The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-25

and very heavy rag carpet. The carpet in
the sitting and dining room is Brussels OF
tirst-rate quality, and all of the furniture
in these rooms is of oak. The owner said
that the cost of furnishing the house was
$780, exclusive Of the pictures and orna-
ments. He carried. he said, an insurance
of $1,000 on the house and its contents. His
provision and grocery bills, he said
amounted to about $50 a month.
The men who earn from 81 so Co 81 80 q
day own majority OF the Broom cottages.
They are chiefly mechanics and the lower
classes or tonnage workmen. These houses
are all neatly furnished. A dozen or more
of those visited had two living rooms or
the first floor and three sleeping apartments
on the other. The kitchens were In the
rear of the first floor. The kitchen floors in
all but one instance we're covered with oil
cloth or linoleum, and were scrupulously
| clean. They are large rooms, and In cold
weather the families use the kitchen as a
dining room The front room is used
as parlor or sitting room in win
ter and summer, but IN warm weather II
becomes, for the nonce, a dining room as
we'll. The floors are covered with Brussels
| or ingram carpet, and when the front room
is used as dining room a neat linen rug is
spread over the carpet. The furniture is
plain and good. The parlors contain up
holstered plush or mohair chairs and sofa,
with marble top center table. The man
tells are adorned with few inexpensive or
naments, and the walls are decorated with
engravings aud chromos, neatly framed.
In every house there are two or more
easy chairs. The bedrooms are all car
peted with ingram, and contain sets
OF antique oak, maple, ash or elmi
Each set consists of bedstead, bureau,
wash stand and four chairs. The stairs aud
Railways are carpeted. Every house, or
almost every one, has porch or piazza in
front, and as all of Che lots are large enough
to give room for garden, every house.
stands apart by ITSELF Most of the cottages
have vines or creepers in front, and are
both coy and comfortable looking inside
and out. AS the owners have no rent IN
pay, their cost of living depends upon ildi-
vidual economies or extravagances a
reference to the books of an oblging trades
man shows that so per cent. of the men
who earn from 50 50 to 81 80 a day have
actual expenses ot::trom $25 to S35 month.
The company now has on deposit from the
earnings of the men, or did have on July /,
the sum of $500 which drew interest at
the rate Of per cent. until the company
notified its locked-oIt men to withdraw
their deposits. There was outstanding on
mortgages on July !, Sl42. 900. divided
among 4i6 employees, several of whom had
paid off all but small part of the amount
loaned by the company. The company has
never foreclosed mortgage. When an
employee has died or left the service the
amount paid on the mortgage has been re-
turned 10 full, less such amount of interest
as might be due at the time. The
company has then assumed the mort
gage, transferring it, in some cases to an
other man who had enough money saved TO
warrant him in assuming the responsibility.
The company has required the men, when
ever possible, to pay off their mortgages
at about the rate they would ordinarily
have had to pay for rent. These monthly
payments therefore have ranged from S1G
to $50, according to the size and quality OF
the house occupied. The company does
no5 build these houses The men are
allowed to select their own plans, and &c
build such houses as their needs or tastes
require
The rents In Homestead of houses moi
owned by the company range from SIS &c
$50 month. They are based upon an
average of So month for each room in the
house. On this reckoning a Broom house
rents for $l5 month, one of eight rooms
for S24 and one Of twelve rooms for $36 q
month. These prices have prevailed for
several years. Recently, however, there
has been slight advance in the rental Of
houses located on the higher lands, ia some
cases 5-room houses that had commanded
PAO IuOutu now bElHR 90, ana bn6fe
has been a proportionate increase for
the larger houses situated ID similarly favor
able neighborhoods. There haa been no de-
crease In the rentals in any part OF the town,
as far as could be learned. There are few
vacant houses in the place, and until re-
Gently no new ones have been in course Of
erection for at least three months, or ever
since the men first began to realize that the
expiration of the old scale might result in a
prolonged strike or lockout The company,
however, has begun to build some new cot
tages for the use of Don-union men recently
employed to take the places of the old
hands.
1t is important to note that with tue uni
form advance in wages, both inside and
outside Of the mills, there has been quite as
steady a decline IN the cost of living. Actual
sales of nearly 200 articles, taken from the
books Of Homestead tradesnen show that
prices have declined about 10 per cent dur
ing the last three years; in other words,
that $50 would buy in Homestead to-day
as much as 500 would three years ago. The
quotations throughout represent the same
qualities of goods, Of whatever kinds In
all cases the minimum prices are quoted 10
maintain respective evenness as to quail
itY. The net showing is a reduction in the
cost Of almost every article of absolute
necessity IN the household, and the result
has been a period of unprecedented prosper
ity, for goodly number of the workmen,
at any rate.