Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1916-06-01

The tenement houses where most OF the mowers
are made are Of the worst type, with dark anu
shaky stairways The crowded tenement houses
of the "congested East side" of which SO much
has been said in print, palaces in comparf
son to those rckety old structures. And In them
the children of sunny Italy spend their days and
nights Ostensiby 1t is their inherent love FOR
flowers that is drawing them to this work
1t is not an easy matter to get the conhdeL 70 OF
some of the women and to make them answer
questions. They are always suspicious that Vlsl-
tors are from the board of health with mission
to make trouble. In some houses no amount OF
arguing or coaxing will bring results-not even
the assurance of the children who return from
school and appealed to.
However there are some who are quite Wiling
to talk and to shed light on the situation
They are not greedy, but they are very ambi-
tious and it is their ambition that impels them to
utilizez every possibility of making money
Average So Week
Thy are all honest, Woodworking people lThe
children are orderly and respectful, and there was
a world of love in the mothers eyes on seeing
them return from school and resume their work
separating petals and pasting leaves on stems
The earnings of heads of the families were found
to average eight dollars week, which, according
to the standard of living in that locality, is fair
income. A good many of the men work in flower
factories and from them they take work home.
The others are mostly shoemakers, bootbacks and
pushcart peddlers.
One of the places where children were found at
work after school hours had restaurant and pool
room on the ground floor of the building in which
the family lived When there arc no diners In the
restaurant the long dining table is covered with
wreaths and punches of cherries aid forget-me-
nots a mother and her children work ng diligently
at them The proprietor of this reataurant was
also in the rag business
In one place young woman Margacita Rozzoni,
who looked quite different from the general type
she being blonde and having blue e! es-was at
work with her little girl, who seemed 70 be will
ing and ambitious helper. Little Gioy anna, three
wears old looked like miniature OF her mother
golden haired and eyes of the color of violets Il
don't want her to help me- the mother said but
she insists on doing that" And she accentuated
her words by bending over the child and kissing
her with all the fondness of mother;
The children one meets here in the streets are
all pretty but their beauty fades before maturity.
Their physical development Is stunted by long
hours of work and very little play. Their child
hood does not last long. girl who Is married at
fourteen Is no rare case. Here they make the
stem from childhood right to manhood tlnd woman
hood. skipping over the period Of you'll and maid
enhood.
Why Tony Sells Flowers.
Such child was Tony, who at thirteen became
the breadwinner for the family selling flowers
real fiowers-by day and helping his m4ther make
artificial flowers by night. Tony was never boy;
he never played in the streets with other children
never threw ball in the air Tonys father kept
fruit stand on corner, where he also sained shoes