354 LAND AND LABOR. 



never owned a home, and never expected to. All had 

 heard of the land beyond the seas, and one or two had 

 relatives who had gone out and done well. They 

 complained very much of the high price of provisions 

 in England. Of course those engaged in Lister's mills 

 are a superior class of operatives. The houses in the 

 other divisions of the city were not so good, and the 

 interiors did not present the same comfortable appear- 

 ance. The inmates of the latter complained of the 

 dullness of trade, of their meager, almost starvation 

 earnings, and longed for something better. 



" c By strict economy/ said one, ' we are able to get 

 enough to live upon ; but saving is almost an impos- 

 sibility, unless there are at least three wage earners 

 in the family/ 



" In such cases the girls were able to dress respect- 

 ably, and the family to live more comfortably/' 



From Middlesborough, in the coal and iron region, 

 Mr. Porter writes, under date of February 20 : 



" In this trip I made the most careful inquiries in 

 regard to the actual earnings of the iron workers, and 

 found that the average earnings of ( slaggers ' was 4s. 

 and 4d., or 1 04 a day ; of ' mine fillers/ 4s. 8d., or 

 $1 12 ; of 'chargers/ 5s. 3d. to 5s. 6d., or about $1 30 

 per day, and ' keepers/ 6s. 6d. to 7s., or $1 50 per 

 day. These figures are absolutely trustworthy, and 

 were corroborated in every case, and taken down in 

 the presence of Dr. Hedley. Laborers are paid in 

 Middlesborough 3s. to 3s. and 2d., or about 80 cents 

 a day ; but I found several laboring men who said 

 they only received 2s. 8d., or 64 cents per day. House 



