The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-03-07
PROGRESS OF A CENTURY.
The Wonderful Changes in the Con.
dition OF the Poorer Glasses in the
United States


dition of the Poorer Glasses in the
United States.
The following article is taken from
SlcMaster's History Of the United
States
There can be no doubt oi wonder
! lul ameliorattOn having taken place
since the beginning Of the last century
in the condition 0r ,hG poor. Their
houses were meaucu. tneir food was
coarser, their clothiur was II common.
er stun, their wag". ere, desp'y ye the
depreciation that has gone on in the
value of money, lower by onchalf than
| at present.
a man who performed what would
now be called unskilled labor, who
sawed wood, who dug bitches, who
menGed roaGs, who miXcC mortar, who
carried boards to the carpenter and
bricks to tho mason or helped to cut
hay in the harvest time, usually re.
ccived rs the fruit OF his daily toll two
shiltings (aD0ut 10 ceuts) Sometimes
when the laborerS were few nc was
paid more, and became the envy Of his
fellows If at the end OF week he took
to his family ID shillings, a sum now
greatly exceeded by 81.
On such a pittancc II was only by the
strlctest economy that u mechanic kept
his children from starvation and him
self from Jail.
In the low and dingy rooms which he
called his homo were wanting many
articles Of adornmcnt and OF use now
to be found in the dwellings of the
poorest Of his class. Sand sprinkled
on the floor did duty as carpet.
WAS no china in his cupboard, there
were no prints on his wall. What u
stove was he did not know, coal be
had mover seen, matches he had never
hearG uf.
over Il fire Of fragments Uf boxes and
barrels, which he lit from the sparks
struck from q Hint or with the live Goals
brought from Il neigh bor'5 hearth, his
wife cooked up u rude neal, and served
it in pewter dishes. He rarely tasted
fresh meat as often as once in IL week,
and paid for IL ut a much higher price
than his posterity
Everything, indeed, which ranked
as a staple Of lille was very costly
Corn stood at three shillings (about SO
cents the bushel, wheat at eight and
skip ence (about Sl.IO) an assiHs OF
bread was fOurpencC: pound OF salt
pork WAS tenpeucc.
Many other commodities now 10 be
seen on the tables OF the poor were
either quite unknown or far beyond
the rcacn OF his scanty means. Unen.
viablc Is tho lot OF that man who can.
not in the height OF the season, whcn
the wharves and markets are hoapcd
with baskets and crates of fruit. spare
) cents for q pound Of grapes or > cents
for az many peaches, or when Sunday
comes round indulge his family with
water melons or canteloupes. One hun
drcd years ago the wretChed foX-grape
was the only kind that found its way
TO market, and was the luxury OF the
rich. Among the fruits and vegetables
OF which no one had then even heard
are cUntelOupes, many varieties Of
peaches and pears, tomatoes and rhu-
barb sweet corn, the CaulitlOwcr, the
eggplant, head lettuce and okra.
the wood Of an ar5san would now
be thought coarse, his clothes would
be thought abominable.
A pair OF yellow buckskin or leather
breechcs, u checked shirt, Il red flannel
jacket, rusty felt hat cooked up at
The corners, shoes Of near5 skin set oil
with huge buckles OF brass and "a
eathern apron comprised his scanty
wardrobe. The leather he smeared
with grease to keep it soft and ileXi-
ole.
His sons followed ia his footsteps or
were apprentices to nCighbOring trade
men. His daughter went out TO ser
vice. She performed, indeed, all the
duties at present eXacted from women
OF her class, but with them were cOupl-
ed many others rendered useless by the
great Improvement that has since tax en-
place in the convcnicnces OF life. She
mended the clothes, she did up the
ruif5, she ran on crrands from one end
Of the tcwn to the other, she MIXED
the COWS, made the butter, walked ten
blocks for a pail Of water, spun flax for
the family linen, and when the year
was up received GlO (abOut $lO) for her
wages.
But thore is one other change which
has, it must be admitted, 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 the jails and prisons as the
crime Of debt, and the class most likely
less and dependent, the great body of
servants, OF artisans and OF laborers-
those, in short, who depended on their
daily wages for their daily bread.
One hundred years ago the labOrer
who fell from scalfO!d or lay sick Of a
fever was SIRE 20 be seized by the
sheriff the moment he recovered and
be carried to jail for the bill of Is few
dollars which had run up during his
illness at the buckster's or the tavern.
The entire system OF punishment was
such rs cannot be contemplated with
out mingled feelings OF pity and dis.
gust. Ofenses to whicha more merci-
full generation has attached no higher
penalty than imprisonment end Gne
stood upon the statute books as capital
crimes. Modes OF punishment long
since driven from the prisons with exc
crations as worthy OF an African kraal
we're looked upon by society with q
profound Indifference. The tread mill
was always going. Tho pillory and
stocks were never empty. The shears
the branding md the lash were
never idle for day.
The misery OF the unfortunate crea
lures cOoped up in the cells even OF the
most humanely kept prisons surpasset
in horror anything ever recorded II
fiction.
The value OF the egg crop OF the
State OF Missouri exceeds in amour
the value OF the cereal crop OF tha
State sold on the market