The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1886-12-23
FACTORY GIRLS.

IChicago Inter Ocean.l

by Lives Of Toll.
tChicago Inter Ocean.l
Several newspapers Of New England
have been giving some space of late to dis
cussicn OF tSe appearance and character
istics II tbs factory girls who constitute
such Q large element of the population OF
that part Of the country. In the New Eu-
gland Etapas nearly sixteen thousand
young girls, between the ages of ten and
fisteen, arc employed in the various manu-
fsctaring inds stries. and nearly two hum
dred thousand under twenty arc thus en-
,Aoyed. The effect Of taking such large
number Of girls away from home life and
its softsaing in fiueaces can not but be felt
in the c ,mnsaaity. These girls work from
seven O'Clock in the morning till six O'Clock
in the evening. Their work is not heavy,
hut it is moaesonous and wearying Their
wages range from forty cents day.up.
ward, wonan's average wages in the
factory being shout e1.50 per day. AS .
rule these girls prefer to work in the fac
tories rather than to attend school,
II givsa an opportunity to receive
an education they do not wish to
take it. Partly because their parents are
generally anxious to secure the help OF
their wages, and partly from the influence
OF older girls, they are eager to Join tho
ranks ct the money -gstters and viii sacri-
dee education, comfort and health to this
end Their moral condition may not be
all that should be desired, but it is better
than might be expected considering the
lax influences that surround them. Cen
orally, their behavior in the factories IL
propris,y itself, but in the evening. when
they are set FREQ from the thraldom of
labor they are apt to indulge in romping
demonstrations aud noisy talk and laugh
ter.
The picture Of childhood repressed by
this life of toll is very sad. One observer
says: "You look in vain for the peach
like cheek, the pretty smile, the proud
step; you fin instead yellow-white face,
tain ami expressionless unless the vol
knit eyebrows signify that they regret the
circumstances which compel them to throw
away tho bes. of their lives behind the
stone walls of the mill. II, perchance,
some little miss Of twelve, whose acquainr-
ance with factory life is short, bubbles
forth with laughter, her childish nierri
ment only makes the so'serness Of her
elders moro grim and pitiiul. 1t is not uu-
common to seq tae girl who entered The
factory the year before with . straight,
pretty form. join the proce ssion Of round
shoulderel lasses aftec twelve months
hard work in the factory"
Concerning the effect Of factory life up
on the health Of thosa WHO engage in it in
their early youth, the Boston HraiI says:
The appalling fact conn ,cted with this kind
Of existence is found ii the vital statistics
attending it. Tho ayers go life Of the factory
girls is but thirty years. Soma OF those
who marry live to be forty or forty-ivo
years o,d--seldom more than that. The
physical condition that the mill has PRO-
duced IN them units them for matrimony.
It is only question OF how much it has
impaired their health in deciding whether
they are to hive up to the critical ego Of
woman or to fall by the way. The vast ma
jority Of them come 1nrshors of it-none 60
beyond. There is thus brought home to Us .
realization Of the No ioch that our factory
system is ia its effects upon women en-
gagged in it We rea1izs material wealth
by it. and at fearful cost Civilization ad.
vances over the corIses OF tn ose who con-
tribute to its progress; but as they drop
out in the procession, scores OF others step
in to fill their places With all the deadly
deterioration Of physical vigor that the
factory produces, it is favored among the
more intelligent women over healthy
household service and this not by those of
American birth ak,ne. The majority of
the mill-girls are French or Of French ex-
traction, whit the Irish are largely rep
resented in their ranks.