Working Conditions
Middlesex Company Mill Regulations
The conditions of the mills were rather inadequate during the Industrial Revolution. The quality of air in the mills was insufficient due to over 150 workers being cramped in a room with 293 small lamps and 61 large ones. [51] “Susan’s recurrent bouts of “sicknesses” may have been the result of the close air and fumes from the lamps which lit the area where the weavers worked.” [52] In contrast, during the summer “That room was very hot and on hot days it could reach 105 of 110ºF in there.” [53] In attempt to improve these faults, green plants were placed in the windows to provide shade and fresh air to the workers. According to Mary Lou Emmons, a mill worker in the 1940's, “All the rooms were very dirty where you worked; especially the weave room because there was all the lint flying around from the yarn.” [54]
