Working in the 1800s

Well, I finally found a job, but I don't like working here. I work in a factory that spins cotton onto spools and they are then shipped to other companies that make clothing. Our factory is right next to another factory that seems to make the kind of shirt that all the women wear. I think it is called a shirtwaist. Anyway, the superintendent told me what I had to do and basically to get to work. There would be rarely any bathroom or drink breaks and I would work until a whistle blew to signal lunch and the end of work for the day. After I started working for a few minutes, I got bored and tried to make friends with the other girls I was working with. One was named Lucy and she and her family had immigrated from England. She told me how they were basically kicked out of their country, and the hardships there. She also told me how her father was very excited of coming to America, but when they got here, America was nothing like they thought. Then Lucy asked me about my family, and I told her that my parents and my sister were living in another state with my extended family, and they had to send me here for work until they had the money to bring me back. I guess that we lost track of time while we were talking and we herd that the superintendent was coming to check on the work progress. Lucy and I immediately started working and when he got to us, the superintendent complemented on our work and each gave us a small caramel candy. He told us not to tell that he gave us the candy because he would be fired. He told us before he left that he had two little daughters at home and he would never make them work in this filthy place. Filthy was right. By the end of the day, my clothes had been covered in soot and cotton fibers. Lucy had a coughing fit when we left the building. Then Lucy asked me where I lived if my family was not with me. And before I could answer, she offered for me to come stay with her. Well, I couldn't say no, so I went to her small house behind a large building. Her father is a very big man, but very gentle and her mother is the smallest thing, but she looks like she could take on anyone. Her younger sister, Clare, and brother are twins, but the boy, Samuel, is sick and they are not sure he will make it through the year. They didn't seem to have any specific medicine, so I asked Lucy's mother how she was treating him. She told me that she was trying to keep his fever down by putting a cold cloth over his head and feeding him barley and bread. I asked them where the nearest market was. I ran to the market as fast as I could and bought the ingredients( or what I could find) to make a good soup. I also realized that I had some aspirin in the small bag I had with me. So when I got back to the house, I made the soup for everyone and in Samuel's bowl I split a pill of medicine and stirred half of it in his bowl. Everyone was so grateful for the food, that they asked me if I didn't mind if I stayed with them until I had to leave. I accepted and I am sleeping with Lucy in her room. She offered me the tiny bed, but I knew she needed it more than me and I am sleeping on the floor. Today I really saw what working in this time period was like and the conditions were in the factories. I hope that tomorrow will be a good day.