, 1884-06-24

kennel the fat dogs OF the royal family. How
warm aid cosy seemed the queens stables,
how snvious tho kennels Of her spanlels aud
hounds.
A DoLEFUL Ill
The childrenhs explanation was this: The
butchers speciality was pork pies, Of which
he sold a great number every day. These
pies are made, or supposed 70 be made, in the
country, a superstition that spares them the
foul dispersion of being made Of American
pork and American paste. On their way
from the country, or from the pic factories
In the suburbs, as the case may be, many OF
them become broken. Such, at least, is the
belief Of the children whom 1 questioned.
More than likely the broken pies are fabri-
Gated and simulated for this very trade.
The broken pics, scraps, refuse, etc, are put
up in pound packages, the pound varying
from twelve to thirteen ounces. Dur
ing the daytime tickets, emitting the
bearer to a pound" of this refuse
are sold at 3 pence or 4 pence
each. During the nighttime tho re-
fuse Is delivered and the tickets are re-
deemed. Oh. the hardship, the degradation
Of the thing. Oh, the hunger it betokened.
oh, the prayers Of famisiIing parents, the
torture Of shivering children, to whom even
a fair amount Of sleep is denied; the blight,
the rot, the curse, the crime of poverty 1t
is needless to say.that this butcher shop is q
company" In the street behind it,
Grosyenor road, is another company, a pawn
broker. Next to the pawnbroker's is a tally
shop, also n company. Possibly all these
companies are united, and that there is also
a tenement house company in the ring, the
shares, paying 9 per cent, y month, being
held by some disdainful swells in Belgravia,
who would deem it sacrilegious to be touched
on the coat-sleeve by ons of their victims.
IN THE TOLLS.
Lot us now see how the typical poor man
Is divided up among these companies. John
Smith, a mason, earns 80 shillings a week by
working for a building company, possibly
also in this very ring. His wife earns s shil.
lings u week as u seamstress or charwonan.
His three children earn together 10 shillings
a week. There are two other children and
an aged granny, who earn nothing. Eight
mouths to feed, eight backs to cloJhe, eight
people to support, on IS s~hillings n week, and
the prices of food higher than in New York,
much higher than in San Francisco. This
means work early and late at night; it means
scant food, poor food, varied occasion
ally by the luxury of scraps from
the Brewster street butcher company,
profits 2 per cent. a month. Then
the wife sometimes falls sick, or the children
are thrown out of employment. This means
resource to the pawnbroking company, prof
its ~ per cent. n month. Later on cold
weather comes and clothing must bs got for
the youngsters. This means the tally-shop
company, who, being in close communion
ton with the building company, know to q
penny how much Smith is earning and what
the chances are Of his being "kept on" The
tally-shop keepers, who are well aware that
Smith has just borrowed 10 shiIings from
the pawnbroker upon the pledge of his wife's
wedding ring, will give him credit for 40
shillings, provided he pays the 10 shillings
down and buys their goods at double their
value. Profits of the tally shop, 2 per cont a
month.
PICKE CLEAN
After thus being divided up between the
building company, which employs and under
pays him, The pawnbroking, the tally shop
and butcher shop companies, who serve him
and cheat him, he goes home to deliver up
what little there is left of him to the tene-
ment house company, who squeezes tine last
drop of vitality out of him and gives him a
receipt for rent Profits of this company
at the head OF which is a noble lord, at whose
recherche entertainments in Sloane square
may be seen his excellancy the ambassador of
the French republic, his excellency the min
ister of the American republic, and uumer-
Gus p~relates Of the most republican OF all
rellglOnS-S per cent n month. rms
man Smith is the same one whose
grown-up daughter, a cigar factory
apprentice, committed the daring outrage of
getting married during her indenture. To
thus escape from tho thralldom of appren-
ticeship at 4 shillings n week was more than
the cigar manufacturers-another company
would bear. They employed that eminent
solicitor, b.. j. Abbot, to bring the reckless
and erring girl before Mr.. Bushby, the mag
istrate, who advised him to apply for man
dnmus, so that the matter could bs brought
before a superior court. Pondin these sol
emn proceedings-all OF which actually took
place while l was in LondOn-her husband
who was a sailor on board an American clip.
per ship, carried her to France and thence
worked his way to America as a waiter on
one Of the Havre steamers. Since his daugh-
tsr's escape to America Smith has received
enough money aid from her to take all his
things out of "quod," and ho is arranging to
remove his whole family to the land of lib
erty.