The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-09-04

and other articles their busy hands have
made and carry home the fresh supply of
wool for another weeks toll. have seen
hundreds of these women toiling bare
footed along the stone roads with their big
bundles of finished work or wool. l have
conversed with them, and know exactly
what they make and the hours it takes to
make the sorry pittance they are able to
earn.
Go into the Offices of the Scotch and
English agents in these towns and they
will say: ooh, I suppose the most expert
could make shilling twenty-five cents) a
day working twelve or fourteen hours"
Do they make this?
1t is safe to say they do not make half
this sum per day and work hard all day.
And this statement is based on what l
have heard from more than one hundred
of these women with whom have talked
and on the testimony of every honest
witness who has ever visited Donegal.
Is it fair to call people shiftless who
want work bad enough to walk fourteen
miles for it; who, as a rule, knit as they go
along the mountain roads; who knit as the
horses rest in the field; who knit standing,
as they wait their turn to be served in the
country store, and who knit twelve long
hours day for fire pence or ten cents, and
who are enabled to earn after fortnight's
hard work-twelve hours per day and a
journey of twenty miles on foot-S1 % :?
Such people may have faults, but laziness
is not one of them.
vIRTUoUs, SOBER, PATIENT AND SKILL
Full.
Said Mrs. Hart, of the Gweedore
people: "Not only, however, were we
touched by their patience, but their sturdy
morality is refreshing In Gweedore in
the course of sixty years there has been
known but one instance of a woman losing
her character, and this owing to the guilt
of stranger In both Gweedore and
Glencolumbkill the whole of the adult
population are pledged teetotalers. Their
honesty is proverbial. During the famine
the people used to bring their goods in
exchange for meal. They were stacked in
the market place to be redeemed and re-
mained there unguarded and untouched.
1t must be borne in mind that neither
partisan prejudice nor philanthropic zeal
colors these pictures of industrial life in
Ireland The only motive is to show
what industries Ireland has now and what
the capacity of her people is were it posi-
BILE to utilize to best advantage the labor
which is crying on all hands for employ
ment and which shows so much patience
and skill in performing what little work is
within reach.
A good illustration of the Irish power
of adaptability may be found in the region
about Carrick and the district of Glenco-
lumbkill. Six years ago long headed
Londoner, on the lookout for cheap labor,
sent to Carrick woman of rather uncom-
mon business and artistic ability to see if
any practical use could be made of the
labor of the hundreds of women in the
Southwest part of Donegal, whose only
handicraft was that of plain and rough
knitting. Mrs. Alice Burnham, slight
fair haired woman, rented a couple of
rooms in the village, and as if by magic
the news travelled over mountain and moor
that lady had come to give out
work. Morning after morning, before the
sun had risen, throngs of bare headed,
bare footed girls assembled in front OF the
English woman's door, having trudged
over bleak mountains and wet boglands
from two to fourteen miles in hopes of
getting work. Without an exception the
toilet of these girls was confined to one
garment, gown, scarcely whole enough
for decency, and few, in lieu of the
national mantle-a shawl-had round
their shoulders coarse and dirty wooden
petticoat With hair as unkempt and eyes
as sparkling as Shetland ponies, they
would force their way into the rooms and
battle so literally over the person of Mrs.
Burnham that she was forced to have a
large oaken counter placed across the
room.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MRS. BURNHAM.
In my conversation with Mrs. Burn
ham at Carrick she said DAT first l was
in despair at the idea of placing delicate
woods and nice work in the hands of these
young savages, only two or three of whom
could read or write, and many of them
speaking Gaelic, while their appearance in
dicated the sort of novels the work was to
be done in. 1t was with great difficulty
that 1 could inform them as to the differ
ence between charity and business"
"What was that ?"
because almost the only chance they
had had to do work was for charitable
people who, with most mistaken notions of
doing good, would overlook faulty work,
paying them just the same. Naturally
they thought me very severe when made
it condition that for poor work there
should be no pay, and many time yield
ing to their impulsive temperament they
would throw it down, with the declaration
they could do no better. A few kind
words, however, and little patience would
always find its response, and now l have no
trouble whatever"
"How many girls have you been able to
supply with work ?"
~ have l, 400 girls on my books rang
ing from to maturity"
as it possible for children of 6 to do
this knitting?"
;'Not the more elaborate pieces, butsuch
as this" and Mrs. Burnham opend pack
age of neatly made and well shaped baby s
socks and children's skirts, in both Of
which a number of fancy stitches were
used, and handed them to me for exami-
nation. l asked how much these little
ones were paid for this work, and she told
me two pence (four cents) and four pence
(eight cents) pair and piece. Children
of II make larger and more difficult
pieces, especially of ladies' and children s
wear, are made of Andalusian and Berlin
woods, and are so artistic in style that |
was prompted to ask how these little girls
were taught the patterns. Mrs. Burnham
replied:
cIvILIzING EFFECT OF INDUSTRIES.
"When l have new article sent to me
from London for imitation I first make a
copy myself, and then write down in as
simple a language as possible the exact di-
rections for making it. The plan has led
to an extraordinary change among the