The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual, and the children's safety was generally neglected. The youngest children, who were not old enough to work the machines, were commonly sent to be assistants to textile workers. The people who the children served would beat them, verbally abuse them, and take no consideration for their safety. Both boys and girls who worked in factories were subject to beatings and other harsh forms of pain infliction. One common punishment for being late or not working up to quota would be to be "weighted." An overseer would tie a heavy weight to worker's neck, and have them walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children could see them and "take example." This could last up to an hour. Weighting could lead to serious injuries in the back and/or neck. Punishments such as this would often be dispensed under stringent rules. Boys were sometimes dragged naked from their beds and sent to the factories only holding their clothes, to be put on there. This was to make sure the boys would not be late, even by a few minutes. ("Factory Working Conditions in the Late 1800s, 1880-1899." DISCovering U.S. History. 1997.Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. Online Database
November 8, 2001)
November 8, 2001)
One job took place in a match factory. A match dipper would be a child whose job it was to dip matches into an element called phosphorous, which is deadly if a person inhales too much of it into his lungs. Indeed, this chemical caused the children's teeth to rot out and some even died from inhaling the phosphorous fumes.
Angus Koolbreeze, eHow Contributor |
Another factory job involved work at a cotton mill. Mill owners took in orphans and worked them cruelly hard. There was little or no time for exercise, play or fresh air. Mill owners worked them even on Sundays. Time for worship did not exist as management expected them to spend the day cleaning the machinery. Some of the children incurred serious injury as they fell asleep and into the machines. Others incurred scalping as the machine parts caught their hair, ripping it off their heads.
Angus Koolbreeze, eHow Contributor |
Children found employment in the coal mines as trappers, individuals hired to open a trap door by pulling on a string when they saw the coal carts coming. Older kids worked as coal bearers, carrying large baskets of coal on their backs.
Angus Koolbreeze, eHow Contributor |