The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-06-24
lspecInl corresnondence.l

NEW YORK. June THE working girl of
this city is heroine without knowing it
She works harder, gets less pay and has
fewer comforts than the working girl in any
other spot over which the Stars and Stripes
wave. You can see her on the elevated
railways at o'clock in the morning, going
to her work, with cheerful face, as tidy
toilet as she can afford, and possibly flower
on her breast You will see her again in the
evening, going home, pale, disheveled and
weary, swinging to strap in the
car, while the fat brokers, lazy lawyers,
and 81 k-hatted gentry monopolizs the seats.
1t might then occur to you that American
men are not the "most gallant in the world"
though tradition has said they are. You
will lose faith in traditions veracity at
once. But you will remember little later
that they are not all Americans. Many of
them came from countries where gallantry
is not a national virtue, and others are de-
scendants of foreigners. New York has not
much that's American to boast of, save tho
soil it stands on.
You may notice the working girls dress
1t will show service, but has a strong leun-
ing toward style. Her slim wait will be
fitted into jaunty basque and there will
be that about her costume, poor as it IL,
which shows that she knows how to make
herself look up with the times If she only
had a chance. Whatever the style is she
approximates it in her poor way. She will
have a little bonnet or toque, made of the
material of her dress, cheap and poor, to be
sure, but with the flare Of fashion about it,
and she will wear it with an air, too. She
is pretty, sometimes, but ID is rarely a last
ing beauty. 1t is too fragile. 1t fades early
| Al. l.. Ill
You will notice. too, perhaps, how slender
are the wrists as the sleeve slips away from
the hand that clutches the car strap You
may wonder why she dosen't sew up the rent
in her dress. She hasn't time. She wears the
dress until she is ready to lie down to sleep,
and then she is so very tired, she thinks she
will let it go till morning, and when she
wakes up she finds that she has oversight,
and hasn't minute to spare. She must
catch the train during communication hours,
for she can't afford to pay ten cents for get
ting down town, and the street cars are too
slow So the tear is not mended until
| Sunday.
Tired she always is but cheerful She is
young and has hope What does she dol
She sells dry goods candy, cigars. She is
in box and shirt factories She irons in
laundres, she writes wrappers and folds
circulars, she operates typewriters, she
sews at large wholesale dressmaking estab-
lishments, she is in tailor shops and glove
houses, she is everywhere where dainty
hands are needed and can be obtained for
small pay.
How and where does she live1 Very poorly,
Of necessity In cold and comfortless hall
room in some decent boarding house, il she
can afford even that poor luxury. If not,
she clubs with three or four others like her.
self and hires a room in tenement house,
where they cook. sleep, and see all the life
they see on side of their work, ex-
cept on Sundays when they go to
the park, or get invited to Coney Island.
Sometimes she has parents, and it is often
doubtful whether she is better or worse Off In
consequence; often the family is large and
they all live in cramped quarters. Some.
times she has a mother who mends her
clothes, does her washing, and has a place
for her at the family table Then she can
eventually have her hearts desire, silk
dressl have case in mind. She addressed
envelopes and got s. week. She paid sixty
cents for car fare. and $50 for her board,
| at home which included her washing and
mending Out of the rest she clothed herself
and at the end Of two years bought the silk
dress--a poor, flimsy thing at fifty cents a
yard, and not worth that-but it was the
realization of her dreams, it represented self
denial and industry, and for that reason it
was, perhaps, not an injudicious purchase
OF course the mother made this girls clothes,
otherwise she could not even have been re-
specially dressed, for she was too fatigued
to work at night, and she could not have
paid for having her sewing done.
CI, 4, 10 Of
she9 Her whole life goes by in toll She
knows little something about the races,
and keeps track of big accidents and muir
ders. She is posted about the prominent
stage people, but not by close reading. She
doesn't know the uses of many newspapers.
One i, as good as another to her. She reads
the personals" and the "Help Wanted" but
she doesn't know an editorial from sheriRs
| SALE She merely knows that "the paper says
So" That is authority enough for her. She
is ignorant about almost everything not
found within the hard little round of her
life. The presidents name she has heard,
but all other officials are as good as non-ex-
istent to her. 1t is doubtful If she could give
a very straight account of how the Fourth
| of July came to be red-letter day.
She is CHEEKY and smiling through 1t all
She pays her nickel for car fare as an en-
press would bestow royal favor. She ex-
ponds few cents for luncheon and divides
the purchase with her companions. Poor
food is her portion, morning, noon and
night The unhtalthful merchandise Of
cheap restaurants constitutes the bulk Of her
bodily sustenance. Soggy pies, stale sand
witches, greasy doughnuts, these are the
luxuries she INDUCES in, because nothing
else is offered low enough for her to buy.
What pay does she getl Anything from
So to $40, but ofteneI not over So, and not
infrequently less than that. II she has a
room to herself ever such little coffin-like
one even, it viii cost her So to 81 80 week.
Out Of the small residue Of her salary she
must pay ali her other living expenses. She
is glad when summer comes, for summer
clothes cost less than winter ones, and she
can look well on comparatively little. She
can even wear long silk gloves and pretty
hat on Sundays, and then she will be sure
to be invited to Coney Island occasionally.
Altogether, the summer sweetens life in spite
of its heat and discomforts.
The working girl expects to be extricated
some day. So she will be, but IL will be a
mere difference of the kind Of .oil, fer she
will be obliged TO work harder than ever
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