Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-01


for this she has to work from in the
morning to 10 at night seventeen hours.
For making mems shirts these women are
paid tenpence a dozen lawn tennis
aprons threepenoe a dozen, and babies
hoods from one shilling and sixpence to
two and sixpence dozen. In St. Georges
in-the-East large numbers of women and
children, some of the latter only years
old, are employed in sock.making, for
which they get farthing (half cent?
each. In one house was found widow
and her half.idiot daughter making pal
liasses at one penny three farthings each.
Here is woman who has sick hus-
band and little child to look after. She
is employed at shirt.fnishing at three
pence dozen, and by the utmost effort
can only earn twelve cents a day. With
men it is comparatively speaking no bet
ter. My MASTER" says one, "gets
pound for what be gives me three shilliDgs
for making" For pair of fishing boota,
which are sold at three guineas, the poor
workman receives five shillings, or less
than one twelfth An old tailor and his
wife are employed in making policemen's
overcoats. They have to make, finish,
hot press, put on the buttons and find
their own thread, and for all this they re-
ceive about seventy cents per coat BY
working from half-past in the morning to
10 at night they just manage between
them to make one of these garments in
two days.
EXoRBTTANT DEMANDS FOR RENT.
What adds enormously to the misery of
these people is the exorbitant demand
made upon them for rent The rack-renting
of Ireland was merciful by comparison.
If by any chance reluctant landlord can
be induced to execute or pay for some long
needed repairs, this becomes the occasion
for new exactions. In one room visited
hole as big as mans head had been COW
cred with piece of board from an old soap
box, and for this threepence week had
been put upon the rent. Another case
given Is worse than this. An old couple
had lived in enc room for fourteen years,
during which time 1t has only once been
partially cleansed. The landlord has under
taken that something shall be done shortly,
and for the past three months has been
taking sixpence week extra for rent on
the strength of his good intentions.
SCENES OF HEART BREAKING MISERY
Are depicted, A poor woman in an sd-
vanced stage of consumption, reduced al.
most to a skeleton, lives in single room
with a drunken husband and five children.
When visited she was eating few green
peas, and the children had gone to gather
some sticks to make fire with which to
boil four potatoes that were lying on the
table, and which would constitute the
family dinner for the day. Another case
is as follows The husband had gone TO
try and find some work. The mother, 30
years of age, was sitting on the only chair
in the room in front of a tireless CRATE. She
was nursing baby six weeks old, that had
never mad any thing but one old rag around
it. The mother had nothing but gown
on, and that dropping TO pieces it was
all she had night OF day. There were six
children under Is years of age. They
were barefooted, and the few rags on them
scarcely covered their nskedness. In this
room, where was an unclothed infant, the
ceiling was in holes. An old bedstead was
in the place, and
SEWN SLEEP IN IT AT NIGHT,
The eldest girl being on the floor. A
mother, whose children are the cleanest
and tidiest in the Board school which they
attend, was visited. 1t was found that,
though she had plenty of her own, she had
taken in little girl whose father had gone
off tramping in search of work. The wo-
man was propped up in chair, looking
terribly i'll, but in front OF her, in another
chair, was the washtub, and che was max
ing feeble effort to wash and wiring out
some of the children's things. She was
dying from dropsy, scarcely able to breathe
and enduring untold agony, but to the very
last striving to keep her little ones clean
and tidy. These few instances out of
many will give you faint idea of 1.-THE
Bitter Cup of Outcast London" The in
formation in this pamphlet, we are as
sured, does not refer to selected cases. 1t
simply reveals a state of things which is
found in house after house, court after
court, street after street. AS to exsggera-
ton, the author says 80 far from max
ing the worst of our facts for the purpose
of appealing to emotion, We have been
! compelled to tone down everything, and
wholly TO omit what most needs to be
! known, or the ears and eyes of our read
ers would have been insufferabiy out
ragged