The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-07
REIELATIoNs IN ENGLAND.
Dorsotshire Lnborers at Home.

A Blue-book just published in England con-
tains some startling revelations as to the lie
of the Dorsetshire laborer and his family. Mr.
Stanhope, the Assistant Commissioner for the
district, under the Women and Childrens En-
ployment Commissioner, examined, IN tne
course of his inquiries, number of the land
owners, clergy, farmers and laborers. The
evidence given by some Of the laborers Is pa
thetic. The following is part of the story
told by shepherds wife near Blantforl:
"My husband is the shepherd. He has los.
week and the house, because he works on sun
day. He has FL OF harvest, and f2 at lamoing,
(but he has to buy fuel at lamblng; sometimes
he doesn't 90 to bed for night or two0 ne
has NOTHING extra for the lambs he saves. Ny
husband has to find his own TOOLS. even MS
shears for clipping; they all have to buy their
tools: they say they used to be found; hooks
for haymaking were not. have known our
Buys to lay out 9s. on tools.
"What potato ground we have Is close 10
the house; it's more than 80 feet long, but
'taters, 'taters every year, they don't turn out
yery much We can't afford to buy any more
potatoes; when ours are out we have to 90
Without them. have seven at home with me
now. Last winter we got but very little
after we had our bread. We'd had bag OF
flour, we gave f3 for 1t; that would last about
three weeks. Shoes is very dear; our little
children's is rs. or ss., mans is rs. Cd; one
of my boys doesn't wear out abeve one pair IN
the wear, but they must be proper good ones.
expect they'd wear them right out. and they
wouldn't last without being soled and mended.
That would be when they are shepherds lads;
after that they'd wear very much quicker"
The shepherds family get o little butchers
meat now and then, but not from tho butcher.
''We DON'T" said the shepherds wife, "buy
bit from Christmas to Christmas" This is how
they get it: ''we sometimes get bit of NUT
ton at Sd. pound, when glddy sheep is kill
ed of the farm; 1t Is good when sticked In
time" Meat from the butcher comes only at
Christmas. At other times tive live on pota-
toes, bread and pig meat, and are very thank
full if we can get bit Of pig meat; we often
sit down to dry bread, For harvest dinner
we send out some boiled potatoes, a bit OF
cabbage, and we put bit of fat to the pota-
toes. I don't know that butchers meat ever
goes out to the harvest field. They drink
cocoa at harvest We never have bit OF
milk. They used to have what they called
chickory, and we dranked a good bit OF It,
But now it seems to have gone away. In the
evening they sit down to what we've got,
sometimes bit of bread; sometimes o bit of
bread, cheese and butter.' The shepherds
family are housed and covered in this wise:
sour third bedroom was put up the summer
before last Before that time we had only two,
and we used all of us to sleep in them; at one
time there was thirteen or fourteen of US. One
of them Is tidyish room; in tho other the
door only opened for you to go in sideways.
Down stairs we have only one room with
fireplace, and we have TO dry OIL the nes
clothes and sit there too. We have one blan-
ket that was given us. We had one that we
rot from man who came round; we paid for
r Is. fortnight, we can't get enough money
at one time to buy One."
This witness said her husbands master was
a very good man; but (sho added,) "farm
chaps work so hard that they might as soon be
TRANSPORTS They don't like being drove
about as they are at farm work; they don't
know what sort of work they may be put to.
It's savlsh work, and I've heard many of tho
people say they would go away if they could.
One of my sons is gone to America; and there's
our Jim, he says he'd bo away too If 1t wasn't
for his bad leg. They like to be good schol-
ars, because 1t helps them to go away"