The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-11-21
nou w.rissa r,. Ksss. 81.


r. Is back forty years fully e nss'
ful contrast and IS instructive 9
comparison may Be made as e BRING
The early settler from England hols
Iend Sid saacS b Opposition 70
their dssesndsnfs Of tso hundred
years later. In 1915 and for sopse
raried fhencs onward naonsy, p cur
fs6ay. US sfce Possibly general
business ufsfed for Hanrof the med,
iufn Of exehAnee. Money, II bills
81 coIn, had ! laIhe that Would be
looked upon nov as almost worship
inc Of 4 fetch. ..One dollar q day"
was u gDDd dayl pay I and SCI e Eas
considered even for fairly skiliful Ia
Dor. Several men, for instance, wene
employed in squaring, By chalk-line
aud bFuad axe, the round timbers n
form the framing Of dam. Others
bored the holes for mertisss and
chiseled them out. Others did the
"scrfbine, the saving and dressing
of the lemons. Few Of them got over
one and . quarter dollars per day
from sun-up to shutdown. The man
who could scribe, " and who laid out
the Job. got perhaps one dollar and
fifty cents. The machinist got from
one dollar and fifty TO two dollars
per day. and he who got thetBo dol
lars was fortunate man; and for that
time he was competent man. Lab
Orers bad fifty cents per day. and in
haying time, when several days ordi-
nary work must be crowded INTO
twelve, fourteen, or possibly sixteen
hours, they got seyenty-6ye cents.
Special workMen, apt at any jObS,
one dollar.
Now this is a fair showing of
the value of labor forty years ago.
What was the relative value of
housing, fuel, food and clothing?
Rents were low. A good house for
the times cost from twenty-five to
/ forty dollars per year. Fleetwood
was somewhat less than it can be
furnished, as coal now, at any place
remote from the mines; say for an
ordinary family'six cords OF hickory,
twenty-four dollars; now four tons of
coal two fires, about equal. Food
cost less forty years ago than now;
but it was notthe same food. Fresh
meat once or at most twice a week,
and rarely that except IN 1.-THE killing
season." fish caught at the stream or
pond, or hawked about at four cents
3 pound dressed. Vegetables from
the garden or from The market at
twenty-five cents bushei for po-
tatoes and less prices for turnips.
Onions almost as dear as now, and
cabbages no cheaper. Clothing can
be bought cheaper now than it could
forty years ago, andiit is cheaper il
more than one sense. Perhaps it
would be better for the country at
large if better clothing at higher pri-
ces should be the rule,
It is scarcely necessary to add to
show we lived forty years ago" any
statement of how We live or how we
might live now. It is enough to the
present Garner Of his bread by labor
to know of the annoyances and lack
of Opportunities of his predecessors.
i a glance over the condition offorty
years ago and the present condition
will convince any unprejudiced mind
that an improvement has been made
in the condition of our workers, and
that the worker Of to-day gets / bet
ter return for his labor than he did
orty years ago, And this statement
applies nearly to the unskilled work
er as to the adept mechanic. Only
that the advantage now, as ever be-
fore, holds with the. intelligent, skill
ed, experienced mechanic. Scientific
American.