THROUGH THE MILL [Illustration: THEN THE EPILEPTIC OCTOGENARIAN LET ME GO AND THE PAUPER LINE WENT IN BEFORE THE PARISH CLERK FOR THE CHARITY SHILLING] THROUGH THE MILL _THE LIFE OF A MILL-BOY_ BY AL PRIDDY _ILLUSTRATIONS BY WLADYSLAW T. BENDA_ [Illustration] THE PILGRIM PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO _Copyright, 1911_ BY LUTHER H. CARY THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS [W · D · O] NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A Affectionately Dedicated TO MY WIFE “_Still, all day, the iron wheels go onward, Grinding life down from its mark; And the children’s souls, which God is calling sunward, Spin on blindly in the dark._” --E. B. BROWNING _Note_ How many thousand pens are busy reporting and recording mill life! It is a splendid commentary on the fineness of our social conscience that there are so many champions on behalf of overworked boys and girls. Coming now, to take its place among the multitudes of investigations and faithful records of factory life, is this frank, absolutely real and dispassionate Autobiography--written by a mill-boy who has lived the experiences of this book. So far as can be found this is the _first time that such an Autobiography has been printed in English_. Since its appearance in the Outlook, the Autobiography has been entirely rewritten and new chapters have been added, so that the book will be practically new to anyone who chanced to read the Outlook chapters. _Contents_ CHAPTER I PAGE _A Mixture of Fish, Wrangles, and Beer_ 3 CHAPTER II _Dripping Potatoes, Diplomatic Charity, and Christmas Carols_ 27 CHAPTER III _My Schoolmates Teach Me American_ 47 CHAPTER IV _I Pick Up a Handful of America, make an American Cap, whip a Yankee, and march Home Whistling “Yankee Doodle”_ 59 CHAPTER V _I cannot become a President, but I can go to the Dumping Grounds_ 67 CHAPTER VI _The Luxurious Possibilities of the Dollar-Down-Dollar- a-Week-System of Housekeeping_ 81 CHAPTER VII _I am given the Privilege of Choosing my own Birthday_ 93 CHAPTER VIII _The Keepers of the Mill Gate, Snuff Rubbing, and the Play of a Brute_ 113 CHAPTER IX _A Factory Fashion-plate, the Magic Shirt Bosom, and Wise Counsel on How To Grow Straight_ 129 CHAPTER X _“Peter One-Leg-and-a-Half” and His Optimistic Whistlers_ 141 CHAPTER XI _Esthetic Adventures made possible by a Fifteen-Dollar Piano_ 149 CHAPTER XII _Machinery and Manhood_ 165 CHAPTER XIII