Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1883-04-27
ONE HUNDRED YFARS AGO.
'"o', uoH, Of a.. Poor IN the Inv ceu,ury'

"'""', u OF the Poor In tho I.n,, ceutury..
o"st OF the Neccssari, = or TJe
Jolin Blch liclla,ter piv,, in his
recently publi3hel iis;or, Il tie
People Of thl United STATE, a, in
terestng account Of the c,ndaio1 OF
.1e poor 100 yelrs az, "Ther
houses, he says. "were meanor their
loou Was arser, their clotbipg va Of
commoner stuff, their wagas were.
despite the appreciation that los gone
ON IN the value If none, lnrsr by
one-half than at present n,ao who
performed what would now bs called
unskilled labor. who sawed waod Who
uug ditch 5, who mended tbo t,ads.
VINO mixed mortar. who carrioI boards
10 TIE carpenter and ricks % the
ma On or h ed TO cut no. - tba
harvest TIM, Usually received az the
lruit OF ms daily to two eli IInqs.
sonnet m when the Lahore Uere
lew lie wa paid mere. ami a,ame
the envy Of his fellows #. AZ end of
Cie we k, he took home to his family
hlteen shill'ngs, a SIM now greatly ey.
ceeded by four dollars. Yef ali au-
thor'tle' agree that in l7Sttb. Lire of
w rAnen was tw.ce rs preit,s 1774.
Oh suca plttance was only NV fine
sstricJcSt economy t at amechanir Kent
ms children from stlrvatinn and
himself froId jail. In tie lou and
dhgy rooms VIII Oh he call dbs bom9
were wanting many articles If adorn.
ment and of use now To be faaad in
the dwellings Of the poorest ~ his
clas'. sand sprinkled on IN Az, r lid
uoty as q carp t. There was no ola g
on MS table, there was no chino = III,
trPboald, III r. were no prints on tho
wall What stove was no MA nj
know, coal he hal never seen mat hes
ne had never heard of. Overa6re of
fragments of boxes ami barrels vb Oh
he lit with sparks struck from Amt
or with live Goals BIO Ight from a
neighbours hearth, his wife cootoJ nm
q ru lie meal and served it in .rp-st,.r
ulSheS. lie rarely tasted fresh meat
as o'ten as once 4 week. aud paid for
u a much high'r price than HI, nos
terlI,y' Everything, indeed which
rahk- as sttple of life wss..xerS>
costly. Corn stood at three sbiI;nSs
the bushel, wheat at eight and az
pence, an aSsize of bread was fm,r.
pence, pound of salt pork va. ten.
! pence. Many other commoditis, now
TO De seen on the tables of the nor
were either quite unknown or fal he.
yond the reach of his scantv moan,
CnenvlabIe Is the lot of that man VIII,
cannot, in tie height of the ss.son
when tia wharfs and my, sis
are heaped with baskets and cats
of fruit, spare three cents for
a pound of grapes or five cents
for as many peaches, or when sunday
comes round, indulge his family Nth
wateImelons or cantalopes. One hnn.
dred years ago the wretched foxvrane
was the only kind that found Il, nav
to market, and was the luxury 4 VIZ
rich Among the fruits and vege-
tables of which no one then hadat an
heard are cantalopes, many yafsles
of peaches and pears, tomatoes and
rhubarb, sweet corn, the caullager
the eggplant. head lettuce and ol,ra
On the window benches Of evGrfen-
ement honse may be seen g0sino
g raniums and verbenas, floWB III
known a century ago. In trth the
best kept gardens were TIM rank
with hOllyhocks and sundOwrS, loses
and snowballs, lilacs. pinks, tips and.
above all, the Jerusalem herry-a
plant once much admiredbut now
scarcely seen. If the fOodf an ar.
tisan w0ull now be thOus Coarse
his clothes would be thouglabomin.
able. \ par Of yellow Hskin or
leathern breeche., a checE shirt. a
rel flannel jacket, ruSAlt hat
cooked up ut the corp shoes
of neat's-skin set off v huge
buckles of brass and leathehfron,
compris ID his scanty warirs The
leather he smeared with sase to
keep it soft and flexible. II bins fol-
lowed in his fJots cps, or BE ap-
prentices to neighboring I tesmen.
His daughter went out to,eryice.
She performed, indeed, all til duties
at present eXa ted from woml Of her
class but with them were bupled
many others rendered useles4y the
great improvement that nd since
taken place in the conveniencAfHfe
She mended the clothes, she Id up
the ruffs, she ran on erran1s fh one
end of the town to the otha she
m lked the cows, made the hitter.
walked ten bio ks for a pail Of tster,
S un flax for the family linen and
when the yea was up received ZEN
pounds for her wa es Ye, sind as
was her ay, she hal before besW-
ing herself in marriag, on the tot-
MAJ or tie gardener, laid away inner
stocking en)rgh guinea; and Joe TO
buy few chairs. a able an a bpd