of the newest
foreigners--Lithuanians, Poles, Bohemians, Slovaks--and when he had put
them through the mill he turned them over to another man to take to
the next polling place. When Jurgis first set out, the captain of the
precinct gave him a hundred dollars, and three times in the course of
the day he came for another hundred, and not more than twenty-five out
of each lot got stuck in his own pocket. The balance all went for actual
votes, and on a day of Democratic landslides they elected "Scotty"
Doyle, the ex-tenpin setter, by nearly a thousand plurality--and
beginning at five o'clock in the afternoon, and ending at three the next
morning, Jurgis treated himself to a most unholy and horrible "jag."
Nearly every one else in Packingtown did the same, however, for there
was universal exultation over this triumph of popular government, this
crushing defeat of an arrogant plutocrat by the power of the common
people.

Chapter 26

After the elections Jurgis stayed on in Packingtown and kept his
job. The agitation to break up the police protection of criminals was
continuing, and it seemed to him best to "lay low" for the present. He
had nearly three hundred dollars in the bank, and might have considered
himself entitled to a vacation; but he had an easy job, and force of
habit kept him at it. Besides, Mike Scully, whom he consulted, advised
him that something might "turn up" before long.

Jurgis got himself a place in a boardinghouse with some congenial
friends. He had already inquired of Aniele, and learned that Elzbieta
and her family had gone downtown, and so he gave no further thought
to them. He went with a new set, now, young unmarried fellows who were
"sporty." Jurgis had long ago cast off his fertilizer clothing, and
since going into politics he had donned a linen collar and a greasy red
necktie. He had some reason for thinking of his dress, for he was making
about eleven dollars a week, and two-thirds of it he might spend upon
his pleasures without ever touching his savings.

Sometimes he would ride down-town with a party of friends to the cheap
theaters and the music halls and other haunts with which they were
familiar. Many of the saloons in Packingtown had pool tables, and some
of them bowling alleys, by means of which he could spend his evenings
in petty gambling. Also, there were cards and dice. One time Jurgis got
into a game on a Saturday night and won prodigiously, and because he was
a man of s