St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-11-14


The San Francisco Opsrtand Monthly in an
article on workin gwomen saws; ''The aver
age weekly income Of the workingwcmen in
the east, including regular earnings and adj
ditions from outside work, is S5.17 a week,
THINK OF thai, for food, clothes and shelter:
and about So per cent do their own sewing
besides. The average sum earned here is
about 80 % per week. In Cincinnati shop
girls begin with $3.50 per week, which in
SIX months time is increased to So, and so
on until it reaches $40. which is the average
amount paid for skilled lubor. Here. when
they are fortunate enough to secure a posi-
ton at all, they are paid from 81 to So at
at first, and it is gradually increased to $40:
$40 is the average amount puid for skilled
labor. Forewomeu or heads Of departments
receive much greater prices, of course, S25
OF $50 a week being no uncommon price;
but it takes years to become qualified for
such position. Walk down Kearny or
Market street and look in at the windows c
cheap underwear; IS cents for skirts elabor-
ately tucked and ruffledI = Quite
contrast to the miserable prices paid to sew
ing girls are those paid by the theatres for
They none Of them receive less than SIS a
week; and yet so strong is modesty in wo-
men that many prefer to shun publicity and
accept the hard life of "a slave at the wheel
instead. Many, however, who have widowed
mothers or younger sisters to support aud
who take up the hard life of soubrettes, are
modest and ladylike girls, who between the
acts employ themselves with their needles in
making laos or embroidery. / heard of one
girl who made a lace curtain worth $40 in
these intervals. There arc other industries
where women are employed at moderate
wages. GlOve-makers receive from IS toS1S
week, when expert printers about SI5
book-binders from 50 to S12; cigar makers
about 50, but this is such a repulsive EN-.
ployment that few women engage in it.
And again, if only every girl was
taught, and taught well, some art, trade,
knowledge, or profession, whether she ever
used it or not, then she would be safe in
case of need
1t is common enough to sheer at match
making mammas fishing for eligible hus-
bands for their daughters, and to condemn
the daughters for looking TO matrimony as
the chief end and aim of existence And
yet if they know at the bottom of their hearts
that there is no way of existence but through
marriage, what can they do! Rather blame
society that gives them no other way. But
train girl to self-help, and then If love
came she could treat him as welcome guest
il he did not come she could still lead
contented life, and death, although it must
always be heartache, would cease TO be
the monster it is in nanny homes. To pro-
vide the daughter as well as the son with
the proper weapons wherewith to struggle
for existence would be a far better gift than
the ballot.
Commenting upon an article on the same
subject in the October mum Der of The Over
land Monthly, The San Francisco Bulletin
says: There is great deal Of work to be
done in the world, and for the most part il
will be done by those who can do it best.
The very experience which befalls thousands
of women who are poorly prepared to enter
upon industrial vocations is brought home
to men. All over the country there are
great numbers who have no permanent en-
plOyment, even when there is brisk de-
mand for labor. The reason is that they
fail to give satisfaction to their employers.
The best in the long run get the places. The
poorest, the unsteady, incompetent, and I'M
faithful are only drafted in when the press
ure is greatest. There is no remedy for this
difference. Every employer seeks the best.
ii is business. If his chivalry for women
were to intervene, and he were to fill the re-
sponsible places with incompetent women,
he would be ruined just as certainly as if he
had filed them with incompetent men. Here
as elsewhere it is the survival of the fttest.
If there's any moral to be drawn from these
facts 1t is that the surest means of enlargiug
employment tor women is in thorough quail
ifcation for the work in hand. For the most
part women who can do some important
things well complain the least of COMPETE
ton. The lot may not be an easy one, but
it is Ear better than it would have been if
nothing could be well done. The fifteen
thousand women who are self-dependents
in the city will be augmented in a few years
by a much larger number How are they to
live in honorable independence That Is
one of the most important questions of the
day.