Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1875-02-18

neys in London.
Until the reign of James the First, the
houses were built only one story high
and the chimneys were swept from the
floor. The Scotch fashion of multiplying
the stories then came in, and twice OF
three times year boys were sent up te
sweep down the SCOT.
There was once a famous highwayman
who had been climbing boy" and ]
think he was the only one of the tribe
who ever became notorious. At all
events, we do not hear more about them
in history from the time of James the
First until about the middle of the last
century, when Jonas Hanway called
public attention to their condition. Han
way, you must know, was one of the
great philanthropists of his day, and was
the man who first carried an umbrella
in London, a performance which ex-
posed him to the jeers of all the impu-
dent little bakers and butchers boys in
the city. No doubt he looked rather
queer as he trotted along in the rain with
the new-fangled thing over his head, and
some folks thought him utterly crazy.
But he was wise and good man, living
life that most of us might initiate to
advantage.
When climbing boy came to his
house, one day, Hanway was struck with
the poor fellows woful face, and asked
him how and where he lived. The
answers that were made excited the
philanthropist's sympathy, and, through
public prints and the benevolent societies
with which he was connected, he drew
attention to one of the worst kinds of
slavery that ever existed The "climb-
ing boys" were mostly the children of
dissolute parents, who sold them to the
men chimney-sweeps for few sovereigns,
or, in American money, fifteen or twenty
dollars.
The novices had the greatest dread of
ascending the chimney for the first time,
and there are several instances, of un-
doubted truth, in which the little fellows
were violently thrust in by their masters
and driven up by a fire lighted undre
them. This seems too horrible for be-
lief, but it was sworn to by a master
chimney-sweep before committee of the
British House of Commons The same man
declared that he did not use his own APP
prentices in that manner, and that when
the chimney was small and the boy hest
tated about ascending, he simply used a
stick or his fist
Sometimes the beginner was instructed
at the house of his master before real
duty was required of him. An older boy
would follow him up chimney and teach
him how to climb by pressing the knees
and elbows against the sides of the fiue.
1t was most painful operation, and the
skin would be torn from the child's arms
and feet before he had nearly reached the
top. By striving very hard he would
probably succeed, but not until he had
tumbled down several times and alighted
on the shoulders of his stouter COM
paniOn, who always kept himself firmly
fixed in expectation of such a mishap
Every time he fell he had to begin
anew, and, no matter how sore he was,
his master forced him to reach the top.
A story is told, that very small boy,
not more than four years old, was once
sent up chimney in country-house at
Bridlington, Yorkshire, and that he tum-
bled down and hurt himself SO severely
that the young ladies of the house took
him from his master and nursed him
themselves. Some food was brought to
him, and, seeing a silver fork, he was
quite delighted, exclaiming, "Papa had
such forks as those" He also said that
the carpet in the drawing room was like
"papas 8, and when a silver watch was
shown him, he declared that "papa's"
was gold one. At night he would not
go to bed until he had said the Lords
Prayer, which he knew perfectly, and he
lay awake for some hours comparing the
furniture in the room to that in his own
home. When he was asked how he came
to leave his papa, he said that he was
gathering flowers in his mothers garden,
and that woman came in and asked him
if he liked riding. He said eyes," and
she told him that he should ride with
her. She put him on horse in lane
near by, drove with him to the seaside,
and carried him ON board vessel.
The story does not tell what became of
the little fellow afterward, and we can
only hope that he was restored to his
parents, or that the young ladies at the
country-house adopted him" Chimney
Sweeps, Past and Present"