New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-23
INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND.
BY ROBERT P. PORTER. MEMBER OF THE LATE
TARIFF COMMISSION.
SOCIETY AND TRADE IN BRADFORD.
o,. snrn,,r cnnprspoNnENr on THE TRIBUNE.


During q STAY heIe of week. have visited many
OF the prnciual mills 1 owe il to the cltlzcns Oh
Bradford to saw that nowhere have been moro
CORDIALLY receiyed-the town offices, the Board Oh
Trade the Price Hall the Police Department., tne
clubs tbs hbiar.es and the great mills nave aii
been open to me- and every facility Afforded lor LILO
prosecution of my inquiry. Prominent citzenS
ha taken pains to give any information Ia tnei
power, aud ami especially indebted 10 ME- W. f.
tirinnell, the efficient United States Consul VINO
has assisted me every possible way. My hrse
visit was to Sir Titus Salts town on the River Aire
called Satalre. Sir Titus tried to DO here what
Pullman has far moro successfully accomplished
near Chicago. After dwelling in smoking manu-
featuring towns for the past six weeks IL was 10
fresbng co see this neatly built little town 10 Tue
midst of the green fields of cheerful country ianu
scape. which contrasted favorably Win tho hgh''
colored stone buildings and cleanly tnorougniareS
of salta,re. The works are fine specimens OF ar
chitecture and cover ten or twelve acres lhey
are both substantial and elegant-a rare conIpina-
tinn in English mills. They accommodate about
1000 hands, who find homes in about 500 cottages
built on a uniform plan in rows. conveying ut once
the idea of neatness and monotony. These dwell
ings are larger than those occupied hy the Brad
ford operatives having five rooms. The backs OF
the premises are inclosed by brick. walls The san
itarv ARRANGEMENTS are said 20 be good Provision
has been made for the education and Amusement as
well as for the spiritual welfare OF the people. In
the erection OF several churches, institutions ana
schools. Baths encourage cleanliness, PARKS anord
opportunity for healthy exercise the suppression OF
beershops mlnimIzes drunkenness, and aims
houses IN inevitable element OF English civ
ilizaton open their cheerful doors for theeged and
incapable Cosy as the cottages are. clean as the
streets are handsome as the factory building 49,
there pervades all Saltaire air of restraint about
the people, and want of individuality that shows
the folly Of irving TO make human beings like so
many peas IN pod
Tho gigantic silk mandatory Of s. c. Lister nj
Mamlngham, about couple of miles from the
csntre of bradford, is ope of the most interesting
places to stranger. Mr.. Lister is the inventor OF
combing machine that l am told revolutionized
slx mupufacturing In spool silk Lister ranks with
Coates and Clark in spool cotton, but In addition to
this he has become famous in uress goods pushes
and velvet lie is one of the few men in this world
who have lived to see magnificent monument,
heroic size erected to his own genius ana pubic
spirit. bradford people believe in honoring their
benefactors as the stat1e of 5. c. Lister In the
Park and that OF SIR Titus Salt near the Town Hall
bear evidence.
MIR Lister I found to be exceedingly affable
and able man. He Is past sixty, with large Drown
eyes gray hair and beard, plainly attired evidently
n good diner and interesting companion lie greets
.,rangers very cordially, and gives hearty laugh
TO emphasize his remarks.
aAhr said he dit Is the foreign tariffs that have
PLAYED the mischief with us here. lt is well enough
TO attribute it to this. that and the other. you
know but the foreign tariffs the bottom of it,
We English have been guilty of great mistakes.
We didn't know when we had good thing In
1882 at the great Exhibition. played the part oil
the crow IN Ksops fables to you ankee foxes.
What beautiful bird, you exclaimed. and the oily
tongued Frenchman echoed it. What would we
not give 10 hear You sing, for a bird with such
| plumage must have an exquisite volce! And thus
| Gattered We began % sing and out dropped the
! meat Then the Yankee aud the Frenchman ran OH
with our machinery aud our ideas, clspped on q
| tariff. ana soon settled our business-haw. haw
haw"
And Mr.. Lister leaned back in his chair and
| laughed as the aptness of the comparison daWned
| upon HIM. Then he resumed:
Yes you shau 60 all over the mill glad to lei
vou 90 you know, providing you not mann
farturer. Yes. you NAV 90 over, but not into the
velvet department: couldn't do that; no one all
mitted into that department. not the velvet depart
| ment-naw haw haww
III.
So was piloted over the mill. by red faced
| vouna man with BLACK whiskers. but not into tile
,eIyet department. II was sight long to be re-
| nemhered TO watch the silk, from the boiling in
strong little bags through the various processes to
the final weaving into dresses OF the most delicate
| shades How attractive The weaving-rOom Every
loom engaged IN dIileren: shade OF silk. and the
hghtest hues of blue and pink rafting through the
| dusty machinery, without law, without 70 spot
| After the boiling and dycng comes the comolng
Then the drawing into endless skeins which silently
! take their place in tin cylindrical receptacles
them the spinning into yarns of every number. and
| tho twisting into spool silk. | noticed that the
machinery IS all made on the premises and every
thing kept close. The factory people, who live IN
| comfo,table houses near the mill. seem contenied
and thrifty The silk weaveTs are better class OF
girls tnan those engaged in the wors,ed mills, and
earn more money Each family pays about Is. cd
or As. 3d. week rent. Their houses each contain
one general room, two bedrooms aud a garnet
The floor of the lower room is paved with stone
flags. in most cases partly covered by rug. which
| can be taken up wash days" Many of the rooms
| are cosy, with well-Llacked crate, white hearth
| cheerful blazing fire. green OF straw-colored Nene
| tian blinds mahogany furniture covered with
horse hair CLOTH plenty Of shells aud cheap glass
| ornaments and profusion of anti macassars.
called nc a score or of these cottages and talked
W Tia tho pleasant old Yorkshire danes who kept
honse while husband and daughters were at work
Some we're making. all told, 30s. u week by thu
united efforts of husband and daughters; Others
only 22r. They never owned n home, and nevel
expected to. All had heard of the land beyond the
seas. .nd one or two had relatives who Enad gon,
ont and done well. They complained very much o
the nigh price of provisions in England OF course
those engaged III Listers mills a superior elias
of operatives. The houses In the other divisions o
tho city were not good and the interiors did mo-
present the same comfortable appearance. The in
mates of the latter complained of the dizziness o.
trade of their moagre almost stars alton earnings