St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-05-08
Perhaps YOU think thatit cannot be

publishers did not deem II unwlSe to do
50, should give the names of some of
our best known Broadway houses as
among the offenders against the poor
girls.
In one of the bacl; streets of the town
is hidden the humble home of Il GIRL who
used to 90 ont TO her work but one
day an awning fell down upon her As she
was passing underneath and disabled her
So that she can go out no more. She
iS crippled for life, il am not mistaken.
She has to earn her living still so she
sits III her barren home, and plies her
deft needle hour ON hour bv the window.
She is especially Skilltul with embroidery.
One day there was sent 10 her a cloak to
be made and embroidered. 1t came from
Il well known Broadway merchant, and
was such 4 garment rs you might pay
Scventy-tivc dollars for at his counter
The stuff of which it was to be made was
not very costly-it was only an infant :
cloak-hut it was To he embroidered
most elaborately on body and cape an''
collar and sleeves The work was Sutli-
cient to employ this dcXtercus sewing
girl two whole weeks of unremitting IN
du>trv, The price to be paid was Jom'
dolEr>. Whether the poor girl accepted
the work or not, do not know; if she
did not. another did.
And Just here we come to the unan-
swerable argument OF the men who hire
poor girls at these prices. to Wit, that
there are plenty who need the work, and
will do it at such prices b,otu>c they need
it. Once, when | SAID plain word to
one such employer. taking the liberty of
4 friend. he replied good naturedly, My
dear fellow, what are you talkIn@ about ,
You forget that those girls must h,rf
work. They are thankful enough to gct
what paw them. You men who want
to set the world RIGHT in Il day, don't
know what you are doing. halt the time.
If any girl that works tor me wants to
stop working at those prices, she's p'r-
I,ag welcome 10 stop; there's u dozen
want il, where one gets it. Why. I'm Il
philanthropist myself. in one sense
griud the poor girls They'd >tarvc il |
didn't give 'em work. Keep your iudiG-
cation Ior those >camp~ that ch,'t the
poor iris out of their earnings the city :
nl =. EN- Never mind them, just
nov. The gi>t Of your argument l.. that
You take advantage of til" necessities ul
the poor gir II she did not need Your
work 80 badly You would pay better
prices. Suppose YOU could sell girls
fingers Tor gold. Suppose a girl was
starving. and offered TO sell you her fin
grr,. You would lake them, wouldn't
YOU What not it She needed money
She might ~tarvr. You know :, 'Puoh.
that, nom>cn>c. NO. 1t is only putting
the case tigurativcly. Thc>r girls sell
vuu their health, their very lives some
times hey crow weary of that, and pre-
Ter to sell their chastity
OF course. the rascalS who cheat the
poor Girls out of their earnings are a tar
greater evil than the respectable dealers
who only pay starvation prices. They
are thieves. In many casts they are a.
notorious for their practices aS any well
known tibet whose face is i'll the rogueS'
gallery. Some of them openly boast OF
their success i'll this most Nillainous OF
petty yillauics \ common practice i,
to withhold Il little OF the girls pay from
week to week, on Il plea OF being short,
and, when handsome aggregate has
been reached. to boldly deny the debt.
Anuthrr plan i. to charge that the work
brought in is not well done. These iel-
lows have been repeatedly brought t'
| rrint through the courts, since the r~tab-
/ li-hment of the w orking woman'- pro
trctivc union," which makes a hu>inrS:
of standing between these poor girls anc
! their upprcSSurs in various ways. Here
are a pair Of cases i'll point, gathered
from the record-book> of this society.
>ansamc gave a poor girl pirc" o
twelve yards OF bead work to do. rcqulr
inc her to deposit dollar before taking
it away. She did ii, and returned it
whcrrupom he declared She had spoile,
it. and refused to pay her a cent for hr
labor. Not only that, but lie kept he
dollar deposit. In proof that she haC
not spoiled it. she offered to Iay tn
scamp for the material. and take tin
work herself but he would not do that
: Betenoir employed 4 poor girl at fin
ishing pantaloons, paying her bcggarl,
price. OF course, the poor thing, whel
she had Il chance to work for better pay
graspcd eagerly at it, Betonoir was en-
RACED. What business had a miserabl
needle Girl to want to live? He curse
her for her pertidy in daring to leave hir
for a better place. will you please t
pay me- murmured the terrified cir
who could not bear to lose the little sun
he owed her Yes, d-n you said Ii,
III pay you and he kicked her dow
stairs.
l could give hundred Just such case:
!! there were any need. The evil is nc
! confined to sewing-girl employers. p
pier employed a girl at making paper
boxes a year and half, and kept bac
+ bits of her pay till 1t amounted to fit
- dolars-then denied he owed it. Boz
bon employed girl at cutting and pacE
II ing fig-p;tstc, ior two cents pound, bl
:, paid her only' one cent. You're maxim
too much money! SAID the brute. c.
, buhrer is a brush maker, who chea
every girl who works Tor him; here
the record of party of ten girls, each
whom he owes some paltry sum-tol
dollars, seven dollars, ten dollars
. which, however, has an almost incor
!, ceiyablc value to them. Here is a ia
:, maker, there galter-maker, yonder
=, hair-dresser and wig maker-they NAL
r no inconsiderable profit yearly by the
v skill in manipulating poor girls, gettll
: work done for nothing, or next to not
ing.-Putna0''s Monthly.