The day book. [volume], September 07, 1912, Image 3

About The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
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CONDITIONS JN PHOTO CARD FACTORY EXPOSED
The Day Book today forced an
investigation of the photo card
factory of Taprell, Loomis & Co.,
at 1727 Indiana avenue.
Conditions there are described
as horrible by Mrs. M. E. Franks,
the woman who exposed the rot
tenness in the Glenwood School
for Boys, and who worked for
Taprell, Loomis & Co. for five
weeks to get evidence.
There are lSO-girls employed
in the factory. All of them work
in one room on the fourth floor.
There are elevators in the build
ing. But the bosses will not al
low the girls to use them, and
force,.them to walk up four flights
okstairs.
Mrs., Franks says that fwhen
she fiYst went to work there two
of the girls were suffering from
running sores. Before she left,
three of them were.
The girls all work on photo
cards, which are passed from
hand to hand around the big
room. Thus every card passed
from the hans of the diseased to
the healthy. And then they were
sent out to be put on sale all over
the country.
There are only three toilets for
all the 150 girls, and only two
towels in each toilet. The Heal
thy girls ,are forced to use the
same towels as those suffering
fro mrunning sores.
The hours and wages in the
factory are pitiful. The hours are
from 7 '30 a. m. to 6 p. m.on week-,
days, with half an. hour for lunch.
This is 10 hours, just letting the
factory owners within the law.
On Saturdays, the hours are from
7:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m.
When a girl first goes to work
in the factory she is paid one dol
lar for week days and half a dol
lar for Saturdays, making the'
magnificent total of $5.50 per
week of 57j hours' work. '
She is promised that at the end
of three weeks she will1 be put on
piece work, which will enable her
to make from $6 to $8 a week.
Mrs. Franks was there five weeks.
The promise was never kept. v
Mrs. Franks was told by girls
who had worked there for years
that no girl was allowed to stay
cn-piece work long. As soon as
she' got' to making too much
money, slie was taken off and put
on the old .scale of $5.50 a week.
One woman, who said she had
worked in the factory for three
years, was getting only $6 a week.
Mrs. Franks told The Day
Book Thursday that she had re
ported these conditions to State
Factory Inspector Edgar T. Da
yies. '
Friday, a Day Book reporter
saw Inspector Davies, and asked
h,im what he had done abou it
j Davies then flatly denied that
ever 'had seen Mrs. Franks, or
heard any complaint against the
TaprelL Loomis & Co. factory.
The Day Book called up Mrs.
Franks over the telephone and
asked her to describe Inspector
Davies. She did so, perfectly.
Today, The Day Book got Mrs.
Franks to go fo the state factory;