then, not only the contents of pay envelopes, but the individual prefer- ences of families within the various expenditure groups, play an important part. I shall not attempt to discuss the relative expenditures for such purposes, complicated as they were by the occurrence of the hard times,* but rather to suggest to the reader some things which influence the decisions made by a family, and indicate how far incomes at the different levels may permit of ra- tional expenditures one week after another in all these directions. The tables and general discussion will mean more if the facts concerning the expenditures of a few families are first noted, bringing out some of the distinctive items which fall into individual budgets: Stone. A colored family of five, the man a teamster earning $12 a week, had an average weekly expenditure of $12.24 during the time the account was kept. Rent, $2.00; food, $6.23; coal, $1.45; washing materials, $ .09; insurance, $ .39; church, $.10; tobacco, $. 08; medicine, $1.09; sun- dries, $ .86. Stearns. An English family of five who own their house had an average weekly expenditure of $12.03. Food, $6.49; fuel, $ .80; clothing, $ .09; repairing house, $3.58; insurance, $ .39; medicine, $ .19; sundries, $ .59. Ahearn. An American family of five who own their house, had an average weekly expenditure of $14.68. Food, $9.27; clothing, $3.29; fuel, $1.50; washing material, $.06; kitchen utensils, $ .20; sundries, $ .26. * For instance, furniture and clothing are not representative items in a four weeks' study of a family's spendings; still less are they so during hard times. The extent of savings represented by house-buying on the instalment plan is ex- tremely difficult to get at. The small expenditure for tobacco and liquor in these budgets is to be accounted for, at least in part, by the fact that men did not tell at home what they had purchased. It is to be remembered that in these tables the basis for classification is weekly expenditure, not normal or actual earnings. The women usually hesitated to ask the man about his spending money, and as in the days of slack work they did not know just what he earned it was difficult to learn of such personal items. 82 other expenditures: the budget as a whole Roth. Young American couple with one child, had an average weekly expenditure of $16.96. Rent, $3.33; food, $6.19; clothing, $5.30; furniture, $.17; household expenses, $ .26; insurance, $1.00; sundries, $ .69. Stillman. Man, wife and two children; Scotch; had an average weekly expenditure of $18.63. Payment on house, $5.00; food, $5.19; fuel, $.83; clothing, $1.00; furniture, $ .87; household expenses, $ .87; insurance, $2.65; tobacco, $ .53; medicine, $ .52; sundries, $2.05. Lester. Family of eight, had an average weekly expenditure of $21.09. Rent, $2.21; food, $8.02; fuel, $.45; clothing, $5.37; furniture, $1.44; household expenses, $.60; insurance, $.34; tobacco, $.29; medicine, $.75; sundries, $1.56. White. American family of five, the man dead but two sons support the family. They own their house. Their average weekly expenditure was $21. Food, $8.56; fuel, $1.00; clothing, $ .39; household expenses, $ .22; furniture, $2.75; insurance, $2.55; newspapers, music lessons, etc., $1.81; church, $.27; recreation, $.14; medicine, $.90; sundries, $1.15. Byrnes. American couple living in an attractive house with bath. Their average weekly expenditure was $22.57. Rent > $5-Oo; food, $9.22; gas, $3.42; furniture, $.80; insurance, $1.02; medicine, $2.50; sundries, $ .59. Howe. An Irish-American family of five owning their house. Their average weekly expenditure was $30. Food, $14.04; fuel, $2.47; clothing, $1.62; washing, $.31; furniture, $5.57; insurance, $ .66; education, $ .30; spend- ing money, $ .96; tobacco, $ .34; dentist, $1.25; bank, $2.50; sundries, $ .10. The following paragraph gives the total expenditures for four weeks for everything but food and rent of a family of seven whose average weekly income was $16.38. Oil, $ .40; coal, $5.20; interest instalments on furni- ture, $2.00; lamp wick, $.06; shovel, $.10; basin, $.15; brush, $.05; soap, $.30; stove and shoe blacking, $.10; paint, $ .50; broom, $ .35; stockings, $ .35; shoes mended, $1.55; gloves, $.10; hat, $.10; underwear, $.40; shoes, $1.40; thread, $ .06; ribbon, $ .28; candy, $.15; carfare, $.20; insurance, $1.10; medicine, $.10; church, $.08; "flowers for the dead," $ .60; spending money for children, $ .36; for boy at work, $1.00; for man, $4.50. Total for the 83 homestead: the households of a mill town month, $21.54. This gives an average for everything above food and shelter of $5.38 a week. TABLE 24. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURE OF 90 BUDGET FAMILIES FOR VARIOUS ITEMS. — BY EXPENDITURE GROUP -cT- 7 'I 18 1 1 10 12 '4 26 14 22 •5 81.3 87.5 95-7 79.0 Total . 90 39 (43-3%) 62 (57 5 8%) 47 77 85.5 TABLE 27. — NUMBER OF PERSONS IN 90 BUDGET FAMILIES IN- SURED IN REGULAR COMPANIES AND LODGES. — BY RACIAL GROUP ■» 2 SI 3 a, 2 2 s S O ~2 a. "3 a. "3 a. "3 a. 1-1 s s i s 3 s 5| S £ 1 £ u. 1 5 8 JS-S S: 29 2 25 2 27 a. •5 Slav . 93.1 2 6 2 l 3 Eng. sp. Eur. . ■3 4 3 5 9 69.2 8 17 l l Nat. white 2S ■5 IO 3 3 2 2 20 80.0 13 20 14 8 Colored 90 2 '3 I 3 1 1 2 10 2 2 4 4 21 77 91.3 .6 •9 62 5 7 47 Total . 85.6 39 52 3 * It was difficult to secure accurate statements as to the amount of the policies since, in some instances, industrial insurance and lodge insurance vary with the length of time a policy has been running, Often the families themselves did not know the exact amount. No attempt has been made, therefore, to classify insurance by the amount of the policies. 91 homestead: the households of a mill town three, two four, and two five. The two groups overlap, so that altogether 85.6 per cent of the budget families carried insurance in one form or another. In no expenditure group did the per- centage fall below 80. Among these families the amount expended for insurance, as well as the proportionate number insuring, increases with income until the group spending over $20 per week is reached. The lower percentage in the latter group may indicate that the families are better able to rely on savings, and find insurance less essential for burial and sickness expenses. Most of the policies held in this group called for materially larger death benefits. It is of interest to note that the two nationalities in which the largest proportion of families carried some form of insurance were the Slavs and the colored. Most of the Slavs carried insurance in lodges rather than in the commercial com- panies. Some reasons for this we shall see in our later discussion of the Slavic community life. One reason why workingmen's families feel so keenly the need of insuring can be shown by the roll of accidents reported in the Homestead paper for three typical months, January, February, and March, 1907.* Fifty-two men were injured during that period in the Homestead mill, and 13 others who lived in Homestead at the time of the accident, were injured in mills of the United States Steel Corporation outside of Homestead. Of this total of 65, seven died. Of the remaining 58, 30, or a little over half, suffered such injuries as crushed feet, lacerated hands, sprained ankles,— injuries for the most part that laid them up for at least a week or two. But there were more serious accidents — three men had a leg or an arm broken, two had an arm amputated, * In May, 1908, a central committee was appointed by the United States Steel Corporation to co-ordinate and improve the work of eliminating preventable accidents on the part of constituent companies. The Carnegie Steel Company had been one of the most active in this field in the year preceding. The Com- pany's inspector stated in the spring of 1908 that in seven months he had made two thousand recommendations for increasing the safety of men. During the past two years there has been a systematic development of this work. It is but fairly begun, however, and aside from preventable accidents, there are many which are inevitable because of the nature of the work. For a further discussion of the causes and results of accidents in the steel industry, see Work-Accidents and the Law, by Crystal Eastman, a companion volume in the series of the Pittsburgh Survey. 92 other expenditures: the budget as a whole HOI HETM. FELL IN WATER HID EXPLODED Lmi 51 E. i b»ollng bol metal n bouao to open bearth t Tbe Impact of the col ladle and aome ot t Killed In a pool of I rack, exploding with ieph Novlc. h ot VTKUalrer 'WITT uttering Horn contuaed ■ shoulder and neck re- al worlt in tb» 31 lscb TWO III INJURED eycHfen Two tmm were injured hy a chfflo brtafcln& In tbe 52 Inch mill last «VoaiOB- Jpbn Joseph, of Wbltaker Way, w*» cat about the bead ami body, and John Hoen cvt on *th« bead and neck. Doth wen given nedlcai attention, and sent oome. ten were wounded about the face and head, the eyes of four were hurt, eight re- ceived internal injur- ies, and one was par- alyzed. The accom- panying clippings show minor injuries reported in the Home- stead papers for two weeks when the plant was working only part time. They further illustrate how con- stantly the men are confronted with danger. Along with other employes of the Car- negie Steel Com- pany — in Duquesne, Braddock and else- where — the men in the Homestead mills have benefited by the Carnegie Relief Fund of $4,000,000 given in trust in 1 90 1, "to provide for the employes of the Carnegie Com- pany ... in- jured in its service and for those de- pendent upon such employes as are killed." This gift was made by An- drew Carnegie at the 93 of Eighteenth FOREMAN UED ST SIEEl IRKS W.' N. CrawTorQ, a foreman* io' the 12£ melt mill, met with a painful ac- cident this morning* While walldng through, the mill he Tell In a hdle and sustained a contusion of the hip qnd ed by the company physician he was John Evans a alee! worKer who fiTfis lolt hand lacerated while at rorjt^a the 140 inch . Joint.' Poylc. of Eleventh ftven i : S.i V.i r. of tt't iliker V.'ay Wbo waa iuli. red In ti a m.ll aoiue Urn ago. a 1 .provlus tlowly TiMJOI Wl ExceUlor wh ' , 11 bla Ihl .rtt Frida. lug. . FRACTURED HIS 'ARM. Peter Morrta, a well known clti- zen of 1256 Ravine tlm of a painful accident yesterday fn the steel works He was adjust- j s> Inch mill in the and fell from a platform to the ground below with sufficient force ta fracture bla* "el*" arm. He was' ta.lt- the company phy- sicians. where I>e n scelved medical at- tcntlon and was aier removed U> Mercy hospital. homestead: the households of a mill town time of the organization of the United States Steel Corporation, a "first use of surplus wealth upon retiring from business, as an acknowledgment of the debt which I owe to the workmen who have contributed so greatly to my success." The fund was not intended as a substitute for compensation on the part of the company. It was intended, to quote Mr. Carnegie, "to go still further and give to the injured, or employes who were needy in old age, some provision against want as long as needed, or until young children can become self-supporting."* Under this fund the sum of $500 has been paid to the widow of each workman killed, with $100 additional for every child under sixteen. To the family of a single man killed, $500 has been paid wherever it has been shown that he was a reg- ular contributor to the support of the family. When damage suits have been brought against the company, these benefits have been withheld, but only until the cases were decided. The original plan provided benefits also for all injuries causing disability for more than two weeks, but these proved more numerous than the fund could deal with, and beginning in 1905, benefits have been paid from the fund only in cases where the injuries resulted in disability lasting more than one year, and in such cases benefits have been paid only until the injured man could get work. Thus, if a man who had lost a leg secured a job as watchman, his benefits ceased. In 1907, the fund paid employes in the Homestead works $11,398 (38 cases) in death benefits, $2,583 (7 cases) in accident benefits, and $4,756 (36 cases) in pension allowances. Thirty families who re- ceived death benefits, six who received accident benefits, and 21 who received pension allowances, were still resident in Homestead. The Carnegie Relief Fund has been the most notable volun- tary provision against the hazards of work covering any group of employes in the Pittsburgh District. Its importance is shown by the fact that in the case of 42 married men killed in the Carnegie Company's employ in Allegheny County in twelve months in 1906-7, the company paid less than $500 in 35 instances (about the treatment customary among the employers of the district). With the Carnegie Relief benefits added, $500, or over, was re- *See Appendix XI, p. 245. 94 other expenditures: the budget as a whole • ceived by 31 out of the 42.* But as three-quarters of the cases, even with this addition, received less than $1000, it is clear that the bulk of the burden of lost income still fell upon the families of the killed workmen. In injury cases, as stated, aid has been available from the fund only when disability lasted for more than a year. The company has frequently paid the hospital billsf and sometimes made a donation, but in a great majority of these cases, even those that have meant six or nine months of idleness, the families could not count on any stated assistance.^ For household expenses *Table A. — Compensation Paid by Carnegie Steel Company to Widows of 42 Employes Killed in Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, July i, 1906, to June 30, 1907 Number of Families Amount Paid 10 17 I 100 or less 8 $ 101 to$ 500 3 $ 501 to 1 1 000 2 $1001 to $2000 2 Over $2000 Table B. — Compensation Received by 42 Widows Entered in Table A, Plus Carnegie Relief Benefits Number of Families Amount Received 1 5 $ 100 or less 5 $ 101 to$ 500 20 I 501 to $1000 8 |iooi to $2000 3 Over $2000 From Eastman: Work-Accidents and the Law, pp. 160-161. f A Homestead Hospital was organized in 1907 but the movement received no encouragement from the Carnegie Company. In addition to contributions from residents and organizations in the town, it received a state appropriation from the legislature. It suffers from the handicap of any small hospital, tnat with a small number of cases it cannot secure the best appliances or the services of spe- cialists. Within the last two years the Carnegie Steel Company has put up, near the mill, a one-story emergency hospital with an operating room and two or three beds. Here cases can be treated that require only immediate attention or that are not in condition to be carried to the West Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh. % In April, 1910, announcements were made of sweeping changes establish- ing a stated system of relief. The $4,000,000 of the Carnegie Relief Fund has been united with an $8,000,000 fund set aside by the United States Steel Corporation and will be used to provide pensions for superannuated workmen. Distinct from this the Corporation announced a plan for the relief of injured workmen and the resident families of those killed in work-accidents (for details see Appendix XII, p. 249) which provides far more adequately for these emergencies. The amounts given, however, do not make up for the income loss entailed by death or permanent injury. They afford a systematic scheme of relief from want due directly to in- dustrial causes, but insurance must remain an important item in the family budget, as a safeguard against natural causes of death, and also if a family's standard of living is to be maintained subsequent to serious or fatal accident to the breadwinner. 95 homestead: the households of a mill town during such periods they have had to depend on savings, the help of friends, or on sick benefits. Therefore, for protection to their families against death and injuries they have turned to insurance. One woman told of a serious accident her husband suffered in the mill in the first year of her married life. He was unable to work for three months and during that time the $12.50 a week he received from three benefit orders supported the family. "My baby came then," she added feelingly, "and if it had not been for that money, I could not have bought clothes for her." The frequent accidents, moreover, have tended to keep insurance rates high in Homestead so far as the men are concerned. Not long ago one of the largest industrial insurance companies, the Prudential, made a first-hand investigation of work hazards in steel mills in order to put its policy rates on a sound footing. With the exception of superintendents and office men, it no longer accepts steel workers as first-class risks.* Among the budget groups the average weekly insurance payments ranged from $ .70 to $1.86. To put in concrete form what such weekly insurance expenditure means in actual benefits for the family, we find in the Home Guards, for example, that a weekly premium of $ .35 for a man whose occupation puts him in an intermediate grade, allows a sick or accident benefit of $13.50 for 16 weeks, a compensation of $525 for the loss of two eyes or two limbs, with benefits for lesser accidents in propor- tion, and a death benefit of $150. In the Modern Woodmen or the Royal Arcanum a premium of about 1.15a week provides a death benefit of $1000. That is, for $ .50 a week a family can partially safeguard itself against the loss from sickness or death of the man, while if there are a wife and three children in the family an additional $ .25 to $ .40 is necessary, to provide even for their funeral expenses. So nearly one dollar a week is required to make modest provisionf against these contingencies, — a large * See Appendix X, p. 243. Another insurance company which has 3800 industrial policy holders in Homestead states that it makes no extra charge because of the occupation. t Compare the English workmen's compensation act which provides that in case of death the family shall receive the equivalent of three years' wages. This for a man earning $12 a week would equal $1872; for a man earning $15 a week, $2340. 96 other expenditures: the budget as a whole proportion of a wage of $12 or $15 a week. Only those families whose expenditures averaged $17.59 P er wee ^ ^ l tnat tne y could spend as much as that. It is significant that with the exception of three Slavs, all the families continued their insurance payments during the period of depression. One woman told me that her husband could not afford to keep up his membership in his lodge though they con- tinued to carry their company insurance, but I heard of no English- speaking people who discontinued payments entirely. Saving in any other form during this time was an impossibility, but families even when drawing money from the bank kept up their insurance. The marked absence of savings in these budgets was, of course, inevitable during such a period of slack work. As the mills had hardly shut down at all for fifteen years, the need for saving for periods of idleness had not been an ever present one to the minds of the people. But the thriving business done by the four savings banks in Homestead in ordinary times indicates that there is popular sentiment in support of this form of thrift. Four from which figures were secured had on September 1, 1907, total deposits amounting to $2,179,624. I was unable to secure definite data as to the number of budget families having bank ac- counts, since this was one point on which I found people reticent. At least ten of those whom slack work threw out of employment, drew on savings funds. The amounts spent in purchase of homes, which were discussed in a previous chapter, are of course another form of savings. Thirteen budget families owned homes and five were buying them under mortgage. There was no evidence, however, of any such wide-spread provision through savings for old age, non-employment, high school education, or other use, as there was for sickness, injury or death. For all these latter contingencies provision may be made through insurance policies or lodge memberships; such provision for the future is deemed a necessity; and however in- adequate in amount, it is practically universal in all grades and groups. But however strong the desire for money savings may be, it appears that with only a small margin above the sum deemed necessary for essentials, most families in the lower wage groups must face a choice between some present comforts and 7 97 homestead: the households of a mill town enjoyments and the peace of mind which a bank account gives. Yet in Homestead, as elsewhere, the advantages of such a margin of ready money are only too apparent. No individual family income keeps always at its maximum ; sick benefits do not equal wages; cuts in rates are declared without warning, and occasionally comes a time like the winter of 1907-8 when the whole town has to face the problems that arise when the mills are running only part time. Not only were men out of work, but lodgers were unable to pay their rent. Families who had had washing done out or a woman come in to clean retrenched by doing this work themselves. The entire town, therefore, was affected by the partial shutdown of its one industry. A number of the budget families suffered from this tempo- rary decrease of income. To meet it, expenditures in many house- holds were cut to the quick, money that had been saved was taken from the bank, and food was purchased on credit. In one family, for instance, two accounts were kept; one when the man was working full time, the other when his pay was reduced by half. The contrast shows that the reduction fell heavily on kitchen ex- penses (which means an increase in the woman's work), on recrea- tion, and on sundries. TABLE 28. — EXPENDITURES OF A FAMILY FOR ONE WEEK IN IQO7 (NORMAL TIMES) AND IN I908 (TIME OF DEPRESSION) Year 42 Hi 3 1 1 ■5,3 a: CO I S 1 8 8 ■2 1 5= 1 s CO 1907 (Man working full time) $18.79 $5.19 $.82 $1.00 $.17 $2 $5.00 $-53 $.19 $.67 1.5. $1.30 1908 (Man working half time) 10.63 3-85 .73 1. 00 1 ! .01 4.02 .1 1 .11 •49 •31 One woman said, "I believe in cutting things according to my cloth. What we can't afford to pay for now, we won't have." In another family the usual income of $19 a week was 9 8 other expenditures: the budget as a whole temporarily reduced to $9.10, an additional $4.72 being obtained on credit. This $4.72 was the entire amount spent for food for a family of eleven. During this period, however, they expended weekly $2.80 for insurance, $2.00 a week for the man's spending money and carfare (they lived in a suburb), $2.75 for rent, $ .32 for tobacco, $ .82 for gas. Aside from these regular weekly items their total sundry expenditure for the month consisted of coal hod and fender, $1.10; a lantern, $ .25; candy, $ .05; a child's coat, $1.98; a pair of stockings, $ .10; matches, soap, blueing, etc., $.65. Apart from economies in all lines, the chief dependence of these families in supplementing the man's lessened earnings was credit. Forty-six families were depending upon it for either food or rent. TABLE 29. — BUDGET FAMILIES WHOSE INCOME INCLUDED MONEY DRAWN FROM THE BANK OR GOODS SECURED ON CREDIT. — BY EXPENDITURE AND RACIAL GROUP Slav Eng. S p. Eur. Nat. White Colored Income Group Credit Bank Credit Bank Credit Bank Credit Bank Under $12.00 9 2 3 3 5 $12.00-$ 1 4.99 3 3 3 Jji15.00-fJ19.99 3 2 1 1 3 1 3 $20.00 and over . 2 2 4 2 Total . . . '7 6 7 I 1 1 3 1 1 The conditions of town life probably enabled people to resort to credit more than would have been the case in a larger city. Since the entire town is dependent on the steel industry, the men could not find other work in Homestead and were unwilling to take the uncertain chance of obtaining it elsewhere in a dull season. There was, moreover, the recurring probability that the mills would soon resume their normal output. Nor could the women find employment. On the other hand, both landlords and grocers knew their customers personally and therefore granted credit freely to the trustworthy. They felt that the confidence 99 homestead: the households of a mill town thus created would help their trade when better times came. Grocers particularly taxed their credit to the utmost, saying that they would trust their regular customers as long as the wholesalers would trust them. The amounts actually purchased in this way make one realize how appallingly behindhand wage-earning families get during long-continued hard times. For example, the 32 families with an income of less than $12 a week secured an average credit per family of $1.09 a week for food; those with $12 to $14, $1.45; those with $15 to $19, $ .87, those receiving $20 and over, $ .78. The native whites bought an average of only f .27 worth on credit, but the Slavs bought an average of $1.57; the English-speaking Europeans, $1.34; the colored, fi.oi. As the depression lasted for more than a year, months would have to elapse before the families could wipe out their accumulated indebtedness. One woman in May, 1908, told me that she already had a bill of $75, with prosperous times still a long way off. In these emergencies, neighbors quietly helped each other; but a local relief committee found that few of the older residents would come to them for assistance, however unostentatiously given. It was then by means of household economies and by going into debt, that the majority of families, whose men were wholly or partly out of work, met the hard times which came to Home- stead. But we must recognize that these economies often meant physical hardship and that the accumulated credit was to be a burden which it would take months to wipe out; that spent savings put off for a long time the buying of the house and that children perhaps had to give up another year in school. The question of how far the present should be sacrificed in order to guard against future emergencies is raised sharply by such a period of hard times. That savings are eaten up and families thrust into debt by long periods of slack work are facts bound up in the general problems of industrial prosperity and depression.* But that after fifteen years of almost steady work, * The United States Steel Corporation stood out strongly against a general reduction in wages in the industry during the depression. In January, 1908, the Carnegie Steel Company, however, reduced rates in most of the skilled depart- ments at Homestead. The plate mill men, for example, received reductions of from 3 to 22 per cent. IOO other expenditures: the budget as a whole so many families, especially in the lower earnings group, should be so unprepared to weather the hard times, raises questions both as to the sufficiency of the normal wages and as to the foresight of the wage-earners. What, we may well ask, do savings cost the family of a wage- earner who earns less than $3.00 a day ? Are they readily possible without discomfort or meagreness of living, or do they come out of a food supply none too large to furnish adequate nourish- ment? Do they come out of what should go for the amusements essential alike to mind and body ? Only an exhaustive study of great numbers of budgets could answer these questions with any finality. The decision in individual cases between present pleasures and provision for the future seems to be partly due to experience and partly to tem- perament. One woman told me the story of the early experiences of hard poverty she and her husband had endured as children. She was the child of a widow employed in a factory, and he was one of a big family on a farm where all had worked early and late. And now though he is on tonnage rates they save nothing. Aside from her husband's heavy insurance, their money goes for present pleasures and comforts, with a conscious enjoyment possible only to those who have had to do without. With no children to make the future a problem, they have definitely chosen the plea- sures of the passing moment. An occasional trip to the theatre, plenty of good clothes, company for meals, — the money goes fast enough. In marked contrast is the expenditure of an American family of five who have the same income. Their house is smaller, and their festivities are less numerous; besides carrying heavy insurance, they are saving to buy a home, and at the same time are giving the daughter music lessons. Their average weekly ex- penditure was as follows: Rent, $2.54; food, $8.60; clothing, $2.24; furniture,! .84; household expenses, $ .19; insurance, $3.02; education, $.65; church, $.28; recreation, $.23; tobacco, $.11; medicine, $ .29; sundries, $ .43. During the period the account was kept, their savings did not average half a dollar a week. Interesting as they are, however, such individual cases offer little more than a glimpse of the personal equations involved. The average expenditures in the various groups are more repre- 101 homestead: the households of a mill town sentative as indications and enable us to state the problem with more accuracy. For we have now reached a point where we can recapitulate our 90 budgets, and see more clearly what they indi- cate as to the round of possible expenditures open to average households run at each of the expenditure levels. In the lowest expenditure group of budget families, the average weekly outlay was $9.17, and the averages for the items were: Rent $1 .88 Insurance. . . .$ .70 Food 4- 1 6 Tobacco 07 Fuel 38 Liquor 20 Clothing 94 Medicine 10 Furniture 09 Other expenses . . .50* Household expenses . .15 We have certain standards of physical necessities by which to test what may be secured for given amounts. For example, rent at $1.88 a week is less than $8.00 a month. In the Slavic district I found that $8.00 was the cost of the two-room tene- ments without improvements, facing on courts. Of the budget families in this group only about a third had running water in the house, and in two-thirds of these homes there were two or more persons to the room. This certainly is below the minimum stand- ard of comfort or health even for a laborer's family. In the chapter on food expenditures, we found that 22 cents per man per day is the minimum for which a skilful house- keeper can provide food sufficient to maintain physical well- being. Thirteen out of 32 families in this group were actually spending less than the minimum of 22 cents. For the average family in the group, the expenditure of $4. 16 a week furnished just this amount. For families of normal size, however, — father, mother and three children under fourteen,— this weekly expen- diture would allow but 18 cents per man per day. These average allowances for food and shelter are inade- quate for normal standards. They include no excess from which the sum available for the remaining items might be increased. * See Table 24, p. 84. For expenditures of 28 house-renting families in this expenditure group, see Table 10, page 45. The situation would not be mate- rially altered if we had taken the average expenditures of the house renters as a basis for our discussion. 102 y On the Outskirts: Munhall Hollow and its smoke-blighted trees in June Photos by Ei In the Crowded Section: Three families share the house and seven the yard Where Rents are Cheap other expenditures: the budget as a whole Yet as we analyze the $3.1 1 a week remaining after food and rent have been secured, we find it obviously inadequate to provide wholesome living. The needs of the future are recognized in an elemental way in the 70 cents a week for insurance. For 50 cents a week, as we have seen, the man could through fraternal orders secure a death benefit of $1 000 and four months' sick benefit yearly, leaving only 20 cents a week toward burial insurance for his wife and children. According to the estimate made by Mr. Chapin in New York, $100 a year is the smallest amount that will supply sufficient cloth- ing for a family. Here clothing expenditure for the weeks studied was less than half this sum. Yet even so, there would remain only 1 1. 50 a week to cover all family expenditures for fuel, furniture, recreation and liquor, for support of the church, for newspapers and magazines, to say nothing of savings for sickness or hard times. We find then that the average expenditure of this lowest group of families, $9.17, could not supply in Homestead a "living" for a family in its simplest meanings. The objection may be made that as many of these families were, at the time of the study, living on less than their ordinary wages, these figures (though they are to be deplored as a level to which the family of a workman may be depressed even in hard times) do not represent household condi- tions in normal years. The average weekly expenditure for these families, however, was but 10 cents a day less than the pre- vailing wages of Homestead laborers in 1907-8, — $ .16^ an hour for a ten-hour day, or $9.90 for a six-day week.* Under the sec- tion on Slavs (page 140) the analysis of the actual expenditures of a group of laborers getting an average of $10 per week, during the period studied, offers further indications that these earnings do not constitute a "living wage" for a family. They were the nominal earnings of the great bulk of unskilled immigrants employed in the mills in the "good times" of 1907. In the next expenditure group (ranging from $12 to $14.99) the average expenditure was $13.32 (Table 24, page 84). Though *If we apply the same percentages for the different items to this total of $9.90, we find that the expenditures for food would be $4.48 (or 19A cents per day per man), for rent $2.03 (which would secure a two-room tenement without im- provements) and a margin for other items of $3.39 as against $3.12 — differences too small to invalidate the conclusions reached. IO3 homestead: the households of a mill town the problem of supplying the physical necessities may be less pressing, we find no adequate margin above them for other ex- penditures. The $2.29 a week spent for rent would provide three rooms, but without sanitary conveniences. For a family of five this is very close quarters; more than one-half of the fam- ilies in this group averaged two or more persons to the room. Besides the danger to health, especially in time of sickness, such small and crowded apartments permit no opportunity for pri- vacy or for social gatherings in the home. Food at an average of I5.86 a week for the family of five persons gives an expenditure of 24 cents per man per day. This, as we have seen, at best allows little leeway for a large family or an incompetent housewife. In fact, four of the families in this group spent less than 22 cents. A margin of $5.17 is thus left for clothing, furniture, insurance, minor household expenses, fuel, liquor and sundries. While bud- gets covering a period of less than two months are not a sound basis for any conclusions as to these expenditures, the items as we find them are at least indicative of the ways in which the margin above food and shelter may be proportioned. Clothing at $1 .57 a week, on Mr. Chapin's estimate, would still not provide the abso- lute essentials. With $10 a year one could buy little furniture, except such as would replace linen, carpets, and curtains, and an occasional article to meet the needs of growing families. The families studied here averaged less for insurance than did the lower expen- diture group, with its preponderance of Slavs. Similarly the other headings show no easy chance for economy as a means of increasing the amount free for sundries; yet reference to the account of the families on page 88 shows that the $1.23 a week remaining would be eaten up so quickly by small necessities that little would be left for savings or recreation. The items are a fair indication of what it is possible for a workingman to provide for his family out of $2.25 a day. The impression to be gathered from a review of them is unmistakably that of a sub-normal household. The next group ($1 5-$ 19.99), which had an average expendi- ture of 1 1 7. 59 (corresponding roughly to earnings at $3.00 a day for six days a week), shows a marked increase in these household items. Rent at $2.73 would provide a small detached four-room house. But it falls far short of the sum which we estimated would 104 other expenditures: the budget as a whole secure sanitary conveniences and a sufficient number of rooms to insure privacy and the development of the home. Nine out of the 23 families in this group were still without running water, and nine of the families had two or more persons per room. The rise in ex- penditure for food to $7.1 1 a week, or 31 cents per man per day, gives a fair margin, though three families, in two of which there were seven children each, dropped again below the 22 cent limit. Here a balance of $7.75 is available for the rest of the budget. The expense for clothing is slightly above the cost Mr. Chapin estimates as essential, and that for furniture about doubles the $10 per year of the previous group. Insurance is also increased to the point where it would secure the modest provision noted on page 96, though it still fails to provide at all reasonably against the lost income due to the breadwinner's death. The gain in sundries, which have risen to $1.83 a week, marks our first noteworthy leeway in expenditure; it is still too small, as we have seen, to enable the average family to lay by any appreciable savings and at the same time permit itself recreations essential alike to mind and body. The group spending over $20 a week had an average expen- diture of $25.56 a week, or above $4.00 a day. Rent at $3.73 a week or $16 a month provides a detached four-room house without a bathroom. A house with a bathroom can hardly be rented for less than $20 or $22 a month. Food at $ .37 per man per day is plainly ample to supply necessities, and yet one or two accounts where this amount was spent showed no actual extravagances, if measured by our American standards. The expenditure for clothing for this period is the equivalent of $175 a year, for furni- ture $42. The amount for sundries, $4.09, is more than double what the previous group had to spend for these items. We find, that is, so far as this group of 90 family budgets can show us and at the range of prices current in Homestead, that only when earnings are $15 a week, or more, can we con- fidently look for a reasonable margin above the requisite expen- ditures for necessities. It is only in the group spending more than $20 that we find that the average family has reached a point where, without being spendthrift of the future and without undue pinching in other directions, they can spend enough to satisfy 105 homestead: the households of a mill town what we should recognize as the reasonable ambitions of an American who puts his life into his work. The household problem for the great number of English-speaking workmen in Homestead whose earnings fall between these two figures, is that of propor- tioning earnings so that, with the children fed and housed in such a fashion as to maintain physical well-being, the wife may gain some leisure from household cares, they may all have some share in the pleasures and responsibilities of the community, and may make such provision for future emergencies as their own experience and that of their neighbors show to be essential. Failure to attain the ideal should not be considered prima facie evidence of the unfitness of the family to meet its problems. For Homestead has its ideals, — ideals of a genuine home life for the family, if possible in a home of its own, where there shall be sufficient leisure and attractive enough surroundings to make it the center for happy lives; ideals of such security as in time of sickness or misfortune shall enable the home to care for its own. With the wages offered by the industry many of the workers can attain these ideals, if at all, only by unremitting work and inexorable compromises. We find housekeepers facing cheer- fully the problem of providing wholesome and attractive food, that shall at the same time be economical, three times a day; giving up even five-cent treats at the nickelodeon to save for a house. We find them failing often, failing through ignorance or indifference, but also succeeding against heavy odds. To the onlooker it is a brave fight, the braver that it is so full of deadly monotony, a fight the weapons of which are pots and pans and bargain sales. In its outcome, however, is bound up the happiness and efficiency of the next generation. 1 06 CHAPTER VII OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS THERE are other and more subtle factors in living together than rooms or meals. The place in the budget of the home, amusements, church going, and lodge insurance were discussed in the last chapter. They are also significant as expressions of human relationships, and in their activity and or- ganized forms reveal the character of the people as no account- book footings can reveal it. The relations of parents to each other, to their neighbors, and to their children, affect the develop- ment of household life among the people. Yet even these relations are in a measure determined by outside forces. Industrial conditions, for example, determine the type of family life. In the families here, the women almost never go out to work — a marked contrast to cotton mill towns, for instance, where wives and daughters seek employment almost as a matter of course. This dependence on the men's wages is due not primarily to any theory as to woman's sphere, but to the simple fact that the one industry cannot use the work of women and children. Moreover, in this town where there are no marked differences in financial status and by far the larger number of housewives do all their own work, there is not much opportunity to obtain any form of domestic service by the day. Women apparently think it wiser to save money by good housekeeping than to earn a little more and neglect the home. This feeling, combined with the difficulty in securing work, has developed the type of family in which the man's wages constitute almost the entire income. Among the English-speaking and native white budget fami- lies * only two women went out to do day's work. There were four * Appendix I, Table 3, p. 201. 107 homestead: the households of a mill town of these families who took lodgers, but since the women were either widows who had no other means of income, or women who had no children, the presence of lodgers interfered very little with the household life. As these families averaged only 1.2 persons to a room their homes were not seriously overcrowded. For the most part the women, relieved from the task of increasing the income, use their time and interest to good purpose in developing in their households a distinctive quality of homelikeness. The men are inclined to trust all financial matters to their wives. It is the custom in Homestead for the workman to turn over his wages to his wife on pay day and to ask no questions as to what it goes for. He reserves a share for spending money; otherwise his part of the family problem is to earn and hers to spend. When the man was at home and I suggested to him that they keep accounts for this investigation he usually referred the matter genially to the wife, saying, "Oh, she's the one that knows where the money goes. If she wants to help you out she can." Though the men show in general a frank appreciation of home comforts, they do not always realize all the work behind them. One wife said, "The only time 'the mister' notices any- thing about the house is when I wash the curtains." But many chance remarks showed that the women realize the importance of keeping the home attractive. One woman compared her husband, who stayed at home evenings unless they went to "the show" together, with the man next door who was always going off to Pittsburgh "on a lark." Her explanation of the difference was simply, " I always put on a clean dress and do my hair before he comes home, and have the kitchen tidy so he will enjoy staying. But she never tidies up a bit." Her kitchen was spotless, with a bright geranium in the window; that of her neighbor was hot and mussy and the children were noisy. No wonder the husband did not care to stay at home; but in a small house with washing and cooking to do, with babies to look out for, it is often hard for the housekeeper to have time or energy, after the children are home from school and the dinner cooked, to stop and make herself presentable. That so many women do this is a proof of their energy and genuine ability. Supper time in Homestead will always be associated in my 108 OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS mind with one family whom I knew. When the men began to come from the mill in the evening the mother with a fresh apron on and the two children in clean dresses came out on the front porch. The children sat on the lowest step until the father was in sight, and long before I could recognize him were off down the street, the older one to carry his bucket, the little one to take possession of his hand. After supper he smoked con- tentedly with a child on each knee and talked with his wife of the day's doings. That hour of rest was bought at the price of a busy day for her; she swept off porch and walk, she washed almost daily to keep the dresses clean, she had dinner all cooked before he came. A woman must be a good manager and have the courage to appear cheerful when tired, if she is to make the even- ing at home happy. The thoughtful women are especially conscious that part of the responsibility for keeping the men away from the saloons belongs to them. The heat and thirst due to mill work, combined with the lack of other amusements, make the brightness and festivity of bar-rooms very appealing, and intemperance is conse- quently a serious evil in the town. The wives feel that they must help to overcome this temptation. One woman told me that she had been brought up to consider it wrong to play cards. She feared, however, that if she refused to have them in the house, her husband who was fond of playing would be tempted to go to the back rooms of the saloons for his entertainment. So, putting aside her scruples, she planned informal gatherings to play in the evenings. To her the drink evil was the more serious. There are many, however, to whom these real homes are not possible. There rises to my mind, in contrast, a two-room tenement down in the grimy corner where the mill joins the town. Here a woman was trying to support four little children by sewing and washing. Her husband had died after eight years of semi-invalidism resulting from an accident in the mill. With his small wages they had not been able to save, and as the injury had occurred so long ago she was not eligible for a benefit from the Carnegie Relief Fund. The kitchen was small and hot and the younger children noisy, and the not unnatural consequence was that the oldest girl drifted to the streets, mixed with a gay crowd, and eventually became a 109 homestead: the households of a mill town charge of the Juvenile Court. The girl was not bad at heart, and had there been a cheerful home where her friends could come, the end might have been different. That home life has a strong hold and is a social force in keeping pure what we call the moral life of the town, is shown by the infrequency of immorality among these English-speaking families. There are instances, to be sure, of unfaithfulness among married people, and there are those who love to retail these bits of gossip. But even the way in which they are told reveals how strongly the general sentiment of the town condemns such moral laxity. It is very rare to hear of girls going wrong. These townspeople watch their daughters jealously, and make every effort to have the home the center of life so that the dangers almost inevitably attendant on public dances and skating rinks may not touch the girls of the family. I found it part of many a mother's problem to create such a household atmosphere that the children should find their happiness in the home rather than seek it in the doubtful amusements the town offers. They planned, for instance, to give the children music lessons so that in the even- ing they might enjoy such gayeties together. In one or two homes the children had learned to play on different instruments and had an embryo orchestra. These quiet family gatherings are ap- parently the source of much pleasure. However amusing to the chance reader a small local paper may be, it furnishes some pretty reliable data as to the happenings in a town. The columns of the Homestead papers describe a round of birthday festivities and surprise parties for grown-ups as well as children, and we are assured each time that "the evening was a most enjoyable one." Music and refreshments, cards and other games furnish the usual entertainment. Where the mother is tactful and wise, the lack of amusement outside the home may have no serious results. But all women are not geniuses in making their homes happy; some make the effort and fail, others never try, with disastrous results. And unfor- tunately, when this attraction fails, as often happens when the mother does not welcome the surprise party or when the father resents having the children noisy in the evening, there is little in the community to take its place. Practically the only public I 10 OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS amusements in Homestead, during my stay there, were the nickelodeons and skating rinks. Six of the former, all but one on Eighth Avenue, sent out their penetrating music all the evening and most of the afternoon. There was one ten-cent vaudeville house, but the others charge five cents for a show consisting of songs, moving pictures, etc., which lasts fifteen minutes or so. The part these shows play in the life of the community is really surprising. Not only were no other theatrical performances given in Homestead, but even those in Pittsburgh, because of the time and expense involved in getting there, were often out of the reach of workingmen and their families. The writer, when living in Homestead, found few things in Pittsburgh worth the long trolley ride, forty-five minutes each way. Many people, therefore, find in the nickelodeons their only relaxation. Men on their way home from work stop for a few minutes to see something of life outside the alternation of mill and home; the shopper rests while she enjoys the music, poor though it be, and the children are always begging for five cents to go to the nickelodeon. In the evening the family often go together for a little treat. On a Saturday afternoon visit to a nickelodeon, which advertised that it admitted two children on one ticket, I was surprised to find a large propor- tion of men in the audience. In many ways this form of amuse- ment is desirable. What it ordinarily offers does not educate but does give pleasure. While occasionally serious subjects are repre- sented, as for example pictures of the life of Christ given in Easter week, the performance usually consists of song and dance and moving pictures, all of a mediocre type. Still, for five cents the nickelodeon offers fifteen minutes' relaxation, and a glimpse of other sides of life, making the same appeal, after all, that theatre and novel do. As the nickelodeon seems to have met a real need in the mill towns, one must wish that it might offer them a better quality of entertainment.* Many who go because they can afford * In New York City a board of censorship passes upon the films, and this has eliminated any tendency to bid for trade by showing degrading subjects. In the absence of such a censorship, the probation officers of the Allegheny County Juve- nile Court have protested against pictures exhibited in some of the nickelodeons in Pittsburgh and neighboring towns. Without supervision some of them become ill favored resorts. Ill homestead: the households of a mill town nothing expensive would appreciate something better, even at a slightly higher price. The other popular amusement was the skating rink, of which there were three or four in Homestead.* "A marriage on skates" (apparently a bona-fide one, announced for ten days), masked balls, races, moonlight skating parties, all cleverly advertised, at- tracted the young people. While the two large rinks were fairly well conducted, some of the smaller ones were attended by a rough crowd. To a certain extent the danger felt in regard to public dances, bringing together young people some of whom were of doubtful character, applied also to the rink, and mothers often refused to allow their daughters to go, unless it was with "our own crowd." But some diversion young people must have, nor are their elders exempt from this need.f Surely with none is the necessity for stimulus and variety of interest greater than with the men who turn daily from twelve hours in the din of the huge mills to home, supper, a smoke and bed. 1 have already noted that in this community of 25,000 there are over 50 saloons and other drinking places, ranging from "speak-easies" to the conventional bar-rooms with plate glass and bright lights. It was no part of my study to investigate the ownership or police surveillance of these establishments, the profits gathered in on pay nights, or the intoxication which, as we have seen, the courts prove so ineffectual in controlling. As places of relaxation, they fill a need not otherwise supplied. The Carnegie Library has a gymnasium and clubs, but, except for the saloons and the club rooms of one or two fraternal orders, there are no free and easy lounging places for refreshment and friendly intercourse. The Slavs bring much of the liquor they buy home and drink it sociably there, many of them being heavy drinkers. The budgets gave no basis for a conclusion that English-speaking Homestead men are hard drinkers. My inquiries naturally lay among men ♦During the hard times of 1908 these were closed and have not been reopened. fThe Public Recreation Centers of Chicago, with their dance halls and club rooms, to which all ages resort, in which the young people are safeguarded in ways which do not dampen the ardor of their good times, suggest the sort of non-commercial pleasure places which the mill towns need. 112 OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS with families rather than among the unattached ones, who are the constant tipplers in all towns. In the homes on the hill streets I heard almost no complaints that men were drunkards, though many men undoubtedly, in good times, spent money that way that was needed for the household budget. An old resident said that among the older stock he could name perhaps a half dozen men known as drunkards in the town. With hot work to whet thirst, and with the natural rebellion of human nature against the tension of long hours, the liquor interests have exploited the needs of the adults for recreation and refreshment. It is true that they have not really met that need, and have exploited the opportunities they offer; but it is equally true that the need is met in no other way. Outside of home festivities and the meagre or commercialized public provisions, the chief dependence for sociability is on the lodges, churches and other voluntary organizations. In Homestead, as in other working communities, we find benefit organizations playing a prominent part. In one day's paper, 50 meetings of fraternal orders were scheduled for one week. Facts were secured concerning 23 out of a total of perhaps half a hundred lodges. The 23 had a membership in 1907 of 3663; of these 3400 were men. Almost all the organizations include both social and benefit features. The Order of Elks, which has no reg- ular benefits and is a purely social organization, nevertheless gives generous assistance to members in distress. On the other hand the fraternal insurance orders, such as the Protected Home Circle and the Royal Arcanum, are important, not only because they help provide for the future, but because they provoke social intercourse in ways which help make this form of insurance popular. The lodges seek to arouse the sense of fraternity and common interest which otherwise finds little stimulus in the town. The following paragraphs from the prospectus of the Modern Wood- men reveal this purpose: While the beneficial (or insurance) department of the Modern Woodmen Society is admirable — is, indeed, as over $1,200,000,000 of insurance in force proves, of vital im- portance to the man of family — yet Woodcraft's fraternal feature is in reality the basal stone of the Society's existence. 8 113 homestead: the households of a mill town The world needs more genuine fraternity. There is a power of comfort in brotherly sympathy extended in time of distress. The kindly visit and solicitude of a Neighbor for one lying on a bed of sickness is appreciated. The aid freely extended to our families when we are so unfortunate as not to be able to help them ourselves is truly fraternal — Christ-like. None of us are so strong or so fortunately situ- ated that there may not come a dark hour, when we will require assistance and sympathy. It is comforting to know that in such an hour we need not appeal for Charity, but we may command the kindly ministrations of our fraternal brothers — our "Neighbors" of the Modern Woodmen of America. They solemnly obligate themselves to extend such aid and you will receive it if you stand in need. But in addition to this general sense of brotherliness, the lodges supply some of the good fun which Homestead craves. Be- sides the regular meetings, they have summer outings at Kenny- wood Park and elsewhere, dances and card parties in the winter, whereby they raise money for some charitable purpose, for the lodge expenses or, as a special benefit, for some member who is in peculiar distress. These ends do not lessen the real enjoyment in the festivity itself, though they form, of course, an extra tax. Even the business meetings are a source of pleasure, and help de- velop a spirit of neighborliness. To the women especially, whose duties keep them at home, the lodge offers almost their only chance to meet other people and get for a few minutes into a different atmosphere from that of household tasks. Some housekeepers are firmly opposed to lodges on the ground that as they take time they must result in neglect of the home. This was also the opinion of a man whose wife had announced that she could see no objection to woman suf- frage, since women could learn how to vote by going to meetings. "Well," he retorted feelingly, "if you went to any more I don't know when I should get anything to eat." Another woman who belonged to four lodges and attended on an average two meetings every week considered them the pleasantest part of life, while her attractive home indicated that they did not inter- fere with her household duties. On the whole, the lodge meetings afford a genuine pleasure while they make no serious break in the 114 OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS routine of household tasks. Those fraternal insurance orders which include in their membership both men and women serve also as a center of common family interest. The meetings, however, are probably of most value to the men, since Homestead has comparatively few other organizations to bring men together. There are no unions to give a sense of common interest, and the political organizations are largely domi- nated by a few gangs. The lodges form really the only clubs. The most successful one in the town is the Odd Fellows with a membership of about one thousand, mostly steel workers, and a building of its own. It is probably the most influential organ- ization in Homestead. As the dues are not large and the sick benefits are comparatively generous, many can afford to join. The associations not only arouse fraternal interest in fellow members, but also offer at times the means of expressing sympathy with those outside their membership. During 1908, for example, many of the orders gave entertainments, to raise money either for the hospital which was being built in Homestead or for the com- mittee which cared for those in need during the industrial depres- sion. As I went into one woman's kitchen one day, she showed me a half bushel basket full of fine, large potatoes scrubbed clean and ready for baking, which she told me with a good deal of pride and evident pleasure were her share in a supper her lodge was giving for the benefit of the hospital. "My husband," she explained, "isn't in a dangerous place in the mill, but I am glad to help even if most of the injured are Hunkies." Again, in December of 1907, within forty-eight hours after the mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, one Homestead lodge had voted a contribution for those left destitute. This ready sympathy for suffering and desire to help often find their only expression through the joint effort of these societies. Social needs are further met by the churches, which in Home- stead, as is usual in a town, play a more important role in the com- munity than they do in a large city. While church affairs and suppers may not be the best ways to raise money, they offer good times. "Ten cent socials," for instance, provide a jolly evening for the young folks; chicken and waffle suppers, advertised often during the winter, proved to be pleasant, homelike affairs. i'5 homestead: the households of a mill town The churches also provide a real though limited intellectual stimulus. One has a large men's club at whose meetings speakers talk on subjects of current interest. In another church a club of young men and women has regular debates on sociological subjects. The church in such ways becomes a center for broad- ening the life of its members by other than purely spiritual interests. The mill-town lodges and churches, though each must work out its own salvation, are more or less closely affiliated with larger organizations. It is interesting to see what purely local societies the town has developed. There are the usual number of women's clubs, with various objects, from embroidery to civics. The most prominent and enterprising is the Homestead Woman's Club, of whose work in conducting a playground and attempting to secure a kindergarten I shall speak later. These women's clubs which have formed a union, with a joint meeting yearly, are centers of interest in the lives of their members. The members are, however, largely wives of business and profes- sional men or of those in responsible positions in the mill.* The young men have formed numerous athletic clubs, some informal, some with professional teams. During the winter, basket ball games, both professional and amateur, are very popular. "The 3rd Ave. team plays the 5th Ave. team" and similar notices in the Homestead papers show that local rivalry and athletic zeal go hand in hand. The Homestead "Americans" have won championship matches all over the Eastern states. The players are, of course, usually young men. The older men and those whose work is hard prefer watching. Women when questioned as to the man's spending money often said, "Well, he goes to a basket ball game most every Saturday and that's thirty-five cents." It is perhaps needless to say that in summer baseball is to the front. There are the usual matches between local teams, and a "Business Men's League" conducts a series of games at Homestead Park after business hours. The standing of the various teams, which include doctors, grocers, steel workers, etc., arouses a good deal of interest. The boys, of course, have innu- merable small clubs, and not infrequently on warm spring days *See Appendix XIII, p. 264 ff., for a list of the clubs and their objects. Il6 Orchestra; Carnegie Library Band Stand Open air concerts are given here in the summer by the Carnegie Library Band OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS passers-by are called upon to buy undrinkable lemonade to help supply the uniforms. While the clubs connected with the Carnegie Library are not, in a sense, of spontaneous growth, they may nevertheless be referred to here, since their particular form is largely a matter of popular demand. The library, it should be said in passing, touches the town's life at several points, and I have several times had occasion to refer to it. To give a more complete picture of its activities, and of the spirit of the librarian in charge, his annual report is published in Appendix XIII. There is an excel- lent gymnasium open to all on payment of $2.00 a year. This includes gymnasium, swimming pool, bowling alleys, fencing, etc., with good instruction. It was very popular with the young men. Men engaged in either clerical or professional work were found more often than those doing manual labor in the mill. Many of the latter (as seems natural to any one who has visited the mills) say they are too tired after their hours of heavy work. Conse- quently, they miss entirely the all-round development of gymna- sium work and the mutual stimulus and refreshment of playing games together. For the boys, the "gym" offers both fun and good training. The library also has had a series of paid entertainments, conducted by a lecture bureau which offers illustrated lectures, monologues, humorous readings, etc., at a low price. These were held in the auditorium of the library, but were only fairly well attended and later were abandoned. In addition the club has good musical classes, a band, an orchestra and chorus, each of which gives at least one free concert a year. The boys play well and this work undoubtedly helps to raise the standard of music in the homes. Aside from the lecture course there was almost no enter- tainment in Homestead the year of my inquiry that could be called cultural. The amusements in the main were the simple festivities of home and lodge and church, narrow in their round. Lacking the stimulus that comes from bringing a community into contact with new ideas or new people, they yet helped to keep life sane and wholesome. 117 CHAPTER VIII THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD THROUGH children, more than through insurance, or savings, or even through home owning, does a workman's household lay claim upon the future. Here both the oldest instincts and new half-formulated ambitions find expres- sion. They have asserted themselves even in a town where the men have submitted to exclusion from all control over their work, and where as we have seen they have failed to master the town's government as a whole. Here the community has set before itself what it feels to be high standards. The working people of Homestead when talking of their children show a distinct recognition of the value of education and home training, as compared with the immediate money value of wages. English-speaking parents, at least, do not hurry their chil- dren to work the day they are fourteen years of age. Of the 17 boys between fourteen and twenty-one, in the English-speak- ing families from whom budgets were secured, 15 were at work; but of 1 6 girls, four were still at school and 12 were at home help- ing their mothers. This last figure is a striking one in view of the fact that in at least five of these families the man was earning less than $15 a week; yet even under such circumstances the parents did not seek to increase their income by sending the girls to work. A typical case is that of a girl of 18, the eldest of six children, in a family with an income of $14 a week. It was assumed to be her place to help her mother, rather than to sup- plement the father's wages. While the number of families studied is, of course, not large enough to warrant sweeping con- clusions, their attitude in this matter corresponded with general impressions I received in visiting a much wider circle. In contrast to their general political indifference, the voters 118 THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD have insisted on efficiency in the one branch of borough govern- ment which specifically affects their children, and are proud of having a " good school board" and of having created a public senti- ment which makes the best men in the town willing to accept this office. The board included in 1907-8 three physicians, four men in the steel works, including a steel inspector, two lawyers, and several business men. Though this board has not adopted all the modern improvements in school equipment, it has, through its straightforward efforts to provide good service, secured the co- operation of the people. So far, school facilities have kept pace with the rapid growth of the town and there has been a seat for every child. The Second Ward school, one of the older buildings visited, was neither well constructed nor fireproof. The first grade room had 34 double seats, or 68 children for one teacher — an excessive number. Drinking water was brought in buckets from a well in the yard; the toilets were cemented privy vaults flushed only by waste water from the yard and by rain water from the roof, except in dry seasons when the flushing was done by a hose.* Heat was provided by sheet-iron incased coal stoves situated in the rooms, and there was no system of ventilation. In contrast to this old school, changes in the newer buildings show that the board is adopting progressive standards. For example, the Fifth Ward school, the newest, is semi-fireproof and has excellent lighting arrangements, — six windows in each of the rooms, — the light in all cases coming from the back and left of the pupils. It has no double desks, and in two rooms the desks are graded in size. The heating is by hot air generated by steam. The building, a two-story one with no fire-escapes, had, how- ever, a wooden stairway in the center hall, and a fire drill was introduced only after public sentiment had been aroused by the Collingwood School fire in Cleveland in which several hundred children were killed. Graduated desks are still urgently needed, since the presence in the same school of both native-born children and newly arrived immigrants results in unusual variations in size among pupils in the same grade. With more facilities for bathing and especially with better toilets, the schools also could * Sanitary porcelain closets were installed in 1908. II 9 homestead: the households of a mill town serve to educate public opinion to demand better sanitary stand- ards in the homes. The principal school in Munhall is a more up-to-date struc- ture than those of Homestead,* being fireproof and built with iron stairways and sufficient exits. The toilets are within the building, the lighting is sufficient and the heating system modern. It contains an assembly hall, though this was used only for school purposes. The mothers' meetings and little entertainments in the kindergarten, and the literary exercises held once a week to which the mothers were invited, served to arouse interest and bring the women in touch with the teachers. This school is beginning to have a real influence in the life of the borough. It is, however, situated on the hill in the most prosperous part of the town. The schools in neighborhoods where such work would be more essential are not so equipped. An outsider, unless an expert, can hardly judge whether methods of instruction are of a high order or the work of the teachers efficient. The residents themselves believe that they are, and take genuine pride in every advance in standards. The authorities have been less ready to develop the social uses of the school plants. 1 1 is perhaps not surprising that a conservative town has not introduced such new features as school nurses and medical in- spection of school children. Parents who are so eager to secure benefits for their children would undoubtedly welcome such work were its value made known to them. Superintendent T. M. Norris of the Homestead schools has expressed himself as in favor of school nurses in the Second Ward. So far there has been no effective demand for them, nor has Homestead had the example of such a public system in the Pittsburgh schools. There has been less excuse for the belatedness in providing school playgrounds. In the Second Ward, where a play center has been most needed, the school has a large yard. Though this would have made a good playground it was used for games the year of my residence in Homestead only during the fifteen-minute recess twice a day. As the school is on the main street only two blocks from the mill, * Up to iqio the Homestead High School has been conducted in a part of one of the grammar buildings. Plans are now under way for building a High School to cost $125,000. This will have baths, a gymnasium, an assembly hall, etc. 1^ >- 5 "3 a -5 THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD the yard proved an attractive spot for loungers and was on that account closed out of school hours. While paid supervision in such a location is undoubtedly necessary, the difficulty or expense in providing it should not have remained an insurmountable obstacle where a place to play was so sadly needed. The children who at- tend this school live at the foot of the hill in crowded courts, in which there is little room for games, and a long climb is neces- sary to reach the vacant Clipping from the Homestead Messenger which was an teresting bit of evidence of the need for recreation grounds. BOYS CLAIM THEIR RIGHTS ARE6EING 1NTERERFED WITH lots back of the town. For two years the Woman's Club of Homestead used this school yard for a vaca- tion school. They employed teach- ers to conduct a kitchen garden and sewing classes, and provided swings and sand boxes for amuse- ment. Each afternoon club mem- bers helped with the work and they seem to have made it a success. Some felt, however, that the children who came were not from families who really needed this stimulus, and since the women could not secure an appropriation from the school board, and had difficulty in raising the necessary funds, they finally gave up the work. This was unfortunate, for not only was the vacation school needed by the pupils, but it also was a way in which the intelligent women of the town could come into personal contact with the problems of their Second Ward neigh- bors.* * In the summer of 1909, a vacation school and playground were main- tained for six weeks in this Second Ward school yard. A Playground Association was organized with which the National Vacation Bible School Committee of New York co-operated, providing the play director. A similar playground was carried on by the Homestead people in 1910. 121 The boys of Homestead are sore at the burgess and members of the police froce, who they accuse ot In- terfering with their rights as free bc.TQ Young Americans. Last night a committee of bIx representing the First and Second wards called at the "Dally Messenger office and left the following which they hope >w111 re- ceive careful consideration at the hands of the chief executive of the borough. "The boys of Homestead want to know why they cannot play basket- ball on the street, and they want to know what they can do. "Burgess please answer in Mon- days' Messenger." homestead: the households of a mill town This same club— the most wide-awake body in the town- tried also to persuade the school board to start public kinder- gartens. The members canvassed the town to see how many mothers would send their children to a free kindergarten, how many if a fee were charged, and how many with no children of kindergarten age would contribute toward its support. They demonstrated by this inquiry that mothers would welcome the addition of kindergartens to the school system. But when the request to introduce them into the public schools was presented to the school board by a member who favored the project, it was refused. The reason offered was that the board could not afford the money necessary to maintain the ten kindergartens Homestead needs. Nor did the authorities recognize their practical value. It was even said by one member of the board that the women merely wanted to be relieved of the care of the children so they would be free to "go gadding." A similar failure to comprehend the difficulties in giving proper training in the home and the need for providing it elsewhere, might have put off for a long time the introduction of domestic science and manual training. As it was, Mr. Charles M. Schwab, who was once superintendent of the Homestead works, gave the town a well equipped manual training school in which the children from all the schools, parochial as well as public, receive a half day's instruction a week while attending the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and the High School. The girls have cook- ing and sewing classes in alternate years and the boys classes in sloyd, wood and metal turning. Some of the girls do very creditable work, drafting patterns and making shirtwaist suits in their last year. In the cooking class they study the theory of food values, and have practical cooking lessons besides. The instruction in sewing the mothers generally approve. One woman who had been a clerk in a store before her marriage ex- pressed her regret that she had never been taught at home to sew. When clothing must be provided for a family of six it is a distinct handicap to be able to make only aprons and other sim- ple things. This woman was therefore appreciative of what her daughter learned in school. Other mothers who themselves taught their girls to sew did not consider the instruction so im- 122 THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD portant, yet with all their other cares they were glad to have this help. In regard to the value of the cooking classes, opinions differed. When you turn from the large, spotless kitchen in the school, with its equipment of modern ranges and elaborate cooking uten- sils, to the humble kitchen in the home of a laborer, with a second- hand coal stove and only a few kettles, or even to the modest kitchens of the more well-to-do families, you understand why some girls find it difficult to translate into everyday usefulness the lessons of the school. Moreover, too often the emphasis of the lessons is on the preparation of fancy dishes, instead of on how to make cheap cuts both digestible and palatable; and yet, if girls learn new things which they can make at home, they take an increased interest in housekeeping. One girl insisted that her father get her some waffle irons. The family was so pleased with her first experiment that they now count upon having waffles every Sunday morning for breakfast. The girl's pride in providing the treat of the week undoubtedly helped to develop in her a real enthusiasm for homemaking. The school stimulates a similar interest among the boys by giving them a share in furnishing the home; for many of the ar- ticles made, especially in the wood-working classes, become their property. This Schwab school, which is supported by the public taxes, and is carried on under the direction of the superintendent of schools, rounds out the town's system of elementary education. In its maintenance and standards it is a public recognition of the need for manual training in an industrial community, and in its work a distinctly progressive spirit among the people is feeling its way. In these needs the adults, especially among the immigrants, share. Evening schools or educational centers would be valuable to Homestead and welcomed. The plant of the Schwab Manual Training School could be used in providing courses in domestic science for housekeepers, and a number of the older women would appreciate courses in domestic arts. Young men and boys would undoubtedly take advantage of night courses, both technical and literary. These wants are met in some measure by the Carnegie 123 homestead: the households of a mill town Library, which, besides amusements, provides many opportunities for study. Unfortunately, a class feeling seems to have developed with respect to the library. The clerical and managerial force of mill employes make free use of its privileges, but some of the unskilled workmen expressed a doubt as to whether they are really welcome. This is not, however, due to the attitude of the direc- tors, which is cordial to all comers. Nearly 200 students were enrolled in the educational classes during 1908 besides those in the musical clubs. Until 1908 attempts to teach English to foreigners had not succeeded, but in that year there was a class of The fact that the library is on the high ground in Munhall discourages its use by men tired by a day's work. If classes and reading rooms could be opened in the school buildings in more accessible sections of the borough of Homestead, there would, I think, be an increased attendance. The development of the library clubs has been such as should serve to stimulate the school department to a further use of its own plant, rather than to en- courage the belief that the library meets all the cultural needs of the community. One exceptional opportunity for technical training, within reach of Homestead, is offered by the courses at the Carnegie Technical School in Pittsburgh. That this privilege is not un- appreciated is shown by the fact that in 1907-8 six boys from Homestead were taking the regular all-day course, and 17 boys the evening courses. I knew of one boy of seventeen employed in the mill who was attending the regular evening course, hoping eventually to become an electrician. His work gave him some leisure time in which he could study, and when he was on night turn a friend managed to do the first hour's work for him so that he could continue his course. As the Institute is at least half an hour's ride from Homestead, it required some will power and enthusiasm to take this trip after a ten or twelve hours' day in the mill.* * Arrangements are now made between the Carnegie Technical Schools and the Carnegie Steel Company (and other employers), by which a young employe who wants to attend the night courses is put on working shifts which will not break into his classes. 124 0^1 r?c *^ft l|., L — ..... Draughting Ron Carpenter Shop Schwab Manual Training School THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD The girls, too, can secure training in domestic science, mil- linery, dressmaking, etc., in the girls' department of this school— the Margaret Morison Carnegie School. Among the English-speaking people the daughters rarely go out to service, though many of their mothers have done so. Nor are they inclined to work in the Homestead stores, where, I was told, the Homestead girls receive a lower rate of wages than do those from out-of-town — never above $5.00 a week. They prefer the change and excitement of the Pittsburgh stores, where they can get more pay, though hardly enough at first to counter- balance carfare. A number were employed in the great Westing- house Electric Works across the river; but the distance, the conditions under which some of the work is done, the speeding and low pay, and the doubtful reputation of some of the employes among Homestead mothers made them consider this employment undesirable. A few girls took commercial courses either in the Homestead High School or in business colleges in Pittsburgh; the extra expense of the latter was considered to be justified by the fact that the colleges assured positions on graduation. As one woman said of her young daughter, "We are poor, and we must consider how she can get to work soonest." The morning train carries a company of such office workers into the city. But the proportion is small, and in contrast to the prevailing custom of industrial communities, in New England, for instance, the continuance of this reservoir of woman's labor, largely un- tapped by commercial interests, is a matter of note. Undoubtedly home instincts and standards would not keep all the girls from work were a factory to be opened which would have use for them even at low pay. That they have so far largely remained at home has resulted in positive advantages. One may question whether the family would not be better off to have the additional earnings. But to the daughter who helps with the housekeeping, this house- hold training is valuable. Its importance is shown by the fact that the most capable housekeepers I came upon, with the greatest capacity for making a small income go a long way, had been girls who by working at home had learned methods of economy. The mill makes it possible for the sons to work and live in 125 homestead: the households of a mill town Homestead apd thus, before marriage, to develop the economic unity of their father's family. It is significant that among the budget families having a total income of $20 or over, 29 per cent of the income of English-speaking Europeans, and 1 1 per cent of that of native white families was contributed by the sons. Some of these boys of nineteen or twenty earned as much as their fathers. The period before they leave home is, therefore, the high-water mark of financial prosperity for the family. During this time a home can sometimes be bought. I visited one such where the whole atmosphere was one of comfort. Though the man himself earned very moderate wages, two sons had grown up at home, and during the period when they added to the family income the house and its furnishings (which included plush furni- ture and a music box!) had been purchased. The boys are mar- ried now, but their parents, in a way, are reaping the harvest of those fruitful years. The parents' ambitions for their sons are, as a rule, very simple; usually to follow in their fathers' footsteps, getting from the practical work in the mill a training for future success. There is a fascination about the mill against which even unwilling mothers find themselves helpless to contend. One woman, whose husband had been a mill worker all his life and two of whose sons had worked up to responsible positions, had had her fill of the ter- ror of accidents which haunts many a Homestead woman. So she wished her third boy to do something else, and secured a place for him in a large department store. His wages seemed small compared with those received by his brothers, there was little prospect of promotion, and so he was soon hard at work in the mill. The fact that the best paid men, such as rollers and heaters, have worked up to these jobs through experience has increased the natural tendency to put sons directly into the mill rather than to give them a technical training. While occasionally a boy wishes to go to college, the general attitude of the community is one of scorn rather than of respect for academic education. There is a general belief that the college trained man, with all his theory, is less expert than the man who has learned the indus- try through work with his hands. As few men with technical training are at the start familiar with the processes of steel mak- 126 ^ .a THE CHILDREN OF HOMESTEAD ing, the value of their theoretical knowledge cannot overcome the prejudice created among the men by their early blunders. Whatever its disadvantages the mill usually gives a boy a chance to earn a fair livelihood for a single man as a semi-skilled workman. Some want what are known as pencil jobs, weighing and marking steel, where the work is light and apparently considered more gentlemanly, though the pay is lower and the chances of mastering the business are less. The parents often accede to this desire. Others begin at regular boy's work, as messengers or door openers.* Promotion is rapid in the beginning, and sometimes by the time a boy is eighteen he has already at- tained his maximum wage. One woman who regretted that her boy had not learned a trade, said that he was unwilling to go through a long period of apprenticeship as a mechanic, when at certain mill jobs he could earn good pay at once. Another woman told me that her brother early acquired dissipated habits because he earned man's wages while he still had a boy's lack of respon- sibility and self-control. The sons may work a little further up than their fathers; a man told me with pride that his son, who was a foreman, had secured for him a job in the mill, and a mother was eager to relate how her boy had taught the new assistant superintendent the way to do his work. Only rarely, however, do they secure an educa- tion that fits them for an entirely different kind of labor. The mothers, too, expect that their daughters will eventu- ally marry mill workers. Yet they desire for their children greater ease and culture than they themselves have enjoyed. One woman told me very sweetly of her efforts to teach her children better manners than she had ever learned. She bought a book on etiquette and was assiduously trying to instruct them in the little acts of courtesy which to many of us are a matter * Mr. Norris, superintendent of the Homestead schools, spoke of the care with which the mill superintendents refuse to employ any boy under fourteen, and forbid boys under sixteen to work in dangerous places. Yet in 1906-7 "A boy was killed in the Homestead Steel Works at 1.30 in the morning. He was a 'pull-up,' fifteen years old, who had worked eight hours out of a thirteen-hour night turn. He had a few minutes to rest, and went back of the furnace to lie down in a wheelbarrow. He fell asleep and was struck and killed by the extend- ing arm of a ladle which the crane-man was bringing back to the pit." Eastman, Work-Accidents and the Law, p. 88. 127 homestead: the households of a mill town of course. She explained her own embarrassment in attempting to set an example to the children, which she did with the self- consciousness that comes to grownups. " If I do get up from the table, I make myself say 'Excuse me,' but it is awful hard. I never learned very much, but I do want my children to be differ- ent," — and the courtesy of the child who had opened the door for me demonstrated her success. In this home, as in many another, the plans of the parents centered about the development of the children, rather than about any change in their own economic status. We must remember that in the steel industry fortunes have been piled up by indi- vidual men who started in as water boys, and couple with it the fact that in Homestead there is no longer any method by which the men can collectively raise the general level of wages. It is but natural then that a family's hopes should be bound up very largely in its individual fortunes, and if these hopes are unful- filled through the father, that they should be centered in the sons. Yet in so far as my observations as to the future of the children are not conclusive, they reflect the vagueness of outlook of the people themselves. For dynamic changes are affecting the town's growth, and the lives of the people composing it. It would be difficult to prophesy how far the children of the present steel workers will man the mills of the next generation ; there is another stream of recruits coming in which as time goes on may more and more dispute with the native born and the sons of the old immigrant stock for place in the ranks of the semi-skilled and skilled. We must recog- nize the part the Slavs are to play. They today make up a full half of the working force of the plant. They already affect every phase of the town's life, as newcomers in the ranks of industry, as aliens from East Europe, and (the great majority of them) as day laborers at i6£ cents an hour, whose earnings fall below what we have seen to be a living wage for a family. That the members of this economic group in Homestead are largely of one race, and this a different one from the men in ranks above them, gives a distinctive character to the situation, and war- rants its treatment in a separate section. It is a situation common to an important group of the major industries in America today. 128 Drawn by Joseph Stella Slav: Calling PART III THE SLAV AS A HOMESTEADER CHAPTER IX TH E SLAVS FROM the cinder path beside one of the railroads that crosses the level part of Homestead, you enter an alley, bordered on one side by stables and on the other by a row of shabby two-story frame houses. The doors of the houses are closed, but dishpans and old clothes decorating their exterior mark them as inhabited. Turning from the alley through a narrow passage- way you find yourself in a small court, on three sides of which are smoke-grimed houses, and on the fourth, low stables. The open space teems with life and movement. Children, dogs and hens make it lively under foot; overhead long lines of flapping clothes must be dodged. A group of women stand gossiping in one corner, awaiting their turn at the pump, — which is one of the two sources of water supply for the 20 families who live here. Another woman dumps the contents of her washtubs upon the paved ground, and the greasy, soapy water runs into an open drain a few feet from the pump. In the center a circular wooden building with ten compartments opening into one vault, flushed only by this waste water, constitutes the toilet accommo- dations for over one hundred people. Twenty-seven children find in this crowded brick-paved space their only playground; for the 63 rooms in the houses about the court shelter a group of 20 families, Polish, Slavic and Hungarian, Jewish and Negro. The men are unskilled workers in the mills. This court is one of many such in Homestead; one of hundreds of similar courts in the mill towns of the Ohio valley. The conditions produced by the incoming of these alien workers form one of the unsolved problems of the steel district. Two elements in the old country feed the population of these crowded sections: the ambitious young men, with no ties, unless to aged parents; and the men with wives, sometimes with children, who come over here to make a better home for them. They are 131 homestead: the households of a mill town all stimulated by the successes of their friends, who perhaps have returned with savings that seem fortunes. Often these people mortgage their all for the passage money and if they fail here no place is left to which they can go back. From quiet villages they come to this smoky town; from labor in the open fields to heavy work in the yards and thundering sheds of the mill. As employment is steady and the workman's needs are sim- ple, the wages seem large. The newcomer if a single man finds groups of his fellow workers living in close quarters — three or four in a room — who are enjoying life and saving money at the same time. So he too begins to save, and presently, if he has a family at home, sends for them to join him. If he is single, he sends for his sweetheart or marries some girl of his race, whom he meets in the mill-town courts of an evening or at church or at one of the lodge dances. If she has been at service here, she too will likely have a small account in the bank. Then, as the family grows and expenses increase, they resort to the old expedient and begin themselves to take boarders. Children come and grow up. The man's wage does not increase; as he is a "Hunkie" the chances are that he will remain a laborer. Most of these men come in- tending some day to go back with a thousand dollars — men of property. But even if they return once to the old country, they often turn again to America; growing attached to the new world, they become permanent residents. An occasional family, when the man gets into tonnage work or when the children reach earning age and add their wages to the common fund, achieves a long desired happiness; they move to a separate house in the suburbs, perhaps even to one of their own. But to many the crowded court with its isolation from the rest of the community continues to be America. While there were no definite figures available as to the number of these foreigners in Homestead in 1907-8, two Slavs inti- mately acquainted with the foreign colony estimated that there were between 6000 and 7000. When the mills were running full in October, 1907, 3603 Slavic men were at work there, forming 53.2 per cent of the total number of employes.* As 1092 of these were single men, the estimate as to the total Slavic population is prob- * Table 3, p. 13. 132 c tu J !JZi @3 V r_ J HK/VAEBVILDIMCiS [><3 BNCIHCLEPlpI-40 Flour 26 Potatoes 25 Other vegetables 09 Dried beans 06 Eggs 24 Milk 11 Butter 38 Cheese 05 Fresh fruit >3 Sugar >4 Tea 08 Coffee 76 Sundries 40 Total $5-'9 Average a day 74 Average a day per grown man 23 While the sum expended was slightly more than 22 cents, a rough calculation indicated that the nutritive value of the food was a little below the requisite amount. In all probability these Slavic women are not skilful buyers, — the accounts consist of a rather monotonous alternation of "bread, meat — bread, meat" that does not promise an inspiring diet. As many of the wives are burdened by the extra work involved in taking lodgers, and 141 homestead: the households of a mill town as the men do heavy work and are hearty eaters, they choose food that is quick to prepare, and that satisfies appetite with the least effort rather than at the lowest cost. This probably accounts for the preference for meat in place of vegetables which would not otherwise be expected in country-bred people. The expenditure for clothing among the ten families con- sidered was below what Mr. Chapin estimated was essential in New York, though it formed a slightly larger percentage than in American families in the same income group. No money was expended for furniture; a fact borne out by the utter barrenness of the two-room homes of many of the laborers. With the exception of insurance, the value of which as we shall see is fully appre- ciated, and the comparatively high expenditure for liquor, these figures surely indicate that life measured in terms of possessions is at a low ebb among these Slavic laborers. There was but $ .41 left for amusements, for church, for education. And what had become of the margin which was to make possible the attainment of that old-country ambition, a bit of property or a bank account ? Some other means must be found to achieve these ends. What that device is we saw in our study of the 21 Slavic courts, when we found that 102 families out of 239 took lodgers.* The income from this source is no mean item. Of the 102 families, three-quarters received from lodgers a sum at least the equivalent of the rent, while a fifth received twice the amount of the rent or more. If we compare the income from lodgers with the man's wages, we find that in over half it added 25 per cent or more to the family's earnings. A glance at the sources of income of the budget families suggests that among the Slavs themselves the *The ways by which families increase their income in order to get ahead are indicated by these notes of the Slavic investigator in regard to families which had bought homes. "JohnC . Woman goes out cleaning and cooking. By doing this she has been able to add her earnings to her husband's so as to pay for the property they now own." "The mother took boarders till too old. Now the daughter does not prove to be a good housekeeper" (perhaps because this was poor training for the future). "Mrs. Y. since her marriage has gone out to work by the day, and then done washings in the evenings — she also has a boarder who pays $18 a month. But she no longer goes out to work since they have paid for their home." 142 LIFE AT $1.65 A DAY wages of an unskilled laborer are considered insufficient to support a family, even according to the standards of the Second Ward.* Single men, then, who must find homes, and families with small wages who want to save, together give rise to the lodging and boarding system of the Slavic courts. The outcome is over- crowding. Of the 102 families taking lodgers, 62 had four lodgers or less; 33 from five to nine lodgers; seven from 10 to 15 lodgers. TABLE 32. — TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE SLAVIC FAMILIES IN 21 COURTS. — BY NUMBER, NATIONALITY^ AND NUMBER OF LODGERS Families Having Lodgers Nationality of Total Families Having no Lodgers Lodgers i-4 5-9 10-15 Total Slovak 168 107 44 16 1 61 Pole . 10 7 3 3 Hungarian 22 1 1 4 1 1 1 Russian 16 6 5 5 16 Croatian 6 2 4 6 Lithuanian 4 2 2 2 Others. >3 10 1 2 3 Total . 239 '37 62 33 7 102 Even among the families that did not take lodgers, half averaged over two persons to the room. Of those who did take lodgers, all but 15 suffered this same degree of overcrowding. Forty-three lived three to the room, 31 four, seven five, and six more than five to the room. It is in itself a proof of the meagre standards of home life, that of the 102 families who took lodgers, 71 lived in two-room tenements, where obviously there were no superfluous rooms to be rented and where this economy * Appendix I, Tables 2 and 3, p. 201 f As 70 per cent of the families living in these courts were Slovaks, with the remainder scattered among many different Slavic races, it is perhaps fruitless to attempt any conclusions as to racial distinctions in the matter of overcrowding. But in the accompanying table it is to be noted that among the Russians not only were there no families without lodgers, but that they had also the largest number of families with over ten lodgers. •43 homestead: the households of a mill town involved the overcrowding of space already inadequate. Of the 71 families in two-room tenements, 55 had three or more persons to the room, 27 had four or more persons, and 8 had five or more. TABLE 33. — NUMBER OF PERSONS PER ROOM IN THE 21 COURTS IN FAMILIES WHICH TOOK LODGERS COMPARED WITH THE NUMBER IN FAMILIES WHICH DID NOT TAKE LODGERS, JANUARY, I908 Families Having an Average per Room of Total Families 1 Person 2 Persons Persons 4 Persons Persons More than 5 With lodgers, 102 Without lodgers, 137. 6 19 9 49 43 5 2 3' '3 7 2 6 2 Totals . 2 5 58 95 44 9 8 This study was made in 1908 and the extent of overcrowd- ing was far less than during the previous summer, since with the business depression of 1908 hundreds of men, especially those without families, had returned to the old country. We have now fairly complete before us the picture of the household establishment in which the family of the Slavic immi- grant takes up life in Homestead. Wages at 16^ cents an hour and the lodger as a means for supplementing them, are its chief factors. Taking lodgers is not giving a home to a friend from the old country nor letting an extra room; it is a deliberate business venture on the part of a family to increase the inadequate income from the man's earnings. This thrifty measure may seem to the reader a wise means of solving the problem. It is only as he comes to know the actual effects on home life that he realizes the iniquity of a system which makes this necessary to attain the altogether natural ambition to own a home or save a thousand dollars, — or even for a husband to have his wife and children about him. We have yet to see what life at this level means as a basis for rearing children, as affording human recreations, and as a foot- hold for getting on in the world. 144 CHAPTER XI FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS ONE morning I entered a two-room tenement. The kitchen, perhaps 15 by 12 feet, was steaming with vapor from a big washtub set on a chair in the middle of the room. The mother was trying to wash and at the same time to keep the older of her two babies from tumbling into the tub full of scalding water that was standing on the floor. On one side of the room was a huge puffy bed, with one feather tick to sleep on and another for covering; near the window stood a sewing machine; in the corner, an organ, — all these, besides the inevitable cook stove upon which in the place of honor was simmering the evening's soup. Upstairs in the second room were one boarder and the man of the house asleep. Two more boarders were at work, but at night would be home to sleep in the bed from which the others would get up. Picture if you will what a week or a season means to a mother in such a home, the overwork, the brief respite from toil — to be increased afterward — when the babies come ? Yet it is even more disastrous to the children both in health and character. In the courts studied, out of 102 families who took lodgers, 72 had children; of these, 25 families had two, 10 had three, and seven had four. There were 138 youngsters in all. A com- parison of births and deaths of children under two, shown in the tables on the following page, shows that among the Slavs one child under two years of age dies to every three children born ; among the English-speaking Europeans, one dies to every seven born; among the native whites and colored, one to every five. In the crowded Second Ward, taking all races, one child under two dies to every three born, — compared with one to every four in the First Ward, one to every five in the Fifth, one to every eight in the Third, and one to every seven in the Fourth. 10 145 homestead: the households of a mill town TABLE 34. — NUMBER OF BIRTHS IN EACH WARD IN HOMESTEAD FOR I907. — BY RACIAL GROUP Ward Racial Group 1 2 3 4 5 Total Slav Eng. sp. Eur Native White and Colored . 23 '7 39 338 41 37 34 23 55 5 19 27 16 27 55 416 127 213 Total 79 416 1 12 5' 98 756 TABLE 35. — NUMBER OF DEATHS OF CHILDREN UNDER TWO YEARS OF AGE IN EACH WARD IN HOMESTEAD FOR I907. — BY RACIAL GROUP Ward Racial Group 1 2 3 4 5 Total Slav Eng. sp. Eur Native White and Colored . 5 2 12 "3 9 10 6 2 6 3 1 3 6 4 9 "3 40 Total 19 132 '4 7 19 191 TABLE 36.— RATIO OF BIRTHS IN EACH WARD IN HOMESTEAD IN I907 TO DEATHS OF CHILDREN UNDER TWO IN THE SAME WARD. — BY RACIAL GROUP Ward Racial Group • 2 3 4 5 Total . Slav Eng. sp. Eur Native White and Colored . Proportions between total number of births and deaths under two in each ward .... 4.6 8.5 3-3 4.2 3 2 4.6 3-7 3-2 5-7 11.; 9.2 8.0 '•7 19.0 9.0 7-3 2-7 6.8 6.1 5-2 3' 7.0 5-3 4.0 146 FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS Against many of these deaths was the physician's entry "malnutrition due to poor food and overcrowding"; that is, the mother too poor, too busy, and too ignorant to prepare food prop- erly, rooms over-tenanted, and courts too confined to give the fresh air essential for the physical development of children. A priest told me he believed that the taking of lodgers caused the appalling death rate among the babies in his parish. Neither preaching nor pointing out to women personally the folly of the economy had sufficed to check the habit. Not only is the mother too busy to give much time to her babies, but she also suffers from overwork during pregnancy and from lack of proper care afterward. Housework must be done, boarders must be fed, and most women work until the day of confinement. In accordance with their home customs, almost all of them employ midwives and call a doctor only in an emer- gency. 1 was told by a local physician that nearly half of the births in Homestead, the large proportion of them among the Slavic people, were attended by midwives. These women, who charge $5.00 or $10, include in their services the care of both woman and child for several days, and thus perform the services of trained nurse as well as doctor. While of the 21 midwives registered in Homestead, five or six have diplomas from schools of midwifery abroad, most of them are ignorant and are careless about cleanliness. In a paper before the Allegheny County Med- ical Society, Dr. Purman, a local physician, reported numerous instances where both mother and child had suffered serious injury from the ignorance of these women. The necessity for mothers to be up and at work within three or four days adds to the harm. In at least 10 of the 29 Slavic families visited, special reference was made by the Slavic investi- gator to the ill health of the mother due to overwork and to lack of proper care during confinement. The strength to bear much doubtless comes to these women from years of work in the fields, but the change to the hot kitchens where their work is now done undoubtedly entails a strain which not only injures them but lessens the vitality of the children. This weakened con- dition at birth combines with the inadequate food and insuffi- cient air and the neglect which comes through over-burdening the mother to produce the appalling infant death rate in these courts. •47 homestead: the households of a mill town Yet sometimes as you watch the stunted, sickly looking children, you wonder if the real tragedy does not lie rather in the miserable future in store for the babies who live, many of them with undervitalized systems which may make them victims either of disease or of the dissipation that often fastens upon weak wills and weak bodies. Keeping lodgers ruins the training as well as the health of the children. The overworked mother has neither time nor pa- tience for wise discipline. As the men who work on night turns must sleep during the day, crying babies must not be allowed to disturb this uneasy rest. All this adds to the mother's weary irritation and makes it harder to maintain any sort of uniform control. This failure of intelligent discipline was noticeable in most of the families I visited, where cuffs and sharp words were the usual form of correction. One of the Protestant missions which tried through mothers' meetings to give the women some sugges- tions as to child training, found them too busy to come. For- tunately, however, the children who attend the public schools receive some training. This the parents value. A teacher in the Second Ward school said that while she had a great deal of trouble in teaching the Slavic children obedience, she at least found the parents willing to uphold her in whatever action she took. Even more serious is the injury to the moral tone of the Slavic community caused by the crowding together of single men and families. In only four instances in the courts studied were lodgers found in families where there were girls over fourteen, but even younger children learn evil quickly from the free-spoken men. With the husband at work on the night shift the situation is aggra- vated, and reports are current of gross immorality on the part of some women who keep lodgers; two or three actual instances came to my knowledge from unquestioned sources. Since half the families in the courts studied used the kitchen as a sleeping room, there was close mingling of lodgers and family among them. This becomes intolerable when families living in but two rooms take lodgers. This was true, as we have seen, in 71 instances. Even when extreme crowding does not exist, family and lodgers often all sleep in the kitchen, the only warm room, in winter. Certainly there is little to quicken mental and spiritual • i 1 1 i '■v 3* ',- '''##''' ' Out of Work Homestead Court, Spring of 1908 FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS development in these crowded tenements where there is neither privacy nor even that degree of silence necessary for reading. We agree in the abstract that the individual needs room for growth, yet complain of the stunted mental stature of these people who have the meagre development of seedlings grown in a mass. Moreover, families who live in narrow quarters have no room for festive gatherings. In the evening a group often gathers around the stove gossiping of home days, playing cards, drinking, and playing simple musical instruments. On the Saturday after pay day the household usually clubs together to buy a case of beer which it drinks at home. These ordinarily jovial gath- erings are sometimes interrupted by fights and the police have to be called in. One officer who had been on the force for nine years said that these men were generally good-natured and easy- going, and in all his experience he had never arrested a sober " Hunkie"; it was when they were drunk that the trouble began. The punishment usually inflicted for disorderly conduct in Home- stead, a small fine, has little deterrent effect among the Slavs. It is indeed currently said that some are proud of having a large fine imposed, as they feel that it indicates increased importance. Usually, however, they gather without disturbance simply to chat and drink, to pass the hours after the day's work. The women have few opportunities for relaxation. Some- times they gossip around the pump or at the butcher's, but wash- ing, ironing, cleaning, sewing and cooking for the boarders leave little time for visiting. The young people perhaps suffer most from the lack of home festivities. A two-room house has no place for games or "parties," or even for courting; there is not even space enough, to say nothing of privacy. So young folks are driven to the streets for their gayety. Almost the only time when the house is really the scene of festivity is when those primal events, birth, and marriage, and death, bring together both the old-time friends and the new neighbors. On most of these occasions, whether weddings, christenings or funerals, joy and grief and religious ceremony are alike forgotten in a riotous good time. The weddings are the gayest affairs in the life of the community. After the morning service at the '49 homestead: the households of a mill town church, all return home if the house is big enough, and if not, they go to a hall, and there the dancing begins. Each man pays what he can, usually a dollar, for the privilege of dancing with the bride, and the money — their form of a wedding present — helps furnish the home for the young couple. At one wedding during the winter $75 was thus received, but the girl by evening felt that she had earned the money. In the afternoon the drinking begins and by midnight the revel is at its height. The neighbor- hood considers a family under obligation to provide these fes- tivities. I was told of one pathetic instance where a woman, as she was very ill, did not invite any one to her baby's christening. Her offended neighbors refused to visit her, but when she died they were ready enough to come to the funeral and share in the drinking. Some old-world customs, too, are maintained which seem strangely at variance with new-world conditions. All summer over the doors and windows are seen dried, smoke begrimed branches from which the faded leaves hang disconsolately. These decorations are part of a joyous religious festival in the spring time similar to those that added merriment to the village life at home. At Eastertide they keep up an old custom, said to date from pagan days. On Monday the men go about with willow branches and switch the women until they make them a present, while on the following day the women retaliate by throwing water on the men. In other superficial habits of life they show themselves eager to adopt American customs. This tendency is clearly — sometimes humorously— exemplified in the quickness with which they adopt our style of clothing. The men on Sunday can often be differentiated from the American workmen only by the unmis- takable Slavic type of face. Even in their own homes the women quickly adopt the machine-made cotton wrapper and on Sunday the streets blossom with cheap ready-made adornments. I was fairly startled by one apparition in a gay pink hat, crude blue skirt, and green silk waist that no grass in Homestead could hope to vie with, all products of a department store, which evidently gave the wearer a proud sense of being dressed like other Ameri- cans. As I stood Easter Sunday watching the kneeling women, 150 FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS the mass of vivid colors showed how easily they copy the less de- sirable habits of their native born sisters. If opportunity offered they would doubtless be as ready to pick up our customs in other more essential matters. Lack of intercourse, however, hinders. The Slavs must keep up their own festivities the more because they cannot join in the amusements of the rest of the community. To the better class of entertainments they are not welcomed, and to others the differ- ence in speech is still a barrier. Obviously the theatre, and even in a measure the nickelodeons, are uninteresting to those who can- not understand the language. Thus cut off from what little normal amusement Homestead offers, they cling to the few festivities their limited opportunities make possible. In summer there are of course more chances for recreation; trolley rides and picnics in the park make a welcome variety from the heat of the courts. The following statements, taken from the notes of the Slavic woman who assisted in making the investiga- tion, tell the story simply: — They do not go to amusements of any kind on account of being so poor and feel so badly after they have finished their day's work. — Husband and wife go to the lodge dances, which they enjoy very much. Wife goes to the five cent theatres, to the parks in the summer and for trolley rides. Is fond of all Kinds of amusements and goes when they can afford it. — The family have no amusements at all outside of their own home, simply because they cannot afford it. They would like to be able to go to some places of amusement, if they could. Spend their Sundays at home in a pleasant way. The mother and children go to church every Saturday eve- ning to say the rosary, which is one of their chief pleasures. Starting in with such a household as that described at the opening of this chapter, how far do any of these Slavic families succeed in working out ideals they have set for themselves ? If we turn from the crowded courts with their two-room tenements to the homes of some who have attained their ambitions, we find conditions that show an inherent capacity for advancement in the race. As an illustration, note the change in type in two houses, the homes of families from the same place in the old coun- '5' homestead: the households of a mill town try, the one newcomers, the other among the "oldest inhabitants" of the Slavic community. The first family live in a one-room tenement, where even though the furniture includes only absolute necessities, it is hard to keep all the crowded belongings in order. On wash-day morning the disorder is increased. Nevertheless, the home is kept as neat as the circumstances permit, and the bright pictures on the wall are proof of a desire to make it attrac- tive. As the man earns only $9.90 a week, they must keep their rent low if bills are to be paid and anything laid by for the future. In the other picture, the "front room" with its leather-covered furniture is in a five-room house which the family owns. The sacred pictures with their vivid coloring relieve the severity of the room while they also reveal the religious note in Slavic life, for if happiness is to stay with the family, the priest must come TABLE 37. — AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURE OF 29 SLAVIC BUDGET FAMILIES 0} >» Expenditure "> S * 2£ 1.04 I15.00-I19.99 7 17-47 2.38 . 5 b 1.80 .05 •39 ■77 .05 1.26 .10 »•» $20.00 and over 3 21.55 2.62 7.12 .07 $.38 3. 11 $1.64 $.03 . 5 b $.27 3.22 $.84 .05 $.05 •37 $.62 .48 $.14 3-95 Average 29 $13.09 $2.00 $5.98 $1.11 yearly to " bless the home." This family after many years in America has, by hard work and thrift, succeeded in obtaining a real home. Turning from this visible evidence of the way in which an individual Slavic family has prospered, we find in the mill census that the number of skilled, and therefore highly paid members of the race, are few. Of the 3603 Slavs in the mill in 1907, 459 were ranked as semi-skilled, 80 as skilled. The Slovaks from Austro- Hungary are the most numerous of the race in Homestead, and 152 Close Quarters. One Room and Three in the Fami A Contrast — I Parlor, Well-to-do Slavic Family 20 Years in America A Contrast — II FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS were the first of this stock to come here. Among them we find proportionately a slightly larger number of semi-skilled workers.* We have seen that of the budget Slavs still earning labor- ers' wages, a third had been here over ten years; it is apparent, however, that individuals are slowly making their way into skilled work — a movement which, as the older English-speaking men drop out, is probably bound to increase. In the 29 immigrant families keeping budgets all of the men who earned $12 or more a week had been here over five years. It is interesting to note that some had come here when they were very young, eleven, fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years old; for example, a tonnage worker had been here ten years; a man at one of the furnaces earning $3.50 a day, seventeen years, and a machinist who earned about the same amount, eighteen years. Even with the higher wages, their families continue to make sacrifices to secure the desired property more rapidly. A helper at one of the open-hearth fur- naces, who had been here for seven years, was earning $2.50 to I3.00 a day. The husband and wife still took in two boarders, so that with their two children there were six people in a two-room house, which was but scantily furnished. They had a bank ac- count of at least $400. Another Slav, the head of a family of three, had been here ten years and was working on tonnage, in good times earning about $6.00 a day. They, too, lived in a two-room house, but it was neat and from their standpoint proba- bly seemed large enough as they had no lodger. They had pur- chased the farm in the old country and besides had a $500 bank account. Again, take a family of six. The father, still only about thirty years old, had been here for over fifteen years. Out of his wages— about $3.50 a day at fairly skilled work in the mill- he was buying a small house with a garden. He was naturalized and the family stood as a fair type of our new citizens. They took no lodgers, but the limitations imposed by such thrift as they practiced are illustrated by the notes on this household made by my interpreter. Herself a Slav, their circumstances were a mat- ter of no special interest, and she therefore wrote her notes with no attempt to add "local color" such as a person of another race *They formed 51.7 per cent of all the Slavs in the mill in 1907, 60.1 per cent of the semi-skilled Slavs, and 56.2 per cent of the skilled Slavs. 153 homestead: the households of a mill town would have put into them. To her the statement was simply one of facts: Conditions of Work: The man works on day and night shifts alternately. Home: They don't own their own home, on which there is a mortgage. The man gives all his earnings to his wife and when he needs any spending money, he asks for it. Furniture: They live in two rooms comfortably furnished, one a living room and the other a bed room. They have a sewing machine on which the mother does the sewing for her family. Does her washing by hand. Clothes: They wear plain clothing. The woman does all her own mending with care. The father buys ready-made clothing. They have a change of clothing for Sundays, of a fairly good quality. Food: They buy their food at grocery stores; don't get all at one store. They live principally on vegetable diet, not using much fruit. The man works hard and they are obliged to have good substantial food. The family eat their evening meal together. Woman's Work: The woman does her own work at home, but does not earn anything outside, her time all being taken up with car- ing for her family. Lodges: The man belongs to St. Stephen's Lodge, and his wife belongs to St. Catherine's, both church lodges. They attend one meeting every month unless something to prevent. When not able to go, they send in their dues. The man gets $5.00 a week sick benefits, also a death benefit of $1000 to his family after his decease. His dues are $2.00 monthly and the wife's dues are $1.00 a month. In case of death of the woman the family gets $700. The wife's reasons for belonging to above lodges is that their family may have benefits paid by the lodges in case of a death, either father or mother. Health: This man is in good health. The woman is not in good health, having gone to work too soon after her confinement; '54 FAMILY LIFE OF THE SLAVS was attended by a midwife. She did not have proper care during her confinement. The children are sickly. One of them had typhoid fever. Education: There are four children, the oldest seven years and now attending public school. The only reading matter they have is his Lodge paper, which he gets once a week. Accidents: The man had one accident, but no help from the Car- negie fund. Drink: The man drinks at home and sometimes at saloons. Pays for himself. He does not get intoxicated. The woman drinks a little when she has it at home. Amusements: The man goes only when his lodge gives a dance, it being expected of every member to buy tickets. Neither he nor his wife ever attend theatres, on account of being kept at home with their family. The woman cannot remember having been to any of the parks or amusements of any kind. It is by such thrift that some of the Slavs attain their ambi- tion to own a home. An official in the foreign department of one bank said he knew of 25 Slavs who had purchased homes in 1907. Sometimes these families continue to live in the Second Ward. One family, for example, had bought an eight-room house on one of these busy streets. The four rear rooms they rented, but with evident regard for appearances lived themselves in the four that faced the front. With the aid of the rent from the rear tene- ment they had succeeded in freeing the house from the mortgage. The families more often, however, move further from the mill. One I knew bought a house on the hill with two porches and a big yard where they kept chickens. While they had only suc- ceeded in paying $500 on the $1700 the place cost, now that a son was at work they hoped to be able to clear the debt. In the meantime they truly rejoiced in being on the hill above the smoke and away from the bustling courts. The English-speaking families on such streets rarely extend a cordial welcome. A woman who lives next door to a Slavic family told me that some of the neighbors objected because they '55 homestead: the households of a mill town were rather noisy and drank a good deal, though she herself found them pleasant enough. All the Slavs who prosper, however, do not try to buy prop- erty here. Some prefer a bank account. It is authoritatively stated that about 1600 Slavs have savings bank accounts in Home- stead ranging from $100 to $1000, and even in a few instances to $1500. Occasionally this zeal for saving gets a setback. A few years ago a Slav ran an "exchange bank" in Homestead and when he had secured a goodly sum departed. One family was so discouraged at losing the $400 it had on deposit with him, of hard earned savings, that the woman ceased to take boarders and the man to work hard. TABLE 38. — AVERAGE EXPENDITURE OF IO SLAVIC FAMILIES COM- PARED WITH 42 OF ALL RACES, SPENDING MORE THAN $15 PER WEEK "« £ 1 as 1 •5 3 s 13 s 2 •S" '-3 ■I O Slav .... 1 1 8.74 $8.08 $2.46 $.42 $2.20 1.04 $.44 $ M I $.06 $-99 $.27 $2.27 All . 21.19 8.14 3.181 .77I 2.67 •50 .62 1.42 .06 •39 53 2.85 TABLE 39. — AVERAGE EXPENDITURES OF TWO GROUPS OF IO FAMI- LIES EACH, THOSE SPENDING $1 5 OR MORE A WEEK AND THOSE SPENDING LESS THAN $12, WITH THE RATIO OF INCREASE 'q £ 1 04 s 1 ■ 1° 4S, - q 6 - 3s* o 8 e « « o § ° ul O O O O O o o o o tT — r<-\ — 4-. <" lau # cto -UZ - €© ^2 8 ^-£o o o o 3-5 d ^ ^n 6 • O a; o LfN oo o o o ^ Tf — ITS — €©= £©-&§= 6©- 1 | •Sot: o y OJ m £ So 3 SZU < Q UJ < Z. < X 1/1 Q. CO re u_ O CO* b o "o CO* 00 =3 >■ 3= © B UJ a (•2 ■o c re X) re -o a z © c V c o < s 're © © el | c ct s "© re ai M 3> c c UJ o6 >> e © ■o Q. e < © U B 3 © CM £ £ a ** B "o E < CM a) £ 3 © 'c 13 M -o re U CM C 3 © E re & c > CM c w IE u E 3 H > "O c o * «. 6 u (A _w >> e t- c m «< 3 (•J •C a >. £ o 2 >» 10 -•*: ■a X) ~~ ■o » «i a. o a. V 5 =3 o Z e £ VI F .£ * .2 z o c F ■a Si o o Z 6 £ Q. c <0 >> "o ft) 3 X3 e > £ ■g £ CO o >> .* ■a u > 10 3 W 3 Q- h o c s o <0 e» 3 O o £ s e c "g" o. ! * * ! w - :::: : « : : :-- «.:::: CQ : :- : : : '. "i- : ^r u-s : :- : : - : : : : : :vd : : ^0 t^ : -«:: m its J is o o a- • ■ • c- . . . • — • • ... . O • M . - - :««- C- • . rr\ • rr\ re* • • 4 TABLE 9. — COST OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF FOOD IN NINE CITIES AND RATIO OF THE COST OF THESE ARTICLES IN OTHER CITIES TO THE COST IN PITTSBURGH. — BY CENTS PER POUND* Article l "a =0 a C3 be 8 r-S a. -3 a, a CO '3 3? ►S5 s s "•a -p ■"£ a. a. Beans Chuck Roast . Salt Beef. Bread (lb.) . Butter . Cheese Corn meal Lard. . Molasses (gal.) Mutton (leg) . Fresh Pork (chops Bacon Prunes . Rice. Veal Cutlet . .10 •'3 .10 .05 ft .02-| .10 % •'3 .08 .08 .21 .IO .1 I .08 .05 3 •55 .12 .14 .09 .28 .08 .06 .06 •05 •25 •'5 ■ 02h ^OO a6 .07 .09 ..6 09 1 2 08 26 19 04 12 55 >7 18 10 09 25 .09 .12 .11 •05 1i .02^ .1 1 .50 •13 •'3 3 .08 .22 074 IO 07 05 27 l \ I2j 60 I I I2i 20 >7 .1 1 •13 .07 .05 .16 .02^ .12 .40 .08^ •'3 .10 •■5 IO I2l 08 05 32 20 02 'd '3 17 10 09 19 10 12* IO 05 3' 17 02^ & '3 ■4* 18 IO 09 \ 23i 2 2 2 3 4 2 2 2 3 Total Ratio 2-33 93 2.32 93 2.08$ 83 2.40 96 2.26* - 2.21 89 2.03 81 2.45 98 2-49* 100 From U. S. Bureau of Labor Report, July, 1907, pp. 175-328. 203 homestead: the households of a mill town TABLE 10.— TOTAL AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURES OF HOUSE- RENTING FAMILIES EXPENDING LESS THAN $12 A WEEK, AND PROPORTIONS SPENT FOR FOOD AND RENT. — BY RACIAL GROUP *> -"is S K 1* Is 5 -a a "a a 4 $10.22 $3-97 $10.12 $5.98 $3-oo $ .12 $ .21 $ .46 $ .21 $.14 30 5 IO.69 5.00 10.90 3-86 * $1.05 •34 .20 .21 $ .20 .04 31 4 IO.3O 1.50 10.48 2.94 3-75 .27 .06 2.52 ■15 .20 •59 L 32 7 5 14.28 13.92 2.25 14.2S 13-93 6.49 5.06 2.25 2.50 .80 .09 5.04 .24 ■39 •30 .02 $ .19 4.07 •77 33 34 4 4 14.68 13-82 1.23 4-73 14.69 14. 11 9.27 4.72 2-75 i-5° .83 3-29 •50 $.27 .27 .06 2.80 •32 .36 1.S6 ,3<5 7 15.96 $2.14 15-93 6.80 * 8.85 .29 .02 f 37 6 18.63 18.64 5-19 S-oo .83 1. 00 •87 2.65 •53 ■S3 2.05 | 38 4 13.04 5-53 15-02 5-53 2.50 3-12 .56 .07 i-73 •50 .22 • 79 I 39 4 4 29-34 33-14 29-35 33-i6 20.15 8-59 7.50 6.00 :s' 7 .10 9.06 .20 •29 • 58 .28 .12 1.47 .02 .70 f 40 6.58 41 13 20.11 19-91 8.60 2-54 .02 2.24 .76 • 27 3-02 .11 .29 2.06 1,42 1 Including credit. '[Average amount purchased on credit. * Families owned home. 209 homestead: the households of a mill town NATIVE - £ * a *1 ^ •£. •S « 4 <5 a O te;S 11 1* Remarks 43 American Tonnage 3 4 No Young man brought up on farm. Fairly com- fortable home. 44 Under " Boatman 3 4 Yes Man away a good deal. Live comfortably. 45 $12 " Tonnage 6 6 No In Homestead since a boy. Woman earns a little. Own home. 46. " " 4 5 Yes Man ill, unable to work, family live on sick bene- fits, savings and credit. Own home. J $12- 47 \ $14.99 « Day man 7 4 .. Man began work at 16 as clerk; now pencil job, shiftless. Son messenger in mill. 48 ' ,< Laborer 8 5 4') " Clerical 3 3 No Young German-American couple. Wife former- ly dressmaker. Neat attractive home. 50 " " 4 5 Yes Prosperous young couple, thrifty, attractive home. Si $15 " Professional 2 ^ e Spend money freely. Entertain. Pay cash for everything. 52 TO $19.99 Day man 3 1 4 " Earns about $3 a day. Have roomy house so take a lodger. Home well cared for. 53 " 5 6 " Two young sons in mill help support family. Own home free. Well insured. 54 " " 8 6 " Have bought home in suburb. Woman compe- tent. Man has fair salary. Spend freely for what they 55 « « 2 5 « want. Good home. 56 " Day man 9 3 « Old residents of Homestead. Man worked here before strike. Boy works in mill irregularly. 57 " Clerical 2 2 7 " Middle aged couple. Man semi-official position. Had some unusual expenses so took lodgers. 58 " Tonnage 6 6 " Man not much good. Two sons practically sup- port family. Own home. Old residents of Homestead. Have comfortable, 59 « Day man 2 4 « small home. 60 " 2 6 " Went to school till 17. Since in mill. Earns about $3.50 a day. Very nice home. 61 $20 AND OVER Clerical 5 6 Man has small business of his own. Family prosperous, own home, have bank account. Son 16 in school. 62 " 7 6 " Own home in suburb. Son in mill. Daughter at home. 63 " Day man s 3 5 " German descent. Man earns about $2.25 a day. 64 " " 3 3 " Earns about $3 a day. One child. Small home, have savings. 65 " Professional 4 6 " Live well. 66 Tonnage 3 5 Ten years in Homestead. Man earns about $3.50 a day. Savings in bank. Well furnished home. Irish-American. 67 " 9 6 Man had small store which he sold. Family liv- ing on savings. One son at work, pays $5 a week board. 210 APPENDIX II WHITE .« «. •~u"S -. §55 r 1 - | It 2 Average Weekly Expenditure for 15 si <§ fc! •5 c c a >*- 28 1 a s <3 a tS l s $ 9.20 $.SO $ 914 $ 4-So $ 2.50 $.05 $.64 $ -30 $ .06 $-38 $ .06 $ .65 43 s 4 10.49 9.29 •5o 10.49 8.75 1.79 6.50 5 *° ■35 1.04 .63 1.40 .11 .06 -67 $.05 .14 $ .02 • 53 • 75 44 45 s 9-3S 2.62 9-35 4.38 * .40 1.41 .08 .20 1.20 •13 .60 •95 46 IO 12.80 i-75 12.80 5-92 3 00 •51 •77 .40 •25 1.07 •03 .85 !« 8 4 19-37 16. g6 2.50 $3.12 1933 16.94 8-33 6.19 2.50 3-33 2.13 5-30 .03 •17 .64 .26 i-5i 1. 00 .04 ■73 3-42 .69 48 40 13 18.04 •50 18.07 6.31 4.84 1. 11 1. 18 .48 .68 .36 1.82 1.29 50 4 17-39 17.38 5-41 5-oo .82 •3i •49 i-75 .12 3-48 51 12 19-53 19-51 6.52 3-75 .48 308 1.88 •83 1.51 •05 •59 .82 52 4 18.16 18.12 6.22 * .76 1.20 2.43 .29 1.08 6.14 53 4 iS-°9 1.06 15-07 8.64 * 1-35 1-33 .76 2.27 .12 •SO .10 54 19.05 19.03 4.21 4-52 • 58 2.82 .91 I.OI .98 .21 .20 •37 3.22 .55 5 21.09 21.03 8.02 2.21 •45 5-37 1.44 .60 •34 •29 •75 I.S6 56 IO 22.00 21.97 3-62 * 1. 00 .28 •17 •35 16.55 57 S 20.92 20.92 8.56 * 1. 00 1-39 2.75 .22 2-55 .90 3-55 58 4 22.42 1. 00 22.46 6.83 5.00 1. 00 1-52 2.50 •32 .28 .04 4-97 59 5 22.57 22.56 9.22 5-oo 3-43 .80 1.02 2.50 ■59 60 4 24.84 24.84 7-97 * 7-15 3-71 304 2-97 61 S 23-59 3.12 23-57 9-94 * 1.44 9.02 .83 •99 .20 .04 1. 11 62 S 4 28.95 29.24 8.00 28.95 29.24 8.50 8-37 5.00 1.82 .69 1-34 3-74 .84 .38 •77 • 15 4-5o .08 .28 .21 .40 1.84 3-96 4.12 63 64 5 29.S1 34-14 4.00 29.81 34.18 5-21 14.04 7-05 4.00 .66 2.47 2.46 1.62 5-57 •99 •31 2.23 .66 •35 .92 125 10.29 3.91 65 66 S 38.29 1. 00 36.49 38.29 20.89 5.00 •S3 8.47 •31 1.47 .19 .46 •97 67 1 Including credit. 2 Average amount purchased on credit. ♦Families owned home. homestead: the households of a mill town COLORED 3 f c "5, "& •S 8 2 Id « &5 c3 "3 1 a O "J2 l! I 1 Remarks 68 Negro 2 2 4 Yes Widow, earns living by laundry work and taking boarders. One child at home. 6g Window cleaner 3 2 No Man began work as chore boy. Work irregular. Rooms poorly furnished and unsanitary. 70 Janitor 2 2 Man out of work. Woman earns a little. Mar- ried children help. 7i Teamster 3 ° 4 Young couple with one child. Wife good natured but totally ignorant. 72 Undeb $12 " 2 ° 2 " Young couple. Home neat and well furnished but dark and unsanitary. 73 Laborer 2 4 " Middle aged couple. Pleasant home. 74 Mason 2 1 4 Yes Man formerly miner. Two dark rooms. 75 4 3 Man intemperate. Woman largely supports home. Son unruly. 76 Day man 3 2 No Small dark tenement but neatly furnished and well cared for. One small child. 77 Housework 2 s 4 " One son at work, rest of income from five men lodgers. Small pay comparatively. Have comfortable 78 Tonnage 2 4 Yes home on hill, good garden. 79 I Teamster 3 3 No Here only a few years, from Virginia. Little house. Six families share one yard. 86 3 3 Small shabby unsanitary home. Man's work irregular in winter. 8i $12 Tonnage 3 2 5 " Earns $2.50 to $3 a day. Nice home, well fur- nished. 82 TO $14.99 Hod carrier 6 O 3 " Man's work very irregular. Home unsanitary; children sickly. 83 Tonnage 6 O 6 Began work on a farm, now earning about $2.50 a day. Simple but well furnished and cheerful home, good garden. 84 Laborer 5 O 4 85 Teamster 3 O 2 Yes Young married couple with one child. Small neat home. 86 $IS Tonnage 6 O S " Exceptionally attractive home with large garden. Woman competent, man devoted to home. 87 TO $19.99 Housework 4 2 3 No Woman supports family, washing and lodgers. One son idle. Family rather degenerate. 88 Day man 2 O 3 Went to work at 10 picking cotton, at 18 into mines, now semi-skilled in mill; live over store. 89 Painter 3 O 2 Yes Woman helps support family. Here from South 8 years. f $20 90 \ AND Teamster 4 O 4 No Elderly couple. Two grown sons also teamsters. I OVER Rather poor home. APPENDIX II COLORED ^3. 8w | 111 Average Weekly Expeni ITURE FOR 15 a G a 8 1 as 8 a a 8 e5 3 ■5 1 6 $ 7-93 $1-33 $ 7-90 $3.02 $2.50 $ .08 $ -5i $ .50 $ .16 $ .18 $ .02 $ .06 $ .87 68 4 9-93 1. 25 9.92 4.32 1-75 .78 .69 •03 1.02 •27 •97 .09 69 4 3-24 332 1. 21 1.50 .04 •25 •05 •03 •24 70 5 10.13 ■50 10.07 3-oi 2.50 .69 .92 ■53 •99 .67 .76 71 9-S° 950 3.19 2.00 .71 •92 •33 •57 .19 •30 1.29 72 4 S 7 11.79 7-OS 7.70 n.79 7.06 7.69 4.12 2.52 4.30 2.50 2.00 2.00 1-39 .21 •30 .64 .29 !o8 ■25 • 13 •13 1.80 1. 18 .29 .14 •25 •05 .70 1.02 •25 73 74 75 S H-34 3-07 n.38 3.07 2.20 1. 00 3-iS .20 .28 .26 .02 $ .07 ii3 76 S 11. 18 •50 11. 18 3.76 2.50 1.76 •30 .12 1.61 .30 •83 77 4 8.QO 8.99 2.93 300 .02 1.02 .06 .98 .98 ,78 4 12.32 12.27 4.27 1.81 1.28 •79 •37 •23 .65 .06 .41 2.40 79 4 12.36 12.36 6.32 2.00 1-45 .56 .21 •37 1-45 So 8 14.68 14.78 3-99 4.00 .68 2.38 i-7S .12 •17 .11 •05 •43 1. 10 8l S 12.42 8.42 12.47 3-51 1.88 ■03 2.09 • 17 •07 4.12 .60 82 4 12.09 4-56 12.12 8.06 2.50 1. 17 •30 .09 83 4 12.28 2.73 12.29 6.23 2.00 1-45 .09 •39 .08 I.09 .96 ,84 6 16.86 16.88 6.88 2.80 .40 1.77 .11 1.41 .01 S-oo 1.50 2.00 85 4 19.80 19.80 8.27 4.00 .38 I.I3 •59 2.50 .69 2.27 S6 18.39 1.30 18.41 5.16 2.50 •71 1. 05 .85 1.04 .01 5.00 •74 1-35 87 4 15-77 1-75 15.84 5-oo 2.50 1. 17 1.38 .62 •73 .81 .18 1.98 1.47 88 4 18.27 8.00 18.27 9.68 3-oo 2.6s •25 •37 .18 2.14 ,8g 4 20.74 20.74 8.45 2.50 1.62 •97 4.60 .62 1.98 90 Including credit. 1 Average amount purchased on credit Families owned home. 213 CO o 2 -ID m — > PJZ £8 - O a o < 40 years and over 00 C- " ~ ^D CH u-n\0 - N C^OO T — CI sO ^Q ^ c- — - 00 1-iau\ crwO vO u"n • .PI Nm NvO tmCO"tO^) 2" 00 rrs ir- mft - O ff -00 NO N '1-mm — tv. C C**0 ir\ G* -.■*> "35 3 C J . . c •- .9a3« - S cn ° rt ^3.tiO't; DDuii)5o-0 00 :S 0- oi -J oi O 214 APPENDIX IV CLASSIFICATION AND EARNINGS OF EMPLOYES IN THREE REPRESENTATIVE STEEL PLANTS OF THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT, OCTOBER 1, 1907 128-INCH PLATE MILL Men Earning Over I3.33 Per Day Earnings (i. e., over $20 for six-day week) Number Per Day Supts., General Foremen, 30" — 42" — 128" . . 2 $6.05 Heaters 4 7.21 Rollers 2 8.44 Rollers' Assistants 10 4.40 Shearmen 6 5.58 Heaters' Helpers 2 4.09 Markers 12 3.50 Roll Engineers 2 3.37 Crane and Machine Operators 6 4.18 Men Earning $2.50 to $3.33 Per Day (i. e., $15 to 1 1 9.99 for six-day week) Clerks, Timekeepers and Weighers .... 18 $2.63 Rollers' Assistants 4 2.83 Shearmen 3 3.13 Shearmen Helpers 38 3.30 Inspectors 7 2.70 Millwrights 6 2.68 Shippers and Checkers 7 2.89 Men Earning $2.00 to $2.49 Per Day (i. e., $12 to $14.99 f° r six-day week) Markers 3 $2.17 Shearmen Helpers 4 2.07 Crane and Machine Operators 10 2.33 Common Labor, Unspecified Positions ... 20 2.40 Men Earning Under $2.00 Per Day (i. e., under $12 for six-day week) Common Labor (i6£ cents per hour) 215 49 $1.82 homestead: the households of a mill town 23-INCH STRUCTURAL MILL Men Earning Over $3.33 Per Day Earnings (i. e., over $20 for six-day week) Number Per Day Supts., General Foremen 1 $4-6 1 Heaters 6 498 Rollers 2 7.38 Rollers' Assistants 8 3.83 Men Earning $2.50 to $3.33 Per Day (i. e., $15 to $19.99 for six-day week) Foremen 5 $2.80 Clerks, Timekeepers and Weighers .... 4 2.53 Heaters' Helpers 6 2.99 Hot Sawyer and Push Over 2 2.77 Straighteners 10 2.79 Cold Sawyers 8 2.70 Crane and Machine Operators 4 3- 2 3 Engineers, Stationary 4 2.76 Inspectors 2 2.70 Men Earning $2.00 to $2.49 Per Day (i. e., $12 to'$ 14.99 for six-day week) Clerks, Timekeepers and Weighers . Crane and Machine Operators Checkers .... 4 4 8 $2.33 2.47 2.16 2 2.04 Men Earning Under $2.00 Per Day (i. e., under $12 for six-day week) Common Labor (i6§ cents an hour) " Unspecified Positions . $1.98 ..65 38-INCH BLOOMING MILL Men Earning Over $3.33 Per Day Earnings (i. e., over $20 for six-day week) Number Per Day Rollers 2 $6.47 Heaters 2 6.47 Supts., General Foremen 1 3°5 Foremen 4 3-5 2 Heaters' Helpers 8 3.77 Shearmen 2 3.77 2l6 APPENDIX IV Men Earning $2.50 to $3.33 Per Day Earnings (i. e., $15 to $19.99 for six-day week) Number Per Day Clerks, Timekeepers and Weighers .... 4 $ 2 &7 Rollers' Assistants 4 3-°6 Shear Helpers 8 2.58 Inspectors 2 2.70 Engineers, Roll Engine 4 3°4 Crane and Machine Operators 4 3- '9 Engineers, Narrow Gauge 2 2.94 Millwrights 6 2.66 Men Earning $2.00 to $2.49 Per Day (i. e., $12 to $14.99 f° r six-day week) Clerks, Timekeepers and Weighers .... 7 $2.48 Engineers, Stationary 2 2.37 Common Labor Unspecified Positions per 1 00 tons 2 2.16 Crane and Machine Operators 10 2.02 Men Earning Under $2.00 Per Day (i. e., under $12 for six-day week) Common Labor ( 1 6$ cents per hour) ... 58 $1.98 " Unspecified Positions ... 13 1.90 217 APPENDIX V AN ACT TO ENABLE BOROUGH COUNCILS TO ESTAB- LISH BOARDS OF HEALTH. STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1893 Town Council or Burgess shall appoint a Board of Health to consist of five persons. Length of term of first ap- pointees. Shall be appointed by dis- tricts. Duties, etc., of board, how regulated. Members to be sworn and shall organize annually. Section i. Be it enacted, etc., that it shall be the duty of the President of the town council, or burgess where he is the presiding officer, of every borough in this Commonwealth, within six months after the passage of this Act, to nominate and by and with the consent of the council to appoint a board of health of such borough to consist of five persons not members of the council, one of whom shall be a reputable physician of not less than two years' standing in the practice of his profession. At the first appointment the president of the town council, or burgess where he is the presiding officer, shall designate one of the members to serve for one year, one to serve for two years, one to serve for three years, one to serve for four years and one to serve for five years, and thereafter one member of said board shall be appointed annually to serve for five years. The board shall be appointed by dis- tricts to be fixed by the town council, representing as equally as may be all portions of the borough. The members shall serve without compensation. Section 2. The duties, responsibilities, powers and prerogatives of said board shall be identical with those assigned to boards of health of cities of the third class by sections three, four, five, six and seven of article eleven of the Act of May twenty-third, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An act providing for the in- corporation and government of cities of the third class," which reads as follows, due allowance being made for the difference in the municipal govern- ment of cities and boroughs. Section 3. The members of the board shall severally take and subscribe the oath prescribed for 218 APPENDIX V Salaries. Bonds. Fee to be paid into the borough treasury. President and secretary shall have power to ad- minister oaths. Powers and duties of board as to infectious diseases. May establish hospitals. borough officers, and shall annually organize by the choice of one of their number as president. They shall elect a secretary, who shall keep the minutes of their proceedings and perform such other duties as may be directed by the board, and a health officer who shall execute the orders of the board, and for that purpose the said health officer shall have and exercise the powers and authority of a policeman of the borough. The secretary and the health offi- cer shall receive such salary as may be fixed by the board, and they shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the board. They shall severally give bond to the borough in such sums as may be fixed by ordinance for the faithful discharge of their duties, and shall also take and subscribe the oath required by members of the board. All fees which shall be collected or received by the board or by any officer thereof in his official capacity, shall be paid over into the borough treasury monthly, to- gether with all penalties which shall be recovered for the violation of any regulation of the board. The president and secretary shall have full power to ad- minister oaths of affirmation in any proceedings or in- vestigation touching upon the regulation of the board, but shall not be entitled to receive any fee therefor. Section 4. The said board of health shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to make and enforce all needful rules and regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious or contag- ious diseases, by the regulation of intercourse with in- fected places, by the arrest, separation and treat- ment of infected persons, and persons who shall have been exposed to any infectious or contagious disease, and by abating and removing all nuisances which they shall deem prejudicial to public health; to enforce vaccination, to mark infected houses or places, to prescribe rules for the construction and maintenance of house drains, water pipes, soil pipes and cess-pools, and to make all such other regula- tions as they shall deem necessary for the preserva- tion of the public health. They shall also have power with the consent of the councils in any case of the prevalence of any contagious or infectious diseases within the borough to establish one or more hospitals and to make provisions and regu- 219 homestead: the households of a mill town May appoint district phy- sicians and sanitary agents. Duties of all practicing physicians. Abatement of nuisances. Costs and expenses. May maintain system of registration of marriages and births and deaths. Board shall publish neces- sary rules and regulations. lations for the management of same. The board may in such cases appoint as many ward or district physicians and other sanitary agents as they may deem necessary whose salaries shall be fixed by the board before their appointment. It shall be the duty of all physicians practicing in the borough to report to the secretary of said board of health the names and residences of all persons coming under their professional care afflicted with such contagious or infectious diseases, in the manner directed by said board. Section 5. The said board of health shall have power, as a body or by committee, as well as the health officer, together with his subordinates, assistants and workmen, under and by orders of the said board, to enter at any time upon any premises in the borough upon which there is sus- pected to be any infectious or contagious disease or nuisance detrimental to the public health for the purpose of examining and abating the same; and all written orders for the removal of nuisance issued to the said health officer by order of said board, attested by the secretary, shall be executed by him and his subordinates and workmen, and the costs and expenses thereof shall be recoverable from the owner or owners of the premises from which the nuisance shall be removed or from any person or persons causing or maintaining the same, in the same manner as debts of like account are now by law collected. Section 6. The said board of health shall have power to create and maintain a complete and accurate system of the registration of all marriages, births and deaths which may occur within the borough and to compel obedience of the same upon the part of all physicians and other medical prac- titioners, clergymen, magistrates, undertakers, sex- tons and all other persons from whom information for such purposes may properly be required. The board shall make and cause to be published, all necessary rules and regulations for carrying into effect the powers and functions with which they are hereby invested, which rules and regulations, when approved by the borough council and chief burgess, and when advertised in the same manner APPENDIX V How penalties, etc., shall be recovered. Board shall submit estimate of probable receipts and expenditures. Council to make appro- priation. Shall submit an annual re- port. Communication with State (Board) Commissioner of Health. Repeal. as other ordinances, shall have the force of ordi- nances of the borough, and all penalties for the vio- lation thereof, as well as the expenses necessarily incurred, in carrying the same into effect, shall be recoverable for the use of the borough in the same manner as penalties for the violation of borough ordinances subject to the like limitations as to the amount thereof. Section 7. It shall be the duty of the board of health to submit annually to the council before the commencement of the fiscal year, an estimate of the probable receipts and expenditures of the board during the ensuing year, and the council shall then proceed to make such appropriation thereto as they shall deem necessary; and the said board shall in the month of January of each year submit a report in writing to the council of its operations for the preceding year with the necessary statistics, together with such information or suggestions relative to the sanitary conditions and requirements of the borough as it may deem proper, and the council shall publish the same, in its official journal. It shall also be the duty of the board to communicate to the State (Board) Commissioner of Health, at least annually notice of its organization and member- ship, and copies of all its reports and publications, together with such sanitary information as may from time to time be required by said State (Board) Department. Section 8. All acts or parts of acts inconsis- tent with or contrary to the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. Approved — The 1 ith day of May, A. D. 1893. Robt. E. Pattison 221 APPENDIX VI REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE BOROUGH OF HOMESTEAD FOR THE YEAR ENDING DEC. 31, 1908* To the President and Members of the Council of the Borough of Homestead. Gentlemen: — We submit to your honorable body a report of the work accomplished by your Board during the past year. The Sanitary Work as reviewed in our last report has been carried on as vigor- ously as at any time in the past, and the work done in this respect will speak for itself in figures compiled for that purpose herein- after incorporated. Besides taking care of the regular work of our department, we have given no little attention to the milk question. With the help of the Council we have been able to have passed and approved a set of Model Rules and Regulations governing every phase of conditions whereby the town can be kept in a clean and sanitary condition if the same are obeyed, and giving us power to punish the offender if the same are not obeyed. As we have said before, the milk question has been given more atten- tion than has been customary in the past, as this question has become a real live one, and there are not many users of milk in a municipality who ever give the question a thought as to what the conditions and surroundings are at the barns from which they derive their milk supply. There is no commodity that is so susceptible to surrounding conditions and which is so easily con- taminated as milk. If barns and their surroundings are not kept in an extraordinary sanitary condition the odors arising from the filth contaminate the milk and make it unwholesome. Your Board has gone into this phase of the question thoroughly and had one of the Inspectors from the State Board investigate every *For an interesting comment on The Pittsburgh Survey see p. 224. 222 APPENDIX VI dairy from which Homestead draws its milk supply and make a written report of each one separately to us, and on an average the majority of the dairies were in a fair condition. A few were above the average and are model dairies, while a few were in a filthy condition and were given the option by your Board of either bring- ing the same up to the standard within a specified period or cease selling milk within the corporate limits of the Borough. We are pleased to say that there is a steady improvement going on in the few real bad dairies, and we shall not cease our crusade against them until they are up to the standard required by law. We have also had some prosecutions against local dealers for selling adul- terated milk, and in all prosecutions disposed of to date, conviction has been secured and the guilty parties fined. This is the worst feature of the milk business we have to contend with. During the summer months formaldehyde, a rank poison, is put in the milk by unscrupulous dealers for the purpose of preserving it, and as a general rule the amount of formaldehyde used for preserving purposes when drank with the milk, will not injure an adult person, but is, without a doubt, fatal to children. This has been demonstrated by our most eminent medical men, and we are de- termined to continue prosecutions against all violators of the law in this respect. As no human being could conceive of a more dastardly or contemptible piece of work under the guise of modern business methods than this, any contamination of food to be con- sumed by human beings, and especially that used by infants, should be, and we are determined shall be, prosecuted to the limit of the law. We have made a start in this direction and we shall continue until the law is fully respected in this particular. We have also begun an innovation by requesting the milk dealers to co-operate with us in the thorough cleansing of the milk bottles before refilling, and in this respect we have demanded that they be not allowed to deliver milk in bottles to houses where a con- tagious or infectious disease has developed, believing that by this method we can prevent, to a certain extent, the spread of these diseases, as milk bottles used in houses, where contagious or infectious diseases have developed, if not thoroughly cleansed, are liable to become contaminated and carry these diseases into other homes. So we believe much good will come from this order 223 homestead: the households of a mill town if properly lived up to, and if any violators of this order are caught we propose to destroy the bottles in question, as we consider this necessary for the preservation of the good health of the community. SANITARY CONDITIONS With respect to the general sanitary conditions of the town we are of the opinion that the work we have accomplished since our last report justifies us in saying that the general conditions are considerably better than they were one year ago. During the first part of the year we requested the co-operation of the public in general to assist us in making the sanitary conditions of the Borough the best in its history by procuring garbage cans that would not leak, and keep the same covered at all times, and to keep all garbage and refuse matter in these cans, and have the same emptied at least once each week, as specified in the Borough Ordinance, and urged them not to throw these substances, so deleterious and dangerous to the public health, around openly in the yard, and in this respect we can say we have reason to compli- ment the largest portion of our population for complying with this order and co-operating with the Board for the benefit of not only themselves, but for the entire community. While, on the other hand, certain classes of people, as you will find in every community pay no attention whatever to sanitary measures and have to be compelled by our Inspectors to even keep clean the inside of the house in which they live. This condition is unwarranted in a civilized community, but nevertheless true. In some instances to get them to obey the law in this respect we are compelled to resort to prosecution, but we are determined to keep the Borough in a clean, sanitary condition at any cost. A LITTLE ABOUT THE PITTSBURG SURVEY WITH REGARD TO CONDITIONS IN HOMESTEAD The conditions portrayed by this Survey had a tendency to exaggerate to a certain degree. It is not our intention to criticize the work done by this Survey or to do anything to interfere in any manner with the good the originators of this Survey expect to accomplish. In what manner they expected to accomplish any 224 APPENDIX VI good is beyond our comprehension. The mere fact of going into a locality and portraying the conditions existing there, and then producing them in miniature and exhibiting them in large centers of population away from where the actual conditions exist, does not in any way improve the conditions of that particular locality. It has been true ever since the world began that to accomplish or to succeed in any way or in any thing one must work intelli- gently and industriously, and the only way that we can conceive that conditions can be bettered in the Second Ward, Homestead, is by work such as your Board has been doing, and not by exhibi- tion, as done by the Pittsburg Survey. And then again conditions exhibited by them are not the true conditions as existing today. This survey was taken nearly two years ago, and if you will peruse our last annual report you will perceive that we had undertaken during the year 1907 to disseminate the occupants of overcrowded houses, and an inspection of the locality referred to will reveal the fact as to what extent we have succeeded in relieving the conges- tion of overcrowded houses. We have been carrying this work along without abatement during the past two years, and we realize even at this time that conditions are not ideal by any means. Yet we have accomplished so much along this line that the real bad conditions found two years ago, are not to be found to-day. Occasionally it is brought to our notice that there is an overcrowded house, and our officers are immediately dispatched with orders to compel the vacation of some of the occupants, and in all cases the orders have been obeyed. It is impossible to prevent the over- crowding of houses, as the occupants can move in while the officers are not in that immediate vicinity. But when we discover such conditions exist we promptly have them remedied. It is hard to keep conditions as they should be in this particular locality, but we can truly say we are doing our best along this line, and we are of the opinion that we are accomplishing something. So, with all due respect to the Pittsburg Survey, we are still of the opinion that conditions found by them to exist in the Second Ward and exhibited by them in the Pittsburg Carnegie Library are not the true conditions as exist in the Second Ward to-day. 225 homestead: the households of a mill town THE SPITTING ORDINANCE In our last report we congratulated Council on the enactment of an ordinance prohibiting spitting on the sidewalks and in public places, and endeavored to demonstrate why such an ordinance should be rigidly enforced for the good of the entire community. Some little work has been done along this line, but not enough to justify the assertion. We are still of the opinion that this is a splendid measure, and believe much good will come from its enforcement. Our greatest authorities on scientific matters have demonstrated and tell us, that germs of disease are communicated from one person to another in this manner, thereby causing a larger majority of communicable diseases than we otherwise would have if this measure was enforced. It is an unsightly thing to observe where people have expectorated all along the sidewalk, and should be stopped, if for no other reason than this. But when the influences for contagion are taken into consideration there should be no hesitancy in a strict enforcement of this ordinance. We therefore recommend that the proper officers be authorized to give this matter their careful attention by enforcing this measure, as we believe the results obtained from such a crusade will justify our confidence in this ordinance from a sanitary point of view. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES Jan. i, 1908, to Jan. 1, 1909 Measles 112 Typhoid Fever 28 Pneumonia 24 Chicken Pox 18 Diphtheria 14 Scarlet Fever 15 Pulmonary Tuberculosis 16 Cerebro-spinal Meningitis 6 Erysipelas 5 Whooping Cough 4 Tetanus 1 Mumps 4 Incipient Tuberculosis 1 Total 248 226 APPENDIX VI WORK OF OUR OFFICERS We especially ask that a careful perusal be given to the work accomplished by our officers during the past year. Our officers have done all the fumigating, as in the previous year, and following is a complete review of the work accomplished, and we will leave it to the opinion of the reader as to whether or not the work done and the results obtained justify the amount expended for this purpose. Fumigated after the abatement of contagious diseases, 135 rooms; dead animals hauled from off the streets, 1 1 1 ; compelled the cleaning of 2,158 yards; compelled the cleaning of 337 cellars; made owners clean in entirety 89 houses; compelled the putting in a sanitary condition 79 stables; supervised the cleaning of 391 closets; compelled the abandonment of 42 closets; had 55 closets in yards discontinued and placed in the houses instead; compelled the opening of 206 clogged sewers; condemned 3 buildings; tacked up 300 garbage notices; succeeded in installing 78 new garbage cans; visited 56 families in quest of contagious diseases; served 70 notices to principals of schools of contagious diseases existing in families whose children were school pupils; served 494 written notices and 2,125 verbal ones to landlords, agents and tenants to remove garbage and rubbish from premises; compelled the removal of 54 boarders and 25 beds from overcrowded houses; had 7 manure boxes removed from alleys; notified and compelled 31 persons to procure proper receptacles for garbage; served 45 copies of the new Milk Ordinance to milk dealers and 30 copies to milk shippers, and collected for analysis 24 samples of milk from dealers. Outside of the work enumerated above our officers have given quite a little attention to sanitary conditions relative to proper sewering facilities in the Borough proper and more especially in the Third Ward. Conditions in some parts of this ward were exceedingly bad at the beginning of last year, but with a proper portrayal of conditions by our officers to the Street Committee of Council, we succeeded in having Council remedy the conditions by the extension of sewers to these districts, the result being that we were enabled thereby to make some wonderful improvements 227 homestead: the households of a mill town along a sanitary line in this ward. Our officers are yet of the opinion that conditions could and should be benefited still farther by the construction of sewers on Maple street and Seventeenth avenue, and we respectfully submit this opinion to the Council for their consideration. As a whole we are of the opinion that our officers have done remarkably well during the past year and we believe a study of the work accomplished will verify and justify our belief along this line. We therefore submit this part of the report to your respectful consideration. WITH RESPECT TO EPIDEMICS Measles was our leading contagious disease during the past year which was also true of the previous year. Out of the 1 1 2 cases for the entire year 55 of them developed in the month of January, and the large majority of these cases being in the hill district or Third Ward. These cases developed in so close proximity to one another and so fast that they gave your board some little concern, but it was finally gotten under control without the inconvenience of resorting to any measures of a harsh nature. Epidemics of this disease are caused through the carelessness of some person and we desire to ask and persuade all parents to be very careful and not allow their children to mingle with any member of the family or to allow any outsider to come into the house while there is a case of measles in the household. We desire to inform every- body that the majority of people look upon measles as a harmless disease, and in fact they have every reason to do so, as the death rate from measles has been very low in the past. But the con- tinual negligence in the care of patients suffering with measles, by allowing them to come in contact with other people, will result in an epidemic of this disease which will result in a harvest of deaths and compel your Board to institute a quarantine as rigid as in cases of smallpox, thereby inconveniencing the whole community. So for the good of the whole people we ask the co-operation of the entire citizenship of the Borough to appoint themselves a com- mittee to enforce the health regulations with respect to contagious diseases by agreeing to keep all patients afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases isolated in such a manner that it will be impossible for these diseases to spread beyond the house in which it 228 APPENDIX VI developed. This can be done with very little effort on the part of the people, and by so doing a more healthful condition can be established and much concern and anxiety eliminated for not only your Board but for the entire populace. Let us get together and have co-operation in this respect and ascertain what result can be obtained in the coming year. ANOTHER WORD TO PHYSICIANS In our last annual report we gave a short talk to the physi- cians of the Borough with respect to their negligence in reporting contagious diseases, and when we inserted that paragraph in our last report we did not think it would be necessary for us to again resume this advice one year hence. But we still believe, as we did one year ago, that there has developed and existed quite a number of diseases designated as contagious under the law, that have not been reported as required by the Act of Assembly. The diseases that seem to compare the worse are pneumonia, mumps and whooping cough. There is no physician in the Borough who would care to be accused of being a law breaker, still some of them are doing that very thing every month in the year. The diseases enumerated above are exceedingly prevalent in some seasons of the year, and we ask the physicians to peruse the table appearing in this report and see if it is his opinion that this is the correct number of these diseases existing in the Borough during the past year. We think each one will agree with us that a considerable portion of said diseases have never been reported. And on the other hand the physicians not only owe it to themselves as law abiding citizens, but they owe it more so to the community at large. For in the event of a physician not reporting a very dangerous contagious disease, the Health Board not having knowledge of its existence, some unscrupulous person allows the child infected to enter school. Said action may result in an epidemic of this disease, and death may result. This is not a square deal, gentlemen. You are not doing your duty in the manner provided by law, and you are doing an injustice by so neglecting, to every citizen of this Borough. The law requires that these diseases be reported and provides a penalty for a viola- tion. We warned you a year ago about your neglect in this respect 229 homestead: the households of a mill town and we again inform you that our advice was not heeded and you have again been negligent. We have concluded that we are, and have been wasting time and energy in being lenient with you, and if this warning does not result in stricter application to the letter of the law in reporting the diseases therein specified, we have concluded that we will detail an officer on this line of the work and arrest all violators irrespective of who they are. We did not think when we issued a warning a year ago that it would be necessary for us to institute a threat in order to get the physicians of this Borough to obey the law in this respect, and we feel sorry to have to acknowledge that our confidence was misplaced with regard to this issue. We are of the opinion that we have come to the point when patience has ceased to be a virtue, and harsher measures must be employed. The measures agreed upon have been recited previously in this letter. We therefore would advise that the physicians give this their attention and govern themselves accord- ingly. BIRTHS Born of American parents 360 Born of foreign parents 558 Total 918 Of these were white 877 Of these were black 41 Total 918 BIRTHS SEPARATED ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY OF PARENTS American 360 Austrian 341 Russian 54 English 33 Irish 26 Italian 25 Polish 22 Slavish 2! German 18 Scotch 10 Roumanian 2 Welsh 2 Arabian 1 Syrian 1 Swede 1 Greek 1 Total 918 230 APPENDIX VI A comparison of this table with the one of last year will reveal the fact that identically the same number of children were born as during the previous year, and a comparison of the births and deaths for two years certainly shows that there is no race suicide in Homestead, as we have almost three times as many births as we have deaths. DEATHS Jan. i, 1908, to Jan. i, 1909 Still-born and premature births 77 Pneumonia . . 72 Gastro-enteritis and Marasmus, Enterocolitis .... 67 Tuberculosis 28 Nephritis 16 Convulsions 15 Meningitis, now specific 14 Heart Disease ... 13 Bronchitis 13 Cirrhosis of liver 10 Accidental and Suicide 9 Acute Indigestion 4 Apoplexy 3 Cerebral Hemorrhage 3 Membranous Croup 2 Typhoid Fever 2 Alcoholism 2 La Grippe 2 Puerperal Fever 2 Acute Peritonitis 2 Erysipelas Necrosis Scarlet Fever Asthma Pleurisy Jaundice, Acute Whooping Cough Meningitis, Malignant Paralysis Tonsillitis Progressive Anemia Cholera Morbus Total 368 A comparison with the report of last year shows a decrease in the death rate of 48. In 1907 the total deaths were 416 and in 1908 it was 368, which is very gratifying. In 1907 we had 6 deaths from typhoid fever, in 1908 we had only 2. This is a con- dition that is almost beyond belief. Two deaths from typhoid fever is certainly a low estimate for a population of 17,000, and 231 homestead: the households of a mill town we believe bears out our statement that the general sanitary con- ditions of the Borough have improved considerably. During very prevalent epidemics of measles, such as we experienced last January, many children die of pneumonia, and while no deaths are recorded with measles as the primary cause, still in a large number of cases it was the contributory cause. The same is true of some cases of typhoid fever. Only two deaths are recorded from this disease as the primary cause, yet a few deaths are recorded from pneumonia where typhoid fever was the contribu- tory cause. But even at that we consider we have been fortunate with this disease. COST AND EXPENSE FOR THE YEAR Officers' and Secretary's Salaries $1,730.00 Printing 224.20 Formaldehyde 86.40 Inspecting Dairies 49.84 Hauling Dead Animals 3' -5° General Expense 26.00 Supplies 15.93 Freight 1.89 Total $2,16576 The cost of carrying on the work of the department is nearly five hundred dollars less than it was for the year 1907. Attention to smallpox cases was a large item in our expense during the previ- ous year. There being no cases of this disease during the past year gave us a saving in this respect. The printing bill is a large item in this year's expense account and we desire this shall be understood. The model rules and regulations adopted by your Board during the past year we had printed in book form and distributed throughout the community, a sort of publicity cam- paign for the enlightenment and education of the people to the methods employed by your Board for the preservation of the good health of the community, and we believe the literature issued has justified the expense incurred. Respectfully submitted, ANDREW HILL, Secretary. 232 APPENDIX VII RECORD OF CASUALTIES ON UNPROTECTED GRADE CROSSINGS, HOMESTEAD, 1905-1907* THE Board of Trade has compiled a record of the grade cross- ing accidents which have taken place in Homestead from Jan. i, 1905, up to the present time, which will be used in an effort they propose to put forth to secure safety gates. The record shows that 23 people have met death and 25 have been per- manently injured on grade crossings. Just how to proceed to get safety gates seems hard to determine. Some citizens argue that the borough can compel the railroads to construct safety gates by legislation and some that it cannot, and as there is no state law covering the point there seems to be nothing to go by. McKeesport has at last forced the railroad companies to come to time simply by passing an ordinance declaring that the safety gates must be constructed at all the crossings by a certain time. When the ordinance was first passed the railroad officials only laughed at it and declared the city could not enforce the ordinance, but when the time for action came and they found the city officials determined, they came around and agreed to put up the gates and the material is now on the grounds ready for con- struction to begin. Mayor Coleman, when he was in Homestead Thursday night, said the safety gate ordinance was one of the first ordinances he signed, and while the railroads had demurred and delayed matters as much as possible they were slowly but surely coming to time, and that the gates would be up within a comparatively short time. The mayor, in conversation with a Daily Messenger reporter, said: "The material for the gates is now on the ground and I do * Reprinted from the Homestead Daily Messenger. 233 homestead: the households of a mill town not think the railroad companies will delay work much longer. When we first passed the ordinance the railroad people declared they would ignore it altogether, but later on they came around and wanted to compromise. They declared it was unfair to make them put gates up at every crossing and wanted to compromise by agreeing to put gates at the principal crossings but we stood pat and it now looks as if we would win out." When asked if he thought Homestead could compel the railroad companies to put up gates by legislation, he said he did, and added further, that we would never get safety gates unless the borough officials forced the companies to construct them. The record of the railroads, in killed and injured, as com- piled by the Board of Trade, from January i, 1905, to the present date, is as follows: 1905 Killed >2 Injured '3 Horses killed o Wagons demolished 3 1906 Killed 6 Injured 10 Horses killed 3 Wagons demolished 1 1907 Killed 5 Injured 2 Horses killed 4 P. V. & C, 1905 — Persons killed, 8; injured, 9; horses and mules killed, 5. P. & L. E., 1905 — Persons killed, 3; injured, 2; horses killed, 1. P. V. & C, 1906 — Persons killed, 3; injured, 2. P. & L. E., 1906 — Persons killed, 4; injured, 2. Date and name of those killed and injured. Also news- paper reports of narrow escapes: 1905 John Stahl, Jan. 30, 1905, P. V. & C, injured. Empire Laundry wagon, Feb. 1, 1905, P. V. & C, two mules killed. Jos. Peters (Slav), Feb. 7, 1905, P. V. & C, Gold alley, killed. Jos. Dobrosky, Feb. 7, 1905, Gold alley, P. V. & C., injured. P. J. Crawford, Mar. 7, 1905, P. V. & C. John J. Hughes, May 2, 1905, Union, killed. Walter Hight, May 4, 1905, P. V. & C., not seriously. Cleveland Prov. Co. of Pittsburgh, May 8, 1905, P. V. & C, horse killed, driver escaped Lawrence Johnston, May 29, 1905, P. V. & C. Munhall, seriously injured. M. Bellot (Hun.), June 12, 1905, P. V. & C, Amity street, killed. Willie Schuette, July 3, 1905, P. & L. E., West Homestead, killed. 234 APPENDIX VI John Uhrin, sr., July 12, 1905, P. V. & C, City Farm Lane, killed. Frank Kovaic, Aug. 3, 1905, P. & L. E., killed. Mrs. B. McDonough, Aug. 10, 1905, P. & L. E., City Farm Lane, killed. Jacob Bernstein, Aug. 14, 1905, P. V. & C, Heisel street, seriously injured, horse killed, wagon demolished. Samuel Walker, Aug. 24, 1905, P. V. & C, McClure street, hurt, horse killed. Jos. Sinclair, Sept. 5, 1905, P. & L. E., West street, injured, wagon struck. Eugene Freidman, Sept. 10, 1905, P. V. & C, Ann street, killed. George Verdo, Sept. 14, 1905, P. & L. E., Heisel street, seriously injured. (ohn Zahornaski, Sept. 16, 1905, P. V. & C, Fifth avenue, killed. Mike Metro, Sept. 23, 1905, P. V. & C, Heisel street, struck, injured. H. F. Botsford & Bro., Oct. 28, 1905, P. & L .E., Amity street, horse killed. Peter Kilosky, Nov. 1, 1905, P. V. & C, Dickson street, injured, wagon demolished. Henry Elicker, Nov. 21, 1905, P. V. & C, Amity street, arm cut off. Jacob Rushe, Nov. 27, 1905, P. V. & C, Dickson street, killed. S. B. White, Dec. 13, 1905, P. V. & C, Munhall. killed. Michael Medzyi, Dec. 21, 1905, P. V. & C, McClure street, killed. 1906 Mary Sipas, Jan. 9, P. V. & C, Dickson street, leg cut off. Three young girls, Feb. 13, P. V. & C, Amity street, narrow escape. Thomas Roach, Mar. 31, P. & L. E., Heisel street, fatally injured. Three companions had narrow escape. Trolley car, Apr. 12, P. & L. E., Amity street, fender taken off. Three valuable dogs, Apr. 25, P. V. & C, Amity street, killed. Loaded street car, Apr. 27, P. & L. E., Amity street, narrow escape. John Milache, May 10, P. &. L. E., West Homestead, seriously hurt. Street car, May 14, P. & L. E., Amity street, struck. Frank McCarley, June 13, dragged from McClure to Howard works, P. & L. E., seriously hurt. Street car, July 16, P. & L. E., Amity street, Motorman H. C. Smith and G. H. Hall, conductor, seriously injured; three passengers cut and bruised. Joseph Sogat, July 2 1 , P. & L. E., Heisel street, killed instantly, horse killed, wagon wrecked. W. H. Gould's team, July 24, P. & L. E., Amity street, killed. Street car, July 30, P. V. & C, Amity street, narrow escape. Two passengers injured in jumping from car. Thomas Saunders, Julv 3 1 , P. V. & C, Hays street, killed. Bernard Smith, July 3 1 , P. V. & C, killed. Bolo Kovachy, Aug. 6, P. & L. E., Dickson street, killed. Repair trolley car, Aug. 16, P. & L. E., Amity street, narrow escape. John Warko,'Aug. 15, P. V. & C, Heisel street, pulled from tracks in time. 1907 John Such, killed at the McClure street crossing of the P. V. & C, Tuesday evening, January 1 1. Robert E. O'Connor, killed on Sixth avenue, Thursday, Jan. 10, P. V. & C. Sunday, Feb. 24, Penn & Shady car struck by fast train at Amity street, 25 lives endangered. Monday, Feb. 25, Patrick O'Mara killed at Ammon street crossing, P. V. & C. Tuesday, July 9, John Dryer had one horse killed and another injured at Heisel street crossing, P. V. & C. Stephen Sweeney and Al. Woodside, killed Sept. 21, at West street. Two horses killed. Max Rosen, lost leg at Amity street crossing, Sept. 21. Clyde Graham, aged 4 years, struck by train. Badly injured. 235 APPENDIX VIII SEVEN-DAY LABOR ORDERS ISSUED BY UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION OFFICIALS RELATIVE TO SUNDAY LABOR Resolution with regard to Sunday labor passed by the Finance Committee of the United States Steel Corporation at a meeting held on April 23, 1907: On motion, it was voted to recommend to all subsidiary companies that Sunday labor be reduced to the minimum; that all work (excepting such repair work as cannot be done while operating) be suspended on Sunday at all steel works, rolling mills, shops, quarries and docks; that there shall be no construction work, loading or unloading of materials. It is understood that it is not at present practicable to apply the recom- mendation to all Departments, notably the Blast Furnaces, but it is desirable that the spirit of the recommendation be observed to the fullest extent within reason. Copy of telegram sent to presidents of constituent companies of United States Steel Corporation by Chairman Gary, March 21, 1910: Mr. Corey, Mr. Dickson and I have lately given much serious thought to the subject-matter of resolution passed by Finance Committee April 23rd, 1907. concerning Sunday or Seventh Day Labor. Mr. Corey has written you on the subject within a day or two. The object of this telegram is to say that all of us expect and insist that hereafter the spirit of the resolution will be observed and carried into effect. There should and must be no unnecessary deviation without first taking up the question with our Finance Committee and asking for a change of the views of the Committee which proabbly will not under any circumstances be secured. I emphasize the fact that there should be at least twenty-four continu- ous hours interval during each week in the production of ingots. E. H. Gary. 236 APPENDIX IX COST OF LIVING IN PITTSBURGH A Report of the Committee on Trade and Commerce to the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh on the Comparative Cost of Food and House Rent in Pittsburgh and Other Cities November 18, 1909 4 T a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce on May 13th, /\ 1909, your Committee on Trade and Commerce was in- 1 \ structed to consider the matter of cost of living in the city of Pittsburgh in comparison with other cities similarly located. Your committee took up the subject assigned to it and had an investigation made, but owing to the adjournment for the summer season occurring immediately upon this matter being placed in the hands of the committee, and the fact that several members of the committee were absent from the first fall session, we were unable to have our report prepared until this time. In accordance with the instructions, your committee had a list prepared of standard essentials in food stuffs and a representa- tive of the Chamber of Commerce was sent about our city to obtain the retail prices for these articles of food in various districts. Taking the Diamond Market as a center, visits were made in dis- tricts diverging in all directions from the established center. It was found that there was a great variation in the prices of these commodities without regard to location and in most cases without any apparent well-founded commercial reason. In some cases we found the prices prevailing at the Diamond Market higher than the same articles were sold at some distance away from this center. It was also observed that in similarly located sections a different range of prices was given, ranging both higher and lower. In fact, there does not seem to be anything approaching a consistent uniformity of prices on food stuffs asked by our mer- 237 homestead: the households of a mill town chants for the same quality. There was also a tendency in many cases on the part of the merchant, or his representative, to dicker with prices in order to make sale. After having investigated the conditions in Pittsburgh, a representative of the Chamber visited the cities of Buffalo, Cleve- land and Cincinnati, and we hereto attach a copy of the items on which prices were asked with the average price in these cities. A calculation has been made of the cost at which a family of five persons could be subsisted for a week in any one of the cities under consideration, using a liberal quantity of all the articles of food considered, which is as follows : Cincinnati $'0.33 Buffalo 10.90 Pittsburgh n.88 Cleveland i'-8i While this gives a reasonable comparison of cost, it is not probable that any family of five would use the quantities and the same varieties as used in this estimate; the probabilities are that in actual use in each case it would show a less aggregate cost. Consideration was given to the matter of house rents in the cities named. It is apparent from investigation made that the rents in the city of Pittsburgh and the city of Cincinnati are about the same for like accommodations, while in Buffalo and Cleveland the rents would range slightly less. There are some physical con- ditions that account for this— the topography of Pittsburgh is very irregular and the many heavy grades with rock formation to contend with make the cost of construction of buildings necessarily higher than in cities located as are Cleveland and Buffalo on almost level territory. Furthermore, in Cleveland and Buffalo the ma- jority of the houses are constructed of wood, while in Pittsburgh a great many of our houses are constructed of more substantial material and necessarily more costly, but more durable and should cost less to maintain. The increased earning capacity of the wage-worker of the Pittsburgh district materially overcomes any such difference that may appear. A very important factor to be considered in this comparison is the earning power of our people. The national government 238 APPENDIX IX report of wages earned in Pittsburgh is $574 per annum, in Buffalo $508, Cleveland $522, and Cincinnati $466. Therefore, the aver- age wages earned in Pittsburgh are $52 higher than the highest and $108 higher than the lowest of the cities referred to, which makes a liberal offset on any increase that may appear in the cost of rents. The cost of provisions in Pittsburgh, as compared with other cities, is so trifling that it is hardly worth considering. In fact, it is apparent to your committee, from the information obtained, that a prudent and careful buyer of the necessities will be able to purchase what is desired on an average, at Pittsburgh, as low as at any of the cities taken in comparison, and the greater earning capacity of our wage-earners makes living in Pittsburgh fully as advantageous as in any of the cities considered, if not superior. This investigation has brought to the knowledge of your committee that the average buyer of food stuffs in Pittsburgh, especially meats, demands a higher standard of quality than in many other locations, which of course has a tendency to increase the cost of living. 1 1 might be noted that many of the plainer but substantial articles of food are offered in Pittsburgh at prices equally as low as in any of the places referred to, articles such as Ham, Dried Salt Pork, Pickled Pork, Boiling Beef, Cabbage, Onions, Potatoes, Molasses, Sugar, Dairy Butter, Coffee, and some other items. Your committee is of the opinion that the matter of our public markets, in which the sale of perishable food stuffs is con- ducted, should have early attention, and better facilities should be provided to offer such goods to buyers than now exist, both as to improvement of the market buildings we now have, and the estab- lishing of others in suitable locations, so that buyers would have an opportunity of comparison as to quality and prices offered. There is a tendency on the part of the many dealers in these commodities to vary the price on a certain commodity in order to encourage a hesitating buyer, which leads your committee to believe that the less aggressive buyer pays the excessive prices. City ordinances should provide that where food stuffs are offered for sale, especially in market buildings provided by the city, plain figure prices should be displayed thereon, and if a lower price is accepted on any article, that would become the selling price and be so displayed. 239 homestead: the households of a mill town Your committee is of the opinion that the frequently made allegations that articles of food stuffs are much higher in Pitts- burgh than many other cities are not well-founded. When taken as a whole, it is doubtless true that certain articles at particular times may be purchased in other cities at lower figures than we are accustomed to buying them in Pittsburgh, but as has been indicated in this report, if buyers will be more careful to inves- tigate the quality and to demand fair prices, we feel that our merchants handling these goods are in position to furnish like goods at as low prices as in similarly located communities in this country. Referring to the matter of fruits and vegetables, we labor under some slight disadvantages in the Pittsburgh District. Adjacent to the cities we are using for comparison and many other of the great cities of our country, are territories that produce fruit and vegetables in large quantities on account of being specially adapted to the growing of such articles. From the fact that the hills and valleys surrounding Pittsburgh have been so bountifully supplied with valuable minerals, oil and gas, the production of these commodities is more profitable to the owners and has driven out agricultural pursuits. This, to some extent, puts us far away from the growing territory, but with all this, the up-to-date facili- ties for transporting these commodities materially offset the advan- tages of the close-to-city grown products. There is a lack of interest on the part of many of our wage-earners, as compared with those of other localities and countries, in utilizing small garden plots for the raising of vegetables on their own account. This may appear to be a small matter and not worthy of consideration, but investigation will show, not only in this country, but in many foreign countries, that great results have been obtained for the workers of a small garden plot, the labor being furnished at prac- tically no cost, being done in leisure hours and producing profitable returns for the labor. The work should be encouraged by our employers and land owners and such gardens should receive ample police protection. Encouragement should be given to the work- ingman to have his own garden plot on which he would doubtless be able to raise all the vegetables required for his family during the growing seasons of this section. This would not only be a saving, 240 APPENDIX IX SCHEDULE SHOWING QUANTITY OF FOOD ESTIMATED FOR SUB- SISTENCE OF FAMILY OF FIVE PERSONS FOR ONE WEEK Average price per unit obtained from six different inquiries during July, 1909, in each of the cities compared. Pittsburgh Buffalo Cleveland Cincinnati Ay. Ay. //i>. Av. Article Quan- price Total price Tote/ price Total price To/a/ tity per unit cost per unit COST per unit cost per unit cost Cod Fish 1 lb. •3l >3f '4 14 16J 16J 12 12 Mackerel 1 lb. '4 >4 12 12 10 .0 12^ •2i Poultry . 3 lb. 22 66 20 60 20$ 61 20 60 Bacon . . 3 lb. 19 57 18 54 i8j 55* i8f 55 s Tenderloin . 6 lb. 2 5 1.50 >9t n8i 23* '43 '7* •05! Boiling Beef 4 lb. 10 & 9* 39i >o 5 L 4of 9l 37! Mutton 4 lb. i7l 14 56 '7 68 '3* 54f Pork, pickled 4 lb. ijl 6ii :a* 58f .6 64 «5t 62f Ham . 7 lb. 16 1 12 1 12 16 1 .2 i6| 1 15 Bread . 12 lb. 5 60 5 60 5 60 3* 45! Flour . 6 lb. 4 24 3& 20 3ft 23 T 23 3 zi> 24 Lard . 1 lb. <5tTJ '5t(J 15 15 .61 «6J 13 13 Molasses, 1 Qt. ii lb. 10 10 10 10 .0 10 10 10 Oat Meal . 1 lb. 5 5 5 5 5 5 4? 4? Butter, Creamer y 2 lb. V\ 65 30f 6U 32f 64I 3'i 6 3f Butter, Oleo. 2 lb. 19 38 21 42 19 38 i8| 37 Eggs . 1 lb. 2 7 2 7 28 28 3° 30 26 26 Cheese, Cream i lb. "9* 9to I9f 9f 20J ■ of | .84 9! Beans, Qt. . 2 lb. 10 10 10 10 "i 1 ii 9§ 9f Prunes 1 lb. 12 12 09 09 10 10 09 09 Rice . 1 lb. 09 09 08 08 08J 8i 7 7 Potatoes 30 lb. '* 5° 't! 58 =*A 64 if 42 Cabbage 3 lb. 5 ■5 5* >7f °5 15 °5 15 Onions, £ Pk. 4 lb. 12 12 1 of IO* 10 10 1 if I ii Lettuce, 6 hds. 1^ lb. 03 18 02| 15* °5 30 °3 18 Carrots, 2 bun. 1* lb. °3 06 02f 5i 02 04 . - 3i Tomatoes, 2 Qt. 6 lb. >5 30 IO 20 .0 20 10 20 Radishes, 2 bun 1 lb. 03 06 02 04 02| 4l 02 04 Beets, 2 bun. 2 lb. °3 06 02f 5* 02 2 01 02 Cucumbers, two 1 lb. 05 10 04 08 °3 02 04 Coffee . 3 lb. .8f 555 >7i 5»i 20 60 1 61 49i Sugar . 5 lb. 5i 29f 5i 27* 05I 28 3* 27^ Milk, 7 Qts. «7* lb- °? 49 07 49 o6f 461 56 Tea i lb. 56| 28* 45 22* 58 29 i 51 25* Vinegar, J Gal. . 1 lb. 25 31 21 2f 25 3i 21* 2* 11.88 IO.9O 11.81 IO.33 lb 241 homestead: the households of a mill town but would furnish fresher and better qualities than are ordinarily obtained under the present system by which he is supplied. Committee on Trade and Commerce (Signed) ALBERT J. LOGAN, Chairman, E. A. KITZMILLER, Vice-Chairman, ROBT. GARLAND, WM. CAMPBELL, MARCUS RAUH, W. A. ROBERTS, W. L. HIRSCH. 242 APPENDIX X RATINGS ON MEN EMPLOYED IN IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY, BY PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COM- PANY OF AMERICA [Excerpts from Current Rate Book] 28. Ratings on Account of Occupation have been divided into three general classes, and a separate set of premium rates is provided for each class. The special rating provides for that class whose occupation makes it neces- sary to charge a slightly higher rate than the regular ordinary rate. The intermediate rating is the regular Intermediate rate on pages 95 to 97, and covers that class where the occupation is attended by some hazard. The hazardous rating is higher than the Intermediate rate, and covers all the extra hazardous risks. Age 55 nearest birthday is the highest age for which these rates are quoted. The special and hazardous tables are found on pages 148 and 149. Applications for $500 where the occupation is rated will be issued onl> at Intermediate rates. Applicants belonging in the hazardous class must apply for $ 1 ,000 or more. Where the rating is " Intermediate only," I500 policies, or multiples thereof up to $1,500, will only be issued. The regular rate charged to all applicants at any given age is the basis, to which an addition is made of an average of 13.20 per $ 1 ,000 of insurance for Special rating, $6.39 for Intermediate, and $13.23 for Hazardous rating, in the case of whole life policies. By reference to the following illustration you will be able to determine what the charge would be for any group at the ages stated: Whole Life P olicy — $1,000 Insurance Age Regular Rate Special Rate Intermediate Rate Hazardous Rate 20 30 40 50 $14.96 19.08 26.09 . 38.83 $16.24 2!. 34 29.90 44-79 $17-52 23.60 3370 5°-74 $25.36 31.63 40.10 54.50 Iron and Steel Industry. Superintendents and Foremen in all departments not exposed to extreme heat — No rating. Blast Furnace Employes — Hazardous. Puddlers and Cupola Tenders — Ha{ardous. Heaters and Melters — Intermediate. Rollers and Roll Tenders not exposed to considerable heat — Special. Bessemer Converting Department, except Blowers — Hazardous. Blowers, Bessemer Department — Special. Open Hearth Furnaces — Hazardous. Charging Machine Operators — Intermediate. Crucible Steel Manufacture — Hazardous. 243 homestead: the households of a mill town Tube Mill Employes — Intermediate. Crane and Hoist Men, outdoor — Special. Crane and Hoist Men, indoor — Intermediate. Gas Producers — Intermediate. Ladle Men — Intermediate. Lever Men, not exposed to heat — Special. Lever Men, exposed to considerable heat — Intermediate. Shear Men, not exposed to heat — Special. Shear Men, exposed to considerable heat — Intermediate. Molders, pit and floor — Intermediate. Molders, bench — No rating. All other employees exposed to considerable heat — Hazardous. All other employees exposed to moderate heat — Intermediate. All other employees not exposed to heat — Special. 244 APPENDIX XI CARNEGIE RELIEF FUND Extract from Letter of Mr. Andrew Carnegie Relative to Relief Fund. New York, N. Y., March 12, 1901. To the President and Board of Directors, The Carnegie Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. Gentlemen: — Mr. Robert A. Franks, my cashier, will hand over to you, upon your acceptance of the trust, Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000) of The Car- negie Company bonds, in trust for the following purposes: The income of the Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000) is to be applied: 1 st. To provide for employees of The Carnegie Company, in all its works, mines, railways, shops, etc., injured in its service, and for those dependent upon such employees as are killed. 2nd. To provide small pensions or aids to such employees as after long and creditable service, through exceptional circumstances, need such help in their old age, and who make a good use of it. 3rd. This fund is not intended to be used as a substitute for what the Com- pany has been in the habit of doing in such cases — far from it — it is intended to go still further and give to the injured or their families, or to employees who are needy in old age, through no fault of their own, some provision against want as long as needed, or until young children can become self-supporting. 4th. A report is to be made at the end of each year, giving an account of the fund and its distribution, and published in two papers in Pittsburgh, and copies posted freely at the several works, that every employee may know what is being done. Publicity in this matter will, I am sure, have a beneficial effect. 5th. I make this first use of surplus wealth upon retiring from business as an acknowledgement of the deep debt which 1 owe to the workmen who have con- tributed so greatly to my success. (Signed) ANDREW CARNEGIE. Note. — On April 1st, 1903, The Carnegie Company was succeeded by Car- negie Steel Company. ACCEPTANCE OF TRUST Extract from minutes of meeting of the Board of Directors of The Carnegie Company held at the offices of this Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 20th, 1901. "Whereas, Mr. Andrew Carnegie has generously offered to this Company Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000) in bonds of The Carnegie Company, to be held in trust and the income therefrom applied to the purposes set forth in his letter of March 12th, 1901, provided this Company accept the trust; therefore. 245 homestead: the households of a mill town "Resolved, That the Board of Directors of The Carnegie Company hereby accepts the trust, so tendered by Mr. Carnegie, and agrees to hold said bonds in trust, and to apply the income therefrom to the purposes and in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in his letter of March 12th, 1901 : •'Resolved, Further, That the Secretary is directed to communicate this ac- tion of the Board to Mr. Carnegie, accompanied with a copy of these resolutions, expressing our deep appreciation for his munificent gift for the welfare of the em- ployees of this Company, and reciprocating the kindly expressions of his personal interest in those with whom he has been so long associated, though no words can adequately express our feelings of love, loyalty, admiration, and inspiration, which have been so much a part of our service for him." GENERAL NOTICE Mr. Andrew Carnegie having munificently tendered to the Board of Direc- tors of The Carnegie Company, Four Million Dollars (§4,000,000), the income there- from to be applied, as set forth in his letter of March 12th, 1901, in the establish- ment of a Relief Fund, and the trust having been accepted by the said Board of Directors, as recited in the foregoing paragraphs, the "Andrew Carnegie Relief Fund" was created for the purpose of carrying out the intent of Mr. Carnegie's benefaction, and became effective January 1st, 1902. On January 1st, 1905, the name of the Fund was changed to Carnegie Relief Fund. Employees of Carnegie Steel Company and its constituent Companies, as given below, will participate in this Fund in accordance with the prescribed Regula- tions: Carnegie Steel Company. Carnegie Natural Gas Company. Pittsburgh Limestone Company, Limited. H. C. Frick Coke Company. Oliver Iron Mining Company. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Company. Union Railroad Company. Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock Company. Union Supply Company. Mingo Coal Company. National Mining Company. NOTICE On May 14th, 1906, (after the printing of this edition of the Regulations), a body known as the " Board of Trustees of Carnegie Relief and Library Fund," ap- pointed by the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, succeeded the Board of Directors of Carnegie Steel Company as trustees of the Carnegie Relief Fund. The Board of Trustees of Carnegie Relief and Library Fund adopted, by resolution, the Regulations governing the Carnegie Relief Fund as they had been adopted by the Board of Directors of Carnegie Steel Company and as they appear in the following pages, and appointed the same persons to be members of the Advisory Board as named on the opposite page. Wherever in these Regulations, therefore, the terms " President of Carnegie Steel Company" and "Board of Directors of Carnegie Steel Company" appear, they will be understood to mean " President of Board of Trustees of Carnegie Relief and Library Fund" and " Board of Trustees of Carnegie Relief and Library Fund," respectively. 246 APPENDIX XI DATA AS TO BENEFICIARIES OF CARNEGIE RELIEF FUND AMONG EMPLOYEES OF HOMESTEAD WORKS (a) Total payments on account of the deaths of em- ployee's of Homestead Works from January i, 1902, to December 31, 1900, inclusive .... $74,230.00 Total death benefit payments to beneficiaries residing in Europe, and in the United States in places other than Homestead 24,700.00 Total death benefit payments to beneficiaries residing in Homestead $49,530.00 (b) Total death benefit payments in 1907 paid to account of Homestead Works $11,398.00 Total death benefit payments in 1907 to beneficiaries residing outside of Homestead .... 5,000.00 Total death benefit payments to beneficiaries residing in Homestead $6,398.00 (c) New cases of accidental injuries at Homestead Works reported in 1907 3 (d) Accident benefits paid to account of 3 cases reported in 1907 $623.00 (e) Number of families in Homestead to whom Accident Benefits were paid in 1907 6 amount $2,218.95 Number of families outside Homestead to whom Acci- dent Benefits were paid in 1907 . . . . 1 365.00 $2,583.95 Number of families in Homestead to whom Death Benefits were paid in 1907 30 $6,398.00 Number of families outside Homestead to whom Death Benefits were paid in 1907 ... 8 5,000.00 $1 1,398.00 Number of families in Homestead to whom Pension Allowances were paid in 1907 . . . .21 $2,286.10 Number of families outside Homestead to whom Pen- sion Allowances were paid in 1907 ... 15 2,470.10 Total Accident Benefits paid to account of Homestead Works .... $79-759-91 Total Death Benefits paid to account of Homestead Works .... 74,230.00 Total Pension Allowances paid to account of Homestead Works . . . 30,540.75 $184,530.66 247 $4,756.20 homestead: the households of a mill town PENSIONERS, CARNEGIE RELIEF FUND, HOMESTEAD, 1907 Case Num- ber J^orib Last Occupation Age Retir men z2 Length t- 0/ 2 Service Average Earnings $40.50 Monthly Allow- ance i Homestead Works Janitor Laborer 75 y e irs 23 years I9.30 2 64 ' •5 " 37-75 5.65 3 " 72 ' 19 ' 37-3° 7.10 4 60 ' 20 82 10.90 5 Sta. Engr. 60 ' 2 3 15.25 6 Laborer 64 ' 18 " 46.28 8.35 7 " 61 ' 18 " 40.80 7-35 8 " 69 ' 21 38.35 8.05 9 " 69 ' 20 ' 38.07 7.60 IO " 63 ' 24 " 62.69 15.05 ii Clerk 70 ' 18 " 73.60 13.25 12 1st Pitman 5' ' 21 " 70.22 '4-75 13 Heater 61 ' •7 71.86 12.20 '4 Blacksmith 5 2 ' 21 8.72 17.15 15 Toolman 63 17 71.00 12.00 l6 Laborer 57 ' 21 34.58 7-25 '7 66 ' 26 " 60.50 '5-75 .8 " 66 22 " 40.00 8.80 19 " 70 21 41.08 8.65 20 63 27 ' 36.42 9.85 21 Duquesne Works Blacksmith 61 25 72.07 18.00 248 APPENDIX XII ACCIDENT RELIEF PLAN OF THE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION* MAY 1, 1910 THE United States Steel Corporation has announced a plan for relief of men injured and the families of men killed in work accidents. The plan is a distinct advance over any existing system of relief carried out under any of the constituent companies; it puts all the employes of the biggest payroll in America — 225,000 men — on the same footing, and it establishes a system which can be adjusted to the new legislation that will probably be enacted in the next ten years in the different states in which the corporation operates. In more ways than one, then, the new plan, which will go into effect May 1 for an experimental year, is a step in advance. The exact provisions are published below. While some of them do not measure up to the proposals made by the various state commissions which have been considering the subject, many of them are a radical departure from contemporary practice, and as a voluntary act show both foresight and liberality. The plan disregards the idea of negligence entirely and may be said to recog- nize that a share of the income loss due to work-accidents should be a charge on the industry; it covers hazardous and non-danger- ous employments alike; it puts the entire cost of the plan on the business without any contribution whatsoever from the men. No relief will be paid if suit is brought. It naturally requires a release from legal liability upon payment of the relief, but it avoids the involved and questionable relationships created by such relief associations as, for instance, the Pennsylvania Railroad Relief Department, to which, like a mutual insurance association, the * Reprinted from The Survey, April 23, 1910. 249 homestead: the households of a mill town employes pay dues, and from which they can receive no benefits from their dues until they sign a paper releasing the company from any legal liability. The Steel Corporation makes a point in its announcement that the payments it proposes are "for relief and not as compensa- tion." "There can be no real compensation for permanent in- juries, and the notion of compensation is necessarily based on legal liability, which is entirely disregarded in this plan as all men are to receive the relief, even though there be no legal liability to pay them anything. . . ." In line with this position, there are no death benefits for single men and extremely low disability benefits for them. Large numbers of immigrant laborers fall in this class. Moreover, in death cases the wording of paragraph 24 specifies that relief will be granted "married men living with their families." This would exclude the non-resident families of aliens unless the manager of the relief sees fit to exercise his discretionary power in their favor. But it is understood that wide latitude has been left the company managers in cases where single men have old people or others demonstrably dependent upon them. The death benefit for a married man is eighteen months' wages, and this is increased ten per cent for every child under sixteen; an adjustment of relief to need which is noteworthy. The plan in- cludes medical and hospital treatment. It is a statement of a consistent policy which will give the man who goes to his work in the morning a fair knowledge as to what will happen in case he is killed. Much of the ill name of claim departments in all in- dustries in years past has been due to the incentive to claim agents to "make a good showing" by keeping down awards. Here definite standards are set. The most serious question raised by a first reading of the prospectus of the plan is as to the sufficiency of the benefits pro- vided. In comparison with the three years' wages, which is the death benefit under the English system, and the four years' wages proposed by the New York State Commission, the Steel Corpora- tion announces eighteen months' wages for a married man in case of death. By a sliding scale this is increased with an in- creased number of children and with length of service in the com- pany. Yet the family of an employe of ten years' standing with 250 APPENDIX XII five children would still get but two and one-half years' wages. If such a man were temporarily disabled, however, he would get eighty-five per cent of his weekly wages as against the flat rate of fifty per cent for all disabled men under the New York bill. The highest injury benefit specified in the Steel Corporation's announce- ment is for the loss of an arm — eighteen months' wages. The highest benefit for permanent disability under the proposed New York state law is half wages for eight years; that under the Eng- lish law is half wages for life. But here again the discretion of the company managers enters in, and in the case of loss of both limbs or other more complete permanent disability, larger amounts would doubtless be paid. At several important points, therefore, the plan is flexible and results will be dependent upon the spirit in which the company managers carry out its provisions. It would be impossible to forecast these practical workings of the plan until after it has had at least the year's trial and until detailed statements are available as to the nature of injuries and actual benefits paid. The minimum provisions for death in the case of married men are in themselves higher than were the average bene- fits paid by any large employer in the steel district the year of the Pittsburgh Survey. Nor is it likely that the Steel Corporation will know either the cost of the new policy or its acceptability to its employes earlier than after such a probationary year. The Corporation has been able in the past to settle most cases out of court, yet the new plan may effect economies in gathering legal evidence, etc. Such a large plan of relief would scarcely have been attempted were it not for the energetic measures to lessen accidents which have been carried out in the plants of the constituent companies during the last two years. From the managers' standpoint, the plan has merit in its probable attraction to the men — a considerable point in keeping intact a non-union working force. From the public standpoint it is widely significant that the operating corporation, which has probably the largest accident experience in America upon which to base its plan, and which has spent a million dollars a year on accident payments in the past, should adopt a plan which it describes as "similar in principle to the German and other foreign laws and to recommendations which have been made by employers' 251 homestead: the households of a mill town liability commissions in New York and other states since our work upon this plan was begun (December, 1908)." The plan was put into operation tentatively by the National Tube Company last December. A further plan for the payment of pensions to disabled and superannuated employes is under con- sideration. Following is the plan in full: ACCIDENT RELIEF 1. This plan of relief is a purely voluntary provision made by the company for the benefit of employes injured and the families of employes killed in the service of the company and constitutes no contract and confers no right of action. The entire amount of money required to carry out the plan will be provided by the com- pany with no contribution whatsoever from the employes. 2. Where the word "manager" appears in this plan of relief it means that official of the company who has charge of this relief for his company. 3. The decision of the manager of this relief shall be final with respect to all questions arising under this plan of relief, and he shall have full discretionary power in paying relief to meet any conditions which may arise and may not be covered by this statement. 4. The privilege of this relief will take effect as soon as an employe enters the service of the company, will continue so long as the plan remains in operation dur- ing such service, and will terminate when he leaves the service. 5. Payment of this relief will be made only for disablement which has been caused solely by accidents to employes during and in direct and proper connection with the performance of duties to which the employes are assigned in the service of the company, or which they are directed to perform by proper authority, or from accidents which occur in voluntarily protecting the company's property or interests. Relief will not be paid unless investigation of the causes and circumstances of the injury show that it was accidentally inflicted and that it renders the employe un- able to perform his duties in the service of the company or in any other occupation. 6. No relief will be paid for the first ten days of disablement nor for a period longer than fifty-two weeks. 7. No employe will be entitled to receive relief except for the time during which the surgeon certifies that he is unable to follow his usual or any other occupa- tion. 8. Employes will not be entitled to receive disablement relief for any time for which wages are paid them. 9. The company will provide treatment by surgeons and hospitals of its selection. 10. The company will furnish artificial limbs and trusses in cases where these are needed. 11. All men injured in the service of the company must obey the surgeon's instructions in reporting for examination, using the remedies and following the 252 APPENDIX XII treatment prescribed, and going to the hospital if directed. No relief will be paid unless these instructions are obeyed. All employes who are disabled but not con- fined to the house must report in person at the surgeon's office, from time to time, as reasonably requested, and must keep any other appointments made by the surgeon. 12. All employes who wish, while disabled, to go away from their usual place of residence, must first arrange with their employing officer and with the surgeon in charge as to the absence and the evidence of continued disablement to be furnished. Such employes must report as often and in such manner as may be required of them. 13. No relief will be paid to any employe or his family if suit is brought against the company. In no case whatsoever will the company deal with an at- torney or with anyone except the injured man or some member of his family in the matter of relief to be paid under this plan, because it is part of the plan that the whole amount paid shall be received by the employe and his family. 14. No relief will be paid for injuries caused or contributed to by the in- toxication of the employe injured or his use of stimulants or narcotics or his taking part in any illegal or immoral acts. 15. All employes of the company who accept and receive any of this relief will be required to sign a release to the company. TEMPORARY DISABLEMENT 16. Under the terms and conditions stated here, employes shall be entitled to the following temporary disablement relief (but no relief will be paid for the first ten days nor for longer than fifty-two weeks, as stated in paragraph six) : Single Men: Single men who have been five years or less in the service of the company shall receive thirty-five per cent of the daily wages they were receiving at the time of the accident. Single men of more than five years' service shall re- ceive an additional two per cent for each year of service over five years. But in no case shall single men receive more than $1.50 per day. Married Men: Married men living with their families who have been in the service of the company five years or less shall receive fifty per cent of the daily wages they were receiving at the time of the accident. For each additional year of service above five years two per cent shall be added to the relief. For each child under sixteen years five per cent shall be added to the relief. But in no case shall this relief exceed two dollars per day for married men. PERMANENT DISABLEMENT 17. The amount of relief which will be paid to employes who have sustained some permanent disablement, such as the loss of an arm or leg, will depend upon the extent to which such disablement renders it difficult for them to obtain employ- ment. The kinds of disablement that may occur and the extent to which each interferes with employment differ so greatly that it is impossible to provide any adequate schedule of relief which will be paid in all cases of permanent disablement. The amounts which will be paid in cases not specifically mentioned here must of 253 homestead: the households of a mill town necessity be left to the discretion of the manager; but it is the intention of the company that this discretion shall be so exercised in all cases as to afford substantial relief corresponding as far as possible with the amounts stated below, considering the special circumstances of each case and the character and extent of the injury. (a) For the loss of a hand, twelve months' wages. (b) For the loss of arm, eighteen months' wages. (c) For the loss of a foot, nine months' wages. (d) For the loss of a leg, twelve months' wages. (e) For the loss of one eye, six months' wages. DEATH 1 8. Relief for the families of employes killed in accidents which happen in the work of the company will be paid only where the death of the employe is shown to have resulted from an accident (or sunstroke or heat exhaustion) in the work of the company during and in direct and proper connection with the performance of duties to which the employe had been assigned in the service of the company or which he had been directed to perform by proper authority, or from accidents which occur in voluntarily protecting the company's property or interests. iq. Death relief will be paid as soon as possible after the required proof of cause of death is obtained and a satisfactory release given. 20. The company will pay reasonable funeral expenses, not to exceed $100. 21. No relief will be paid for death caused or contributed to by the intoxi- cation of the employe killed or his use of stimulants or narcotics or his taking part in any illegal or immoral acts. 22. No relief will be paid to the family of any employe if suit is brought against the company. 23. In no case will this relief be paid until the receipt by the company of a satisfactory release properly executed. 24. Under the terms and conditions stated here, the widows and children of the employes killed in accidents which happen in the work of the company shall be entitled to the following death relief: In the case of married men living with their families, who have been in the service of the company five (5) years or less and leave widows or children under six- teen (16) years of age, the company will pay relief to an amount equal to eighteen months' wages of the deceased employe. For each additional year of service above five years, three per cent shall be added to this relief. For each child under sixteen (16) years, ten per cent shall be added to this relief. But in no case shall this death relief exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000.00). 26. This plan of relief will be in operation for only one year from May 1, iqio. If the plan meets with success, it is hoped that some similar plan may be put in operation for succeeding years. 254 APPENDIX XIII THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY, HOMESTEAD By W. F. STEVENS, Librarian THE Carnegie Library of Homestead was founded and en- dowed by Andrew Carnegie in 1898. The steel mills that contributed most toward Mr. Carnegie's experience and success as an iron-master were located at Homestead, Braddock and Duquesne, Pennsylvania. To show his good will toward the people who had worked with him during the more aggressive period of his career as a manufacturer, he conceived the idea of giving them an institution that would contribute toward the essential needs of all the people all the time. The composite nature of the mill town libraries is well outlined in Mr. Carnegie's dedicatory address as quoted in the following form in the Homestead Library reports: THE PURPOSE The three natures in the make-up of every human being that must be de- veloped in order that the Divine purpose may be realized, are the mental, moral and physical. In founding this institution Mr. Carnegie discerned these necessities and provided a building and funds to accomplish this end. THE LIBRARY "The library filled with the most precious legacy the past can bequeath to the present — a collection of good books." To educate the people of this community by — Supplying readable literature to the masses of the people. Making provision for the student. Encouraging societies formed for self culture. Supplementing the work of the public schools. 2 55 homestead: the households of a mill town "How a man spends his time at work may be taken for granted, but how he spends his hours of recreation is really the key of his progress in all the virtues." To provide a place where one may occupy his time — In systematic physical development. In amateur athletics. In healthful games and profitable intercourse. EDUCATIONAL "Here you will have your educational classes. In music you have a great field." To conduct classes Where students may be directed in their studies by competent instructors. MUSIC HALL "Here you will have your entertainments and meetings for educational and philanthropic purposes." To contribute toward the ethical and moral spirit of the community by providing a meeting place for — Free musicales and entertainments. A suitable hall for public gatherings. "The best return to the giver is to make a proper and steady use of all which is sought here to place within their reach." Mr. Carnegie's first library gift was to Braddock, Pennsyl- vania, in 1889. The library at Duquesne was opened in 1904. These three libraries were endowed by the founder with one million dollars, which produces an income of fifty thousand dollars an- nually. The preference in the distribution of this income is based upon the age of the respective institutions. The care of this fund is in the hands of a board of trustees composed of officials of the Carnegie Steel Company. The disposition of the income is by the separate boards of directors of the three different libraries. These boards are selected mostly from the officials and employes in the mills. The board of directors of the Homestead library is com- posed of Azor R. Hunt, general superintendent of the Homestead Steel Works, Allan A. Corey, assistant general superintendent, 256 APPENDIX XIII Ralph W. Watson, second assistant general superintendent, Isaac L. Irwin, chief clerk of the Homestead Steel Works, John Bell, metallurgist, Thomas R. Davies, superintendent of re-heating furnaces, Rev. John J. Bullion, pastor St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and Rev. Nathan D. Hynson, pastor First Presbyterian Church. The old catechetical idea that the chief end of man was to "glorify God and to enjoy Him forever" is not at variance with the idea that the purpose of life is to enjoy all that is good and beautiful. To accomplish this great end we are given intellects to guide us, bodies to execute the will of the mind, and a moral nature to guard both. To develop these three functions is the purpose of educational institutions, religious organizations, the exercise of daily life, and the directed physical culture of athletic associations and physical development. The founder of this in- stitution did not aim to duplicate the work of the organizations that have this same motive, but to supplement them. How well our own library has contributed toward the general good of the community may be seen from these figures relating to its usefulness for 1909: In the library the circulation of books was 245,800. This is equivalent to circulating the total of 37,000 volumes in the library 8.5 times, or 10 books for every man, woman and child in this com- munity, or 2 1 volumes for every reader. Of this circulation 77, 500 was at the adult desk; 51,600 at the juvenile desk; 1 16,600 in the schools, 90,000 of which is supplementary reading; the remaining 26,600 at stations located in the schools throughout the township. The total attendance was 133,700. The athletic department reports an average membership of 1,170 per month or 3,705 different members for the year. This, in all probability, places the Homestead Carnegie Library Club in the lead among organizations of its kind in western Pennsylvania. The total attendance was 97,750. The gymnasium shows an attendance of 21,000 by 1,043 members in classes. Basket ball holds its own with 30 teams with a membership of 270. There are at least ten teams not belonging to the club, making a total of 40 teams credited to this community. While basket ball seems very prominent, it is conducted as a secondary exercise. The classes 17 257 homestead: the households of a mill town that occupy first place are those for men, women, misses, girls, boys, with special classes for working boys. There are also special classes in wrestling, fencing and boxing, and many hours each week are given to individual work. Seventy-three physical examina- tions were given. The man, girl and boy that shows the best physical progress is given a valuable prize. Prizes were given in different branches of athletics amounting in value to over $250. There were 1,838 games bowled in the alleys. Eight teams con- tested in the league games. The natatorium includes a swimming pool with a capacity of 100,000 gallons, 20 bath tubs and 8 showers. Swimming classes are conducted for boys, girls and women. Out of a membership of 864 boys, fully 700 have been taught to swim. If the old adage that "cleanlinesss is next to godliness" be true, then it must be admitted that the natatorium does a righteous business. The total number of baths was 69,570. This is 19 baths for each mem- ber for the year or one bath every three weeks; so there is still room for improvement. In the billiard and pool room 60,000 games were played at no extra expense to the members. The music hall was used more than ever before in a single year, the total attendance being 31,600. The several musical organizations give free concerts from time to time. We are taught to believe that Heaven is full of music; then, who can estimate the good coming from these numerous concerts that have lifted many for the time being above the cares and sorrows of this mundane sphere. Besides the concerts by the several musical organizations, the library organist gives free recitals that are well attended. The music hall is used also for the high school commencements and plays, memorials, minstrel shows by local organizations, dramas, and lecture course. A course of lectures was given after the manner of the university extension lectures by professors from the Carnegie Technical Schools. There were thirteen lectures with an attendance of 900. The use of the hall is granted free to all religious, patriotic, literary and musical events at which no admission is charged. Other affairs pay a nominal rate of $15 to $25, including the use of the organ, piano and the services of the ushers. 258 Balcony axd Entrance, Carxegie Library, Homestead APPENDIX XIII The value of the library in meeting the needs of the people is no better shown than in the educational department. Knowledge is of two kinds, the kind you know and the kind you know where to find. The teacher's duty is to lead the scholar in search of the former, and the librarian's office to conduct the reader in search of the latter. The ultimate aim is the same; hence the work of the teacher and librarian go hand in hand. If it is proper for the library to furnish books for the people, it is right that they should be good books. If the library has the right to control the character of the reading, it has a right to direct the reader to the desired information which supplements the work of the teacher. The educational department is but the outgrowth of this idea. As the work in this instance must necessarily be limited, it is confined largely to studies of practical use to the students in their daily work. In what are designated as scientific and literary classes, dur- ing this season there were 187 students. The attendance was 2,887. There were in all 55 students enrolled in the mechanical drawing class. The attendance was 1,136. Eighteen of these pupils attended 75 per cent of the possible sessions. In the com- mon branch class, where grammar, arithmetic, spelling and history were taught, the enrollment was 54 and the attendance 790. In the higher branch class, where trigonometry, geometry, algebra, physics, higher arithmetic, and beginning Latin were taught, the enrollment was 23 and attendance 293. The metallurgy class consisted of ten lectures by steel works officials. The class for foreigners had an enrollment of 24, and an attendance of 386. Twenty-one students were enrolled in the penmanship class, which had an attendance of 230. The interest in the musical department is equally gratifying. The band has a membership of 35 with an attendance for the year of 1,500. Free concerts were given in the Music Hall with an attendance of 2,100. Many more concerts were given in the band stand in the park in front of the library to audiences of equal size. The Junior Orchestra has had during the winter an enrollment of 31 and an attendance of 673. This orchestra has given free con- certs with an attendance of 1,750. The Symphony Orchestra composed of 25 members did excellent advance work and con- 259 homestead: the households of a mill town tributed its share toward entertaining the public. The Children's Chorus with a membership of 125 and an attendance of 1,300 closes its season with a grand concert. The Mandolin and Guitar Club with 25 members is credited with its share of success. The Male Chorus, which is composed of 30 members, is an attraction at home and has won honors abroad at the national eisteddfods. The total enrollment in all classes was 388, with an attendance of 6,437. The total attendance in the four departments of the library was 274,300, an average gain of 17.5 per cent. USE OF THE LIBRARY BY FOREIGNERS Homestead has a population of 25,000, forty per cent of which may be classified as foreign. The foreigners are attracted to this community by the Homestead steel works, which employ 10,000 men, one-half of whom are foreign born. The Carnegie Library aims to benefit this population, intellectually, physically, and morally. For this purpose the privileges of library, night school, athletic club, and music hall are granted to all classes of people alike; hence, it may be said that no special work is con- ducted in the interest of the foreigners. This class of citizens is, however, reached in more ways than one. In the library a collection of Lithuanian books is provided for the Lithuanians, the male portion of whom compose a large part of the laboring class in the mills. This collection was loaned to a society of the Lithuanian church and was conducted as a station for some time and with some degree of success. A collection of books by Catholic authors is very well used. It is, however, difficult to determine what percentage of the read- ers might be classed as foreigners. A catalogue of this collection was distributed in the parochial schools. Other collections in French, German, and Italian are used freely. The assistant librarian speaks these languages and is instrumental in creating and main- taining interest in the books. A station is conducted by a mission in the "foreign" ward. This collection is composed largely of well-worn books that are not expected to be returned. It can hardly be expected that the library will have a marked 260 APPENDIX XIII influence on the "grown ups" among the foreigners, but the in- fluence over the children is most gratifying. In certain cases where the families were visited it was ascertained that the fathers and mothers listened eagerly to their children as they read aloud from the library books. This fact is interesting and becomes a hopeful sign when it is known that these children read mostly fairy tales, religious books, such as the life of Christ in one syllable, and United States history. It is safe to say that the reading of fiction by foreign children is less than the average. In the night school classes are conducted for the foreigners where they may learn English and the common branches. The talent in this class is so varied that most of the instruction has to be individual. One of the students is forty years of age and when he began did not know his a b c's. In three months he could read as well as a second grade pupil in the public schools. By the side of the forty-year-old pupil sat an orphan boy ten years old who was adopted by a poor widow. The boy delivered milk during the day and attended night school two nights each week. Some of the students come year after year; others drop out in a few weeks. This is the experience with one-half of the night school students. Two years ago the class for foreigners was com- posed almost entirely of Transylvanians. In their own language they were well educated, and they came to the library for the Eng- lish only. However contradictory it may seem, our best teachers for foreigners speak only the English language. In the public and parochial schools, the library is able to benefit the foreigners by furnishing supplementary reading. In the second ward, the primary room may begin the term with fifty pupils, not half a dozen of whom can speak English. By the time these pupils are in the second grade they are reading library books at least two days each week. They are taught that it is a privi- lege to use the library books. The theory is that the text-book is of use in teaching the mechanics of reading; that is, in teaching how to read. The supplementary reading is encouraged because it is interesting first, and instructive second. It is usually much easier reading than the text-book; hence, is read without the usual effort in pronunciation. It frequently happens that a pupil will tell his brothers or sisters about the library book he is reading in 261 homestead: the households of a mill town school, and the brother or sister forthwith goes to the library for the book. When a set of books is ordered for the schools, extra copies of the same books are ordered for the children's room. Small libraries of about 25 volumes each are loaned to the princi- pals in the several wards and 300 to the high school. Small libraries of 200 volumes each, as well as supplementary reading sets, are furnished the village and country schools throughout the township. The books sent to the country schools in the mining districts are those discarded by the library, and this is their final mission. Out of a total circulation of 246,000 last year, 75,000 are credited to foreign readers, which indicates that about one-third of the foreigners use the library books. The male foreigners re- ceive further benefits from the athletic department, where they pay one dollar for three months for the use of the billiard room, game room, gymnasium, swimming pool, and bowling alleys. Out of a membership of 3,700 last year, 1,200 were foreigners, mostly Slavs. What seems to be a most hopeful indication is that these men and boys make the most use of the baths. Out of 70,000 baths taken last year, fully 23,000 were taken by foreigners at a cost of three and one-half cents per bath. The city furnishes the water — cheerfully. Out of a total attendance of 32,000 in the Music Hall, at least 5,000 may be credited to the foreigners who come to enjoy the free organ recitals, band and orchestra concerts, and choruses. Two of the plays given by local talent were by foreigners. The children's librarian told stories to the school children to an at- tendance aggregating 6,000. The library conducted at the chil- dren's playground has its share of influence upon the foreign children. Out of a total attendance of 275,000 in all depart- ments connected with the library, it is probable that 90,000 were foreigners. TECHNOLOGICAL USE OF THE HOMESTEAD LIBRARY The technology department is composed of approximately 3,000 volumes. The use during the past year amounted to 7,500. The use of periodicals would make this, in all, 10,000. This use- fulness has been encouraged by the semi-annual bulletin in which 262 APPENDIX XIII is printed a list of books on special subjects. The mill books come in for their share of publicity. Quantities of these bulletins are sent to the numerous offices through the mills as well as to the general offices. Several years past an annotated list of "mill books for mill men" was issued with marked success as to its results. The local paper prints freely any lists that are furnished by the library. The most satisfactory selection is made by the readers who come to the library and select books for themselves. The open shelves make it convenient for the reader to find a book that is "just as good" when he fails to find the one he wants. A well-known author said he did not care what the critics said about his books, but he did care what the people said to each other. The same principle is true in the use of technical books. When Campbell's Iron and Steel was reissued a few years ago it became necessary for us to add fifteen copies, and that did not fully satisfy the demand. This occurred not because of any special effort on the part of the library but because of personal testimony of the readers themselves. In the case of employes of the Mesta Machine Company, the books are taken to the men by conducting a small library of 200 volumes in their reading room. Many of these books are on the subjects of iron, steel, founding and machinery. This like all other stations is renewed upon request. The collection at the C. M. Schwab Industrial School is composed of 200 volumes on mechanical drawing, carpentry, blacksmithing and domestic economy, and shows an annual use of nearly 1,000. Out of 27 study and literary clubs, only one gave all its time to the study of mill subjects. It was composed of 1 5 young men and known as the Iron and Steel Club. The Superintendents' Club is not classed as a literary club, but it is a fact that most of the discussions are on iron and steel subjects, which because of their current nature require a marked amount of periodical reading of a technical character. The educational department enrolled last year 388 students, 187 of whom were in scientific classes. During the past five years there have been not less than 325 men in this department who were studying technical subjects and reading technical books on such 263 HOiMESTEAD! THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN subjects as physics, chemistry, metallurgy and mechanical draw- ing. During the same period a single correspondence school claims 900 students in this community. If this be true, there are in Homestead probably not less than 1,500 users of technical books. This is equal to one-half of the technical employes in the mills. The athletic department has no doubt the effect of attract- ing men to the books in the library. The Music Hall with an attendance of 31,000 likewise brings people to the library. The extent to which these two departments influence the use of techni- cal literature is not known. The close proximity of the libraries in the Monongahela Valley to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh makes it futile to build up large collections in technical literature. When the case is important, the readers in Homestead are almost invariably re- ferred to this library for literature that is final on the subject. STUDY AND LITERARY CLUBS The first club in Homestead was the Woman's Club, which was organized in 1897. This club includes thirty-five members. The subjects from year to year have been broad and comprehen- sive. For the past few years, Shakespeare, Norway and Sweden, Egypt, Famous Women, together with various modern topics, have been the objects of discussion. For two years the children's playground work was conducted and sustained by this club. The Outlook Club is composed of business and professional men. The subjects discussed are miscellaneous in their character. Some of the subjects for the past year were: "Gain as an incentive to progress," "Everyday psychology," "Justice in taxation," "The function of government," "Poe's place in literature," "If I had a million dollars," "The Panama Canal," "The Jewish Nation," "Child Labor," "Robert Burns," and "The spirit of speculation." The Outlook Club, like most of these clubs, is en- tertained by its members. The lunch is usually composed of three items, but the topics for this social period are without number. The membership is limited to 15. The Thursday Night Study Club was organized in 1902 and is composed of 25 teachers. In the beginning the membership was 264 APPENDIX XIII limited to 15, but the demand for admittance was so great that the membership was increased to 25. For six successive years this club has studied Shakespeare. The Prytaneum Club is composed of the wives of business and professional men. The programs have included "Italy," "American topics," "Ancient History" and miscellaneous topics. This club has 1 5 members. The Principals' Association is composed of the principals of the several ward schools and the teachers in art, music, domestic economy, commercial and manual training. The topics used in this association are, for the most part, literary and pedagogical. The Teachers' Association is similar in its character. Its mem- bership consists of the grade teachers and their papers are on subjects relating to their profession. Speakers of national reputa- tion are invited to address these two associations when they hold joint sessions. The Platonian Literary Society with 70 members is virtually the Munhall high school. The value of the literary society cannot be overestimated. The majority of the members in study clubs were at some time identified with a school literary society. The Munhall Teachers' Study Club consists of the teachers in the school of the borough of Munhall. The topics discussed are literary and pedagogical. The Monongahela Valley Library Association is composed of the librarians in Braddock, Homestead, Duquesne, and McKeesport. The programs are mostly professional and literary. Five out of a membership of 25 live in Homestead. The Thebian is a literary society conducted at Lincoln Place, about three miles from Homestead. The Excelsior Class is a Sunday-school class that devotes certain evenings to literary work. This plan not only benefits the members intellectually but helps to solve the problem of retaining the Sunday-school membership of young people from thirteen to eighteen years of age. Although the Thebians are in Lincoln Place and the Ex- celsiors in Munhall, the distance does not prevent them from locking horns in debate. The West Homestead Teachers' Club studies the reading designated by the county superintendent. The programs are interspersed with current event topics. In four of the Homestead ward schools literary societies are conducted in the seventh and eighth grades. 265 homestead: the households of a mill town Two organizations that are closely allied to the study clubs are the Men's Association of the First Presbyterian Church with ioo members and the Wesleyan Brotherhood of the First M. E. Church with 50 members. The literary work of these organiza- tions is conducted on the lecture plan, and consists of addresses on historical, literary and religious subjects. The Homeville Literary Society has a membership of 50. The Philakalon is the name of the society of young ladies in the Homestead high school. The membership numbers 15. The subjects are current topics and self culture. The Lincoln Place Teachers' Club, with a membership of seven, discusses literary and pedagogical subjects. The Brilliant Circle of Whitaker is com- posed of ladies who discuss current topics. In all there are 22 literary and study clubs with a member- ship of 787. Not all the clubs that have been organized have lived. Some ceased because their purpose had been accomplished ; others disbanded "because" — and that is all the reason a woman needs to give. The Woman's Improvement Club, the Steel Club, the Gwal, the Chautauqua Circle, the Criterion Club, the Ancient History Club, the Atheneum Club and the Audubon Society are in this class. These literary clubs are unified in the United Literary Clubs of Homestead and vicinity. This organization was formed in 1902 for the purposes of (1) interchange of experience, (2) obtain- ing the stimulus derived from the assemblage of a large number of people having the same purpose, (3) stimulating the ethical and literary spirit of the community, (4) forming new clubs. The annual function of this organization has attracted a thousand of the club members and their friends. The best talent that can be secured is obtained for these occasions. The first annual meeting was held in the smallest church in town and now the meetings must be held in the Carnegie Music Hall. The Carnegie Library aims to take a helpful interest in the club spirit of this community. The books that may be of service to any club with a program made out for the year are placed on a shelf in "club corner" where they may be consulted or selected for home use. In the case of the Audubon Society a list of books and magazine articles was printed for free distribution. The 266 APPENDIX XIII A YEAR'S USE, COMPARATIVE STATISTICS FOR 1908 AND 1909 Departments 1908 1909 Gain Loss LIBRARY Inventory Accessions .... Withdrawn .... 33,961 3.753 944 36,942 4,220 1,239 2,981 467 295 Circulation .... 235. 2 47 245,831 10,584 Adult Desk .... Juvenile Desk Schools Stations 77-774 49.575 78,058 29,840 51,665 90,195 26,459 1,090 '2,137 262 3.38i Percentage of Fiction. 53 5' 2 Attendance .... 131,869 133,700 1,821 Adult Juvenile 79. ■ 1 1 52,768 80,500 53.200 1.389 432 Readers 1 1,000 11,500 500 Reading Room Use . 93,000 97.500 4.500 EDUCATION— Attendance Scientific Musical 5,900 2,895 2,561 7,126 2,887 3.55o 1,226 989 8 Number Students . 364 388 24 Study Clubs .... 25 27 2 Membership .... 750 800 5° THE CLUB Membership. Av. Monthly . 994 1,179 .85 Employees .... Non-Employees Bovs Girls Ladies Different Members 374 262 224 55 79 2,732 424 291 285 99 80 3.705 50 29 61 44 1 973 Attendance .... 89,042 97754 8,712 Gymnasium .... Gymnasium Members . Natatorium .... 19,721 950 55.356 21,013 .,043 69,569 1,292 93 14.213 Bowling Games 2,216 .,832 384 MUSIC HALL Events Attendance .... 22 13,370 r 34 31,625 12 .8,255 Attendance — Grand Totals 240,390 274.350 33.96o Percentage of Gain 12.4 '7-5 »■' 267 homestead: the households of a mill town percentage of fiction circulated is 51. Before these clubs were organized the percentage of fiction was 63. While figures are considered conclusive, they do not always tell all the story. The value of the clubs to the individuals, to society, to the public schools, and to the library would make a book if it could be written. To accomplish this general good through organized reading is what the United Literary Clubs aim to do. A CATECHETICAL CONCLUSION What points are most essential in comparing the usefulness of libraries? 1 . Volumes per capita. Because it indicates that the library has or has not enough books. 2. The percentage of readers per population. Because it indicates that the library is or is not covering its field. 3. The per capita circulation. Because it indicates that the readers are or are not making sufficient use of the books. 4. Percentage of fiction read. Because it indicates, in a measure, the quality of reading done. 5. The cost of circulating each volume. Because it indi- cates that the funds are or are not being used economically. How many volumes should our library have? According to the average of ten well-known libraries one volume per capita is sufficient. We have 37,000 volumes and about 30,000 population in that part of Mifflin Township which we supply with books to a greater or less degree. This is 1.2 volumes per capita. How many readers ought our library have? If the average is a criterion we should have 7,510 readers or 25 per cent of our population. The fact is we have 1 1,500 readers or 38 per cent of our population. How well are these readers using the library? Each reader draws on an average of 22 volumes. This is 7 more than the average. Out of 22 volumes drawn by each reader only 51 per cent is fiction. Since the fiction is of the best, it does not count much against the quality of reading. The average percentage of fiction read in libraries is 63. 268 APPENDIX XIII Is it costing us more to get our books read than it does other cities? It costs us 5 cents to get a book read. This is 7 cents less than the average. How does our club compare with other similar organisations? By comparing our club with the average of 450 similar or- ganizations, our operating expenses are $2,400 less; our member- ship is 459 more; our attendance is the same; we have 215 more in the gymnasium; and we have 26 more organized teams. How does our educational work compare with other similar work? By comparing the same as in the athletic club, we have three more teachers, 205 more scholars, and a per capita expense of $3.00 less. The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times considers the annual report of Homestead Carnegie Library of sufficient importance for a very complimentary editorial notice. "Special significance attaches to the eleventh annual report of the Homestead Carnegie library. It is generally believed that an industrial community must be intellectually stagnant, and also that a large admixture of foreign element in the population acts as a drawback upon the so-called 'higher life.' So far as this higher life is made up of bridge whist and new thought, there may be truth in the general belief; but, judging by such indices of social and mental activity as the Homestead library affords, neither the pres- ence of aliens nor preoccupation with material interests interferes with the most gratifying progress. In fact, com- parison with other communities and similar institutions gives rise to the suspicion that these factors promote instead of hamper the 'higher life.' "The Homestead library contains 37,000 volumes and serves a community of about 30,000. Over 77,000 volumes were circulated at the adult desk last year among 11,500 readers. The total circulation in all departments was 246,000, an increase of 1 1 ,000 over the previous year. Most significant of all is the percentage of fiction read, which is only 51, being 14 per cent lower than the average library. The report tells of 27 literary and study clubs in the com- munity with a membership of about 800, while the Carnegie Library club listed 3,705 members in the course of the year. 269 homestead: the households of a mill town It should be understood that the Homestead library is largely institutional, with swimming pools and billiard tables, brass bands, and evening classes to supplement the books upon the shelves. "Librarian Stevens is to be congratulated upon the excellent showing of his 'plant.' But Homestead is even more to be congratulated upon the excellent use made of its opportunities to upset the theory that an industrial com- munity is necessarily unintellectual and materialistic." The library management and the good people of Homestead appreciate the recognition of the advancement the citizens here are making intellectually and trust the wider circulation of the fact will have a good influence on "benighted" industrial com- munities. 270 APPENDIX XIV SLAVIC ORGANIZATIONS IN HOMESTEAD Patriotic Statement by a Slav A CLERKLY Slav, who had lived in Homestead for some years, put down the following in answer to some ques- tions about the fraternal organizations of his own people.* It was his expressed wish to write his answers rather than to "speak them," saying of them: Please excuse me, if I have done in this my letter some gram- matical or linguistical errors. I can work in six languages, but in the English I am working seldom. I have learnt the English language mostly from books, and have had very small opportunity to go deeper into this most beautyfull American language. If I can not write and speak it as Milton or Shakespeare, You must excuse me. It is some- time no good, to take from good to much. And this is true with the knowledge of to much languages. One You are neglecting for the other. But as You see please, I am not neglecting very much the beautyfull language of my adopted American country. His letter, despite its quaint formalism, breathes a spirit toward America which it would be sheer wantonness to mar by attempting to edit out his phrases. It is worth printing here for itself: There are in Homestead following:— not foreign but decid- edly American, non-english, indigenous, public organizations of the Slavic race, respectively of the Slovak nation. i. National Slovak Society In the United States and Can- ada, 37,000 members. Slovak organization. 2. Roman Catholic Slovak Union in the United States and Canada, 36,000 members. Slovak organization. 3. Greek Catholic Union called Sojedinenje, all over the United States and Canada, 22,000 members. Slovak organization. 4. Greek Catholic Union called Sojur, in the United States and Canada, 8,000 members. Russian organization. * For a thoroughly interesting and exhaustive interpretation of organized social life among the Slavs, and their assimilation in this country, the reader is referred to Our Slavic Fellow Citizens by Emily Greene Balch, recently issued by Charities Publication Committee, New York. 271 homestead: the households of a mill town 5. Greek Catholic Union, called Obscestvo, in the United States and Canada, 5,000 members. Russian organization. 6. Roman and Greek Catholic Union of Pennsylvania, in the United States and Canada, 8,000 members. Slovak organiza- tion. 7. Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Union, in the United States and Canada, 6,000 members. Slovak organization. How many members have these organizations in the town of Homestead, Pa., separately, I cannot state, and this statement if I would or could do it could not be correct, because all these organizations have in Homestead, 1, 2, 3, 4, branches called assemblys and from these some have 200-400 members, but there are such, which have 50-60 members only. The accounting of the membership of the Assemblys cannot be made correctly, because the members are migrating every month from one place to another, from one town to another, searching for work and occupation. There-fore in the account of the membership of Assemblys is sometime big difference every year, every month and every week. These organizations are paying death benefits from $600.00 to $1,000,000. Accident benefits from $100.00 to $400.00 and benefits in sickness from $5.00 to $7.00 weekly. Every member of these organizations does pay monthly dues from 80 cents to $1.30. These dues are changing in their amount nearly monthly according to how many expenses are there in the organization, and how many deaths, accidents and sickness occur. These or- ganizations are mostly organizations of men, but in some, as in all the Greek Catholic Unions, are included women too, which are organized in separate assemblys belonging to their respective organizations. The Slavic race has separate women organizations too; and these, mostly are by the Slovaks, these: 1. Slovak National Women's Union called "Jivena" in the United States and Canada, with active membership of nearly 8,000. 2. Slovak Roman Catholic Women's Union in the United States and Canada with active membership of nearly 10,000 women and girls. 3. The Roman and Greek Catholic Women Union of Penn- sylvania in the United States and Canada a membership of 3,000 women and girls. "There are Young Men Associations in the United States and Canada. 1. Roman Catholic Young Mens Association with nearly 4,000 members. This organization is a branch of the big " Roman Catholic Slovak Union." 272 APPENDIX XIV 2. Greek Catholic Young Men Association with nearly 1,500 members. This organization is a branch of the Greek Catholic Union called Sojedinenije. There is the "Gymnastical Slovak Union" called Sokol in the United States and Canada, with a membership of 5,000 young men. Independent of any organization. Besides these American, Slovak Organizations, there are in Homestead and all over the United States more organizations of Polish, Russian, Croation, Chech, Servian, Bulgariass, nationality but regarding these I can state only, that these nationalities of the Slav race have very strong and rich organizations. The organization of the Lituanian nationality are in number 4 or 5 and these must be reckoned to the Slav race, too, because the Lituanians are only a branch of the very big Slav race, and they are one of the Slav nations. I have there stated the membership of the organizations a little higher, because I know that until your book will be ready, the organizations will have nearly the same number of members, which I state here. This does occur irrevocably, because the immigration of all these nations to this most glorious our American Republic, to the United States, is just now enormous and it will be in a short time more stronger. The Slav race, and without exception all the Slav nationali- ties are the most and sincere patriotic people of our great Republic, the United States, because they have found there all that of which they have been robbed in their old countries. They have found in United States personal and common liberty, free and inde- pendent civilization, wellfare and all that which the aborigines of the English and other races have there found themselves. Therefore the Slavic races is the most zealous supporter of all the state and social institutions. Because this way, the Slavs are interested in the material and moral development and evolution of this country, they are supporting every time that political party, which does seem to them the most honest, moral, and virtuous party. Because now the Republican party and the whole United States under the most honest, circumspect and glorious leadership of our most beloved president Mr. Theodore Roosevelt are enjoying, just in the latest years, a degree of evolution in every respect, naturally the Slav are mostly Republicans and are following the steps which president Roosevelt does designate. Very small amount of the Slavs is democratic. Socialist are some may be 1000-2000, may be a little more, but not a single Anarchist. The Anarchists are mostly Russian Jews. "There are in Homestead and vicinity plenty of English speaking Slavs, and if you want, you can go to whichever finer .8 273 homestead: the households of a mill town Slav or Slovak home and personally ask regarding the cost of living. But you must have somebody with you from the Slavs or Slovaks themselves, who is among them good, versatilic and known as their priminent or honest man or woman. If you have not done this, you cannot get some information and not the smallest, because the people are every time secluded and reserved in their giving of information to one, whom they do not know, who he or she is. I can state only that, that this step from you would be of no use, because our people is living in every respect as the Ameri- can English people is living, except that the Slavs are liking to eat dumpies with fine cheese of their country and disregard the eating of half cooked or baked english beafsteak. The yearly costs of living are by the Slavs the same as by the English people which is varying according the degrees of wellfare of the family. From my experience I state that a family of working people now in the United States does need yearly $6oo-$8oo for support and from this can save very very small amount or nothing. Our people the Slavs are not holding or registering accounts regarding their income or expenses. This does not do nobody from the poorer classes in the whole world, except in some very rich and very popular families. Some European rich Barons, Counts, and Princes are doing this, but not a single from the poorer class. If there is one or two cases that is exception only. The Greek Catholic Union is doing the same, what are doing the all other Slav or Slovak organizations. This is enlight- ening the people and members in every respect on the true prin- cipals of the christian civilization. To develop from the members the most true, honest, moral, citizens of the United States, and therefore, the members are compelled to become citizens of the United States to help each other in the case of death, accidents or sickness. To support the United States and their christian civil- ization in every possible regard. To develop their own civilization by the means of cultivation of their own the English American, but not English European language? To reach this purpose not only the Greek Catholic Union, but all the Slav organizations and all the Slav race have spent millions of dollars to build christian schools and churches which are standing now in every part of the United States where there are living the Slavs. There will be built more. In Homestead the Greek Catholic Union called Sojedinenije has two Assemblys, of men with 260 and 130 members, respective subscribers, and one Assembly of women with 60 members or subscribers. The official organ is the weekly Amerikansky Russky Viertnik but I must there make the observation that 274 APPENDIX XIV because this weekly is the property of the whole organization, the members are supporting this weekly themselves and for this purpose are paying monthly 8 cents for the paper into the treasury of the organization and for this reason the members of the organi- zations cannot be considered as subscribers, but as proprietors of the paper. In the right sense of word they are not subscribers, but proprietors of the paper. Subscribers we have not very much but supporters or proprietors of the paper there are as many as how many members there are in the organization; that is just now 20,500 in round numbers, but in some three or four months there will be over 22,000. Some Observation: The organizations of the Slavic race are not foreign organizations but indigenous, because the organiza- tions are chartered by the American, United States authorities, courts and governmental delegations, and to these organizations are belonging adopted citizens of United States, mostly, or such individuals who in short time would be citizens. Adopted, naturalized citizens of United States is not a for- eigner, whatever language he does speak. A English speaking Canadian, or a subject of the European United English Kingdom, if not naturalized, is more foreigner in the United States, as a naturalized and only slightly English speaking, Slav or German. To know to read and write is not a sign of civilization, but the manner and habits, the moral degree of a individual. One who is good educated, but is a scoundrel, rascal or wrong doer, is not a civilized or at least wrongly civilized and educated individual. One who is good educated and is a human beast, is more dangerous to the humanity as a Bengal tiger, and for this reason cannot be called civilized individual. The national civilization of the Slavs is the same christian civilization as that of the English race, because the source of both is the same, Jesus Christ, the distinction exist only in some national traits and habits. No one nation does exist which has not some black sheep. In every nation are fine and good men and women, but in every nation there are some bad men. The science of sociology has the commencement in the marriage then in the family, then in the tribe then does spread in the nation, then in the race and finally in the whole humanity. Sociology is a very young science and is very different from "Cultural History" which is a young science too. The first cultivator of the true and right science of sociol- ogy was Jesus Christ, the true fundamental ideas of sociology are in the Holy Bible. Every science must be based on christian philosophy, be- 275 homestead: the households of a mill town cause the most true philosophy are the revelations of God, and the source of every science is God, because every true wisdom does come directly from God. If a science is not in harmony with the laws of morality and the laws of God and of nature, such science is not science but fraud and prostitution of reason and human soul. It is impossible for me to supply you with the data of all the organizations of the Slavic race, because to get this data, I would be compelled to work diligently for months and give myself in connection with every Slav organization and with every As- sembly, with every president or officer of the organizations and Assemblys. If you are sometime writing regarding the Slavs, never do you forget that the Slavs have been every time and are until today the most brave and gallant, heroic defenders of the western European civilization and of all the Western European nations. If there is not Slav blood, and if there have not been the Slav heroes in Eastern Europe, the civilization of the Western European Na- tions, the French, German, English national civilizations would have been crashed under the hard blows of Tartarism, Mohammed- anism and Mongolism. The newest example of this truth is the most eloquent Russo-Japanese war. APPENDIX XV POPULATION OF HOMESTEAD AND MUNHALL, 1910 The United States census of 1910 gives Homestead borough a population of 18,713, as against 12,554 in 1900, and 791 1 in 1890. The population of Munhall is given as 5185. 276 INDEX INDEX Accident Relief Plan — United States Steel Corporation, 95 ; Appendix XII, 249 Aldermanic Courts — System of, 28, 29 Allegheny County Medical Society, i47 Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers- Power of, 8; wage scale fixed by, 6, 7, 8; and the Homestead strike, 7-10 Americanizing Slavs- Problem of, 167, 168 Amusements, 30, 31; athletic clubs, 116; Carnegie Library clubs, 117; church, 115, 116; cultural, 117; fraternal organizations, 113, 114, 115, 163, 164; private, no; private, of Slavs, 149, 150, 151; public, in, 112; public, of Slavs, 151; women's clubs, 114, 116. See also Recreation, Expen- ditures for Analysis of 90 budget families — By racial and expenditure group, (Table) 44; by racial group and nor- mal weekly wage of man, (Table) 36; and detailed description of, Appendix II, 206 Architecture — Of workingmen's homes, 47 Athletic clubs, 116 Atwater, Prof- Food ratios established by, 69, 71 Average expenditure — For food per man per day of 90 budget families, by racial and ex- penditure group, (Table) 69; of Slavic families compared with those of other races spending more than $15 per week, (Table) 156; of ten Slavic budget families earning less than $12 per week, (Table) 140; of two groups of 10 families each, those spending $15 or more per week and those spending less than $12, with the ratio of in- crease, (Table) 156. See also general tables Average weekly expenditure — General description and average weekly expenditure of each of the 90 budget families, Appendix II, 206; of 90 budget families, by chief items of expenditure and expenditure group, (Table) 45; of 90 budget families by chief items of expenditure and racial group, (Table) 44; of 90 budget fam- ilies for various items, by expenditure group, (Table) 84; of 29 Slavic bud- get families, (Table) 152; of 77 house- renting families by chief items of ex- penditure and expenditure group, (Table) 45 Balch, Emily Greene — Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, 13 Benefit associations. See Fraternal organizations Benefits — Carnegie Relief, paid 42 widows, (Table) 95; insurance, 96; paid by Slavic fraternal organizations, 161, (Table) 162, 163 Bill of fare- Typical, 63, 64 Births— In each ward in Homestead, by racial group, (Table) 146 Board of Health Report, Homestead, 23, Appendix VI, 222 279 Boards of Health- Pennsylvania act to enable bor- ough councils to establish, Appendix V, 218 Boarding-houses — Slavic, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144. See also Lodgers Borough autonomy — Limitations of, 29 Borough divisions — Effect of, on taxes, 19, 20, 21, 22, 178; independent, composing Home- stead, 4, 18, 19, 20, 21, 178 Borough ordinances — Regulating sanitary conditions, 25; futility of, in dealing with railroads, 29 Bryce and Highbie Glass Factory, 5 Budget families — Description (detailed) and average weekly expenditure of 90, (Tables) Appendix II, 206; method of select- ing, 37, Appendix I, 187. See also general tables Budget study- American assistant employed in making, 37; includes families of different wage and racial groups, 37; includes period of depression 1907-08, 43 ; main purpose of economic side of, 43; methods of, Appendix I, 187; Slavic assistant employed in making, 37, 38; subject of, 4 Building laws, 25 Burial benefits. See Benefits Capital stock — Carnegie Steel Company, increase in, 7 Carnegie Land Company — Houses in Munhall, 18, 48 Carnegie Library, Homestead, 178; described by W. F. Stevens, Appendix XIII, 255; Slavic books in, 166 Carnegie Library clubs, 88, 257-260; activities of, 117, 257-260; educa- tional classes, 124, 262-264; open to Slavs, 166, 167, 260-262 Carnegie Relief Fund, 93, 94, 95, Appendix XI, 245; benefits paid from, (Table) 95 Carnegie Steel Company — Classification and earnings of employes, Homestead Steel Works, Appendix IV, 215; compensation paid for work-accidents, 94, (Table) 95; increase in capital stock, 7; Kloman's mill absorbed by, 5; loans money to employes to assist in pur- chasing homes, 58 Carnegie Technical School in Pitts- burgh, 124 Casualties — On unprotected grade crossings, Homestead, Appendix VII, 233 Chamber of Commerce: Report of Committee on Trade and Commerce, 69, 237 Chapin, Robert Coit— The Standard of Living among Workingmen's Families in New York City, 51, 52, 67, 70, 103, 104, 105, 142, Child-labor— None in steel mills, 127 Children — At work, 118; born in each ward in Homestead, ratio of, to deaths of children under two in the same ward, (Table) 146; education of, 118; effect of overcrowding on Slavic, 145, 146, 147; future prospects of Slavic, 148; home training of, 118; home training of Slavic, 148; lack of care in feeding, 64; seldom work outside home, 41, 107, 125 Children of Homestead, The, 118- 128 Christianity and the Social Crisis — By Walter Rauschenbusch, 88 Church- Amusements, 115, 116; expendi- tures for, 88, 89; influences on Slavs, 152, 158, 159, 160 280 Churches — Founded before strike of 1892, 6; Slavic, 133 Civic conditions, 31, 32 Civic development, 5, 6, 17 Civic efficiency — Effect of transient population on, IS Civic environment, 27, 28, 29. 30, 31, 32 Civic inertia, 26, 173, 178 Civic life- Effect of industrial conditions on, 4, 35. 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 171, 172, 173, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184 Civic outlook, 1 28 ; Slavs' influence on, 128 Clothing, expenditures for, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 86, 87, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by Slavs, 140, 142, 157, (Tables) 152, 156; during depression of 1907- 08, (Table) 98; minimum, 103 College education — Attitude toward, 126, 127 Colonial Club, 27 Colored. See Negroes Commercial schools, 125 Community of interest — Among English workers, 16 " Company" houses. See Housing of employes Compensation — Paid by Carnegie Steel Company to widows of 42 employes killed in Allegheny County, (Table) 95; re- ceived by 42 widows plus Carnegie Relief benefits, (Table) 95. See also Work-accidents Conclusion, 169-184 Congestion of population, 46, 47; among Slavs, 135, 136, 137. See also Overcrowding Cost of living, 66; in Pittsburgh, 281 Appendix IX, 237. See also Food; Fuel; Rent; etc. Cox, John F., 22 Credit- Buying on, 75, 98, 99, 100. See also Instalment Daughters — Parents' ambition for, 127, 128. See also Children; Women Davis, Thomas L., 27 Death benefits. See Benefits Death rate, 25, 26. See also Infant mortality Deaths— Of children under two years of age in each ward in Homestead, by racial group, (Table) 146 Depression of 1907-08 — Economic effect of, 100; effect of, on budget investigation, 43, 197; expenditures during, 43, (Table) 98, 99, 197-198; expenditures for cloth- ing during, (Table) 98; expenditures for food by same family in normal times and during depression, 77, (Table) 78; expenditures for food during, (Table) 98; expenditures for fuel, (Table) 98; expenditures for furniture, insurance, and sundries during, (Table) 98, 197; insurance premiums paid during, 97; privation among Slavs caused by, 135; savings drawn from bank during, by racial group, (Table) 99; savings not in budgets during, 97 Dinner pail — Importance of, 64 Disorderly houses, 28 Domestic science — In schools, 78, 122, 123, 125 Earnings. See Wages Eastman, Crystal — Work-accidents and the Law, 93, 95 Economic development, 29, 30, 31, 32 Economic independence — Lack of, 31 Economy — Result of undue, in fuel, 86; undue, may lower physical and social stand- ards, 84, 85, 86. See also Savings, cost of Education — Attitude of Slavs toward, 160; attitude toward college, 126, 127; of children, 118; of Slavic children, 159, 160. See also Sundries, Expen- ditures for Educational classes — Carnegie Library Clubs, 1 24 Emergency — Weekly expenditures by two typical families in time of, 89, 90 Employes — Attitude of, toward mill, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178; Carnegie Steel Com- pany loans to, for purchasing homes, 58; housing of, 18, 19; in Homestead plant of U. S. Steel Corporation, Appendix III, 214; racial groups in Homestead plant of Carnegie Steel Company, (Table) 13; classification and earnings of, in Homestead plants, Appendix IV, 215 Employes owning homes. See House owners Employment, steadiness of. See Wages, regularity of English-speaking Europeans — Expenditures of, for food, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; expenditures of, for fuel, (Table) 44; expenditures of, for insurance, (Table) 44; ex- penditures of, for other items, (Table) 44; expenditures of, for rent, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; expenditures per week by, (Table) 44; infant mortality among, (Table) 146; owning homes, (Table) 57; wages of skilled and unskilled, (Table) 40; weekly wage of, (Table) 38. See also general tables and Ap- pendix II English-speaking families — Ideals of, 106; income of , increased by lodgers, 107, 108 English-speaking households, The, 33-128; community of interest among, 16; problems of, 106 Entertainments. See Amusements Equity- Question of, involved in strike of 1892, 10, 11 Evening schools, 123, 124; for Slavs, 166 Expenditures — Analysis of budget families by, (Table) 36; analysis of, by chief items, (Tables) 44, 45; average, of Slavic families, (Tables) 140, 152; average, of Slavic families compared with others, (Table) 156; by native whites, (Table) 44; by Negroes, (Table) 44; by Slavs, (Tables) 44, 152; comparison of, (Table) 156; during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98, 99, 197; for instalment on home during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98; marginal, 81, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 85, 86; of a family in normal times and in time of depression, (Table) 98; of different budget groups, analysis of average weekly, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106; of families spending less than $12 a week, (Table) 102; by English- speaking Europeans, (Table) _ 44; ratio of weekly, for various items between different expenditure groups, (Table) 84; relative, for food and rent in different racial groups, 70; weekly, by two typical families in time of emergency, 89, 90. See also Rent; Food; Fuel; Clothing; Insur- ance; and other special items Expenses — Reduction of, during depression of 1907-08, 98, 99. See also Expendi- tures Family ideals, 45, 55; fulfilment of, limited, 171, 172; of English-speak- ing workmen, 106 282 INDEX Family life — Dependent on men's wages, 41; effect of industrial conditions on, 4, 35. 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 171, 172, 173, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184; type of, determined by industrial conditions, 107 Family relationships. See Human relationships Financial condition of municipality, 21, 22 Fitch, John A — The Steel Workers, 36, 42, 177 Food, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67; and rent, relative expenditures for, in different racial groups, 70; a three-times-a-day problem, 80; budgets, two weekly, of a thrifty family, (Table) 78; dinner- pail, 64; discretion in buying, 77; evils of buying on credit, 75; high prices of, 66; holiday feasts, 65; ignorance of values, 78; irregularity of meals, 64; lack of care in feeding children, 64; ratios established by Prof. Atwater, 69, 71; standard of nourishment, 70, 71; Sunday dinner, 65; typical bill of fare, 63, 64 Food, expenditures for, 67, 68, 69, 82, 83, 84, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by a poor housekeeper, (Table) 76; by a thrifty housekeeper, (Table) 76; by English-speaking Europeans, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; by expendi- ture group, (Tables) 45, 68; by native whites, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; by Negroes, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; by same family in normal times and during depression, 77, (Table) 78; by Slavs, 70, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72, 141, 152, 156; by two housewives of extreme types, 74, 75, (Table) 76; dependent on thriftiness of housewives, 74, 75, 76, 79, 80; during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98, 198; families spending less than 22 cents per man per day, by expenditure and racial groups, (Table) 72; in Slavic boarding house, 139, 140; in Slavic home, 141; per capita, (Tables) 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 141; purchased on special order for boarders during month account was kept (Slav family), (Table) 139 Fraternal organizations — Amusements of, 113, 114, 115, 163, 164; Home Guards, 96; insurance in, 90, (Table) 91; membership, 113; Modern Woodmen, 96, 113; Odd Fellows, 115; Order of Elks, 113; outside charity work of, 115; Pro- tected Home Circle, 113; Royal Arcanum, 96, 113; Slavic, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164; Slavic, affiliated with national, 163; Slavic, benefits paid by, 161, (Table) 162, 163; Slavic, insurance in, 161, (Table) 162, 163; Slavic, nationalities segregated in separate lodges, 164; social fea- tures of, 113, 114, 115 Frick, H. C— Cause of antagonism toward, 8; park given by, 30, 178 "Front room," 55, 56, 85 Fuel, expenditures for, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 87, 102, 103, 104; by English- speaking Europeans, (Table) 44; by expenditure group, (Table) 45; by native whites, (Table) 44; by Negroes, (Table) 44; by Slavs, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 152, 156; during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98; results of undue economy in. 86 Furniture, expenditures for, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 85, 87, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by Slavs, 140. 142, (Tables) 152, 156; during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98 Future outlook — Civic and industrial, 128 Gardens — Of workingmen's homes, 47, 48 Girls. See Daughters; Women Grade crossings — Unprotected in Homestead, 29; casualties on, Appendix VI, 233 Great Britain — Grants by governmental authori- ties for building operations, 58 283 Hays borough, 19 Health- Expenditures for. See Medicine, Expenditures for High schools, 120 Holiday feasts, 65 Hollow, The. See Munhall Hollow Home Guards, 96 Home Life of the Slavs, 145-157 Home-making, 55, 56, 57, 108, 109, no Home purchasers — Among 90 budget families, by normal weekly income and by racial group, (Table) 57 Homes owned by employes. See House owners Homestead — As a business center, 29, 30; taxes, (Table) 20; town plan of, 46, 47; water and sewerage systems, 23; boroughs, 4, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 178 Homestead and the great strike, 3- 11 Homestead Bank and Life Insurance Company, 46 Homestead Park, 19, 30 Homestead Realty Company, 58 Homestead Woman's Club, 116, 121, 122 Homeville, 19 Hospitals, 95 Hours- Mill, 36, 171, 172 House owners — Carnegie Steel Company helps employes to become, 58; English- speaking Europeans, (Table) 57; native whites, (Table) 57; Negroes, (Table) 57; number of, increased by considerateness of real estate com- panies, 31; opportunities for becom- ing, given workingmen, 57, 58, 61; Slavs, (Table) 57, 152, 153, 155; why some workingmen are not, 60, 61, 62; workingmen as, 45, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60; workingmen becoming, lessens mo- bility of labor, 62 Household problem — Of English-speaking workmen, 106 Housewives— Efficient and inefficient, 63, 74, 75, 70, 77, 78, 79, 80, 108, 109 Housing conditions, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 46, 47, 131, 135, 136, 137; in Munhall Hollow, 18, 19, 26, 27; overcrowding decreases with higher wages, 52, 53; typical, cited, giving rent and wages, 49, 50. See also Overcrowding Housing of employes, 18, 19 Housing ordinances — Inadequate, 25 Human relationships, 107-117 Hungarians. See Slavs Improvements in process — Recompense paid men for practical suggestions leading to, 174 Income — Increased by lodgers, English- speaking families, 107, 108, (Tables) 201; increased by lodgers, Slavic families, 42, 140, 142, 143, 144, 157, (Tables) 201; increased by other means than lodgers, Slavic families, 142, (Tables) 201; sons' contribu- tions to, 125, 126, (Tables) 201. See also Wages Industrial conditions, 31; at time of strike of 1892, 7; determine type of family life, 107; effect of, on civic and family life, 4, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 171, 172, 173, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184; summed up, 31, 32 Industrial development, 4, 5, 12 Industrial Insurance Funds of Ger- many, 58 Industrial outlook, 128; Slavs' in- fluence on, 1 28 284 Infant mortality, 2 English-speaking Euj Industrial suppression — Inertia the effect of, 10, n, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 184; outcome of strike of 1892, 10, n, 175, 176 Inertia — Effect of industrial suppression, 10, n, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 184 25, 26; among .__ speaking Europeans, (Table) 146; among native whites, (Table) 146; among Negroes, (Table) 146; among Slavs, (Table) 146, 147 Instalment — Buying on, 85. See also Credit; Expenditures for instalment on home Insurance — Benefits under, 96; expenditures for, 89, 92, 95, 96; important item in family budget, 95; in fraternal or- ganizations, 90, (Table) 91 ; in regular companies, 90, (Table) 91; in Slavic fraternal organizations, 161, (Table) 162, 163; number of persons insured in 90 budget families and per cent of families carrying insurance — by ex- penditure group, (Table) 91; number of persons in 90 budget families in- sured in regular companies and lodges — by racial group, (Table) 91; per cent of budget families carrying, 90, (Table) 91, 92; premium pay- ments continued during depression 1907-08, 97; provisions for, univer- sal, 97; ratings on men employed in iron and steel industry, Appendix X, 243 Insurance, expenditures for, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 89, 92, 95, 96, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by English-speaking Europeans, (Table) 44; by expendi- ture group, (Table) 45; by native whites, (Table) 44; by Negroes, (Table) 44; by Slavs, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 152, 156; during de- pression of 1907-08, 97, (Table) 98 Intemperance, 27, 28, 112, 113, 173; among Slavs, 140, 149; evil of town, 109; the women's battle against, 109 Isolation of Slavs, 168, 180, 181 [5, 164, 167, Kennywood Park, 30 Kindergartens, 122 Kloman's mill — Absorbed by Carnegie Steel Com- pany, 5 Labor element — Antagonistic to H. C. Frick, 8 Labor unions. See Trade unions Leasing system — John Munhall Estate, 58 Letts. See Slavs Life at $1.65 a day, 138-144; eco- nomic problem of married Slavs, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144; economic problem of single Slavs, 138, 139, 140, 143; possibilities of, 179, 180 Lincoln Place, 19 Liquor. See Intemperance; Sundries Literature — Available, 88 Lithuanians. See Slavs Livelihood — Prospect of an independent, for steel workers, 182, 183, 184 Location and description of town, 3, 4, 5, 17, 18 Lodgers — Income increased by, in English- speaking families, 107, 108; income increased by, in Slavic families, 42, 140, 142, 143, 144, 157; per cent of Slavic families taking, 142, (Table) 143. See also Boarding houses Lodgers. See Fraternal organizations rars. See Slavs Make-up of the town, 12-32 Margaret Morison Carnegie School, 125 285 Margin — Minimum wage required to assure practical, 181, 182, 183, 184; reason- able, above expenditures for necessi- ties, 105 Marginal expenditures, 81, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 85, 86; as shown in typical budgets, 82, 83, 84 McClure Homestead, 4 McKeesport water supply, 24 Meals — Irregularity of, 64 Medical inspection — None in Homestead schools, 120 Medicine, Expenditures for, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 87, 101, 102; during de- pression of 1907-08, (Table) 98 Membership, dues and benefits — Of 9 Slavic societies in 1908, (Table) 162 Men employed in Homestead mill — By racial group and degree of skill, (Table) 40; classified according to skill, citizenship, etc., March 1, 1907, Appendix III, 214 Mendicants, 37 Menu. See Bill of fare Mesta Machine Company, 19 Methods of budget study — Appendix I, 187 Midwives, 87 Mill — And the household, the, 171-184; and the town, the, 3-32; attitude of employes toward, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178; attitude of newspapers toward, 88, 176; attitude of stockholding employes toward, 176, 177; character of Slavic labor in, 134; conditions of work in, 171, 172, 173, 174; hours of work in, 36, 171, 172; mental fatigue caused by work in, 173; no child labor in, 127; officers, formerly work- men, 177; per cent of married Slavs employed in, 1S0; per cent of skilled and unskilled Slavs employed in, 134, | 152, 153; per cent of Slavs employed m > J 33J prospect of promotion in, 134, 174, 180, 182; site, 5; superin- tendent of, 177; wages for work in, 171, 180, 181, 182, 183; wages in, compared with bituminous mines, 181. See also Industrial situation Minor household expenditures, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 86, 87, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; during depression of 1907- 08, (Table) 98 Miscellaneous expenditures. See Other expenditures; Sundries Modern Woodmen, 96, 113 Morality — Of Slavic community, 148, 149; of town, no. See also Disorderly houses; Intemperance Moving pictures. See Amusements, public Munhall, 178; Carnegie Land Com- pany houses in, 18, 48; schools, 120; taxes, 20-22, (Table) 20; town plan of, 46; water supply, 24, 178 Munhall Estate, John, 18, 19, 26, 27; leasing system, 58 Munhall Hollow — Housing conditions in, 18, 19, 26, 27; no public improvements, 19 Municipal finances, 21, 22 Municipal water supply, 23, 24 National distinctions among Slavs, 133 National Vacation Bible School Committee of New York, 121 Native whites — Expenditures of, for food, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; expenditures of, for fuel, (Table) 44; expenditures of, for insurance, (Table) 44; expendi- tures of, for other items, (Table) 44; expenditures of, for rent, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; expenditures per week by, (Table) 44; infant mortality among, (Table) 146; owning homes, (Table) 286 57; wages of skilled and unskilled, (Table) 40; weekly wage of, (Table) 38. See also general tables and Ap- pendix II Negroes — Expenditures of, for food, 70, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72; expenditures of, for fuel, insurance, and other items, (Table) 44; expenditures of, for rent, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; expenditures per week by, (Table) 44; infant mortality among, (Table) 146; owning homes, (Table) 57; social position of, 14; wages of skilled and unskilled, (Table) 40; weekly wage of, (Table) 38. See also general tables and Appendix II New York Central System, 29 Newspapers- Attitude of, toward mill, 88, 176; expenditures for, during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98 Nickelodeons. See Amusements Nurses- No school, 120; no visiting, 87 Nutrition Investigation, Report on — By Frank P. Underhill, Ph. D., 70, 71, 141 Odd Fellows, 115 Officers- Mill, formerly workmen, 177 Offices — Women in, 125 Order of Elks, 113 Ordinance — Borough, regulating sanitary con- ditions, 25; affecting railroads in- effective, 29. See also Housing ordi- nances; Sanitary ordinances Other expenditures: The budget as a whole, 81-106. See also Sundries Overcrowding — Absence of specific regulation con- cerning, 25; decreases with higher wages, 52, 53; effect of, on Slavic children, 145, 146, 147; in Slavic families, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143. 144; number of persons per room in 21 courts — Families which took lodgers compared with families which did not, (Table) 144. See also Congestion Parents — Interest of, in school, 118, 119, 120; ambition for daughters, 127, 128; am- bition for sons, 126, 127, 128 Parlor. See "Front Room" Pay Friday, 37 Pennsylvania Act- To enable borough councils to es- tablish, Appendix V, 218 Pennsylvania lines, 29 Pensions — Fund set aside by United States Steel Corporation to provide, 95, Appendix XII, 249 Philanthropic movements — Attitude of workmen toward, 178 Pinkertons — In strike of 1892, 9 Pittsburgh — Cost of living in, Appendix IX, 237; water supply, 24 Pittsburgh and Lake Erie tracks, 29 Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charles- ton tracks, 29 Playgrounds — School, 120, 121 Poles. See Slavs Political divisions. visions See Borough di- Political situation, 22, 23 65, 166 Politics — Among Slavs, Population — Congestion of, 46, 47; congestion of, among Slavs, 135, 136, 137; effect of transient, on civic efficiency, 15; 287 elements of, at time of strike of 1802, 5, 6; elements of, cause of change in, 15; elements of present, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14; native and foreign born in four boroughs of Allegheny County, (Table) 13; native and foreign born in Home- stead, (Table) 13; preponderance of males in, 15; segregation of present, into groups, 14. See also Housing conditions Prevention of work-accidents, movement for, 92, 93 Privy vaults, unflushed. See Toilets Profits of industry — Not reinvested in Homestead, 31 Promotion — Prospect of, among Slavs, 134, 180; prospect of, in mill, 134, 174, 180, 182 Protected Home Circle, 113 Prudential Insurance Company, 96; rates for iron and steel workers, Ap- pendix X, 243 Public- Indifference of, to sanitary condi- tions, 26 Railroad grade crossings, 29 Rauschenbusch, Walter — Christianity and the Social Crisis, Real estate dealers- Number of house owners increased by considerateness of, 31 Recreation, Expenditures for, 89, no; during depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98 Religious life of Slavs. See Church influences Rent— And food — Relative expenditures for, in different racial groups, 70 Rent, Expenditures for, 48, 49, 50, 5i, 52, S3, 54, 55, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by English- speaking Europeans, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; by expenditure group, (Ta- bles) 45, 50, 52; by native whites, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; by Negroes, (Tables) 44, 50, 52; by Slavs, 140, 141, 157, (Tables) 44, 50, 52, 152, 156; determined by wages, 51, 52; during depression of 1907-08, 43, 53, 198; in the household budget, 46-62; of 7 7 house-renting families — average amount and percentage of total ex- penditure — by racial and expenditure group, (Tables) 52 Roumanians. See Slavs Royal Arcanum, 96, 113 Russians. See Slavs Saloons. See Intemperance Sanitary conditions — Borough ordinance regulating, 25; indifference of public to, 26; of schools, 119, 120; responsibility for poor, 26, 27 Sanitary ordinances — Lack of leadership necessary to obtain, 178 Sanitary regulations — Lack of, 23, 24, 25, 26, 53 Savings, 89, 100; absence of, in bud- gets during depression of 1907-08, 97; advantages of, 98; cost of, in health and pleasure, 79, 100, 101, 102, 103; drawn from bank during depression of 1907-08, by racial group, (Table) 99; object of, 97 Savings bank accounts — Of Slavs, 153, 156 Schedules — Facsimiles of cards, 188-191 Schooley, M. P., 27 Schools — Carnegie Technical School in Pitts- burgh, 124; commercial, 125; domes- tic science in, 78, 122, 123, 125; evening, 123, 124; evening, for Slavs, 166; facilities of, 119; high, 120; instruction in, 120; interest of pa- rents in, 118, 119, 120; kindergarten, 288 122; manual training in, 122, 123, 124; Margaret Morison Carnegie, 125; Munhall, 120; new buildings, 119; no medical inspection and nurses in, 120; parochial, 159, 160; playgrounds, 120, 121; sanitary con- dition of, 119, 120; vacation, 121. See also Carnegie Library educational classes Schwab Manual Training School, 78, 122, 123, 178 Service, Expenditures for— During depression of 1907-08, (Table) 98 Seven-day labor — Appendix VIII, 236 Sewerage system — In Homestead, 23 Sick benefits. See Benefits Skating rink. See Amusements, public Skilled and unskilled — Wages of, English-speaking Euro- peans, native whites, Negroes and Slavs, (Table) 40, 41. See also Ap- pendix IV Slav Organized, The, 158-168 Slavic boarding-houses — Expenditures for food in, 139, 140; overcrowding, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144 Slavic books — Carnegie Library, 00 Slavic children — Education of, 159, 160; effect of overcrowding on, 145, 146, 147; future prospects of, 148; training of, 148 Slavic churches, 1.53 Slavic community — Moral tone of, 148, 149 Slavic courts. See Housing conditions Slavic families — Average expenditures of, (Tables) 140, 152; average expenditures of, compared with other races, (Table) 19 289 156; per cent of, taking lodgers, 142, (Table) 143 Slavic Fellow Citizens, Our— By Emily Greene Balch, 13 Slavic fraternal organizations, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164; affiliated with national organizations, 163; amusements of, 163, 164; benefits paid by, 161, (Table) 162, 163; insurance in, 161, (Table) 162, 163; nationalities segregated in separate lodges, 164 Slavic home — Expenditures for typical, 145, 152 Slavic household — Notes on a typical, food in, 141 154, 155 Slavic organizations — In Homestead, Appendix XIV, 271 Slavic parochial schools, 159, 160 Slavic women- Overwork and lack of care during confinement among, 147 Slavs- Ambitions of, 134, 153, 155, 156; Americanizing, 167, 168; amusements of, private, 149, 150, 151; amusements of, public, 151; as neighbors, 155; attitude of, toward education, 160; bank accounts of, 153, 156; capacity of, for social advancement, 151, 152, !53> i55> !57; Carnegie Library Clubs open to, 166, 167; character of work of, in mill, 134; church in- fluences on, 152, 158, 159, 160, 161; congestion of population among, 135, 136, 137; description of district occupied by, 131; economic problem of married, on $1.65 a day, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144; economic problem of single, on $1.65 a day, 138, 139, 140, 143; elements composing immigrant, 131; employment of , quickly affected by depression, 135; evening schools for, 166; expenditures of, for clothing, 140, 142, 157, (Tables) 152, 156; expenditures of, for food, 70, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 68, 69, 72, 152, 156; expenditures of, for food per capita, 141; expenditures of, for fuel, 140, INDEX 157, (Tables) 44, I5 2 > 156; expendi- tures of, for furniture, 140, 142, (Tables) 152, 156; expenditures of, for insurance, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 152, 156; expenditures of, for other items, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 152, 156; expenditures of, for rent, 140, 141, 157, (Tables) 44, 5°, 52, 152, 156; expenditures per week by, (Tables) 44, 152; general situation, 138; illiteracy of, 166, 167; inadequate water supply, 136, 137; income of, increased by lodgers, 42, 140, 142, 143, 144, 157; income of, increased by other means than lodgers, 142; infant mortality among, as compared with other groups, 145, (Table) 146; infant mortality among, cause of, 147; influence of, on civic and industrial future, 128; intemperance among, 140, 149; isolation and lack of assimilation of, 14, 15, 164, 167, 168, 180,181; midwives employed by, 147; mode of living among, 132, 133, 134, 138, 139, 140; national distinctions among, 133; number of, in Home- stead, 132; old-world customs among, 150; owning homes, (Table) 57, 152, 153, x 55; P er cent OI > employed in mill, 133; per cent of married, em- ployed in mill, 180; per cent of skilled and unskilled, 134, 152, 153; politics of, 165, 166; privation among, caused by depression of 1907-08, 135; problems of the, 129-168; prospect of promotion of , in mill, 134, 180; reli- gion of, 152, 158, 159, 160; social life of, 149, iso, 151, 163, 164; style of dressing among, 150, 151; tempera- ment of, 133; wages of, 153; wages of skilled and unskilled, (Table) 40; weekly wage of, (Table) 38; why immigrate, 131,132. See also general tables and Appendix II Slovaks. See Slavs Social expenses, 87, 88 Social features — Fraternal organizations, 113, 114, US Social life — Of Slavs, 149, 150, 151, 163, 164. See also Amusements Social reform in America — Strongest impetus toward, 4 Social relationships. See Human relationships Socialism — An individual hope for some work- men, 176 Sons — Contribution of, to income, 125, 126; parents' ambition for, 126, 127, 128 St. Magdalene Parochial School, 159 Standard of Living among Work- ingmen's Families in New York City, The— By Robert Coit Chapin, 51, 52, 67, 70, 103, 104, 105, 142, 181 Standards of living — Determining factors in, 39, 40; lowered by undue economy, 84, 85, 86. See also Family ideals Steel making — Dangers attending, 36; general process of, 35; hardships attending, 35, 36; hours of labor in, 36, 171, 172; men paid for suggestions leading to improvements in process, 174; Sun- day work, 35, 176. See also Mill Steel workers- Prospect of an independent liveli- hood for, 182, 183, 184 Steel Workers, The— By John A. Fitch, 36, 42, 177 Stevens, W. F — Description of Carnegie Library, Homestead, Appendix XIII, 255 Stockholders — Attitude of employes as, 176, 1 77 Stores — Women in, 125 Strike of 1892 — Beginning of the, 8; churches founded before, 6; effect of, on trade unionism, 1 1 ; elements of population at time of, 5, 6; general industrial conditions at time of, 7; hopelessness and inertia result of, 10, n, 174; in- dustrial suppression outcome of, 10, n, 175, 176; inequality of wages at 290 time of, 7; keynote of, trade union- ism, 8; life during the, 9, 10; out- come of the, 10, 175; Pinkertons' part in, 9; question of equity in- volved in, 10, n; trade unionism at time of, 4, 6 Sunday dinner, 65 Sunday work, 36, 176 Sundries, Expenditures for, 81, 82, 83, (Table) 84, 88, 89, 90, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105; by English-speaking Europeans, (Table) 44; by expendi- ture groups, (Table) 45; by native whites, (Table) 44; by Negroes, (Table) 44; by Slavs, 140, 157, (Tables) 44, 152, 156; during de- pression of 1907-08, (Table) 98. See also general tables Superintendent of mill, 177 Suppression. See Industrial suppres- sion Survey, The — Articles quoted, 181 Table and dinner pail, 63-80 Taxes- Effect of borough divisions on, 19, 20, 21, 22, 178; Homestead, (Table) 20; Munhall, (Table) 20 Taxpayers' League, 27 Tobacco, expenditures for — 82, 83, (Table) 84, ioi, 102 Toilets- Indoor, 51, 55, (Table) 54; out- door, 25,51,53,131,137 Town- Location and description of, 3, 4, 5, 17, 18 Town Plan- Homestead, 46, 47; Munhall, 46; West Homestead, 46 Town site, Homestead as a, Town's growth- Changes affecting, 128 7-32 Trade unionism — At time of strike of 1892, 4, 6; effect of strike of 1892 on, 11; em- ploye proposing, is discharged, 175; keynote of strike of 1892, 8 Trade unions, 4, 7, 8; beneficial effect of, on wages and hours, in bitumin- ous mines, 181; none to give common interest, 164; older men lack confi- dence in, 175, 176. See also Amal- gamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Transportation facilities, 5 Underhill, Frank P.— Report on Nutrition Investigation, 70, 71, 141 U. S. Bureau of Labor, 66 United States Census, 13 U. S. Commissioner of Labor, 52, 67, 73 U. S. Department of Agriculture, 69 United States Steel Corporation- Accident relief plan of, 95, Appen- dix XII, 249; attitude of, 184; plans of, for prevention of work-accidents, 92 Unskilled work — Not always temporary stage, 41 Unskilled workers — Increase in number of, 179; per- manent factor ins. social life, 180. See also Skilled and unskilled Vacation schools, 121 Ventilation — Absence of specific regulation con- cerning, 25 Wage — Minimum, required to assure prac- tical margin, 181, 182, 183, 184 291 Wage-earners— Types of, earning $12 a week or less, $12 to $14.99 a week, $15 to $19.99 a week, and $20 a week and over, 38-39 Wages — Analysis of budget families by weekly, (Table) 36; beneficial effect of trade unions on, in bituminous mines, 181; determine expenditure for rent, 51,52; family life dependent on, 41; for work in mill, 171, 180, 181, 182, 183; inequality of, at time of strike of 1892, 7; mill, compared with bituminous mines, 181; reductions in rate of, 42; regularity of, 42; scale fixed by Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel workers, 6, 7, 8; skilled and unskilled, (Table) 40, 41; Slavs, 153; sliding scale of , introduced in 1889, 7; weekly, of English-speak- ing Europeans, native whites, Ne- groes, Slavs, (Table) 38 Washing machines, 87 Water supply — Inadequate in Slavic district, 136, 137; McKeesport, 24; Munhall, 24, 178; municipal, 23, 24; Pittsburgh, 24 Water, running — In houses, 24, 48, 51, (Table) 54, 58; in house, and indoor closets, families having, by weekly rent, (Table) 54; outside houses, 24, 25, 48, 51, 53, 131, 136, 137 Water system — In Homestead, 23 West Homestead, 4, plan of, 46 Westinghouse Electric Works- Girls employed in, 125 Whitaker, 19 [8, 19; town Women — In offices, 125; in stores, 125; in Westinghouse Electric Works, 125; seldom work outside home, 41, 107, 125 Women's clubs — Activities, 114, 116, 121, 122, Ap- pendix XIII, 264 Work- Conditions of, in mill, 171, 172, 173, 174; hours of, in mill, 36, 171, 172; mental fatigue of mill, 173 Work, wages and the cost of living, 35-45 Work-accidents, 92; burden of loss in, 95, 96; compensation for, 94, 95, Ap- pendices XI and XII, 245, 249; com- pensation paid by Carnegie Steel Company for, 94, (Table) 95, Appen- dix XI, 245; movement for preven- tion of, 92, 93; movement of United States Steel Corporation for relief of, 92, Appendix XII, 249; newspaper reports of, 93; no compensation for, paid families of aliens, 161; plans of United States Steel Corporation for relief of victims of, 95, Appendix XII, 249 Work-accidents and the Law — By Crystal Eastman, 93, 95 Workingmen — Attitude toward philanthropic movements, 178; opportunities for buying homes given, 57, 58, 61; own- ing homes lessens mobility of labor, 62; why some do not own homes, 60, 61, 62. See also House owners Workingmen's homes — Architecture, 47; gardens, 47, 48. See also Housing conditions Workmen's Compensation Act (Eng- lish), 96 292 THE SURVEY SOCIAL CHARITABLE CIVIC A JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTIVE PHILANTHROPY HTHE SURVEY is a weekly magazine for all those who * believe that progress in this country hinges on social service: that legislation, city government, the care of the unfortunate, the cure of the sick, the education of children, the work of men and the homes of women, must pass muster in their relation to the common welfare. As Critic, The Survey examines conditions of life and labor, and points where they fail: how long hours, low pay, insanitary housing, disease, intemperance, indiscriminate charity, and lack of recreation, break down character and efficiency. As Student, The Survey examines immigration, industry, congestion, unemployment, to furnish a solid basis of fact for intelligent and permanent betterment. As Program, The Survey stands for Prevention: Pre- vention of Poverty through wider opportunity and adequate charity; Prevention of Disease through long-range systems of sanitation, of hospitals and sanatoriums, of good homes, pure food and water, a chance for play out-of-doors; Pre- vention of Crime, through fair laws, juvenile courts, real reformatories, indeterminate sentence, segregation, discip- line and probation; Prevention of Inefficiency, both industrial and civic, through practice in democracy, restriction of child labor, fair hours, fair wages, enough leisure for reading and recreation, compulsory school laws and schools that fit for life and labor, for the earning of income and for rational spending. EDWARD T. DEVINE - - - EDITOR GRAHAM TAYLOR - - ASSOCIATE EDITOR 'strh S bt 22D $2.°o YEARLY NEW YORK RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS THE PITTSBURGH SURVEY The most significant piece of investigation the country has seen. — "American Magazine." The findings of the Pittsburgh Survey are to be published in six volumes during 1910, tinder the editorial direction of Paul U. Kellogg, Director of the Pittsburgh Survey, Four of these books are now ready: WOMEN AND THE TRADES ■By ELIZABETH BEARDSLEY BUTLER Former Secretary of the Consumers' League of New Jersey The first general survey of the occupations open to wage- earning women in an American city. 8vo, 440 pages? 40 full-page illustrations T) r } re> p n «;t r ,oi r J r i r( , PocfnaM $1 71 Lewis W.Hine, Joseph Stella, and others. ^"CC, rOStpaid, $*./* HOMESTEAD : THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN ■By MARGARET F. BYINGTON Assistant Secretary, Charity Organization Department, Russell Sage Foundation A clearly drawn picture of the home and community life of the steel workers. 8vo,310 pages; 41 full-page illustrations by p. PnstnAfd $170 Lewis W. Hine, Joseph Stella and others. ^"CC, .TOSipaia, q>*./U THE STEEL WORKERS ■By JOHN A. FITCH Formerly Expert, New York Department of Labor A study of the men who make steel by one who lived among them. 8vo, 350 pages; 39 full-page illustrations by p« Pn<5tr>Afd $171 Lewis W. Hine, Joseph Stella and others. r "C e t ^OStpaiCJ, $*♦/* The entire set of the Pittsburgh Survey volumes, to be issued at $1.50 net each, will be as follows: THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT— Symposium by John R. Commons, Florence Kelley, Rob.-rt A. Woods, Peter Roberts, Charles Mulford Robinson and others. THE STEEL WORKERS— John A, Fitch. HOMESTEAD : THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN-Margaret F. Byington. WOMEN AND THE TRADES-Elizaheth Beardsley Butler. WORK-ACCIDENTS AND THE LAW— Crystal Eastman. PITTSBURGH : THE GIST OF THE SURVEY— Paul U. Kellogg. CHARITIES PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 105 East 22d Street, New York A RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS By LUTHER HALSEY GULICK, M.D., and LEONARD P. AYRES, Ph.D. THE first American work on a subject of the utmost im- portance to educators, physicians, parents, social workers and boards of education. The only source of information as to what medical inspection is and does, its history, its status, and the means and methods employed. An important contribution to the cause of education. — Journal of Education. Lucidly exhaustive and admirably arranged, the monograph will assist in the great work, scarcely begun, of supplying the sound body that is needed for the sound mind. — The Nation. 286 Pages; 6 Charts; 64 Forms; 31 Tables. 1 HCG, 1 OStpQlG, $1.00 LAGGARDS IN OUR SCHOOLS A STUDY OF RETARDATION AND ELIMINATION IN CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS By LEONARD P. AYRES, Ph.D. FORMERLY GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS FOR PORTO RICO AND CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF STATISTICS OF THE INSULAR DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; SECRETARY OF THE BACKWARD CHILDREN INVESTIGATION OF THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION; CO-AUTHOR OF MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS, ETC. SIXTH of all the children in American city school systems, are repeating grades, at an expense to the taxpayers of $27,000,000; large foreign populations do not produce the highest percentage of this "retardation"; physical defects account for only 9 per cent of it; irregular attendance is one of the largest factors; the child who starts youngest makes slowest progress, but stays longer in school — these are some of the striking points brought out by Mr. Ayres's study. Your book, "Laggards in Our Schools," has rendered a most real service to public education in America. — Wm. H. Maxwell, Supt. of Schools, New York City. 252 Pages; 106 Tables'; '38 Diagrams. I HC6, 1 OStpiUQ, IpI.^O AMONG SCHOOL GARDENS By M. LOUISE GREENE, M.Pd., Ph.D. (Yale) AN exceedingly interesting and thoroughly practical book on "school gardens," including those conducted by associations in public parks and at the homes, as well as gardens carried on in connection with regular school work. Based upon personal study and observation, by the author, of school garden work throughout the United States and Canada. Beautifully illustrated. One of the most important school books of the season. — Journal of Education. A convincing document of the utility of making gardening a part of the school work. — Washington Siar. 380 Pages; 98 Illustrations p r ,' r p Pn^tniiH ^ is Plans and Diagrams l "LC, I UblJJcliU, «j?1.^2 CHARITIES PUBLICATION COMMITTEE IO5 EAST 22D STREET, NEW YORK RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS HOUSING REFORM A Handbook for Use in American Cities By LAWRENCE VEILLER Secretary Tenement House Commission of 1900; Deputy Commissioner New York Tenement House Department under Mayor Seth Low • Director Department for the Improvement of Social Conditions of the New York Charity Organization Society; Joint Author The Tenement Problem; Director National Housing Association. As Mr. de Forest points out in the introduction, this book is written by ** the person most competent by knowledge and experi- ence to deal with the subject." Mr. Veiller is qualified as a reformer, as "a lobbyist in behalf of the common welfare," as a public official, to treat housing reform in a practical way. He tells not only the need but the remedy, and how to secure it. CONTENTS FOREWORD, BY ROBERT W. de FOREST I. Housing Evils and Their Significance. II. Some Popular Fallacies. III. Congestion and Overcrowding. IV. The Housing Problem a Three-fold One. V. How to Start a Movement for Housing Reform. VI. The Essentials of a Housing Investigation. VII. Model Tenements and Their Limitations. VIII. Municipal Tenements and Municipal Regulation. IX. Essential Principles of a Housing Law. X. What a Housing Law Should Contain. XI. The Enforcement of Housing Laws. XII. How to Secure Legislative Reforms. XIII. The Field of Private Effort. XIV. A Chapter of "Don'ts." Sample Schedules for Housing Investigations. Index. 220 Pages; Price, Postpaid, $1.25 SOME, SENTENCES FROM HOUSING REFORM No growing American city, however free from tenements now, can afford to be without building regulations, to prevent dark rooms and unsanitary conditions. No housing evils are necessary ; none need be tolerated. Where they exist they are always a reflection upon the intelligence, rightmindedness and moral tone of the community. Reforms not based upon carefully ascertained facts will be found to have no permanent value. The breastworks which defend the law are made of the materials dug out in the investigations. CHARITIES PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 105 E. 22d Street, New York RETURN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN LIBRARY ' TO— ^ 210 Wurster Hall 642-4818 LOAN PERIOD 1 QUARTER 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Return books early if they are not being used DUE AS STAMPED BELOW SEMESTER LOAN/ m 2 1994 TESTER LOAN JAN 7 2004 MAY '? 1 *m BMV! DES OCT 71 '{?- +^h APR I 9 2000 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD1 3, 74m, 3/78 BERKELEY, CA 94720 GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY BDODfc^lMT