The mildness of slavery in Pennsylvania impressed every observer. Acrelius said that negroes were treated better there than anywhere else in America. Peter Kalm said that compared with the condition of white servants their condition possessed equal advantages except that they were obliged to serve their whole life-time without wages. Hector St. John Crèvecoeur declared that they enjoyed as much liberty as their masters, that they were in effect part of their masters' families, and that, living thus, they considered themselves happier than many of the lower class of whites.[109] There is good reason for believing these statements, since a careful study of the sources shows that generally masters used their negroes kindly and with moderation.[110] Living in a land of plenty the slaves were well fed and comfortably clothed. They had as good food as the white servants, says one traveller, and another says as good as their masters.[111] In 1759 the yearly cost of the food of a slave was reckoned at about twenty per cent. of his value.[112] Likewise they were well clad, their clothes being furnished by the masters. That clothes were a considerable item of expense is shown by the old household accounts and diaries. Acrelius computed the yearly cost at five per cent. of a slave's value.[113] In the newspaper advertisements for runaways occur particularly full descriptions of their dress.[114] Almost always they have a coat or jacket, shoes, and stockings.[115] It is true that when they ran away they generally took the best they had, if not all they had; but making due allowance it seems certain that they were well clad, as an advertiser declared.[116] As to shelter, since the climate and economy of Pennsylvania never gave rise to a plantation life, rows of negro cabins and quarters for the hands never became a distinctive feature. Slaves occupied such lodgings as were assigned to white servants, generally in the house of the master. This was doubtless not the case where a large number was held. They can hardly have been so accommodated by Jonathan Dickinson of Philadelphia, who had thirty-two.[117]