Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-02-14
THE FACTORY LASSES
SKETCHES or THEIR LIVES IN The
GREAT LANCASHIRE mILLs

GREAT LAhcAsHisE mILLs
Pveyi.fs.r Made ~ ne oxfsrd Factory
O-p<r. for shs Rsstesslea ~ rhess
Rmpioye~--Hcw The Girl. Dress s.x
| Cpndset Themselves
For tie recreation Of their hands milis
nave no provision wiIateyer--as I rule,
that j.. 9here are . few exceptions,
and only . Nv Unique certainly are
the Oxford nEls At Ashton -under-Lyne.
in connection ~ which the late Mr..
Hngt. Mason lnded q little COLONY.
| For outdoor sperfs there il q large play
ground with Swings. ETC.. and ! bowl
ing green attached When the weather
u nnfasorablss the Hands can go to ths
recreation rooms On the ground door
Of these Il q readiug roam literally sup-
piled with newspapers and periodicals.
I and having library Of 100 volumes
A coffee room leads Of It. and from
that again the baths are reached. Up
stairs Is large lecture room fitted with
desks and with splatform at the end.
/ Busts 81 great men are On pedestzls
/ round the walls Scott and Burns arc
m niche together, as i lifting, and
near them are Homer. Shakespeare,
Dante and Milton Michael Angelo
looks at Raphael. Bright and Golden
Newton and Watt, Franklin and WASH
irgton-alI are there: ard ut intervals
there are also hung portraits Of i'm
I ventcrs and inprovers OF cotton ma
chinery. In connection with these rooms
there Is good brass band. Sewing and
other classes. too, are held. while during
the winter months concerts and lee
lures are Of frequent Occurrences. OF
I'll tfis il should be noted Messrs
Thomas Mason x Son defray the ex-
pe1ses.
Il From other portions Of the district Ne
take the following. The secretary Of !
cotton operative spiuners' association Is
stated to have said:
Any girl who wants work can have
It In the mills That labor market =
never overlooked. At the present time.
particularly IN the spinning department,
some firms are shorthahded. Nowadays
many girls in Manchester do not care to
go into thr mills: they would rather
work IN the warehouses and shops"
! There has been an Improvement In
the lot Of the factory workers. asked
the interviewer
Yes replied the secretary, Sin every
way. wages are higher. hours shorter.
But. mind you. hands have 10 work
harder while they are at il. because the
machinery runs faster and they have
to look after more of IL Why, in my
young days weaver tended only two
looms. now she tends four
Throstle spinners. the writer adds,
work with as little clothing as possible
: and generally in their bare feet, though
some wear slip7ers- Cardroom hands
wear straight pinafores. cut away at the
neck and with short sleeves The dis
tinctise parts of the mill girls dress are
, clnxs on the feet and a small shawl
handkerchief. they are cailed-on the
shoulders
. Weavers, though there Is nothing pc
caiiar about their dress. can generally
be distinguished from other factory
girls They have personal trade mark
their front teeth are often bad, and
besides many Of them have at times 4
>
to suck weft through a shuttle causes
the teeth to decay. The aannerism Is
similarly explained
In weaving shed the noise Is deafen-
!, ing You cannot hear your own voice
SO the weaYers attract one another's at
sention by shrill :. Whooi- and con
: verse by means Of signs and by watch
) ing the movements Of the lips. They
are so proficient in labiornancy that they
can follow = private conversation any
where if they can see the speakers faces
This circumstance explains . common
: observation that Is otherwise enigmati
| cal Mind what tha'rs sayin'- ems
E gossip will remark - another, glancing
' suspiciously at the object of their talk
co.'s a wayyer.T
, Some mill girls never do any house
WORK, their ignorance in which branch
of female education Is consequently
colossal Hundreds cannot make pud
ding or pie for the life Of them, ami
the writer has heard of a lass putting q
' rabbit in a dish whole and making q
d crust for II with suet- There are factory
girls ON the other hand-and these ars
a in tae majoriry-who take their full
4 share of cleaning. cookery. needlework
etc
As rule. too. the lasses are in ever
!. way respectable. When factory las
and her sweetheart go Of on trip Of
D take week at Blackpool or Southport Of
/ the Isle of Man. as often as not she pay;
{ the expenses. She it Is who in due cours.
: buys the furniture-aye, and perhaps
: the ring and all the rest Whether sh:
!, will stand treat in this or not, the foul
!, loom weaver need never remain single
a Among factory girls she corresponds Il
; the heiress of ordinary life. and as such
e has no difficulty in obtaining husband
When offsprings become old enough
they are sent TO the mill as their parent.
. were before them The typical Lanca
shire woman does not like the idea o
{ their aiming higher As reey soon re
!. ceive good wages their parents are rap
i idly placed in comfortable circumstance
ri more comfortable than they ever knew
/ perhaps This state is the factory oper
atives' summum tSnum-the positio,
!. beyond which he or she very rarely goes
E -Casssn's Journal
4 Good Corn to Raise.
s. Kansas paper says the entire suppl
Of Jerusalem corn came from two kel
nels. These produced the seed frol
Y which fire bushels We're raised the 70