The "Hoppers' Opera."

Southland Times, Issue 19471, 26 November 1904, Page 3 (Supplement)

The "Hoppers' Opera."

' ♦ A WEEK IN THE KENT HOi GARDENS. (By Reynolds's Special Comoiissio.'ier.) With .many a jork the " rattler," as it was appropriately termed by the Commissioner's fellow travellers, alowly started from the Low Level station at London Bridge shortly after 12 last Sunday morning and lumbered on. towards Malidstone. At first the jollity which had marked the departure at London Bridge kept the occupants of every compartment awake, but soon after the tunnels which divide the Thames from the Medway valleys had been passed, " Bill bailey " had been requested to "go 'ome '' for the last time ; and the hoppers, like Tom Noddy and his friends, wero fast asleep. At length, about 3 o'clock the train crawled into the halWighted Maidstone railway station, and the scene of confusion which marked th© departure from London Bridge was reproduced without the good temper then displayed, for the babies were screaming, the mothers shrieking and the fathers in a sullen condition of sobriety. Some of the travellers wero determined to have their sleep out, and camped for an hour or two on the flags "of the Market-place. ■Others, more determined,, set oft on the final ' stages of their journeys, and Reynolds's couunfissioner attached himself to ■eSje of these parties, whose destination jpis a large hop farm in the valley oi 1R& little river Lett, a few uiiles from t~e historic Leeds Castle. , It was the dawn of a lovely Sabbath morning as the party passed through the silent streets, where, except In the vicinity of the railway, the only living soul to be seen was a sleepy policeman rubbing his eyes. Toiling up a steep hill, t wayside inn was gained, where, after i knocking at the door, which would haw awakened the porter at Mactoeth's castle ; the host thrust tiis head from an uppei window. " Come, guy,'nor, got up There's 40 on us here, yJaUT boner fiddlej travellers;, to say nothing of Hie lifctlj -"uns," was the sal utation* which greeta< his oars. But he probably was no.tf ;h«g as well pleased to hear the remark .o more than one East-ender, who, aftei drinking, his- first -'draught of Kentish ale expressed the opinion -that " it's not hnl aa: good, as. Mann and Crossinan's." Pas qjuaint- ,,<pld ' fioußes, the) rJiilgar dens asUw with" autumn flowere, amid the musie^c

birds and the ringing of the church bells, the toilers of the Eost-omd led and carried their youngsters and pushed their family) goods along the dusty white roads. Every mile or so some little party broke off from the main body, and turned aside up some Jeafy by-way to the farm they wero bound for, and it was not without satisfaction to the commissioner that he at length cast his eyes upon v little green ilell, sheltered, from tho north by giant oak and elm trees, where were pitched some 20 bell tents, which sparkled white in the sunshiae upon tho verdant grass, and was informed, " Guvnor, that there's our camp." THE HOPPER'S CAMP. By the side of the little babbling Leiv* was standing a long range of hop houses, and a tall Kentish yeoman, with a kindly smile, presented the .matrons of the parties with the keys of these domiciles with words of greeting. The doors were opened, the loggings of straw placed inside by the farmer were quickly strewn upon Piles of dry hop bine ; the peram- | bulators were rolievod of their buidens of bedding and crockery, fires of faggots were lighted, and. cooking 1 was vapidly in full swing. Meanwhile nearly evciy child had divested itself of shoes «ud stockings, and was scampering, unad with joy, about the meadow, or frightening the trout by paddling in the waters of the stream. Work, commenced in anost of the hop gardens on Monday morning', and shortly after 9 o'clock at the farm in question some 300 men, women and children assembled at the gate of tho foiwiuouse to hear, in accordance with custom, the " rules " read by tho farmer. These ara two-fold and set out the duties of the " bin men/ or pole-pullers, as they are sometimes called, and tho obligations which fall upon the pickers, wliilo ono of these laws— anent tho surreptitious pickIng of fruit— seemed specially inserted for tho benefit of the youngsters, ,who, by the way greeted th ! is awful pronouncement with unconcealed grins. Tho farmer finishes by wishing -all present a pleasant picking ; a tall old pensioner, whf> wishes tho picking wotild last till Ist October bellowa out " God Save the King," at which there is a great laugh, ond the bin men claim their respoctve pikers nnd conduct them to tho bins, which nre already stationed in^the green alleys, and at tho blowing of a horn down comes the first pole. Tho work itself is by no' means laborious, while it is conducted under conditions which are healthy, and which afford entire relaxation from the hard grinding of the mill of poverty in London. Your hopper is by no means without amusements, for he or she smoke ond sing at work, wittidisma are shouted from one bin's company to" another, while every night there ia a sing-song in Ihe village inn, in which even "mother" takes fart, after she has finished her shopping at tho grocer's, the butcher's, and the baker's, " THE 'OPPERS' OPERA.' Indeed, a certain lord, whose name is not to ho found upon the roll of the House of Peers, makes a point of visiting hoplantl during tho picking, and it is as ga-eat a point of honour with 'opy>nrs " to visit the " 'oppers' opera " as it i 9 for my lord duke and lady marchioness to be seen in Covent Garden at the opening of the season. Lord George knows his business, for who could refuse to visit " a scene of mapnificence and oi«ientnl splendour which even rivals the eflories of the Kreat Delhi Durbar," especially when this attraction was enhanced by the vresence of thf " r:<liut»' liorso." an intelligent (iniiual who hns been persuaded to lie on its buck while a portly pfcntlemnn. got up to represent an Oxford don. flashes a magnesium light upon its stomach ? To this opera of the poor trooped hoppers from nil the creat hop-growing districts surrounding Maidstone, and as they returned from the delights of the snwdust rinc the radium horse formed the staple subject for conversation during the intervals' of our old friend " Bill Bnil^v " and " The Baby on your Knee."