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demand to work from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., instead of to 9 p.m. as theretofore be not complied with, they would cease work altogether. Friday came, and with it the tug of war. A general strike took place, which caused quite a commotion throughout the town. Bands of resolute females of all ages hurried from house to house, repeating their demand, and sternly refusing any compromise that was offered by some of the employers. The battle was to be decided on the following Monday, the result of which is shown by the following article copied from theSt. Leonards Gazette:- “The strike among the laundry maids and matrons which we recorded last week appears, for the most part to have been amicably arranged – a circumstance which has led to a general resumption of labour. We rejoice that an event which at one time threatened infelicitous results, has been brought to so speedy and satisfactory a termination. There can be but one opinion with unprejudiced persons as to the necessity of shortening the long hours of toil to which these females have for years past been subjected; nor ought there to be less unanimity of feeling entertained of the generous sympathy which has prompted the employers to yield to the demands of the employed so readily and so honourably. Theirs it was to resist what many of them considered to be an innovation, and to hold out to the last against an attempted abrogation of a system sanctioned by long usage, and subject to which certain contracts had been undertaken. This ready acquiescence on the part of the employers shows that whatever sacrifices they are called on to make in the adoption of the short time movement, they at least do it generously; and, probably, with the conviction that the concession is just one. No one who has paid attention to the subject can fail to perceive that the protracted hours of labour as applied to this class of persons are detrimental to health; and that the victims of this incessant toil, and their families as well, are deprived of comforts which the weekly earnings would otherwise procure. Look at the haggard countenances and shrunken frames of those who stand at the wash-tub from six in the morning till nine at night, and say if they do not depict a weary life of drudgery and an absence of all domestic comfort! True, there are some whose rotundity bears the impress of a somewhat easier life; but how is it purchased? Too generally, we fear, by an over-indulgence in stimulating potions, vulgarly described as ‘taking their drops according to their troubles’. What wonder, then, that the work room teems with other impurities than those arising from the several processes employed in the routine of laundry -