THE WORKING MAN OF SYDNEY HOW HE LIVES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1749, 25 January 1888, Page 4

THE WORKING MAN OF SYDNEY HOW HE LIVES.

(From the " Australian Star .")

As to reut for a married man with at family : Very few three roomed oottageß I can be rented under 10s to 12* per week m a respeotable locality, two and three ( families often occupy the one house, the ( one who rents the whole hou3o ; piys from 16j to 203, end sublets ii at a proa ; 25s to 303 a week ehould provide fond a»d rent for a family of four. Kn to food, the price of boef varies from 3£ Ito6^ p r !*> mutton from 21 tn 41. Arl'p r »urn v oan be purchased at 23 to 2^l, la some of the suburb 3 meat is considarably denter, 3si to 4d being the Jowe3t at wMch routtun oan be bought. Bread is from 5d to 6 I the 4!b lloathef — the standard price is 6J. There ' are a few shops where it can be pcrohasad for 51 cash dowD, and fet^h it yourself Grooaries are not dear, oandles oan be bought at from 6d per 1b upwards, one house cells light-weight etearlnes (14 z) at s£i ; full-weight CJ and upwards, accord' log to brand Butter, 6i to 10d ; milk, 6i per quart ; tea, Is 61 t> 2s 6d per lb ; sugar 2&d to 3d. In the suburbs grcoariei are dearer. Pecple who deal at the small shops ani buy only very small qaantitiea, 3d and 6d worth at a time, pay considerably more for their weekly stores tbau those who buy m larger quantities, snd lay 1 1 their week's stock. The singe man m Sydney oan get his meals for the whole wtek at from 7s to 9), or by the meal at 41 to 63, and hare a large variety from whioh to choose ; the carte occupying a long Hit with French namen given m The unmarried individual oan also get half of a room, with single bed, at 4i to 5j a week. Clothing is cheap, a new rig out can be had for 25s and upwards, according to quality, the clothier getting his trousers well made for 91 a pair, and shirts at d> ; troaeers oan be bought slop-made at from 3s 61 upwards, made to measure from 12i 6d. Bluoher boois, a good article, 5j 6i to 6s; quarry boots made to measure, 10a to 12< ; eltstic sides, slop made, from 7s upwards. Tools oan be purchased at low prices, a good many of them, although branded as steel, being no better than bcop iron; the In erior quality of mott of the tools purchased results m a national loss, and they should not be allowed to be landed out of the ship which brings them ; a purchaser living m or near » town oan easily replace them, but to the firmer or busbman who has to earn his living with them and finds out their worthlessntgi, it frequently means two or three days' enforced idleness and a long j lurney when he oan ill spare the time, xhe money thrown away on both cheap clothes and tools is a national waste. The importer and wholesale dealer will frequently make two or three hundred per cent prcfit oa the goods.

There are thousands of unemployed In New South Wales. A second-hand clothes dealer the other day said, "I am doing Dothlng now, . I have had to give np buying, for I oan sell nothing. I have hardly sold a thing for a month, and ordinarily I do a good business, bring well-known and eittbiisbed m my present prem'sas for some years " A we!l-kaown pawnbroker alto aaid, " The distress amongst the well* to-do working olassos is very great. The people are parting with their family idols, •nd it is not for the purpose of purchasing drink, bat food." We met a steady bricklayer at Redfern tbe other day taking a ticket for Melbourne, whom we knew to be walking ab ut vainly looking for work fifteen months ego ; who *aid, "I have been m Melbourne fifteen months and have- not loet a day except it was through bad weather. I oame over to see my relatives, and am goiog back now." Another eteady tradesman we Raw en board the steamer ElingHmite thi* (hriday; morning, going to Melbourne with his wife He has been there thretmontbs, and e-ma for bis wife. 81 members of one suburban branch of thtProtection Union are m Melbourne getting plenty of work. We cannot sgre? with osr correspondent respecting th» feeling of antagonism to Victoria amongst onr working classes. If such a feeling exists, it is among <t a very few, and those the most innorart of th<* nl»«p.