Wichita eagle., 1888-12-06
HOPPERS' HOLIDAY.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ANNUAL OUT
ING OF LONDON'S POOR.

ING OF lONDON'S POOR.
Taking the Midnight Train from the Me-
tropolis-The Hop Pickers and Their
| Employers Beauties of an English
Landscape-At Work.
In spite of her many charitable institutions
and the thousands Of pounds sterling which
are every year appropriated for her missions
and relief societies, England's poor impress
me as the poorest, the most degraded, and
! pitiable wretches l have seen in all Europe.
One realizes the cause and effect OF Social
/ ist rising in London better when he has
witnessed the want and penury which drives
these men to any alternative whose result
may be other than that which is already
theirs However. it is not my purpose to pirate
! of social reform or the thousand and one argu-
ments pro and con. Any reform seemed quite
impossible to me the other night as watched
/ a crowd of London poor pushing one another
around the corner leading toward the Lon
don bridge railway station. I paused in
amazement. WHO are theya What are
theyl Where are they goingF' l asked one
this was all that he vouchesafed to answer me.
/ listened to one of them, gaunt. IN
washed, unshaven fellow, holding child in
his arms, while another chung around his
knee to avoid being swept away with the
passing crowd.
''Me and the little un's can pick up from
thirty to forty bushels day, and this lttlest
un hops like any growed up folk"
BOUND FOR THE GARDENS.
Then l knew they were a party Of hop
pickeYs bound for the gardens which have
made the south of England so famous for her
hops. They were making their way by
thousands to take the midnight train from
London Kept back by line of police, who
made vigorous use of stout arm and club as
the crowd pressed forward each anxious to
precede his neighbor lest the little round
window of the booking office should be closed
before he got chance to secure the shilling
excursion" in lieu OF the -four shilling regu-
lar fare to county Kent.
This is one of the sights Of London at this
season-"the annual outing Of the sums
10000 of London's miserable poor off for
their yearly harvest, their luggage consist
ing of tin kettle a saucepan, cup and
saucer. and q ragged cover, which they dig
added luxury in the way of knife or fork
may be begged, borrowed or stolen at their
earliest convenience. There were whole
families huddled together, some asleep on
the sidewalks, others arranging the family
properties, while the head of the house
pushed his way with the others to the ticket
office to buy, most likely, two tickets for
himself and wife, while family Of twelve
will be smuggled in as under age" and to
the credit of the railway officials let it be
said that the ages Of these children are never
questioned provided ticket for some men,
Der of the family be found among them. At
midnight sharp the train starts, leaving such
as have not arrived in time or such as can
not afford to pay the small fare, to tramp it,
and l am told that of the 10000 who go
down 45, 900 go by train, 1900 tramp it,"
and about 1000 find their way down by
conveyance of one kind or another
Although few start on what is known as
"a spec hop the majority of these pickers
know exactly to what garden they are going,
each year they try to return TO the master
they were under the previous season. AT tho
beginning of each season the choppers" write
around to the various farmers, one man
often being the secretary for a hundred or
more who can only sign their epistes with
the time honored cross, and, although they
are of such rowing disposition, they never
fail to let their address be known when hop
ping season approaches. They are replied
to on postal card. telling them the date to
appear, and it is worthy of note that many
have been in the same garden from ten to
twenty years, often living the entire eleven
months upon the savings from this one
profitable month Of September. One old
woman has gathered the blossoms for over
forty-seven years, and tells me that good
season viii produce over 65 5000, 900 pounds
of blossoms from the fields of Kent.
SLEEPING ACCOMMODATIONS
1t is a pretty sight, the soft changing fields
of autumn growing indistinct where that
haze peculiar 20 English landscape makes
changing Lights and shadows over the green.
There begin the hop gardens, the long Lines
of vines dotted with the figures CT the work
ers, while all around may be seen the white
tents cleaning in the sunlight These are
the sleeping accommodations Of the hoppers,
far preferable TO the stuTy brick houses,
which are still to be seen, but which have
been moro or less deserted owing to their
overcrowded condition, for these people seem
TO avoid all that savors of their London life,
and prefer the open cir. with straw for beds
and pine boughs for pillows, to sleeping
twelve in a room scarcely large enough for six.
Each man on entering receives his number
stamped on a piece Of tin, which is usually
hung about his neck, as il becomes precious
boon as time wears on, for by it the owner
can obtain food, faggots and doctors aid
when necessary.
Work begins at the blowing of the 6 a. n
horn and ceases st n m and as SyxtHr1atjf,
q sequence of work is followed as in any fac
tory. The men cut the hop vines close TO the
ground, pull up the long poles to which they
are tied and lay them across the horse
kind Of binn, at a suitable height for the
women and children to pull of the hops.
Underneath hangs q sack into which the
blossoms are dropped, which is emptied at
intervals by the tally man. who measures
the amount picked, notes it in his book to the
credit Of the hopper or throws il back upon
his hands TO be repicked, that is. sifted from
the leavea "A tally mans life Is not happy
one Berated on al sides, be must be stout
both Of body and nerve to carry out his
orders, and lucky is the tally who can bear
the brunt Of Il A good picker can earn
from Ss to Is day. His allowance Is Cd
until the end Of the week. when the remain
der is booked to his credit The wise MAJ
VIII avoid the pewter beer pot and village
bar, and return TO London with good Is or
e10; but. alas! they are few indeed
We inquired the use Of the odd stove pipes
which ara so noticeable among the gardens,
and were told they were cast housex The
curioos e1tinCuisher Ike vantilacors are
kind q kiln used for drying the hops Large
quantities Of charcoal mixed with sulphur