from the ships and the lighters and the shore. Lives are frequently lost among the coal-carriers by the laborer falling into the sea of the harbor while crossing the narrow plank from ship to lighter. SAILMAKERS earn from 75, cents to 83 cents per day of 10 hours on an average, though when the dock-yard is run to its fullest capacity then the outside sailmakers' daily earnings are slightly in advance of these figures. The dock-yard laborer earns less per day, i. e., from 60 to 70 cents, but his work is generally steadier. The dock-yard is a Government establishment, and the workmen employed in it work sixty hours per week in the summer and fifty-four hours in winter, and for overtime-not exceeding three hours-they are paid 8 cents per hour. The following list of wages paid workmen of various trades throughout the island was compiled by Mr. James Duncan, a Scotch merchant and shipper of twenty-five years' standing in Malta: [The average duration of labor per week is usually sixty hours in summer, and fifty-four hours in winter.] WAGES IN GOZO. In the Maltese island of Gozo the prices paid for labor are as nearly as possible as follows: The agricultural laborers earn about the same wages as the fieldhands in Malta, averaging, say, from 34 to 42 cents per long day's work. The lace workers of Gozo (who made by hand most of the celebrated Malta lace that is manufactured in the islands) number about 4,500 women and girls, all working at their own homes in the courts of their houses or in the open air outside. They work by the piece for the shopkeepers of Valletta, who contract for the lace, the latter furnishing patterns and providing the silk, linen, and cotton material needed. They earn from 48 cents to $1.21 each per week, and work on an average of ten hours per day the year round. It is scarcely possible for women to engage in an occupation requiring more persistent, steady, patient ap plication than Malta lace making. The lace-worker's eyes early show the trying effects of their pursuit, and I conclude, from personal observation, that fully one-fifth of the women and girls engaged in this industry have eye diseases of one kind or another. Their small earnings are all expended in the cost of living and an occasional cheap, high-colored frock and a black silk faldetta for festa days. They eat and drink bread, fish, and wine, very seldom indulging in meats and vegetables, excepting in the shape of soup-like stews hotly seasoned. The cost of living seems almost ridiculous-were it not so pitiful-one poor woman telling me sadly that owing to the high price of food she could not save but a penny a day out of her earnings of 8 pence. Fruits are, however, generously plenty in Gozo, and grapes, prickly-pears, pomegranates, &c., grow almost wild and are exceedingly cheap. The hardest stone in the Maltese islands is found in Gozo, and is known as "zoncor." It is largely used in the city of Valletta for the steps of the stairs that climb the steepest streets. Gozo contains about 17,000 inhabitants, the great majority of whom are "bread-winners." The wages earned by them are: Quarrymen, from $1.58 to $2.19 per week; stone dressers, from $1.94 to $2.19 per week. These figures are for handling the usual soft stone of the island; for hard stone (zoncor) the wages are exactly double. Stone carriers are paid 8 cents per foot of stone according to distance; hard stone, double price. Builders' masons earn from $2.92 to $3.65 per week; carpenters, $1.58 to $2.42; gardeners, $1.21 to $1.46; tailors, $1.21 to $1.46; shoemakers, 73 cents to $1.21. All working from 6 a. m. in summer and 7 a. m. in winter till sunset. The bakers of Gozo earn 7 cents per bushel of flour for kneading, and for baking 6 cents per bushel, which is often done during six hours night work. Slaughterers receive for killing pigs 12 cents each, and for oxen 24 cents each, including dressing. Cigar-makers, usually girls, are paid 2 and 3 cents per 100 cigars and they can earn from 12 to 18 cents a day if they are industrious. Farriers are paid 12 cents per pair of shoes, and, for trimming, 8 cents per animal. These farriers will go to stables or fields to do their jobs, carrying their tools with them. The Gozo boatmen average earnings of from 12 cents to 16 cents per voyage to Valletta, and seldom make more than one trip a day. The wages of fishermen are exceedingly uncertain, but withal, renumerative—say, from 75 cents to 95 cents per day averaged by the year. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. For courtesies, facilities, statistics and other aids freely afforded me in preparing these reports, I beg to express my many thanks to the following gentlemen: Hon. Walter Hely-Hutchinson, C. M. C., lieutenant-governor and chief secretary of the Malta government. Hon. George L. Carr, captain royal navy and superintendent of ports in Malta. Mr. F. A. B. Genest, C. E., general manager of Malta Railway. Mr. Thomas Vella, clerk in custom-house. Mr. John Horn, proprietor of iron works. Mr. David Robb, royal navy, chief engineer's office. Mr. George A. Page, proprietor of Malta Standard. Mr. J. Segond, manufacturer. Mr. M. A. Crockford, merchant. Messrs. Hornby & West, merchants. Rev. Canon Dion R. Pationiott. Mr. C. Breed Eynaud, shipping merchant. JOHN WORTHINGTON, GIBRALTAR. REPORT BY CONSUL SPRAGUE. In reply to the Department circular letter dated the 15th February last, and received on the 24th ultimo, I beg to state that the only manufacturing industry that Gibraltar has, or ever had, is Cigar and cigarette making, which formerly afforded employment to a considerable number of men, women, and children; but owing to the languishing state of the tobacco trade from the rigorous and vexatious restrictions imposed by the local government, this branch of industry has greatly declined, so that a comparatively small number now earn but a scanty and precarious livelihood by what was once a flourishing business. It is true that the scale of wages in this employment has been at all times rather low, but at present I believe it to be merely nominal. There is no agricultural employment in Gibraltar, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to fix upon any definite scale of charges here for most of the labor or work done by different tradesmen and artisans as elsewhere, for in Gibraltar tradesmen, artisans, and laborers are commonly engaged in job work. Coal-heavers, whose services are only required for the occasion, are paid according to the amount of labor performed. The following charges may be considered as the actual ones paid in the coal trade, viz: Thirty -cents per ton for discharging coal from steamships when by steam winch, and 38 cents per ton when by whips. The foreman gets $1 besides for every 100 tons of coal discharged. The coal merchants pay 18 cents per ton for receiving coal on board their hulks; 31 cents per ton are charged for coaling steamships from the between-decks of hulks, and 38 cents per ton when from the hold. The foreman also receives $1 per 100 tons for coaling steamships. The laborers average from 75 cents to $1 per diem. The most serious item in the poor man's expenses here is house rent, which has always been excessive, owing to the overcrowded population of this small town. The usual food of the ordinary classes consists of bread and butter and coffee or tea in the morning, a Spanish soup either of meat or of oil and vegetables with macaroni, during the day, and fried fish and bread for supper. The poorest classes subsist chiefly upon fish and vegetables. The present rates of wages, compared with those which prevailed in 1878, have hardly experienced any material change, for, notwithstanding that general depression exists in trade, the coal traffic rather increases, and employs many laborers. The cheapness of wine and spirituous liquors is somewhat of a temptation to inebriety among the working classes here. Strikes are hardly known, as the laborer is entirely helpless, and unable to remove elsewhere, with a view to better if possible his condition or seek other employment, so that he is almost at the mercy of his employer. No co-operative societies exist at Gibraltar, nor are there any factories established within its fortress or boundaries. The principal occupation at this port of the working classes, who may be justly regarded as the most indigent, and whose moral and social condition generally leaves great room for improvement, is in the coal trade. They are composed chiefly of Maltese, Spaniards, Portuguese, and other inhabitants of southern climes. With the exception of the Gibraltar natives and the Maltese, they reside outside this fortress, in the surrounding villages in Spanish jurisdiction, but are permitted, through the indulgence of the British authorities, to enter and work in the coal trade at this port under temporary day permits; at least 1,200 of this class of laborers are constantly employed in this work, and, although free to purchase the necessaries of life wherever they choose, it is more than probable that they are somewhat subjected to some conditions by their respective foremen, who, holding exclusive privilege of hiring them, have, doubtless, the means of obliging them to patronize certain drinking establishments for some private benefit to themselves. These laborers are paid immediately after they finish their work, by their respective foremen, in copper coins. Being generally burdened with a numerous family to maintain, they can hardly earn sufficient to meet their most pressing necessities; it is therefore rare for any of them to succeed in laying up anything for old age or sickness. This circumstance induces those Gibraltar natives, who reside here, to seek employment in the Government works, and in the local colonial service, in which occupation they receive regular wages, and at times, when serving for a certain number of years with a goodconduct badge, succeed in retiring with a pension. The difficulty of entering such employment becomes greater every year, as the number of applicants increases. The civil hospital of Gibraltar is the only establishment affording relief to the sick, poor, and indigent. This it does, to a limited extent, besides a gratuitous issue of medicines. Accidental injuries are promptly attended to without any formal application for admission. There is no extensive provision made for the aged, infirm, and disabled, most of whom are dependent upon private charity. A private asylum exists, which was founded in 1850 by the trustees of the late Mr. John Gavino, an old Italian resident, who was United States consul at Gibraltar in 1804. He bequeathed the whole of his large and valuable property for charitable purposes, and this interesting monument of his piety and benevolence maintains about thirty aged pauper men and women, besides twenty orphan children. Education in Gibraltar is well attended to. The Government allows a grant from the local revenue equivalent to the amount subscribed by voluntary contributions. All religious denominations here, Episcopalian, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Hebrew, have their schools, both male and female, and all are under Government inspection. In addition to the foregoing there are numerous private schools for the education of the better classes, besides an infant school, where children are admitted from the age of four years, and which is said to be of great benefit to the poorer classes of mothers in relieving them from the cares and anxieties incident to the management and superintendence of helpless children. With very few exceptions female labor is limited to the ordinary household duties or as domestic servants, therefore there are no opportunities offered females to engage in industrial pursuits like in manufacturing and large commercial towns beyond cigarette and cigar making, as already mentioned. As regards those females who are employed in millinery shops and such kind of occupation, being generally relatives of the proprietors of these establishments, they have no fixed wages, but are treated as members of the family. I return herewith the tabular forms which accompanied the circular. Most of them are filled up, while the others, being inapplicable to Gibraltar for the information required, remain in blank. HORATIO J. SPRAGUE, III. FOUNDRIES, MACHINE-SHOPS, AND IRON WORKS. Wages paid per week of fifty-four hours in foundries, machine-shops, and iron works in |