St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-03
!Si0rftiHg statements Of q CHY
DOILfHg H'OHluH.

w = isihN iIlt lOilOh II IOill IL tOullIiu
nicatiOn appearing in one of the Chicag,
city dailleS, from the pen OF Il "workin.
woman" who, we understand, is Il ncal
relative Of a distinguished American au.
thores-, and who bitterly knows of that
Of which she writes
Anna Dickinson, during her first Ia.
borS i'll the lecture field, related Il touch.
ing story of 4 poor girl who passed
through cvrcY phase OF want and wretch
clneSs, until she driftci into that sad
stream into which 50 many DRIFT, and
was carried swiftly down lis murky tide
until the wide ocean Of sin and shame re-
ccivcl her wrctchcl life, where she
tossed and struggled until death Til.
one case, set forth with HIGH dramatic
colorin.g, palhctically related, moved au-
dicnccs to tears, and yet it was but an
often reiterated tale of Il poor struggling
sewing girl doing "slop-work" for Il pit
tancr, and often being turned away with
out her miserable earnings, on the plea
that her work WAS not properly done.
| Crowds left the lecture room with hearts
full Of Indignation at this one great wrong
this Wholesale robbery of the poor,
halt-ied, sewing girl; and yet the great
wrong goes steadily on. We need no
Anna Dickinson, with sweet, pleading
voice, To tell us of this wrong; we have
but To answer one of the many advertise
mcntS calling for ''cXperienccl ~cwin.
machine operators" nouc other need
apply at certain popular SEWN. ma
chine dcputs. You %, Us did friend
of mine, il you wish for work, or to in
vestlgate the matter, and are sent, :ts She
was, TO another place, where they will
furnish one or two popular machines for
your use, while in their employ, and to
those poor flies, who are unsophisticatcd
or wrctchcd enough TO be drawn iato
their web, they actually rtlcr the prince
ly sum of one dollar and Twenty-Five
cents per dozen for garments. said gar
mcnts 10 b. tucked AMI ruff, and aS
nice work expected rs If the wurk-wu-
men were receiving what has long been
considered 1T least a decent price ior one
article of the same amount uf work,
Sl.25.
My tliend. upon hearing the induce
mrnt, and being asked if she were a good
operator, answered.: Il have been Il
machine operator for thirteen years, and
though | want work, don't think | have
spent all that time in order TO work for
twenty-five cents a day" a woman,
probably Il victim, 10 doaht driven to
this last resort from absolute want, Sit
tin9 at one Of the .machincs, answered
d,.pcratcly: "A girl cannot earn har
salt at this rate"
have no doubt shc kept her place,
even after this imprudent speech, for the
demand for worhing-wumrn WAS largr,
and hope there are few women, even
considering the misery anl actuI want
Swarmlng this great city, who would
wrong their sister workmcn 50 much as
10 consent TO work for such starvation
wascs-hence, no one, probably, Is ever
dischar"cd,f from that office
\ lew weeks since, the city papers re-
lated how Il yoHng lady had been arrest
cd for pawning 4 SEWN. mrchinc for
which she had not yet paid. She bought
it of one of the many firms who advcr-
tiSc machines, promising TO furnish work
to enable buyers 10 pay for them. The
ollcr seeming good on the face, but the
sequel showed too sadly the actual fraud
ulcncy Of the arrangement. know the
lady well. Day by day she would pass
me i'll the halls OF our lodging place,
looking more like Il frightened ghost than
anything earthly. vi-itcd her in her
room. 1t was an inner room, lighted
only from the halls, such is we often see
in our lar@c public buildings. The only
furniture she possessed, was her sewing
machine and trunk. Her bed consisted
Of mattress placed upon either box
or chairs. A few chairs belonging to
the building had been lent her, and these
completed the furniture of this room,
where she toiled early and late, at her
machine. She told me that, work rs
hard as she might she could only make
scventy-tiyc cents per day. know for
some time her sole food was bread and
milk, and that not too often. Her work
was tucking skirts, and she. usually man
aged to finish three day, working late.
She showed me one 1t was tucked half
way of the skirt, in half inch tucks, and
it seemed TO me rs ii every tuck should
have been marked indclibly, Gone step
nearer destruction" For SO it was to
her. When she found health and
strength failing, and her face grew thin
ncr each day, and the look in her eyes
grew more wild and desperate; when
her hope of anything better failed, she
resortcd TO what, many a poor, proud
woman has done bctore-shc pawned
her machine, trusting in Providence for
the help to enable her to redeem it. She
did not mean to defraud her creditors
but they ascertained the facts ut length
and she was arrested, imprisoned, and
suffered everything proul, sensitive ma
ture could suffer under the circumstances.
A friend assisted her at this point, and
she was liberated on bail. The next we
heard she had disappeared, and what
part of the earth holds her poor aching
heart, we do not know; but the memory
OF her white face will ever haunt me, as
L wish it could ever follow and haunt
those Shylocks of our city who wear out
''human creatures" in this unholy lust
for gain. Cannot this matter be agitat-
ed once more in a more forcible manner
than ever before? Oh, ye who weep
and groan over the steady and fearful
growth of the 'social evil among us,