Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-06-06
" HIRING FAIRS. %
Does England Progress ?---Aa Ancient H.
sttutioa.

sttUti9H,
\ London paper says: 1--WE are
called a civilized people, and tlatter
ourselves that we deserve the name as
well as any nation of the globe. 1t is
nothing but an idle calumny to say
that We sell our wives at Smithfield; !;
for whatever goes on of that kind is
transacted decorOuSly in TybHrnia or
Belgravia. We are also thought to be
proud and seIf-respecting country,
in which the dignity of the human
being is asserted by equal laws and
Christian customs. Hence it appears
rather startling to find in provincial
journals such quotations as that which
we Gull from the report of the Whit
suntide hiring fair at Kendall, in West
mOreland. 'The hiring was very well
attended, we read, and business was
brisk. The rates Of wages asked and
paid were good. Girls demanded
from c4 to f9lGs. for the half-year;
lads, half grown TO Is years of age,
obtained GO; boys from 10 10 E7; and
fiIll-grown, able-b bodied men, of whom
there were few in the market, hired
themselves readily at wages ranging
from ell to el4 for the six months
The public rubs its eyes, perhaps, and
imagines that this is paragraph
transPOsed by nfSalze from the coll
umns Of Produce Market, Not SOL
it IS the serious and matter-Of-fact quo
tatiOn of a days traffic in the English
labor-mart, the like of which goes on
in very many British towns besides
pretty little Kendall. Those who
have visited the quiet metropolis of
the Lake Country viii remember the
Market Hall and the space in front of
that building.
"On White Saturday. every year,
that part of the town is the rsRdez-
v0us-fur all the young men and maid
ems wanting employment, with all the
agricultural hands in the vicinity who
are also out I'D job. They come in
from various TS.rtS of the country like
sheep and ballecks arriving ut a fair
Nor are the lads and Iasses of the hills
and dales by any means bad locking
samples Of the human animal The
fresh uplands and moist skies of the
district breed an apple-cheeked and
and sturdy race, contrasting brightly
with the herds of anguish children
reared under the Lincolnshire gang
system, or with the stumbling pig
eyed people whom we may see at
some other statute fairs. Blythe north
country BlOuZelindaS and their swains
the hiring-daY at Whitsuntidei is look
ed upon as a pleasant holiday. The
town is all ready for them, with flags
and bands, fineries in the drapers'
shops, public houses III full food of
beer and strong drink, together with
dancing places, provided for the hours
when the buying and selling of the
human cattle market shall have ceased.
To the same place come the meas
ters' of the country round-plump-
checked also, and top-boOted looking
about for a likely wench TO scrub and
clean, lad to mind the horse, a cook
maid, or a carter; with very little
idea, probably, that there is any moral
distinction between Goods image
and the quadrupeds which can be
bought on the Same spot at other
times
"The market opens, and these
Young men and women, for all the
world like a huge drove OF Rorth-
country stock, lump themselV s to-
gether to be looked at. By no bash
fulness does the buyer or the seller
spoil his chance. A Durham OK could
not stand more eomposedly over its
handful of hay while the grazier
pinches its aiteh-bone and depreciates
It's short ribs, than the apple-cheeked
Westmoreland maiden awaits inspec-
ton while she cracks her pocket full
of nuts. The 'measters' enter the
drove, and deliberately survey the ar
ticles offered for public purchase. If
the supply is plentiful, the buyers can
be as nice in choosing as they please.
If demand exceeds supply, the long
limbed boys and gawky girls soon
find it out, and stand up for good
prices.
tThe grotesque roughness of the
scene may be better imagined than
described; for the language of the cat
tie fair, as well as its bucolic morals,
are all transferred upon the occasion
to the bazaar of bipedS. Character
is point about which very few think
of speaking-why, indeed, should you
want to know the character of gowned
and shocked, any more than OfhOrned
VI NOOl1O oAONhs bC,y OtlNl W ildJ CtllA UC
learned from the evidence of your
own eyesi The Kendall farmers and
dalesmen go up and down the watch
full groups of men and women with a
critical gaze, till presently they light
upon the strapping wench or sturdy
lad calculated to meet their require
ments. A compliment about as deli
cate as a cabbage-stalk is passed. and
the would-be employer inquiries what
the lad or lass wants in the way
Of wages. 1.-THE terms are altogether
too high, q snort of refusal disp0ses of
the negotiation; if there seems any
change OF mutual agreement, a long
and Cunning chatter takes place, after
which the pair adjourn to the large
stone in the center of the market
ground. That portion of the cere-
mony has been made necessary by
immemorial tradition; the bargain
must be ratified upon the stone,' and,
once ratified there, it binds the high
contracting parties
I" So that the market goes on till all
or nearly all the tmeasters' are suited
with servants or farm hands. Gener-
ally the engagement is so made as to
give the servant holiday before he is
required to begin work, and money,
in the shape of fhandsell,' always