Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-07-29
The WIFE's WAGES.

"Well, Nettie, what do you want?'
s,id Mr.. Jarvis to his wife, who stood
boxing rather anxiously at him after
he had paid the factory hands their
week wages.
g Why. Donald, said she, Thought
asI had worked for you all the week
would come for my wages, too! You
pay Jane two dollars week, surely
earn that, and l would like very much
t, have it as my own.h
.sPshaw, Nettie. how ridiculously
you talk! You know that all have
belongs to you and the children-and
don't I furnish the house and every
thing? What under the sun would you
do with money if you had itP"
know, Donald, that you buy the
necessaries for us all, and / am willing
that you should do so still, but should
like little money OF my very own. We
have been married fifteen years, and in
all that time l do not seem to have
earned dollar As far as money is con-
cerned | might as well be slave. ]
cannot buy quart of berries, nor a
hook, without asking you tor the
money, and | should like to be little
more independent"
Mr.. Jarvis, proprietor of Jarvis mills,
worth thousands of dollars, laughed de-
risiyely.
you're a fine one to talk of indie
pendence," he said. IF you should
start out to make your own living, you'd
fetch UP in the poorhouse soon enough.
for what could you do to earn living ?
The girls in tie factory know how to
do their work, and they earn their
wages. When [ have paid them nv
duty is done, but have to board and
clothe you, and take care of you when
you are sick. III had to do that for the
girls, they would have precious little
money left, can tell you"
donald, l gave up good trade
when married you. For five years l
had supported myself by it, and many a
time since have | envied myself the
purse of those days. As for my not
earning anything now, | leave it to you
to say whether it would be possible to
hire another to take my place; and how
much do you suppose it would cost you
to do without me yearP l know the
their expenses, but they enjoy that little
SO much. Allie Watson supports her
self and her mother with her wages, and
they both dress better than do. Jennie
Hart is helping her father pay off the
mortgage on his farm, and she is so
happy that she can do so. Even Jane,
the kitchen girl, has more freedom than
/, for out of her own money she is lay
ing by presents for her relatives, and
will send them Christmas, as much to
her own pleasure as theirs. Yesterday
an Indian woman was at the hou with
such handsome bead work to sell, and,
although | wanted some money SO much,
/ lad not dollari felt like crying
when Jane brought in her weeks wages
and bought half a dozen articles that I
wanted so much. You often say that
all you have is mine, but five dollars
would have given me more pleasure yes
terday than your hundreds of thousands
of dollars worth of property did,"
"No doubt Of tnat, Mrs. Jarvis. You
have no idea of the value of money, and
would have enjoyed buying lot oil beat!
trash that wouldn't be worth a cent TO
ANYBODY Jane needs a guardian if she
fools away her money like that. She
will be in the poorhouse yet if she don t
look ont. It's lucky that men do hold
the money, for there's not one woman in
hundred who knows how to use itp'
:" For shame, Donald Jarvis! You
know better! Look at Jerry and Milly
Greg, will you, and say that he makes
the best use of his money. She is at
home with her parents every night,
making her wages go as far as possible
toward making them comfortable, while
he is carousing in the village, wasting
his time and money, and making brute
of himself besides. And why does Mrs.
Sarton come to receive her husband s
wages herself; simply because he can.
not get by the saloon with money in his
pocket, and if she did not get the money
they would all 60 hungry to bed the day
after his wages are paid. And believe
that every woman who earns money
here spends it as wisely as the average
Of men, and have yet to hear of one ol
them being in debt"
MIR. Jarvis knew that he could not
gainsay word his wife had said, fol
they were all true. Luckily he though
of Jane.
Well, how much do you suppos,
Jane will have left when New Yea
comes? If she should get sick how lon,
could she pay for care such as vol
have2r
It is not likely she will lay up man,
dollars out of o hundred year; but sh
is laying up something better, l think
Last winter she sent her mother q warn
shawl and pair of shoes, and to he
brother and sister money to buy ney
school books, and the warm, loving let
ters they send her do her more GOO
than twice the amount Of money IA th
pAnk would. Ihis yeer she y ley1n6b