Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-01-15
HARD LIFE OF MILL HANDS
struggle for Existence In the Cotton
FactnrIes of Rhode
island.

The average weekly earnings for fft-
eight hours I'm cotton factories in q year
were. For the carding room. $50; for
mule spnners. Si2s2; for speeders. sos,
for weavers. Si08 In the wooden industry
the picker received -. the woman spinner
S7.25. the man spinner S12.91.. the weavers
$3.50
N p man could make these wages for
fifty-tvo weeks year throughout his
working rfe u he had a thrifty wife ana
healthy children. his lot II not altogether
rosy. would be far from hopeless-he
might even be able to realize the dream
OF a little home and garden of his own
! which turks IN the mind of every normal
man. There are few. old men and women
| in textile factories. BY So they are unfit
/ for the labor. The terrible strain on brain
| ami nerve and muscle has so destroyed
/ the agility and power Of attention .neces-
sary that they must give up the factory;
he drops out. picking up thereafter any odd
! job he may.
! Il = this short working life of the
father, with the declining wage for years
before II actually ends that makes child
labor an essential factor in the solving Of
the problem Of the textile family. With
out their help the father cannot support
the family and lay aside anything to in
sure his own and his wife's future.
! II the children prove healthy, " they
turn. out we'll" Il work is continuous,
the little home may be secured and the
modest little dream may come true. But
suppose that weaver, rushing into the
cold air at the end of his ten-hour dav,
is chilled and has pneumonia-it happens
often enough. Suppose an uncovered gear
| ment and brushes limb or takes scalp,
| or a careessly handled machine nips off
a flnger-it happens all the time. Suppose
that, standing through the hot summer IN
the poisoned afr of dry closet, he falls
IN of fever. Or, il he escapes all these
things suppose that the factory goes or
short tme-thouusands of operatives all
over New England have had their weekly
wages cut in half this last year by short
time.
Or, suppose that which has happened
repeatedly in Rhode Island, he Is obliged
by some intolerable condition to strike and
have no wage-what happens them That
happens which cannot but believe is more
disastrous to the family than even child
labor-the wife must go into the factory.
The mothers go into the factory and the
homes gradually go to pieces. How they
manage the housework at all IT is hard
J to see. They must be at the factory at
; $50 a. m, sharp. They do not leave until
, $50 y. m. Before they go to work the
{ breakfast must be prepared and plans laid
I for the lunch. which some child still In
school brings to the mill.
, After her ten hours at spindle or loom
the woman hurries to cold, unkempt
house, which she must make comfortable
and cheerful IL IL is to be So Is II
/ strange that the homes OF the factory
mothers are generally untidy, the food
{ poor the children neglected? How can It
be otherwise? Her limit OF endurance, OF
ambition. OF joy even Of desire Of life, has
: been passed. More appalling. she sees her
ability to work falling off. Almost uni
versally, / should say, women who have
worked ten years in a factory have the
patent-medlcine habit-they are so tired
they take something" Is il surprising
that a few of them finally discover that
they can get from beer or whisky the same
temporary strength at less cost? The SUR
S Prise is not that many drink, but that more
3 do not.
Now the hope OF this factory mother lies
0 in her child, since she, like her husband, II
i bound TO wear out At comparatively early
8 age And what chance has she to bear 9
healthy child? They give you heart-break
% ing figures OF infant mortality in Rhode
. Island and everywhere one goes what on'
n sees and hears confirms their truthfulness
3 Ida NJ Tarfel In American Magazine.