Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1871-03-18
Turkish LaborerN

LAhor i ~ Car FREE in Turkey thai .
man can loave one employer for another
a the end Of his term. provided he Owes
the Art nothing. II he i in debt be
beoomes serf, exoept In name for, BE-
ing charged compound interest. the
debt grows ~ quickly, Il is soon more
than be can ever hope 10 pay and then
be Is liable 30 be transferred. with his
debt 10 any landowner thinking il
worth while 10 pay Of the original cresii-
tor. In these cases the unlucky debtor
receives 10 much grain every year. sufh-
Gent II he has a family, 10 keep them
SO long Is the Turk can avoid debt.
he Is not 10 badly OF. Naturally of
penuriously economical habits, his wants
are few. A tWO-penny earthenvare pot
il the only cooking utensil he needs 30
prepare his daily meal-a dish Of beans
OF lentile, onions, salt picked cabbage,
garlic and pepper, eaten with bread Of
mixed grain. Sailed cheese, olive oil,
and hempseed oil are occasionally in
dulged in; but meat, wine and spirits
are reserved for festival days. These
NtAnt AaAucA AtlutntAN WIN Aut AuAAn-
tians-almost at the rate one a week, for
counting Sundays, their idle days num-
Der 100 in the course of year. Many
live upon bread, making five or six
pounds day Of that suffice to keep body
and soul together. Setting aside its
victims Of debt the agricultural laborers
are well clad, and there are but few who
cannot boast the possession of holiday
suit, red leather shoes included-a suit
they make last their lifetime. Their or
binary clothes are almost all made at
home by their thrifty, Woodworking
wives, their working attire, consists OF
cotton-twist shirt and drawers, thick
wooden socks, an outer garment of dark
wooded stuff, a red skull-cap, covered
with Gotten turban, and sandels of raw
buffalo hide and in Winter of an over
coat of sheep-skin, with the wool inside.
The women wear cotton garments,
elabomtely embroidered with bright
home-dyed woods, and for head-dress a
cotton ker-chief, covering the neck and
bosom.
The ordinary agricultural laborer lives
in a one-roomed house, built of sun
dried square bricks, upon a foundation
of stone rubble, cemented with wetted
clay and chopped straw. The rubble is
carried about foot above the surface of
the ground, the walls being bound at
intervals with straps of rough-hewn
oak, beech or pine, running along their
inner and outer edges, and fastened to-
gether by cross-pieces nailed to them.
In some parts the pent roof is covered
with heavy slate slabs, but light kiln
baked tiles are oftener used. The room
itself is from eight TO ten feet in height,
and measures from twelve to fifteen feet
square. 1t is provided with one or two
small unglazed windows, closing with
sliding shutters, and an open fireplace
with fiue. The whitewashed walls,
some three feet thick, are studded with
wooden pegs, and in their recesses us
ually two or more shelves are fitted,
while another narrow shelf runs all
round the room, near the ceiling. Such
house will cost 600. Prosperous
laborers will have two or more rooms,
besides stabling and out-houses. In the
billy districts of Macedonia, where
stone and lime are easily procured, sub
stantially built houses of two or three
rooms are common enough; but wheth-
er the house be of stone or of clay, it is
equally destitute of furniture within
chairs, tables and bedsteads being arti-
Giles unknown, or at any rate undesired.
A few straw-stuffed cushions, or even a
piece or two of rush mating, placed
upon the hard clay floor, supplies all the
sitting or sleeping accommodation the
occupants require. In fact, unless theiI
domicile is provided with a sort OF
verandah, they prefer to take their rest,
in Summer, at least, in the open air.
In any case, they lie down in then
clothes, covering themselves with @
blanket, if they have it if not, an over
coat serves the rpose.-ChamberS
Journal.