Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-29

The Apprentice system was in local
vogue fifty years ago under the old Mary
land statutes, which applied
Apprentice to the District of Columbia
srs+a,, In The Star of September o,
1851 is news item which
discloses peculiar working Of this method
of procuring the labor OF young men and
boys:
yesterday case was tried before JUS
tice Dom under the law of Maryland reia-
tive to the removal of servants from an
other state to that and vice versa. Mr.. W.
D. Bell had coored boy an apprentice.
for a term Of years. and being about to
remove to the state of Maryland. the boy
heard of 1t and eloped He was taken into
the employment of Mr.. Hitchcock from
whose possession Mr.. Bell took him and a
suit was the consequence. The case was
laid before Justice Goddard. who remanded
the boy to Mr.. Hitchcock. Bell again got
possession of him. and the boys mother be-
ing afraid he was going to be taken beyond
the Jurisdiction of the court asked that the
security required by law should be given
by Mr.. Bell. hence this case Mr.. Caring
ton appeared for the boy and Mr.. Radcliffe
for the defense. Justice Dom demanded
$500 security that the boy should not be
removed beyond the jurisdiction OF the
court. which was given. and the boy placed
In Mr.. Bells custody. and he had him
committed to the county jail
=
Hard times" prevailed half a century
ago. money crisis was at hand. Banks
were trembling and deposit
Money ors were lining up before the
r-.u, tellers' windows. In The Star
Of
following editorial. under the heading THE
Whirlwind Upon u.s.
This morning Information was tele-
graphed to this city that all the banks in
Baltimore had suspended specie payment,
creating run upon those in this city.
which forced two Of Them the Patriotic
Bank and Bank Of Washington. to suspend
for the present the payment. Of specie ex-
cept upon notes Of the denomination Of s.
and checks for small amounts. They feel
themselves able to meet every obligation
against them. but resort to this as a meas
ure Of self defense. The Bank Of Metropolis
has. up to the time of going to press. sus
tanned the heavy run upon it without yield
ing, has also the Washington Savings
Bank. The run upon Sweeny. Rittenhouse
& Co. has also been promptly met. With
regard to the Bank of Washington and the
Patriotic Bank no fears are entertained Of
ultimate loss to any one through their sus-
pension. as they are known to be album
dainty able to lquidate every demand
against them"
Local confidence in the banks was at an
unfortunately low stage just then, owing to
the failure OF the banking house of Pairo
& NOurSe a few days previous, in crcum-
stances calculated to give rise to grave
doubts as to the management. 1t was be-
lieved that the worst of the storm had
passed the capital. but Philadelphia was
suffering sorely. and the same issue of The
Star contained kilograms from that city
and New York. indicating high state of
excitement over the stringency.
In this same issue of September 20 is an
other item which will give to housekeepers
of today line on the cost
Food of feeding a family half
century ago. when the in
come of the average wage
Garner was much less than It is now:
I'VE have obtained from reliable sources
the following list of prices of such provi-
sions as are in general use by housekeepers
in this city. They are the retail prices,
best understood by housekeepers:
Flour. superfine. per Dbl, S6.25a$6.50;
bag, $l.75; extra, per bbl., s7aS7.5o: bag, 81;
family. per Dbl, $3.50; bag, $2.25. Corn
meal. per bushel. 95ca$1. Rice, per
ID, &c Bacon, hams, per lb lie; sides,
l6c: shoulders. 15c Cheese, per h., lac.
Coffee Mocha, per h.. 2Oc; Java. 1Sc:
Maracaibo, 15c; Rio. 121aa14c. Tea, green.
per L., 50caSl; black, 5Oa75c. Sugar.
brown, per H.. 10a12c; clarified. l3al4c;
crushed, pulverized and granulated. loc
Molasses, per gallon. 6oa75c: syrup. 81.
Vinegar, per gallon, 25c. Prime lard. per
lb, lie Candles. talow lSc; adamantine,
soc sperm, SOC. Soap. Case Salt, fine. per
bushel 81 nc; sack, $1.T5: ground alum.
per bushel SOC; sack, $1.s71s Herring. per
Dbl. S525as5 80; per 100, $l.25 Coal, red
ash. per ton, S625: white ash. SO. Wood,
hickory, per cord $3.50; oak, S6a$6. 30; pine.
$3.50.
The average pay of good mechanics in
Washington is 81 per day. Day laborers
from 81 to $3.50.