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ANNALS OF NEEDLEWOMEN. 395
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.
.. Chapter V. " I Am The Woman That Work...
to get hini into the Consumptive Hospital ; there was however no vacancythough he received a promise that when one occurred the
case should , be considered . Well might the trite proverb be applied _, here" while the grass grows the steed starves . " The adjuncts
necessary , to his restoration of health were wanting , and while he waited he became worse and worse . I tried to find out from Mrs . S
how the family were supported during this period , for it was three months before the husband was admitted into the in-patients' ward
at Brompton . It seemed that promiscuous charity , a little parish _, reliefnot in money but in kind , and the mother ' s needlework , for
, which she received slop-shop pay , were their only resources . When the poor man was finally placed in a position to benefit by the care
bestowed on the sick in our hospitals , he was past cure ; disease unchecked by antidotes had triumphed , and ere three weeks
werepassed after his admission he died . During his sojourn in the hospital , his wife was allowed 2 s . 6 d . per week from the parish ; .
after his death this help was _stojjped , on the plea ' that his wife was : still a young womanonly thirty-five , and could live by her work if
, she liked . " Thus with two young children to support , Mrs . S was thrown on the world in a far worse plight than when she was
a single -woman in a similar position . After much importunity , the relieving officer at last allowed her a small quantity of tea and
sugar per week , but nothing more ; the alternative being , either to accept that or to go into the house .
Mrs . S— told me that whilst doubting what to do , the eldest child made her take heart : she said , " Mother , pray don't let us go
into the Union ; put me to something to do , and we will keep home together . " Touching independence in a child of nine ! Led by her
child ' s wishes more than her own , " she thought she would try to get on a bit" but the room they occupied was too expensive 2 s . 6 d .
, , per week ; she therefore moved into a back kitchen underground , which was rented at Is . 6 d . selling part of her belongings to effect
, the move . The next step was to find work for herself and also to try and secure some employment for her child . She applied at an
artificial-flower manufactory where she was told young children were apprenticed . The employer offered to take the child into
the business . His terms were these , " she was to work a month for nothing , and then , during the next six weeks she would receive
Is . per week , the hours to be from 9 a .. m . till 10 p . m . " Can we conceive anything more barbarous than to enforce such lengthened
labor from such tender years ? but there is no legislative enactment , as there is in our factory system , for the flower trade or any other
infantine labor . This poor child was indeed taken at her own word " and put to
do something , " and a brave-hearted little girl she seemed to be . Prom the underground kitchen home at half-past eight in the
morning she went ofl ; to her work , not returning again till 10 p . m . to slip into her bed , so tired , so weary . The mother found a
works' 3 ? 2
Annals Of Needlewomen. 395
ANNALS OF NEEDLEWOMEN . 395
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 395, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/35/
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