Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1882-06-09
TALK ABOUT HoUsEwoRK.

TALK ABOUT HOUSEWORK.
This article is not for you, oh, "lilles
of the aeld," who toll not;'' but for
the army Of women who work, and vino
though YOU NAV doubt it. are made OF
the same clay as yourselves.
1t is a question often asked, why
healthy young girls will almost starve
before they will do housework for. 4
livings They will stand on their feet
from seven in the morning till nine or
ten at night, lehind a counter IN a
close, stuffy ore. They bear the IN
science, the irritability. and too fire.
quently the downright insults Of the
dear public" whom they serve. They
grow pale and thin, old before their
time, and for their services they receive
from two to FIVE dollars week; five
dollars being not by any means an av-
erage,-as it is oftener three than
five.
True, some OF these girls do not
know how to cook. but many Of them
do. Some of them were reared on a
farm. Farm life grew mtolerable to
them; they long.d for something bet
ter than they had known" They came
to the great city seeking 1t. Too fire.
quently the records of crime show how
bitterly they we're disappointed.
Granted. then, that girl can cook.
and If she cannot. it and the other
branches of housework can be easily
learned by an intelligent woman, she
can easily find work IN many families
at sixteen dollars month and no
washing and ironing.
Very many shop girls board them
selves entirely out of their meager wa
ges, and in any event, part Of their sal
airy goes to help support others.
On the other hand, doing housework
for a living, the girl has a pleasant
home, the best of food, reasonas lie
hours, and healthful work. and all ex-
ira, besides her sixteen dollars month.
1t is said that servants are not al
ways we'll treated. Are shop-girls we'll
treated?
There are people who treat nothing
well; they are exceptions, however.
One great cause of trouble is, that girls
expect too much. They forget that
they ere paid wages for dong certain
amount Of work in the house, and that
the social life OF the inmates is some
thing with which they have no concern.
There is a Utopian land somewhere,
wherein the cook, having prepared the
supper and cleared away the dishes,
appears in the parlor clad in silk and
lace, to entertain the company in a
social way, and is welcome; but tina,
state of society does not exist
in this country.
five all thought alike, such an ar
rangement would do, but unfortunately
we do not. A girl may be just as re-
fined, just as intelligent, just as good
in every way as the visitors in the par,
lor, but if she does the hostess house.
work, she cannot meet them on al
equal footing. This is one Of the fol
bles of society, but hone the less one
Of its memorable laws.
1t is all wrong, perhaps, in countr,
where we pride ourselves upon our free
dom from the preJud;ces of caste, We
If the worker would save herself trouble
she must yield to the inevitable
gracefully.
This is the great thing that keep:
girls from doing housework for living
because they are not placed upon al
equal footing with their employers, but
neither are shop girls. Look and SET
If aristocracy does not draw its skirt:
away from the shop-girl's alpaca a:
quickly as from the servant girls calico
Because, as 4 servant, girl is no
received by so-called best society, neeo
she be any lower! 1t is not what peo
pie think of us, but what we are that j:
of vital importance. The literature O.
the world is at her command, she viii
always have some friends OF like tastes
one does not need many.
She can be as refined, as cultivated
as she pleases, regardless of her posi-.
ton, and although shut out from soci-
ETY., she does not lose much. With
care and economy as houseworker,
she may place herself within the reach
of"something BETTER" but as a shop.
girl never.
Is it not better to accept the house
work with its attendant drawbacks, for
the sake of the many advantages it
Offers, than to wear out her life for
"that which profiteth not" except a
bare extraordinarily that.
Many girl might "stoop to conquer
in this respect as in others, if she only
has the courage to do that which is
best and right regardless of public opin-
ion.-CoHage Hearth.