The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 54, November 18, 1897

It is quite a sight to see the Manchester factory hands rushing out of the mills, hundreds strong, at the noon hour.

Our own factory hands are, as you well know, neat, tidy, and well dressed girls. As soon as they turn off from the stream of their fellow-workers, as they leave the mills, it is hardly possible to tell whether they are factory girls, shop girls, servants, or young ladies.

The English mill girls are quite different.

They have a distinct dress which points out their occupation wherever they may be.

To begin with, they never by any chance wear hats. Winter and summer they go bareheaded.

They one and all wear short skirts which reach to the tops of their boots; these skirts are always made of cotton goods, and their boots are thick, clumpy, laced affairs, heavier than those worn by the workmen in this country—very often they have wooden soles. As you may imagine, the appearance of these girls' feet is something appalling.

The factory girl's costume is completed by an apron and a small square shawl of bright plaid, which is worn over the shoulders, or shifted to cover the head in wet weather.

They are picturesque-looking women, but the majority of them are so big and brawny and their manners are so rough that you would rather trust yourself to the mercies of a mad bull than to a crowd of angry factory girls.

On one occasion in Manchester, the agent of a patent washing-machine, wishing to advertise his goods, stationed himself outside one of the mill gates, and offered to wash the girls' greasy, oily aprons as they came out from work at noon.

Some of the girls took their aprons off, and a large crowd gathered round the machine to see what was going to be done.

The man put the garments into the machine, turned the crank, and in a minute the black and dirt were all out of the aprons.

The girls were highly pleased.

They signified their approval as the man wrung out the suds with his machine, and watched him with great interest as he carefully folded each apron, and then put them through a couple of rollers which were attached to the machine and intended to act as a mangle.

Clean, smooth, and neatly pressed, he handed each apron back to its owner and waited for their thanks. The whole business had not taken more than five minutes, and he expected to do a thriving trade in washing-machines on the spot.

He was disappointed.

No sooner did the girls get back their aprons than the trouble began.

In their ignorance they had expected that the garments would be returned to them dry as well as clean, and when they found that they were wringing wet and could not be used again for several hours, their rage knew no bounds.

They beat the man, tore his clothes, broke his machine, and ill-treated him until the men and boys from the mill, who had been watching the riot with laughter, thought it was time to interfere, and rescued the agent from the angry women.

There is nothing gentle or feminine about the English factory girl.

The Sultan of Turkey has sent a demand to the powers that the ten thousand rifles seized on board a Greek ship shall be turned over to him. These arms were taken during the early part of the blockade of Crete, and have been held by the powers.

Abdul Hamid has also issued a protest against the trial of a number of his subjects in the courts of Crete. He demands that they shall be sent over to Turkish courts and tried by Turkish judges instead of by the representatives of the powers.

He seems to be beginning his interference in Cretan matters.

A telegram from Christiania, Norway, states that news of Professor Andrée has just been brought from Spitzbergen.

The nature of the news is not given, but it has been brought by the crew of a ship which was wrecked in the Arctic Seas, and who have just made their way to Spitzbergen.

Spitzbergen is one of a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean to the north of Sweden, and east of Greenland.

We may probably soon learn the fate of Andrée and his brave followers.

    G.H. Rosenfeld.

PRIZE CONTEST

There were so many competitors in the prize contest recently closed that it was impossible to decide who were the winners in time to announce their names in last week's paper. The quotation was, "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword," and Miss H.K. Peck, Crown Street, Meriden, Conn., won the first prize, and Miss E. DuBois, Greenwich, Conn., the second.

Watch for the new contest, which will begin in an early number.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS

Dear Mr. Harison:

I have taken great interest in The Great Round World. When I was away this summer I showed your paper to a great many people, and they thought it was very nice, and they thought they would subscribe for it.

I have taken great interest in the Klondike affair. I went away this summer to Lake Hopatcong and had a lovely time, but we came home a little while ago.

Hoping your paper the most possible success,

    Yours truly,
    B.F.
    South Orange, N.J.

Dear Little Friend:

We are very pleased to receive your kind letter.

Editor.

To the Editor:

I wish to call your attention to the article printed in last week's Great Round World about Austria. Your description about the Bohemians, properly called Czechs, is wrong. They are not wild, unruly, nor obstinate. In the United States there are five hundred thousand Czechs, and you never hear of them giving trouble to the Government nor any one else. Everywhere they are known as a quiet, industrious race, doing their business and offending no one. In Europe they have a great many obstacles to overcome. One of them is that the Germans are trying to crush them wherever they can. Every nation loves its tongue and wishes it to live, so do the Czechs. Because they oppose, are they to be called wild, obstinate, and ill-governed? The Czechs' language is not so difficult. I know Americans speaking the Czechs' language as well as Czechs themselves. I do not wish to discuss their rights, but I do feel that where a sad mistake has been made it ought to be rectified. Young readers must be informed correctly; and knowing it to be your aim to inform your readers so, I take the liberty of writing. I hope you will not think me prejudiced, nor that I merely write from a Czech's standpoint. An injustice has been done and ought to be righted if possible. If you wish to gain correct information, I refer you to Mr. Riis, author of "How the Other Half Lives." Also to Dr. Hall, minister of the Presbyterian Church. They have both been to Austria several times, and know a great deal about the Czechs. Hoping you will consider the matter,

    I remain yours,
    A.B. Bazata.
    New York City, October 18th, 1897.

Dear Friend:

We were very pleased to receive your letter.

You have evidently misunderstood the article in question, and also misquoted it.

If you will look back at page 1,390 you will see that we do not say the Bohemians are an unruly people, but that they are wild and quickly irritated—information which you can easily verify for yourself. We had no intention of making any disparaging remarks about the race. We merely stated facts which are so well known in Europe that they have become proverbs.

In reference to the Czech language we must also differ with you. Your argument that you have friends who speak the language does not strike us as very sound. There are numbers of Europeans who have learned Chinese, but that does not alter the fact that Chinese is an abnormally difficult tongue.

If you will read our article through again you will see that your zeal for the Bohemians has made you defend them before they were accused.