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LOWELL AND ITS OPERATIVES. 329
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Two Hundred Years Ago, The Fawtuckets, A...
the bodies of the first two soldiers killed in the present war . On the highlands around the city the elegant residences of gentlemen
who have accumulated wealth—conspicuous among them , the mansion of Major-General Butler .
If we stand at either of the factory-gates when the bell rings the operatives from workwe see hundreds of women and men , in
tidy apparel , suited to the , season and weather ; with comfortable outer garments , over-shoes , and umbrellas if needed . Animated ,
intelligent faces , presenting the characteristic delicacy of all Americans who live too much in the shade . Erect forms stepping
sprightly to their boarding-homes . It would be a rare exception , and not due to the system of labour , to see a dwarfed figure , or one
as mal-formed as is fashionable with belles at watering-places . If we pass through the streets in the evening we find them all
welllighted , the shops brilliantly illuminated , and the most attractive goods conspicuously displayed . It is the time the operatives do
their shopping and take open-air exercise . An hour or two after the mills are closed , thousands of well-dressed young people are
out ; a life-tide of humanity is ebbing and flowing through the principal thoroughfares . There is no place in the country where
jnore personal beauty can be seen—not excepting opera-houses crowded with the elite and with beautiful faces . This will not
seem strange when we consider that most of these factory-girls are young , and but a short time from their country homes ; not
long enough to be wan and haggard ; the ruddy glow may be toned down , but vivacity and intelligence brighten and refine the
expression . But for the orderly deportment of the people , the . great numbers and their neat attire might lead a stranger to
think it the close of a gala day . When the nine o ' clock bells ring , the crowds divide and move homeward through the numerous
sidestreets ; and at ten o ' clock bells , the Lowell curfew , lights are generally extinguished , _shojDS closed , and a Sabbath-like stillness
reigns throughout the city . On Sunday , when the bells call to worship , thousands may be seen wending their way to the various
churches , each seeking the one most agreeable to his or her reliious belief or creedwhile in allChristianity rather than
bigotry g or sectarianism is , taught . There , are no distinctive marks hwhich to select the factory operatives from others . All are
dressed y in the prevailing style , and are equally decorous in the performance of devotional services .
A short sketch will explain these progressive changes . The Indian _capital was at the height of its prosperity when visited by the
white settlers : it then contained a population of three thousand . John Eliot" the Apostle to the Indians" writes of excursions
lie made as , earlas 1653 to the Pawtucket , Fallsto establish relations with the y Indians for the purpose of Christianizing , and
_^ civilising them . In this year the plantation of Chelmsford was
Lowell And Its Operatives. 329
LOWELL AND ITS OPERATIVES . 329
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), July 1, 1863, page 329, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01071863/page/41/
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