5 Heinous Jobs for Children.

3) Climbing Boys

Following the great Fire of London, Chimney regulations necessitated the use of children to clean newly narrow flues.”Climbing Boys” as young as 4 were sent up chimneys measuring 9 by 4 inches (23 by 36cm) to dislodge inflammable soot.To prepare for the job, their elbows and knees were rubbed raw and brushed with salt water to harden the skin.Once in a chimney the fires were sometimes lit or they were poked with needles to encourage them to work faster.In addition suffocating or burning to death, the boys risked developing “soot wart” a cancer of the scrotum