N LoiNDONS
e
f 1
It:,- : .., .-.
I - . .
'if W I
4,
., .vatfyj.jM'
V.. .ll .'iv'. j-jl '-.- ' -XW .i Ki-
rt
Her Sensational Ejcperi-1
ence of the Underworld
Across the Sea
SHICAGO is not the only city with a
i . "iungle" And the ravening beasts
capitalism seeking whom they . may
devour, in the pages 'of a Siricfairian novel,
are not confined by any means to the United
States. Not if we may believe Olive Chris
tian Malvery, a young woman who has
already earned a unique reputation in Eng
land by her clever writings and -uho lately
raised a furor by publishing a book dealing
largely with what she calls "the jungle of
London."
If we may believe her and she claims
to have ferreted out the secrets of the terrible
underworld herself the horrors of the Chi
cago meat markets and stockyards are more
than paralleled in London... Moreover, they
are repeated in industry after industry, in in
numerable phases of life, until London, it
nould seem, after reading the book, must cry
aloud with its iniquities and abominations.
And in this connection it is interesting to
note that Miss Malvery or Mrs. Archibald
Mackirdy has traveled in the United States,
where she Aerlarss mnditinns are hrttrr and
, . t t ,
cleaner in every respect than they are in the
industries and among the working people of
F n eland
"
How decayed and putrescent meats arc
prepared for consumption, how foods are
adulterated, how women labor in degrading
and nauseating conditions and the almost un
believable conditions in which the poor live
are revelations made after a first-hand investi
gation. Eight years were spent by Miss Malvery
in gathering her material. A young and re
fined woman, she sought life as it was, lived
4. j- j 7. , it n ;
uk LUiicii, Ullguncu UCT)CI J u Jivwcr gn t ,
. J -U -, , - J itr',at
ziorked in sweatshops, stores and factories,
prfiA nfttiretitir'thiti r c n hnrinniA tnrL'fd
servea apprenticeship c.s a uarmaia, ttorA.ftf
as a waitress, lived in hovels and among the
most degraded in one street, indeed, discov
ering a colony where young children were
trained to thieve.
M'
ISS MALVERY. who several years ago was
married to Archibald Mackirdy, for twenty
five years United States consul at Muscat.
Arabia, was born in India. In her veins
flows the Cilood of Indian princesses. But in her the
dreamy temperament of the Indian was stirred by the.
high spirit coming from Scotch ancestry and tempered
by the artistic spirit of a French inheritance.
Imbued with high ambitions, she went to Ixindon
when in her teens to study music. While a student at
the Royal College she studied dramatic art under
Beerbohm Tree.
Three years of rttudy, then she appeared In the
role Qt singer, lecturer and reciter. Much of her
work was among working girls She entertained both
In the drawing room and guilds In factory districts.
6truck by; the shallow and Insincere lives of the
rich, and Hie' bard, unhappy lives of the poor, she be
came Impressed with the sense of doing something
to help the unfortunate. How did they live? From
what did they suffer? What could be done for them?
It was the desire to learn their needs that im
pelled her to become one of them one with the ros
ter, the flower girls, the fishwives, the factory hands,
one In that teeming, festering underworld where, she
say a. revelations came as startling ,n those that
greeted John in Patmoa.
Mis Malvery's experience began with work In a
box factory, where he secured a Job as learner. "I
was sent up to a girl whom I found at work on a
bench in a long room crowded with other benches and
girls My task was to work for her at no wages for
one month After this 1 was to he put on piece
work myself. This arrangement meant that I had to
give my time to this girl for a month In return for
the Instruction she could give."
One year training. Miss Malverr learned, would
be required before she could earn six shillings. Eighty
girls and young women were employed in this place
They were in charge of foremen who. she declared
were able to ahow favoritism to the girls
One of the girls' choice amusements was the "penny
"op" One of these Miss Malvery attended "This was
a dance given in a back parlor of a small public
house." r,e writes. "I sat against the wall and
watched some of these young creaturee disport them
!ve. The young men took them out occasionally to
the br and treated them to drinks
'We did not get home until i: orlok i-id I fojnd
thst these ven.r.g expeditions made it very difficult
for us to rfse Tn the morning In time for our work '
Of the work she says:
"I used to grow fslnt very often In tb cardboard
box factory the air was bad. the light was bad too
and the lack of rod food nd.led to the hardship of1
the work. No women earned quite 1 IS a wek in
this factorv, and we had to work overtime, s-d ,-.ften
workers were obliged to go out I1L There as abso
lutely no thouerhl for the employee yet In lookirg
over the fnsncial columns rf a paper I saw the yesr s
oiTiueni pain ey tnie very lacrory ana the profits
were most excellent "
Among thee factory girl. M! Vslrerr declares a
festlon for gambling Is rampart In almost ever
actory, sh ears there Is a 'starting price b-rk-traker."
and on Faturdaye trd In spsre moment ther
weald gather and eagerly dieevas the merits of race
koreet
i - ; : , i v v...;. v j i nil i mm mtu mm rm n r Afft 5' cfiiiw-i
- ' III. . . vx-as f r . 'if-v.'.i:Aj!t5
I It S ' 1,1' . Iff J 1". y ar,!
In the aerated water concerns, where many women
are employed, she found conditions to be alarming.
Explosions of glass and broken machinery are al-
WQys iinmll,t.,u, a.d m one year. ma. m women
were injured.
"ily exiic-rience In a Jam factory was very difficult
tr endure ' slie writes. "ln iam factories, tin box fac-
tories and fur sewing- houses the workers are often
of a vei v idii'ii class. In these branches of trade
many mariiri women work, and the behavior and
lanfc nape cf these women is generally bad.
"Many of ttie women used to keep 'Saint Monday.'
That is. "tt.i.-. used to drink heavily on Sunday, and
be so unfit for work on Monday that they were
oblieed to slay nwav or work half time only."
t o in men t i n on tiie intolerably lilthy conditions in
these places, the fair InvestiKator says;
"KiiKland Is a rich country, et in America they
Kive women toilers splendid clubs and fine eating
houses, bright and comfortable places where they
can enj.iy the companionship of their lovers, brothers
and husbands under happy conditions. They gmard
their people by such societies as the Consumers'
Leaitui."
Her experience in the first Jam factory was mild
compared to that in others, line dealer bought the
cheapest, and. consequently, decayed fruit. "It may
be some little compensation." she comments, "to the
nilS(,raMe toners to think that a tine iadv with aii
the dainty tastes fostered by great wealth and elegant
;.,surroun(ljnKS may perhaps, partake of some pre-
uerved delicacy which has heen made in filthy and in
sanitary workshops by suffering- and dirty people.
s the Silk Hat to Pass into History?
(T l v; '? w 5Si 0
72vs was 5yfisb a? Che Sj Gmuv?? $ovey?pe
G
OIN(i! (ioingl (June:
The Summer Ci i rl f No. foarnrthinft less
attractive, but a more important thing to
many mm the 8ilk hat!
That's it. They say ;t is puihR-. Or, rather,
that it has already pons) in Ixnrl.n. This is the sad
fact at hast, it will hp hailed with sorrow with
that staid and respectable coterie of rhop-whLskered
gentlemen whose embonpoint is tittinly accentu
ated by the crowninp of the hirh ?ilk hat.
1 he Summer Girl is perennial. So, truth to
ttll, t-t-emed the high silk hat. Put it seems they
hare decided on its extinction, and it r.o longer ap
pears save on purely formal occasions. Sometimes
not even then.
o
NFl ef the mo,t impressive 'ghts at the rr.m
I rnco-Brlt;h Krrltlon In Urlrni the
pageant of frock-coated gentlemen topped off
by silk hats
"l it a f uneralr' asked a rabby
"FunerrT." chewed a cockney hov. with scorn.
"Them fashun p.atfa welkin' fr the new clothe
men "
An1 r it seemed So. It seme1 to th"uiMt rf
rit'res. who. In the r:r f the high ihk hat.' had
Eever wtne4 inch tight
"Ten thousand men" Fifteen thousand'" "Repre
sentatives of the tatters' asaociatioe '." "High silk
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. AUGUST 2 1903
Jungle; A Wqn$ Ieriemge
In one shop the women were all desperately dirty.
Many of them spent their nights on tho sUeet. one
had a skin disease, others were Hi. There was no
place there where the workers could Wash their
hands. "We were at the factory at 7 in the morning
and worked all day, with about ten minutes f,,r food
at noon and ten minutes abut 1. untit o'clock, thus
exceeding the working limit allowed by the factmy
act. It was our business to pick as rapidly, ns possible
the stems and lean's from t!,e ft oil i;i ..to- hasxei and
throw the stuff thus prepared i.'.t-. thf ,.;,.-r, ready to
be can ied away to the boiling rton.."
USED UNSALABLE FRUIT
1 he fruit was not washed. Lsual.y it
able stuff bought cheap and broug:,t ti tli.
Halt I erir.cn 1 1 ng . Adulterants wet.- ::.-i.
In a marmalade factory ureal ir.ttt'.e ..
peel w ere brought m ai d i.'d in i: e n ,i , ;f;
.ietly. A stoiy m cl ri-u la; i: ai:....r:g -,...i
that these were swept at i.igiit off tiie s:
scaveii'fis.
fa.-tory
"1 had no means of veti: i:-,g t:.
writer declares, "but this 1 .1" ki v
which came in great basket e e
deca y.
"The enrious pari "f the f..1
seems to me the maie'oiis- w a - iti
ous owners of these fact cries can tt
looking stuffs from t!,- I -If d". a
o nt. till'
. e . ranges
a static of
1 !
e r : : , g n a b'
i : the i 1 1 1- e : i i .
oit .jiiiti nlc
and d ise t s.'d
cJtySoveJ&y.
hats!" "Popularity '" "V. - - 1
professional criers hi..e ! . . a.
hat In stentorian tones, . . - a
marched through i.he ex...' ;
and moving amon tne ;i- , ..-
"I never saw so man. i.-r. m . a
In London." declare. I a v..1- 'ir -a.- .
"Why. don't ou know .
answered a InJonir Ir
hat mah ufact u rer a ser.t c: t
high atlk hat."
"Do you mean to ear." !
Itor, "that they no longer t "
London, the -home of trie hut . t. k
"Not impossible but tr . i
given it up Trey een ma:
siona. And the srrro. of r .a. rt. -.
dressed, hi ere one n , . r '.
their employer wttrlr.i s k '
hats, even capa. Oh thirst ::. V. ( --
"Well. I guess so." rep. led the i:
gasted way.
According to rpor's th '-" -
hat emp.oves f.i.ed ti rv . f
high silk hat- Pa r. k t - e ' '
Mock brokers donned -a':' '
A r 1
Ik
..:' -i.
s . . k hats
i l -u
ri
accustomed to the high silk
i s i
because of the ttd of pjhlic
-. i , a n
The silk hat In London
irori :, To rerTi" 'as
b in m A rlr ft vis If is rl;,a 'l t V I'-'''
Ian fossils In the muum It r f v '"
bandhoxe a a aarred tV-i a-.-l '- c . 1 -''
said to hare Inaur jrt1 -' - .t - - 1 i 'e
ilalir with the reverem- mlt-. ' -, ' ' -' "
placea: yea. place whre a-cestcn gae up
thefr Urea. If It were on a iciTf.d'
material. There are the usual dyeing and other proc
esses, and these have evidently been brought to auch
a stale if perfection that, in appearance at least, the
prepared articles glvo no hint of their unsavory
i . i 1 j, i n . "
Her experience in the meat Industry caused Miss
Malvery to become a vegetarian, except, she says,
when she could net meat she positively knew to be
good. It is customa r , she declares, among the farmers
to s.-nd all disase l or tuberculous cattle to London
to be sold as fiiiriu meat.
Ity advertising t. ai she wished to buy a butcher's
business Miss Malveiy was enabled to examine many
slaughter hi
with a large
The I'.e:
lal ge ui:i,.i
i.a.oe til al i
-. .-i,e ftnaily got a Job as bookkeeper
it pin king concern.
act. ii y 1 u orked in was owned by a
and a v e : y rich one. It Is run in a
b. e:i familiar for many ears to the
iritis! I : , I -1 1 1
"A : n i ' 1 1 g ol he
factor' . ere in
'lea I I s :,:,. live
.ml nn ; Ions which arrived at the
oas cases of meat, tongues, sheeps'
w-i U'h were delivered here from
. 111 e ; 1 L a M . 1 o I 1 . e ," p!
"There Js a e'ass
t 'ou s 1 v in the trade -
of sheep that fr
.Men I : 1 i e 1 ' I I ...ii.'. ;
On .me oi'Vaion there
s
cnnils which- Is called face
atian atrocities." This consists
Sei via. They are frozen and
a verv Indifferent condition,
nme Into the factory where I
d rain
's n nd o1
- w b n cases containing
.e.irt which wre mildewed over.-
t o n g .
high
hat in tha United
i. -it h
h-.
u t - . t - e i a
Hl!.i w e i - .
::.-: i ..
I j 1 W . A
r. v vi ele ,
pr'iri of : V-
:. t te
-. K :
' i r r r e .1 v e
' And other
ira'.s ai. 1 ca, a
Cr.e of tV.
hit in I ,o:, i -
r e v n ! u I "s t '.
k .
H-g-
- .e .:
w r. r. ir" aji
f ,imi
wear
' t
ea-sor. s f
i sa : 1
p-a . i e
1 r. " a j '
high , k
bl What
It kills c-il-
n !tii ii 1 n -r,
fa thev
t - le lis- -i-s
- h r e h ! 1 r a
hf; e r : o n affx r
1 k
n he cant v .
ar, i - I". I-T d -
".AVi
dec oleJ v Ir t r
ik ha-
o.itf ' A.
A-.l t .-. e
-.h-e
7 -,a . f h v a t 5 " -X ;f
g.v rC . . p !..-- - 1 1 r. ' h k t
l'ke'v -r.at A i.en.a- 'l ' r, aJ-t't 'he i" t
r t.-i ..r or pur' " fan.-:-' X - 1out-
1 r v " f r r v ' :- P -t it malr.
r, rr-f't 'o' T-rr 'i' "
m--..M,.K ra: s s--"ipg lm-
-' ' !- 1f . -- s--. -rr' Thee'ik
' .'..x -x a '- s Kr ".' re :r dsr r' traw
,,r. . tij la ..-.. cou.-.try w&att WU1
.-3.
.
and smelt so fearfully that the odor made me physio
ally sick.
"The whole air was polluted by the smell from
these horrid cases, and yet every scrap of that dig
eased offal was used in the preparation ., of potted.
tongues and savories of various kinds."
These meats, avers the doughty Investigator, were
highly seasoned and doctored with preservative".
The meat Inspectors of London number eight.
There arrived In the city in 1906. according to MiM
Mai verv. 4 15.96 tons of meat. There were slaughtered
In the Metropolitan Cattle Market 173,904 animals. Ot
this number luul were condemned as unlit for food at
riverside wharves. This caused the packers to send
the meat to the wharves in vans, delivering the meat
to retailers direct, often frustrating meat Inspection.
In one packing house Miss Malvery relates seeing;
tongue and pork coming in lor pressing mat wore
falling apart In decomposition. The staffs of worker
in these places are reinforced by relays or tramps
that drift in. The workers, as a rule, are dirty and un
washed, and the establishments "a perfect miasma 0
standi and animal orfiranlsms.
In the bakeries of London the young explorer di
covered that foreign eggs were used.
"The stench from these was absolutely loathsome,'
she writes. "In a baker's shop where I obtained !
ployment in the West End they used eggs which war
sent from Holland In great casks tnat is to say, egga
were broken Into these casks and packed in Holla,nd.
This Is decidedly a trade that ought to be stopped St
once, for it was a usual occurrence mat inese eggs
arrived In a seinl-deeayed state. They were well
lu'aten un. and owing: to the flavorings used and th
baking, It was remarkable how little apparently bad
effect they had on the pastries and cakes they war
used for.
I'ondliions In the bakeries are described as tin'
sneakahle In one of the biggest shops In an under
ground vault dough was kneaded by the feet of man
who stood in the troughs, perspiration rolling iron)
their bodies.
During her exploration Miss Malvery lived among
the poorest. She penetrated the haunts or the miser
nhles of London. To learn their lives she both worked
and lived with the people of the underworld.
As a flower girl she sold flowers on the streets;
dressed In rags, she sang on the curbs, was Insulted,
endured the innumerable Indlgnltleff of the flower sell
er's and the street singer's lives.
WORKED AS A WAITRESS .r:
She w orked as a waitress In cheap code and fish'
ileus's In small sweatshops she scrubbed floors, an
dined the long tedious hours and studied the life.
ike girls frequently receive presents from tha
ma ' cast. nners who admire them," she says. "Flow
ers. theater and concert tickets are given and many
ai.ept these favors. Hut, as a rule, these young worn,
en are loyal to sweethearts of 'their own class; and it
woiiid make tunny a Junior clerk writhe If he could
.- .ar the lecipient of his gifts -take him off that tsr
.1.-.i-rit.e his piiysu.il peculiarities or affected mannar
of speech to her sweetheart."
As a barmai f she learned the hardships of this
l'fe. T.'ese whom, she declares, are usually honest,
alth v.igh haul, tie, I. and the ambition Is invariably tft
niairv a gentleman.
'he of Miss .M.iuery s most Interesting experiences
w her l.fe m 1'iovldence court. "A breeding placa
for thieve-i," she nil s It "a. stagnant, festering back
was--, of h'iniar it'-, where naagat but c: lino and d4s
a .--e can !l . on 1 sh . '
About the ( ou't stood thirty house?. Washing was
do--- ,., , p,,-, a. i- h I i"' f water ran to a
n: k in t-ie u. i 'the '. t'e co'.i'. ti..,k!-.g it "a baleful
bari.
i rh
M
f a :- i s; : . i i r. g r.-is. :, t: rough i ut the neich-
d
M
a :!'; ' at ti ls place and shs
l .-o:-i .il-.d saw the Ufa. t
;-. t: i la.-e di 1 not even malt
ird ojenly a c k n o wl edged that
ss -that is, Ly dishonesty," aha
' Ms' f t
a J et.T -" ,1
t " v 'live 1 on t :
' III" s.
Fr
d i y s -j
nut there sallied forth Trr
: gang, 'a no. like packs of wolves, pray ad
it i.i ..in f . .- t-y. fi nuplug down upon the
"Icoik.'u, w . t. fuJino-i lay thera open ta
o!..i t-e'i of money. Children
a le t . naiv. ,rai' l Into shop and Mnder
'. . f i'.e i.i ..:ni. c riarket, filching tha fruit
i - ir t. e.r t:nv h-:ci could (teal.
a rr. a' out nickin'T some urchin f Or
1 1 1
SCI.
-.. v i- .i t ii. we. i r.y a utile gang of children I
of or. what was called a 'nickln" axpedl-
.am a thieving raid. As they grsw older ;
-e I.:, nif.l h y n.ote e x perlencad erlraiaals la ta
f -t o - .ifttng' that is, till itealuig.
:v v.ar rrov'idenee court turns oat ens or
'.ci. -,i hooks' tiiat 1. pickpockets who gr
rr -..tii'ir red' or 'pinching a leather,' whlc1
English means taking a watch or stealing a.
the 't
tve
- r e
alTi In
Vouri'i!' -tirg den regularly t-urnad ent kal
ev. ari f counterreiters went to their sunnh,..
tnent a respectable men go to Dusinasa
o i.-.is 'r waa Misa Mai-Vary's ssperle
.in o; ionrjon. 10 oeecrioa ail ja b
To descrlba all
horrors
i and t.-.e v:r utterabie wretch d nee of ui e xr
mi It would take twaaty lives at.h as hra.V-
amful revnatlon of crime and misery such as I .;.
lure to say no "heathen exintry eould esutrlveX
The account of tha brtlltaat and brava young vein,
a n. neediee to say, has stirrod Loadosy alrsvost ,t.
eanlcaliv It has proToss-4 i Iseestlg-stlaa nrH
Upton P.reialr's book lasplrad Is tbla untry. Ief p
has brftusbt ta the attention af maay af f '
smug and centaated respectables al tha net I r
metres)!! condiUeas Iflty t.ees t.
dreamed eiutad. i