The National tribune., 1883-09-06
borhood, and had a window full that looked
very tempting.
PACKED Ike sARp1NEs.

bOrhood, and had window full that looked
very tempting.
PACKED LIKE sARDINEs
If the reader will bear this in mind, the de-
scription OF the house viii have q weighty
meaning. Here Is family originally of fifteen
persons, of whom seven are removed from the
home circle three By death, two by being al
service, and two by marriage) Now seven
from fifteen leave eight, and these eight peo-
pie live IN house that has three rooms. One
Is the living room. and two sleeping rooms
above il contain, one room the father mother.
and baby aged three, and the adjoining room
the FIVE other children The quiet modest
girl and her brother, after working at the forge
al day the boy sometimes getting in four
teen hours b are forced 70 share their bedroom
with each other and with their younger broth
ers aud sisters. This er0wding is not by reason
OF any idleness or drunkenness or want Of de-
eeney IN the family. The father is steady"
and has full work as a stock taksr. The
mother IS a skilliul baker, and keeps her little
shop, The sons and the daughter ali contribute
to the family funds, and the three Etrle chill
dren 60 regularly To school The thriftiness Of
/ the family was proven in every direction The
/ hVlng room was clean and cosy. though it was
only ten IN the morning when we were in it.
! The youngest two OF the children, at home
now for the summer vacation, were warmly
and neatly clad, and their ROSY faces and
sturdy limbs bore witness TO habitual good
care. - think I'm appy { ave 'em all G
'omeH continued mother" If they was scat
tered about away from the village I wouldn't
rightly know If they WIS kept welIy clean
aud that's the secret OF good health TO my
thInkin'-pleuty OF withdrawing and scrub
BIN. In answer to a question about tha
younger childreu's work she said :" Yes, the
inspectors IS very strict about the children. IL
/ they gets caught the parents is 'ad up and
there's five shitlIn's 10 pay But my children,
none Of 'em works tili they've past the age;
you can see that they're so Straight"
/ was much impressed with the good fiber OF
this family their pride each other IN the eozi-
ness the only room IN their home which was So
for human beings u dwell IN, and in the fact shat
/ they had kept hFe and forty years possession.
| | was looking for degradation and cruelty i
/ found, instead, self-respec5 and family aiec-
| ton under conditions Of grinding toll and
| crowded living that would excuse gross bru-
| tality.
Toll of this kind and overcrowding were,
1 however, not precisely what / was in search OF
/ and when | said SO the mother offered TO show
me . a ease sad esoush TO be worth coming
across the sea to look at" and led us to work.
| shop smaller than those which we had seen
/ Here were two mon, cripple and e0nsump-
/ tive. at work upon W3meD's ma Is l. e. small
/ wrought nails. 0ue Of these unhappy toiIers
earned three shilliHgs per week, Of which one
| shilling went for FIRE and furnace rent; the
/ other earned four shiliings. less the same de-
dneti0ns. The sight was a haunting one and
| will not soon fade from memory; but it was
stiIl not the Overwork OF children, the precise
hardship Of which l was in quest and We
str0lied on.
| From Mr. Balls works. where men only ara
employed, Of whom the master said with pride:
They d earn all the way up to thirty shiliin's
a week If they'd work regular An intelIi-
gent young foreman was sent to show Us the
worst parts Of the village When asked
/ f.r~fr.- -.
be said: " It's oc5ard Just at present ia
find them. they're al OF at the 'op-pickin' for
| three weeks at this season." and added
They're very strict about children Of school
/ age now; they wont let EN- work til they're
past fourteen" This the master cOrrObOrzted,
saying: They re too strict. Since the new
school boa'd's come IN they 'ad up q lot Of poor
widows about five weeks ago, AID made en-
pay five shiilins fines apiece.
YOUTH IN BONDAGE
After much searching We found one sturdy lit
tie girl, who was decidedly understood it, asshs
/ sulienly declared, she was TUNED fourteen
She was working alone IN an especially dark
/ shop that stood below the level OF the apology
| for street, IN wlich we stood watching her
Size said that she worked every day and al
/ day, and earned three and ninepenee, of which
six pence are absorbed for rent aud SIX Fer fire.
/ That is to say. this child turned fourteen -
/ can earn sixty eight cents per week and learn.
/ meanwhile. Qade which IS growing every
/ year more and more completely obsolete. IL
/ she has kept the law as she Claims she has
/ done, she Is an illustration Of its Limitation;
/ for it could protect her only until she is
= turned fourteen; - her youth henceforth Is
! her own, TO be spent in bondage to the nall
/ furnace. Although this was the only cbild Co
I be found and although the goxag women vere
= mostly OF 10 the hOp-piekln'," there were
I hundreds of older women IN the village toiling
1 at this most GnwOmanly trade, who al told the
/ same story o. low wages, heavy deductions,
/ and the rigid inspections OF the school board
In summing up my visit to HaIesoen, the
most salient faa surs that stands ont IN the pic
/ ture Is the hue hber OF the people, who seemed
uniformly hard working, fond OF their homes,
/ aud eager TO make the best Of lot whose Bit
t terness they themselves cannot measure. No
! house occupied by a n.silers family has more
/ than three rooms-eEs hviEg-r0om and two
/ sleeping rooms. A cellar is q thing unknown.
/ and q house with . water pipes laid on a lux
/ ury OF which no mailer dreams. Yet these
/ women were eager TO show Us their homes,
proud of the cleanliness that shOae from white
I washed walls and ill-tiIed fi0OTs III sharp con-
/ trast with the cOal-grime Of the worneas' faces,
/ hands, and clothing. How they keep such
/ brave hearts they only know
! Next TO the admiration which the workers
/ themselves inspire, comes respect for the school
board, which gathers up the ehi!dreR and se-
| cures them thirteen years of clIild-life before
| their weary slavery begins. N0t aseh0oi-child
| could we see in a Halesoen workshop: and,
though the hop-p picking ami the possibility of
/ our being iniOrmeFs may have had something
to do with this the parents drsSd of the in
speetors proves THAI the school board is mighty
protector of childhood.
These two discoveries destroyed several Of
my preeonceived ideas. i had gone in search
of degradation and cruelty. I found only men
( and women who, In their terrible poverty aud
! their slavish toi inspired only admiration. I
found, also, degree OF governmental pTotse-
/ ton Of childhood that made me blush for my
/ own States neglect OF the education OF her
4 ehild-woFkers, FIX.
Section 175i HanOTed in the Breach.
/ To the Editor NATIONAL tribune: