The Climbing Boy

One of Elspeth Eric's better efforts. There was no long monologue about feelings and emotions, and no attempt to psychoanalyze the characters throughout the episode, which was refreshing. The story was a balanced mix of drama, historical reference, and the supernatural. The acting was well done, not overdone, and it was also very sad. However, I find this episode very disturbing to listen to, mostly because much of it is based on historical fact. The characters were fictional, but the details of how the boys were treated were quite accurate, and it's clear she did her homework before writing this story.

A little research on Google will turn up plenty of horrid references. Because it is such a depressing tale, it is not one that I enjoy listening to and I generally avoid it as much as possible. Also, the husband is such a JERK!

He's cold, creepy, snotty, snobby, selfish, narcissistic, cruel and worthless. He wasn't deliberately mean, which almost made it worse. It's no wonder she wanted to kill him, lol! I mean the wife wanted to kill him. Leave a comment Name: Here a sweep describes the fate of one boy:. After passing through the chimney and descending to the second angle of the fireplace the Boy finds it completely filled with soot, which he has dislodged from the sides of the upright part. He endeavours to get through, and succeeds in doing so, after much struggling as far as his shoulders; but finding that the soot is compressed hard all around him, by his exertions, that he can recede no farther; he then endeavours to move forward, but his attempts in this respect are quite abortive; for the covering of the horizontal part of the Flue being stone, the sharp angle of which bears hard on his shoulders, and the back part of his head prevents him from moving in the least either one way or the other.

His face, already covered with a climbing cap, and being pressed hard in the soot beneath him, stops his breath. In this dreadful condition he strives violently to extricate himself, but his strength fails him; he cries and groans, and in a few minutes he is suffocated. An alarm is then given, a brick-layer is sent for, an aperture is perforated in the Flue, and the boy is extracted, but found lifeless. In a short time an inquest is held, and a Coroner's Jury returns a verdict of 'Accidental Death. These however were not the only occupational hazards that chimney sweeps suffered.

Death of a Climbing Boy: 1827

In the report to Parliament, witnesses reported that climbing boys suffered from general neglect, and exhibited stunted growth and deformity of the spine, legs, and arms, which were thought to be caused by being required to remain in abnormal positions for long periods of time before their bones had hardened. The knees and ankle joints were the most affected. Sores and inflammation of the eyelids that could lead to loss of sight, were slow in healing because the boy kept rubbing them.

Bruises and burns were obvious hazards of having to work in an overheated environment. Cancer of the scrotum was found only in chimney sweeps so was referred to as Chimney Sweep Cancer in the teaching hospitals. Asthma and inflammation of the chest were attributed to the fact that the boys were out in all weathers.

Chimney sweeps' carcinoma , which the sweeps called soot wart , didn't occur until the sweep was in his late teens or twenties. It has now been identified as a manifestation of scrotal squamous cell carcinoma. It was reported in by Sir Percival Pott in climbing boys or chimney sweepers. It is the first industrially related cancer to be found. It is a disease which always makes it first attack on the inferior part of the scrotum where it produces a superficial, painful ragged ill-looking sore with hard rising edges…in no great length of time it pervades the skin, dartos and the membranes of the scrotum, and seizes the testicle , which it inlarges [ sic ], hardens and renders truly and thoroughly distempered.

Whence it makes its way up the spermatic process into the abdomen. The fate of these people seems peculiarly hard…they are treated with great brutality…they are thrust up narrow and sometimes hot chimnies, [ sic ] where they are bruised burned and almost suffocated; and when they get to puberty they become…liable to a most noisome, painful and fatal disease.

Chimney Sweeps and Climbing Boys

The carcinogen was thought to be coal tar possibly containing some arsenic. There were many deaths caused by accidents, frequently caused by the boy becoming jammed in the flue of a heated chimney, where he could suffocate or be burned to death. Sometimes a second boy would be sent to help, and on occasions would suffer the same fate. In , the Chimney Sweepers Act An Act for the Better Regulation of Chimney Sweepers and their Apprentices was passed, to limit a sweeper to six apprentices, at least 8 years old, but lacked enforcement.

He asserted that while Parliament was exercised with the abolition of slavery in the new world it was ignoring the slavery imposed on climbing boys. He looked to Edinburgh Scotland where sweeps were regulated by the police, climbing was not allowed and chimneys were swept by the Master Sweep himself pulling bundles of rags up and down the chimney. He did not see how climbing chimneys could be considered a valid apprenticeship, as the only skill obtained was that of climbing chimneys which did not lead to future employment.

The Lords removed the proposed clause that Master Sweeps should be licensed, and before civil registration , there was no way that anyone could check if a child was actually eight. In the same year, David Porter, a humane master sweep, sent a petition to Parliament, and in published Considerations of the Present State of Chimney Sweepers with some Observations on the Act of Parliament intended for their Relief and Regulation.

Though concerned for the boys' welfare he believed that boys were more efficient than any of the new mechanical cleaning machines. In a society was formed for Bettering the Conditions of the Poor , and they encouraged the reading of Hanway's and Porter's tracts. They had influential members and royal patronage from George III. In , it was thought by some that a mechanical brush could replace a climbing boy the Human brush , and members of the society formed The London Society for Superseding the Necessity for Employing Climbing Boys , [31] They ascertained that children had now cleaned flues as small as 7in by 7in, and promoted a competition for a mechanical brush.

The prize was claimed by George Smart for what, in effect, was a brush head on a long segmented cane, made rigid by an adjustable cord that passed through the canes. The Chimney Sweepers Act contained many of the needed regulations. It stated that an apprentice must express himself in front of a magistrate that he was willing and desirous.

Masters must not take on boys under the age of fourteen. The master could only have six apprentices and an apprentice could not be lent to another master. Boys under fourteen who were already apprenticed, must wear brass cap badges on a leather cap. Apprentices were not allowed to climb flues to extinguish fires. Street cries were regulated. The Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act made it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to sweep chimneys.

It was widely ignored. Attempts were made in and to reopen the issue, another enquiry was convened and more evidence was taken. There was no bill. The Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act , c Lord Shaftesbury was a main proponent of the Bill. He stuck and smothered. The entire wall had to be pulled down to get him out and although he was still alive, he died shortly afterwards. There was a Coroner's Inquest which returned a verdict of manslaughter. Lord Shaftesbury seized on the incident to press his campaign again. He wrote a series of letters to The Times and in September pushed another Bill through Parliament which finally stopped the practice of sending boys up chimneys.

A Chimney Sweepers Act was passed in that required chimney sweepers to be authorized by the police to carry on their businesses in the district , thus providing the legal means to enforce all previous legislation. The history of sweeping in the United States varies little from that in the United Kingdom. Differences arise from the nature of housing and the political pressures. Early settler houses were built close together out of wood, so when one burnt it spread quickly to neighbouring properties.

This caused the authorities to regulate the design of flues. From an early date, fire wardens and inspectors were appointed. Sweeping of the wide flues of these low buildings was often done by the householder himself, using a ladder to pass a wide brush down the chimney. In a narrow flue, a bag of bricks and brushwood would be dropped down the chimney. But in longer flues climbing boys were used, complete with the tradition of coercion and persuasion using burning straw and pins in the feet and the buttocks.

During the eighteenth century the employment of African-American chimney sweeps spread from the south to the north. African-American sweeps faced discrimination and were accused of being inefficient and starting fires.

Chimney sweep - Wikipedia

It was claimed that there were fewer fires in London where chimneys were swept by white boys than in New York City. As in the UK, Smart's sweeping machine was available in the US shortly after , but few were used. Unlike the UK, there were no societies formed to advocate for the climbing boys.

In fact, the contemporary novel Tit for Tat went so far as to deny the Black slave chimney sweeps' hardships by claiming that they had it easier than the London chimney sweeps. They celebrated by parading through the streets, dancing and twisting with Jack in the Green , merging several folk traditions. Chimney sweeps were often depicted in Victorian literature as heartless scoundrels who abused their child workers. The English poet William Blake portrayed the chimney sweep as an abused child who hoped for a better life. In both " Songs of Innocence " and " Songs of Experience ", Blake showcases the life of a common sweeper and exposes those who allowed barbaric actions against them to take place, also said to be the vision behind Michael Crichton 's novel The Great Train Robbery and the essay "The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers" by Charles Lamb ;.

In Charles Dickens 's Oliver Twist a particularly vicious chimney sweep called Gamfield wants to take Oliver as an apprentice, but at the last minute the magistrate refuses to sanction the move "Mr Gamfield did happen to labour under the slight imputation of having bruised three or four boys to death already. In " The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep " , a fairy tale by the Danish poet and writer Hans Christian Andersen , a porcelain chimney sweep sits upon a table top near his love, a porcelain shepherdess.

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When the two are threatened, the chimney sweep gallantly conducts his love safely to the rooftop through the stove pipe. Clean Willy Williams was an accessory to the gold heist. An apprentice chimney sweep who later became a "snakesman" a burglar adept at climbing and wriggling through small spaces , he uses his skills to escape from Newgate Prison and to gain access to the railway office where important keys are stored. With the development of the newer brush system and the end of child labour, the occupation changed its image to one of agile and good natured men, the chief example being in the book series Mary Poppins by P.

Travers and the Walt Disney film adaptation which has an extended dance sequence in which the jovial workers celebrate the end of the workday with fearless acrobatics.

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The chorus refers to the traditional association of chimney sweeps with good luck: It has been recreated in manga as Romeo's Blue Skies. Barbara Vine 's novel The Chimney Sweeper's Boy has as a central plot device a moth of that name, more formally identified as Epichnopterix plumella , which represents the main character's transformation and identity.

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Today, chimney sweeps are still operating, as venting systems for coal, heating oil , natural gas, wood and pellet burning appliances need to be maintained. There is a greater understanding of the dangers of flue deposits and carbon monoxide and gases from combustion.