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;Th<>SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 477With but a few exceptions the roof construction is suchas to give the best lighting by day; by night, electricity isused. The newest mill in the district, belonging to anEnglish firm, is constructed of modern re-enforced concrete,fireproof, and with glass sides to the work rooms. Whilein certain mills there are systems of forced ventilation, inno case* is there an adequate system for the removal ofdust. However, most of the women and children workunder conditions reasonably free from dust. The fact thatin certain mills women have been working since they were1small girls, have Carried, and are still working, is of somesignificance. It is possible to say, with the exception ofcertain forms of labour really very dusty and other formswhich require conditions of moisture and heat for the bestworking of the thread, that the sanitation within the millsis far and away better than the people know in theirhomes. But these conditions of dust and dampness mustbe changed by proper methods or the workers succumb.Figures on the death-rate of such workers are not obtainable. One factory supplies filtered air at the propertemperature, which, while comfortable in winter, must behard to endure in summer.After having made an investigation of the5? or jL homes ofConditionsmanyJof the workers in this district,.,it has become quite apparent that the workersare, even under certain very vicious conditions, better off inthe mills than in their homes. The danger is not a physicalone but a moral one. Instead of the dampness of the mudfloor and the walls, is the dampness of the work room andthe dust. But the filth and squalor are gone. The largerdanger is the losing of the restraint of the home and theloosening of the bonds of conventionality. The rural familyis the most stable. It has secured the completest control ofits members. But the women are in industry to stay.What changes industry effects in this type of family will bemost significant.An attempt to determine the actual statusof these changes is being made but it is too soon yet to beable to make reliable statements.reader .should remember that the survey is not yet completed.

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