New-York tribune., 1892-08-22
PRICES AND COST OF LIVING.

4 GLIMPSE OF TIE HOMES OF THE woEKMFN.
1t is important 10 note that with the uniform
advance in wages, both inside and outside OF the
mills there has been quite as steady decline In
the cost of living. Actual sales Of nearly two
hundred articles. taken from the books OF Home
stead tradcsIncn, show that prices have declined
about per cent during the last three years in
other words that 500 will buy in Homestead to-
DAY as much as 800 would three years ago. The
quotations throughout represent the same quail
ties OF goods u whatever kinds. In all cases the
minimum prices are quoted 10 maintain re
spective evenness TO quality. The net show
ing is reduction in the cost Of almost every ar
,icle Of absolute necessity in the household and
the result has been a period Of unprecedented
prosperity, for a goodly number of the worknen,
at any rate. full table Of quotations obtained
follows this report with percentages of the cost
OF all articles in each class and of the cost of all
articles al different dates TO the cost in June,
| 1889
Homestead was appropriately named. Ii IL q
community of homes. When the Carnegie Com
| pany assumed control Of the Homestead works. it
decided to give permanent character to employ
ment by assisting the men 10 own their own homes,
| and avoid the drain Of rent. To this end IL ID
fered TO become bank Of deposit 10 receive such
| sums as the men were disposed TO lay aside from
their earnings and 10 allow per cent interest on
all such deposits from the day OF deposit TO the day
| of withdrawal, including fractons Of months.
When man had saved enough money- 10 pur-
chase lot, the company agreed TO furnish the
amount required to build house, taking "a mort
gage on the house 10 cover the loan the mort
gage drawing interest at the rate Of & per cent.
The amount of individual deposits was limited 70
81, 900, the company not caring to pay 50 high a
rate of interest upon larger sums to any one per-
son.
Since this system adopted 267 men have
built houses, and, having paid of the mortgages,
own them outright. These houses cost from
500 TO s., 200 each, and as pretty lot OF
cottages as one would care 10 zee. The smallest
Of them contains five roonIs and is two stories
in height. The largest has twelve rooms, and is
three stories high with Mansard roof and wide
verandas.
ihc company has built for the accommodation
Of lie latorers large number of small tenements
There are long rows of these houses on the bluff
| above the mills. Each house contains five rooms
They arc occupied chiefly by the IIungarians ana
other day laDorcrs. who earn from 81 40 TO
50 day, the rents ranging from SS to $l2 ii
month. The llungarans are about the only class
among the Homestead workmen which buy the
cheapest grades OF goods. They all save money,
and appear 10 have enough spare cash with which
to buy cheap whisley They ore seldom dis
orderly and if they do any lighting it is generally
among themselves. Few of them are naturalized
citizens, and fewer still are qualified by intcll-
gence 10 exercise franchise They have no
intention OF making permanent home in Amer
lea. Many of them work steadily until they
have saved few hundred dollars, when they
return 10 their native land 70 enjoy the fruits
Of their labor. Some of them no doubt buy
small tracts Of land, and become small farmers
being regarded landed proprietors by their
less fortunate neighbors who have remained at
hcmc.
These men club together In the cottages at
Homestead, just as the same classes Of foreign
ers do in the East Side telements Of New-York
several families at times cODgrcgating in single
apartments Tue company tries to prevent this
grouping as far as possible, but the Hungarians
pay little attention TO the regulations made for
the benefit OF the health OF them all. They buy
the cheapest meats and vegetables, and their
houses equipped with more furnishings
than are absolutely required Fifty cents a day,
exclusive of rent, will cover the expenses Of an
entire Hungarian family, and when two or more
families are grouped together in one cottage, the
average Of living expense Is even smaller. Cured
meats, potatoes and bread are the staples Of
diet. The Hungarans are desperate fighters when
they have the odds OF numbers In their favor,
as shown by the treatment OF the Pinlserton
guards after the surrender The women are fully
with a knife q club as their husbands The
Hungarians constitute dangerous element be
cause they are easily led 70 any disorder that
promises a successful issue. They are not stril-
ers, and have no interest in the trouble at Home
stead other than that they bound to obey
the association that controls the iron and steel
workers at the mills
There is very pronounced condition Tescmb-
ling caste between the higher and lower classes
Of workmen. The men who earn from 50 10
$40, and even $l4 lay, live in what Is, for
Homestead, luxuriou4 style They own their own
and >thor inuses and huv fha heaf of Avervtbfn1