The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-29
IRON valleys OF Wales
An Graphic Description of the People
Fifty Years Ago.
IT IS PROBABLY PREJUDICIAL
The Old Fashioned Wedding Parties OF
. Long Ago ana the Modo of Living
Among the Iron Workers Of
Wales In tho Past.

iy Mail, he says that In looking along
the turnpike road beneath our feet and
through the village, what objects do we
see: There are horses in droves carry
ing wood. There are black little girls
urging on. demurest dunkeys. Their
panniers are laden with coal till the
fetlocks of the poor creatures seem. ut
every step sinking to the ground. How
vIvaciously the coal-black, white
teethed little women (of from to 12)
ply their work. They are adopts at
the whip. Their Chick" chick"
are most fascinating to hear. Horses
and donkeys, by the bye, are all worked
in English even by those who do not
understand a word of it. There are
wives and daughters carrying victuals
to their husbands and fathers. There
Is circle of women round q well. What
an opportunity for gossip-not' neglect
ed! The pitcherof one of them is just
filed A large sized vessel it. is some
thing like Roman amphora. a coil
| OF cloth, eXtemporaneousiy twisted out
of an apron or towel, or something
similar, being nut upon her crown, Il
neighbor assists her to lift the jar
| thereonand off she straddleS cautiously,
like Rebecca, from the fountain. Is it
| the weight of the water or the quality
of 1t. or what is it, that produces that
unsightly wen on the neck of one 50
| young and rosy?
MARCHING IN FULL PROCESSION.
Yonder are the members of n benefit
club marching in full procession. The
| men are first, with tidy clothes and
white gloves. They have sashes, BAN
ners, emblems, slaves, and rods of Of
flee. The women follow them. How
well and cleanly clad they are. Sub.
stantial gowns, large, comfortable
shawls. the sugar-loaf hat, with broad
brim. fastened coquettishly a little on
one side, and snowy muslin bordering
their rosy faces. Reader, you shall
travel many a mile of her ma jesty's do.
mlnions, yet fail to meet any such band
of jolly, rosy damsels. We mean the
unmarried ones, for they have employ
| ment out of doors. They are guiltless
of stays; their cheeks are clear; their
| forms are full and healthy. The mar
ried ones, for the most part, however,
have no such look Shut up in their
close cottages, debarrcd of air and eX-
ercise, worried by drunken husbands,
| their gowns are no longer fun and firm.
the clear, fresh health forsakes their
cheeks. With everlasting tea and ba-
con, perhaps with tobacco and strong
| liquors, dyspepsia soon sets in with
all the horrors of ilatulence and hypo-
chondriacism. Yonder is a funeral. In
tllt lllluSl VI st SttilllISS lhDblc VI llltli
and women. old and young. on horse
back or on foot, in clothes of all colors,
without order or arrangement, the
corpse is carried. This has been some
workman merely. Had it been any one
of note we should have had the clergy
man and the doctor in the van, on
| horseback probably, followed at seemly
distance by the undertaken and fur
nisher of MORNINGS, all four with
black gloves and several yards of broad
black silk about their hats and dang
| ling down their backs. The silk and
the gloves, by the bye are gifts from
| the relatives of the deceased the silk
| becomes profitable. we are free to say,
in the shape of aprons to wife. daugh-
| ter or o.her female faVOrite. The read
er shall make his own reflections on
this selection of four such function
aries TO lead the column to the grave.
! The clergyman, the undertaken, the
| furnisher of MORNINGS can he under
| stood but the doctor-we will leave 1t
| it is a sheer piece of practical wag-
gerry. But our workman'S funeral
bark! as they go hNnn is raised.
! How solemnly it rises! The motley rab-
BILE has assumed new look. How the
melody has fused and glased il! 1t
| looks holy now-saCred. All! but the
church far, the day is fine, the way
| is pleasant; the fewest will return in
soberness. To many man and woman
there this funeral Is but u spree.
A WEDDING PARTY.
Yonder appears to be a wedding par
ty. Two couples. in Sunday apparel,
walk arm-in-arm following each other.
Doubtless they have been Spltc"d by the
parish registrar who bids fair To do the
vicar out of all his marriage fees. by
way of wedding iaunt they are now in
| 1t, , tfItp ~ hn nfi-
pal public places. The admonitions
they receive from their friends in each,
however instructive and encouraging,
are more remarkable for straightfor-
Wardncss than for elegance of speech.
The bridegroom seems already, by sun
dry symptoms, to acknowledge the VIZ
tue of the various taps he has achieved
The doctor, on horseback in sports
mans jacket, with some dogs behind
him; farmer or two on business, Il
Scotch tca-man pOking his brawny face
! from house to house. men hawking
Titanic stockings bundled across a
stick: children at play; one or two red
miners or black golfers staggering by
| some public house: women carrying
water jars on their heads-such are the
objects to be seen in a Welsh village.
| of these the women are the most stril-
| ing and peculiar. The affection they
| display for the cast-off articles of their
| husbands wartrobes is to Il stranger
quite touching. The hat seems to he
| generally set aside as economical wear
| for a mans grandmother. AS for hiS
| wife, you shall meet her in Ills waist
| coat: you shall meet her in hts, shoes;
| YOU shall meet her in his coat, with her
| hands jauntily stuck III the pockets.
| and, looking. the modern reader may be
assured. infinitely amusing.
And this, then, is a Welsh iron val
| ley fifty years ago. Behind us in that
mountain are quarros, Clinking with
the hammers of those that hew the dime
to tluX the ore. In the bowels OF the
earth beneath our feet are men haLf-
naked. cutting, by the light of candles.
| from the walls of narrow chambers.
| coal to form the. coke which meltS 1t.
! But perhaps they are idling now. AS
sembled in some common passage. il
| luminat ted by the combination of their
| candles, they set themselves on their
| knees. smoking their pines, drinking
beer. while water all around drips from
| the roof; explosive gas murmurS through
bubbles on the walls. or, here and there,
in considerable stream. blows loudly
through "a blower" the dark mineral
glitters on the lading tram. and ter
riers. seated by their masters victuals,
bay the rats from them.
BRINGING MINERALS TO LIGHT.
Miners too. beneath our feet. with
pickaxe, or with blasting powder loos-
en- from the earth the ore. Horses.
through long passages. drag in dark
ness the minerals to the light. Boys
of eight or nine, or younger, spend the
day by doors that guide the current of
air which is the life of all within. BY
locomotive along railway, or by horse
on tramroad these materials of lime.
and coal, and ore are brought to the
furnaces. Stout wenches. with huge
hammers. break suitably the lime and