of this was in one direction and half in another, neces~
sitating a change of cars; the law required that transfers
be given at all intersecting points, but the railway corpo~
ration had gotten round this by arranging a pretense at
separate ownership. So whenever he wished to ride, he
had to pay ten cents each way, or over ten per cent of his
income to this power, which had gotten its franchises long
ago by buying up the city council, in the face of popular
clamor amounting almost to a rebellion. Tired as he
felt at night, and dark and bitter cold as it was in the
morning, Jurgis generally chose to walk; at the hours
other workmen were travelling, the street-car monopoly
saw fit to put on so few cars that there would be men
hanging to every foot of the backs of them and often
crouching upon the snow-covered roof. Of course the
doors could never be closed, and so the cars were as cold
as outdoors; Jurgis, like many others, found it better to
spend his fare for a drink and a free lunch, to give him
strength to walk.

These, however, were all slight matters to a man who
had escaped from Durham's fertilizer-mill. Jurgis be~
gan to pick up heart again and to make plans. He had
lost his house, but then the awful load of the rent and
interest was off his shoulders, and when Marija was well
again they could start over and save. In the shop where
he worked was a man, a Lithuanian like himself, whom
the others spoke of in admiring whispers, because of the
mighty feats he was performing. All day he sat at a
machine turning bolts; and then in the evening he went
to the public school to study English and learn to read.
In addition, because he had a family of eight children to
support and his earnings were not enough, on Saturdays
and Sundays he served as a watchman; he was required
to press two buttons at opposite ends of a building every
five minutes, and as the walk only took him two minutes,
he had three minutes to study between each trip. Jurgis
felt jealous of this fellow; for that was the sort of thing
he himself had dreamed of, two or three years ago. He
might do it even yet, if he had a fair chance -- he might

[[239]]

p238 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p239w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p240

v?