The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-04 00:00:00

The Child in the Chimney.

(From the .Examiner.)
Few people who remember what good ground there Wad
for the Act of Parliament, paesed 20 years ago, prohibiting
the employment by the master cbimney-sweeps of VII
children to climb up the chimneys and " small boys for
flues," can desire otherwise than to support the efforts ot
society that has been doing all it can to make the act effec.,
tive. Instead of few people we should have said nobody,
.1_"
we had not met recently with three manifest exceptions 11
the Mayor of Newcastle and the Aldermen Sillick an
Dodds. At Newcastle the law for the protectiol!
of children againet this improper and now ca.;
necessary use of their young lives is said to be ver''
much set at defiance. An officer of the, Lonti°l
and Birmingham Association for the Protection °
Climbing Boys, has, therefore been to N-tewcsetlet
and on Thursday in last week four master swell
were summoned to the Mayor's police court for deli.eve° °.
the law. The terms of the Act are clear, and the lowes:
penalty for offence against it is declared to be £C,, the leighe
I,
£lO. Now let us see how this ,law was administered ~
four cases by the Mayor of Newcastle and th e Alelerract'
Sillick and Dodds. eiog
In the first case, James Frame was charged with ha her
employed a very little boy to sweep the chimney of a but"
in New Bridge-street. Evidence having been givenheir
The Bench retired to consider their decision, and on said
return into court the Mayor, addressing the defendan' and
that the magistrates had some doubt as to his guilocet,
they were inclined to give him the benefit of that c:: al-
though they were very much of opinion that he 111'...1" that
ployed the boy as alleged. He must be very carefinf be
he was not brought back again on such a charge, for be
was he would not be dealt with so leniently. 118 V7O-
- 6d.
The three worthies at once give us, the measure, of 'tool/elf
wits. They were "very much of opinion?' that tbeA to
was proved, but they had some doubt, and were incl. a
v7_ ete
give him the benefit of it; so they compounded bet f_ito
opinion and inclination by substituting for the neillor
legal fine of £5 a fine of sixpence. What right haa:otot
to fine the man sixpence if they really "hard some t't of
as to his guilt, and were inclined to give him the bencol,
that doubt ?" If they really had doubt, they were b°
4 of
whether inclined or not, to give the accused th.e betteuto
it. But the course of the other three cases will suggest ...00..
what they were in this matter most inclined to, was i''
tration of the law. bil
The next charge was not against James Frftevo!ia of
against a Robert Frame, for using his nephew, a el° jute
ten, instead of a machine. The boy was seen to the
the house with a sweep's climbing cap on his het 'Miler
defendant was seen to cone out and look we at the ebi'°: top,
pot, the boy's hand-brush was seen ebrust out at
tthlee
tap•
himth e
boy, house,cviaa se
h oeudt heardcf
lr
clean,
amn the, t
hbweoays
in evidence to his employer that ho had reaelloc3vpt into
The officer who saw this, testified farther thattl and 08y°
the roete-•
e Alderman
fireplace
ecgei
produced
ioisi
I. . wayC ou
.dot p I Gut the
does not l's°
Dodds said—"l think from his appearwaoe
illveswore that he
as if he swept chimneys." The child et Yet-, alder/nap
did not go up the chimney, and the ran Pr, and case,
on the strength of such evidence, dismi iced the
op
_, the
In the third case, against another n taster swaffelicc:, but:
name of John Frame,two witnesses prop
the lad who swept the chimney had not reeetdclrued.
mons to appear. That case, therefore, s 'as a J e
The fourth case was distinctly prey ad
char charged with Yet
Alexander Lumley, a sweep, was then g
ehhonoe a
mitting a boy named George 6toker to g° u ''
theprisoner h 0
Jane M'Dowell said that on the 23d til t. ee
Sikh • B ridge to sweet'
a little boy came to her house in Ilig- • the boy ee uP the
chimney. The boy went up. She say e
machine
what
-ed the
his _
his at;
chimney, and she also saw that they had iao
ever. lax
OW
ness.
Francis Peacock confirmed the evidet '.c .e of
- •-e ever seen th
The prisoner affected ignorance of havire ,3 was not ila ' to
14‘Dowell at all, and afterwards said le,
e 1. not be abl° if
town that day. He admitted that he wjivad set up. iliv
obtain witnesses to prove the alibi he
and
they fined t
case the magistrates considered proved,
defendant 2s. 6d.0.
trust the report?' Did net .
the la
ido.
In
this case may
we
fru
Sillick an d Dodds co°
andaol
fu_
ab t. ,
Town
at
ed ost;
Mayor of Newcastle and Aldermen
cti
.. a
176 i gun und for tc°s
Bider the sweep's asseveratro
Proportioned to the former
the case °.
' '' as
the
proportioned fib
tt oafs
' ce? If they "consideredprfe,e( el, lie ill
pen
inclination to give him the bde
, tee la
could be meant but contempt a , "-- , ele.
defence, what
i tgh i'" • e
They could only encourage master sweeps to ,a 1
slim
reporter says they did, aggravated as it was by a i i f
in Newcastle by the imposition, l'll - fta6
Act of Parliament and help to re-establish the el I c11:0,0
boy sPteca
without one mitigating circumstance, of a half-0 own 0
under an act which declares, "That from and afte r tb;cogll
of July, 1842, any person who shall compel or knot° for
allow any child or young person under the age of iwe 'pet
one years to ascend or descend a chimney, or ant;
thee,
for the purpose of sweeping, cleaning, or ' coring,' t' ~j ell
or for extinguishing a fire therein, shall be: liable to a I,"
of not more than £lO, nor less than L 5.”
1,,,, taliaf
There was an old custom of sweeping chinLegsee 6.011-
through them a goose with a string tied to i.ZB leg•
_,,. sew:
that custom be revived, we commend the ltayso.r.:ool,
tol
castle and Alderman Sillick and Dodds to tt. 0 t...E a log
Titere r.
lottete
all persons troubled with foul chimneys.
protect even geese, but if the wisdom of th: 'Nulled 00,1
bench be transmitted from mayor to tna.r)r goads
alderman to alderman, we see no reason wbY., 6°:
housekeeper should not take a sixpenny!) 11
It three thrown
when, at the worst, she might have them
bird.
a ..--•
CO'
li Y act
her chimneys for a fine of half-a-crown
_,
The Court -Journal. Establ'es"cch
coatttics A
oily
See the Court Journal of Satutday,
original Courtly, Fashionable, Thee...tar
Pits,l s:C. ; nota
sea,
and Sporting intelligence, Club °_Te d_ St c3,,.,Y, All
amount of exclusive news of public iivnehate.i,re..,sta,vaanicl:3,lllftc:as %Ps
found in any daily or weekly PaPerre:e.:,,"-t'rand ; 5 id 0.7
6d.—W. Thomas, 26, l3rydg!.swee't
_ta,'.____.
M. FOYATIER, THE R'
" Cinciratatu,, a ticii.
33 SpartaerUieS,"o;isu
_oily by tot e
News-agents; and at the _Rail
~,IYc 01; Is'uc°l
j'aloitl,Votts°;
chisel has product (.1
of Are," &c., was recentlyhcaisr
t, carried de
of apoplexy, while busy in t,