Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-05-07

had for few farthings. Another case
In the same parish. A family occupy
Ing single room wherein was an un-
covered body of dead child that had
lain upon the table for Is daysl In n
room IA feet square and occupied by
hVe persons another body Mt a later
date was found, that OF child who
had died OF scarlet fever; there 1t had
rested uncoffined for five days, whilst
the family were working at their trade
in order to bury it, the trade In ques-
tion being that OF tailoring for a
Wholesale clothing frm-nice for the
ultimate purchasers OF that particular
clothing. Six other cases OF similar
nature are quoted. The parish au-
thorities OF course would bury the
dead but poverty Is proud and prefers
TO save Its loved ones from a pauper' 8
grave.
The all pervading thought as one
treads these awful alleys and Just gets
glimpse of the inner life OF poverty
opulis Is. how Is 1t that people try
to earn an honest livelihood in the face
OF such adverse circumstances with no
hope and nothing to live for?" That
the slums are the haunts of vice and
crime goes without saying. hut that
there are thousands of honest workers
to be found In their midst Is also true,
and how do they earn their susie
nance? Contemplate the fact all yc
who deem dollar a day n Dago's
wage. How would you like to make
match boxes at two pence farthing
t4R cents) per gross, and find your
own paste and string at that; that IL
the average price paid, and a be-
ginner frequently cannot make more
than half a crown tG0 cents) a week
working twelve to fourteen hours u
day. Around the Bethnal green dis
trict, although the sweating system
has been made n misdemeanor by act
OF Parliament, friend of mine on
one or the London papers informs me
That one can visit room after room,
occupied by families who live there,
making shirts, button holes for cloth
Ing, boys coats, sewing the tops Of
shoes until the thread cuts to the
bone and one could place a dime in
the incision, etc, never going more
than hundred yards from their foetid
room from one weeks end to another;
shaving in season and out of season
for miserable equivalent to a dollar
and half week each. Can one won
der that over 100000 women and girls
elect to walk the streets of London
nightly. choosing n life of sin and
Waterloo Bridge as its end to one of
drudgery and despair? All honor to
those, however coarse, illiterate and
unkempt they may be, who struggle
along and try to earn an honest liv-
ing In the face Of such an appalling
handicap.
Geo. r. Seins, one of England's
leading journalists and melodramatic
playwrights. in writing on the sub
ject some years ago-and things have
not materially changed since then
regarding some of the attendants to
the Union Street Borough Mission
House, says: The work which these
girls have to do in return for small
wage is generally of dangerous
character. Many OF them literally
snatch their food from the jaws OF
death.
One girl in the Home was white and
III and weak and her story may be
taken rs n sample. She worked at
hronZlng. The law recor-
nizes the dangerous nature Of the
work. says that the girls doing II
shall be allowed n pint Of milk per day.
the milk in some way counteracting
the effect OF the poison the girls in
hale. 1t Will hardly be believed that
some of the best firms refuse to COM
ply with the regulation. and II the
girls complain they are at once dis
charged. Now the wages paid are
seven shillings per week (sl.6S). To
keep at their work 1t is necessary that
the workers take medicine daily, and