Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Upton Sinclair's Novel of Packingtown T ‘The Jungle* BY UPTON SINCLAIR. rorvright, 1906, by Upton Sinclair. All Rights Reservetl. 1 CHAPTER II (CONTINUED). Thus waa the happy ending of a wpa. ful voyage. The two families literally Ml upon each other's necks—for It had been years since Jokubas Szedvtlaa had met a man from his part of Lithuania. Before half the day they were lifelong friends. Jokubas understood all the Pitfalls of this new world, and could explain all of Its mysteries; he could tell them the things they ought to have done In the different emergencies—and what was still more to the point, he could tell them tvhat to do now. He would take them to Pont Anlele, who kept a boarding house the other side of the yards; old Mrs. Juknlene, he ex plained, had not what one would call choice accommodations, but they might do for the moment. To this Teta Klz- bietn hastened to respond that nothing could be too cheap to suit them Jus; then; for they were quite terrified over the sums they had had to expend. A very few days of practical experience In this land of high wages hnd been suf ficient to make clear to them the cruel fact that It was nlso a land of high [,rices, and that In It the poor man was almost as poor as In any other corner of the earth; and so there vanished In a night all the wonderful dreams of wraith that had been haunting Jurgls. What had made the discovery all the more painful was that they were 'pending, at American prices, money which they had earned at home rates of wnges—and so were really being cheated by the world! ' The last two days they had nil but starved them reives—It made them quite sick to pay the prices that he railroad people' asked them for food. Yet, when they saw the home of the Widow Juknlene they could not but re coil. even so. In all their Journey they had seen nothing 1 so bad as this. Pont Anlele had a four-room flat In one of that wilderness of two-story frame ten intents that lie "back of the yards.' There were four such flats In each building, and each of the four was a "boarding house" for the occupancy of foreigners—Lithuanians, Poles, Slovaks nr Bohemians. Some of these places were kept by private persons, some were co-operative. There would be an average of half n dozen boarders to each room—sometimes there were thir teen or fourteen to one room, fifty or sixty to a flat. Each one of the occu pants furnished his own accommoda tions—that Is, a mattress and some bedding. Tho mattresses would spread upon the floor in rows—and there would be nothing else In the place except n stove. It was by no means unusual for two men to own the same mattress In common, one working by day and using It by night, and the other working at plght and using It In the daytime. Very frequently a lodg ing house keeper would rent the same beds to double shifts of men. Mrs. Juknlene was a wlzened-up lit tle woman with a wrinkled face. Her home was unthinkably filthy; you could not enter by the front door at nil, owing to the mattresses, and when you tried to go up the back stairs you found that she had walled up most of the porch with old boards to make a Place to keep her chickens. It was a etnndlng Jest of the boarders that Anlele cleaned house by letting the chickens loose In the rooms. Undoubt edly this did keep dqwn. the vermin, but It seemed probable, In view of alt the circumstances, that the old lady re garded It rather as feeding the chlck- enn than as cleaning the rooms. The truth wns that she had definitely given up the Idea of cleaning anything, under pressure of an attack of rheumatism, which kept her doubled up In one cor ner of her room for over a week, during which time eleven of her boarders, heavily in her debt, had concluded to try tholr chances of employment In Kansas City. This was July, and the fields were green. One never saw the fields, nor any green thing whatever In Packingtown; but one could go out on the road and "hobo It," as the men Phrased It, and see the country, and have a long rest, and an easy time riding on the freight cars. such was the home to which the new arrivals were xvelromed. There was nothing better to be had—they might n a do so well by looking further, for Mrs. Juknlene had at least kept one room for herself and her three little children, and now offered to share this with the women and the girts of the party. They could get bedding at a second-hand store, she explained; and they would not need any, while the weather was so hot—doubtless the; would all sleep on the sidewalk sucl nights ns this, as did nearly all of her guests. "Tomorrow," Jurgls said, when they were left alone, "tomorrow I will get a Job. and perhaps Jonas will get one also; and then we can get a place of our own." latter that afternoon he and Ona went out to take a walk and look about them, to see more of this district which Was to be their home. In back of the yards the dreary two-story frame houses were scattered farther apart, and there were great spaces bare—that seemingly had been overlooked by the great sore of a city as It spread It self over the surface of the prairie. These bare places were grown up with dingy, yellow weeds, hiding Innumer able tomato cans; Innumerable chil dren played upon them, chasing one another here and there, screaming and lighting. The most uncanny thing about this neighborhood was the number of the children; you thought there must be a school Just out, and It was only af'er long acquaintance that you were able to realize that there was no school, but that these were the children of the neighborhood—that there were so many children to the block In Packingtown that nowhere on Its streets could a h- -rse and buggy move faster than a Walk! It could not move faster anyhow, on •'count of the state of the streets. Those through which Jurgls and Ona "-re walking resembled streets less than they did a miniature topogrephl- (al map. The roadway was commonly several feet lower then the level of the houses, which were sometimes Joined by high-bonrd walks; thsrs were no pavements—there were mountains »nd valleys and rivers, gullies and CHINA OF QUALITY. Among our new arrivals in China are some exquisite ppeeimens in both French ainl English makes. People who are fond of truly artistic wares of this kind will find much to at tract them in our China Sec tion. < 'all any time. -TAIER & BERKELE. SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS The story of "The Jungle," Upton Sinclair's novel, which has caused the government Investigation Into the methode employed by the Beef Trust, had Its origin In an Actual Packingtown remoance. In AaMand avenue—“back of the itock yards"—the wedding took place. The flrat chapter merely ehowa a broad-shouldered butcher . being wedded to a young girl who -see* In him a hero. The wedding In all Ha grotesqueneaa la described in this chapter. The wedding ceremony is typical of Packingtown. It ends at dawn, when Jurgls and his bride, On*, depart, sadly realising that the contributions, which ore a feature of the feast, will not nearly bear the expense of the ceremony. The romance le a prelude to the story of actual life 1n the stock yards. At the end ofthe wedding festivity, with guests drunk, Jurgls averts froe-flghtlng, and hurries his bride off, carrying her. He says ehe must not return to the packing house, but she tearfully protests that her Idle ness would ruin their happiness. He gays, renssurlngly nnd tendenrly; "Leave It to me. I will earn more money. I will work harder." The "boss" under whom Jurgls slaved would have smiled had he heard this assurance. Jurgls could not work harder. The novelist then tells how Jurgls, poor, yet with the strength of the oxen he was later fated to kill, aspired to the hand of Ona; how her fath er objected; how the young glnnt wont sadly away and worked like mad until he had accumulated a little money, and how eventually America and the word "Chicago” lured them to this country, where they be lieved all men were literally equal, and gold awaited thoso who worked hard and faithfully. Ona's father being dead, Jurgls won his suit, after he had obtained e Job In the yards. Yesterday's Installment of the powerful narrative ended with telling how the party of Immigrants providentially—while wandering aimlessly through the streets after their arrival in the stock yards district—were cared for In the delicatessen shop of J. Sxvedllas, who hnd emigrated years before from Lithuania, and been reputed In Ills native country a prosperous man. ditches, and great hollows full of stinking green water. In these poole the children played end rolled about In the mud of the streets; here and there one noticed them digging In It, after trophies which they had stumbled on. One wondered about this, as also about the swarms of flies which hung about the scene, literally blackening the air, and the strange, fetid odor which as sailed one's nostrils, a ghastly odor, of all the dead things of the universe. It Impelled the visitor to questions— and then the residents would explain, quietly, that all this was "made” land, and that It hnd been “made” by using It as a dumping ground for the city garbage. After a few yeare the un pleasant effect of this would pass away. It waa said; but meantime. In hot weather—and especially when It rained —the flies were opt to be annoying. Wns It not unhealthful? the stranger would ask; and the residents would answer, "Perhaps; but there Is no tell ing." A little way further on, and Jurgls and Ona, staring open-eyed nnd won dering, came to the place where thla "made" ground was In process of mak ing. Here waa a grent hole, perhaps two city blocks square, And with long ■' pf garbage wagon/ creeping Into The place had an odor tor which there are no polite words; and It was sprinkled over with children, who raked In It from dawn till dark. Some times visitors from the packing houses would wander out to see this "dump." and they would stand by and debate as to whether the children were eating the food they got, or merely collecting It for the chickens at hoine.a Appar ently none of them ever went down to And out. Beyond this dump there etood a great brickyard, with smoking chimneys. First they took out the soil to make bricks, and then they flllod It up again with garbage, which seemed to Jurgls and Ona n felicitous arrangement, characteristic of an enterprising coun try like America. A little way beyond was another great hole, which they had emptied and not yst tilled up. This held water, and all summer It stood there, with the near-by soil draining Into It, festering and stewing In tho sun; and then, when winter came, somebody cut the Ice on It, and sold It to the people of the city. This, too, seemed to the new-comsrs an economi cal arrangement; for they did not read the newspapers, and their heads were not full of troublesome thoughts about "germs." They stood there while the sun went down upon this scene, and the sky In the west turned blood-red, and the tops of the houses shone like fire. Jurgls and Ona were not thinking of the sunset, however—their backs wefip turned to It. and all their thoughts were of Packingtown. which they could see eo plainly In the distance. The line of the buildings stood clear-cut and black against tha sky; here end there out of the men rose the great chim neys, with the river of emoke stream ing away to the end of the world. It was a study In colors now, thla smoke; In the eunaet light It wee black and brown and gray and purple. All the sordid suggestions of the place were gone—In the twilight It was a vision of power. To the two who etood watch ing while the darkness swallowed It up, It seemed a dream of wonder, with Its tale of humar energy, of things be ing done, of employment for thousands upon thousands of men, of opportunity and freedom of life and love jmd Joy. When they came away, arm In arm, Jurgls was saying, "Tomorrow I shall go there end get a Job!" CHAPTER III. In hie capacity as delicatessen ven der, .Jokubas Ssedrilas had many ac quaintances. Among these waa one of the special policemen employed by Durham, whose duty It frequently waa to pick out men for employment Joku bas had never tried It, but he expressed certainty that he could get some of hie friends a Job through this man. It waa agreed, after consultation, that he should make the effort with old An- tanas and with Jonas. Jurgls waa con fident of hit ability to get work for himself, unassisted by any one. As we have said before he was not mistaken In this. He had gone to Brown's and stood there not more than half an hour before one of the bosses noticed hie form towering above the rest and signalled to him. The collo quy which followed waa brief and to tha point; 'Speak English?” •So: Llt-uantan.” (Jurgls had stud ied this word carefully.) "Job?" -Je." (A nod.) "Worked here before r "No' stand." (Signals and gesticulations on the part of the bees. Vigorous shakes of the heed by Jurgls.) "8horel guts?" "No ’stand." (More shakes of the h juntos, pxgsilfcsxtJr, S*luou'." (Im itative motions.) “iSe door. Durys?" (Pointing.) "Ja." "Tomorrow, * o'clock. Understand? BytoJI Prieespletys! Septynl!" "Dekul, tamlstal!" (Thanks you, sir.) And that was all. Jurgls turned away, and then in n sudden rush the full realization of his triumph swept over him, and he gave a yell and a Jump, and started off on n run. He had a Job! And he went all the way home as if upon wings, and burst Into the house like a cyclone, to the rage of the numerous lodgers who had Just turned In for their dally sleep. Meantime Jokubas had been to see his friend the policeman, and received encouragement, so It wns n happy par ty. There being no more to bo done that day, the shop was left under the care of LucIJa, and her husband sallied forth to show his friend? the sights of Packingtown. Jokubas did this with the air of a country gentlemnn escort Ing a party of visitors over his estate, he was an old-time resident, and nil thsse wonder* had grown up under his eyes, and he had a personal pride In them. The packers might own the land, but he claimed the landscape, and there was no one to Say nay. to this.' They passed down the buey street that led to the yards. It was stllPearly morning, and everything was at Its high tide of activity. A steady stream of employees was pouring through the gate—employees of tho higher sort, at this hour, clerks nnd stenographer* nnd such. For tho women there were waiting big two-horso wagons, which set off at a gallop as fast as they were filled. In the distance there was heard 1'guln tli" lowing of Hi" , nulo. u si,iiml ns of a far-off ocean calling. They followed It, this time, as eager as rhll dren In sight of a circus menagerie— which. Indeed, the scene a good deni resembled. They crossed the railroad tracks, ahd then on each side of the atreet.were the pens full of cattle; they would have stopped to look, but Joku bas hurried them on, to where there waa a stairway and a raised gallery, from which everything could be seen. Here they stood, staring, breathless with wonder. There Is over a square mile of apace In the yards, and more than half of It Is occupied by cattle pens; north and south as far as tho eyo can reach„thero stretches a sea of pens. And they were filled—so many cattle no one had ever dreamed existed In the world. Rod cattle, black, white and yellow cattlo old cattle and young cattle: great bel lowing bulla and little reives not an hour born; meek-eyed milch cowa and fierce, long-horned Texas steers. The sound of them here woe aa of all the barnyards of the universe; and aa for counting them—It would have taken all day simply to count the pens. Here and there ran long alley*, blocked at Intervals by gates, and Jokubas told them that the number of these gates waa twenty-five thousand. Jokubas had recently been reading a newspaper article which was full of statistics such as that, and ha was very proud as he repeated them and made his guests cry out with wonder. Jurgls, too, had a little of this sens* of pride. Had he not Juat got a Job, and become a sharer In all thla activity, a cog In thla mar, vellous machine? Here and there about the alleys gal loped men upon horseback, booted and carrying long whips; they were very busy, calling to each other, and to those who were driving the rattle. They were drover* and stock raisers, who had come from far states, and brokers and commission merchants, and buyers for all the big packing houses. Here and there they would stop to Inspect a bunch of cattle, and there would be a parlay, brief and bualneai-llk*. The buyer would nod or drop hia whip, and that would mean a bargain; and he would note It In his little book, along with hundreds of others ha had mndr ;bat morning. Then Jokubas pointed out the place where the cattle were driven to be weighed, upon a great scale that would weigh a hundred thousand pounds at ones and fecord It automatically. It waa near to tha east entrance that they stood, end all along this east side of the yard* ran the rail road tracks, Into which the car* were run, loaded with cattle. All night long this bad been irning on, end now the pens were full; >-y tonight they would all be empty, and tha mm* thing would be done again. "And what will become of alt these ere*lures?" cried Teta Klzbleta. "By tonight," Jokubas answered, "they will all be killed and cut up; and over thar* on the other side of the packing houses are more railroad tracks, where the cars come to take them away." There were two hundred ahd fifty miles of tracks within the yards, their guide went on to tell them. They brought about ten thousand head of rattle every day, and aa many hogs, and half as many sheep—which meant tom* eight or ten million live creator** turned Into food every year. One stood and watched, and little by little raught the drift of the tide, ss It act In the direction of the packing houses. There were groups of cattle being driven to the chutes, which were roadways about fifteen feet wide, raised high above the pens. In these chutes the stream or animals was continuous; It was quite uncanny to watch them, pressing on to their fate, all unsuspicious—a very river of death. Our friends were not poetical, and tha sight suggested to them no metaphors of human destiny: they thought only of the wonderful efllrlency of It all. The chulr* Into which the bog* went climbed high up— to the very top of the distant build ings; and Jokubas explained that ths A CLOTHING SALE! THE LEADING COMMERCIAL EVENT! '• A Liberal Discount Sixty Days in Advance of Price Cutting Generally. j A Clothing Event That Eclipses In Radical Value-Giving Any Atlanta Has Ever Known, Coming As It Does At The Very ’ Height Of The Season, When Thonsands Of Men First Think Of Summer Clothing. r A v: jr From Our Factory Come Several Hundred Suits. This, Together With Our Immense Stock, Makes The Sale Imperative. The Values In This Sale Are Simply Marvelous; You’ll Quickly Agree With Us When Yon See .The Tremendous Price Reductions. Two and Three-piece Suits. Two-piece Suits and Three-pioce Suits in single and doublo breast ed models, of weaves and fabrics that aro perfect. Suits that are worth and sold at $7.50, $8.50 and $9.00, now Two-piece Suits and Three-piece Suits in single nnd double breast ed models. Excellent worsteds, tweeds, cheviots and easaimeres. that are worth and sold at $10.00 and $11.50, now Ql c Two-piece Suits and Three-piece Suita in single nnd double-breast ed models, in auit* as perfect as tailor-made hinds, in every up-to- tho-instant fabric, that nre worth ■ad MM It $16.50..,, Two-piece Suits and Three-piece Suits in single and double-breast ed models, of hnndsome worsteds, cheviots nnd velours. Suits thnt nre worth nnd sold at $18, $20, $25 nnd $80. Now $11.90 $10.90 MAIL. ORDERS FILLED. J 89-91 Whitehall St. Manufacturing Clothiers. The Globe Clothing Co. hog* went up by the power of their own legz. and then their weight car ried them back through aU the pro cesses necessary to make* them Into pork. "They don't waste anything here." raid the guide, and then he laughed and added a witticism, which h* was Pleased that tala unidphtstlcated friends should take to be his own: "They us* everything about the hog except the ueal.” In front of Brown's general -.flee building there grow* a tiny plot of gra**, nnd this, you may learn. Is ■ r Wt of green thing In Packing- town; likewise this Jest about the hog and his squeal, the stock In trade of all the guides. Is the on* gleam of hu mor that you will And there. After they had seen enough of the pen*, the party went up the street, to the mas* of buildings which occupy the center of the yards. These buildings, made of brick and stained with In numerable layers of Packingtown smoke, were painted all over with ad vertising signs, from which ths visitor realized suddenly that he had come to the home of many of tfce torment* of hi* Ilf*. It was her* that they made products with the wonders of, silly little Jingles that he could not get out of his mind and gaudy pictures that lurked for him around every street corner. Here wns where they made Brown’s Imperial Hums and Racon, Brown’s Dressed Beef, Brown's Ex celsior Hausages! Here was the head quarter* of Durham's Pure Leaf Lard. Durham’s Breakfast Bacon, Durham's Canned Reef, Potted Ham. Devilled Chicken, Peerless Fertilizer! Entering one of the Durham build ings, they found a number of other visitors waiting; and before long there came a guide to escort them through the place. They make a great feature of showing stranger* through the packing plants, for It Is a good adver- tlaement. But Jonaa Jokubaa whis pered maliciously that the visitors did not see any more than the. packers wanted them to. *' They climbed a long series of stair way* outside of the building to the top of Its five or six stories. Here were the chute, with Its rlxer of hogs, all patiently tolling upward: the-e was a ® Place for them to rest to cool off. which they postered him eo by placards I then through another passageway they that defaced the landscape when be | went Into a room from which there Is traveled and by staring advertisements no returning for hoge. In the newspapers and magazines—by It was a long, narrow room, with a gallery along It for visitors. At the while men were head there was a great Iron wheel, about twenty feet In circumference, with rings here and there along Its edge. Upon both sides of this wheel there was s narrow space. Into which cam* the hog* at the end of their Journey; In the midst of them stood a great burly negro, bare-armed nnd hare-cheated. He was resting for the moment, for the wheel had stopped ning up. In a minute or two, however, II begun slow ly to revolve, nnd then the m»n upon ■ . I. -Me ,,r II si„oM K I,, work They had chain* which they fastened about the leg of the nearest hog, and the other end of the chain the hooked Into ono of the ring* upon the wheel, Bo. aa the wheel turned, a hog "a* suddenly Jerked ulf hla feet and born* aloft. (Continued in Tomorrow's Georgian.) THE COLE BOOK CO., 69 Whitehall Street, will supply THE JUNGLE by Sinclair in complete form for$1.20. BUY A COPY TODAY!