St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-16
And Call Themselves by the
Undictionary Name Of.
BOOkbindPeSS.
Eva Gay Finds Them a Very
Lively, Unframed Set Of
Young Women,
Who Know Their Rights, and
Are Willing to Stand UP
for Them.

tnelr OWN llNlnS. a girl VIII HIS gnu
place is generally willing to help her
less fortunate friend, if it be in her
power.
One of my many acquaintance has
been trying to get me place in book
binding establishment. Happening to
meet her one evening last week. she
said: You can come down and fold
papers tomorrow. Then maybe the
foreman will give you steady place, if
you're quick and willing" l assured
my friend that | could assume lightning
like speed of movement if necessary. L
have always had reputation for being
Willing-to kill time and take notes.
We agreed to meet next morning on a
certain corner and take a car down
town. By some mistake l got up a little
early and had the pleasure of prOpping
my shoulders against telegraph pole,
while awaiting my friend. How cool
and breezy these September mornings
are. AS L watched the girls hurrying
along to work, it struck me that walking
shoes. lace mitts and bingham dress may
be all right in August, but itS.time to lay
them on the shelf and invest in terra
Gotta wrap. soft felt hat and wool dress.
That is if you can afford these luXurleS,
if not, just retrench your expenses and
have some cash for fall suit. ut
would never do to let other girls know
that we can't afford warm clothing" said
the two girls as they passed. well just
get up earlier and walk to work before
the other girls come, so that'll save car
fare and it isn't cold so much as ridicule
that's hard to stand" they agreed. L
began to feel ashamed of my summer
like attire and wish my friend would
soon come. She did, then we waited
another while for a car, that came in
due time. OF course it was crowded,
we we are used to that and expect to
pay our nickel for StandingO on the step
or clinging to the roof. Open cars used
to be such luxury, but few buffalo
robes along with the side curtain would
be a comfortable addition during the
present cool weather. However we
girls are accused of wanting the earth
and it's in bad taste to grumble about so
small an item as a street car.
On arriving at the book bindery my
friend left me to my own resources.
The foreman wanted to know if | had
him Eyes, several places"
Ever been in a book bindery be-
force" he inquired.
''No, SIR" replied, "but l was in a
printing Office once and worked all
day."
He didn't ask why left, but said he'd
let me fold papers for a day or two to
start with. A stack of papers, nearly a
foot thick, was set before me, and a
small boy volunteered to show me the
business. Folding papers is not intri-
cate work, but il has an aspect of mo-
nOtony that makes me feel sad.
"HOw much pay will get a day?" l
asked the foreman as he passed.
well pay you p cents thousand"
he said, but you must fold the sheets
evenly, and you can work faster stand
ing than sitting"
worked quite busily all the fore
noon, and at noon had nearly a thou
sand folded. At that rate 80 cents day
would represent the value of my labor
Tor a day. 1t wasn't encouraging, but
the girls told me that 80 cents day or
So a week was good pay for novice.
.'Why, girls used to make s. day at
folding after they had experience; but
that was two or three years ago." re-
marked one.
Cant they make that much now?" l
asked.
''Oh, no." said several, "wages have
been growing less right along for two
years"
''Why is it? Does it cost you less to
live nOw?" | queried.
''What makes you think that cost of
living has anything to do with wages"
said an elderly girl, with an air of wis
dom. The only reason that wages go
down is that so many girls are looking
for places and willing to work cheap"
She looked sharply at me, as If she con-
sidered me one of the hungry thrOng
who are ever seeking places. But as
sured her that had a well-defined OBJ
lection to wasting my energies without
receiving fair payment, and would
never be guilty of offering to work for
nothing just to get job.
"HOw long does it take to learn book
binding?'' | asked of an expert.
"Generally, person can learn all
about the business i'll year." she said,
what wages do you receive, then?"
81 get 81 a week." she said, that's
about the highest wages girl earns in
this business. We often work overtime
and get good pay for it, so that helps
out, Sic tApldllcu.
On subsequent inquiry l found that
the usual working day in all binderies
is ten hours. and overtime is always
paid at fair rate. This makes the
wages range from So to IS weekly for
experienced hands.
''Do you work the year round ?'' |
asked of girl who was complaining of
feeling tired.
"Some of the girls do, and others take
a vacation in the middle of summer"
was their reply. So it seemed that the
work is steady for those who like to
work ALWAYS. | don't. Two or three
vacations a year wouldn't tire me at all.
At noon we had jolly time after eat
ing lunch. The foreman was good ma
tured and let us Scamper about and
make all the noise we chose.
had noticed that the girls chatted
and laughed over their work all the
morning without restraint.
You seem to have good time here"
| remarked; "In some places the fore
man wouldn't allow any talking or
running about during working hours"
The girls laughed outright at the idea
of being ''bOSSed around by foreman"
and declared they would have none of
it; said that so long as the work was
well done they cOuldn'S see why they
shouldn't amuse themselves. | told
them OF rules enforced in some eStab-
liShments, and they said that sort of
discipline would be failure with a
"boOkbindress." put quotation marks
around the word because it isn't in the
dictionary; but that's what the girls call
themselves. folded papers all the aft
ernoOn. 1t affords good exercise, but |
was quite tired at 6 O'clock. Summing
up the result, / found | folded 1900
sheets, giving three folds to each, which
made total of 5000 horizontal motions
with each arm. The stiff paper wore
all the skin off the side of my hands.
Altogether felt decidedly cross, and
proceeded to complain about the work
to the foreman; but he said it couldn't
be helped, and the girls got used to it
after awhile. or maybe they could be
changed to other departments. He said