CONDITIONS AFFECTING INDUSTRIAL LIFE 283 



periled. The complexity of modern life makes necessary 

 a widespread intelligence concerning the questions of hours 

 of labor, of wage earning, and of trade conditions. 



This state of affairs is in sharp contrast to the simplicity 

 and independence in manner of life during the earlier years 

 of our country's history. Then it was a common thing for 

 a family to keep a few sheep whose wool when carded was spun 

 at home and woven into cloth there. This cloth was then 

 cut up in the home and made into wearing apparel for the 

 members of the family. Now the spinning and weaving is 

 done in great factories, and all woolen clothing is usually, 

 purchased ready-made. 



In those early times when a farmer butchered a beef the 

 meat was cured at home, the tallow was prepared (" ren- 

 dered") at home and made into candles by the family, and 

 all waste fats were used for making the family supply of 

 soap. The hide of the animal was made into leather at a 

 local tannery, and footwear for the family was made from it 

 by tHe neighborhood shoemaker. The corn and wheat for 

 family use as food was ground at a nearby mill, and any 

 balance of these foodstuffs was fed to the stock on the home 

 place. To-day the farmer buys shoes and clothing ready- 

 made, and the meat and flour he needs are bought from 

 dealers in town. 



Such changes as these in the general manner of life of the 

 people of the United States were especially rapid in the last 

 half of the nineteenth century. A new empire of agricultural 

 industry and wealth arose in the valleys of the Mississippi 

 and the Missouri. Chickens in New England and cows in 

 New York State were fed corn, wheat, and mill products 

 grown in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. 

 The cost of these foodstuffs after transportation was less than 

 the cost\>f production on the eastern farm. Cattle fattened 

 in the far West were slaughtered at Kansas City, Omaha, or 



