, 1888-02-03

servcd-A Vocation Which Has Escaped
tho Notice of Reformers.
Rat a tat tat!
The origin of this sound was the blunt end
of n lead pencil in the hands of q young lady
in an up town dry goods store. She was n
saleswoman. or, begging the young persons
pardon, a saleslady, if she will consent to use
the word salcsgentleman when speaking of
her male Wis a Wis who dances attendance
on customers on the opposite side of the
room The taps on the counter were the
modern substitute for the exclamation ''cash!n
formerly uttered to call the attention of the
salesman's devil. They were hardly given in
this case before several urchins materinlized
from among the wilderness of skirts that
filled tho passagcway, and, shouting certain
talismanic numbers, they stood before the
c%onjuring witch. What followed it will be
necessary to tell TO no feminine reader who
has seen her money disappear over a dry
goods counter.
There must be several thousands of these
interesting children, male and female, known
under the generic name of Cash, in the city
of New York ut this time. Rejecting on the
number of dry goods houses on Broadway,
T~wentv-third street, Sixth avenue, Four
tcenth street and Grand street, and the num-
Der employed by all tho leading firms, il
- NfNl lbNHANiN 70 NNllllluNt llt IOLll NJ
1900 or 5000. They represent n great indus
try, of which the object is chiefly consump-
ton. They stand, also, on the lowest round
of the mercantile ladder, md some nre dcs-
tined to mount until they become clerks, su-
perintendcnts and proprietors. Others, again,
will he fated TO fall by the way, or, belong
ing to the gcntlcr sex, they will float oil and
perform matter of fact roles in domestic
dramas. They nre now leading lives of CON
siderable hardship. They look bright and
cheerful in the morning, heavy at MONDAY,
md sometimes jaded in the evening. To
persons familiar with the habits of children,
and who reflect on their ability to play hf-
teen hours on the stretch without any appa-
rent sense of fatigue, this declaration may
sound like a waste of sympathy. But some
how there is n world Of Inference between
work and oven the kind of recreation which
taxes the muscles more severely than work.
Cash girls and boys nrc usually the chill.
drcn Of parents who arc not able TO live
without turning all their resources into tho
market. These children do not seek the stu
ntion of their own free will, and they often
hold it very much against their will. Ask
them how they like their employment, and
they will not always give n cheerful answer.
They speak OF the hard rules which they nrc
obliged 10 observe, and of the fines which
merchants think il necessary to impose to
maintain discipline. In the largest stores
the pay of a cash GIRLS only Sl.50 per week,
n sum that may DO increased to $3.50 Der
week by closer attention and greater activi-
ty. But oven this small amount is liable TO
n considerable reduction through the innic-
tion Of penalties. Perhaps the cash girls OK
nggeratc: perhaps, in tho innocence of souls
inherently truthful, they sometimes tell lbs.
They are occasionally sent home, they say, at
the end of n week with no moro than fifty
cents in their pockets. The poor dears think,
too, that they are often imposed upon, and
even made tho scapegoats for their elders,
who have reached tho age of feminine per-
lection, and can do no wrong. 1t is conven-
lent to have n cash girl at hand TO charge
with the loss of articles which nave disap-
peared from the counter without having
been sold.
But these nrc only the girls. The cash boy
is n moro demonstrative and aggressive
creature thnn tho cash girl, and it is to be
presumed that he fares better. The place TO
see him at his best is at n store where he is
paid according to the service rendered. Here
hc is like n high ofiiccr-a deputy sheriff, for
cxample-who draws his salary in fees, and
whose profits depend on his activity. Tho
cash boys in one store of this sort number up
to n maximum company of infantry, 100
strong, and a champion club of football
players could not be moro active. We are
told that Mt this store cash boys earn ms much
ms 81 n week, and that mono earns less than
s., n fact which speaks well for tho libernlity
of the firm. They make n boast, too, at this
store of the number of faithful boys who
have been promoted to the various depart
mcnts of the house. Some of the employees
who began in this humble sphere have been
as many as thirteen years in service.
The qualifications demanded for the ser
vice are not necessarily of a very high order.
As for personal recommendations, it is to be
presumed that only sufficiently good looking
boys and girls need apply. Looking at some
of the dry goods warehouses fronting on
several streets, with exits everywhere, and
packed with customers, one would suppose
that it might be necessary TO give bonds
before being permitted to enter the service.
1t looks entirely feasible for any DISCONTINUED
Cash TO indemnify himself for unjust fines
by slipping away with money enough in his
hands TO buy an outfit for an Indian hunting
campaign at the west. But since no attempt
of the kind WINS ever reported, we have TO
conclude hat cash boys and girls all come
from tho stock which is proverbially honest
because it is poor.
This is one Of the few vacations which have
not yet attracted the attention of the social
agitators. Neither has it come under the sur
VIGILANCE of the Society for the Prevention Of
Cruelty to Children Yet il cannot be denied
that it is capable of furnishing topics for all
sorts Of reformers. Cash is exactly Of the age
when he ought to be at school nine months in
the year. But in lieu of walkiIes in the paths
of instruction he must run only in the ways
that lead from the counter to the cashiers
desk, and there is not much of knowledge TO
he gathered by the way. Hours before the
time when other rosy checked children are to
be met in ErUlicsOme groups, vending their
way to the school room he may be discovered
standing in line before the closed doors Of the
warehouse, waiting for tho opening: and,
though he may look cheerful and contented
enough in childish thoughtlessness, we know
that hc is preparing the way for future regret
and humiliation. True, there Is tho night
school; but at the end of n long day Of intense
activity, ut something which is not play but
very hard work, we are not to presume that
he will take kindly to study, or drink very
deeply Of the light drnUght, chiefly composed
of reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, which will
he offered for his mental nurture. We all
remember the old proverb about all work and
no play, and the consequences. But Cash,
like the street messenger boy, completes with
no one, and he is, therefore, left unmolested.
He fills a niche. which would LIE empty but