"This Misery Cries to Heaven" - April 21, 1896

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Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. - James 5:4

Al Capone's soup kitchen (circa 1931)

When things start to look dire, nothing like images of heaven and hell to set the stakes as the union accuses the manufacturers of creating "an inferno for the souls of the oppressed." Nevertheless, clearly being out of work was straining workers six weeks into the strike in spite of efforts by their neighbors and fellow unions to help out. As hunger for workers and their families loom, even more workers, mostly Bohemians, quit their shops which shows that the conditions in the shops must have been pretty dang miserable. Our family tailors were likely also existing at bare sustenance level along with their immigrant neighbors. How much longer will they last?

To make my point, I couldn't resist posting a picture of Al Capone's soup kitchen which is one of the many fascinating finds of my research. I know this is a different era and I'm not conflating Al Capone with the Lord Almighty. But still, this is a Chicago story, so Capone it is.





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