Girl Workers In Coal Pits

A young unmarried girl of MTenteeu said in reply to questions: " My work in tbe coal-pit bcgins at 5 o'ciock iñ the morniug :iii'l endg between 9 and 11 at night. I loml trom sixty to ge ven ty can every day, and 1 earn two franc (20d.) a day. I went regularly to school frora myeighth to rav twelfth year. I could read once, l)iit I liave forgottnn it all now. l'itwork ought to be prohibited for girN." Upou being pressed more closely by the president sht: &;tiil it ruined tlie moráis o( every tfood-looking girl. " The overseers brlbe tlie prettiest girls by giving tliem tlie best pald work.'' A warried womiin said: ' The week before last my husband earned thirteea frailea (lis.) lie bad never eamed a larger suin in a week. It is Impossible for U8 to live upon sncli a wnge. When I have booght our food and Uring the whole wage is speut; it 8 not enough to cover rent and clothing." The mother of a family replied: " I scarcely know the taste of meat." Another young girl said that lier working duy in the pits began at 4:30 or 5 a. ui., and closed at 11 p. nu, for whic'i he received 1 franc 80 centime to 2 francs. A younger sister left off work at 6 p. m., but she only earned 1 france 50 centimes (Is 'M.) Neatly all the girls volunteered, in almost the same wonls, the emphatic statement, " Girls ought not to be allowed to work in Uu; pits," and ttiey were unanimous in their complaint of the temptations put in their way by the overseers. The president asked ench of tbera, " Wliat nourishment do you have ? lío you often tuke meat ? " One girl replied : " Three months ago we had soma meat on our btble ; 1 have never Usted any since." Another said : "Itakea bottle of water with the fruit everv unorning; I eanntit afford coftVe. Tlie president asked nn oíd workman wlio had -pent bis lile in tlie pits wliy no eöbrt had been made by tbem to bring their condition before the notice of the public. "I woukl gladly have given ev idence," said he, "but I knew that I thould be dismissed if I told any story ubout the works. My comndea havo urged me to gpealt tot thein, as I had so long an experience. Hut I was alraid to do it. His present wages are 2 francs a day (Is 8d). When he was younger and stronger he used to earn the sum of 2 francs 50 centimes a day. The president Inqulred if the woiker fuund regulur wages or plece work more proötablc. " The day wage is miserable," said the old man, -but piece work is no better, for if the overseers tiud that a man earns more by piece work, tlie termsare at once lowered." One of the working-clitss leaders, who was examined at gieal lengt h by the president and commisioiiers, denied that the work folk were Socialist revolucionarles. They will follow any leader In their despair, but their own actual demand are very simple. The president asked him to formúlate as shortly as possible the real program desired by workingmen and women In the pita. Speakingol tlioemployment ofchildren he siiid: " We want the work day for children limlted to eight hours, ,and their wages tixed as follows: (Jhildren of 12 to 13 year., 1 franc 20 centimes a day of eight hours ; frora 13 to 13 vean, 1 franc 60 oentlmea; Uiteen to seventeen years, 2 francs." The president- Tlien you would not abolIsh child labor? " We would not abolish families. My family conslsts of nine persons, only three of us earning anything. We have to keep six who are not earnerü. The united yearly Incoine of the three of us who are workers is 1,500 tranca." The president asked if they would not like their children to go to school after the twelfth year. " No," replied the workman; " it is not possible for the parents to wait until a long school term is ended, aa the family needs the wages of the eider children. We have not only to keep our young children, but also our old people. After his rlftieth year a man can earu littlc in the pits, and is usually dismissed." The speaker, whom the workers were particularly anxious to have examined, as he is in good repute both as a workman and an orator, told thecommissioners that the average weekly wayes of the head of a household in full work is from twelve to fourteen francs. " I need not say tbat a family canuot live upon that; the wit'c must work when she can, the children as goon as they can." A married woman, who had been a worker in the coal pit, said: "I aui the mother of six children. We are very poor : but I would ratherstarve than thatone of my girls should go to work in the pits. The overseers use all means in their power to ruin the girls. If nothini; else succeeds, they will put a limid young girl to work in a solltary place until she Is terrirlqd." When she was asked what wage her family earned, she replied that her husband had tiiirteen francs a week, and one of her sons eighty centimes a day. To the question as to the food of her family she said : '' Every Sunday and Tliursday I buy a pound of meut; 00 all otlitr days we live on potatoes and bread."