﻿Edmqndson : Juvenile Delinquency and Adult Crime 19 



first population, that of the construction gangs, was temporary 

 and numbered some 6,000 workmen. With the exception of 

 the foremen and skilled laborers necessary for construction work, 

 these workmen were chiefly of the lowest grade of immigrant 

 laborers who came without families, crowding into tents and 

 shacks. They presented living conditions such as those of the 

 ordinary railway construction gangs. As the construction period 

 gave way somewhat to the period of operating, the character of 

 the population changed. Some of the members of this popu- 

 lation, the construction gangs, remained in Gary still as construc- 

 tion gangs, for the work of building still went on; some moved 

 on to other works of this sort; some became workers in the mills 

 and took up a permanent residence in Gary, instituting some 

 sort of family life, some sending for families if they had any, 

 some sharing in the family life of others, or taking to the boarding- 

 house outright as a permanent home place. Other permanently 

 employed steel workers moved in — skilled laborers, foremen, 

 office men, officials, etc. Along with this population came the 

 element identified with the town — storekeepers, launderers, news- 

 paper men, lawyers, physicians, other professional and business 

 men, etc. The population now became permanent in character 

 and presented conditions of community life. 



The population at the present thre is primarily an industrial 

 population, for Gary is an industrial city. This population is 

 made up of skilled and unskilled laborers, foremen, clerks, officials, 

 etc., of the steel mill, subsidiary plants, and other mills and 

 plants. Aside from this population there is, as given above, 

 the population identified with the development of the town. A 

 study of the city directory is interesting as showing how this 

 population is employed in 1914 aside from the great industries, 

 and also as indicating in great degree the peculiar needs and 

 wants of Gary. For example, the great number of real estate 

 dealers indicates the newness of the town; the great number of 

 architects, lumber dealers, contractors and builders, brick and 

 cement dealers, electricians, etc., indicate t\he great amount of 

 building operation going on; the number of banks, the amount 

 , of financial operations; the number of hotels and restaurants 

 suggests the fact that the population does not live in normal 

 family groups; the number of lawyers, that the population is 

 given to much litigation; the number of saloons and breweries, 

 that the population demands liquors; 10 the listing of a maker 



10 1916. Before national prohibition. 



