The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-08-04
Children OF NIechanics.

earlhlv lIfe. Anything that destroys nom
is inimcal TO happiness. Home, comprisini
wife, children. trienos, will the domesti
castle, is essential to the proper develoPmer
OF the best qualities Of eur n ature and to tn
, well being of all who have the least amoun
of civilized human feeling. The influence
t ofhome, more than the state of the market
the rate L. wares, the condion of business
affect the workman. He can withstand tn
lowering of the price of his productions, ,h'
temporary depression of profits in his bus
, ness, or the unforeseen fluctuations of The
} market, if he is sustained by the iutiaence
of home, and if he can be assured tha a
children can avail themselves of advantage
which will enable them TO retain their posi-
ton aud provide for themselves and those
dependent upon them when we shall have
leir them. Then the future is humanity Sc
cure--fOr the present be can provide.
But what if there Is a perpetual Struggle al
the present, with gloomy uncertainty of the
future. The man is deprived ofall his vigor
OF mind, his enterprise. his pride. Yet such
| is the conditiJr OF thousands of indus
trious men in E..giand. A correspondent
of the PiU Nal Gazette, who has visited
some OF the irgn furnaces in the " black
| country of Staifordshire and " Orcestershlre
| says -
! from eight upward, may be found, amid the
/ labyrinth of machinery and the coils of heats
! ed iron, engaged by day and night in tuggIn2
| long, red not seethiny bars. Their activity
| Is very great, owing to the nature OF their
| work, which requires rapidity of movement,
aud contrasts strangely with their otherwise
! FADED and worn appearance. la add an 10
the labor of dragging along the iron. OF
these !itt!e fellows has to run, in shcr. stages,
! a distance of more than eleven miles every
! day. an oppressive atmosphere; thick with
| dust and steam. Owing TO tie quick and
! uncertain movements OF the hot iron bars n
.hcir passage through successive rolls before
| having time to cool, the occupation of these
| boys IS attended with some jlmger--a serious
burn being almost every day occurrence.
Standing in the midst Of an extensive forge,
few wears ago, | was alarmed by a cry OF
terror at the farther end utlAe works. i here
was a general rush to the spot, and shall
never forget the horrible ard sickening sight
that met our view. y large rod OF seething
iron, in comirg frort. the rolls, bad somehow
twisted aside, and had literally pierced
through the body Of a little fellow some ten
years old. FOs while the roar Of The ma
chiuc~v was suspended, and two or three
brawny puddlers carried the haplcss creature
home hut YsLen tie first thrill of horror had
passed awa7 the rheels.were again set in
motion anl all went en- rs before
The lives of these boys n1e airE'ost entirely
spent in the FORCES. except Re Hours alEot:e.
to sleep. they have their D.eals :here, nud
in the snalhes Of leisure it is their 'p'ey;
ground. In most of the works i the ar. Q.
bas, Of a canal, the water of shich il kept
in state OF chronic fever. ana in witch,
despite its ink$ color, they delight to bathe,
bota. IN winter ard summer. So constant
are they in their abluripns that they often
ycna out parboiled. lise '.asherwomau'5
-'aawh. SJlac Of the proprietors OF these
Instruction C. the children IN their employ
but, as = rule. they arr Ia uii:1 AMI body alike
neglected, and the dansest ign brance prevails.
They havc no home training, most Of their
houses being locked ~ all day. the parents
and all the children being out at worh; aud
returning home la'igued at night, nothing
Dut bed or a carousal in TIE Il Fox and
Drs gpn' is acceptable.
Returning ho'ye late one evening, | saw
two little children. boy and girl, lying
asleep upon a door step, whith proved to /.
that Of their own hong. On awaking them
they were waiiing for their mother to come
ont Of the neighhoring tavern, and open the
door. They hal 40 father sand bad been
harl to work alid day. The boz worked in n
fore. the girl N foundery, and the mother
III a iaFannsug factory. and tncu-h thu. sep
arated all day. there seemed no bond Of al
leeti3n to bind them when they met together,
l.! such II state nf affairs there can be no
legitimate home Influences. The father and
mother. all the chi iren whose iniautiIe
strength car be utilized, are employed at
hard IaJor, Hay afier day, and week after
week, too weo.i-l, after performing their al
l0ltrd task. to exert themselves to make h"mr
happy. Iif. 10 them is g:i endless and OK
acting treadmiIl. The genisr vi,iucS, which
give a charm to feminine character, make
childhood loveable. and civilize snd elev".e
coarse, II ascuinc hamauity, canrOt grow in
such sterile SOL. What do our mechanics
think of such ;sh exhibit as the following
West Of Dudley Is strange, wild region
known as the ''nai'ing district composed of
scattered hamlcts 10 all the houses Of which
is attacked what appears TO the stranger
biacksnij.l's shop. The mnnutacture OF
wrought nails is, and has beeh for century
or more. the great staple industry of the dis
trirt. II is carried oIi b. The nailerS in their
Own Leuses. In irv trades of the district
does the employ rieni ,f-:Cmeu and children
assume more Objectionable form ;llau in
this. The -rOTnCu - Nm 10 have lost all traces
Z
hood are addicted 70 swearing and smoking
resembling as far a. Ioss,ble tbs other Sex
! in their haJ Jit5 and deFuylsneutS eren 10 the
gearing of their cOaCse t.anEel jackets. They
TIoStly mary very young, often at fourteen,
and seldom later than eighteen or twenty
With such women for mothers, it is rot dlbi>
cult to Judge of their children. From ten
derest ages. often from five or six wears. they
are trained to that round of labor IL wh'"h
! their li-rs are doomed TO be spent. TIE i--r
stage is ".blowing the bellows" and n,Xt
| they are Taught to forge the smaller kinds Of
nails
The hours oflabor are dreaGiu!ly prolong>
| ed, often exceeding sixteen hours per day /;
the rate of remsncration is very low, ard the
| houses are consequently wretc..dly poor
Entering one OF them lately, saw the father,
rIo;her. and eight sons and daughters, all
,oiliug in an ill-ven;ilated, dry hovel. 1t was
growing late in the evening, ard inquired,
Is il not time to cease your Cats work !!
| "Oh, noa, maIster.' reioined the mother /;
we've noit's work a,fore US yet, or the-e'l Ii
| be no bread o the loaf o. Sunday 1t was
/ Friday night, and it was, as l learnt, prac-
tice to work from Friday morning until Sat-
u-day afternoon, without having more than
short sna:ches OF rest for meals. While l
! fingered, a little fellow, who could not have
been ,rJre than eight fell irDr, his work,
apparently exhausted. but hls farther, on OBJ
serving 1t, threw at him hammer handle,
telling him with an oath, to recommence his
work. He took no part in our conversation,
having. like his two eldest daughters, short
nine in his mouth, wh:ch seemed to him and
them 1.-THE calumet of peace."
American mechanics and ,hborers should
feel grateful that neither they nor their child
rem are consigned to such a hopeless and dis
NAL slavery as This. The child of an
American mechanic Is treated as Z child
! until Il has assumed the virlliiy Of manhood.