The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-12-15
WOmen'S Work.

THE term "shop-girls'' is most COM
prehenSiye, as it includes all those en-
ployed in the various manufactures as
well as women who take work to their
own homes. By thorough investiga-
ton we find open to the sex no less than
seventy-five distinct occupations-and
many of them can be subdivided-in
which shop-girls can and do work. in
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chi
cago, St. Louis and other large cities.
The social status of these self-sustain-
ing women has only recently been de-
fined. In st. Louis, where the old South
ern element, the pride of caste and
prejudice against labor still exist, idle
poverty does not degrade; but so soon
as a woman stoops to work, no matter
what her social position once was by
birthright or marriage, she descends in
the scale to the level of her co-workers
True, the laboring class there has So
ciety or circle of its own; but its men,
bers, no matter how intelligent or cult
waited they may be, are not permitted to
step beyond the prescribed bounds; they
are "made to know their places" and
to most keenly feel their positions should
they attempt to elevate themselves even
to their old standpoint by the indescrib-
able manner and the chilling reserve of
those who have retained wealth and
their places in polite society. Chicago
is more cosmopolitan, and when COM
pared with st. Louis, where straight
laced views compress its workers, Chi
cago may be termed a free city-where
intelligent women can work without
being classed with the ignorant toiler
whose only Recommendation is strength
In New York and Philadelphia we find
great liberality, and, while shop-girls do
not occupy high social positions, still
we now and then meet one who works
and retains the caste given her by birth
or education; but nowhere do we find
the same generosity exercised as in New
England, and especially in Boston.
There labor eXalts rather than degrades,
and education, good character, pleasant
manners, and skill in work secure a po-
sition that birth and wealth cannot give
True, all of these worldly attributes are
appreciated and respected, not only by
equals, but by interiors; for instance,
the member of an old, respected family
can safely work all day by the side of
one far beneath her in the social scale
without fearing intrusion upon her home
circle, and secure in the knowledge that
her earnings can be spent, if desirable,
in the midst of an elegant and refined
circle of friends. However, should that
fellow-worker interest her neighbor, and
prove worthy of recognition, she may
be safely introduced as her friend and
become, in time, a respected and well
come guest in the same society.
1t would be almost impossible to
mention each and every employment in
which women are engaged; therefore,
we select representative occupations,
which will convey to the reader the ex-
tent of womans work and her pay.
There is one simple article of woman's
.apparel-a hoopskirt or wire panier,
composed of steel, braid and cloth, and
sold at $1.75. "Too much to pay for
it," saith our economical sister Have
you any idea, madam, to how many
pairs of hands that hoop has given en-
ployment, or how many mouths it has
helped to fill? OF course not. The
Times reporter did not know until the
information was gained by investiga-
ton. 1t is impossible to state when the
hoopskirt was originated; one writer
suggests that the idea of its construc-
= ton was first borrowed from certain
savage tribes, for that very marked
and unmistakable form of it existed
among the natives of certain South Sea
Islands at their discovery by the early
navigators; certain it is that hoopskirts
have been in turn honored and banished
for, ages past as fashion in her tickle
ness decreed, and will be for centuries
to come, doubtless.
One can scarcely realize that so MANY
manufactures are interested in the con-
struction of one simple garment, still
it is found that work is given by it to
makers of tape, of brass, tin trimmings,
yarn, steel rod and steel wire drawers,
steel wire temperers, wire coverers.
with their varied uses in lead, and oil in
the tempering machinery, presses, and
the regulating steam-power in wire
making and drawing.
The skirt-making becomes the special
work of women, for a handsomely fin
ished hoop or panier passes through
about fifteen pairs of female hands.
The sewing machines are run by steam,
but controlled by women, upon which
the backs and aprons are made and
tapes are sewed into bands. The frame
hands put tapes and wires together, and
the skirts are again taken to the ma
chimes made for the purpose of sewing
the tapes to the corded wires, which is
done by passing the wire through a
groove which is exactly its size, and the
tapes are sewed on between the cord
which edges all the new style wires and
ne wire proper. There are pressers,
eleters, lacers, buttoners, finishers,