Merry England (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884 Excerpt: ... age. Worked in Pimlico, Chelsea, and Whitechapel, and now in the City, where there are 200 assistants, chiefly girls. The hours worked have seldom been less than fourteen on five days of the week and sixteen on a Saturday. The physical suffering and inconvenience could only be told to a doctor. Has known several deaths and many constitutions completely broken down through the long hours and standing. Frequently ill herself, and now undergoing medical treatment Although comparatively young, feels that her constitution has been undermined. About two-thirds of the females employed in shops are below the age of nineteen or twenty, a very large number being under sixteen. Having had fifteen years' experience, can say that the object in employing so many very young girls is because their labour is so cheap. As soon as they get older and either want more money or their health begins to go, they are discharged, younger ones are moved up, and still younger ones are brought into the trade. Most of the girls seem to be healthy and strong when they first come, but a year or two in the shop takes the colour out of their cheeks. Been in shops where the assistants have been released at five o'clock once a week, but it only lasted a short time. The half-holiday has always broken down. Felt a great benefit from it. Assistants only have as a rule from fifty to sixty minutes allowed for three meals and rest all the day. Regular mealtimes and a few hours once a week would be a great blessing to all. Girls might endure the work verywell if they had only to work eleven or twelve hours a day, with an hour and a-half out of it for meals and rest, and, of course, a weekly half-holiday. The pain and suffering caused by the long standing cannot be understood but by those who have ex...