Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-11-25
WHOLE NO. 1868.
How the British Workman Lives.



There are many articles of diet
which the American workman en-.
joys that are beyond the power OF
purchase of the English workman.
HOLSTERS there cost one shilling
apiece to the merchant who purchas
es them from the fishermen. Oys
tiers are an unattainsble luxury. All
kinds OF fish, excepting behring's, are
high in price. Nation is seldom be.
low sixpence per pound, and the
cheapest parts of beef cost about 20
cents per pound. Moreover, the
Englishman has no sweet corn, no
squash, no tomatoes, no sweet pota.
toes. no watermelons, and peddlers
do not bring peaches, berries, apples,
and other fruits to his door and sell
them to him for mere trifle, every
day the year round almost. Ii is no
wonder the great tide of emigration
is running hither. The only wonder
is that any poor man remaias in Eng
land at all. If people could cross The
Atlantic on foot, as some of the ri
oneers crossed overland to California
in 40, the British Islands would soon
be drained of their industrial popuia.
ton.
Thus far have spoken of the Eng.
lish workman. He Ii, es better than
his neighbor across the border. In
scarcely any department OF industry
are the wages in Scotland equsl to
those paid in England. | do not
apow the reason of this. 1t is prob
ably because Scotland ia q poorer
country. In the large cities of Scot
land the workmen perhaps live as
well as those of England but in the
country districts the people fare very
frugally. The principal diet is oat-
meal. This is served in the form of
porridge for breakfast, and is eaten
with milk or molasses. The dinner
consists of a small piece OF fat pork
boiled, or in the absence of this, of
herring, which is eaten with bread
made from mixture of ground bar
ley and peas. Sometimes the bread
is comosed wholly of barley, but, as
a rule, it is mixture Of barley au1
peas. In addition, they use a bread
composed of oatmeal, coat cake"
which is wholesome and paatable
The Sunday dinner is composed OF a
small piece of meat boiled in severa
quarts OF water, and this water,
thickened with a little cabbage or
leaks, cut in small pieces aud seas,
oned with pepper and salt, the PEG
pie have the audacity to describe as
soup, or what is equivalent to Il,
"kail." Tea and coffee are almost
unknown among these people. The
tea consists of porridge, the same as
the breakfast, and for supper, barley
bread or oat cake and infnitesimal
pieces of cheese are served. The
shepherd who tends the fiocks upon
the hills sometimes carries a little
oatmeal in bag and little salt 10
a paper. A. meal time he places
som OF the oatmeal in a wooden bowl
which he carries for the purpose,
moistens the meal with cold water
from brook, stirs the salt through
it, and the mixture forms his meal
well.named a meal. This may con.
stitute his diet day after day,the only
break 10 the monotony of the thing
being kali dinner on Sundays. The
material is always the same, though
the method of preparation is occas
ionally varied. Instead of porridge
the children are sometimes RECALLED
with "crowdie." This is oatmeal
into which boiling water is stirred
This may be eaten with m; TX or mo
lasses, but sometimes both of these
are dispensed with, and piece OF fat
pork or lard used instead. The food
is coarse, very coarse, but quite
wholesom and makes sturdy men
and women. The people enjoy few
of the commonest vegetables from
time to time, but fruits they cannot
aspire TO. To these people smoked
herring is positively q luxury-high
living Many of them do not taste
meat from one years end to the 9th
err, except on Sundays and New
Years day, day which is observed
as holiday. The shepherd, the
hedger and ditcher, the road member,
and the hangers on to rich mems es-
tate are the people VIII fare thus fru
gally.
The cotter, it may be be observed
belongs to the class mentioned above.
In Ireland the people have to lie
content with even humber fare,
that is to say, that portion of the
people who constitute the peasantry.
Their food consists principally of
potatoes and Indian meal, "yellow
meal" without any accompaniment
to either. Few of the peasant Irish
ever taste meat throughout the year
Those living on the coast OCCASION
ally enjoy the luxury of a fish din
ner, but the occasion comes seldom
10 their dreary lives. How much
better off is the Irishman here, lux
uriating in corned beet and cabbage,
and smoked shoulder and vegetables
two or three times week, with salt
pork, spare ribs, and fresh pork
shoulder blades for breakfast and
supper relish !? An Irishman, who
was brought up on the south vest
coast of Ireland, Informs me that
be was often glad to go down upon
the rocks by tho seashore aud pick
off the limpets and take them home
and roast them to sweeten his meal
of potatoes. Christmas day is the
only day in the year Oh which thou
sands OF the Irish peasantry taste
butcher meat, and they will have to
starve themselves for weeks previ-
ous 10 obtain it.
The foregoing will convey TO the
reader an idea of how meanly the
people are obliged to live in the free
aud enlightened country of Great
Britain. IL will also go to show that
there is blessed privilege in being
an American citizen, no matter how