New-York tribune., 1875-12-15
SplHF TIE SHOP-GIRLs.

hu appeal recently issued by ii number Of
women of high social standing to the pr0pri-
et0rs Of stores and shops in which female
clerks are employed does not. as may he at
first supposed. tell the whole of its own story.
Il may be as well for TIE TRIBUNE to state
the plain facts Oh which this appeal Is
based.
The custom Of employing wcmcn instead OF
men as clerks in retail stores and shops has
become more common Of late years, first be-
cause their services are often more acceptable
10 customers and secondly, becaus3 those SER
vices can bo obtained az twO-thirds the price
demanded by young men. With the employ
mcnt IF women came tho rule that they should
stand NJ Their counters during the whole of
the business hours, although there might not
be single customer IL the store. This was
done ID impress the possible purchaser with
the alertness and readiness of service, and also
with an idea OF the driving trado which was
going on The hours Of work are in the
higher class Of stores eleven, but III the
smaller ones Of indefinite extent beginning at
half past seven Il. H., and continuing into the
night "a long as IA customer cal be hoped for.
Thus, during the whclc Of this time. with the
exception of IN h0ur or half-hour at noon. the
saloswomau is compelled to stand continuously.
such service" says an eminent physi-
clan "woull wear out any man but
:" 10 exact il from women and girls Is simply
damnable cruelty" No one who has surveyed
the rows Of palll faces behind the counters
Of our retail dy-goods stores viii find fault
with the good doctor for his vehement IAN
guaQe.
IL is unnecessary for us 10 enter upon the
reason, Why women are physically incapable oi
this especial iiy upon thelr strength. lt will
suffice To say that no woman of any age can
endure il for many months unbarmcd, and
that the certain effect upon younS girls Is to
entail upon them class of diseases which
makes Of them invalid sufferers at the very
age when they should have reached the full
maturity of mental aud physical power
The custom Of employing women has been
much longer and more generally in use in
Philadelphia than here, and the same rule was
observed as to standing until three or four
wears ago remonsrance, very similar to that
now published here, was addressed to the
proprioto.s OF stores BY certain kindly old
ladies who well deserved the name of Friends.
In il was stated with great plainness the Iea-
sons why such practice WIS lnhuman 10
brutality, and tho fact that out of certain
number Of shops eight per cent of the sales
women were diseased In consequence of this
requirement. All of the more intelligent and
HIGHER class of employers in that city at once
Welded 10 this request a hearty assent, and it
is only in a few OF the most inferior shops that
tired, iaded women can now be seen leaning
wearily against the upright shelves. We are
confident that the appeal of New-York women
in behalf Of their sisters viii reach men quite
as intelligent and as humane.
The only defense in behalf Of this practice
which bas been made is the stolid assertion
that if the tax is felt 10y women TO he so
great the situation of alerk would not be so
eagerly sought as il is. "If my shopwomen do
"not like il, they can go,r says one merchant !;
al can find hundred before night TO take
"their Places which is very probably true.
Even the kindly ladies who sign the appeal
have, it may be, but little idea Of how many
thou sands Of their poorer sisters glad to bear
any burden to keep themselves from
starvation. One advertisement for q
nursery governcss this Winter brought over
ninety applicants on the first day. The sales