The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-24
IN THE GOSSIP'S CORNER.


by the decision of the American Cotton
Duck Company to remove its factory from
Connecticut to Georgia because the laws of
the former. State prohibit child labor in
factories, while in the latter State such
labor is permissible. These observations
are trivial, in a way, but if they shall throw
some small light on factory life in the
| South shall be glad.
| Back in the eighties knew, at Whining
| ton, n. C., one Tom Chadwick, a typical
| ''Tarheel," who had forsaken the wilds of
| Duplin county to settle in Wilmington, and
| who, being unlettered and unskilled, sought
and obtained work in the big cotton mill
| there. Used to the outdoor life of the farm
| and the resinous odors of the turpentine
| orchard, Chadwick sickened slowly but
| steadily under the strain of eleven, twelve
| and often fourteen hours in the stuffy
rooms Of the mill. Working a machine, he
| made So to 81 a week. He lived in a four
room shack in the southern part of the
town, where the houses were set close to-
| gether on the sand banks, beyond the side
walks, beyond the sewers, beyond the city
water limits, beyond the shade trees, be-
yond everything that goes to make urban
life comfortable and pleasurable and living
convenient. He had a wife and one boy.
Then he lost thumb and a finger in the
mill. The company doctor dressed the
wound for him, but that was all he got,
and he lost his time. When he returned to
work he was made a kind of assistant fore
man in his room, wherein worked three or
four other men, twenty-five or thirty wom-
en- and twice as many children of both
sexes. Here he made IS a week if he worked
full time. The children made % to 40 cents
a day, the women 80 to 20 cents. Chad
wick, weakened by the injury to his hand
was less and less able to work regularly
About the time his boy was old enough to
be sent to the mill (nine years. if 1 remem-
Der arighO to help increase the slender in
come he was run down and killed by a
heavy hotel bus. Mrs. Chadwick had had
no control over the boy, and Tom had no
time to control him, so he had run wild
He died with a chaw O. terbacker in his
mouth" a cousin of the youngster told me
the last time 1 was in Wilmington The
shock was too much for Chadwick, and he
gave up the fight. fingered awhile and died.
He was as yaller as the oil he used on
the machines" the same cousin told me
when giving the information.
|
| L
Henderson KY, where there is a big cot
ton mill. I'VE will drive down by the fac
tory" said my entertainer one evening,
land you the children coming from
work. 1 want you to tell me if you ever
saw more unhealthy, joyless and hope
Restocking lot of children in your life.''
1 never did, before or since.
How much do the children make in the
: | mi a he
next day.
''Oh. 80 to so cents a day-some of the
larger ones more" he replied
Does the factory pay?" 1 asked
''Sure!'' was the answer. 1T has paid Z
; some years there have been extra divi-
dends"
1t was on an Irvington car The little
l woman in a shirtwaist had small bundle
wrapped in a newspaper, which she held
carefully, and, it seemed, at times, with
considerable concentration of effort. Be
side her was large woman in black, and
the two conversed affably as the car pro-
ceeded eastward. At the ball park a youth
of sixteen or seventeen darted aboard the
car and dropped water spaniel pup in the
lap of the woman in black, and darted off
again the resumed its journey. A
block or so further on the paper parcel
began to show violent signs of animation.
1t was small parcel, and the little woman
blushed furiously as she tried to keep 1t
under control Then badly demoralized
gray and white kitten stuck out its heac
and one paw close to the pups inquiring
nose and like flash the paw caught the
nose on the tenderest spot, with all claws
extended. There was a terrified yelp from
the dog and an angry hiss from the cat
, Both women blushed as they jerked the
animals apart The pup was glad enough
to cover beside the woman in black but
it was not until the Belt was reached that
the little woman got her kitten securely
wrapped up in the paper, thus restoring the
broken peace.
| What magic hides within thy yellow walls
hinged with ivory. dark with years
| That but a breath the mellow music calls
To life Of sweetness. mirth or tears?
A piece of lockwood, pierced with cunning
holes,
Worn with usage, stained with time
The player blows. and 10! our very souls
Re-echo strains from some celestial cline
What is there, 1 wonder, about a flute
e especially one that is old and well seasoned
that it is so soul-stirring? An organ moves
$ US, sways US, depresses us with its very
grandeur. as it rolls it's deafening diapason
through nave and aisle. There is some
, thing diabolc, TO me- about the violin, be
it ever so sweetly played. 1 am somewhat
e at loss to classify my impressions OF the
piano. perhaps because everybody plays on
!, it and few play it. but my emotions are al
ways confused. matter how skiIlful the
execution. The guitar always calls UT
nights in the villages or camps of Cuba
and Central America, with shadows play
4 ing across the clay floor or the mountain
grass, and the specter of a call to arms al
ways in the background But the flute
, in a masters hand, what does it not mean
To my mind ii is the most uplifting of al
r the forms of music. 1t recurs repeatedly in
. the Scriptures. showing that the inspired
writers had appreciation of its powers
and influence. That was a master-strokt
of Shakspeare's when. in Anthony and Gle
Opatra, H. 2, he wrote:
, | THE oars were silver
| Which 10 the tune OF flutes kept stroke. >
o I know Of no sweeter thing than the mel
ody OF a flute on the water. and it needs but
K the first few bars to carry me back e