English Weavers, 1820

1895

I am 81 years of age and can remember hand loom weavers and weaving as far back as 1820 in East Lancashire. I have a painful recollection of the poverty and distress among hand loom weavers. Our family consisted of father and mother and eight children, all dependent upon hand looms. Breakfast in our home was oaten meal porridge sweetened with treacle, eaten with small beer; dinner, meat only on Sunday, and that chiefly bones boiled into soup; the rest of the week's dinners, potatoes and oaten cakes, seldom butter and never cheese; supper, similar to breakfast. The quantity of these was stinted, so that we often had not enough to eat.

As to wages, an ordinary man could not earn more than 10 shillings per week, and often he could not procure enough warp and weft even to earn that. The idea of "putting £1 notes between slices of bread and butter" is simply monstrous. In respect to the statement of kindness and sympathy between employers and employed, I can only recollect grinding poverty and cringing dependence, which had the effect of taking away a man's self respect. When I think of my early days — poor food, poor clothing, poor homes, no day school — I do not wish to see the "golden ago" back again. — Spectator.

A Useful Sword

1895

Jules Simon, when some one complained about the awkwardness of the academician's sword, remarked, "It is a more useful instrument than one is apt to think." Then he explained.

He was poor. His master, Cousin, was stingy, but talkative. Unable to pay for a dinner, he once entered Cousin's house to meet the odor of roast chicken and determined to share in the feast. He would starve the master into asking him to dine. He grew eloquent. Cousin was for a time carried away by his favorite topic, but soon grew uneasy. Finally he arose and showed his pupil to the door. "But," says Simon, "in the antechamber the odor was so strong that it gave me the courage of despair, and I exclaimed, 'M. Cousin, I have not a penny left, and I am hungry!' Cousin hesitated — no man was more lavish of words, none less so of everything else. But even his heart was touched. Impulsively he took my arm, exclaiming, 'Allons le debrocher!' And together we went into the kitchen. There I saw a fine chicken, just roasted to a rich golden hue, and spitted — on my master's academic sword." — San Francisco Argonaut.

Too Poor to Buy Clothes

New York, 1895

Professor Chickening, superintendent of the Flushing schools, says that a large number of colored children have been unable to attend school during the past two months on account of insufficient clothing.


Refuses to Pay the Tax

August Johnson, of Patchogue, has refused to pay his village taxes, claiming that the incorporation of the village was illegal. He has been sued for the amount and will contest the case in court. His bill is only $6.


Plenty of Free Coal

Great quantities of coal are being washed up on the beach at Amityville from the wreak of the barge Seth Low, which went ashore at that place some weeks ago. The life savers of Zach's inlet station have gathered several tons.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 8, 1895, p. 1.

Baby Offered For Sale Given Away

1920

Declares She Needed Money to Restore Her Health, Is Excuse of Mother.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Baby Margaret McNulty, who was offered at public sale recently for $250, has been withdrawn from the market and went to James F. Sweetman as a gift.

The mother, Mrs. Catherine McNulty, retains an undivided interest in the child's affection and will have permission to see her whenever she wishes.

Mrs. McNulty, whose husband died recently, offered her baby for sale when she found herself unable to earn an adequate living. She hoped the money she asked for the baby would give her an opportunity to regain her health, and at the same time she would know that Margaret was receiving proper care.

She changed her mind about the sale before the first of the scores of would-be purchasers arrived at her home and gave the child to Mr. Sweetman.

Worried for Weeks.

Margaret was in the Sweetman family once before. She came back to her mother when Mrs. Sweetman died. At that time Mrs. McNulty feared that Mr. Sweetman would be so occupied with the care of his own motherless child that he could not give Margaret adequate care.

It was only after the worry of weeks became desperation that Mrs. McNulty finally felt that circumstances had driven her to part with her baby.

She worked beyond her strength to care for the little daughter and her brother two years older. A year ago she was stricken with influenza. It was afterward the doctor first mentioned a fighting chance, which would cost money for transportation to the country, milk, eggs and rest.

Baby's Price List.

Her mind always brought up against the balance between this and the price list following:

Feel of one pair of little, clinging hands, $50; Weight of a tiny body, drowsy in the twilight, $50; 2,555 "good night" kisses, distributed over next seven years, $50; Sound of a baby voice prattling "I love you," $50; Thrill of the word "mother," $50. Total $250.

Her story went on:

"There wasn't any balance. But as I felt less able to be about I came to see that it wasn't what I wanted, but what is best for her.

"Some day she will be old enough to understand what I am doing and why. I shall not be with her then.

"Either way, whether I let her go voluntarily now or not, I should not be with her. But looking backward thru the understanding years she will know that I tried in the only way open to me to raise money to save her mother's life. She will feel that it was for her that I tried.

Has Right to Mother.

"Every baby has a right to a mother.

"And if taking money in exchange for my baby is the only way I can save her mother for her, am I not doing what is right?

"Some day, if I live thru the next few months, I may meet her again as my daughter, if the plan works out. Otherwise the doctor says I shall be here only a little while. This way I can find the right ones to take her; the other way she would be put in an institution."

Altho she made public her offer two days ago, Mrs. McNulty has hidden herself away with her two children, refusing to see any of the dozens who have called for inspection. After having brought herself to agree to the sale, she said she was not yet strong enough to take the next step.

Her only relatives, also in poor circumstances, live in Belfast, Ireland.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Against Taxing Wealth

1916

The high priests in their search for some vital and appealing issue against the Democratic party have hit upon another dangerous one.

They are squarely on record, as the Post pointed out yesterday, in opposition to the eight-hour day for railroad workers, and the other working men of the United States are asking themselves what this ominous assault means. Nor can they be blamed if they become convinced that the Republican party is identified with the capitalists and the big "interests." Or if they feel that logically Mr. Hughes and a Republican Congress — if such should be the results of the election — would at once move to repeal the railroad eight-hour law. The bosses can only blame themselves and their candidate for the feeling that the party has no sympathy this year for the aspirations and hopes of labor.

But there is another issue just as likely to burn the fingers of the G. O. P. orators and leaders. It is opposition to the taxation of wealth.

Already the business has begun. Assaults on the income tax law here in other States are now under way. The people are being told how iniquitous it is that the south pays so little of this tax and the north so much, as if that were some fault of the law. The logic of this is almost incredibly clumsy.

Our extraordinarily rich and prosperous northern states, Massachusetts among the rest, pay more income tax to the support of the federal government for the simple and sufficient reason that the wealth is here to be taxed. There isn't a southern state but would rejoice with exceeding great joy if from its borders went to the national treasury at Washington as much money as goes from Massachusetts, for that would mean that it was rich, that many of its citizens had great incomes which were doing their share in the Federal support.

Idle wealth was never justly taxed in these United States until the passage of the Democratic income tax law. On the shoulders of the poor rested by far the heavier burden. Now come the Republican stump speakers and attack this fairest and squarest form of taxation ever devised on the absurd ground that it is "sectional," keeping silent about the fact that wealth is taxed wherever found, whether north, south, east or west.

Against the eight-hour day and against the taxation of hitherto hidden and evading riches — that's where the Republican party is headed, if it is not already there. — The Boston Post.

Restitution After Thirty-One Years

1916

MAN REPAYS MONEY HE WRONGFULLY TOOK.

Aged and Needy Recipient Made Comfortable With $200 Gold and $400 as Interest.

SOMERSET, Pa. — William Speicher, of Kantner, a news agent on the Somerset & Cambria Branch Railroad, received a letter from an aged resident of Quemahoning Township, in which is told how a man with a troubled conscience returned, with interest, $200, the theft of which enabled him to grow well off while the owner of the money was made poor for life by the loss of it.

"On May 31st, thirty-one years ago," wrote the aged man, "I started for Stoyestown with a pocketbook containing $200 to make the first payment on a home that I had purchased. When I arrived there the package was missing. I returned home at once, but could find no trace of it. It was money that I had earned by hard labor. I was much broken up over the loss, ill health followed and I never had a home of my own.

"A few days ago there came a rap at my door. I opened it and a stranger stood there. I invited him in and he seated himself. He sized me up, but spoke but little. After inquiring about my identity he took from his pocket $200 in gold and counted it out to me. He said it was my money and asked me to accept it. 'I owe you interest on it for 31 years,' he went on. 'Here is $400 more to cover that. Thank God, I am free once more,' he said. I was amazed. I could not understand his actions and asked an explanation.

"'Thirty-one years ago,' he replied, 'I was on my way from a part of Somerset County to Johnstown to take a train for Kansas. I had but a few dollars in money. I was walking on the road behind you while you were driving to Stoyestown and saw you drop the money. I picked it up and stowed it away in my pocket. At the latter town I got your name and went out West. I took up land near Leavenworth, Kansas, and fortune came my way. I took up more land. Returning to my native county I got married. I grew wealthy and I can now count my wealth by many thousands of dollars, but having your money in my possession always worried me, so I decided to return it to you and confess that I took it.'

"He said that he found out that his conscience, was worth more to him than his wealth, then he bade me good-by."

From almost destitute circumstances at 75 years of age, the old man has been placed in comparative comfort.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

Started In With "Enthusiasm"

1900

In an interview, Booker T. Washington tells the story of some of his early experiences at Tuskegee.

"After teaching in the ordinary way awhile, the impression began to grow upon me that I was largely throwing away my time, trying to give these students a book education without getting hold of them in their home life, and without teaching them how to care for their bodies, and inculcating in them habits of neatness, order and industry. Here it was that I conceived the idea of such a work as has followed."

"Had you any capital to start such a school with?"

"I had unbounded enthusiasm. I began looking around to see if I could get hold of some land. I found a farm near Tuskegee, that I thought would answer the purpose, but I couldn't buy real estate with enthusiasm, and I hadn't a cent of money. But my boldness led me to write to Gen. Marshall, the treasurer of Hampton, and ask him to loan me $500 to make a payment on that farm; and to my unbounded surprise he sent me a cheek for what I asked, and I wasn't long in getting the school moved."

"How have you since managed to get all your buildings and the other thousands of acres of land?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you how we got our first building, though. We pitched in and built it ourselves — yes, sir; people scoffed, but we even made our own bricks. The point at which we stuck was the burning of the bricks — none of us knew how to fire a kiln. We had no money to hire labor, but we had to have those bricks, and I owned a gold watch which I took to the pawnshop and got enough money to employ an experienced brick maker to burn the bricks."

"That was a heroic measure, sure. No doubt you cherished that watch as — "

"I have never got that watch out of pawn yet, but we are now manufacturing a million bricks a year. That was a pretty poor sort of building, but we builded self-respect and manhood into it, and when white people saw what we could do, we won their respect. Now we can put up a building that no one need be ashamed of. In our last building the steam heating apparatus and the electric light fixtures were put in by our own steamfitters and electricians. The plans were by an architect from our own school."

—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 14.

Filthiest Place In the World

1901

Port-au-Prince, the capital, is by consent of all who have had opportunity of comparing it with other cities — the filthiest place in the world. The town was laid out by the French, and the streets are wide. It is only their great width that makes them passable, for the roadway before his dwelling is every householder's rubbish shoot, and slab sided pigs and starveling dogs perform all the sanitary offices for the town of Port-au-Prince save in the rainy season, when a heavier storm than usual comes to flush the open drains. In consequence the populace live in an atmosphere of combined cesspool and ash pit, which by all the laws of hygiene should produce chronic plague.

The free and independent negro leads the life that most nearly approaches his ideal. They have a proverb in the country that "only white men, black women and asses work," and there is truth in it. The black man lies around all day sleeping in the sun. His utmost effort is to play dice or watch a cockfight, but sleep is his favorite occupation, and he can do that better than anything else. In the country districts the old plantations have long since slipped back into the luxuriant overgrowth of the forest. In town any trading done is by the women and by foreigners. Undisturbed by the white man, to whom he is insolent, the town bred negro is pacific enough. The only exertion demanded of him is to avoid the attentions of the police. — Chambers' Journal.

She Rustled

1901

A London paper says that C. T. Yerkes, the American street railway magnate, now in London, recently received the following letter from a young woman:

"Dear Mr. Yerkes — I have seen by the papers how rich you are, and also I have seen your picture, which looks kind. So I thought I would tell you that my parents are poor and depriving themselves of many comforts in order to give me a good education. Among my school friends there is a gymnastic club, of which I am a member, and all the girls wear silk skirts, and it gives me the horrors to feel I can't have one when I hear the fascinating rustle of their petticoats. Would you send me $5 to buy one? Yours," etc.

Mr. Yerkes received the unique epistle from his secretary and, to the latter's astonishment, exclaimed: "Send her the money. It will give more pleasure than if invested in any other way." The money was sent, and the acknowledgment was as follows: "Dear Mr. Yerkes — Thanks so much for the money. I invested it and can now rustle with the others."

Children and Sweet Stuffs

1901

It is necessary to make some kind of stand against the physical demoralization of the rising generation by the inordinate consumption of cheap confectionery.

Mrs. Creighton, the wife of the late bishop of London, has urged again and again the necessity for checking the wholesale consumption of sweet stuff by the children of the poorer classes, and it is admitted by the doctors in poor neighborhoods that it is to the continual eating of lollipops that the wretched digestions, frequent gastric troubles and enfeebled stamina of those who are to form the future backbone of the nation are due.

What the public house is to the father, the sweet stuff shop has become to the child.


Dancing as Exercise

Dancing has lost some of its vogue, but physicians have come to its rescue and are proscribing it as a useful exercise. It is said that dyspeptic and anemic patients, both men and women, have been advised to waltz at a moderate tempo at least 30 minutes a day.

A Glimpse of the Japanese

1901

Mrs. Hugh Fraser, the author, widow of an English diplomat and sister of Marion Crawford, says of her life in Japan, to which her husband was minister from Great Britain:

The absence of snobbishness and kindred vices in Japan impresses itself very clearly upon one. There are two characteristics of the Japanese which stand out very boldly. Home life is paramount, and the possession of money is but lightly regarded. Any one who would pretend to be richer than he is would be calmly avoided as a fool. Money is not spoken of, the absence of it is not apologized for. A person living in a poor way gives a guest all he has to offer and is not humiliated at having to show his poverty. The rich man does not overwhelm you with his riches. He shows you one beautiful object from his collection at a time in an empty room, only beautiful through its perfect proportions, coloring and cleanliness.

These people travel through life so lightly weighted, their requirements are so few in the material order, that they seem as independent as the swallows and fly where we, weighted down by the commissariat for our artificial wants, can only creep. But they hold invisible things very precious. Honor and self respect, the love of their children, the harmony of the family, the privileges of patriotism, the commonwealth of learning, these are things for which they will sacrifice much.

Failure

1901

"Failure," says Keats, "is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterward carefully avoid."

Defeats and failures have played a great part in the history of success. It is not pleasant to think that more or less of defeat is absolutely necessary to great success. But that it is true every student of history knows. Defeats and failures are great developers of character. They are the gymnasia which have strengthened the muscles or manhood, the stamina, the backbone which have won victories. They have made the giants of the race by giving titanic muscles, brawny sinews, far reaching intellects.

How true it is that poverty often bides her charms under ugly masks! Thousands have been forced into greatness by their very struggle to keep the wolf from the door. She is often the only agent nature can employ to call a man out of himself and push him on toward the goal which she had fitted him to reach. Nature cares little for his ease and pleasure. It is the man she is after, and she will pay any price or resort to any expedient to lure him on. She masks her own ends in man's wants and urges him onward, oftentimes through difficulties and obstacles which are well nigh disheartening, but ever onward and upward toward the goal. — Register.

A Cheerful Soul

1902

"Hanks always looks on the bright side of everything. Do you know what he said when he lost his job the other day?"
"I haven't heard."
"He seemed to be quite cheerful over it. 'You see,' he explained, 'I applied for a raise of salary nearly six months ago and didn't get it. Think of how much more I would have had to lose if they'd given me the increase." — Chicago Record-Herald.


He Dropped the Subject

He was talking to the pessimistic, sharp-tongued damsel.
"Have you noticed," he asked, "that, as a general thing, bachelors are wealthier than married men?"
"I have," she replied.
"How do you account for it?" he inquired.
"The poor man marries and the rich one doesn't," she answered. "A man is much more disposed to divide nothing with a woman than he is to divide something." — Chicago Post.

No Cause For Him to Complain

1902

"See here," remarked the guest to the new waiter, "there doesn't seem to be any soup on this menu card."
"Oh, no, sir," replied the waiter, nervously, "I didn't spill it at this table — it was the one on the other side of the room." — Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.


Satiric

"Don't you think that some people in society are very deficient in manners?" said the man who had been annoyed by a box party.
"Perhaps," answered Miss Cayenne; "but possibly they are not to blame. They have to meet so many customs house inspectors, you know." — Washington Star.


As She Reasoned It

"It is but natural," said Mrs. Van Scadders, "that those who possess wealth should consider themselves the best people."
"I don't quite follow you?"
"It is an axiom that everything is for the best."
"Yes."
"And the people with money are the only ones who have a chance to get everything." — Washington Star.

A Promoter of Pedestrianism

1902

"So you are going to get an automobile!"
"Yes," answered the man who is always thinking of his health. "The doctor says I must walk more."


A Conclusive Objection

"Poverty is no disgrace," said the young woman with ideas of her own.
"No," said Mrs. Cumrox; "it's no disgrace. But it certainly is extremely unfashionable." — Washington Star.


Softened Grief

Wilson — "I lost that fine silk umbrella that I carried in town to-day."
Mrs. Wilson — "Oh, what a pity!"
Wilson — "There is one consolation, it wasn't mine."—Somerville (Mass.) Journal.


Another Advance

She — "So you think the necessities of life are constantly advancing in price? For instance?"
He — "Well, the average fine for 'autospeeding' has advanced from $10 to $30 within a year." — Puck.


Correcting Him

Gabbleton (effusively) — "Why, hello, Grimshaw! Glad to see you're back."
Grimshaw (coldly) — "This is my face you are looking at, Gabbleton." — New York Journal.

A Little Tale From the Persian

1901

There was a young man who loved a beautiful maiden, but he was poor. One day he asked her to be his wife, and she answered:

"I love you. Still, I do not wish to be a poor man's wife. Go and get money and then return and we will live happily ever after."

The young man went away and ere long began to sway the markets. He made millions and still more millions, and the maiden waited.

When the man had ten millions, he wanted to outshine one who had fifty millions, and when that wish was gratified he longed for a hundred millions, then he yearned for two hundred millions, and at last he set a billion up as the amount he wished to accumulate.

When, one day in those parts, a certain old maid lay dying, she said:

"There's no use expecting a hog to keep his mind on anything else after he gets his feet in the trough." — Chicago Times-Herald.

Gibbon on Fame and Happiness

1910

Edward Gibbon, the historian, was not one to underestimate the pleasures of intellectual occupation or the value of literary fame. "I have drawn a high prize in the lottery of life," he wrote in his autobiography. "I am disgusted with the affectation of men of letters who complain that they have renounced a substance for a shadow, and that their fame affords a poor compensation for envy, censure and persecution.

"My own experience has taught me a very different lesson; twenty happy years have been animated by the labors of my history and its success has given me a name, a rank, a character in the world to which I should otherwise not have been entitled.

"D'Alembert relates that as he was walking in the gardens of Sans Souci with the king of Prussia, Frederick said to him, 'Do you see that old woman, a poor weeder, asleep on that sunny bank? She is probably a more happy being than either of us.'

"The king and philosopher may speak for themselves; for my part, I do not envy the old woman." — Youth's Companion.


Social Requirement

When a young girl appears at the theater with a young man who is a stranger in town, she should circulate a note among her friends telling who he is. It is very hard for the women to enjoy a performance with their curiosity unsatisfied. — Atchison Globe.

Joke Is Played on Peddler

1915

Victim Makes Queer Discovery Next Morning

A peddler arrived one evening at a small town and went to the only hotel there. Every room had already been engaged, but the hotel-keeper offered him a room which he could share with a negro. The peddler agreed, and asked to be awakened early the next morning.

Several jokers overheard the proceedings, and while the peddler slept blackened his face.

The next morning, being in a hurry to catch a train he made straight for the station when he was awakened. While passing the mirror in the waiting-room he stopped suddenly and exclaimed: "Hang it all! They've called the wrong guy!"


True to the Last

"Yes," said the traveler, "my wife's mother was the most admirable housekeeper that ever lived. Poor soul, she was eaten by cannibals in Africa."
"You don't mean it!"
"Alas! it's true. Why, when the savages had thrust her into the cauldron and she was beginning to cook, she cried out faintly with her last breath, 'Don't forget the salt and pepper.'"


Can't Look the Part Now

"John, dear," said his wife, "there was a poor man here today asking for old clothes and I gave him that shabby old overcoat of yours that was hanging in the attic. You didn't want it, did you?"
"Of course I wanted it!" exclaimed John wrathfully. "That's the one I always wear when I swear off my taxes."


About Five

[From the Pea Ridge (Ark.) Pod]

Mr. French who lived one mile south of town died Tuesday, of last week, and was buried at Siloam Springs, Wednesday. He leaves a wife and about five children to mourn his death.


Detects Smokeless Powder

United States naval officers have developed a colored glass which renders visible the fumes from smokeless powder.

Building Old As U. P. Road

1915

Its Proprietor Still Lives, a Victim of Generosity and Poverty

LARAMIE, Wyo., Dec. 16. — In the ordinary city which began no further back than 1868 the oldest building would be of little consequence, but in a city in the West, whose existence dates from May 9 of that year, when the Union Pacific Railroad laid its first rails into and thru the townsite, the oldest house seems very old indeed to the residents and to the people generally.

Laramie's oldest building today is a long two-story building which was built by Patrick Doran, who is living here at present, as a hotel, and in which hundreds of transient and regular boarders were accommodated for years.

Doran had his own way of keeping books. He chalked the accounts on the inner side of the front door. If a customer disputed the bill, mine host would go to the door, carefully erase the score and tel1 the dissatisfied customer that they would start all over again.

The old building is of logs, cut in the mountains several miles southwest of the city and floated down the Laramie River. The building is now used for a blacksmith shop.

In the early days of the frontier hotel Mr. Doran would charge a dollar a meal from those who could pay a dollar and lesser sums from those who could not afford to pay. No man ever went away hungry that had any money at all, and Mr. Doran would never take the man's last cent, so that one can imagine the large number of accounts the inward side of that door used to carry. Doran himself was quite wealthy at one time, but accepts charity from the county.

Keeping His Word

1904

Sandy is the resident janitor of one of the smaller colleges. He is a bit of a character in his way, and makes an effort not to be outdone by the students. The success is sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. Sandy owned a little mean-looking dog, of which he was fond. He was treated to much good-humored chaff about the dog, but always replied in kind, frequently asserting, "I widna tak twinty dulthers for ma wee doggy."

A few of the more waggish freshmen made up their minds to test Sandy's assertion. Between them they made up twenty dollars, and one of their number was authorized on the first favorable opportunity to make Sandy an offer.

As was quite common with him, Sandy happened into the cloak-room between lectures. The dog soon became a subject of debate, and out came Sandy's statement, "I widna tak twinty dulthers for ma wee doggy."

"Well, Sandy," said a young freshman, "I would like to have that dog, and here's twenty dollars if you'll sell him," He counted the money out on the table near Sandy.

Without a smile Sandy gravely put his hand in his pocket, drew out a fifty-cent piece, and laid it on the table, at the same time pocketing the twenty dollars. "I didna say I widna tak nineteen fufty. The wee doggy's yourn."


The Test
By John B. Tabb

The dead there are, who live;
The living, who are dead:
The poor, who still can give;
The rich, who lack for bread:
By Love it is, and Love alone,
That Life or Luxury is known.