The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-02-12

Aal Naittts lilIlN ClAu.
fifteen centimes 10 expend upon her daily
food, II she i fortunate enough 10 be in
good health during the 1855 days OF the
year. The greater majority OF workwo-
men do not save AS much by fifty or sew
enty-fye centimes. How do they llyes
IL Is hardly possible for those who have
never seen them In their homes 10 have
any idea OF such an existence. In oruer 10
reach their garrets IL rs necessary 20 cross
a fetid alley and toll in the darkness mp
three pairs Of stairs. Their narrow win
dows open on the root. The badly-lolned
lattices which support the sashcs let Ia the
rain In winter and the heat In summer.
There Is no chimney or stove or furniture.
There are bed, or rather pallet. and one
or two straw hassocks. The landlord.
who Is poorly paid by his half starved
tenants, cannot afford TO make any repairs.
The poor girl i only separated from her
neighbors by "A worm-eaten partition.
The Commissioners Of Examination i'm
1856 found a woman who was buried.
rather than lodged, In hole five feet high
by three wide, and another who was OBJ
liged TO break her only window Ina order
10 breathe. They visited garrets which
were entirely bare Of furniture. without
even chair orr wooden bedstead, or even
the straw mattress accorded TO the prison.
er In his dungeon. Women who work for
very small wages are generally wretchedly
fed. They usually content themselves
with three sous worth OF bread and two of
milk daily. There are many women in
Paris who never spend more; and who. so
To speak, know nothing of any other kind
of food. They thus succeed in feeding
themselves, insufilciently, to be sure.
on 80 francs year. But these so
francs must be saved in some way.
We have said that the average work
womin pays 100 francs for rent. If
she lodges in room with Others, the cav
ing will not be very great. for most of the
dodgers pay ~ centimes day, or ~ francs
a year. For cheaper lodgings they must
go to places where the Imagination refuses
TO place an honest woman, even for an i'm
slant. Light is indispensable 10 labor:
we might almost say that fuel is also.
Washing and clothing. which we have es-
timated at about 10 francs, remain. and
out Of this 40 francs We must take 80 for
clothing. IL is clear that the poor creature
Will have no underclothing, and can wear
nothing but rags. And vet she works
twelve hours a day: she lives In an unfur-
nished garnet, and never eats any thing but
bread and milk. All the women she
knows have lovers. No one is ashamed OF
that; poverty serves as an excuse 10 those
who It'll wish 10 excuse themselves. The
romances which they devour with avidty
1t Is one of their passions, as drunken
ness Is with men-treat adultery a. mere
peccadillo. or even exait IL rs virtue.
She tolls all day In garrett. She is young.
She is Partisan and knows what passes
two steps from her. When the young girl.
after having waited until evening, in order
not 10 lose moment, and that she NAV
not be seen in her rags. takes her work
home, trembling lest her employ
er should cnrtail her pay or defer il
until another day. from the moment she
steps into the street, all the pomp of the
world passes before her eyes. The shop
windows are ablaze with diamonds. and
the most coquetish par7rres tempt her
Partisan taste. she sees the herOnes Of
vice, magniiicenuy dressed, sweep by in
their splendid equipages. Inviting strains
OF music peal from the open doors of
theaters. concerts and public ball rooms.
II she has no family and religion. what
will preserve her! She need not even seek
or wait for an opportunity. Her for
tune is in her own hands; she knows that
she Is at liberty 10 choose at any
moment between excessive pleasure and
excessive suffering. She cannot, ii she be
fair enough TO attract, doubt this. In Paris
all the bnls at the barriere are tree 10 wo-
men. Is IL for nothing the refined de-
bauchcry has lis own quarter in the capi-
tai: that the whole world points TO the
public gardens of Paris and her winter OF
summer balls; that theater and litera-
ture have been created for the purpose of
dese riding the habits OF her cOurteZans.
and exating their remnant Of virtue
When poor girls see these triumphs of
vice, Is II possible that their souls should |
remain pure, that N the depths of their |
hearts they should not make the same
comparisons which urge men 10 hatred |
and revolt, and precipitate women into \
debaucheryy The best and happiest es-
cape the worst corruptions by taking a /
lover In their own rank OF life. They 4
rarely marry An honest workman who /
wishes TO marry seeks his wife in the |
bosom of family. Among the irregular 1
connections formed in workshops and \
elsewhere, some are Indefinitely prolong-
ed. and constitute by their duration a sort \
Of marriage without legal conservation.
Ii Is sad position for woman, AS she
has no acknowledged right and depends
entirely on her lovers kindness. II these
poor. lonely creatures fall into the power
OF bad man. they are soon abandoned.
When workman does not love his mis-
tress- and breads being obliged TO support
her and her child. he take himself off in
search Of new amours. What will become
Of the poor creature who could hardly
live when she had only herself 10 supportg
Where will she go with her impaired
health and ruined characters II she Is
still attractive. she forms another connec-
ton. Too often she falls still lower.
Among the women who have sunk to the
lowest depths. there are some who have
become degraded in order TO support their
children. Parent Duchatelet saw one
who had struggled so long against her
fate that when she came to register her
name she had not eaten for three DAYS.