Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-08-02

'nH'ss OK Life IN Tho Ola worid--nfnnuhI
Labor Not Confined 20 tho male ser,
IInrprrsa Hasa.

rhhsee OF Lite IN the Ola word M an,,nt
i'"o"r Not Confined 20 the Male sex.
Haypers Hasar.
whether II be the existence of enor.
nous standing armies, the havoc Of cen.
turtles Of war, the absence Of practical
educational facilities, OF the lowness OF
laborers' wages, that compeis 30 MANY
'-se4Acir On TING co1TIhcnt 81 Europe 10
seek TO gain living In occupations
which we deem it only for the strongest
and rudest Of men, certain II IL that one
OF the commonest and, TO American eyes.
the strangest sights there Is the number
OF women engaged In agricultural and
other severe manual labor. In France
women arc still occupied IN the mines, |
dragging or pushing the heavy trucks OF
Goals through the narrow tunnels that
run from the seams 70 the shaft. OF course,
In such work they adopt tho ordinary
costume OF working miners, aud /
at the first glance are not to be dlstln-
guished from the men by whose side they
are working. Some Of the entries In the |
French census rs TO the laborlng popula.
ton are strange enough. 10 Paris there
are nine female boat-builders and 2l5
"wheelwrlghte, farmers and saddlers,n
eight sawyers, forty-six carpenters and
Ioiners, eight masons aud one plumber,
II Is, however, In Austria that we iind the
greatest proportion OF women engaged
IN heavy physical labor, not merely In
agriculture or the mines, but In paving
and cleaning the streets, or in carrying
huge trays OF mortar or hods of bricks up
70 the workmen on the scaffoding Of
buildings In the course OF erection
IhngR do 20 81
OF their lot. They have been bred up to
hard work from infancy and are used TO
nothing better; their language and man.
ners are as coarse as those of the male
laborers, whom In figure they resemble
high-chested, broad shouldered, no trace
OF waist, and possessed OF great
strength. To such stout daughters Of
the pillow" IL Is an easy task TO
wheel streetsprinkler or pull about a
hand-cart laden with milk, as may be seen
any day in Antwerp, where the milk
woman, with her neat white cap and kerr
chief and her assistant dog, is striking
street picture. In Prussia about 5000
women are workers In mines, quarrles
and foundrles, aud about 1000 are CLASH
fled as drivers, positions, and railway
! laborers, aud about 1000 as "ship's crews,
| sailors, boatmen and ferrymenn; in this
last category will come women employed
in towing canal boats. II has been asked
why don't women adopt callings more
adapted to feminine handsy The reason
seems TO be the industrial condition of n
great part of the European continent
which affords TO them no better means OF
earning a living, and the fact that these
o equations, which are so ut erly uniem.
mine, are just those in which unskillet
labor can be employed, A change, how
ever,i slowly coming about by the growth
OF important industries In every
country. The factory system has beer
found In Germany TO have a strong ten
dency to improve the condition not only
OF the women Immediately employed II
them, but OF those working in the coun
try around. A large employer at Fret
burg, after thirty years experience, said
"The condition of the agricultural labor
ers Is not satisfactory one. There !
much misery among them, especial
moral misery. When mothers apply {
US for work for strong healthy girls, W
tell them such girls are more a. for labo
In the fields, but too frequently receiv
an account OF the hard and immoral III
! associated with such service. The seen
! changes when well-managtd factor
comes into the village. The poor CIR
, must then receive better wages or they s
into the factory. The moral benefits of
[, well-ordered factory is still greater; 1t a
9 iects the whole village.