The million-peopled city
Garwood, John
1853
Industrial Schools.
"In fifty of our of London there are Industrial Classes. The number of children employed in these is about 2,000; but then example and influence are | |
62 | extended through five times that number of scholars, and generally they impart a healthy tone to the institutions themselves,-not seldom to the neighbourhood around.. |
"Boys are instructed by masters in tailoring and shoe- making, making and mending the clothes of their school, or the articles made are sometimes sold at low prices. Wood- chopping is another employment in which many are engaged, and the faggots thus prepared for firewood are bought by those interested in the school. Horse-hair picking, strange to say, is a remunerative employment, probably from the simplicity of the work, and the facility with which it is directed. Others are engaged in carpentry, which is expensive and not advisable. Mat-making is better, and the fabrication of fishermen's nets. . . . There is, in London, a small amount of ornamental work in leather pocket-books, paper cases, and other articles, and the pro- motion of this employment deserves further encouragement. For the girls, sewing and knitting of all kinds form, as may be supposed, their chief occupation in these classes. | |
" What a hive is here, busy, cheerful, and orderly ! Surely we may hope much from our industrial classes." | |