Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-11-29

COTTON MILL llNE,
IS Matilda Davis Remembers II After
III Years MS n Weaver,

Matilda Davis hcEtuuing hrr dist
NrAr aS 4 weaver recently talked To
a reporter of the llOstom Globe of her
LONG experience OF mill life. she WAS
born in Woodstuck Me, In lS30 ami
WAS earning her own living when she
was Is YEATS old For Il whilc SHE did
houSrwork earning 80 cents week.
Then she entered Il min IN Woodstock
as a spooler, getting TO cents week
aud her board. At the end OF year
SHE removed to Drdham and learned
weaving In tho course of the 80
wears which have passed SHE has al
only such vacations rs illhralth or
shut downs have compelled her to
take These 30 years OF labor have
been spout In Dcdham, Ncwhuryport,
Lewiston, Me. and Lawrence tho
greater part of the time In the latter
city and In the Pacific mill
"Whrn look back" she rrmnrkc
ito the early days of my work, Il
long hours, the poor pay and rude con
vcnIcnccS of the mills together with
the IbNII t'I h'liN'N wv "'i'
compelled to live In, | have no fnult
Ia iind with the present condition OF
affairs regarding mill life and labor,
when | first began work In Dcdham
we were paid of once In three months.
and considered ourselves very fortu
nate girls when we made $3.50 week.
Many Of the mills had no regular pay
day. the operatives going To the count
Ing room when they wished for little
money, and their accounts would thus
run along. oftcntimes for n whole
year
"rhc girls did not pay their own
board, but II was collected by the
boarding mistress at the mill counting
room The corporation boarding.
houses Of those times bore little re
scmblance to the comparatively com
Portable ones of today. The food which
was furnished us was poor In quality
and scarce in quantity. The bill Of
fare never varied, our breakfast con
sisted of fried potatoes. biscuits and
doughnuts We had good butter, when
we had butter. which was not often,
'olco' and like compounds not then
being discovered. The coffee was
swectencd with molasses, and the
milk boiled with II, To save putting
milk and pitchers on the table One
day in every week we had bread and
milk for dinner. and on the other days
some kind OF meat was given us, The
~ a "A. I,N
ing meals Oilcloth covered the tables.
No teaspoons or tumblers were ever
seen. for YOU know" with smile,
teaspoons could be stolen and glasses
broken.
Chairs were considered an unneces-
fore furnished for both dining and
sitting rooms. Carpets were unknown
to us; even the floors OF the boarding
mistress private apartments were
bare, like our own. At 10 o'clock we
were supposed To be In our beds with
all lights out. At 0.i5 n bell was rung
10 remind us OF the rule, and In II
minutes the master Of the house start
ed on tour u investigation TO sec
that the regulation was obeyed. II
the Waterman on the street saw any
lights burning after that hour In the
boarding house, he would call up the
master and together they would bring
the offender "a book
what sort ~ recreation did we
have Well, you see after working
~ hours day we didn't think much
about recreation though wc did some
times attend singing school, which
was our chief form Of amusement
once year circus came % town, !
little one.hOrse show. Circus day
was the great event Of the year TO us
mill girls, surprising In It's manifold
attractions even Independence Day. T.
We had few holidays, and christina
WAS not then kept az II II now. tn.
mill officials and towns people didn't