Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-04-06

white man. ia his partner. To a re-
porter Grimm said that the chimney
sweeps harvest begins with Septsm.
Der and ends with April, and during that
time he makes big money. which he
spends with the prodigality of a sailor
II he is broke when the season is over
the chimney-sweep will turn his hand
to something else during the summer
Griffin displayed considerable knowledge
concerning the origin Of his calling, Of
which he was proud. Among other
things. he said the sweeps had a GER
tain day set apart in England for cele-
bratiOn and general good time, known
as "ChimneyS Sweeps Day." correspond
ing with our Labor Day in this country.
e. Simington, the cOlored chimney
sweep. is an old-timer in Butte and the
first man to clean chimneys in the camp.
He began the business in 1883. Differing
from most chimney-sweeps, Mr.. Shining
ton belongs to the church. At least his
conversation with the reporter pointed
to that conclusion. for the cOlOred man
sometimes cleans chinneys for charity's
sake, he said, and feels happy while do
ing so. He has no bugle and would
rather sing Methodist hymn than
MARBLE out Halle la -lahos" from the
top of a chimney. Mr.. Simington evident
~ has taken the highest degree in the
art of chimney-sweeping. He says he
is chimney doctor, and can diagnose a
furnace just as soon as he looks at 1t.
Describing the old country chimneys
and recalling the times when children
were almost exclusively employed at this
calling, Mr.. Simington said the boy would
have to brace his back against one side
nj &c, Coz h. IT. A1,o
chimney to escape the danger of falling.
and proceed upward in the most painful
manner. The most melodious chimney
sweep Simington ever met piled his trade
in Kansas. He could MARBLE like night
ingale.
Modern architecture has lessened
the area of chimneys in the clear. Any
person casting his eye over the chimneys
on the residences of Butte must scout the
idea Of the old method of cleaning Chin
neys by entering them. The shaft Is not
large enough to admit man and it
would prove tight squeeze for even a
small boy. In the older cities of the east,
however buildings that have stood for
half century are ornamented with the
chimneys of that era of architecture. In
side those chimneys, the masonry Is so
arranged that bricks project like steps
Of stairs, and the sweep entered and
performed his work in the old way. al
though danger Of falling was ever pres
emit Since steam heat was inaugurated,
chimneys on our fashionable modern resi-
dences have become more ornamental
than useful. For example, on Granite
street some Of them are of no greater
area in the clear than a street gas pipe.
and three are united in one piece of
architecture surrounding the roof of the
mansion.
Chimney-sweeping originated first in
England, and it's early history is associ-
ated with torture and inhumanity
amounting to barbarity. Children were
taken out of poor-houses and given as
apprentices to hard taskmasters who
conducted and reaped the profits of the
business, while the babies did the work
of cleaning the chimneys. Charles Dick
ems was among the few to awaken the
English people by pointing out the
cruelties Of the system, and the whole
nation was aroused to action. Owing to
the efforts of Lord Shaftesbury, parlia-
ment passed the chimney sweepers' bill
of 1910.
In that year he stated in the house of
commons that to his personal knowledge
a child Of four and half years was be-
ing sent up daily to sweep chimneys. He
had seen. he said, the little ones when
off work sleeping. quite naked, on heaps
Of SCOT. They were never washed, for
their owners said, where's the good ?"
They often contracted loathsome and
painful disease 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 en-
ployed in this work. The majority Of
them were orphans; the rest were bar
tered or sold by brutal parents.
They had to be taken young and train
ed to their hideous work of pushing their
way through long, narrow, tortuous pas
sages choked 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 sur