The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-07

terror courtyard. In the poor work
ing p quarters these houses
are Of but one or two stories, with
several c~ourtyards one after another
extending back from the street. There
is n tap of water to each courtyard,
which in the center has an opening in
the pavement for drainage to the sew
er, or, in some districts, simply to a
ceSspoOl. In every courtyard I saw
were puddles of foul water eside
the rue about the drain. At one of
these rockies an energetic man, OF
the somewhat rare dark type of Hun
Earian, came forward from a poor
mans cafe-a hole-in-the-Wall, finish
ed in zinc instead Of the mirrors and
mahogany of the fashionable pub
Hello! I American too; was in
New York tree year; I show you
house, yaas!"
He took me through a dozen apart
ments' facing in upon four court
yards. He walked into each dwelling
without knocking Or asking leave.
Don't take off our hat he said;
desc people expects nottin.' What
rent tink you dey pays? Dey don't
get de cheap rents of New York"
He quoted prices current in New
York for small flats. Then he in
dicated the rates for Budapest, his in
formation being confirnlatory of that
was given me for other housings.
Examples: For one narrow dwell
ing room and a dark kitchen, 81 a
week; two rooms and a kitchen, $3.50;
were higher rentals. on the lower
story the floors were all of stone. badly
worn. The furniture in nearly every
instance was a 'feW poor sticks" Our
voluble guide told US that in this house
there dwelt seventy-six families. Near
ly all took dodgers. He showed us
one apartment, Of two narrow, badly
lighted rooms, and a dark little box
Of a kitchen, and asked the woman
who rented it how many were in her
family. h reply was her man and
two children. And how many lodg-
ers? The guide thus interpreted her
answer: 'She has six mans. and two
of the mans is WOmans.' This ken
nel-Hke existence, so far from being
uncommon, is the everyday experience
Of the poverty-stricken masses in
Budapest. Our party was taken to
see many such houses as that just
mentioned. The repellant scene was
everywhere much the same, the best
examples being Of 4 mode of living
unknown to Americans and the worst
a realistic picture of an earthly, up
to-date inferno. Our guide, pointing
out one apartment after another,
| said he knew of whole houses in
several American cities for which the
iSIldI was lo"OI'
AS to the cost of clothing, we had
with us a highly intelligent young
man, an Hungarian labor leader, who,
having spent a ear and a half in
America, was qualified to make com
parsons. He now buys American
shoes regularly, because Of their COM
parative cheapness, their comfortable
fit, and their neat appearance, though
he is of course obliged to pay more
for them than he would in New York.
Suits of clothes and hats, he said,
were of better make, and, quality
considered, Just as cheap in America
as in Hungary. Our inquiries did not
end With him, but from all sources ac-
cessible, obtained the same testimony.
The general run of wages in Buda-
pest may be inferred from these rates.
B~ricklayers, paid by the hour and los
ing even part-day time through bad
weather, and with four or five months
loss in winter, receives 81 to $1.2O a
day; carpenters, working under the
same conditions, get $1.10 to $50 for
a day of ten hours. In the mlllIng: IN
dust1y, which has the lead in Hungary
until recently the rates ran from So to
IS cents a day for laborers, some Of
them partly skilled, with the men in
the more highly skilled positions get
tins $50. Under a trade agreement,
made in tune last, age were stand
ardized and increased by a few cents.
The printers of Hungary have 95 per
cent. of the men and women in their
occupation organized. In Budapest the
minimum union scale for Cay compo-
sitOrs calls for 81 per week. But on
the average the wage reach a little
more than IS.
on visiting the central offices Of
several trade unions in Budapest one
might infer hat the organized labor
movement was we'll advanced in HuE
gary, though this. is far from the fact.
nv o.r- Nd oy>o nuc
have good 41ldings of their own, with
spacious suites of offices. The brick
layers are about finishing one of the
largest and handsomest buildings in
Budapest, situated in a fashionable
neighorhOod. The printers have a six
c4or, hniJIiro G1ltanhI1r0 Ha11Sp