The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-11-05

SEWING GIRLs.--We have occasionally referred TO
the privatons and suerDgs Of the factory girls, and
there is large class in this city of sempsresses and
sewing girls, earning very precarious living, whose
situations in some respects are any thing but comfor
table, and who can with all their efforts seldom earn
more than dollar week, after paying their board
and many are respectable, OF good families and edu
cation, but compelled from adverse circumstances to
depend upon their daily labor for support. Their
treatment from some classes of EMPLOYERS is any
thing but charitable and proper and recent in
stance to know ledge of great brutality and
hardship, which merits exposure. There is a store
in Broadway over which fashionable dress-maker
lives, who employs several respectable females in
the various departments Of her calling On an occa
sion of one OF the recent professions in Broadway,
the siorekeeper stood in front Of bis store and the
young ladies at the windows above, gazing at the pa
geant. When the whole had passed the storekeeper
found that while at the front door some one had en-
tered his shop and stolen about forty fifty dollars
from his TILL Without rejecting that it was possible
for some one to up from the kitchen, enter the
back door OF the store, and perpetrate the robbery
waiting his opportunity cautiously to detect the thief;
the FIRST idea was that some of the girls from up
stairs, had come down, entered the store and robbed
HIM.
Accordingly he denounced the whole troupe forth
with and he mistress who had reason TO place the
most implicit confidence in the integrity of her girls
instead OF defending them against the accusation sub
jected each To rigid personal examination by her
self, without discovering the least evidence Of guilt
and IN fact being aware that they had not left he
room during the procession. II would have ben i'm
agned that this scrutiny would have been sufficient
and salts factory but at the nstigaton of the store
keeper she consented TO send for police officer who
who, without warrant, proceeded to strip TIE girls
and in the rudest manner to search them, tearing
their clothes, and threa enng them with incsrcera-
ton IN the mbs and terrifying them beyond mea
sure. Nothing being found upon them after this in
delicate scrutiny, the girls indignant as well as
distressed at the treatment they had received all
gave the mistress warniog that they would leave her
and demand their wages.
She finding BY this movement that she would sud-
denly be left without help refused to pay them until
the week expired, and demanded Of one who would
not stay moment that she must make up the time
she lost while being he'd. The stoorkeeper at
tempted TO apologize for his suspicious but he lady
was still under an impress ion, without a shadow OF
proof, that some of her girls had stolen the money
Westate these facts to show how unhappiy these poor
sewing girls are conditioned Compete to work
hard for scanty subsistence probably told by an
unieellng mistress that she only gives them work TO
keep them out of the poor house, and subjected to
continual insults while the mistress is probably re-
allzIng fortune from their labor-.N Y Sun.