The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-03-08
PROGRESS or n CENTURY,
The Wonderful Changes in the Con.
dition of the Poorer Glasses i'm tho
United States

I llc lolioNlHS HEtlClc Is taken from
McMastcr's History OF the United
States:
There can be no doubt OF a wonder.
full amclioration having taken place
since the beginning OF the last century
| IN the condition Of the poor. Their
houses were mcancr, their food WAS
| cOarser, their clothing was OF common.
| er stun, their wages wore, despite the
| depreciation that has gone on in tho
value OF money, lower by onchalf than
| at present.
y man who performed what would
now be called unskillcd labor, who
sawed wood, who dug bitches, who
| mcnGcd roaGs, who mixed mortar, who
| carried boards TO the carpenter and
| bricks 70 the mason or helped TO cut
| nay IN the harvest time, usually re-
ccivcd rs the fruit OF his daily toll two
| shillings (ahout 10 ccnts.) Sometimes
when the lahOrcrS wore few he was
paid more, and became the envy Of his
fellows ii at the end OF a week he took
to his family IL shillings, IL sum now
greatly exceeded by 81.
On such a pittancc it was only by the
strictest economy that ~ mechanic kept
his children from starvation and him
self from Jail
In the low and dingy rooms which he
| called his home were wanting many
| articles OF adornmCnt and Of use now
| to be found in the dwellings Of the
poorest Of his class. Sand sprinklcu
on the foor did duty as carpet.
There was no glass on his table, there
was no china in his cupboard, there
were no prints on his wall. What u
stove WAS he did not know, coal he
| had never seen, matches he had never
| hCarG Of
| Over fire OF fragments Of boxes and
| barrels, which he lit from the sparks
struck from Hint or with the live Goals
brought from a neighhOrs hearth, his
wife cookcdup Il rude neal, and served
| it in pewter dishes. He rarely tasted
| fresh meat ~ often as once in a week,
aud paid for it at a much higher price
! than his postcrity.
Everything, indeed, which ranked
as Il staple Of life WAS very costly.
Corn stood at three shiIlings (abOut 60
! cents the hUShCl, wheat at eight and
| slNpGnCc (abOut Tl.ID) an aSSiXc OF
bread was fourpGncc pound OF salt
| pork WAS tcnpcuCr.
Many other commodities now TO be
seen ON the tables Of tho poor were
| either quite unknown or far beyond
! the reach OF his SCanty means. lncn-
| viabiG j. the lot OF that man who can
! not in the height OF the season, when
| the wharvcs anu markets arc hcapcd
with baskets and crates OF fruit, spare
) cents Tor pounu OF grapes or > cents
| Tor as many peaches, or when Sunday
comes round indulge his family with
water melons or CantciOupGs. one hun
drcd years ago The wrctchcd fox grape
WAS the only kind that found It's way
to market, and was the !nNury Of The
rich. Among the fruits and vegetables
OF which no one had then even heard
~ n lflt j,.fi 4
peaches ana pears, tomatoes and rhu-
barb, sweet corn, the cauliil0wcr, the
eggplant, head lettuce and Okra.
II the wood Oi al ARTISAN won i'll now
| be thought coarse, his clothes would
be thought abominabc.
A pair OF yellow bucbskin or lcathcn
! brccchcs, Il checked shirt, IA red lanncI
jacket, rusty felt hat cooked up at
! the corners, shoes Of meats skin set OF
with huge buckles Of brass and AZ
lcathcrn apron comprised his scanty
wardrobe. The leather he smcarcd
with grease TO keep it soft and noXi-
| Die.
His sons followed in his footsteps or
were apprentices TO ncighboring trades
men. His daughter went ont to scr
vice. She performed, indeed, all tho
; | duties AT present CXnCtcu from women
, OF her class, but with them were cOupl
ed many others rendered useless by tn,
great Improvement that has since TAX cr
place in the c0nvcnicncCs Of life. She
, mcnucu the clothes, she did uD the
ruilS, she ran on crrandS from one enc
, Of the town to the other, she mike ct
the cows, made the butter. walked tel
blocks for Il pail OF water, spun lax f0l
, the family linen, and when the ycal
/ was up received ClO (about &lO) for hcl
wages.
But thcro is one other change whic h
has, it must be admittcd, done far
more to increase the comforts OF the
poorest class than better food, higher
wages, finer clothes. Men are no
longer imprisoned for debt.
No crime known to the law brought
SO many TO tho juiIs and prisons ns the
crime Of debt, and the cluss most likely
to get into debt WIS the most defense
less and dependent, the great body Of
servants, OF artisans and OF lab0rCrs-
those, in short, who depended on their
daily wages Tor their daily bread.
one hundred years ago the laborer
who fell from scAifO.d or lay sick OF q
fever Was sure 20 be seized by tho
shcri!l the moment he recovered aud
be carried to jail for the bill OF q few
dollars which had run up during his
illness at the huckstcr's or the tavern
The entire system Of punishment was
such as cannot be contemplated with
out mingled feelings Of pity and dis
gust. OMenScS to which a more mcrci
iui generation has attached no higher
penalty than Imprisonment and zinc
stood upon the statute books as capital
crimes. Modes OF punishment long
since driven from the prisons with exc
crations as worthy OF m African kraal
: were looked upon by society with a