Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-08-11
m. I,I,,Ie Iaborer. Of Now York CITY.

over 10 900 children are at work in the factories
OF New York and the neighboring districts, while /
from is 900 to 20 600 sfe' floaters drifting from
one factory TO another. Of these the envelope |
factories employ about 5000 chi dren, one guar
ter of whom are under fifteen years OF age Nhe
average earnings OF the little workers are ~
per week The ventilation in these factofaes u
generally good. The gold leaf factories employ
a large number Of children, though the e1sct
statistics OF the number cannot be gwen, inns
occupation requires much sklll ana oencacy H
touch: it is not severe, but demands constant AZ
tention. The outside sir is carefully excinded
from there factories owing to the fragile nature
Of the material used. The girls employed are
moptly over fifteen years Of age. The Furnishing
of gold. silver and chinaware il mostly done py
girls. some OF whom are under thirteen years OF
age Singularly enough, it is said that men IN
this business require to wear breahtplAtesih VI
der to prevent injury from the steel Instruments
employed, while the girls who labor At II slt =.
long tables, their undefended breasts pressing
against the handles Of the frame. d 't ~
Paper collar factories are very important
branch of our children's labor. Fully 8O0O girls,
from twelve to sixteen years OF age. are e enP,oy.
ed in it. A girl can count and Dox lo,OoO coiars
in day of ten hours.
PAPER box factories, embracing all sorts and
sizes, from q match to work box, employ AZ
least 10, 900 children. These become very expert
and often invent new patterns. The msteriai
being cheap the children are permitted to take
home enough to do extra work, and are thus, IN
fact, excluded from night school
In regard to factories making artificial flowers
it is extremely difficult to obtain uustwornhy ll-
formation. as access to the shops is rigldly re-
fused. After considerable investigation, IL seems
to us that from TO- 900 to IL 600 children are en-
| gagged in them of whom nearly 5000 are under
| twelve years of age. Many are orly ave anu
| seven years old. The latter are employed pre-
pairing and cutting feathers for colorng En-
blowers claim this to be healthy business, but
| Judging from the pale and sickly countenances
| Of the girls We doubt the assertion.
| Another important industry employing child
| rem in,the ctyis the manufacture of tobacco, The
| tobacco factories contain fully 10000 ichliren'
/ of whom 5000 at least are under fifteen years.
| The youngest child we saw employed in them
was four years of age He was engaged IN
| were about one dollar q week. Many laoorers
| work all their lives in these factories. we saw
| persons as old as eighty years N them. man
| seventy years of age told us that ne had spen,
thirty years in one factory. His two boys had
| entered the factory with him at the age OF ten
| and twelve years, and are now at work as men
in the same shop. Another, the foreman, and
general workshop manager, had entered that
| factory thirty five years ago, when boy ten
| wears. of age In some of these factories
bows under fifteen years are employed IN dusky
| cellars and Easements, preparing, brining ana
sweetening the weed preliminary to stem
ming" The underground life IN these camp
cavernous places, tends to keep the little work
ers stunted In body and mind. Other poyI
fro ten to twelve years were squatting on the
floors, whetting the knives OF the cutting ma;
chimes with mixture of rum and water appnee
| Nith a sponge. The rapidty with which the
| girls work d wonderful, A girl OF sixteen years
| can put up thirteen gross or packages OF cheW
ing tobacco In tin foil, and twenty-five gross II
paper in one day. Girls and boys from twelve
| to fourteen years earn in this business from tou
to Ave dollars per week. Some little girls 'onl
eight years of age earn 80 per week. Inc rae
Is that these children are often able to perform
the same amount of this light labor as adults
while they receive only portion OF tne pay g,v
} an to older laborers. Thus the children whS
ought to be in school are made to deprive olde
laborers OF their employment and remuneration
Still another branch absorbs a great DumDe
| of chlldren-the twine factories, NO accuiat
estimate can be obtained Of the number OF littl
laberers In these but IL is known to be very larg'
| In one up town factory alone, two hundred ohi
dren, mostly girls, are employed. inns work
> | dangerous The hacking machines are ger
| eraliy tended by boys from lOto 10 years OF ag'
Q | Their attention must be riveted on the mAehlr
} | ery, and cannot relax for moment, or th
{ danger of life or limb is imminent. The twls
9 ing machines" attended to by girls are equal
l. as dangerous. Many have lost ther nnBeis
Joints of them that were caught In tile TWIN
Only great presence of mind has saved many
these girls from losing the whole hand We kno
in one instance, in single night school IN ne
York. five factory girls who each lost a nnger
| thumb IL is evident that strict Legislation
r | needed here as it has been in England TO pr
~ tect these young workers from dangerous m
chnery The air of these twine factories is nile
J. with floating PARTICLES of cotton and max, 81
g must be exceedingly unhealthful.
.. II will be seen from these condensed statist
1f what an immense population OF children
ID thia city are the little slaves of capital. He
lg immense and wearing s their daily toll and he
lg much OF their health and education is sacrlnc, M
g. in these early years and premature labor III
r, evil in New York is evidently more enormo
IN and most threatening to our future These ch
10 dren, stunted in body and mind, are growing
to be our voters and legislators. There ave
r. not read or write. These little overwork
r. operatiyes will swell this igporant throng. Ft
to tunstely this great abuse has not escaped t
n attention of human men.