The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-05-04
THE FACTORY FOREMAN.


1t was lust an American village as
you see in the pictures. background
of superb old mountains clothed in blue
green cedaTs' with torrent laundering
down a deep gorge, and falling in foam
lnp pillows; a river rejecting the azure
of the sky, and knot of houses with
church sDire at one end and thicket
of factory chimneys at the other, whose
black smoke wrote eYer-changtng hero
gIyphics against the brilliancy of the
sky. This was Dapplevale; and In the
rosy sunshine of a June day the girls
were all issuing forth, while General
MAY, the foreman, sat at his desk, pen
behind his ear and his small beady eyes
drawn back as it were in the shelter of
a precipice of shaggy eyebrows.
One by one the girls stopped and re-
Ceived their pay for weeks work, for
this was Saturday. One by one they
fled out with discOntented faces until
the last one passed in front of the desk.
She was slight and tall, with large
Velvety blue eyes, and a complexion as
delicately grained and transparent as
VOse-cOlOTed wax, and an abundance of
glossy hair of so dark a brown that the
casual observer would have pronounced
it black, and there was something in
the way the blue ribbon at her neck
simnle details of her dress were ar
ranged that bespoke her foreign birth.
We'll. MademOisellp Marie, how do
YOU like factory life?" asked the fore
man.
"Itis not disagreeablp," SHE answered,
"a slight accent clinging to her tones
like fragrance to a flower as she eX
tended her hand for the money counted
out to her.
you have given me but 81, and it was
IS by the contract" she said.
The foreman shrugged his shoulders
with an insOlpnt air.
"Humph! you amt much accustomed
10 our way of doing things, are you
MademOiselle? Eight of cOuse, but we
deduct 81 for fee"
"A fee. For what?" demanded Marie,
with flashing eyes.
For getting you the situation, to be
sure. Such places don't grow on every
bush, and you naturally expect to pay
for the privilege"
4 did not"
ooh, well, all right. You amt
obliged to stay unless you choose"
do you mean that if | do not pay
this money" hesitated Marie.
You can't expect TO stay in the
works." said May, hitching up his col
lar.
'But the other $2?"
oh that is per centage the girls all
pay
But what is it for?"
Mr.. May laughed.
1T helps out my salary. OF course
you know the girls expect to pay some
thing each week for keeping their situ
alton in a place where there are so
many anxious to get in"
And Mr.. Elder"
~O5, ne hasn't much to do with it. |
am master, if you please"
Mr.. Elder owns the works"
sTWell, yes he owns, but manage ev
erything. Mr.. Elder repOses the utmost
confidence in my ability, and he Is
good business man. He understands
his own interest. And now, II you nave
any more questions to ask"
II have none; but 1 need this money
myself. l work hard for it; earn it
FighteOusly. l cannot afford, any more
than the others among these poor Ia
boring girls, to pay it to your greed.
"Eh?" calculated Mr.. May, jumping
from his seat as if stung.
"And will not pay it" calmly con-
tinued Mile. Marie.
'Very we'll; just as you like, mademo1-
selle, only, if you won't conform to the
rules of the Dapplevale works.
"Are these the TulesP" scOrnfully de
manded the girl. -
"Pray consider your name crossed off
the books; you are no longer in my en-
ploy. Good evening, mademoiselle.
Mr.. May slammed down the cover Of
mis- desk as if it were patent gulllo-
tine and poor Marie's neck was un-
der it.
Two or three of the factory girls who
had lowered around the place to hear
the discussion looked with awe-stricken
faces at Marie as she came out with 81
an her hand.
"YOu have lost your place, ma'mselle," b"
whispered Jennie Bass, pale, dark
eyed girl who supported a crippled
mother and two little sisters out of her
factory earnings.
"And he'll never take you in again;
he is as vindictiVe as possible, said Mary
Rice.
at matters not. He is a rogue, and
TOgues sometimes Outgeneral them
selves"
''But you can't starve," said Jennie.
Come with me, ma'mselle. My house q
is poor place, but you are welcome to
stay there till you can write to your
friends"
Marie turned and impulsively kissed
Jennie on her lips.
'T thank you, but do not need your
kindness. 1 have friends nearer than
you think"
Marie Duvelle went back to the red
brick house, all thatched with the
growth of wOOdbine, where she lodged
with the wife of the man who tended
the engines in the Dapplevale works.
Does he cheat you out of your money
too?" she inquired when Simon Petten
gill came home, smOked-stained and
grimy to his supper.
cone sixth have to pay him." said
Simon, with a groan, as he glanced al
IL, l. - hFn rd
f'Yes, missI he's villain; but this world