St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-31
U0:r Ihii,fI'cU are N0in"d iD Ncu
lOIH.

I0:r Chji,frcR are H0im"d iD NrH
IOIH.
In addition to the outrage of sacriiic.
il" tie health and educational interest,
OF children 10y keeping them at mcchani,
cal drudgcry nearly all their waking
hours, certain kinds ot LABOR they perform
are absolutely dangerous to life and limb.
At the cvcnim. school we heard OF
airl- who. while working in twiGc manu-
factories, had lost ono and two joints OF
their iin"crs. The principal Of one
school stated that last winter she had
ten urls who hal lost the initial finger
trom the ri@ht hand, and therefore could
not he taueht to write. Onc child, who
learned to write with the left Land, came
to ~cIyo! afterwards with tie initial fin
"rr Of that hand also conc. 1t WAS ia
ken of in ihr tNi-tin@ machinery at a
twino factory.
Determined to SC This terrible ma
chine, we learned the address of the
Iargc~t twimr establishment in the city,
and away up town, nearly 10 Central
Park, We went one bitter cold day, 50
cold that to keep our COURAGE up ii need
ed the reflection that little Urls, thinly
clad strua"lc through such weather all
winter lon9, plunge into it from hot
woIk-rouns and with vitality consumed
hy labor in impure air.
We tounI about three hundrrl persons
ut work, two hundred of them being
children under fifteen years of a9r, and
nearly all @ilI-, who spin, wind, and
twist the flax.
We were shown a very picturesque
machine tor hacklin@ the iitN, tended by
ten sturdy little boys of twelve OF thr
teen Yeas Of are, five ON each end.
They were mountcl upon 4 platform 10
enable them to teach aud change the
clamps which held tie fax. This mon
stcr machine, which SmpcrSrdc+ the
small hacklcr> upon which our grand
mothers dressed their lltN, requires t" be
irl al either end continuously, and il
works with thr regularity and rcmor-c-
Ic,>nr>- ol fate. Not discovering thi,
peculiarly at first, AMI observing the
boys working for dear life, we remarked
10 the proprietor: "Ihc>t boy. seem
20 he trying 10 show oft before you.
NO, he replied. ''ihr ma'hlne keeps
them at II.
''l' 1t not better Tor tItm t'an run
ming in the streets ," asked the prnprlc-
tor.
''I'eitcr than that, yr~ ) bus how are
they 10 b. educated
"Ihry nearly all ." 10 evening
schools
Studying in the cNrnln" after working
like tIi- all day y" wonder they fall
asleep over their lessons.
lhi~ tr'ad-mIIl "' machine made me
ior@c. Tor Il moment Inc i'fli"I' iWiH'trS
We came t" see Only Tor Il moment
D,Sr'ndr% (" the nest ii'"r we iInd Il
few women al work, and Il lew boys, but
nearly all @lrI~, OF various ages, ana en-
"ag'd in many different iaborS. but all
"l one c"mPlrNlon-So"iy, @rimy, dusty,
iiANy all were dressed IN coarse skirt
"t hemp, often RAGGED and iai'rred'
lhry ran from one corner OF the room T."
another. carryin@ heavy boxes and arms
tuIl pf bohhin-
Here are lIl. dreadful twisting ma
chimes, very disappointing in appearance,
seeming to he only lone rnwS OF >pndlcs
,tIrtchiu. from one end OF til" room to
the Other. with nothing peculiarly dan
45r0us about thum. The proprietor i
an<ious tocaniirm lh' impression caused
hy their harmless appearance.
a few girl" he ,rys, ''havc had
their fingers L"t in these machines but
It was alwayS in eases where they forgot
or neglected their work 10 talk or play
The twiStcrS are not more dangerous
work.
asked iiitl' 2'rl VIII" h:'i l"st tnc
,.t Ig,.lN