El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-29

4 frightening the little ones almost to
! death as l did so. The manager tells
me that he has many whole families
| employed in his factory-father, mother
and children all working There are no
laws against child labor, and the ba bies
aid in keeping the wolf from the door
Speaking of babies, there were sew
eral Of these in the mill. Some were
still at the breast, and their mothers
/ had brought them along that they
might not lose work. 1 remember one
girl of is spinning away with an al
mond-eyed infant on her knees. and an
other had a baby in a basket beside
her. The child was quiet AS chucked
it under the chin two yellow dimples
broke out in its cheks, and it smiled.
In another place I saw a three months
old baby lying in pile of white cotton
waste on the floor of the mill.
Cotton Yarn for Hand Looms.
This factory works day and night,
and there are quite as many children
employed in the night shift as in the
daytime. One thousand hands are al
ways busy, Sundays and week days. all
the year through. Its chhief product is
cotton yarn for the domestic weavers
This is made up in bundles. which are
then packed into bales of 400 pounds
each, and shipped all over the country.
The yarn is woven into cloth on hand
looms, and it supplies large part of
the clothing of the common people 1t
comes into competition with the mills
Of India and Japan, and also with those
which are now starting up in the other
parts OF China. l am told there are
something like 100000 spindles now
working upon such yarn at Shanghai,
and also large number at Ningpo and
Soochow. There is one big mill at
Hangchow, one at Canton, and some at
Hongkong, Wuchang and Hankow. The
labor is abundant and the people easily
learn to handle the modern machinery.
New Milling Machinery.
The Chinese are rapidly Introducing
the better class of machines, and their
mills are already about as well
equipped as our own. A great part of
their machinery is imported from Eng
from the United States. In one factory
l found an American light plant with
5000 electric lamps burning, and in an
other there were modern fire machines,
and the employers had a fire drill every
week. In nearly every place the wages
were as low or lower than those 1 have
quoted, the highest price paid the men
being something like 80 cents per day,
while a good average wage was or 10
cents. l found girls at work in all or
the factories, and I know of none which
does not employ children.
AT present a considerable portion OF
the cotton used in China is imported
from abroad We have the bulk of the
Manchurian trade, although Japan Is do
ing its best TO compete. The English sell
the greater part of the goods brought in
to the Yangtze valley and south China,
and the Germans are pushing their
clothes everywhere. Within the past
year or so, however. the Chinese officials
have been starting small factories in
which hand looms are used. 1 saw some
in Tientsin and other parts of Chilli, and
| am told that there are more than 49,
600 such looms now at work in that
province.
China's Cotton supply.
China is doing all it can to improve
its native cotton. The officials are
sending out men to study our cotton belt
and our methods of cotton raising, and
edicts have been issued to encourage the
growth of the crop in all the provinces.
1t is claimed that cotton Will do well in I
most parts of China Much Of the coun-
try lies in the latitude of our southern /