That such cases would be not the exception, but the rule, if there were no legal prohibition and no fear of fines, may be judged by the state of things actually existing in laundries, where, although the law allows the monstrous stretch of 14 consecutive hours of work, the permitted hours are frequently exceeded. The report of the lady inspectors contains a significant paragraph on this subject. “The hours worked in London laundries by women and girls,” says Miss Vines, “seem to be increasing in length, and to be more excessive than ever.... The firm I prosecuted in February had employed several young women, one of them only 17 years of age, for 28 consecutive hours, from 8 A.M. on Friday till 12, midday, on Saturday; while their hours, including meals on the previous days of the week, had numbered 14 on Thursday, 12 on Wednesday and Tuesday, and 11 on Monday. The 28 hours’ period included 2½ hours’ interval during the night, when the girls were permitted to lie on the floor of the calendar-room with their coats for pillows ‘for a rest!’ I prosecuted the other firm twice in June, and on the second occasion it was proved at the hearing of the case that an ironer had been employed for 37 consecutive hours, including meal times and short breaks, and another, an ironer and calendar worker, 32½ hours ... 14 days previously I had taken proceedings against the same firm.... It was then proved that, in one week, a young packer had been employed by them, exclusive of meal hours and absence of work, for 73½ hours; and two girls, aged respectively 16 and 17, for 68½ hours.”[10] Very similar results ensue in the jam-making industry, where, on the pretext of emergency, the law permits the working of prolonged hours. “In more than one case,” writes the inspector, “I have found emergency created by the simple expedient of allowing fruit to lie untouched at the factory till the close of the normal working day, when workers from all departments were turned on to it.”[11]