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

indoors all day long and work making limitations
of flowers the child has never seen?
Some Startling Cases.
And yet have seen children begin to learn to
make artificial flowers when they were only two
years old. do not say that children of that age
compelled or coaxed by their mothers to work.
but it is this way.
The baby sits in chair by the table watching
mother and the other children work. The baby
stretches out its hands, grabbing petal or leaf
To satisfy his desire the mother gives the baby
few petals, showing him how to pull them apart
At three or four the child is already an efficient
worker, able to earn about ten cents day.
Here are some of the facts
mother and two daughters living and work
ing in a rear tenement, dark that an oil lamp
must be kept burning all day in order that they
may see to work. make forget-me-not wreaths.
They receive seven cents for one dozen wreaths,
and can earn $4.20 every Is days.
A frail delicate mother of five children sits at
table in their tworoom fiat from morning until
late at night putting artificial berries ON stems
She earns from ten to fifteen cents a day
In a fourroom nat where three children nave
died of tuberculosis and two others were suffering
from It, mother and elevenyear-old girl made
artificial roses at is cents gross
IN one home on a Saturday morning four chill
dren ten nine, six and four years old, we're round
stting by a table near the one window making
cherries. Tney na0 Deen lnero SihSO eiA eioNA -.
the morning and worked each day until eight
o'clock at night.
No child above four or five is considered TOO
vounp To work The hours for all, whether chill
dren or adults are determined not by law, not py
phvsical welfare, but by the amount OF Work tne
factory gives out to be done If there is an extra
amount Of work the whole family work from nalt
nast five in the morning until ten or eleven at
NIGHT and sometimes even until one or two O'Clock
in the morning. stopping only long enough TO eat
their scanty meal of spaghetti dry bread ana COZ
fee on which they seem to supsist.
Breaking the Labor Law
In the 1875 families studied by the investigator
,or tho Consumers, league COL children were found
Mora than IL per cent of these were fourteen
vaars and over and were contributing something
To the family income; about 80 per cent were nVe
wears and under too young to work, though III
few cases children of this age we're tounu heipins
with the flowers Out of the remaining 40 per cent
between the ages of six and fourteen VINO might DC
found helning IA per cent were busly at work at
the time of the Investigators call At least IA per
cent then of the children who were able TO 40 tnis
work were violating the child LABOR ID" Vi 4>o"
York state. 80.
How many more could be included IN TINS hs' y
was impossible to ascertain. Many raniles were
visited during the morning, when the chliuleii
were at school, and 1t only through the worn
of the mother that were able to determine
whether or not the children helped with the now
ers after school hours. For the most part only
cases of children who were actually found at WORK
were listed Therefore, the estimate Is very con-
sentative one.