The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-06-21
INT GOOD Old IIMts.''

draugbt horses at rs cents each AM
oxen at Sips In The days Of Henri,
II $50 would have equipped a farm
with three draueht horses, half
dozen oxen, twenty cows and tw'
hundred sheep. leaving a balance O
~ toward the payment Of rent
which was about IS a year. II
England pasture and arabic lands
we're Tidiculous|y cheap, 2 cents ar
acre for the later being considered
a fair annual rental. Two cents o.
its equivalent would buy a pair Of
chickens in these blessed days Of
old. For the value Of q nickle one
could acquire a goose fiji for a Christ
mas dinner OF two ducks that would
make a fine roast. A penny would
purchase a dozen strictly fresh eggs,
and wheat sometimes fell as low as
40 cents a quarter, or eight a bushel,
This period seems 10 have been the
paradise Of tOpers, as the brewer was
compelled by law 10 sell for 2 cents
three gallons Of beer. the equivalent
Of f~Or'y.elght glasses II will give
our modern labor Unions the cold
shivers 10 read that ) cents a day
was considered good wages for an
ordinary laboreg, our farmers will
probably have 3 sigh Of sympathy
when they learn .hat even at harvest
time I cents was ths highest amount
expected I1a1E ugples about 20
1lcy had ~ s ssr-,rs aefsrs
their ssgs q a1c5-1es iAsu Z &is
era % prcse housekeeping
might slisv 5a s-argG l2ca 2v ne
-rcss --arraas g :asse r7od est
5Evs Balaa -s,a H1s =, arE tf
3e -arrt N8rar IT LsuStn sGaf sav
I 4 3 7sa- I'm as tatts-E
Tee Cha1eezEr Sd soa E-zss ~
2aag a- t1a rlz vic 8saes ne
FerE sH- Secretary CT 51e Treas
Try s85 an 11aeah ssasry Ct slE
WEea I aKsasr Rns bis s,o 20 ST.
E18vevS ! cez.s 4 3Ev was bqok=i
rrCs IA 4 comfortable Allowance
With = Tgargta frr sgca lgxs-4s "a
rIus OF 5 tn u ce1ts a czl501 A
salary ot 81 a yssF w&s considered
muBifoeaI hing'Eiwari VI EKrs
his daughter An allowance NJ 500
aweek with an additional S547 Goa
year TO the maintenance Of her eight
servants, The bed that a king ihen
slept on would now be Stunned By
the humblest father in the land
There is not a renter in the West
that would not BIO considered rich hv
comparison, Remember. too that
they had no railroads in those days,
or decent roads of any kind. Atrip
of a few hundred miles was a mo
mentous undertaking, and a man
ont from London to Eden
burg made his will with little hope
Of getting back. OF course there
were no %interurban, or SECT cars or
even canals, and wheeled vehicles
were entirely out Of the reach of any
but the a%ristocracy.
But it is not necessary to go back
the fourteenth century or TO
to find out what was meant ,
by the good old times. Come
down TO the nineteenth CEN 4,
Jury and to our own country and see
low people lived, much less than q
hundred years ago. Many men now .
wing remember when one had to -.
work all day at the hardest kind of
york for one bushel of wheat.
fifty cents in trade was what one :
for beginning at daylight and !
rubbing or splitting rails until the
mixing sun reminded him to quit his
rduous task. Farm produce, when ,
at all, was absurdly low, +,
here were no markets, only the u
Ieighborhood consumption, and y
here being little or no money, every .
hing was barter, Eggs went a-beg. Y
ing at a cent or two a dozen, poul-
ry but little better, stock Of all /
inds at the very lowest ebb, and no {
could hope to make profit
4 any Of his produce. Merely a
wing, as the result of days devoted
, toll and nights devoted to ease,
as the best that could be anticipat- r
! by millions of pioneer farmers I'M
the good old days" Some senti-