Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-08-05

putting on the wrappers, shaping the CT
psrs with q broad knife, and securing the
ends Along the tables some Of the men
were smoking and others chewing, some
with their hats on, and all in their shirt
sleeves. There were negroes, Swedes, .
Chinaman, Germans, and Spaniards, whose
influence on the lives OF the young girls,
while not really harmful, could hardly De
called beneficial. / stripped leaves enough
TO enable me to take in the social condi-
ton Of the inmates, the bad light, impure
Atmosphere, the choking smell OF the To-
bacco. and the photographs and prints Gu.
from sensational papers that were tackeo
ON the smoke-stained walls
From the cigar factory l went to the
ZOrA n~-EaSS, ssd SAT Iof nall an hour
while the forewoman scolded q pale-faced
girl who wore mourning. She had brought
back a dozen chemises for which the house
paid 81, bat the work was soiled IN the
making-machine oil having wet the cot
ton-and the torewoman refused to take
it.
'what shall 1 dor" she sskedthe woman,
with q voice as sad as her face.
what does anybody do with dirty
things? You will either have to pay for
laundering the garments or rip out the
greasy sewing and stitch with clean
thread"
Then the girl was left alone by the
ager, who went up to the other end OF the
counter to get trimmings for six dozen
ehemises that q tall young STede girl
was waiting for. The forewoman wore a
blue dress of plaid design with a Mar
peilles vest buttoned in il, and OF seven
rings on her left hand six were set with
what appeared to be diamonds. She a
Jewels at her chin and in her ears q
hair. She measured of the lace edging
and the tape and insertion and gave min
ute directions about the fullness and the
finish. The six dozen garments were
bundled up by Mr.. Hymen, the proprie-
tor, and the elevator carried her and her
load to the pavement below. The seam
stress told me that she lived at home, and
with the help Of her mother made Sl2 q
week.
at is very hard work, though" she
said, 'for we sew day and night. i had
rather do it than work down in a shop, for
| have more se~lf-respect. All the girls are
not good, and very few are in q position to
20 with respectable people. They 90 with
bad company and their language is bad.
Sometimes in the winter they dance till
daylight, and 90 from the hall to the shop.
don't blame them. The life of a girl
who has nothing to depend on but her
needle is ar best q hard one. Still / don't
like to be with a crowd of factory girls if l
can help it. The manager and superin-
tendent are obliged to be strict, but very
seldom make any distinction in the treat
meDt of a nice girl and one who is.not so
nice. / don't think / can tell you how
macy ways there are to insult q girl. l
have had q foreman just give me a look as
I passed in to my machine or handed In
my sewing that made me wish that l was
dead. Then there are the spiteful things
the girls say about you, and the eating
remarks of the forewoman that make
You feel like f~ainting. The cash
Ter may have a grudge, and if
he doesn't hold your wages back till all
the other hands are paid he will throw 1t
at you, make you take ragged bills, or
give you q weeks pay in small change. A
cashier in q Jackson street crsyat factory
once rubbed his hand across my chin ITO
feel nv whiskers," he said, and because l
said / would report him he saved up all
the silver that had holes and plugs and
made me take it. My salary was $5.25
that week, and some of the silver / couldn't
pass. 1 took it to a bank and the cashier
was kind enough to give me good money
for it. Plenty of times the forewomsn
has had me discharged for being stuck mp
4 gGD..ao, Ao-o ran,a frnpN On aanto IN NJ q
dozen. 1t depends OIL the material. Chill
dren's drawers pay 20 cents q dozen, but
there are no ~buttonholes to work. Some
shirts are 81, some 81, and some 81. so, but
most of them pay only 80 cents. Every
thing is done by machine, including but
touholes and gussets. The bosoms and
bands are all ready to 20 in. Corset
covers pay 40 cents and chemises 20 cents
each, but they have to be trimmed and
the holes worked by hand. This is q
mean shop, so far as prices 60, but they
are all alike in that particular. You have
to find your own thread and you are con-
stantly being suspected of keeping back
short ends OF lace"
Iasked the forewoman for stitching and
was given shirts at so cents a dozen to do.
l had to pay so cents for the use of the ma
chine, a No. 8 Wheeler & Wilson, and 35
cents for q spool of thread. / told the
forewoman / had left my purse at home,
but she said it was 'all right, you can
have it taken out of your wages" l asked
her what the machine cost, but she didn't
know, and when / yentured the ilforma-
tion that the expiration of the patent had
reduced the old price of Sos to about IL she
told me she ''reckoned / didn't know what
1 was talking about" The Don where
we worked was about eighteen feet wide
and ten feet deep, with toilet closets built
out from the walls. The machines en-
circled the three walls, and in the middle
of the floor were the boxes of work. One
girl YVES stitching Wristbands, another had
a buttonhole machine and was getting SO
cents q hundred. A third was making
tucked drawers at 20 cents a dozen, and |
had q shirt at 81 cents, which l failed to
| finish in three hours. being unable to man.