The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-02 00:00:00

AMERICAN NEWS.

YOUNG GIRLS EMPLOYED IN
COAL-MINES INSTEAD OF BEASTS !

COPY OF A PETITION PRESENTED LATELY TO PARLIA-

LATEST NEWS FROM AMERICA
LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY MORNING.

MENT EY MR. I3ROTIIERTON.
(Appendix to Seventh Report, No: 194.)

THE lICMBLE PETITION OF EDWARD WILLIAM BENNET,
OF MANCHESTER, IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER,

We have receive I by the New York packet ship
Sheffield, Captain Alleyn, New York papers to the 16th
March. The Sheffield has Made the voyage in 16 days.
These papers confirm the statement which appeared in
The Sun last week that Hogan had been discharged.

GENTLEMAN,

Showeth,---ihat your petitioner, in the course of his
geological pursuits, has had occasion to visit many of
the coal mines of Lancashire, where he has -often been
astonished to find great numbers of females employed, of
ages varying from eight years and upwards: Their occu-
paticin is chiefly in pushing and.drawing tubs or small
waggons full of coal from the places where it is hewn
down to the waggon ways. The coals are generally
drawn alonir the waggon ways to the pit mouth by.
ponies ; but down the bays or boards (the passages run-
ning on the rise and dip of the seam) which are often at
considerable inclinations, sometimes as much as two
.feet in five, and very low, these animals cannot be em-
ployed, so women are made use of in their -stead. At first
view it is difficult to distinguish the sexes employed in a
mine, since both, when dressed, are clothed in rough
miners' frocks and trousers., and it was only by the ex-
posure of the upper parte of their persons and their
voices that your petitioner • first noticed the females
blacked and dressed as they were.
That the men in deep mines, where the atmosphere is
very hot, generally work without any other article of
dress upon them than a slight nether garment.
That the employment of the females, as before stated,
is in conveying the coals from the workings down to
the waggon ways ; each of them is provided with a
stout belt fastened round the lower part of her waist, to
the front of this is attached a strong chain, which fas-
tens by a hook to the waggon or tub. When drawing
the empty tubs or waggons up the inclined plane the
chain passes between the legs of the woman, who
creeping on her legs and arms drags them up very steep
inclinations, the whole length of the bays or boards. On
pushing the laden waggons down the waggon way, the
chain is used in steadying them.
That your petitioner . will now give a simple nar-
rative of a visit made by himself to a mine in the county
of Lancaster, in the latter part of the months of last
September, which he believes will afford the Members
of your Honourable House some idea of an establish-
ment where females are employed. Your petitioner
was dressed as a miner, and went down into the pit in
such a manner as to see the workings such as they are
generally carried on, and without the colliers or their
employers being aware of his character as a visitor.

THE CASE OF J. SHERIDAN HOGAN.—We learn
from the Niagara Courier that Hogan has been set free
by Judge Ransom on the ground of insufficiency of the
warrant of arrest. The Courier adds, that there was
sufficient evidence to have detained him for trial, had
it not been for the defect in the warrant. Lot Clark and
11. Gardner were the Counsel for Hogan, and the District
Attorney Wood acting for the people.
During,- the argument before the Justice, which was a
long and able one, the Court room was crowded almost
to suffocation with anxious spectators.
Hogan, it is stated in the Albany papers, made an
affidavit which was read at the trial of M`Leod, that he
was in one of the boats eugag-ed to cut out the Caroline,
and that M'Leod was not. What became of him after
his discharge by Judge Ransom does not appear.
Hogan's ease, however, seems to have alarmed Mr. Tyler,
who on the Bth sent a message to Congress, referring to
Hogan's arrest, and stating—lt is doubtful whether, in
this state of things, should his discharge be demanded
by the British Government, this Government is invested
with any control over the subject, until the case shall
have reached the Court of Fin Al Resort of the State of New
Yoelc, and been decided in that Court. And although
such delay ought not, is a national point of view, to give
cause of umbrage to Great Britain, yet the prompt and
instant rendering of justice to foreign nations should be
placed among our highest duties. •I cannot, therefore, in
consideration of what properly becomes the United
States, and in anticipation of any demand from a foreign
Government for the discharge of one, of its subjects,
forego the duty of repeating my recommendation to
Congress fur the immediate adoption of some suitable
legislative provision on this subject.
Mr. Barnard (Chairman of the Judiciary Committee),
said, that a Bill had already been reported from that
Committee to meet such cases, but that he had not yet
seen the time during the Session when he could, with any
chance of success, have asked the House to take it up.
I The papers were referred to the Judiciary Committee.
The President had also sent a message to Congress,
calling its attention to a communication from the Secre
,
tary of the Treasury, and stating that the deficit in the
public Exchequer fur March, April, and May, will be
upwards of three million dollars. The President
ascribes the diminution of the revenue to the diminution
of the duties under the Compromise Act, and he expects
from the revision of the tariff the relief of the Treasury.
Mr. Forward's immediate remedy for the deficit is a
loan. The papers were referred to a Committee.
Great complaints are made, we see, of the expense of
the Government printing, and a Select Committee was
appointed to consider and report upon the expediency
and propriety of separating the patronage of the Govern-
ment from the private and political press of the country,
and upon the best and most efficient and economical mode
of effecting that object. -
The Congress was engaged in discussing the tariff and
Mr. Clay's resolutions.
The arrival of the Acadia had put an end to the
anxiety which had been felt for the Caledonia..
The Bill requiring the banks in Maryland to resume
specie payments on the first of May next has become
a law.

. The shaft was 200 yards deep. Immediately after de-
scending it, your petitioner traversed the waggon way
for about 500 or GOO yards, to the boards or bays down
which the coals were
_.being carried in tubs. About 30
boys and girls were employed. The former being of
-ages from eight to fourteen years of age.
The boys were mostly engaged in driving the waggons.
The girls were of ages varying from ten years and up-
wards, and were employed in drawing, by means of a
chain attached' to the tub, and passing betwixt their legs,
and fastened to the front part of a belt around their
waists, the tubs up the bay, which there inclined one
yard in three ; in dragging they appeared to go nearly
on all fours, but their hands did not actually rest on
the floor of the mines, but on the sides, a few inches
above the floor.

That your petitioner, after proceeding up the incline,
went into a wide bay, where there were three persons,
namely, an old man of- about 50 years, of age, and two
young men. The coal was in this part being entirely
worked out.

This bay was from eight to ten yards long, and six
yards wide, and no props or punches were used ; the
seam of coal was near five feet in thickness. The old
man h:.d just left off work, and the others wore engaged
in holding the coal.
Your petitioner entered into conversation with the
elder man, who was an intelligent person for his class,
and remarked that the bay was very wide to be worked
witheut props or punches being used.
lie replied, that it was perfectly safe, as the roof was
good, and falls in the mine were not common.
While engaged in this conversation, a child, not four
years of age. crept out of a hole. The old man said
that he wa,s'his son, and that he would not be fit for
work fur a year. On your petitioner asking the father
why he brought such an inTiint down into the pit, he re-
plied that his wife and daughters all worked in the mine,
and there was nobody at home to take. care of the child,
so he brought him there to be out of harm's way.
At this period, scme small pieces fell from the roof,
which caused your petitioner again to remark that it
was either not very safe, or there was a considerable
quantity of fire-damp escaping through it. The man
stated that he considered the roof good, and after a few
more observations, your petitioner went down the incline
about fifty yards to the waggon Way.. here he was en-
gaged in observing the women and girls pushing the tubs
full of coal down, and dragging the empty ones up the
inclines.

The appointment of Mr. Claiborne t) be Middle Dis-
trict Marshal of Tennessee,. who is said to be a creature
of General Tacksen, had been rejected by the Senate, at
which the Whigs much exult.
The New York Courier and Inquirer, of the 11th, has
the following paragraph :
NAVAL PnomonoNs.—We learn, on good authority,
says the Army and Navy Chronieb, that nominations
have been submitted to the Senate, of 37 Commanders to
be Captains ; 37 Lieutenants to be Commanders ; and
40 Passed Midshipmen to be Lieutenants. This looks
something like putting the navy on a war footing. With
respict to an increase of our naval force, opinion has
be'en for a long time far in advance of legislation. We
have not yet seen the print which objects to the largest
increase of our nary in commission that has been pro-
posed.
The _Rochester Evening Post speaks of another excite-
ment at Lockport, even greater than that caused by the
arrest of Hogan or his illustrious predecessor M'Leod.
It arose from the discovery that a Catholic priest named
Costello had been secretly married ! A crowd gathered
about his house upon the discovery, and insisted that he
should give up the church money which he had in his
hands, which he did. It was thought that the sheriff
would be forced to call out a force to protect him from
violence. •

SALES AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
MONDAY, Mulct! 2.
4,000 Dols. State 51 of '6l.
12,500 Ditto Ohio Sixes of 1860 52
4,000 Ditto Illinois Sites of 1870 .
1,000 Ditto Indiana Bonds lB4
25 Shares Delaware and Hudson B9
521 Ditto United States Bank... .... . ..........
50 Ditto Mohawk
285 Ditto Harlem.
150 Ditto Farmers' Trust s6O ds 21
725 Ditto Long Island b3o ds 55
50 Ditto Paterson s3O ds 45
SALES AT THE SECOND BOARD.

The disgustin nature of the employment of these
poor creatures was bad enough in itself, but to hear the
awful swearing, obscene conversation, and filthy songs.
would lead any person to believe that he was in a land of
savages, rather than in civilised England.
Your petitioner had been in this place for about five
minutes, when a dull heavy, sound was heard; the mine
shook, and some of the lights were blown out.

w 48

In a moment all was still as death. This silence was
not of more than a few seconds' duration, when several
heavy sounds followed. A cry now arose that a bay had
fallen in, and a seem followed which defies description.
The men prayed, the women howled and screamed,
and some ran one way and some another, making towards
the shaft. After a short lapse of time, some of the men
proceeded to examine the bay which lad fallen in, and
ibund it was that which your petitioner had left but a few
minutes before. The two young men, being near the
side of it, had escaped; but the poor old man and his
child, before alluded to, had been crushed to death, and
buried under souse hundred tons of the roof.
That
.your petitioner is convinced that the employment
of females in coal mines is to be attributed to the early
age at which children are introduced to such places by
their parents. The parents, having spent most of their
lives in mines, and being thorougly accustomed to
the scenes they witness, see no impropriety in them. The
female children, brought down in early infancy, have no
or the disgusting and laborious
correct ideas of the dangers of a mine, the scenes of rice and
rsieleyilmizvreljit '6llB%iirte. never allowed to enter a mine
naturewicl wickedness efdeim:l
fe
as ;Ilea
etc!.
under 13 years of age your petitioner considers that no
inducements could scarce prevail on them to even go
down into a pit, much less persuade them to mix with the
company and follow the laborious and unseemly employ-
ment which they are there subjected to.
That your petitioner has visited many of the collieries
in Lancashire and Cheshire, and he finds the moral and
intellectual condition of the working colliers in a
much worse state where females are employed in mines than
in those parts where the proprietors will not allow them
to work in their pits. Amidst the scenes befOre described
are children, brought at the tender ages qf eight and ten
years. There they pass their days until they become Wives
and mothers. Can such employments as they are engaged
in, and such scenes as they continually witness, fit
them to become good wives and mothers, and audio
withoutbeiilg any inquiry being made
the poor man's home comfortable ? Colliers are
body
yn accusedo an ignorant and disorderly
as to the cause of their ignorance and disorderly con-
fnien,of
duct. What can any person expect from a poor boy,
sent down into a deep mine at six sears of age, into the
scenes which your petitioner has before described ?
Amidst them he passes his days, until he marries a girl
sent down into the mine at an ear), age like himself ;
probably both husband and wife continue their em•'Aoy-
ment in coal-mines—it is what if ey have been brought
up to, and by which they are therefore best enabled to
obtain their livelihood. On coming out of the mine,
after a hard day's work, thepoor wife has little time and
strength, even if she had the knowledge, to clean the
house and prepare those necessary refreshments which
a hard-working man requires. The husband too fre-
quently makes 11/ allowance for his wife's condition,
but abuses her, neglects his home, and runs to the ale-
house, and there spends the greater part of their joint
earnings.
That your petitioner is convinced that it is most de-
sirable that many of the children from six to ten years
of age now employed in mines should be sent to school
instead of passing their time amidst the dangers and
darkness of a name, and witnessing the scenes before
described ; but at the same time he dues 'not consider
that- there can be any great permanent improvement in.
the morals and condition of the working colliers so long
as women are employed in mines.
Your petitioner, therefore, prays that your Honour-
able House will be pleased to adopt such measures for
preventing the employment of females in coal mines as
to your Honourable House shall seem meet.
And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
February 26, 1842. EDW. WM. BINNEY

5,000 Dols. Indiana Bonds s3 ds ISI
25 Shares Mohawk b 3 ds 47
'MONDAY NIGHT.

. TllO sales of Stocks this morning v,-era to the, usual
extt.at. New York State Fives advanee.t per colt ;
lfarkal Railroad K, and Farmers" Trust ; Ohio Sixes
Illinois Sixes 1, Indiana i-,-and Mohawk Rail-
road 1 s per cent.
Inland Exchanges continue dull of sale, with very
little alteration on rates.

21 to 3 ; Baltimore, ; Virginia, 71 to
84 ; North Carolina, 4K to 5 ; Charleston, 11 'to l ; Sa-
vannah, 2to 2.1 ; Augusta, 2k to 21 ; Columbus (Cen-
tral), 131 ; Macon (Central), 131 ; Mobile, 18 ; Mont-
gomery, 18 to 19 -; TUscaloosa, 19 ; New Orleans, 61
to 6 ; Nashville, 18 to 20 ; Louisville, 8 ; St. Louis,
18 to 20 ; Cincinnatti, 9 to 10. •
Exchange on London closed at 71 to 7i, and on
France at 5-321 a 5.30
Treasury Notes continue to sell for the payment of
duties at 1 a 1 k per cent. discount.
'The advices per Acadia have had a tendency further
to depress the Cotton Market. 700 bales were sold dur-
ing the dly at a further reduction of kc. per lb. We
quote Uplands, very ordinary to middling, 5+ and 51 a
7-4-c. per lb. ; fair to good Ur and good, 81- a 91 and
91e. ; Tennessees and Alabamas, p Bc. ; Mobiles,
Louisiana, Sec., ordinary to: middling, 6 a 7 4c. ; fair to
good fair, 94 a lokc. ; good fair, 101 a 11 and 111 c.
per lb.
We have no alteration to notice in Flour, the transac-
tions being limited to the wants of consumers. Genesse
is held at 6 dols. 18 Vic. a 6 dols. 25c., Troy 6 dols.
121 c., Brandywine, 5 dols. 873 c. a 6 dols., Georgetown
and Baltimore 5 dols. 87:1-c. a 6 dol., Richmond Country,
5 dols Slkc. ; Rye Flour 3 dol. 75c. a 3 dol. 871c.' Corn-
meal 3 del. a 3 del. 12/e.
Sugars remain dull of sale.
44hds. Porto Rico Molasses sold at 23.

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENINCir, APRIL 2, 1842.

MAGAZINES (CONTINUED).
CHURCH OF ENGLAND QUARTERLY
REVIE TV.

There is here an essay on the almost forgotten
question of Puseyism, in which its advocates are
treated without much ceremony. " The very
basis of the Papal system," observes the writer,
"is the suppression of private judgment; and it is
idle in any one to appeal to the judgment of a man
who is in the trammels of the Papacy. On this very
point the Oxford party are grossly inconsistent ; they
declaim against the Reformation for having given
license to private judgment, which license alone has
enabled them so to declaim." There is some truth
in this observation, though it was hardly worth while
to revive the question of Puseyism. It is a fire that
has nearly burned itself out. " Moral and Political
Tendency of Modern Novels," is somewhat too strait-
laced in its notions, though we cordially agree with
the writer in his strictures on the vulgar flash
school of fiction. " Fine Arts in England," is an
animated and judicious essay, with this exception,
that it greatly overrates the paintings of Martin and
Danby, which are far indeed from being " the
grandest works of art which Great Britain has ever
produced." As for Danby, he is little better than a
copyist of Martin ; and Martin himself, though occa-
sionally sublime, is too often utterly deficient in
nature, earnestness, and simplicity.