Commissioner Wright: "You have spoken of asking the company for a reduction in rent. What rent do you pay, and what did you get for it?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "Up to the beginning of the strike I paid $17 a month rent and 71 cents per month for water. Gas I did not use. Could not afford it. The company charged $2.25 per 1,000 feet. My house had five rooms, cellar and back yard." Commissioner Wright: "What would similar houses rent for elsewhere?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "I know of eight and nine room cottages with front and back yards, in every way more desirable than the house I live in, that can be rented for $8.00 and $9.00 per month."
Commissioner Worthington: "What, in your opinion, would it cost to build houses such as you live in?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "I should like to take the contract for building them at $600 apiece."
Commissioner Kernan: "What other accommodations do you get for the rent you pay, say in the way of paved streets?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "There are cheap wooden sidewalks in front of the house and the company keeps a force of men on the street picking up paper and hauling away garbage. That's all I know."
Commissioner Wright: "Have you applied to the Pullman company for work since the strike?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "No, sir. I understand that I am blacklisted. They have a blacklist, you know. I have one in my pocket now."