St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-05
SEARCH FOR HOMES,
Boarding House Life Of the
Average Girl Who Works
for Wages.
What Eva Gay Found in a
Trip Among the City
Landladies.
Boarding Houses Good and
Bad--Samples of Ladies
Who Preside,
Why Some Working Girls are
Thin and Become So
Siekly.

81 wonder where all these girls live,"
has orfen been my thought after visit
ing a crowded factory. A knowledge
OF their life outside of working hours is
OF interest, because in that time they
seek whatever of instruction and amuse-
ment that may enter into their lives.
| What one gets to eat, and when and
how is an interesting problem, whether
one be working girl or a capitalist.
Some girls told me that their misera-
| BILE appearance was partly due to the
fact that they seldom got square meal
at boarding house.
''How is that?" inquired. 81 never
saw a boarding house where there
wasn't sufficient food served for a
meal"
'.It's not the quantity, but the quality
of boarding house rations that satisfies
or ruins your appetite" said my friends,
who had proved by much experience
the truth of their assertion.
On inquiry L find large number of
working girls, probably more than half,
live with their parents or board with
some friend. The number who live at
regular boarding houses may still be
counted by hundreds To read the ia
| miliar legends of FURNISHED Rooms
and Board," or Boarding by the Day
OF Week." one would think that all Min
neapoliS is divided into two classes
boarding house keepers and boarders.
Look i'll any direction within the radius
of mile from the city's business cen
ter, and you will see the boarding house
as numerous and tlourishiug as a green
bay tree. Farther away it is less pre-
tentiouS and more scattering, but even
In wandering over the trackleSS prairie
a traveller usually finds the boarding
house as one of the Outposts of civiliZa-
ton
Many are the styles and customs in
vogue, so that girl may choose where
and how she will board, that is if she
needs not to count the cost or chase
every stray penny until she gets its full
value. Unfortunately, the
LOW RATE OF WAGES
forces many to accept whatever can be
afforded rather than what they would
like. The better class of boarding
houses charge such high rates that but
few girls can patronize them. Those
who do would probably be quite indig-
nant If clasSed as working girls: they
are foreladieS, stenOgraphers, music
teachers or any other class who can
earn fIom $40 to SIS per week, and con-
sequently can afford to pay from S5 to 81
for board. did not spend much time
among these houses, because, although
they furnish excellent board and pleas
ant surroundings, yet are an impOssi-
blllty to the large majority of working
girls, whose weekly earnings do not
average more than 81.
How different boarding house looks
| from all other human habitatiOnS. Even
the yard has such tOrlOrn appearance,
which is only emphasized by the stereo-
typed hammock and gaudily painted
chairs with which it is Invariably orna-
mented. There are several types of
boarding house mistreSses. One is al
ways tall and bony; her hair is done in
a Greclan knot, with few wisps stray
ing over the shoulder. Her costume
pleced out of the cast off garments of
departed bOarderS. She is never known
to pin her collar straight or even to
wear clean one. She speaks in meek
| ly apologetlc tones, as if bemoaning the
circumstances which brought her to this
| profession. Her house isn't always
neat, but if girl is taken ill or runs out
| of money, her misfortune immediately
appeals to this type of landlady, and the
| girl receives attention and kindness. 1t
is needless to say that this landlady
| doesn't get rich. Indeed, she often fails
to make success of her business, and
| find that some girls take advantag ge of
her tenderness of heart and do not pay
at all; but she has good qualities that
some of her boarders might emulate
with advantage to themselves.
Another type has business in her
every gesture. She is prim and polite.
| Every fold of her dress hangs in straight
lines and her steel-rimmed spectacies
| glitter with every motion. She doesn't
| want any references; but | venture TO
say that the person is not to be found
| who can deceive her. Her house is neat
| and in perfect order. She proposes to
have it kept so, even if the boarders
| have to roost around on the edge of the
sidewalk in order not to spoil the parlor
furniture. By the way, that furniture
is a curiosity. She buys it at auction
sales. 1t looks nice, but won't stand
| much wear. Woe to the unlucky girl
who scratches or breaks one of the
antiquated chairs. 1t must be paid for
at full valuation. The board in this sort
of establishment would be pretty good,
were not the landlady so fond of
BUYING JOB LOTS
at low prices from the grocer or butcher.
When such lot is bought it must form
the staple article of food until con-
Sumed. Should it become little stale.
the girls are urged to hurry up and eat
it, ''then We'll have something new.'
There is no denying the fact that
there is also the landlady who is posi-
lively dirty, both about her person and
| the house. There are many instances
| of this type. All over the house there
| fingers the odors of departed meals.
| The table service always makes me
wonder if two or three relays of board
erS hadn't been served before l came.
| Screens are an nnheard-of luxury. The
| furniture is greasy and worn. Dust is
a prevailing feature. 1t rises in clouds
whenever the unwary boarder stirs a
| curtain or lifts book. No girl ever
thinks of getting more than one clean
| towel week, and if she desires her
room to be neat, she must put in her
| spare time keeping it tidy.
The cheerless outer aspect of board
| ing houses is even more plainly felt
| inside. The sitting room may be neat
or otherwise, but they all have that
bare. deserted look, as if they were
nobody's property, and no amount OF
furniture atones for that lack of home
comfort, which makes even the most
humble home place of rest and en-
| joyment. At the table there is gener-
ally some conversation, but it always
makes me homesick to sit around in a
boarding house parlor with lot of
| girls, each too Indifferent or too tired,
perhaps, to take an interest in other
| peoples affairs.
L IL