The evening times., 1900-01-01
THE CHIMNEY SWEEP.
CxucItics PractIced Upon Children IN
England Thirty Years Ago.
(From Good NordsD


generation to believe the stories that are
told OF sufferings inflicted on children IN
this country but few years ago. Were
they not only too well authenticated we
would say that IL was incredible that law
could have been so lax, religion so useless
and humanity SO dead as TO make ines
things possible. At the beginning oi the
Queens reign there were many occupations
in our land in which the little ones were
ruthlessly tortured. but perhaps tof crueiN
and hideousness this one OF chlhity
sweepers was never equaled How long ~
had continued We cannot tell. but IL l. not
much more than twenty years since IL was
finally stamped out. | remember Nnen
was a boy at school in the seventies hear
ing about this and being told that little
children were then being sent up Chin
news 20 sweep them. and il must have
been this that induced me TO try climbing
up and sliding down chimneys of a house
building near, to the great destruction Of
my clothes and--Of less consequence IN
my guardians eyes-bruises ana scratches
innumersbe on my body and legs. l now
see that this must have been about tne
year 1876 when the question OF lnis en-
plovnent of children was for the iasl thle
brought IN in Parliament and the abolnl-
nation put an end to. Parliamentary
committee had been appointed lev years
before and this proved up 70 the hiit the
alterations
regarding the degradation and suffering
az those euployed in this work. One fact
they stated was that out Of SSi children
they had examined only SIX could write
and twenty-six could read, though very
imperfectly.
To find the evil however. in full swing
and unobstructed activity we have 10 go
back another thirty years, TO the time
when Lord Shaitesbury brought the mat
ter before Parliament and carried on
vigorous crusade until he induced the Leg
islature TO pass the chimney sweepcrs bill
OF 1880.
In that year he stated in the House OF
Commons that TO his personal knowledge
child OF four and a half was being sent
up daily to sweep chimneEs. He had seen.
he said the little ones when oil work
sleeping quite naked. on heaps OF SCOT
They were never washed. for Their owners
said. what's the good?" They often
contracted a loathsome and painful dis
ease. which went by the name OF "sooty
cancer" It was shown that over all the
country children from four to eight years
of age were constantly employed in this
work The majority Of them were orphans.
the rest bartered or sold by brutal parents
They had to be taken young ana trained
10 their hideous work OF pushing their way
through long narrow. tortuous passages
choled up with SCOT. To clean this away
they had TO move up and down by pressing
every Joint OF their bodies against the hard
and often broken surface OF the chlmneyS.
To prevent their hands and knees from
streaming with blood the children were
rubbed with brine before a strong fire tc
harden the flesh To drive Them up the
chimneys when they hesitated burning
straw was applied to their feet and this
was also found useful 10 bring them
around if they tainted or stuck i'm the 1ue
That is no fancy picture that Dickens
draws in the beginning ol Oliver Twist
VI the sort OF masters the children had.
The reader will remember that Ganheld.
after stunning his donkey TO make il stand
still walks w TO the workhouse gate.
whereon was a notice that {" and Oliver
Twist were offered to anyone who would
apprentice him to any calling.
Gamfeld reflects that this would just
suit him, and steps in before ne board 10
make his offer. If the parish would like
him 10 learn light. pleasant
trade in good, spectacle
chimbley sweepiu' bizniss wants
prentice and am ready to take him.
The board thought a little. It's nasty
business" said one gentleman. Young
boys have been smothered in chimneys
before now" said another. "That't acause
they damped the straw afore they lii II
in The chimblay &c make EN- come down
agiu,' said Gamfield. that's all smoke
and 10 blaze. vereas smoke ain't o nc use
al all in maxim boy come down. for it
only sends him TO sleep. an that's what
he likes. Boys is very obstiniL an very
lazy, gen linen. and there's nothinll
like good hot blaze 10 make EN- come
down with run. It's humane,
too gen linen. acause. even if they're
stuck il the chimbley. roastin' their feet
makes EN- struggle to heNTicate their
selves" The board, however maintained
that il was a nasty trade. and seeing that
il was SC they beat down Gamield 10 g.
10 shlliugs. and agreed TO give him olive
with that Such were the guardians and
masters the children then had. Later in
the same book, We find Bill Skies and his
friends complaining bitterly OF recent leg
islation which had reduced the supply oi
dminutive children that were needed by
Them in their business" to put through
the small apertures Of the windows 10 open
Tor them the doors OF houses they mean
to rob. II was their custom to hire boys
from the master chimney sweepers al SO
much per job
LorG Snattesbury himself had actually TO
buy many C the boys from their masters
tbat he might rescue them and have then
educated and set up in life. He interestc.
anythiLs many were saved from their T.
rible life But though there were humare
men in England. il is surprising 10 learn
now strong was the opposition against any
legislative interference with the children'S
lot Petitions were sent to Parliament
against Shaftesbury's bill. The iusWancs
companies OF London and Cther cities
clam0red against it. Pamphlets and anti
cles were written 10 destroy il. and il
reeded all ShaftesbUry's solemn elolUence
backed up by the terrible facts he pro-
duced TO obtain majority in 1870.
But though the evil was then s1otched
Al Was by no means killed. 1t went on more
secretly but now and again the pub ic
were startled by hearing of q BOYS dest1
in fue. There seemed to be a recrudes-
cence Of the evil about 1872 for in that
year there were several fatalities. In o.
tobsr. 1872 a boy was sent up the hue Of 4
fernery in StaffoTdshre. Not appea- ling IL
fifteen minutes the fiue was hastily OPP ned
and he boy found dead. Soon after az
other very similar death took p ace At
Canterbury. but this time public opinion
WAS reused, and the master was sentences
TO six months Imprisonment This had
the most sslutary effect. Ii was seen ;hst
the iniQuity would be no longer tolerate :,
and other methods had TO b. employed ior
sweeping chimneys. The Legislation of 1876
made that form of child torture and degra-
ffatiOr 4 thing Of the mast