The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-04-12
WORKING Iyomcn.s Wages,

From the New York World.
Excepting the working women them
selves, no one can know more about thei
hardships than the persons who have thu
conduct Of the Working WomCn's Protec
tive Union, the headquarters OF which arr
at No. 3S Blocker street. Mrs. Ferrel
the Superintendent Of the Union. on being
asked what she thought Of Mr.. Readei
letter, said: ooh, Mr.. Reade ia novel
list, aud can probably make fine romance
Out Of anything. But perhaps he has
not seen what l have seen. There arc
some people who think that girl who is
to proud TO so out as servant is very
likely to do something great deal worse
You know what mean. But | can tell
you that have known women to suffer
hunger and all kinds Of torture, and yet
maintain their honor and self respect"
u believe that your association has no.
thing to do with supplying ladies with
domestic servants 2"
"No, we have not directly, and yet VIC
do send some young girls to such places
We go upon the principle that young
girl is better oifas domestic in rcspec.
table private family than as an operative
in factory. She is removed from temp
tation, has good example set for her
and, besides getting q comfortable home,
she is we'll led, and gets some wages"
Mrs, Ferrer, who ought to be well
qualified to answer the question, was
asked give scale ofprices as at present
paid TO "work ladies" and professionals, i"
and gave II us follows:
Operators on sewing machines, from
81 to Sl2 per week.
Seamstresses, $40 to SIS per month.
Dressmakers, 81 to S. so per day.
Errand girls, SO so to 81 per week.
Housekeepers, $40 to SOS per month
Nurses, S. to Sl4 or SIS per month.
Assistants, S. to 81 per month.
Tailoresses, 50 per week.
Teachers, S25 per month.
Shirtmakers, S. to 50 per week.
Paper collarmakers, S. per week.
Capemakcrs, 81 to So per week.
Workers on trimmings, 81 to S. per
week.
Salcswomen, S. to $40 per week.
Hair workers, So to SO per week.
Servants, S. to $l5 per month and
kept.
Being asked il many girls followed the
advice 10 accept situations as domestics,
Mrs. Ferrer said that very few did, and
that American girls especially had an
aversion to living out. She said she
could not blame them mucl, either, for
some OF the girls who wanted situations
were really superior to the "ladics" who
wanted their services. She thought that
American girls who were willing to serve
in families we're, MS rule, much superior
to the "ordinary Irish servants" and she
did not blame them for not wanting to
cat at the same table.
On being asked what kind OF women
get along with their servants best, Mrs.
Ferrer said that the true ladies seldom
had trouble with their servants, and she
mentioned several well known families
who, she said, never changed their ser
wants. There were some ladies who
never had a kind word for servant, and
there were others who seldom speak
otherwise than kindly 10 their interiors.
She agreed that true lady or gentle.
man was kind to everybody, and that no
person, however humble, deserved to be
trcatd i'll until convicted OF some dis.
honest act. She had known girls who had
gone to live with ladies, and who would
come back saying they could not endure
such language as the "lady" made use Of
in their.prcsCce,a and she had heard Ameri-
can girls express their surprise and
horror at the language Of their mis-.
tresses.