Page:The Laboring Classes of England.djvu/91

 these bobbins with thread, is called winding, which is performed by young women of from fourteen to twenty years of age; they very rarely begin this branch earlier, as it requires great care. The bobbins when filled with thread, pass into other hands, to be placed in a carriage, at the top of which is a hole, not larger than the eye of a needle, through which the thread must be put. This operation, called threading, is chiefly performed by boys. The bobbins, with their carriages, supply the machine with thread; somewhat similar to the "shuttle" in common weaving. After the bobbins are placed in the frame, it is the duty of a workman to superintend their motions. He has to watch the whole breadth of a machine, weaving a piece of lace perhaps forty, fifty, or sixty inches wide; and in which 3600 bobbins pass through as many guide-threads, a hundred times a minute. This may be thought impossible; it is nevertheless true. Should any fault occur he must adjust it on the instant. The lace machine is frequently kept going for eighteen or twenty hours out of the twenty-four.

When the piece of lace in the frame is finished, it is taken out; the winders and threaders are then required to fill the machine with the requisite number of bobbins to commence a new piece. When this takes place in the night time, as is very frequently the case, and all this threading has to be done in the glare of a gas light, it is very distressing for the eyes. The poor children require sometimes to be shaken, or beaten with a cane, to keep them from falling asleep from excessive fatigue. They are mostly divided into night and day sets, and take their turns for each alternately. Though the work itself is not hard, the children are much harassed by night work, and irregular attendance.

After the piece of lace is taken from the frame, it undergoes a variety of processes, such as drawing, rectify-