Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-24
WOMEN WHO WORK
IN THE MARKET GARDENS Of TIE
SUBURBS.
Chicago Gardeners Furnish Employ ment
to 1000 Poles. BOhemians, and Ger
mans Physical and Mental Charac-
teristiCs Hope Of the Future.


mans-Fhy>iCaI and Mental CharaC-
teristics Hope Of the Future.
Chicago New.
Every morning from the beginning Of
seed time until frost comes and all the
green things druOp their heads and die
fully ! 600 women GO out TO work in The
market gardens N the immediate vicinity
OF hiCAgu Some of these wOmeRarc
aged some in middle life and few are
still girls The majority however are
wives who have husbands unqualified to
support their families or a. is the case
50 often among The ranks of ignorant
people. too diSsOlute or lazy to do SO.
They are without exception Foreigners
some BOhcmians. some Poles and others
Germans They have been reared in the
land of their biIth to farm labor. ami
know scarcely anything else. Their
knowledge of housekeeping is limited. for
the houses they have lived in from in.
fancy have been but shelters little better
than those given TO cattle and their means
for home making Of the rudest kind
They can make greasy soup of pork
and bit of mutton or veal. prepare milk
pcrridge, or boil pot of strong. coarse
coffee. but there their skill in cookery
ends They cannot so much aS bake Il
loaf Of black bread They know, As a
rule no more of the ordinary simple de
tails of housed coping and home making
than does the luaw whose home is a tee
pee. or the w ~ who roamS eight months
of the year about the country in a covered
wagon. Many of them do not know how
to cleanse their garments When they
indulge in the process called washing
it is a mere wetting that bears no rcscm
blancc To the genuine removal Of dirt In
the winter time many of these women
especially the iOlrs would bC glad dur
ing the long cold months 10 do any kind
Of rough hUUScwork, but know nOt-hOw
il is done e an YOU not scrub the
floor" asked the writer of a Polish
woman in midwinter who stood in the
small low. tirrlc~> room. and wruug
her hands in misery AT the starvation
" hiCh had "vcrlakcn her and her two
little girls Scrub the floor. answered
she in her strong native guttcraiS, stretch
ing out her sincwy Brown hands with a
gesture of despair. Il can do nothing but
dig in the earth and feed the pigs.
This is the story o. seven tcnthS Of all
the women who work in the market gar
drnS The Buhcmians. and especially the
Germans are on the average more intCli
Lcill III lll llthM ti Alll Ut ilitll tlit blt'~
Those who have no uvocatIon in the win
ter manage TO lay a tritic by over and
above the paymcut Of the debts contracted
in the winter and the summer ; cNIcnsr
with which. by dint of much pinching
and such assistance a. they obtain from
the county thrv maintain an cNistenC,
through the wear i few can sew, aud
have learned the rudimrntS OF tailor
work These make pants during the
winter All of them can knit, and the
stout coarse wooden hose reaching about
two thirds OF the way 10 the knee. which
they wear when they cover feet or ankles
With ANYTHING are their own hand work
The young unmarried foreigners who
come 10 this country usually obtain do
mestic WORK and sOcn learn enough to
make their condition far better than il
ever could be in the old world. But the
woman who comes here with husband
and children. who ha, had opportunity to
learn only what the fields could teach has
scarcely brighter outlook in life than
she had at home. She gOe- early To her
work and remains til. o clock All day
long she is in the field il matters not
whether the rain falls or the hot suns
Sometimes three or four women
and back. again aud again. on their knees,
pulling up small weeds They work thus
for hours without once lifting their
bodies from their Cramped position~ They
will scarcely exchange word mean.
while for they are no: lOquaCiOus. Long
years of exposure hard labor. and want
have made them for the most part stupid.
taCiturn. and stOlid Sometimes they Use
the hoe. ; mctimCs they SOW seeds or pu.
small plants that have been started Under
glass in the ground 4 portion OF the
women clean and bunch the vegetables
ready for market
None of them are beautiful or have the
slightest claim 10 grace or what is known
as good looks Without g, ,Ception they
are square and i'll shaped. and move with
heavy. numbering motion. Their faces are
bronZed. and scanned with many lines
Their eyes seldom wear any expression,
not even that of sorrow nor vet of eNl eel
anCv. fOr themselves they live almost in
the immediate present and neither hCYe
nor dread. OF so little feeling do the
seem possessed that one is moved tu wOH
der why they should have sought life il
the new world no better apparently than
the one in the old should the question
be put TO a dozen Of these hard featured.
Sulltu LOOMING Nbultur dS lutN ISul over
their work if they were not quite as well
oil al home rs they are here. they will al
mos with one accord. after they have
stared at the questoneT steadily for mo
mcnL reply We may not be better o 7.
but bye and bye our children viii. The
answer seldom varies
The market gardens stretch 10 the
south. west and north of the city Cab
bagc is grown extensively 10 the south
and sOuthwesIward. and its cultivation
gives employment TO a large number Of
women | cttuce, radishcs. onions Gu
Cumbcrs spinach, andive and celery com
prise the greater part of the garden crop
grown close to the city. The larger veg
ctahes are raised farther in the country.
Several crops OF each OF the smaller veg
etablcs are grown >ucCes>ivclv while sum
mcr lasts The first crop of spinach, let
tuCc and radisheS Grc grown under glass,
spinach being put in in the autumn. Thus
some of the garden women here work the
entire year These worker, have been
thoroug ghly trained and their services are
more valuable than those of au ordinary
field laborcr.
just A. Well. PeshsT--
Detroit Free Press
What time does the train gS?" he laz.
IL, / l.. 81.