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388 LOWELL AND ITS OPERATIVES.
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.
? Boaeding Houses.
The tenements are calculated to accommodate from 25 to 60 boarders . The rents—often less than half what are paid for similar
houses in other parts of the city— -are charged at a ratio of not over 100 dollars for a house accommodating 25 boardersand so
, i . on , which is less than 3 per cent , interest on the capital invested . Deducting from this the annual repairsthe buildings do not , and
, were not intended to yield any pecuniary profit to the companies . Before commencing this article , the writer called at the "
Merrimack " counting-room , expressing to the superintendent a wish to see the interior of the boarding-houses : he replied , — " Step into
any one of them , and you will find an intelligent woman who will show you the house , and tell you what you wish to know . _" The
first house visited had accommodation for 40 boarders . There was a commodious kitchenwith a cooking rangea tank ,
contain-, , ing 40 gallons of hot water , and an abundance of cold water . In the wash-room were fixed tubswith apparatus for letting the
, water on or off . There was a spacious dining-room , two parlours , one for the family and one for the boarders , and 12 sleeping-rooms
of different sizes . The clean white cloths were being laid for dinner , and everything looked nice , convenient , and comfortable .
In another house , for 60 boarders , which was heated throughout by a furnacethere were on the first floor large and commodious
, work-rooms , with apparently every possible convenience ; a room with a row of wash basins arranged with all modern improvements ;
mirrors , towels , and the etceteras of a bath-room ; a dining-room in which 80 persons could be seated at the rows of long tables ,
and two parlours for the boarders . In the next story was the family parlour , and sleeping rooms , which , with those above ,
numbered 15 , the different sizes occupied by 2 , 4 , or 6 persons ; each room having locked closets , sufficient for the wardrobes of the
occupants , there were no boots , shoes , or apparel lying around , but an appearance of a place for everythingand everything in
, its place . The unpapered walls are kept purely white at the expense of the corporation , and the wood-work handsomely grained .
The parlours were furnished with carpets , sofas , and other adornments of simple elegance and luxury . I think there was a piano ,
not an unusual thing , judging from the sounds heard in passing by the boarding-houses . Noticing the comfortable mattresses in
the neatly furnished sleeping rooms , I was told that the matron of this house , ten years ago , had purchased a quantity of cotton of
one of the companies and had it manufactured into mattresses , which cotton she sold last yearto the same company , and cleared
, 600 dollars by the transaction . These houses are far more luxurious than those to which most
of the operatives have been accustomed in their rural homes , and the tendency must be as elevating as the reverse would be
degrading . Males and females are not allowed to board in the same
388 Lowell And Its Operatives.
388 LOWELL AND ITS OPERATIVES .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1863, page 388, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081863/page/28/
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