PARTISAN REVIEW
staggering under the massive bundles of cut material. They
dropped the load in a pile, wiped the sweat trickling down their
faces and returned to the machines.
Hours? The clock stopped sometime in the year
1913
and
was never wound up again. Before dawn the workers trudged
up the stairs half asleep. Late in the evening they were still
working under the hissing f ans of the gas lights. They spent
sixty hours a week at the bench. They worked six days a week
and slept on the seventh. On the seventh day, in the twilight of
late afternoon, they emerged to see the world.
Wages? "What, you expect the boss to give you work and
pay you wages as well?" Nathan used to say to his fellow
workers. "Why, I can live on eight dollars a week,
kayed
hamelech,
according to the bounty of the king. One roll is more
than two cents? A piece of herring costs two cents. An apple,
two cents. Six cents according to the bounty of the king."
The Pretifit Company grew from year to year. Grey
strands appeared in the hair of the "old guard," Max, Nathan,
Karpov, Tony l\1aspero. Their shoulders drooped. They be·
g~n
wearing eye glasses.
Sam and Jake Toporov owned the Preti fit. As they grew
rich they moved their shop to Bleecker Street, took out large
insurance policies, and sent their wives to the Catskill Moun–
tains "to gain."
When the Men's Clothing "Vorkers Union was organized,
the workers of the Pretifit Company were in the front ranks.
They were proud of this Union born of revolt.
II.
The war. The Pretifit Company received truckloads of
cut uniforms: heavy, sand-colored goods sewed with extra heavy
thread. The color had to be matched at needle and bohbin. The
machine moved with difficulty. Needles and hooks broke.
Every day an officer came to the factory to inspect the
work and speed production. The war went on and wages
mounted. Max Silverberg quit. He said he was an anarchist
36
