Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1903 — PIT BROW WOMEN. [ARTICLE]

PIT BROW WOMEN.

Bard Lot of Female Workers About English Coa| Mines. Fit brow women are among the most remarkable women workers in the world. They work as hard as men and dress almost like them. Five thousand of these women find employment in Lancashire, England, in tbe coal mines. Their work lies on the pit brow at the surface and not down below. Oiice women were employed in the coal seams, but in 1842, In tbe face of great opposition from colliery owners, an act was passed prohibiting women and children from being employed below .tiffl surface in coal mines. At present the duties of the pit brow women consist in dealing with the coal as it comes up tbe shaft to the pit head. When the cargo reaches the top they hanl out the wagons, which contain several hundredweight of coal each, and run them on the rails to a sort of tipping machine, which shoots the coal down below to the screen of the riddling machine. Among the other duties of the women is the leveling of the <oal on the wagons which receive it as it drops from the screen. They start work at C o’clock in the morning and finish at 4 in the afternoon. They receive 2 shillings or less a day, and men that do the same work get 4 shillings. Their costume consists of trousers and clogs and often enough a cape which has at-one time been worn by a brother. When going to and from work the girls and women wear petticoats, which they roll up around the waist while engaged on the pit brow. Tbe hair is closely covered wltb a handkerchief, on top of which is a soft bonnet.