The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1869-01-20

ss The woman's ] marriea adhaghtcr had
by this timo come doW1 tiyln her room
on tho floor nboyo, to- t1fine tho con-
vcrsation. sho hefaels had been TO
tho lcad-mills very, earl that;1io oruing
to be ntooE on" but k hot Iuccced-
cd. She had four; ;;chi. en; {and, ther
husband, also q water:ps orsr;ana
then, out seeking WORKS 6entsd inAo
better case as to finding 8; than; her
fnther. She was Eng sl,Xy ga
|turo Of; ,huxoInS6Hb
EDotn> III sr p66 asS 1si r:hsr'
mothers there was IN effort to keep
up some appearance Of neatness. She
knew all about the sufferings Of the
unfortunate invalid, and all about the
lead. poisoning. and how the symptoms
came on, and how they grew,-having
often seen them. The very smell when
you STOOL inside the door Of the works
was enough to knock you down, She
said, yet she was going back again to
.ct "touk on What could she do!
Better be ulcortcd and paral yzcd for
eighteen pence u day, while it lasted,
.han sec the children starve.
A dark and squnlid cupboard IN this
room. touching the back door and nll
manner Of offence, had been for some
time the sleeping .pIace Of the sick
Young woman. But the nights being
now wintry, and the blankets and COW
crlctS gone to the leaving shop.' she
lay all night where she lny MI day, and
was lyin. then. The woman Of tho
room, her husband, this most miscra-
bic patient, and two others, lay on the
one brown heap together for warmth.
! God bless You, sir. and thank YOU"
were the parting words from these
pcoplc.-Sra,cl'ully spoken. too,-with
which left this place.
Some streets away, tapped at anoth-
CT parlor door Oh another Sround-iloor.
Looking in. | found man, his wife,
and four children, sitting ut Il washing
stool by way Of table. at their dinner
of bread md infused tca-lcavcs. There
was II very scanty cindrrous fire in the
crate by which they sat. and there was
/ II tent brd>tcad in The room with II bed
upon it and II cUvrrlct. The man did
not rise when | went in, nor during
my stay, but rivilIy inclined his head
on my pulin. of my hat, and, in an
Swcr to my inquiry whether might
ask him question or two. said "Ccr-
tainly." There being u window Mt
each end of this room. back and front.
it might have been ventilated but il
was shut up tight. TO keep the cold
out. and was very sickGning.
The wife. an intelligent quick woman,
! Il nt h,r In ulh
and ne glanced up at her Il, if for help.
1t soon appeared that he WAS rather
deaf lie WAS slow simple fellow OF
about thirty.
What WAS he by lrahc:"
"Gcntlcman asks what arc You by
trade. John!"
81 am Il boilcr-Inakcr:" looking
about him with an exceedingly per-
! picked mir, rs il for q boiler that had
unaccountably vanished.
lie mint i mechanic, You under
stand, siE the wife put in, he's only
II laborcr.
"Arc YOU in work ?"
He looked up ut his wife again.
"Gcntlcman says arc YOU in work,
John 2"
lin work." cried this brlorn boil
cr-makcr, staring aglaSt at his wife.
aud then working his visions way
very slowly round TO me "Lord, no.
"Ah! lie mint indeed :" said the poor
woman, shaking her head, as she
looked at the four children in success
sion, and then ut him.
Work. said the boilcr-makcr,
still seeking that cvaporatcd boiler,
first in my Countcnancc, then in the
air, and then in the features Of his Sec
ond son Mt his knee. II wish | sraS in
work! haven't had more than Il
days work to do this three weeks
How have you livcd!"
A faint glcam of admiration lighted
up the face Of the would-bc boiler.
maker, rs he stretched out the short
sleeve OF his thrcadbarc canvas jackct,
and replied, pointing her out, "On the
work Of the wife.
| forgot where boilcr-making had
gone to, or where he supposed it had
gone to; but he added some resigned
information on that head, coupled
with am expression Of his belief that it
was never coming back. F.
| The chcery helpfulucss Of tho wife
was very remarkable. She did slop-
work; made pcajackcts. She pro-
duced the pea-jackct then in hand, and
spread it out upon the bed,-the only
piece Of furmiturcin the room on which
to spread it. She showed how much
Of it she made, and how much was af-
forwards flushed OF By the machine.
According TO her calculation at tho
moment, deducting what her trimming
cost her, she got for making pea.
jncket tcnpcncc halfpenny, and she
could make one III something less than
two days.
But you see, it come to her through
two hands, md. Of course it didn't
come through tho second hand for
nothing. Why did it come through
the second hand at all? Why, this
way. The second hand took the risk
! Of the givcn-out work, You see. II
she had money enough to pay the Sc
curity deposit--call it two pounds
she could get tho work from the first
hand and 80 the second would not
have to be deducted tor. But, having
no money Mt all, the second hand come
in and took its profit, and SO tho whole
worked down to tcnpenco lalfpenny.
/