New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-19
PRISONERS OF POVERTY.
WOMEN GE-wORKERs-THEIR TRADES
AND THEIR LIVES.
BY HELM CAMPBELL
TEE EVOLUTION OF A JACKET.

Fsn underwear, whether for men or women
has proven itself q most excellent medium for
starvation; II suits and dresses in general rank
but grade above; II shirts. whether of cotton
Or wool en-. are despair and in each and all COM
Petition has cheapened material and manufacture
hnd brought labor to the life limit and below.
ut least it cannot be bad with cloalls and
Jackets. Here single garments often of the
most expensive material and put together In the
most finished and perfect manner Skilled labor
Us demanded careful handling spotless neatness
aiere Is one industry which must give not only q
living wage. but a surplus These women must
be on the way to at least semiprosperity.
This the thought in the days In which one
phase after another OF the underwear problem
presented itself. each one more bewildering. more
heart-sicSening than the last. Here and there
had been the encounter with one who had always
been sure of work and who had never failed to
receive q fair return But the summary had
been inevitably as it stands recorded overwork
nnderpay fruitless struggle against overwhelm-
Ding odds.
With this thought the quest began anew. The
manufacturers Of cloaxs and jackets reported
"piece work as the rule. The great dry-goods
establishments had the word Here and
there one where work done the
premises. and where skilled hands held the
places year after year. the ranging from six
60 ten dollars. hardly varying. But for most OF
item the same causes stated in the third number
of this series. "The Methods Of a Prosperous
Firm have operated. and it has been found ex-
pedient to settle upon "piece work and let rent
be paid and space be furnished by the workers
themselves.
"They like it better said the business man.
hger Of the great firm against whom there have
never been charges Of dishonesty or unlxindness
In their treatment Of employees. I" 1t would be i'm
possible to do all our work on the premises.
Ne should want the entire block If we eve en- half
did it But know some OF the women. and
pay as high as anybody: perhaps higher. 1t
Saves them fares and going out in all weathes.
md a great MANY other inconv eniences when they
work at home. and don't why there should
be any objections made The amount of it is.
there too many women. The best thing to
be done is to ship them West They say they're
wanted there. and there is certainly not room
Enough for them hero Machinery will soon take
their place anyway l have one in mind now that
ought 10 do the work Of ten women perfectly and
require simply a tender and fnsher We shall
get the thing down to a fine point very soon
Hard on the women7 Why. no. We always
hold on to fIst-class workers and there's nothing
much to be done with second and third class
rept to them through the busy and
let them go in the dull
"Go where p
The MANAGER paused and looked refectively at
his wel-lIept finer nails
@My dear madam. that's a question l have
no time to consider. | dare say hey earn a
living somehow Indeed, I'm told they 90 into
Cigar factories. There's always plenty of work
"l1enty OF work" form of words so famil-
lar that looked for it now from both employer
and employed But for the last was an addition
fndng place the lips of the first. "Penty
of work Oh. yes I can always get plenty of
work The trouble is to get the wages for it. "
block below and further west one
great window Of cheaper establishment held |
Jackets and wraps large and small marked down |
FOR the holidays their advertisement in morn
ino paper having read. Jackets from 81 up
Still further over another window displayed num-
bers as great. and placard at one side an |
nounced sThese elegant Jackets from 80 81 up |
The cloth might be shoddy but here a gar
ment fashionably cut. well finished to all ap |
pearance and unexceptionable in pattern and |
color All along the crowded avenue the story |
was the same. and east took the place of
west. and Grand-st and the BowerV and Third
ave gave in thdr returns. "These elegant Jackets
from go 35 up gave the final depth to which
theapness could descend.
II this was retail what could be the wholesale
price and what was likely to be the story Of the
worker from whose hands they had come
1t is worth while to follow these Jackets as they
Emerge from the cutting room. and in packages
holding such number of dozens as has been agreed
upon. pass to the express wagon which distributes
them among the workers. the firm in mind al
present like many Others preferring this ar
ran ement to any which involves dealing direct
IL with the women
First on the list stands the of a woman
a little over fifty years old whose husband is
painter and who left Germany eight years ago.
urged to come over by a daughter more adv emit
srous than the rest who had married and emf
grated at once Work was plentiful when they
arrived and the husband found immediate employ
ment at his trade. with wages SO high that the
wife had no occasion for any EMPLOYMENT outside
her own rooms The youngest child girl Of
nine went to school They lived in comfortable
rooms ON decent street. put money
In savings bank, and felt thai
America held more good even than the name had
always seemed to promise. Then came the fnan-
cial troubles Of 20 and 's1, the gradual fall OF
wages. the long seasons when there was no work
and last, the fate that overtakes the worker in
lead whether painter in any other branch |
First painters collie. and the long train Of symp
toms preceding the paralysis which came at last
the stroke light but leaving the patient
with the drop hand and all the other compli
cations testifying that the working days were
over STRENGTH enough returned for an odd job
nov and then. and the little accepted his
late cheerily and congratulated himself that the
bank held a little fund and that thus the lower
Inc wages could be peced out. The bank settled
This question by almost immediate failure a
long and expensive illness for the wife followed
and when 10 ended furniture and small valuables
of every sort had been pawned and they left the
Empty rooms for narrower quarters and sought for
work in which all could share. To add TO the
complication the daughter, who had had good |
,ense enough to take place as child's nurse
broke her leg, and became. even when able to
walk again too disabled to return TO this work
She could run the machine and her mother was
IN expert button-hol maker and had already |