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Factory Girl Dies Because of the Kiss of Death

Domingas Goncalves

May 18,1844, Lowell, Massachusetts -- A factory girl by the name of Diana Gross has been found dead at her boarding house. Her boarding mother found her at 11:00 and immediately called the doctor. The doctor pronounced her died at 11:40. The doctor said her death was "consumption" caused by the Kiss of Death.

The Kiss of Death is when one person puts their mouth to a small hole near one end of the shuttle and sucks out the end of weft thread. Another mill girl then uses the same shuttle and then another. For some reason, this seems to spread disease. That's why mill girls call it the Kiss of Death.

Two girls in Lowell have died from the same disease. One overseer named Mr. Anthony says, "We are going to do everything in our power to try to keep any mill girls from doing from this disease."

But a lot of factory girls said that they don’t think that the overseers will stop to stop the disease from killing more girls. One factory girl named Clara says, "They don't care about us, they just want to make their money."

Kansas at War

Jerry Nunez

August 16, 1856, Kansas Territory -- On this day, I sit here behind a tree as I hear bombs blasting in the air, gunshots in the distance, and cries for help nearby. It’s complete madness out here in Kansas.

What was to be a simple vote has turned out to be war. The vote was supposed to be about whether or not there was going to be slavery in Kansas. Missouri residents have crossed into Kansas and their illegal votes have now let the pro-slavery candidates win.

On May 22, 1856, an abolitionist named John Brown was seeking revenge on pro-slavery candidates. He was seeking revenge because a group of border ruffians from Missouri have set the town of Lawrence, Kansas, to flames. Angered, Brown led four of his sons and several others to a pro-slavery settlement. There they supposedly murdered five men by splitting open their heads with swords. Angry for what John Brown has done, pro-slavery forces have killed one of his sons. John has said, “I only have one life to live and one to death to die, and I will die fighting for this cause.”

Because of these brutal deaths a war is happening. There have been many casualties so far. People are getting killed because of this war and they say it’s time for people to become civilized and make a decision by doing it in a peaceful manner.

Twenty-one year old Chris Jamerson of the locksmith store has said, “ I’m sick of seeing all of these people die because of this meaningless war. When are people going to finally realize that we are not animals we are humans and we need to do things the right way? ”

Ten-year old Mathew Christopher says, “I hate the war. It’s scary and painful to see all of these people die. My mommy told me the war was because of a vote that was supposed to happen, but I guess things went wrong. I hope that things will become peaceful soon.”

Also Jackie Bradlee says, “ I wish they’d just allow slavery in Kansas. What’s the big deal it’s only a bunch of black folks, and who really cares about them? I bet you the pro-slavery forces will win and there will be slavery in Kansas.”

Although I’ve only been here for just a short while, I can feel these peoples’ pain. I can hear the soldiers’ cries, and the little children’s screams. It surely is complete madness out here in Kansas. Like all of the people are saying, “ All we can do is wait.”