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    PACTS AND SCRAPS. 327

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    The Present State Of The Black Country. ...

    yard Upon ssneli the a women time as emp the loyed present on tlie pit banks cruell and y . about Unfitted tlie b furnace y their

    , presses previous stares them occupation in the face for . almost A few of ev them ery other try to , starvation go out to service , or wors but e ,

    , , unused to household work , unused to the decencies and proprieties of a well-ordered homethese attempts are almost invariably

    failureseven when met , with ready sympathy and the advice and assistance , of a good mistress ; and few mistresses like to take a girl

    from the "bank , " knowing well the difficulties to be encountered . Others of them succeed in obtaining casual employment , which serves

    to keep them from actual starvation , every article of clothing not absolutely needed for daily wear finding its way to the pawnbroker ' s

    without shop The . tales the of suffering to ive one mor is e than obliged the Do merest listen temporary to often , relief alas !

    power g , are heart-rending—here , the mother of a young- family assuring you that her husband has not done " a stroke of work " for ten or eleven

    weeks , and the bare aspect of the house witnessing to the truth of her little statement comforts , in * ther his e last , an hours almost but dying with father a cup , board not onl containing y without extra only

    a morsel of salt . How many , of them contrive to support existence at all is a marvel . The women do what they can by getting a day ' s

    washing , & c , now and then ; but a shilling or fifteenpence a day is a meagre allowance for a family , even if it could be earned every

    from day in school the week , the , penny which it or cannot twopence be . a The week children being more must than be kept can

    be spared , and the good obtained there is speedily forgotten amidst the The misery men and loiter disorder idlabout of home the . streetsavoiding as much as

    possible the home where y trouble only greets , them : too many of them , if able to earn a few pence by getting in a load of coals , or running

    an errand , spending it at the nearest liquor shop , to drown , if but for a few moments , the cares of their lot .

    The passion for " drink " is the curse of the Black Country—the poison that transforms men into infuriate demons , that makes must them be

    reckless alike of this life and the life to come . Opinions divided on the subject of teetotalism , but none who live within sight and sound of the evils produced by intemperance would dare

    to lift a finger in opposition to anything that delivers men from its frightful influence . is

    The winterwith its bitter winds and drifting snows , marching unless upon us an , ; cold unlooked , and hunger -for prosperity will , be less returns bearable to the then land than of bl now ack ; dia and

    monds The , distress a fearful must time be of battled suffering with ' and as privation best we is can before , and us efforts . to

    the relieve and collier if , when it will and trade not puddler be is wanting flourishing could , but be and " taug prevention money ht to comparativel provide is better for than y p the lentiful cure days ;" ,

    Pacts And Scraps. 327

    PACTS AND SCRAPS . 327

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Jan. 1, 1862, page 327, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01011862/page/39/