The Life of the London Poor.

Southland Times, Issue 4187, 30 November 1881, Page 2

The Life of the London Poor.

A correspondent of the European Mail who has started to collect tome information respecting the inner life of the London poor, writes to say that he visited High street, Hoxton, the other Saturday night, the roads and pathways of which were, as usual, crowded with marketing folk. The pitiless rain, however, caused many of the poor stall keepers and pedlars about nine o'clock to pack up their neglected goods in despair, and with their laden boards on their heads, and the trestles on which they had rested under their arms, move off homewards with moody and anxious faces that plainly foretold their dismal to-morrow. But there were a few exceptions who seemed desperately determined to stand it out till the last, let the cruel downpour do its worst. One of these was a toy vendor, quito a decent-looking old fellow, despite his threadbare attire. Bravely indifferent to the rain, with his battered old hat reeking so that in theglare of the gas it looked as though it had just been dipped in some shiny solution, and with the drench from it coursing, down the furrows uf hjs ■-wrinkled cheeks and mingling- , with his -grey whiskers, and dropping ia grimy tears from the tip of his venerable nose, as though, lie. was quite dry and comfortable, and doing a brisk trade, 'he still kept on withont ceasing, " Six cheers, a table, and a bedstead, all for a penny ! All packed in a box complete, only a penny !" The boxes in which the Lilliputian articles are bestowed were of the commonest cardbe aid, and not calculated: to re3ist moisture, so he had taken; off .his cotton neckerchief, and spread it doubled over bis

fragile stock, and when it was soaked through, which was something le?g than ten minutes, he methodically wrung it and shook it out and patiently replaced it. Presently a poor woman, with a large market basket, passed hun, paused, considered the matter, and turning , back bought two boxes of furniture from him He wad agreeably astonished at the unexpected magnitude of the ord«r. But, alas ! his rejoicing was speedily turned to bitterness. Scarce a minute had elapsed before the wmnan with the basket reappeared with b-jth the box lids off, and the ruin peppering the chairs and tables. " What do you mean, yjti precious Old cheat ?" she exclaimed angrily ; " they are ail uuglued. There's two legs of ona of the beadsteads off a'ready, and half the :!ieers aint got no backs to 'em ! " Tho honest old furniture dealer was so overcome that he had no language to defend himself against the damaging aspersion that had been cast on him. lie took the dilapidated boxes back, and with?* rueful visage produced the twopence from its safe stowage and handed ii to her. Then, with a dismal foreboding of what had happened, he more closely approached the lamp light and, opening one box after another, gently fingered the legs of his chairs ; and, observing, doubtksri, a general disposition to dislocation, he stood for a few moments looking very miserable, and was in the act of making tt damp bundle ot the whole contents of tho tea-tray in the cotton neckerchief before mentioned when an eccentric person, the co. respondent writes, stspped forward and offersd to buy tiie entire stock at the full price ! Nor was this all. In steady contemplation of a settled purpose, and intent on its consummation, the said eccentric purchaser affably invited the saturated old furniture salesman into the private compxrtment of the public-house, where the transaction was duly " wetted." It was eventually agreed that there were, one way and another, a dozen and two suites of furniture to 1 ' pay for. " I knew that was the number," said he, " because I brought out the usual dozen and a half, aud I only sold four out of 'em." " And how long had you been standing there ?" " Since four o'clock in the afternoon (it was then half-past Bine) )( .but it isn t often I'm so long selling such a few. Bless you, no I Fine Saturdayevenings I can polish the lot off in about five hours. Week days it always takes longer, money being scarcer, and there being fewer people about. I usually reckon on doing a dozen a day or'nary days, and I have to be out from morning till night to do it." " And when you have sold out you have taken a shilling ?" " That's what I reckon to do with a bit of luck," returned the old fellow, quite elate with eighteenpence in his pocket, and the rare treat of a drop of warm rum and water before him ; " a shilling a day during the livo days aud one-and-six on a Saturday." "And out of that you hare to buy your goods ?" "Oh no, that would never keep the pot a bilin'. It's only ths bit of wood wo have to buy, and the glue. We make 'em all ourselves. At least when I say we, it isn't much time I've got to spare frpni the selling to help. My old lady she makes 'em principally. And the boxes to put 'em in are made out of the waste bite our two gals have left from their matchbox making." " Your two daughters, do you mean ?" " Grand-daughters ; one's ten and the other thirteen. They live along with us, not having anybody else to look after 'em, poor things. Their mother's been dead three years, and their father's gone away and left 'em. So as a matter o' course we took 'em in," said the old fellow, with a cheery smile, "as 'twas our duty so to do." " They earn their own living, yoM say, at match-box making?" " They do their best towards it, sir, but the r.ldest being a cripple in one of her arms, poor creature', ~sll6~canT earn" very THucTi with no more than a penny three fardens a gross for them, and they hare to finii their own paste out of that. But the little 'un, bless her young heart, she's a reg'ler tiger for work. L've known her knock off three gross dnd a half in a day, working very earJy and very late. But about two gross and a half is the usual. Four gross between 'em.; — that's sevenpence — sixpence half-peony, say, reckoning the paste. So yon see, Sir, that's how we manage to rub on." " But do you mean the six and sixpence you depend on earning by selling the things your wife, makes and the three shillings the two girls earn, is all the entire family have to live on ?" Returned the old man, with a rueful little laugh, " I only wish we had as much, Sir. You forget the rent. It's that that makes such a big bite in our earnings. Come t« take half-a-crown o«t of nine and nine — you was threepence wrong in your reckoning, Sir—and it ain't much of the fat of the land you can go in for on what's left." " But how on earth do you manage ?" " Biesfc if I cap tell you," he replied, as though the matter'was as great a mystery to him as to me. " The old lady could tell you better than I can. Since you've been so kind to ms, you may come and ask her about it yourself if you're got a mind • to." So there and then the two set out together for the house where the old doll's furnituremaker lodged. It was situated in a dark and dismal back sireet, not' far from the canal. Steep and ricketty etaira led down to the basement, and to the back kitchen, at the threshold of which, having heard her grandfather's voice, tho little cripple girl appeared^ with a lainp'aa her left hand and her right, withered-lbak-and no bigger than a baby's, half drawn up to her breast. The afflicted armiwas so wasted and thin that the head of the crutch it rested on looked monstrously out of proportion to its size. She was deplorably ragged and dirty, as wis the old lady, hi 3 wife, who was sitting on t the fender, evidently anxiously awaiting his return. The few words he whispered toner caused her to brighten up considerably, and she gave the correspondent a gracious welcome. " You'll excuse us being so untidy, sir," said she, " but we're on'y just got rid of the match work" (the " ; tiger" had gone to take it to shop), "an^'the place do smoke so in rainy weather, tfrat it's out of the question to try and keep clean." Oertoinly the chimney did smoke. Despite of a breadth of old sacking. that hung from the mantelshelf to within six inches of the top bar of the grate, dense clouds came puffing out heavily laden with sooty particles. Soot festooned the coilin^ clung in patches to the damp, yoll.owwashod walls, and hung in ropy wreaths in the old woman's cap frills and in hor white hair, while tho wrinkles of her-vis-age were as distinct as though they "had been traced with a lead pencil. "I say mother," gasped her husband, M This' is summat choking, ain't it?" ' "go it Is" she replied ; " but when there is no choice but opening the window and letting in the smells what are we to do?" There was no bedstoad in the place, but in a rough packing case in one corner there was a bundle something like a bed, and in another corner, screened with a ragged curtain hung over a strmg, the end of a mattress pooped out All tho visible furniture consisted of a large deal tnblo, three wooden chairs, a stool, a fender, and a clock Have you no other room besides this ?" I inquired. " Bless you, no, Sir,-' the old lady replied ; "it would be all roor* and no wittles if we had more. T.her.c.jun't many of us, you see, and one room js; "quite enough for ns-^witlr nianagenieot^fgnd we should be very comfortable if it wasn't for the smoke. We've 'lived here this eleven years." " And always paid half-a-crown a week?" "Always, landlady won't raise it as long 'as ' we stay she j say^ though. i,t . would ■ fetch two and nine easy. ; if,, wo" jvaa^o le l avl The txQut kitphen, fetQUea tiina W( j a «

But, then, they've got a large family and a mangle." "The gentleman wanted to know, mother, liow you contrive to manage with about six bhillings a week to keep us all ?" "Ah !" replied the old houJ, piously -wagging her sooty nightcap, " God knows how it's done, Imt it is. I ain't got no head for perticlers, so I can't tell the gentleman more about it than that.' _It was evident that she was shyer of entering into details than her old husband had supposed she wouid be, and, finding it was useless pressing her further on the subject, the correspondent bade the family good night, just in time to meet the little matchbox maker who wan such a tiger for work, with a lofidof box wood for herself and her crippled sister to commence on in backkitchen gloom and Hoot at daylight on Monday morning.