The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-01-11

Sbedl giance toward u window the,
can see something out doors. There i
hothing like an occasional glimpse o
the sky and the trees to keep them con
tented" And so every window in th,
Spartan Mill is transparent and clear
1t Is the same at Clifton and Glendale
and every other Southern mill of which
Inquiries have been made.
Pleasant as is this atmosphere Of mu
tual understanding between employer
and employed it Is clouded by he avy
shadow. The presence Of children il
the mills is an evil which every manu-
facturer have seen in the South ack
nowledges and deplores, az d one whicl
1T Is only fair to say most of them are
trying sincerely to eradicate ever at
the risk OF greater expenditure for labor
and smaller profits. Work in the spin
ming rooms which in the North is done
by women is performed in Southern
mills by little boys and girls so diminu,
tive in some cases as to cause wonder
how they manage to do the work at
all.
In the spinning room OF the Spartan
Mill there is one girl of IA or l5 who
towers above the other children tend.
ing the spindles so as to be conspicu-
Gus all over'the room. Capt. Montgom-
cry said she had grown up in the mill,
and that it was not usual for one to
stay in the spinning room until that
age. Most Of the other boys and girls
apparently were from 10 to II years
A good many Of them seem even
younger, but Capt. Montgomery says
he tries to keep the children out of the
mill till Shey G.e Twelve. La the
Clifton mill saw one little chap who
couldn't have been over 8 years old
feeding shuttles as neatly and quickly
as anybody. He was just tall enough
to reach them by raising his hands
over his head. This boy [ was told
was not employed in the mill, but like
a good many other children came in of
his own accord to learnthe trade, or to
help out an older brother or sister. In
the Glendale mill there was little
tacker who couldn't have been more
than years old aud who was darting
around with keen zest. The overseer
said that this lad earned 30 cents q
day.
AS a rule the children in the spin
ing rooms earn from 30 to so cents a
day according to their skill. Some OF
them earn as much as 60 cents. The
drawings both in the Spartan and the
Clifton mills are attended by boys who
earn about the same rate OF wages.
There were children even smaller in
other parts Of the mill, wheeling spools
around in barrows and attending to
various chores.
None of these children have any
business here,' said Capt. Moutgom-
cry. They don't get any pay, and
they come into the mill simply to help
out their parents or their older broth
ers or sisters. You can't keep them
away. They ought to be at school, but
they had rather be here" 1t is the
same tory at Clifton and Glendale.
come in to help the older ones, begin
feeding shuttlcs and starting up looms,
and In two or three months apply to
him for set Of looms and declare they
can run them. On inquiry he finds
they have been learning their trade on
the quite under the tuition of other
until they are about as com
petent as anybody.
1t must be said that these children
seem to enjoy their work and to take
pride in it. They are bright-faced,
healthy appearing boys and girls, and
they are as lively and happy, 10 all
as children anywhere.
| fingered behind good many times to
watch them, and in every instance, as
soon as they saw a strangers eye upon
ehSili phOS "ouiu w oDO" luclT
PAGES, tossing the shuttles about in the
liveliest kind of a way, as If they were
playing new game.
One OF the overseers at the Glendale
mill told me it was good thing for
the children to be in the mill. "They
grow fat here" he said. "They are
good deal better off here than outside.
They like it," In spite of everything,
though. it jars decidedly on ones feel
iugs to think Of these infants going to
work in the big mills by artificial light
before sunrise and toiling there till an
hour after sunset for this is what the
ll-hour,day means to them in Spartan
burg and Charlotte.
The question OF child labor, it should
be said, Is most important factor
whcG it comes to deciding the question
of tie relative wage Of the Northern
ED Southern operative. In reckoning
the wages Of their help have noticed
in every instance that the mill men
speak of the income whole families re-
ceiye from the mills. In many cases
this is comfortable amount. 1t is
easily possible and by no means unusual
for a family of five, consisting of
father, mother and three children, to
earn $50 o week. The father earns
some So, the mother So, and each of the
children from $3.50 to So. This same
family can live, as q rule, on $6
week, which leaves very handsome
profit.
In Northern mill the father alone
would be the wage Garner, and the ex-
penses OF living would be at least $l1
week, and difference of 40 per cent.
in the wage earner's pay would not
begin to equaliZe conditions. So long
as infants ore permitted to work in the
mills, the Southern manufacturer will
have ar advantage in labor cost, which
the Northern manufacturer can hardly
hope to neutralize, and so long as chill
dren are wage earners their parents
are less likely to agitate for fewer
hours and more pay.
This apparent economic advantage
makes all the more creditaole the ef-
forts of SO many Southern manufactur-
ers to keep the children out OF the
mills. At Charlotte q great has oeen
done in the way of supplying educa.
tional facilities, and at Spartanburg,
| Clifton and Glendale the record Is
equally good. 1t Is much the same
story everywhere, according TO what is
said here.
| Capt. Montgomery assures me he has
done as much Ms anybody In that line,
and from inquiries among the towns
people and operatives | find that he
has underestimated his own creditable
performance, IL anything. He has beer
successful especially at the Pacolet