Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/163

 for Instance, a spacious dining-hall, with accommodation for 1,000 men, each seat being provided with a coffee can and cup, and a cooking tin. Adjoining the dining-hall are large kitchens fitted with ovens, boilers, and hot-plates, where the workmen can either procure their meals at a small cost, or can bring their own provisions, and have them cooked free of charge.

Near the works are schools, largely supported by the Company, where the children of the workmen are educated for a very small fee, while near the schools is a Science and Art Institute, a handsome brick building, in which so much good work is being done, that an extension of the premises will very shortly be necessary. The Company have provided also a spacious recreation ground near the station, and the men can boast of a promising amateur athletic club, cricket and football clubs, and a strong and efficient company of the County Volunteers.

Wolverton, to a great extent, resembles Crewe in being a railway colony, the inhabitants of which are all engaged in one occupation, and although a considerable number of young women are employed in the works, there were formerly a great many girls, the daughters of the workmen, who could find no occupation. Seeing this difficulty, Messrs. McCorquodale and Co., the Company's stationery contractors, considerately came to the rescue, and by erecting a large envelope factory in the immediate neighbourhood, have provided suitable employment for the surplus female population. Apart from the carriage works at Wolverton, the superintendent of the carriage department has under his orders, at what are termed "Out-stations," a staff of nearly 1,200 men, who are engaged in the repair,