The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-04-12
Working women's Wages.

Excepting the working women them
selves, no one Can know more about their
hardships than the persons who have the
conduct Of the Working Womens Pro.
tective Union, the headquarters of which
is at No. 3S Blocker street. Mrs. Ferrer,
the Superintendent OF the Union, Oh be-
ing asked what she thought Of Mr..
Reade's letter, said: "Oh, Mr.. Reade is
u novelist, and can probably make fine
romance out of anything. But perhaps
he has not seen what have seen. There
are some people who think that a girl
who is too proud TO 60 out as a servant is
very likely to do something a great deal
worse You know what mean. But
l can tell you that have known young
women to suffer hunger and all kinds of
torture, and yet maintain their honor and
self-respect."
al believe that your association has
nothing to do with supplying ladies with
domestic servantst"
"No, we have not directly, and yet we
do send some young girls to such places.
We 60 upon the principle that young
girl is better OFT as domestic in res
pectable private family than as an opera
tive in a factory She is removed from
temptation, has a good example set for
her, and besides getting comfortable
home she is we'll fed and gets some wages
besides"
Mrs. Ferrer, who ought to be we'll
qualified to answer the question, was
asked to give scale of prices as at pres
ent paid to "work ladies' and "profes-
sionals," and gave il as follows:
Operators on sewing machines, from s4
to $l2 per week.
Seamstresses, $40 to $lS per month.
Dressmakers, 81 to 81 so per day.
Errand girls, 50 so to 81 per week.
Housekeepers, $40 to $25 per month.
Nurses, So, $l4 or SIS per month.
Assistants, S. to 81 per month.
Talloresses, 50 per week.
Teachers, $25 per month.
Shirtmakers, IS to Sc per week.
Paper collarmakers, SIS per week.
Capemakers, s. TO Sc per week.
Workers on trimmings, 81 to So pc:
weeks.
Saleswomen, IS to $40 per week.
Hair workers, SIS to 81 per week.
Servants, So to $l6 per months and
kept.
Being asked if many girls followed the
advice to accept situations as domestlcs,
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 much either, for
some OF the girls who wanted situations
were really superior to the "ladie'" who
wanted their services. She thought that
American girls who were willing to
serve in families were, as a rule, mucn
superior to the "ordinary Irish servants"
and she did not blame them for not
wanting to eat 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 kind word for servant, ana
there were others who seldom SPEAK
otherwise than kindly TO their interiors.
She agreed that true lady or gentleman
was kind to everybody, and that no per-
son. however humble, deserved TO De
treated i'll until convicted Of some dis-
honest act. She had known girls who
had gone te live with ladies, and who
would come back saying they could not
endure such language as the "lady" made
use of in her presence, and she had
heard American girls express their sur
prise and horror at the language OF their
mistresses.