The Morning herald., 1877-09-10
IAN ENGLISH VILLAGE OF NALL
| MAKERS. -.

1t is always aingy and depressing In these
killages, which, in manufacturing sense,
feed'' the large black country towns.
Eulphurous fumes faint the air and impart
10 1t strange tlavors that may be tasted on
the lips as the salt Of the sea may be tasted
kailes distant from the coast line. The
Soads, which in dry weather resemble moth
Ing SO much as caked boot backing, yield
buddles and rivulets of ink when it rains
(which hereabouts it does with charitable
Frequency. There is grit everywhere.
The operatives with few exceptions, are
women and children. Nor are these daugh-
ters Of Vulcan mere make-believe workers
There are mothers-the mothers of the
boys and girls that swarm about the hearth
hnd forg-the youngest disporting with
!'clinkers" for playthings among the warm
pshes-and women old enough to be grand
@others, with hair stunted and gray.
Young women, too - unmarried lasses-
with colored handkerchiefs bound round
their heads to keep their cherished
dresses from smoke and singeing, and with
enother kerchief in lieu of bodice, bare
krmed to the muscular shoulder; and one
bnd all are cheerfully "hard at it," tugging
the bellows, attending the forge fire, or fac
Ing each other at the anvil, hammer in
band, and with the glowing metal between.
Some Of the sooty Amazons, by curious
mechanical contrivance, work with two
banners at one and the same time; the
bne, the heavier, being set going by means
bf treadle, and the lighter implement in
the hand. They are making nails of all
sizes, from the smallest brad to the six-inch
bolt-headed "spike."
It is terribly hard work and very badly
paid. For instance, for making what are
called mo. 6 clasp" which weigh two hun
bred to the pound, the pay is two-pence a
pound-a shilling for six pounds; and if
found to be as much as one ounce over
weight the work is ''tailed," as it is called,
10 the extent Of penny in the shilling.
"a woman must work twelve or fourteen
hodrs day at the forge to earn about
$L75 a week, and not one in a hundred
earns as much as 1925 by her own un.
aided labor. But the inducement is that a
child old enough to crack cherry.stones with
Q hammer can assist at nail-making, and
I"svery little helps toward the nickle."
Mere babies can earn fifty cents week,
and where there are six or eight children of
various ages the total earnings amount to
something considerable. The houses are
built for the purpose. To each one is at
|taphed 'stall" or HEARTH" the separate
rent Of which is four.pence a week, a mite
of place, occupied chiefly with the hearth
and the bellows, and afording so little el-
bow room for the hall: dozen workers with
in that it appears marvel they are not
scared III over the exposed part Of their
bodies by the flying the sparks and red-hot
cAlPos AAOy "o "AuV arc Ctu0O 4I0o
workers, being paid according to results.
D. Nails of every shape and form appear to
be an article of commerce for which the
demand seldom slackens, and it Is impossi-
to produce too many of them. The mer.
2hant of whom the mailer buys bis "rod"-
the more or less substantial iron wire from
which the goods are manufactured--is a.
ways ~illing to receive the nails at the
fzca price, a2d, in the case Of industrious
fan.i}-s, once a week may be seen the edi.
fyj~g 1poctacle Of father and mother and
troop cf youngsters ranging in age from
five to fifteen, walking In Indian file, and
each the bearer of load of rod iron, thin
and thick, to be made up during the ensu-
u.s week. Woonsocka Patriot.