Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-03-26
LITTLE CHANCE FOR RECREATION
AND PLAY AMONG MINERS
CHILDREN.
WORK NOT VERY DIFFICULT.
But Long Hours and Steady Monotonous
Toll Make the Work Irk-
some.
BASEBALL THEIR ONLY PASTIME.
BY SCOTT NEARING

Secretary PENNSYLVANIA Child Labor Com
mitreel
What's that? What was | up to
yistday? l amt sure | can remember
it all, but III try.
My days is mostly all alike wnen
mines is workiu' Ma and me lives in
| that there little log shanty with little
Bill and Sissy. They goes to school.
but none Of that for me. Never learnt
a thing in school. | didn't. There
weren't no chance The teacher was
bum. When | went to school, it was in
| one door and out the other.
Started Work at 10.
Yep, I'm IL now--been workin' in
the breaker since | was 10. DAYS l.,
mostly the same to me. Visit day mornin'
| was dreamin' away two-forty about
our nine. We was a-playin' the Hog
towners aud they was one ahead. :
goes mp to the bat and soaks her fer
a homer and jest as | was gettin' araAnd
to third. and the fellers was a-hollerin'
| to beat time. comes to and ma was n
singin'
Rise. johnnie, rise,
Don't you hear the bells a.rngin?
Johnnie. ara you Wakin2
II Is time TO be alive
Early In the m0rnn,
Continually keeps calm
Johnnie, are you wAkin
1t is half past 1--WE.
"She sings that every moruin' to get
me up. Pretty good of ma. to wake
| Teller that way, amt it? It's a blamed
| sight hetter'n beh hauled ont by the
hair like some of the kids is.
$50 | gets up and puts on my clothes.
| That's the part | don't like fer cent.
| After you once gets dirty, it don't make
no difference. but it's pretty tough to
q a, I,s.l ...4. IL.
black minc-clothes- Anyhow, | gets on
my clothes, fills my lamp and goes down
| to breakfast.
Father Killed in Mine.
at was IA dandy yes'day. Ma had
| friend eggs and taters. Mas swell
cook and she puts the real thing into
| yer pail. | uses the pail as belonged
! to pa. When the cage fell and killed
| him, the pail he had wasn't broke at
all. so somebody brung it home to ma
and when | started in ] used that pail
| Looks pretty rough, don't it, It's pretty
much of tin can but 1t was pas and
| besides new pals costs 30 cents, and
| that's half a days work fer me.
$50 yeS'day | gets me TO the breaker
| by Z aud ! gets over on the hill and has
Il ketch with the little kids before gon'
to work. When we oncte get to work.
there amt much chance fer baseball
it's Jest work all day.
why do | have lampl Well, you
see. I've got the bad corners It's aw-
full dark and the dust is bad. Els older
| boys mostly gets them bad places. Some
! times in sunny days | kin see To- pick
! the slate in there but mostly it is so
dark that | uses my lamp NIL the time.
Work Is Not Hard
! No. the work amt hard. only some
| times yer back gifts sore. You don't do
.tI
| Il grecnhurn il amt no Ciuch. " been
! there goln on six years nov, and | new
er minds il. In winter it's bad on ac-
! count of the cold on your hands. but
| mostly it aint SO worse.
Yes day we quite at 4. Didn't have
no more ears, they said. 50 we all skins
home, takes wash OF our face and
hands. and makes for the baseball No,
we don't wash all over every day when
there's steady work. Oncte in couple
Of days does us Il plenty
There was good game up there,
es'dny. The Reds was playm' the
Yankees So us little fellers never had
Il show till most q, but we had good
one then. Played till near $ and theu
we lost the bali
Then we takes sneak down 10y the
saloon but there wasn't nothin' don'
there, 50 we cuts II ont and goes home.
Ma was a sittin on the stoop wait
in fer me. She don't like them felers
| goes with She don't like me to stay
out nights. She's alus glad when she
sees me in bed of n night. Says she
knows where | am then
"rhere amt nOthin' else to tell you.
Oh yes, there was Huukie got killed
on the track today but that amt moth
in, our days Is mostly alike here when
the mines is workin There's ma acall-
in now. ! suppose she wants me To go
to the store-so long. Charities and
Commons Bureau.