The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-09-09

rented farm We used to keep thirty
head of cattle and two horses. We work
ed eight to ten oxen all along. Father
getting crippled up by bull left me TO
look after everything for nearly ten years.
was past q years when left home Be
fore the war of 1870 We paid about 175
to 800 francs for young men of Is to %
years old. Good men would get as high
as 800 francs or about $50 Of our money.
At present a good man gets $50 in Alsaee-
Lorraine. In France hands on the farm
are more scarce than they used 10 be. Be
fore the war the Germans used TO come
there and work Now they are not allow
ed to. Any young man between % and 30
years of age VIII be taken for a soldier,
so they dare not come in. That is what
caused the shortage. Farmers ONE sons
do not want to follow that business, be-
cause they cannot make il pay. They
claim to have lost money the last ten
years.
A good man in France for a year will
get close to 500, but they say that good
men are almost as scarce as hens teeth.
1t is next to impossible to get work by
the day at any time, except in haying and
harvest A man viii not receive over
30 cents for his work on the farm in hay
ing, harvest 20 cents, and he may some
times get 80 cents The government fur
nish soldiers for this period at 30 cents.
Soldiers that are not used to farm work
are not allowed to go. 1t is the same way
in France.
In cotton factories they receive from 10
cents to so cents a day; In the velvet room
from 50 cents to $50. The overseer gets
500 He is an Englishman- Abersch-
viller and Grey have glassworks- The
men receive there from 10 cents to Sl.O
per day. A few men who get from <.eO
and up are to pay certain per cent or
what they break, and are furnished with
a little house, or so in cash If they have
house of their own. In 1872 when I left
that country, that factory employed 400
men. There is now SO with new ma
chinery, and they are turning out more
work than before. 1 have cousin there.
He examines and grades the glasses. His
salary is SIS and house rent. i had a
talk with railroad station hands. They
are getting 90 cents a day. In conversa-
ton with some saw-mill hands I found
that they also received 60 cents day;
road overseers receive 80 cents a day.
Blacksm3ths sharpen pfowshare for 5
cents. shoe a horse. new all around for
90 cents. BARRIERS in the country shave
for cents. cut hair for cents. In Paris
it is cents for shaving, cents for hair
cutting.
What would our people think II they
received such wages and then have to pay
IS cents per pound for fresh beef and pork.
and "a cents for bacon; 20 cents per pound
for butter; eggs never less than 10 cents
per dozen; So to IS cents per pound for
coffee; 40 for tea; Is cents per gallon for
coal oil; Z to cents per pound for soap.
far from being dry; 7 cents per pound for
sugar; cents per pound for the best
-four. Potatoes were % cents per busheL
With plenty Of potatoes and sour milk
they are happy. When you see them
you would be far from believing that that
is the most important part of their living.
The farmers raise some chickens. but the
most of them are for sale. They find
them too expensive to eat.
I leave it to your readers to decide
whether they could get along according to
the wages and cost of living in Europe,
better than in the United States. i got
acquainted on the steamer with a Swiss
family, coming back to the United States.
They used to be in business in New York.
A year ago they calculated that they had
enough to live on without working any
longer. They sold out and went back to
Switzerland to live. They were just as
pleased to come back as we were, after
selling out at a loss.
Excuse bad spelling. and take French
man for what he means. not what he says.
Yours truly. EDWARD COSSON.
Sedgwick City, Kansas.