Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-03-30
T0ILING TOWN MAKERS.
LIFE AMONG INGENIOUS ARTISANS
OF THE THURINGlAN FOREST.

How They WORK and Live Branch of
German Industry of special Interest to
Americsns Effect, OF JncIeanIiness
bad Food aud Foul Air.
A half day'- Journey from Hrdrlburg
brings the Traveller INTO a region us Iull Of
quaint interest and strange sights d@ any
in Germany the and Of toys. the Some
berg district Of the Thurluglan forest
This world apart in the universe Of in
du>try i known very well. Indeed. 10 a
certain class uf Americans, the toy i'm
porter<. better than tothe importers Of
any other nation
/ As long agu As 1876 we Americans
bought in thu small forest nest toys To the
value Of nearly SJO.nO, and in lNSi our
purchases had increased 10 nearly $1,000.
/ OO. and Vet how few Of Us. when We buy
| a cry ug dnll Tor a Christmas present. a
/ woody dog a nudiIng donkey. Il farm
! ward or any Of lie rh"u~and toys made Of
/ wood. papi,.r uarhr, or wan think of the
! strange h,rl,. world among the Thuringian
/ hills whence oar familiar objects come.
| The merchants are SAID To- have no. love
for their business whatever. the manu-
fucturer~ are conservative beyond belief
and the worn rkIugmru have II" money with
which to experiment. There Is no indus
trial museum in the district and the man
ufacturrr~ oppose the foundation uf one
/ because each j. AFRAID that the others may
Appropriate his models. THE solitary
manufacturer who has patented toy or
two and proposed some wholesale i'm
pruvemrnl~ nt technique i cordially
hated thar he employs private watch
man for his establishment and does not
venture oul alone al might. Yet within
the narrow limits of it, method of pruduC-
ton Sonnebrrg has the most marvellous
array of varied TOYS Thus there are
sample ruum> with I2.uIO to l>.un sample
toys. and many a Snnnrhcr% drummer
carries in his sample books 5000 10 1909
pictures and photographs ot the prpduc
tions 0f hi firm or firms
THE FACTORY HANDS NNp ~MA>IEI;S"
The workers are of twu>"rt~. the factory
hands and the masters, who work AT
home with the help of an empl"ye or tw"
and of their own families. The position
Of the master varies little from that of the
other worhnen. The master occupies a
cottage and has putat" patch on the
steep stony hillside Bur the cottage and
potato patch are usually heavily
mortgaged and III order to pay interest
and taxes the family usually rent the best
rooms and live in the most wrrtched
closet like drn>. The quarter Of Some
berg where the wnTkerS live i the oldest
of the city After the Ru~~Itr~ had de
stroyed the city the inhabitants are said
to have taken refuge in Gruuthal a long
gorge under the protection of the castle.
shut in by steep hill~idrS the Grunthal
affords scarcely room enough for two mar
row row, OF houses. ~ that many Of them
are built directly into the hillside. The
dwelling usually consists of sleeping
and living room. both low CrIlcd and
heated winter and summer in order L.
lrv the wares which stand about the
stove upon shelves and boards The living
room. at once Kitchen. workshop ami
nursery, is usually light
But the sleeping Room Is rarely Ventila-
bic and still more rarely ventilated. II
contains exactly room enough for two or
three beds ~ close together that no one
can pass between them At night the &C
cupaut Of the furthest must climb over
the intervening ones. Here two, three or
four persons occupy each bed. The puv-
rrty and cruwdlng are horrible the want
of dwellings increasing a. the factory sy>-
TEN draws more and more hands To the
town. And these pens are expensive, too;
I he most wretChrd of them, with but one
nabitable room. costs from ~ To ~ marks.
and for the usual sleeping and living room
together. the workman pays ~ 10 80
marks. The cleanliness Of such dwellings
may readily be imagined The week :
sweeping and sCrubbing j. confined 10 sat
urday afternoon. when the wares are
packed ready TO be taken 10 the mer-
chants. The sleeping room rarely shares
t he benefit of the scrubbing
srANTY FOOD AND IMPURE AIR
The food of these unfOrtunates consists
Of potatoes eaten in the morning with IA
cup "f chicory. and As lunch with bread.
For dinner. potatoes with a herring or
some fat from the butcher. The poorest
Of all go without herring and take the salt
liquor in which it was packed, Meat is
-eldom eaten In trrunthHl. where pOpu- .
latiun i thiCkt>t. there are few butchers,
and these few find II" custom. Down he
low IN the town Of SOnueherg itself the
butchers live near together and Kill much
and often. At O'Clock coffee is taken
or the water i'll which the butcher
has boiled Sausage. which these unfurtu-
mates call Sausage soup This they get
for nothing. or almost nothing, and they
ut slices of potato into II.
After the LcipsIc autumn fair when tn
urgent orders come and American tele-
grams for Christmas good> literally chase
ZACH other along the cables, every human
being who can he set at work is pressed
into the service of the toy industry Whole
families work all through the night and
he heat and dust aud foul air must have
'een felt To be appreciated which reign
supreme here when the fire i kept burn
ing day and night 10 dry the wares where
4 dozen human beings crouch in a low
.eiled pen. and AT night a cheap petroleum
amp adds it, fumes to the whole
The consequences OF such "A way Of liv-
ng are inevitable In spite If the pure
forest air that pours down from the
heights through every lane and hyway.
heSe unhappy people are pale and feeble,
hey stoOp and cougi,. have fiat narrow
.hestS and are small OF stature. such is
he race of tnymaker> in the Thuringian
orest - Heidelberg Cor. Philadelphia
Times