... They receive five pounds of pork, a pint of molasses, and one peck of meal each per week; three suits of clothes, a blanket and a hat a year. But they have no wives. They are chiefly by birth Virginians , and were nearly all bought in the Old Dominion eleven years ago. The majority that I spoke with were married men and fathers at the time of the purchase; but, as the railroad company had no need of ...