The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-06

Fpors our O.sn Correspondent
vOp- ,o1o
NEW AvSsA, aug. 5, lS(V'

Last evening, impelled by curiosity and the
desire to do my duty as q writer of New-York-
isms, 1 went to Pympton Hall, in which, every
Thursday evening, the members of the Sales
womens Early Closing Association hold a meet
ing. Plympton Hall is situated in Ninth street,
near Third avenue. The meetings are held in
a second-story room which overlooks Ninth
street. The room will seat about 125 people.
About 80 people occupied it last night. OF
these about six were men. No adult male was
admitted who was not a member either Of the
press or of the Male Clerks Early-Closing Asso-
citation. Considering that there are about
5000 saleswomen in the city, the proportion
attending last nights meeting must be accounted
very small indeed.
reached Plympton Hall about 8 o'clock, and
found there three women, a boy, and two men,
one of whom is a reporter. Outwardly grum
but inwardly amiable, I watched and waited
until half-past 8, during which time the first
three row of chairs became occupied. When
that hour arrived a gentleman, who, subse-
quently, was throughout the evening addressed
by Miss Meta as sergeant-at-arms came up to
me and asked me whether | was a Male Clerk.
In a calm and dignifed voice l informed him
that to the best of my knowledge and belief the
first half of that designation appertained to
me, but that l had not the honor of being able
to lay claim to the last. Thereupon | handed
him my card, upon reading which he said 1t was
all right, and explained that they were obliged
TO be particular in excluding every male who
did not represent either the press or the Male
Clerks Early-Closing Association. The object
was 10 exclude employers. 1t was feared that
m my employers might attend for the purpose
OF discovering which of their saleswomen are
members of the association. The consequence
of such discovery would of course be the dis
charge of the aleswome in question.
Previous to this interrogation, however, my
nerves had been considerably shaken by hear
ing an indignant feminine voice calculate from
the landing7place outside,
'Its just to see the girls! That's all he's
come for"
may be mistaken, l will not swear that l am
correct, but / think that is the substance of what
was said, and that it had relation to me-. Evil
IDENTIFY l was regarded by the speaker as an in
terloper, a heartless and depraved wretch who
had attended the meeting for the purpose of
Turing victims to destruction, and feeding my
looks with the spe ctacle of bright eyes and rosy
bushes whose owners eloquently explained the
state of their poor feet, and ''pitched into their
miserable minded employers. However, having
satisfied the gentleman who came to me that l
was merely a harmless looker-on in Vienna, /
was let alone during the rest of the evening.
At ~half-past eight a group of women came in,
and the sergeant-at-arms stationed himself on
a chair beside the door. The group was led by
a woman of twenty-five, dressed in black, and
wearing al Alpine hat that cast a shadow over
her features. This was "Miss Netta," the
voluminous correspondent of the Sun. Upon
reaching the upper part of the hall, where she
was received with applause, 'Miss Meta"
stated that the president was unaccountably
absent. and put the question, who should be
president. to the vote. The vote resulted in the
election # Mr.. Houghton, and the business of
the met ing proceeded.
| am sorry that l cannot say with truth that
many points of great interest were brought to
light. In the first place, the meeting was eX-
tremely small. A heavy shower in the early part
of the evening had evidently kept away many
who would otherwise have attended. Those
who did attend were silent and demure. One or
two kept themselves aloof from the herd, with
an air of elegant and ~scornful exclusivism.
Two or three of the women were as old as fifty;
two or three of the girls as young as fifteen.
All. of them, with one or two exceptions, evinced
an uncomfortable unwillingness to hand in their
experiences. In vain Mr.. Houghton invited
them; in vain "Miss Meta" eXhorted, going over
again the dismal ground of her own experience,
and telling them they had nothing to fear so
long as they worked together and had the news
papers on their side. miss Meta" impressed
one as being a young woman quite able to take
her own part. By this L do not mean that any
thing in her speech or manner was offensive,
but that she seemed to have been goaded
by her grievances to that poin
at which the hindrances presented by shame
facedness are thrown away, and the woman
forces herself into q bravery that is foreign to
her nature. / will not repeat all that 'Miss
Meta said, simply because it has already been
so often printed. The principal grievances she
complained of are that are paid
shamefully mall salaries Give, six, and seven
dollars per week.; that they are compelled to
stand from s o'clock in the morning until 10 at
night; and that they have none of the conye-
niences which women have a right to expect,
not by reason of their womanhood merely, but
on the common ground of humanity.
AT the conclusion of her speech, Mrs. Wood
hull, of the firm of Woodruff q Clahin, came
forward. Mrs. Woodruff is an extremely
understanding and bashful-voiced woman, con-
sideriDg the quantity and quality of the reputa-
ton she enjoys. She looks to be about thirty
five; has brown hair, cut short; wore an Alpine
hat that cast over her features a shadow which
rendered them almost undistinguishable, and
spoke in a confused and timid voice. She had
attended the meeting, she said, merely to learn
precisely what it was the girls did want. She pro-
fessed total ignorance as vet of what their de-
sires were, but promised the support of her
paper if, upon hearing them, she found that she
approved. She was succeeded by Mrs. George
81. Battey, who made one of the neatest and
most sensible speeches of the evening. She COM
menced by begging her hearers not to confuse
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