St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-08-23
sewOAIEN ARE SLAVES"
The Experience of Chicago Reporter.
Sr,rfno6eId TeeD,shI;ean

The Experience of a Chicago Reporter
Springfield Republican.
The Chicago Times has begun a Sc
ries of articles on the pay and treat
ment of the women and girls employed
in the shops of that city. The work OF
investigation is done by woman. She
started out July 10 dressed like shop
girl and viii without doubt enlighten
the public in regard to abuses that
must be sometime and in some way
rectifed. When the women reformers,
in their efforts to arouse the public to
see things as they do, assert that
"women are slaves,n it is considered
one of the extreme expressions made
use of to attract attention, but the
phrase assumes a painful significance
when one reads the account of this re-
porter of the Times. She visited the
Western lace manufacturing company
at 2l5 State street and applied for
work, and while waiting to see the
head of the firm she made the acquaint-
ance of young girl who had been
making mats for this firm at her own
home. This girl received 60 cents per
dozen for making the mats, and could
make a dozen week. A deposit of
50 was required by the firm, which
agreed to refund 81 on the completion
of SIS worth of work. This girl had
been at work since January and had
not yet earned her SIS. The reporter
further says that of the five women she
talked with there not one of them was
able to earn 30 cents a day. She
learned that many of the women paid
the 50, and when they found how
nearly impossible it is to do SIS worth
of work they gave up and lost the 50,
the firm making quite a sum by this
means. The reporter applied for work
at other shops, and finally found job
at the Never Slip Jersey company, 1873
West Washington street. By noon she
had finished four jerseys, which were
counted as worth 25 cents. There were
about 100 women at work, and when
they stopped at noon the reporter
counted 81 girls with lunch of dry
bread, Is with sandwiches, and 10 who
ate cold pancakes, 23 were without
any lunch. The air in the shop was
bad, but at noon the elevator stopped
running and none of the girls left the
building. Many of them rushed into
the tOilet-rOOm, which had one faucet
of running water. There were three
closets, unfinished, untidy, and I'M
wholesome. Set up against the wall
in the enclosure, with faucet run
through the partition, was barrel of
ice-water inscribed in big letters !:
"Two cents will be collected every Sat-
urday for ice water" Besides this
luxury every hand pays IL cents week
for the use of the machine. In the
afternoon the reporter had raised her
earnings to Al cents. She tried to get
the money, but was put off to the Goth
of the month. On leaving the building
she stopped in the salesroom to buy a
jersey. She says:
One of the firm waited on me. His
was sublime. The iden
teal black jersey that L had received
five cents for finishing was offered to
me for So. L declined. By way of in
terest 100 dozen garments are turned
out of the factory every day in the
year. AS near as | could learn, the
salaries average "a a week, but plenty
of grown women are not allowed to
earn over % cents day.