Morning journal and courier., 1885-06-29
A FAST AGE.

The Demands Upon Brain and Nerve l
 Wearing and Exhausting ToIl-Over-
 worked CIasses-SermOn By Rev. MT.
 Bray.
 A large audience was present at the Humphrey street church last evening to lis ten to the pastor, Rev. MT. Bray, preach from the text, ''Master, give unto your ser wants that which is just and equal knowing that you also have a Master in heaven" Colossians iv, | During his sermon Rev. MT. Bray said: We are indebted greatly to our large metropolitan,c cities for our goods street signs of the Knox, Dunlap and other stylish hats, almost as soon as these hats are worn on Broadway in New York city. New
 York although a very wicked city, has it's benevolent societies. such the free aid society, Sunday observance committee and other like societies. What are the other wants of the working people in that city if reasonable that could not be obtained by the united efforts of the church and the press? Sup posing the clerks in the stores should have drawn up petition and presented it to the merchants asking for half holiday, would it have succeeded? No! no more than 8 strike would. But the pulpit and the press took this matter in hand and in few days the thing was accomplished, and two weeks ago yesterday over 700 stores closed in the afternoon and oyer 50, 900 clerks enjoyed a half holiday, and the manufacturers will soon wheel into line in this matter. The idea of this Saturday half holiday is not a new one. Three years ago the workingmen of this city asked me to speak on this sub- ject, and did in the St. John street church before crowded house. We are an over worked people. This is fast age, an age of fast horses, fast vices an age when things are run by steam and electricity, and it is 8 wearing age on the human system. do not say anything against work, but to certain kinds of work. There are car companies who think more of their horses than they do of the drivers and conductors, because every time horse dies they lose money, but if man dies his place can be easily filed This shows that the Christian church has other difficult problems which it must solve, and now I will speak of some of these problems. First I will refer to that men, in particular, and also horse car drivers and conductors. These latter are compelled to work seventeen or eighteen hours day, bolting their dinner in the corner of the car in & space of ten minutes and hardly seeing their children at all, as they leave home in the morning before they are up and return after they have long been asleep And this goes on every day from one years end to a1iothe with no Sabbath rest. Second Overworked boys and girls in the shops, where they are forced to earn money to pay their fathers rum bills. There are many foreigners who want 8 bank account and so send their children to work at the shops in order to have one, and those who are obliged to put their children to work to keep from starving to death the small wages they receive. Of all these the sew
 ing womens work is the hardest and the poorest paid of any of these overworked classes. The third and last class of these are the female clerks who from early morn F ing until late at night stand on their feet behind the store counters without once sitting down. This is downright cruelty and could be stopped in a month if all the ladies in the coun- try would refuse to trade with the merchants who compel their female clerks to remain standing all day. One thing more I will say before I close. I heard that movement was on foot by the clerks to get the clothiers to close their stores Monday evenings, and as this is very mod est demand, Itrust and think every merchant will do this at their clerks request,