The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-10-03
THE BTamISGHan NAiLgRs.
A Picture of the Poor Life OF English
Lab0rlnE People.

Il
A Picture of the Poor Life OF English
Laborlng People.
Florence Kelley IN National Tribune.
Tye.Waste Is Matchmaking settlement
some twelve miles gu. OF Birmingham; a
place 30 dreary, 80 dirty, 30 hopelessly
ugly and unfit for human homes that the
vision OF the town rises before me In wax.
ing and in sleeping hours, a hideous men,
DRY Of suffering that cries aloud and finds
no help.
There were no cabs at the station, and
we walked along between rows Of coal
blackened houseF, asking from time to
time where We should find women nail
makers at work. One Of the persons who
pointed out our path offered to.guide us,
and on second thought We engaged him for
the morning. He was to show us women
m liking nails, and 10 have sixpence extra II
he found q child at work. "It'seasy enough
10 fad the women and wenchee, but it's
uone so easy 10 find the children, for fear
Of inspectors" said our guide, leading as
along the Dudley road, whose bed with its
layer OF coal dust afforded US a better loot
path than the irregular patches OF brick
pavement in front OF the wretched houses.
We were to so first to Stocking Lane,
and on the way we drew out our guides
own history. He was mailer by trade, but
had not made nail in fye'and.twenty
years, finding other work more profitable.
Apropos Of this he produced his peddler's
license, for which he pays five shillings a
year, and which he must always haYu on
his person. This set forth that the owner
is George Wall, agedt59, with sandy hair,
fresh complexion and power to sell what
be will. He was sturdy man, clad in a
shabby blue coat and round hat, with q
scarf about his neck, brick-clay stains on
his brown corduroy trousers, and hole
in each Of his coarse boots. His ped.
ding has been done within a circuit OF
thirty miles OF Brummsgen leo called Birm.
ipgham), and he knew the purchasing
power OF all the kinds Of working people in
this crowded region. He had never been
more than fifty miles hence in his life, and
his one ambition, cherished through many
years and now reluctantly abandoned, was
to visit Liverpool, whence he believed he
might see the ocean. But ninety.tiye miles
makes more than peddler's tramp and
seven and sixpence Isl 81 he cannot spend
for car fare. When, by degrees we learned
his whole means OF support, We knew
that his visit to Liverpool could never
be made except on the way to Anne.
RIGA as an assisted emigrant. He
had wife and q daughter, His
wife earned two and sixpence tsixty -two
cents) per week by taking care OF the baby
for woman who worked in the brick
yard. His daughter earns seven shillngs
In a brickysrd herself. His own earnings
are most precarious, Though Dads thu y
are they'm better'n the nails" Out Of
these pittances they pay two and twOpence
(titty-iour cents week for their house,
with its living room and two sleeping
rooms, without garden, cellar, workshop or
water pipes. How they buy clothing they
only know. The brickmaker's daughter
needs no shoes or stockings for her work,
and this 10 great saving.
But, alas, 1t Is c.unterbalauced by the
need OF ample food, which brick-nakiDg
entails. "Her do eat three times more n
mem said our guide, in speaking OF his
daughter. When we visited a brickyard
later in the day, We perceived the bitter
Significance OF this saving OF shoes and
need OF food. The mans own year OF
precarious work has one bright spot. This
Is the hop-pickiDg time, when he draws
out the vlne.clad poles and lays them
on the ground, so that the women who
pick the hops may reach the vines speed.
lily. This happy period lasts through
three weeks. "And then ! gels two
shillin' a day regular and Cruel msrn.
in and evenin', and cider besides"
This certainty Of fifty cents day and cruel
for three weeks, sutficed to bring a twink.
ling light into our guides grey eyes at
every mention. Pudding had not been
profitable OF late, and George had been
thankfully "hoein' turnips" for fortnight
before We made his acquaintance. have
dwelt upon the story ot this one family,
because our guide, selected ut random,
proved to be a type OF the working people
ofthe neighborhood. Those naileIs who can
find anything whatsoever 10 do, "hoein'
turnips," peddling, msking bricks, or
picking hope, are flying from starvation to
ills they know not.
Stocking Lane is place to be Stunned,
for, once seen, 1t cannot be forgotten, and
10 remember it Is pain should not risk
again. It's space carpeted with:enal dust
and watered with surface drainsge. Stock.
ing Lane ia bound on one side with nailers'
iorges, such as we have seen at Halesowen,
and on the Other by the nailers' homes,
such as never ought to be seen in the civ.
liked world. Three rooms, as usual among
the nailers, formed each housc-one on the
ground with an earthenware floor and two
above-the house having no cellar,
garden, or water pipes. The living
room in Stocking Lane houses had
not the cosiness which our admirable
family at Halesowen contriyed 10 give to
their one inhabitahle spot, though even in
both their family affection and their long
Ing to beautily their poor homes, might be
seen in the display Of cheap photographs
Of absent sons, usually soldiers In her
Maiesty's army, for the bad pay Is great
gain to any mailer. Where there were no
photographs there were bright carlson the
walls, advertisements, sometimes, Of things
| .ksnk S,a,L;an ana 10 1ikfla ant 20 h1t,