vin TECHNICAL EDUCATION 197 



very small for such long hours, the women getting 

 is. 2d. per day, the children 5^., though the masters 

 provided soup for the hands at midday. They only 

 worked at the mills during the winter ; in the summer 

 they returned to their homes, generally farms, in the 

 neighbourhood, where they worked in the fields, 

 harvesting the corn, maize, and fruit for the winter 

 food of the people, and also superintending the rearing 

 and feeding the silkworms which is carried on at their 

 own homes. 



The atmosphere of the rooms in which these people 

 worked at the mill was hot and very moist, as the 

 cocoons are treated in boiling water. The temperature 

 is seldom lower than 80 F. In spite of this, the 

 appearance of the hands was distinctly healthy, they 

 seemed bright and happy, and there were always 

 plenty of workers, and we were told they were fond 

 of their work. Still, we felt convinced that they were 

 so healthy on account of the outdoor life they lead in 

 summer ; it would surely be most injurious to the 

 physique and general health of the neighbourhood 

 were the operatives shut up in these unhealthy sur- 

 roundings all the year round. As for the education of 

 the little children employed, they sometimes went to 

 school during the summer, and in some cases the mills 

 provided instruction in the dinner hour ; possibly one 

 in ten of the hands can read and write a little. 

 Education is not by any means esteemed among the 

 poor, and compulsory education would be very un- 

 popular. 



The foregoing picture shows the abuse of the work 

 in factories when it is without the necessary accom- 

 panying legislation. But in England, Germany, &c., 

 where the Factory Acts are in force, the effect of the 

 replacement of home labour, such as hand-loom 



