On this page
-
Text (8)
-
-•*^jL.ts will be swamped with quantitie...
-
. nvERKMEST PROSECUTIONS AGAINST G 0 * J...
-
Illegal Lato Lotteries." — On Saturday l...
-
FURTHER .PARTICULARS OF THE LOSS OP THE ...
-
\ Romance , of Reai. LtfeI—In. the year ...
-
^HE.QONDITION OF ENGMND-v j-;' ¦¦• • ¦ ¦...
-
THE DRUGGING SYSTEM IN THE:FACTORY • DIS...
-
I Caution to Buteus op Game.—A few days ...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Protectionisi , Meeting In Dublin.—Ah Ag...
- _•*^ jL . ts will swamped with _quantities of j ¦ je _*^ cvefy " aand _tnatcmjbe'jmployed _is _' pnt _toj _dres- _* * * _Zgr fabrics , and tfie production will . be more ibe ' ** L ient for the demand . -Thei new tariff in _*&* - will "produce happy results" ; and prove _Bene--9 ? T toour " _an-m'trade , - tbe duties naving . been _^ .. _•^ _yy reduced : : We look forward to a good * " _* - trade / a ** well at home as abroad , and hope , * _rpi- " } _S _^ j . f . all classes in this province , that it for _^ Jve a healthy and steady one . The exports * _^* _Relfasfc during the past week , with a few _ocn _*? _Shipments , not previously noticed , since _<^ °° _i inst , were as follows : —1 , 265 boxes , 11 ¦* - ? _« 9 bales ' ; varns , 35 bales , " 8 skips , 3 cwt . ; CJ " 33 p ackages ; _mnslhvS ditto . " _'i'S _^^^ _i g _^^^^^
-•*^Jl.Ts Will Be Swamped With Quantitie...
be Jauoakyc 26 _i 1 _^ 50 . _??! _?^ - — - _^*»^~ --- _™~ _- _^^
. Nverkmest Prosecutions Against G 0 * J...
_. _nvERKMEST PROSECUTIONS AGAINST _G _* JJUILDIXG LOTTERIES ; SHxrnKtP _. _Frioat . — Early last year some par-, _*«** rbo were anxious to dispose of a lot of nnpro S'Sde houses in Manchester , known as "the _^ _Bg _h-buildings / ' not meeting readily with a _Phaser , adopted-the-ex _^ ent-c-f . p utti ng the Sfliierty np in a lottery to subscribers of one _Smea each . Thongli the amount at which the _pros -tv was valued in the prospectuses of the scheme _Sasinore than double its real worth , the _subscripts flowed in so rapidly tbat before the day fixed } L the drawing of tbe lottery , all the shares were _jjfposed of . The success which attended this specul _ation led to a number of schemes of the same character being started In- _^ Manchester , Birmingban , _^ _effield , Leeds , & c . In Sheffield , a young man , _jjamed Bridges , got up a scheme for the disposal , _suiucsut
in 5 WU , . uuB _guuiea eacu , somo nouses jn Snffolk-road , the real value of which was little _jnoie than £ 2 , 500 . The scheme succeeded beyond ex pectation , and was followed by no less ? han t wenty others in Sheffield-alone , tho sums to _je subscribed varying in amount from £ 200 to £ 17 , 000 . The principal * of these yet * undrawn is a " Second distribution of property" by Mr . _Bridges , if ll 7 _, -500 shares of a guinea each . "For tbe sum thus subscribed the winners are to receive leasehold pro" _miIv worth about £ 9 , 000 . These fraudulent and _fllei-al schemes have at length increased so ' gteatly in number as to attract the attention of government and orders have been issued by the lords of the Tre asury with a view to their suppression . Mr . Bridges has been selected as the party ., against
whom proceedings should lie taken in this district , and app lication was made to the Sheffield bench of mag istrates on Saturday lasf to grant a summons against him as a rogue and vagabond . - -- •¦ . Mr . T . "W Robgee , solicitor , in making the application , said he had received his instructions from the Lords of the Treasury . His application was made under the * _12 nd Geo . IIL , c 119 , which , in addition to penalties against parties taking part in lotteries , rendered a person keeping an office forthe sale of lottery tickets liable , atthe suit of the Attornev-General , " to a penalty of £ 500 . By another clause it was enacted , that where proceedings had not been taken by the Attorney-General to recover the penalty , the party offending might be brought
before the magistrate as a rogue and vagabond , and punished as such . It was a matter of public notoriety that for some time past there had been Tarious lotteries got np in Sheffield , having for thei _« _- object the sale of lots of property , at prices far beyond their real value . Lotteries were prohibited by law , and the extent ; to which these . " property distributions" had heen carried , had induced the _sorernment to direct _the _* presentproceeding against Ifr . Bridges , the projector and principal agent in getting up snch schemes in this part of the country . Mr . Bridges * schemes had been advertised , net only in Sheffield , but in the metropolis , and in almost erery town in England . Some idea mig ht be formed of the scale on which the business
was carried on when he stated that for one scheme alone no less than half a million prospectuses had been printed and circulated by Mr . Bridges . Besides having agents in nil parts of the country , Bridges bad also kept an office in Sheffield for tbe sale of lottery tickets . A witness having been called to prove the fact that Mr . Bridges kept an office in Sheffield for the sale of tiekets *" for his lottery , the magistrates intimated tbat a sufficient case bad been made ont to warrant their granting the summons . Mr . Frctsos , solicitor , said Mr . Bridges having received an intimation that the government contemplated proceedings against him , had instructed him to watch these proceedings on his behalf . The only object the government could have ia view was to stop these illesal practices being pursued in this
country . He believed that object had been attained , Mr . Bridges having issued notices to his subscribers that the lottery would not be drawn in England . Mr . _Robgeks said he had forwarded one of those notices to the Treasury offices , and so far from the government being satisfied with it , his instructions in reply were—" "Xo time must be lost in making an application for summons against Bridges for keeping an office in Sheffield foi * the sale of lottery tickets . " The issuing of the notice by Bridges was a mere ruse , the faet being that he had opened offices In _Beisium , where he intended to draw the . lottery , andto continue the offence against the laws of this _country by obtaining subscribers here . If Bridges were really abandoning the scheme , why did he not return the " _-mmea subscriptions which ; he had . received from _Tus dupes in every part ofthe country . The magistrates granted the summons .
The case was fixed for hearing on Monday , when Bridges appeared by his attorney . Mr . Uohgers declined to proceed with the case unless defendant appeared in person , and applied for a warrant to apprehend him . He bad reason to believe that Bridges was in London , and might he apprehended there if the warrant was granted immediately , but the delay of a day mig ht enable him to escape to Belgium . v Mr . Fbesiox opposed the application on the ground that , as the defendant appeared by his attorney , the case could be heard in his absence . Mr . Rodgees : If Mr . Fretson will so far stand in the place of his client as to go to prison-in his stead I have no objection to dispense with Mr . Bridges ' personal appearance here . ( Laughter . ) Mr . _"Feetsos : I cannot undertake to do that .
The Bench intimated tliat , as the ends of justice might be defeated by hearing the case in Bridges ' absence , they should grant a -warrant for his apprehension . Mr . _Fbstsox : Though I cannot undertake to go to prison for my client , I will undertake to say that y on won't catch him .
Illegal Lato Lotteries." — On Saturday L...
Illegal _Lato Lotteries . " — On Saturday last Mr . Joseph Fallowiield Masser , lithographer , of Leeds , was brought before the mayor and a full bench of magistrates , at tbe Leeds Court-house , on the charge of having unlawfully and publicly kept open and expose : ! to be drawn , in a certain _pnblje place called the Saloon , in the Music-hall , a certain lottery not authorised by parliament , to wit , a lottery of and'for an estate called the Fallowiield Terrace _Estate . —Mr . Blanshard . barrister , appeared in support of the charge ; and "Mr . Middleton , barrister , conducted the defence . —Mr . Blanshard said he had the honour to appear before the bench , instructed on behalf of the crown , and in support of an information laid against Mr . Joseph _Fallowfield
l " asser , under the provisions of the 42 Geo . HI ., cap . 119 , an act passed f r the suppression of lotteries . By this act any person engaged in any lottery , game , or - 'little go , " was liable to a penalty of £ 500 , which could only be recovered in one of the superior couits ; and then the act declared that all persons so offending should be deemed to be rogues and -vagabonds . HavinE stated that the 21 st section of the Vagrant Act provided that all persons guilty of this offence should be dealt with as vagrants , he proceeded to state the facts of the case . In the month of August , the defendant issued a prospectus , headed " £ 230 per annum" for one guinea , '' and then stated that theFallowfield-terrace Estate , which consisted of seven spacious houses
with gardens , coach-houses , & c , would be put Offer distribution in shares of one guinea each , and drawn for when the whole number , of- shares , ! of which 2 , 300 had already been taken , should be subscribed . Accordingly on the 20 th and 21 st September the Muac Hall was engaged for the lottery , tha tickets were put into two revolving cylinders and drawn out by two boys , one end-being forthe number ofthe tickets held by the shareholders and the other for the prizes . Mr .-Masser issued the prospectus , engaged the 'Music Hall forthe lottery , and on the day on which it took , place declared the _-jrinner of the principal prize , the estate , a portion of the shares being appropriated to other prizes of £ 25 , £ 10 , and £ 1 each . All these facts were very
dearly proved by a man named Benjamin Knowles , who had paid a guinea for a ticket , which had been drawn a blank . —Sir . Middleton , In defence _^ . urged tbat the clause relied upon was a general one , snch as ia to be found in all penal acts of parliament , and onght ' not to be strained to meet , this case . The general tenor of legislation / had been to make parties engaged in these lotteries _inbject to heavy _finesand penaWes , instead of pumshing s them as rogues and _vagabonds , and he called npon the bench not to . convict his client , who , at thetime of the lottery , was not aware he was doing an illegal act . —The "tjfeyor , Alter conferring with the oth er justice _^ Mid the bench , _looking at all the circumstances of the case ,
were of _opinion-that-the-defendant-had brought himself within the mewling of the act of parliament and adjudged bim t » beimprisoned and _fcept to hard labour in the House of Correction , for the term : of seven days ,- This being the first case brought before them , they were disposed to take a lenient view of it , hut as they were convinced that the < % ct of the government was to check this species of | taibhn * - ,. they should , if any other cases were bronsht before them , inflict upon the parties a much _¦" _Werer punishment . —Mr . Blansford said he was We satisfied , and believing that the public EOtpriety "" Wen to this case would have the ' desired ; effect " he f _® _jM withdraw a second charge whlcnhe had been _^ " _^ tom & ke .
Further .Particulars Of The Loss Op The ...
FURTHER _PARTICULARS OF THE LOSS OP THE PACKETrSHIP HOTTINGE OK _^ Tfliif ; TEEN LIYES LOST . ' * J * -T 4
_UIR-. Thisfine ship ,. the . Hottmgeur , of 1 , 500 tons , burthen , _comnmnded . b yCaptain Bursley , sailed from Liverpool docks on the 10 th of January last and goton _BLock-Mtersand bank on Saturda / _mSiS _? at six o clock ,, two hours before , daylight The vessel humped heavil y _several times , and they then made signals of distress by burning li ghts aid firing rockets and at dayh ght flags were hung out from the masts ., At half-past ei ght o clock the captain summoned the passengersand crew on the quarter deck , and slated thaihe had drifted about thewhble ° \ - ""day , and , that he did not then know exactl y whew he was ; he recommended order anil obedience , and by that all hands would be saved , as
there were boats sufficient . Tbe sea was hot rough at the time , and the wind was light ; , he , also stated that he mistobktheTuscar light for the Holyhead lights , the night , being so _daric . ' At about eleven o ' clock the preventative boat came alongside , and took on board the captain ' s son ,: with the log-book and papers of the ship , and a . young woman who was going out as servant , and then , made for , the shore , which was about six or seven miles off . ; One of the ships boats then left , 'having on board thirteen of the crew , two men that were stowed away in the ship and the mate ' s daughter , and Mrs . Chapman and son , cabin passengers . On landing at the beach the boat was nearly swamped , but all landed safely . The first mate then ' tookthe quarter boat
with five seamen and pushed of £ refusing even tb take two passengers ; the other boat from the shore then took off the Rev . Mr . "Doherty , his wife , and four children , and Mrs . Milburn , passengers .,, These boats promised to return to the ship " but never came , it being _i ; oo rough to venture , there were then only two boats left _^ the- life boat with one pair of oars , -and the long-boaton the deck , which was . then slung over the side ready to , be lowered in tlie water , but there was no sails , mast , or rudder , or oars for it . - At eight o ' clock the two anchors were let down , as the wind was then increasing , and she was then striking very _. heavy , and continued to . do so all night ; the night was , very dark . The crew and three remaining passengers were all in . the .
second cabin , anxiously wishing for daylight , and the hours seemed unusually long . _ On Sunday morning our prospect , was still worse . The sea was rough and the wind was increasing , and no signs of any assistance at hand . The anchors were then slipt , and the / wind ; being in our favour drifted us off the bank .: The sails were -immediately set , and . the pumps were sounded ; It was . found , there ! were seven feet of water in her hold . At nine a . m . the Rose , screw propeller , Capt . Roebfqrd , of this . city , came alongside , and communications were made between the two vessels by chalking words oh boards . Captain Parsley continued to sail by Captain Roehford's directions , until between one and two o ' clock , p . m ., when she had then about fifteen feet water
in her hold , > and would not steer . It was evident to all she could not float long . Myself and the two remaining passengers were not permitted to . leave the deck , but had to work with the men . The cant-tin then ordered the life-boat to be hauled alongside and hailed out ( the long-boat had gone to pieces shortly after it was lowered down , ) and three remaining passengers , viz ., Mr . ' P . Chapman ; Mr . ' Robert Millburn , Mr . Michael Murray , with four seamen and a boy , that had stowed himself in . the ship , were lowered in the boat , and made "towards the propeller , which we should never have reached had not Captain Roehford made towards lis ; and taken ut on hoard . The life-boat was to retnrn to the ship for the remainder of the hands , but by the
time we got on board _. the ship had altered her course and was drifting fast on shore when she grounded on Arklow sandbank , two miles from the shore . Captain Roehford thought it of no use for the lifeboatmen then to return , a 3 it was certain death to them if they did . The vessel was then among the breakers . The conduct of Captain Roehford during the whole of the time he sailed round and about the ship until she drifted on shore—his anxiety to save the livesof those on board is beyond all praise . He attempted to lower his long boat and send his mate on board the distressed vessel with a chart of the coast , but his boat was struck with a sea and stove in . Captain Roehford left with much regret thatthe ship had not continued her course for a
half an hour more , when he might have got the vessel ashore , and probably all lives might have been saved . - 3 fo communication could be had with the ship from the shore , and thecaptain , the second and third mate , the carpenter , the steward , two cooks , and six seamen , have all perished . Part of the poop has been washed ashore , and some of the goods . The ship is now fast going to pieces . —The foregoing particulars have been furnished to us by Mr . F . Chapman , one of the three last passengers that were taken off the wreck , and is now with his wife and child , at the Commercial Hotel , in Marlborough-street . They have lost , all "they had in the world , and only escaped with what they have on their hacks . "We hone the . extreme hardship of
their case will meet with the sympathy of our citizens , and that something promptly will be done to relieve the distress into which they have been so suddenly thrown . —We have just seen __ a letter addressed to Mr . Chapman , in which it is sbted that only one man was saved from the wreck , that he was taken off en the morning of the 17 th inst ., and that It -was now certain that the captain and" all the others who were on the wreck when Mr . Chapman left were drowned with the single exception here mentioned . —Dublin Freeman , As Captain Bursley stood deservedly high in the estimation of all who " knew him , and as-he was one ofthe oldest captains frequenting our port , we have "leaned a few particulars of his life , which may not
be uninteresting to our readers . The gallant captain was horn at Cape Cod , Massachusetts , in the year 179 S , and consequently was in his fifty-second year when he died . He seems to have imbibed a desire for a maritime life from his infancy , for before he was twelve years of age , he entered the mercantile marine of the port of Boston , _ and so quick was his _prosress in his chosen profession that before he attained Ms twenty first year he commanded an East Indiamxn from Calcutta to Boston . It is now upwards of twenty-one years since he first entered the Mersey as master of the Dover , a firstclass vessel of the original Boston line of packetships , since " when he has lean a . frequent visitor to our port . At a subsequent period ho became
connected with the Black Ball or _Aew York _; Jme , in which he commanded the Silas Richards and the Orpheus , and afterwards the Cambridge , belonging tothe same line . It will be in the recollection of many of our readers tbat tte Cambridge wag severely tried , as were also the nautical , skill and judgment of her commander , during the great gale of 1839 . On that occasion _^ Captain Bursley could not obtain a tug-boat to tow him out of the river , and when the storm arose in its violence and might , his ship slipped her anchors and was driven on towards the Prince ' s-pier . Every precaution was made by both master and men to arrest the threatened destruction of the ship ; trusses of-hay were lashed over her sides io protect her , hawsers were made fast where
available , and when every other inducement failed in procuring a steam-tug , the commander exclaimed with his accustomed liberality , " £ 1 , 000 for a tug ;" But none would venture , so imminent was the peril . In this emergency the remaining- anchors were tried , and as they held , the noble ship was preserved from hecomingan immediate wreck . He has often experienced the hardships 6 f a seaihen ' s life . About fourteen years ago ( in company with Captain Marshall , hew . of the Republic ) he was nearly wrecked iri the Orpheus , pn which occasion he had to put taek to _^ th is port for extensive ' . repairs ' ; Fifteen years ago-his-brother , then captain of the Lyons , was lost off Port Patrick , where ; he wasinlerred , and a monument erected to his memory hy the subject of this sketch . At the close of his career with the Black Ball line he took an active part in
the organisation of Fielden ' s linp , to which he has since belonged , as master of the Hottingeur , a fine vessel , about seven or eight years old . ; No better sailor left this port ; and it is affirmed of him that no man knew the Channel better , than , he did -and therefore the cause of the calamity referred to remains a mystery at present . We believe that he intended that this , ; if successful , should-have been his last trip ; and that he felt delig hted at the prospect of enjoying , in ease , and happiness , amidst his friends and in . the bosom of his . family , that btium cum dignitate to which a long , laborious , and well-spent life eminently entitled him . The deceasea _Wis highly esteemed by all , who ; had the pleasure of his . acquaintance as a sincere , friend , an honest in an ,, and a geod Christian . . He has left a wife and family _^ to mourn their _oss . —Liverpool Albion . ¦ - ¦¦ - ¦
\ Romance , Of Reai. Ltfei—In. The Year ...
\ Romance , of Reai . LtfeI—In . the year 177 _& there lived in "Wrexham Captain Jones , an elderly gentleman _; and a young doctor , named Manning . They were friends until from some cause they quarrelled . We believe that ; Captain Jones ' s daughter " was the subject of dispute . A duel was fought , Captain Jones was killed , . and Dr . Manning became deranged . He resided at "Wrexham a fewyears afterwards , and was then sent to Kirkdale Lunatic Ayslum . After . a confinement of nearl y fifty years lie died last week , and his body was brought to "Wrexham for interment . His property is said to have accumulated to about £ 70 , 060 , which will be
divided amongst his relatives . _^ During the last week ' this incident has been the subject of much fireside conversation among the old people of " Wrexham , many of whom remember the circumstance of the duel . —Chester Chronicle . : ' A Goon Olo Age . —There is now living at Norton near Worcester , an old womani named Ann Finch , who has very nearly attained the age of 108 years . She is blind , almost deaf , and has been t « dtidden for the last few months , but she still eats heartily , and drinks a quantity of cider each day . Ann Burrow , her eldest daughter , who is living at Crobmed'Abitot , and regularly attends * Worcester market , is sixty-nine years of age .
^He.Qondition Of Engmnd-V J-;' ¦¦• • ¦ ¦...
_^ HE _. _QONDITION OF _ENGMND-v j- ; ' ¦¦• • ¦ _¦/; ¦ _•* - QUESTION . _^ _- ( _CoiM-jhsedfirom the i _^ mikg ' CnronicIt . ) t ' i _«?« S ! 5 ; F _^ _^ _RICULTIJRAL _LABORERS IN DEVON ' AND _SoSsET . . On inquiring into the rates ' of . wages in the different _localrties which I visited , I foSnd them in all cases , low ., , Throughout ; the _Kingsbridge union , which comprises a large portion of the extreme south of Devon , I found 9 s . a week to be thc _ave-™ S _™ _te- . There , is more grazing in > this neighbourhood than in some of the eastern parts of the county , where wages are much lower , whilst the holdings nrerm the mauvmuclrlarger . Throughout the union , too , the . populationas compared
, , with what it is at some points' near the borders of Dorset , is thin . The consequence is , that the demand and supply are more equally adjusted , which tends to keep wages up .: The farmers likewise are , more , or less , men of capital , keeping > about- the same number of persons , m constant- employment , arid thus preventing the fluctuation which would occur in the rate of remuneration if whole droves of workmen were to be occasionally thrown out of work to compete with each other , as is too often the case in the-over populous districts , and in parts where the farmers are destitute of capital . In the line from Exmouth to _^ Exeter , the rates generally paid are 8 s . and ' 7 s . a week . The great bulk of the property in this neighbourhood is part
of what is known as the Rolle property , left by the late lord to tho second son of the present-Lord Clinton . In the other directions round Exeter , I found 7 s . a week more prevalent than 8 s . "Whilst driving from Exeter to Honiton , T inquired of two of my fellow-travellers , who : were from-different parts of the interior ofthe country , what the rate of wages might be in their respective localities . Both put them down at ' ' about 7 s . a week . " T asked if it was possible for men to live on such ia pittance ?; M Not if they have _^ large families , '' observed one . ; _''Atileast , -one _thing-is _' clear , -they can't live : honestl y _^ on ' it , " said -tbe > other . ! _i I afterwards took the opportunity of asking the driver of the coach , ' who drove daily between Exeter and
Dorchester , and the amount which _' he named was also 7 s . a-week . ' - Arrived at Honiton ; I inquired for myselfj and found scarcely any case in which 8 s . were _beinggivenv ' _-. In the parish of Southlcigh , already alluded to , and in the ; conterminous parishes ; thi 8 was the maximum rate . Oiie woman , whom I questioned , told me that her husband and son had . both 7 s . a week ,- but that the work ' was not steady , so that they could not be said to earn 14 s . a ' week between them for manyiweeks together . The son was quite a young man _; and . on my asking her if there was he difference made in the wages paid to married and single men , she informed me- that an attempt had beenmade to get her son to work for les ? , but that as he could doa man ' s work , he had
consequently refused to work for less than a man ' s wages . It was in the neig hbourhood of Axminster , and in the north ofDevon , near the extinct lead mines ; that I found the lowest-scale of wages paid . In many _caBea . in these localities , the labourer was receiving but 6 s . a week , and it was apprehended _thaV there would he a very general reduction to that standard ; ' . So far I have not spoken of the wages of women . They are more generally employed in Somerset than they are in Devon . Indeed , there are p . irts ofthe latter county in which it is rarely that they are seen at work in the fields . ; This is the case in the line of country extending from about Sidmouth to the neighbourhood of Totnes . I not only remarked this
myself , but it was mentioned to me by others , who could hot account for it in any way : In the interior of Devon , and along the ; Torridge , they are as frequently seen at work as-in Somerset . Iu'that county , however , there is far more work for them ofa kind for which women are more adapted than men— -dairy farming being carried to' a much greater extent in Somerset than _^ in Devon . lam now speaking , however , of labour in the fields . This comprises a variety of occupations , in connection with which cheap female comes in competition with dearer male labour . Women hoe turnips at a much less rate than men . A man , however , will do
much more in the course , of a day at this kind of work than a woman will do . It is also too laborious an occupation for women very generally to engage in . They also plant and dig potatoes , at the proper seasons ; they weed the fields particularly when fresh land is being cleaned preparatory to a crop ; tbey pick stones from the land and winnew the corn ; they plant beans , and fill , and sometimes drive , the manure carts . These are but specimens of their work , for which they receive , on the average , from 7 d . to 8 d . a diy . ¦ _-. I have known cases in which less was given , but about 71 d . may bo taken as a fair average of the present rates . During harvest time they sometimes earn as much
asos . aweek . - - ,: In these counties the labourersgenerally receive , in addition to their money wages , so much cider per day . This is not confined to men—the women and children employed in the fields . also coming in for their cider . In some cases this is compounded * for , and a higher rate of wages paid ; but in the great majority of cases the money-rate of wages , when stated , is exclusive ofthe dole of cider . Sometimes , however , the farmers will include it , and thus mislead the inquirer . Thus , at Exmouth , I was informed by a labourer , -who pointed out his emp loyer to me , that his wages were 7 s . 0 d . a week . A few minutes afterwards . I was in conversation
_with'his master , and on . inquiring into tho rate of wages in his neighbourhood , was told by him that he himself paid 9 s . ' The discrepancy between the two statements staggered me a little , and I mentioned it to him . . " Well , to be sure , " said he , " I do pay but 7 s . Cd . in money , but then he has his three pints of cider a day , which I reckon at Is . 0 d . more . " But the farmer always reckons the cider more than the men do . A . disinterested appraiser would , taking into account the rough quality ofthe cider generally given ; to the labourer , value the eig hteen pints a week which he receives at about Is . By such statements , those unacquainted with the mode in : which things are managed are often led astray . ' - -
But in estimating the condition ofthe labourer , and that of his family , nothing can be more fallacious than to include this dole of cider as part and parcel of his wages : 'It has no effect whatever upon the comforts of hia family , find cannot therefore be taken into account in considering the extent of their means . In the case ofa man . working , for himself alone , who might find his wages sufficient to enable him to indulge a little diiring ' the week , were he inclined to drink cider to some extent , that which is handed to . him in the field might be taken into account as so much money , since it might save hini so much , provided he were contented ; with what he got in the field . But even in his _ case , if ho were not disposed i to drink , ' but anxious to save . his
money ; itwould be anything . hut a gam to him . Thc value of the beverage in money would , in more ways than one , be far better for him , for it would not only enable him to save more , or . to procure more substantial aliment , but it might also avert a danger _tofwhich he _is _: othei _; wi' . e exposed—that of encouraging a taste for more cider than he gets , and ultimately for something stronger than cider ; In tho ; case ofthe married man the system is far more objectionable . He does nbtwork-for himself ; alone ; having others , and sometimes many others , dependent upon him ; He has ; therefore , no money to spare out ' of his scanty wages to indulge a taste for drinking cider , or any other liquor . Ho has none to s pare fo ' _rsuch a purpose even when his claim for
cider . is-- compounded for by a ¦ money . payment ' . And it is hard to compel him to'take as part of his wages that which he i could not afford to purchase were his earnings paid him in full in money . If he is entitled to-9 s ., why force him to take Is . ' 6 d : worth of ; it in cider . When he could not afford to buy ls . _6 d ; worth of cider if the 9 s . were all paid him in money ? ' The word ' forced" is here hot _lirif advisedly applied , for the great majority ofthe labourers , particularly the married men , would prefer the cider ' s worth to the cider itself . : -The cider ' s worth would * go to enhance the comforts of the family . The cider itself does not and cannot : ; Itis , in almost all cases / drunk on the field—in
other wotds , : the labourer spends daily about IC per cent , of his-earnings iri drink ; Whenever-it is compounded fori it is for the labourer ' s benefit that the arrangement is made ; and what benefits him in One instance would be advantageous to him in all . ' The difficulty in the way is chiefly with the farmers , who have an interest in keeping up the mixed system of wages ! - To some extent it is the truck system ; and nothing else . It is equivalent to saying to the labourer , "I will employ you at so -much a week , but then I expect you to remember that I keep a cider shop / and that you must bu ** so much cider-from = me ,, at such and such a price , ; every week " - —the ; price being one : which secures to __ the cider producer a profit at the expense of the Cider ¦ ¦
consumer .: _^ , ; The cider given to . the women is frequently drunk by themselves—it being sometimes given to their husbands . . That given to the boys is almost invariably drunk by them . They get less than : a man , but in the same proportion to then * strength , and wages . It is perhaps in respect toihem that the system _developes itself -in its most pernicious aspect . "I wouldn ' t work without my cider , " said a saucy little imp of about eleven years of age , one of those who surrounded me in Exmouth . -By the time they reach maturity they are accomplished drinkers , and this from a necessity of their position . To make them accomp lished smokers instead would be equally justifiably .. There is no more sense or justice in compelling them to drink cider aspart of their wages , than there would be in forcing them to smoke or chew tobacco . If tho farmers oft "" 0 w <* 8 t produced tobacco instead of cider , -. every labourer would be seen with a cigar in his mouth .
_Hdfli . ire the many families dependent upon _agricultural labour for their support to subsist during the winter on wages . averaging less than 8 s . a week ? Ask ' _tbe question of anybody—eYen of those west
^He.Qondition Of Engmnd-V J-;' ¦¦• • ¦ ¦...
likely from their -positiori _^ to " _'be ' acquaihtea with the means and contrivances of such families—and they will shrug , their : ; shoulders , _! and _' _tell _lyou-that ft _passesithe _n-compreb ensioni -.-rm _.- _;« ' : - ¦ ¦ >¦ . ; _. Labouring _^ riien have frequently complained-to me ofthe mooe in which the farmers ; in some districts , make use of the . position and conduct of young men to affect the generalrate ofwages ; i Wh ' _ei-e the practice of making a'distinction as to amouutin favour of married men prevails , the highest ratethus paid is often a low one , as eompared with'the rates : paid elsewhere . If young men receive less than married men , the wages of the ' latter are frequently lowered on the next plausible pretext—the-f armers telling them that , ' as they : can get young men to do their work lor a given sum there is no necessity for their
, employing others at ' a higher rate . Sooner than be thrown entirely : out of work , the riiarrjed Jabourerf . often submit readily to the reduction—which again is made use of tolower _stilhmore the wages paid tb the single men ; so that the former difference is rt _^ established betweenHhem ; but with this advantage to the farmer , that he is paying less to botli . ' _' ¦ ' One of the greatest ; evilsthat 'I find ' attending the low rate of wa <* es now paid in so many of the ruraldistricts , is tho want of a change of clothin " for the labourers , both male and female . Most of them wear'flannel whilst at work ; : but few'have a change even of that ; -The-consequence ia , ' that they wear the sariie garment next the skin day and night , although for many-hours of the day it may
have been ; soaked with perspiration ; " I havefrequently seen both men and women ,- whilst at work ; perspiring most freely , ' with their clothes quito wet upon them . It is deemed essential to thehealth of a miner that he ' should exchange'for ' adry suit the clothing with which '; he 'Comes : dripping from the mine . - ' But the field labourer- almost invariably p ermits the garments which have been made wringing wet with perspiration to dry ? upon his personrind that , too , not' merely when he is in exercise , but when he is lying on his bed asleep ; for he frcquentlylies down enveloped in flannel , cold ; mOisti , and clammy , after the day ' s toil . ' 'There may be many a labourer , m , irried arid single ; tolerably well _bffin Devon and Somerset , but there are multitudes
so immersed in the depths ;' of- wretchedness , " that it is impossible to 'fancy them sinking lower ; -There are hundreds of families , ' , with : four or five children whose sole dependence ; is the _^ earnings of the husband—the ; children . being ' too ; young and > the wife too busy at home to work abroadr-rtheir earnings not exceeding 7 s . a week ; ; It is on this sad ; feature of the- diversified ; picture-that public attention should be'mosfc closely riveted . ; . ;¦ : '/; ; _..: ¦'; . . ¦ >)? . r-There . are many , especially , amongst the farmers , who are prone "to malign the labourers , aiid who maintain that the _miseny so prevalent amongst them is of their . own making . There is rio'doubt but that the privations which they , endure are in very many instances aggravated by their own carlessness or
misconduct , i , But it is a calitmnyiosay thattheir situation : would : be equally deplorable , no matter what their wages were . I have-seen too many instances of prudence , . thrift , and comparative comfort to subscribe to such a doctriner-instances few and far between , it is , true , in the counties that I have hitherto visited in connexion with this inquiry , but . which form the rule and not the exception in other districts , where higher wages prevail , and where the well-being of the labourer is attended to by his employer as a matter , of paramount duty . In ; these cases j instead of the extra wages . being squandered in drink and licentiousness ,-leaving the family to pine in wretchedness at home , ' they are frequently applied : to enhancing . its comforts and
improving its position . In cottages where this is observable ; I have often . seen the extra pairs ol shoes for the parents and : the children , and . in some cases the extra clothingfor the Sunday . Let the labourer have but an adequate amount of wages , and he will improve both thecpndition and the appearance of his family . * Persbnswho think otherwise , only fall into the views of those who , would make their own gratuitous ' aspersions of him : one : of the : many reasons ' which they assign for _^ keeping' his remuneration as low as possible .. ' k » :: 7 . ¦ - - - ' ' : Some days since I was conversing with : an old inan , near Bridgewater , on the : ¦ _suliject of wages . He had been a farm labourer in . his yoiith , but had abandoned thefieldsfor a trade , at which : he had
made a little competency , which ; he remarked , suf . ficed to keep him out of the workhouse in his old age . He did not speak very charitably of the farmers ; whom he characterised as a very selfish and hard-hearted race of men . I observed to him that they justified the present reduced rates of wages by the prevailing low price : ; of corn . He replied that it was not onthe side of wages that the shoe really pinched them ; He reniembered wages high , - when corn was about as low as now . " How came they , " I asked , " to keep uj the wages then ? ' * " I tell you what , " said he , . -Hhoy kept them up , and could afford to do so , ; because they . neither lived in such stvle nor paid ' such-high rents as ; they do _hdw- "f- _- ; _s- ; _-. _' . -. ::- _' . ' _, r-: " <¦ ' . ' _=- ¦ _.- _' .. _!•>
The Drugging System In The:Factory • Dis...
THE DRUGGING SYSTEM IN THE : FACTORY DISTRICTS . . I have already alluded to the practice , ' too common in the cotton districts , of _dosing infanta with narcotic medicine to keep them quiet while tbeir mothers are at their ; daily work in the factories . . Tho information given tome by medical men was _neneral in its character , and may be summed , up in tlie evidence elicited from Mr , John Greg ' Harrison , one of the factory medical inspectors , and a gentleman . ' carrying pri a very large practice aniqngst the operative classes . ' . " . "" " . ' " . The system of drugging children is exceedingly common , and one ofthe prevailing causes of infant mortality . _Mothers and nurses . both administer
narcotics ; the former , however ; ' . principally ' with the view , of obtaining . in undisturbed ., ni g ht ' s ' rest . The eonscquences produced are imbecility , caused hy suffusion on the brain , and an , extensive train of mesenteric and glandular diseases . The child sinks into a low torpid state , wastes away to a skeleton , except the stomach ,, , which swells , producingwhat is kno _* . yn _as . bqt-belly . If . the children survive the treatment , they are often weakly and stunted for life . To this drugging system , and to defective nursing , its certain : concomitant—not to any fatal effect . inherent in factory , labourtlmgreat infant mortality in the cotton towns is- to be ascribed . ' , ' .. ¦ ¦ _- ¦¦ ; ;> _-.- ¦ :
; J ) r . Ilnrrison added , that the practice of procuring abortion was sadly " common _,. particularly among unmarried ! women , and among married women living separated from their . husbands ., A person in Stockport , is notorious for the extent of his practice in , this way , instrument ' s , and not _di-ugs , being the mu . il moans , eniployod . , , . ;„ .. To return to the narcotic , part ; of , the . subject . From evidence given me by ;; mill , hands . ' _themselves I select the "following _casesj- _. observing , that they merely serve as samples of the _. ordinary _/ Rtories told me by those who , were , sufiBcieritly candid to . speak out upoii the subject . ; , . _; _,: An intelligent male : operative , in the Messrs . Morris ' s mill , in Slaford , statedithat he and . his
_\ vife put out then * first ; child . tobe nursed . : The nurse gave ! the ' . .- " baby " sleeping . stmT , ' , ' and it died iri nine weeks ., The neighbours told his wife ¦ how , the . '¦ baby was dosed , . but the nurse , denied _jthat -tlio _chiiil had ever got _^ anything of thoikind . They neyer , sent . a child out . to be nursed . again . . / For that one-they paid . Ss . , Cd . a week , and ,, the . weeks that the nurse , washed for _. it , 4 s , ; . The , mother had to got up at iouv o ' clock and carry it to the nurse s every morning ; but the distance was too far <•; for her , to suckle it at npon ,-so the child had no milk until the riurse ; brought . it honie at : night .: The nurses aro oftcri old wpineri , . whontalie : ; in washing ; and sometimes , thoy have ¦ _tliree . or _, . four ; children to take care of ... The mother can ofteri . smell laudanum
in ; the . childs i hrcath whenit comes , liomo . _i ) As for mothers ; themselves ,: they give ,. the' _^ sleeping stuff " principally , atriight , to secure _their-own rest . : , Another _^ operative in tho same mill , _gavelthe fqllowirig ;!_ evidence _r ' -rHe had put . out : one child ; to riurs ' e , iana : ' . iio and his missus ! had . . sorely ruled it ever ! . since . The child , . _avgirl . had never been healthy , or . strong , and thedoctprs _. told them , when she was fourteen ; months old ; r that she j had , been dosed , and how . it would be with her . They , ; paid os week ; to the nurse , " His . wife then earned 15 s ;' a- ' week ; in . a . iinill .: ; _.: At present he : thought 'As : < was about the average ; paid for riursiri g children ]' The nurses very often take : in washing , arid put ! the . children to sleep . by ' : ' druggirig ' thei ' n ;!; : _^
children , and tliey wero _^ llhearty _^ exccp tithe . _fii-st . _! ; ; A . fem ' ale . weavei ' ,. 'iri : ivmiU ' at Chorlton , stated the caso . of alittlegirl who was nursed'by a-neighbour of hers _. and who got " ' sleeping . _- _'stuff . f ' ¦ ' ; The , child _secmijd to \ he ' always " aslbcp ; and "lay witii' _^ tseybs half opcii ; ' Its head got _terrilily big , arid _i'ts _' fingei _* ' ; nails blue ; "' The motncr . took ' the . child , from " the nurse and ; c . irrie ' d _itto pbisbncdi- ' The , mother' wcrit _' on her 'knees . crying _^ arid . _saiil she had ' . ' never ; given' the _, child anything . ' ; _but'it'iiied very ' soon ' after . ' " ' !; ' _, ' , ! . ' . _' " . , ,. - ! ; Another ' womari / employed in the weaving ' . rponi of the same mill ;; had put ; but ' all her children ! , to niirse , arid _hiid'lost ' none of theiri ., . But she had a good kind _riui'so — a married woman—riot ono of the regular old nurses who madea trade of it . She had often heard of children" getting . ' * sleeping stuff . "It made tliem that t . Key . ; wore always dozing ,
andhover cared for food . ; ' They pined ! away , thoir heads got big , arid they died . She carried her own child every morning : tothe , nurse , rising for this purpose a full hour before' she went to tlie mill , liecause , the ' nurse lived some way off ., The nurse did _notl'ise _. atthesairi ' etiriie / but . she _^ the mother ) , put the baby 'irito , bed to her arid left . it there ! till the everiirig . _; She did riot suckle it in ' the course of the day , hecause , the ; distance was top far to go . ' All her children were thriving . '' ' ! .. . ' ; ; ,. I now cbmo _;' to ! ttie druggists ' . With ono or two honourable _^ _exceptibris ) ; wiese individuals . either pointblank deriied that the _. _di-ugging system existed or declined givirig any iriformatiori _' whatever .. More than ; brie of the proprietors' of , the ' most noted " Godfrey shops ' , ' ' in Manchester were amongst'the latter _olaw _^ _vliils of tlie _oMys _/^ h v _repudia'ted'the
The Drugging System In The:Factory • Dis...
traffic entirely . _^ several ; _^; th | Bm hau _their _^ dU i crowded-with announcements of different -forms of the medicine which they were cool enough to declare they did nofc deal in . ' : ' _' : ¦ _' ¦¦ _'¦ ¦ - ' -w _¦;¦ " . r My'inquiries _extended' to ' the use of laudarium ' in different forms by people 6 f _' all nge !* , ' and I transcribe the evidence of those druggists from whom > I- received . any ' information worth y . ' of the name . - ' - " ' _^' " : ' ¦ ' ¦' * ¦ 7 ' _^ x _x 7 ' _^ - < _^ - •< ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ • = > _- : A highly-respectable driiggist'ih Salford states a _^ follows : —'' The use of laudanum as a stimulant by male and female adultsishot at all uncommon . His sales in thatway are , however , small . " , He disposes of about a shilling ' s worth weekly , in ' penny-worths . Some of his custom 6 rs will take a tea-spoonful or a
tea-spoonful and -a half of laudanum ;' arid in bad tiines ; when they have ho ' money , they como and beg for a dose . ' The sale of crude opium has , he _tliinks , diminished in his part of the town ; When people co mefoi' laudanum , tp ; use itasa _stiinalariit ; he ' sells it mixed with tincture of gentiari _. in tlio ' hope _thiit it may do themiess liariri . ' ' Childreri are ' -drugged either with Godfrey ' s Cordial or stronger decoctions of opium ; 'Every druggist makes his ' owh Godfrey , and the strongfer he makes'it , the faster it is bought . The medicine consists of liiudanum ; sweetened by a syrup , arid further flavoured by some essential oil of spice : ¦' - Mothers sometim ' e ' s dose their . infants ; but the nurses carry the ' praotice'to ' the greatest extent ; ' ' _Themother'takes , the irifaritfrorii the warm bed at five o ' clock in the morning , and carries it to the nurse ' s , where it is left till nobri , and ' often
drugged to keep _it'qiiiet ; " ' . - ' . ' Among the druggists who were obviously disingenuous upon the ' p 6 irit ; ' : ' I ~ may' " particularly mention one ; notfar from' the Rochdale-road . "He tried to pooh-pooh - the whole thing . "He sold nothing of the ' kiridi ? at ' least next to ' nothingnothing worth ' , mentionihg . ' Oh ! _rib ; :: The ' ' fact wasthat a great deal of i ) oris " erise ' wasf talked upon the subject . Isolated cases might be _fouridi'but to ' say tha t there was any thing like a general practice of drugging children , was to raise a'mere bugbear . " Now , during our ' ' conversation , which . occupied about five ' minutes ; iny cool and candid - ' frierid actually'suited the action' to thb word ; hy handing over the counter to two little girls , three : distinct pennyworths ofthe very drug the demand for wliich ho was resolutely denyihg !• ' I _woiild _' _-have given something * Tor that gentleman ' s power ' of 'face ?" 'I think it could bo made _usefril . •'"' - ' ' ' ' _-
¦ I I begto direct particular attention to the following evidence , given by a most intelligent _driiggis't carrying on a very large business in a' poor neighbourhood surrounded by mills , and a gentleman of whose perfect candour arid good faith I have certain knowledge : — . ; ; ' ; '' Laudanum ; in various forms , is used to some extent by the adult population , male and female , and to a' terrible exterit for very young children ; Isell about 2 s . ' worth a week of laudanum , _inperi-UOrtliS _. _-fOrfldUlts : _' Some use raw opium instead . They either chew it ; or make it into pills arid'swallow it ; The country people use ' lau ' dariurii hs a stimulant , as well as the town people . ! On market days , they comb in from Lymm arid Warrington ,
and buy tho puro ; drug for themselves , " arid ' Godfrey , ' or * Quietness , " for the children . ' 'Godfrey ' is an _dldfabhioned preparation , and has been more or less in vogue for near a century . It is ; made _differently by different vendors ; but ' generally _speaking . it contains an ' ounce and a'halt- of pure laudanum 'to a quart . ' This dose is from half a teaspopnful to two _teaspoorifuls . Irifarit _' s Cordial _^ or Mixture , ' is stronger , ' _cdrita'ihing on the averagb two ounces of laudanum to ; a quart . Occasionally paregoric , wliich- 'is' ono forth part . is strong as laudanum , isiised . '' Mothers sometimes give narcotics to . 'their children , hilt most commonly " the nurses are in fault . The stuff is frequeii tly administered bythe latter . withoutthemo ' ther ' ' '
_'knowledge ; _, hut is occasionally . given by the mothers , without . the fathers' knowled ge . ' * 1 believe that women frequently drug tlieir children through pure ignorance of the effect of the practice , anV . because , having been brought up . in mills , thev know nothing about thefirst duties of mothers . " The nurses sometimes take children for Is ; Cd , a . week ;'" They are very often laundresses . "Half-a-crown a week may bo the average charge of the ' nurse , ' and tlie ' nursing ' 'commonly consists of laying the infant in a cradle to doze all day iii a stupified stiitb produced by a teaspoonful of ¦ ' Godfrey / or .. _« Quietness . '' Bad as the practice is , it would riot bo . so fatal if the nursesiind parents . would- obey -the druggists' instructions in administering the . " medieine . „ . I $ ut this
is what often takes place . ' A . woriian comes arid buys pennorths of 'Godfrey . . ' Well , all is right for five or six weeks . . Then she begins to complain that ' wo don't make the ' Godfrey ' so good as wo used to do ; that she has to give the child more than it heeded' at first ; and so nothing will do but she must have ' Infant ' s Quietness ' , instead , for , as she says , she has heard that that is better , i . e . stronger . But in process of time , as the child gets accustomed to the drug , the dose must be mado stronger still . Then tho nurses , and sometimes the mothers ; take to making the stuff thoiriselves . Thev buy pennorths of aiiniseed , and treaclo and sugar , add . the laudanum to it , and make the dose as _Strong is '
¦ , 'theylike . The mid wives teach them how to brew it , and ifthe quantity of laudanum comes expensive , they use _cri ' ido opium instead . Of course numberless children < irc carried off in this way . 1 kiiow a child that has been so treated at once ; it looks like a little old man or woman . I can-tell one in an instant . Often and often a mother comes hero with a' child that has been out to nurse , to know what can' bo the matter with it . 1 know , '! but frequently I . dare hardly tell , for Ifl say what I am sure of , the mother will go to the nurse and charge her with sickening the child ; the nurse wili'deny ; point blank , that'she did anything of the sort , and will come and make a disturbance hero , _diirmg . ' me to prove what of course I can ' t prove legally , arid abusing me for taking away her character . "' ''
THE CASUAL LABOURERS AT THE METRO
_POLITAK ; DOCKS . , ; ., The sceiie ' s witnessed ' at ! the London Docks were of so painful a . ' _desei-iption—the _struargle for one day ' s work—the scramble , for twenty _" -four _. li 6 iirs ' extra subsistence and extra life were of so tragic a eharaetcr-r-thatl waa anxious to ascertain , if possible , the exact numberof . individuals in and around the metropolis" who live by dock labour . At one of the docks alone I found : that 1 , S 23 stomachs would he deprived of food ' by the mere chopping 6 f the _brecKe . . ' ' . '"It ' s an ill -wind , " , says the proverb , "that blows nobody any good ; " and until I came tb investigate the . condition of . the dock labourer , 1 could not have believed it possible that near . upon two th 6 visarid . souls , in one place ! alone : lived ,
chameleon-like , upon the air : ; oi * that an . . . easterly , wind , despite the wise saw ,, could deprive so many of bread .. It is indeed , " a nipping and an eager air . " That the sustenance , of thousands ' of families should be _, as fickle as the very breeze ' itself ; that the weather-cock should , be the , index of daily , want or daily ease to such a vast number _' of men , women and children , was the climax of misery and wretchedness that I could not . have imagined to lexist ; and since then I have witnessed . such scenes of squalor , and crime , and suffering , as , oppress tho mind even to the feeling , of awe . . , _; ., -. Thes . o ' ; ' docki '' however , are . but one of six similar e ' _stahlishmcnta—tliree . being . on the north , and . three on the south side , of , the Thames—and all employing a greater or less number of- "hands ' , " -equaJly de : pendent upon the wind ' s for their subsistence . Deducting , . then , . the highest from , the lowest number of . ' 'labourers . ' engaged , at ' , the London ; Docks — the
extremes according to the books are . under 500 and oyer . " G , 0007 _^ we haye as . many as 2 _; 5 u 0 , individuals 'deprived of a" da * . _- " s work anda . living ; by .. the _prevalence of , ail _castei'lj-: wiiid , i and _ calculating that _the-sariie effect takes , p ] . _' ! ce at the other docks .-rthe _Eastiand West India ; for instance , . St .-Katharine ' s , Coniiuercial , '' Grand Surm _* , ' and . East Country , to a greater ' or less . extent , and , that the hands , eriiployed toi load and . unload the ... vessels . entering and quit- , tiii g all ' tliese places . ' aro . only four times more than those required at - . . tbo London Docks , we , havo' as riiari y as twelve , thousand individuals ,, or families , whose daily bread is . as . fickle as the wind itselfwhoso wages , in fact , are , one day . collectively as much '' as ; -El 1 fi pO ,,. and . the next as ; lo , w as £ 500—so that eigjit . thoiisand men are frequently _, thrown out of ' eiri ploy , " while , the earnings ; of the class to-day amount to one thousand pounds less than they , did yesterday . / , . . , ... ¦¦; , _-. _' ¦ .. ' . <; , '; ¦¦¦¦ ¦' ¦ _")'
' The account of the variation in the ; total number of hands employed , and the sum of money paid as _w-age 3 _"fo , '' t _% ih' / , b y tlie different dock ! companies whentiie b ' usirie ' bs is brisk or ; slack , may be stated as _. follows : — .,:, - ¦ _" ¦'• ¦ At tlie London Docks the 'difference'between '; ; I the greatest arid smallest number is '• " " ., 2 , 000 hands . At tlie East and West _Iiiflia Docks ;' . ' . ;' . ' .. , 500 _-L Atthe St luitlmnrie'Doeks !' . ' .. . ' . _"'' ,.: " 1 , 200 _ ' _At'tlifremainingdocks ( say ) _,. ; . ' , ' , ; ;' ,. J , 300 , — Total number of _doek-labpurers tlirownout i pf ' _-cmployihent by the prevalonce . ' of " . easterly '; wiiids .. ' . ' .. ' . ;' .. .. . 7 , 000 — The _diffei'eiice ' between the highest and lowest ; _Vimotiiit Of _iva-res paid at the . London JUocks is ... £ 1 , 560 At the _. East aiid West Itidia Docks ' .. ' ' „ ' ... 1 , 875 Atthe'St ; Katharine Docks .. .. .. .. _^) 00 _AttliGreiriaiuingdoc ' s .. ; ' . ' .. ... . ., ; . ' . „ . ";' . 975 i ;; ' , ;; :: ;;' . ' . '/ _b _. _aso : _Bi-om the above statement , then , it appears "that bythe prevalence of an easterly wind , no less tlian 7 , 000 out ofthe aggregate number of persons living by dock labour may be deprived of their regular income , and the entire body may have as _miich as _£ 5 _j 250 a _' week abstracted ti'onv the atriohrit of _^ their Bollective earnings at a period of active eiriploymerit . But the number-of . individuals _-who-depend upon the quantity of shipping _enteringthC ; port , of ; _Xqndon'f br , their '' daily _/ subsistence , is , far beyond , _# us amount ; ' Indeed , _^ e ' are assured by . si , gentleman filling ' a high situation in . St . Katharine ' s . Docks , ririd _. whofi _' briv his sympathy with the labouring : ppor Has _' _evidently given no slight attention to the subject , that , taking into _consideiitioa the number of _whsxf
The Drugging System In The:Factory • Dis...
labourers ; _docklabourers _^ _jlightermen , riggers and lumpers , shipwrights , caulkers , ship carpenters , anchor sniiths , corn pprtefsrfruit and coal meters , arid : indeed all the '' multifarious ? _* irts arid callings connected with _shipping , there are no less than from 25 , 000 to 30 jOOO individuals who are thrown wholly out of . employ by a long continuance of easterly winds . . Estimating ; tben , the gains , of . _sthis large _"" _ty : 9 f individuals at , * 2 a . _„ . 6 d .. . per day , or 15 _s .,, a week , ; . when , fully employed , we , shall hnd that the loss to those who depend upon the J * ° ndon shipping for their subsistence- amo ' nhts to £ 20 , 000 per week ; and ' considering that such wmds are often Known _toPrevail from a _fortriisht
to three weeks at a time , it follows that' the entire 9 ? ala eclnB 8 _^ lamount to from £ 40 , 000 to _iCO _. 000 _, within a , month ; an amount of privation to the . labouring . poor , _whichrit ia-positively awful to contemplate ., Kor . is . this . the only evil connected . with an enduring easterl y Wind Directly a change takes place , a" glut . " of vessels _entera the metropolitan port , and labourers flock from all quarters , indeed they pour froiri every pari where theworkriien exist-in a greater ; quantity than the work . / From 500 to , 800 _vesscls ; frequentl y arrive at ; one time in . London , after : the duration ofa contrary wind ; and then such is the demand for workmen , and so greatthc , press of business , owing to the rivalry , among merchants , arid the _desu-e of each
owner to have his cargo the first in the market , that a sufficient number of hands is scarcely to be found . Hundreds of extra labourers ; who can find labour nowhere' else ; are thus led to ' seek work in the docks : , But- _^ _-tou ge the words of our _informanttitoor . three : week 8 _aresufiicienttobreak . the neck of ; an ordinary glut ,. and , then the vast amount of extra hands , that the , excess of business has brought to the neighourhood are thrown out of employment , and . left :, to increase either the vagabondism of trie neighbourhood ; ' or to swell the , number iof paupers arid heighten the rates of the adjacent parishes . ¦ ' __ ""' ' .. ' ¦ ;'; ' - ¦ ' ' ¦ ¦ . ; [ Tiiis may in somo measure account not only for the poverty . and wretchedness efthe . people' located in the many courts and alleys round ' about : the docks , but it seom 8 , also ; to _affords a- , ready
explanation as to _^ the amount of crime , to be . found there . A few days ago I niade an attempt to fathom the secret of one of the low lodging houses in the neighbourhood ; arid ttiou ' gli' I had proof demonstrative that the endeavour was attended' with considerable personal risk , still I was determined to compass my end ; so as to'be enabled to give the public some idea of the . misery and crime that infested that part nf thetOWn . . ;; ' -, _j , ; , . , _.,.-: •• .. _. f ; i : .: -,. - ' . fi ¦ •; ' Entrusting myself to an experienced guide , I was led to one of the most frequentedand _^ cheapest lodging houses in the nei ghbourhood . Ic was a large put-house , about the size of a small barn _/ and about as _rii'deiy put together . ' . -The walls were un plastered arid the tiles ahoveharely ' served to cover itin ' . ¦ 'la
the wet weather we were told it leaked like a sieve . Around . the room ran a long , dirty table ,-at which siit soriie . score of ragged greasy wretches .:. The others were , huddled ; round . the , fire _.. ; Some were toasting herrings , others dryingendsof cigars , for tpbacco , and others boiling potatoes in cpflee . pots ., I soon coriimuriicated to them the object of iriy . visit , and having . iriqu ired how many of those then present worked at the docks , I found them ready to answer any questions in a ' more courteous manner _than-1 had _i expected . There were twenty-nine people in the shed , and about a fourth were occasional . dock labourers . VL , worked . at the docks half a day tliis . afternpon , " said one , " and . all yesterday , and half a day on . Monday—three days last , week , and
never above two or three days , in the week these last nine weeks . " . This one appeared to havebeen about the most successful of the number ; and when I asked the-rest- what they did when they 'Xvere wholly uneinployed , ' the answer was , that they were forceditoiwalk the streets all-night , and starve . * ' There are plenty of us , " said another , " who have to walk , the streets of a night , though 'the bunks * ( beds ) are only twopence here , and there ' s no other crib so cheap any . where hear . " I asked those who , spoko of having walked the streets ail night till daylight what they had done for food 1 ' " I ' ve been two days , " cried one , ' " without taste or sup ; " and one in the corner , with his head down , and his chin resting on his chest , cried ; " I've been three days
without food—haven't . had a bit in the _. world . * "Ah- ! it ' s . plaguy hard'times . in the winter time with W , that it is , " said a- youth who could not have been inore than seventeen . 1 " _Averalgo'it all ' the year round , " cried a tali , fellow in . a carivass-smock , " 4 t Vve worked eleven years in the dock as an extra , and it don't give more than fire shillings in theweek . Why , we ' re very otten three or four weeks and earn nothing in the wintertime . " "Butyou must get something , " ! said ., "Yes , we goes about jobbing , doing things down at Billingsgate . " vYe ; gets a twopenny and a threehalfpenny , job very often , if . we don ' t get that , wc nave to ifo without anything for lodging , and walk and starve . " " I'll have to do
_thattonight , sir , cried the man at the corner of the room , who ' still sat with his cliin on his chest— "TH have to walk ; _the-streets all night . " " Yes , * ' said a second , " and there ' s another besides him that'll be obligated to ; walk . the streets / The Refuge _isn't open yet . " : I asked them what they usuall y bad to eat . One had had _. f'taters and herrings and a pound ofhread . " ' Another "a pound of bread and a farthing ' s worth of coffee . " "I've had two or three -hard crusts , " cried the man again who sat alone at the end of the room . " " That ' s about tbe living wo all has , " I was told . " When we go without food all day , " they said , " it ' s generally the depth of winter , wet weather , or something like . that We give those that want a bit of oura , Whatever it may be .. We gather all round for him if we can . " . ...... ¦
1 I asked them how much money they had got . Vl ' vb got fourpence , " cried one . . " I ' ve got one shilling and threepence , " cried another . ' "I'vegift just enough for my bed . " "I ' ve got three-halfponce . : "I ' ve got one penny . " "I haven't on © halfpenny , " said the - man at the end ofthe room . "No more have I , " cried a second . "There ' s _another one hero hasn't got one , ' . " exclaimed a third . i" Ah , if you was to como in here to-morrow night , yoii'd fiiid 'half of us had not got any—full half . " _.., .. ; 1 then inquired as to the state of their clothing . " I ' ve got a clean shirt to put on to-morrow monting , and that ' s the first Tve _' had these eight months , " cried the first . "I ' ve got no shirt -sf * all , " said another . " "I ' ve none , " said a thirds ' ' and that there down there ain ' t got none , 3 know ; " he spoke of the same man at tho far enchiff the room .:
.. Next I sought to find ,, out ; how many among . -the nunibor had been confined _! m prison . _. 'f I ' ve heen in quod , sir , I have , " cried orie _^ "I ' ve been ~ h > , too , " shouted a second . ' Aridfinding the answers to come too quickly for mo to take down , I rcqiiestofl those who had been inmates of a gaol to hold Bp their hands . -They did ' so , and I counted eighteen out of the twenty-nine who were my companions _, i" Ah , there ' s quite that , " , said the best-looking man ' of , the party ; . "if the whole twenty-nme of us was down , it would not be too much , I ' m sure . The young beggar-boy here advanced againto . me , and with a knowing wink , cried , VI cant tell how many times I ' ve been ; in—oh ! it ' s ' above counting " I ' m sure it ' s above a dozen times . " ' ' l ( Tobe Continued
I Caution To Buteus Op Game.—A Few Days ...
I Caution to _Buteus op Game . —A few days ago a Lincoln gentleman who was out shooting picked up a dead partridge , which , having ' no mark of injury upon if , excited his attention : On arriving home he opened thc bird , and submitted the _[" whea t , '«? c ' e : ; , ' in th ' estomach to ' analysation .- , _The'qua nft _^ f of arsenic discovered was pretty . nearl y s ' ufiScieritrto have _^ poisoned : an ' entire feroily , and had ¦ tb _& bh _* d been foiind'by poaohei * s ' ' ' or . _; netted -by theiri when iinKblc _' _tb'fly , it would in _altprobability . 'have been ' ' sold to the dealers , ' arid _thtts _/ _' a' very ' _seiiousaffiot , mig ht have resulted ; ; Earmers , no _« v very generally ; ' steep their seed in ' _arseriiC _^ X ? nco " ni' « ire Chronicle / . ' \ Arrivals'of SrEciB _^ Thefollo ' wirig arriyalsol specie havejust . taken placo'from the countries mentioned : — The '• vessel , " Java , from Bombay .
brought 7 cases of silver , ' consigned to order ; . thk Diamond , froiri Callao , 1 box of gold , addressed to , . iri eminent house ' ' and l . bar of silver , " and 1 box of gold , consigned to the Bank of England ; ' the "Hi ghhinder , frorii Oporto , 4 cases of silyer j corisigned to order ; the _Freertrade , _fi-om Oporto , ' 2 cases _joT specieaddrcssed , and 1 case consigned to order ; the Glehelg , from Port'A'delaide _/ Bombay , and the C . _ipe of Good Ilope , 5 , ' _* 191 * bags of copper , consigned id order ; 1 case of specie froiri tlie Cape , ' addressed , ; and 16 boxes ' of silver from Bombay , cbnsigncd to order ; the' Charles Brbwnwell' froni Coqminbo arid . _Valpai-aisov 325 bars of copper , ' addressed tb . ' aiirm . of eminence 5 thb' Parliament , ' froniBostpn , "tjnitfid States , ' C 00 bars ' of ( Chili ) , copper , ; similarly-aildressed tlie Cafriatic , from Cuddalore , Madras , am the Cane 1 box of : _speoie'ifrom ; the ;; ' tatter ' . place
consigned io order ; the Essex , from Calcutta _anft the Capo _. l box bf specie from tho lat _^ dressed to a _fiinr'of eminence ; the , _Blacktfrmee , from Aricy an Tslay , 3 , 000 bags of copper ; addressed to a house of commercial' eminence ; and tlie' vessel Coldstrcam _. 'frbm Calcutta , 5 ; boxes of silver , consigned to _. ord er . _j . j _- . ; _:.. _,. ' _^ ' ; , ; ( ' ; . . j MATHEMATicAii PniLosoPHKBS . — . The most absurd book in nature is that ofa mathematician , certainly , " Dr .. Grogoi _^ _j Ori Philo ' _sophicalNecessity . " lib _^^ fancied ' motives , ought to . " act like forces in physics , if necessity ' were . . . true ' ; and . that to- offer a porter a guinea to go a mile south-west arid another togo a milb _^ south-east _, _^ _^ bught _' to set him _nuthe i " meari" dire , cti 6 n , petweehthetwo , d _^ wrote an oclfavoto prove this , arid when the world lftughed _. deemed . himself Mused I -.. - ¦ . . ? .
1 very Haw ; Material . —Mr . Disraeli , says that tho lurid iis' the landlord ' s _. material ; and so it is . But landlords have a- much rawer material m the minds ofthose farmers whom they ; delude _ nrt » -continuing to ' pay excessive . reBts under , the fall * - c . vows hopo of a _te-enaotment of the c _^ nwa _* n"S .
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 26, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_26011850/page/7/
-