The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-01-19
\ Woman Blacksmith.

At one forge later on, between
nine and ten o'clock, in fact, | dis
covered a female mailer working un-
der disadvantages that might have
daunted an anchor smith. Wheth-
er she had a husband whose alb
sence was accounted for by his be-
ing addicted to beer-shop Jogging, or
whether she had no husband, I did
not ask her, and she did not tell me-
Anyhow, she was working alone,
she spoke ofhaving all these brats"
to provide for, as though the whole
responsibility rested upon her poor
narrow shoulders, the bones Of which
were so sharp that they threatened
to cut through the himsy material
that covered them every time she
tugged at the heavy bellows. There
were four little children. the oldest
about seven, the youngest a baby in
"long clothes in a calico bedgown,
in fact, and nothing else. The soH-
tarv article of raiment had once been
white, but now was approached the
complexion of a coal-sack.
The two children who came be-
tween the youngest and the eldest
were disporting in the ashes, and
pummelling each others awfully
dirty little bodies in 4 fierce strUg-
gle for the mangled remains Of a
wooden doll. There was only Its
carcass left. and its hair was singed
off It's head, and the pait on it. face
all scorched and blistered but the
two infant nailers could not have
fought for itmore furiously had it
been the choicest prize In Mr.. Gre
mers collection The other two
children-the oldest and the vOug-
est, the former acting the part Of
nurse TO the latter-were deposited
in O kind Of wooden cradle that
shared with the bellows the hearth
were the fire was. The baby was
shrieking, and the boy was shout
ing a hymn in q vain cndeavOr to
quiet IT,
One way and another, thcmother,
poor soul-she was quite a young
womGn-seemed well-nigh distracted
rs she banged away at her work,
bent seemingly on getting some set
task done ; the perspiration stream
ed down her face as though she was
crying. She stuck to her work,
and kept the sparks flying,
showers Of them besprinkled the
Of the cradle, but without
the least effects on those
young salamanders-until q shriller
Shrek than hitherto caused the wo-
man to throw down her hammer and
take the child on her lap as she sat
down on the nose of the anval.
Hard work ~
"It Is just that, master" she re-
in reply to an observation
Of mine "and often | wish l was
in heaven, and out Of it all. 'ponmy
soul and body, ! do, I raley get so
sick of it -
And as she took the sooty hand
kerchief from her head and wiped
her wet face with it, q mider form Of
lsservation would have satisfied me
Of the probability Of the change sug-
gested being to her advantage. It
was in vain she tried TO pacify the
child at her lean bosom.
Hush, then, and NANNY II
spare a penny for . half-pint Of beer
presently, and then, perhaps, she'll
.uckle down a bit, said the poor
soul, as protesting against themock-
.ry offered it, the little rebel stiffen-
ed itself out and refused either 10
OF leave eff shrieking.
''Havn't | got no help in working
EN- ALP No. master. I've got no
help. How much can / earn ?.
Well, is right down slavery to earn
! penny an hour at II. More often
when this Young un o.
mine j. cross-it isn't more than
for the whole DAY. No
We don't quitelive on that. sir. I'm
lowanced two loaves q week. but it's
nigh OF four miles TO fetch EN-. so
don't know, reckoning the los Of
line, that I'm richer after all I'm
sure | don't know what's coming 20 +
.he work, and the price they're Civ
ng for it. It's almost atbad as chain
is that worse than nail-making25
~For the women It Is. Just YOU
20 20 Cradlev and ask EN-
It was too late 10 follow her adj
rice that night but did so next DAY. Z