390 



8CIEWCE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 143. 



and gives the whole matter in a concise and useful 

 shape. 



In the first investigation 24 industries were com- 

 pared ; and the average of different modes of com- 

 putation leads to the result that, in general, wages 

 are 62^ higher in Massachusetts than in Great 

 Britain. In those cases where pay-rolls could be 

 compared, the average weekly pay was $10.82 in 

 Massachusetts, and $5.48 in Great Britain. We 

 must remember, however, that the number of 

 working hours is 12^ greater in Massachusetts. 

 The average wages per hour show a gain of 71^ 

 in favor of Massachusetts. Women's wages, as 

 also those of young persons and children, show a 

 gain of 59^^ in favor of Massachusetts. The next 

 investigation covered 90 industries, and considers the 

 wages of at least 1,250,000 of employes. The wages in 

 Massachusetts are 11 fo higher than in Great Britain. 

 Besides wages have increased since 1860 in Massa- 

 chusetts by 28^, in Great Britain by 10^ since 1872. 



The other side of the question is represented by 

 the cost of living. Our sources of information 

 are prices and workingmen's budgets of expendi- 

 ture. Prices are higher in Massachusetts (for 

 everything except provisions) on an average of 

 43^. The average family in Great Britain is 

 slightly larger, but a sUghtly larger proportion of 

 the family are at work, thus making a du-ect com- 

 parison with the Massachusetts family perfectly 

 fair. In Massachusetts the earnings per family 

 are 55^ higher than in Great Britain ; the former 

 saves 6^, and the latter 2%, of its income. The 

 expenditures for 1883 of the two families are $754 

 and $508. If we consider the articles of expendi- 

 ture, we shall find a remarkable harmony with 

 an economic law demonstrated by Dr. Engel 

 (Royal statistician at Berlin). This law says, 1. 

 the greater the income, the smaller the relative 

 percentage of outlay for subsistence ; 2. the outlay 

 for clotliing remains uniform, as also ; 3. does that 

 for lodging, rent, fuel, hght ; 4. the outlay for 

 * sundries ' becomes greater as the income increases. 

 The agreement between the calculated and actual 

 values for each item of the expense is very close, 

 the average deviation being less than 3«^. The 

 table further teaches that the prices of articles 

 entering into the cost of living were 17^ higher in 

 Massachusetts in 1883 ; of this 11^ is due to higher 

 rents in Massachusetts, leaving 6^ as indicative of 

 the higher cost of living in Massachusetts. As a 

 final conclusion we have that the standard of liv- 

 ing of Massachusetts workingmen to that of the 

 workingmen of Great Britain is as 1.42 to 1. That 

 is, while the cost of living is higher, the wages are 

 still so much higher than those in Great Britain as 

 to leave a margin for better living and even greater 

 saving. 



Another portion of the volume deals with the 

 problem of Sunday labor. The questions are these : 

 Has the Sabbath become a necessary element in 

 modern industry, and is its absolution connected 

 with serious evils or not? The departments in 

 which Sunday labor is done are considered one by 

 one. By far the greatest share of Sunday labor is 

 done in connection with railroading. All the 

 roads began without Sunday labor, but street cars 

 and steam railways alike were forced to Sunday 

 labor by public demand. The trains are run for 

 convenience rather than for profit. While the em- 

 ployes generally declare that they would rather 

 have the day of leisure than the additional wages, 

 still the usual effects of overwork seldom occur. 

 The important consideration is this : Sunday labor 

 is not productive labor, but is labor for personal 

 service, and such occupations do not call for con- 

 stant exertion. If the weaver had to stand at his 

 loom for seven days of the week, he would proba- 

 bly break down ; but the car-conductor does it 

 without physical deterioration. The proportion of 

 Sunday laborers to the laboring community is 

 probably larger than one would suppose, 32^ of 

 working females and 11^ of males doing work on 

 that day. 



THE ASCENT OF FOPOCATAPETL.' 



During the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, some 

 of his followers ascended this volcano to obtain 

 sulphur with which to renew their exhausted sup- 

 ply of powder. The ascension of Popocatapetl, as 

 compared with that of other great mountains of 

 the world, presents no unusual difficulties, and in 

 the course of the present century, many parties 

 have accomplished it with entire safety, especially 

 since the attention of the commercial world has 

 been called to the great value of the sulphur 

 deposits there. 



The ascent is always undertaken from the north- 

 west side of the mountain, starting from the town 

 of Amecameca, which lies on the railroad from 

 Mexico to Morelos. From here a horseback ride 

 of three or four hours brings the traveller to the 

 rancho Tlamacas, just below the snow-line, and 

 from this point the ascent is continued on foot. The 

 party is provided with alpenstocks, and a sort of 

 primitive sandals called guaraches, drawn on over 

 the boots to prevent slipping. A peon goes ahead 

 and hews steps in the hard-frozen snow ; the 

 others follow in Indian file, pausing every now 

 and then to rest, as the exertion in the extremely 

 rarefied atmosphere is very exhausting. 



After the summit is reached, the view, if the 



1 Condensed from an article by Carlos von Gagem, in the 

 Deutsche rundschau fiir geographie und statistik, 



