St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-04-11

after considerable stumbling, kindled match,
and lighted tallow7 dip, that sent,n yellow
glimmer overthe room It was low, damp, =
the earthen floor covered with o green, Shiny
moss,-a fetid air, smothering the breath -
Old Wolfe lay asleep on heap of straw, wrap.
} Eped ina torn horse blanket. He was pale,
meek little man. with white face and red
rabbit eyes. . The woman Deborah was like
him; only her face was even more CHASTITY her
lips bluer, her eyes moro watery. She wore
o faded cotton gown and q slouching bonnet.
When she walked, one could see that she was
deformed, almost a hunchback. Shetrod soft
~, SO as not to waken him, and went through
into the room beyond. There she found BY
the half-extinguished fire an iron saucepan
filled with cold boiled potatoes, which she put
upon broken chair with a pint-cup of ale
Placing the old candlestick beside this dainty
repast, she united her bonnet, which hung
limp andswet over her face, and prepared to
eat her supper. TWAS tho first food that bad
touched her lips since morning: There was
enough of it, however: there is net always
She was hungry,-one could see that easily
enough,-and not drunk, as most of her COM
panions would have been found at this hour
She did not drink, this woman-her face told
|
haps the weak, faccid wretch had some stimu-
liant in her pale life to keep her up,--some
love or hope, it might be, or urgent need.-
When that stimulant was gone, she would take
to whisky. i t."
After "Deb' had eaten her potatoes, she
|"sprang upand hastily began toarrangesome
bread and fitch in tin pail, and to pour
her own measure of ale into bottle" She
went out through. rain. to walk two miles
and carry this precious repast to her lover
cousin Hugh, a puddler or boiler in an
1ron-Mill. She found him in the mill,
and the writer goes on to say: ..... ~ -:
Deborah was stupid; with sleeps, her: back
panied her sharply and her teeth; chartered
with cold, with the rain that soaked her
clothes and dripped from her at every stop
She stood, however, patiently holding the pail,
and waiting, It,. : - =. -: : :.
After while Hugh says to her: III.
"Ye're tired, poor lass! Bide here till 20.
Lay down there on that heap Of ash, and 60
to sleep" .' - '''
| He threw her on old coat for pillow, and
turned to his work. The heap was,the refuse
OF the burnt iron, and was not q hard bed the
| half-smothered warmth, too, penetrated her
limbs dul!ing their pain and cold SILVER. ~.
This Hugh is a genius, and spends his
leisure time in whiting out statues Of
startling merit but is depicted as ignorant,
and forcibly held down in the society of
men little better than brutes. condemned
to dwell IN this rocking cellar, and to toll
beyond the power Of long endurance to
support himself in this style. - ~ %'
To those who have lived in manufac-
turing town or city in, America, this will
Fcertainly be news. This picture of 'Deb'
and her companions differs considerably
from that usually drawn Of Lowell factory
girls -"n nd MO doubt if --y ~..~ e 1L--.
would recognize her; counterpart in the
limp rag on the ash heap We have spent
the greater portion of our life in or about
"The Iron City," where n-mills and
cotton factories bclch forth their never
dying fires, and fill the air with their cease
less hum. We have; hundreds Of times,
seen troops of girls return from their days
work in factories, and have known many a
man who worked in a mill, but we certain
~ saw nothing like this. Generally your
factory girl would consider herself grossly
,nsulted at an offer Of $3.50 per week, and
board for cooking or doing chamber work
in a family where she would have a pleas
ant upstairs room and comfortable bed.
As for getting into the form of Gimp
rag" they would only do that when the
limp rag form was: the highest ton on
Broadway. So long as Eugene wears hoops
or crinoline, she must be taller than any
factory girl whom she outmeasures in cir
cumfercnce ..:. ,..
Men in iron-mills get higher wages than
any other class of working men /; puddlers
and boilers making from $3.50 to $500
per day. Some of them acquire large
amounts Of real estate; while those who do
not generally live like epicures, or squan-
der their means in house-rent, expensive
furniture and fine clothes. g..
A strike amongst the iron men in Pitts
burg induced some inquiry into their hab-
its; and it was agreed that it was no uu-
common thing for their tables to be furn-
ished with early vegetables, and fruits and