Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-23


OF hanging supply Of bread, peppers
and bologna from some convenient nail
and then settle down to the drudge
and routine Of back-breakfng labor In
squashy bog by day and restless. mos
authenticated slumber by night
Long lines OF laborers. each supplied
with peck" box, swarm over the
boys in the picking season. The quota
tons are necessary, for in some cases
these peck" boxes have been found to
hold ten and even twelve quarts In
spite Of the fact that our old blue 'rith-
mates taught that but eight quarts
are required for this measure.
And the reason? Bog owners will an
swer that leaves. twigs and berries
which must later be discarded are
good berries. and that paying as they
do, by measure. they must not be
cheated.
about fifteen pounds and must be car
ried from the picking line to the
bushelman. who receives the berries
and gives credit for them.
This is another phase of the work in
which the children play an active part
A child OF seven often carries two
OF these heavy boxes to the bushel-
man and the wire handles Of the stout
puny little arms, biting dark red marks
Of torture into baby flesh as the tired
worker struggles across the bog with
her burden.
If Theresa, during her muscle strain
ing labors. wearies and wants to rest
there is always the terrifying threat
OF the padrone's club to spur her lag
gard feet. The grizzled old Italian Is
responsible to his employers for the
speed with which the berries are pick
ed, and he in turn drives his employees
in the same manner that the owners
are driving him. So little Theresa and
her kind must choose between the sting
Of the club and weariness-and fear Is
generally more potent than fatigue.
And should little Theresa escape the
anger Of the padrone. she still has to
reckon for every minutes delay with
her mamma and papa. who. ever in
the lead. are frantically working to-
ward that goal of American dollars
Nor are the parents dreams Of gold
vain illusions.
~
Take, for example, Theresa's family,
In a week the eight members will earn
between sixty-five and seventy dollars.
l., which amount the wages of the
three youngest will contribute more
than ten. In all seriousness. where
else could such a harvest be reaped
through such elemental labor In a sim
gle week? Back home. where papa Is
an organ grinder. he earns no such
amount. And even though mamma and
the three eldest children work. their
snare, al tOlu, CdIuOt compare with
what mamma herself makes in the pick
ing line.
And then the argument that 1t is a
holiday. an outing for the childreni
1t might be, indeed. Take from the
boys their dampness and insects. Take
from the work these children do the
necessity Of STOPPING low, hours on
hours at time. Add to the homes
sanitation. ventilation and space. With
such a sum In addition and subtraction
the answer might even be that, after
all, Theresa could well afford to lose
those weeks at school.
But that simple sum in humanity's
total has never been done for the lit
tie workers in the cranberry boys The
cry for labor Is urgent. insistent And
the answer comes eagerly So Theresa
tagging behind the line. fretful under
her aches and pains, hoarse from colds
and exposure, Is hidden to hurry. The
berries must be picked. Berries every
where but behind, and one must not
look behind: The world must be made
Of cranberries. hidden in the midst of
vines which tear and scratch her tiny
hands; berries that 1t takes hours Of
bitter work to harvest
In the United States census there are
1.061.37 children reported In agricultural
pursuits. But Theresa is not included in
that count These children are between
the ages Of ten and sixteen. and little
ive-year-old Theresa is merely passed
by. That means that the largest per cent
Of the children working in the cranberry
boys are never included in any census.
Investigators from the national child
labor committee made a count Of the
children employed In six boys in New
Jersey, that state being representative
OF the industry of today. 1t was found
that there were nearly 1.OOO and of that
number two-thirds were under ten years
old. If that could be proven typical
case for all agricultural pursuits, there
would be approximately 100000 chill
dren employed in agricultural work
alone. And. of course. that does not in
clude the mines and factories and other
lines of work where the tiny fingers of 4
toll child