The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-16

in these regions, The shop girls man
tain a magazine club and are constant VIsl-
tors at the public library.
This is not in any respect fancy sketch.
TakF a town ike Danvels, one OF the bet
ter known of the smaller manufacturing
communities, sixteen miles out OF Boston
and too large to retain perfectly
the older characteristics. Danvers
has 5000 inhabitants, and half
dozen shops employing some nun
dreds of women and girls. large number
of the operatives are foreigners, but another
large number are Americans girls from
the public schools who have never breathed
any atmosphere that would teach them
that to go into the shop" was less respect
able than to play tennis or so boating.
These same shoe shops have Sc n some Oh
the bitterest lasters' strikes on record; but
the women, though they have strong labor
unions Of their own in cities the size OF
Lynn, are not organized except in benefit
associations, in the smaller towns, and 90
not 20 on strike, though they are OF course
thrown out Of work when the la tiers quit
duty. | have not made any inquiries
lately. but some monthsago the Daughters OF
Pocahontas and kindred sickness and death
benefit societies were gaining in numborS
very rapidly among the women all through
the shoe towns These lodges are differed
solely by women, and no men are admitted
except by special courtesy to the meetings.
The lodges visit one another with great
ceremony from town to town. The lie
insurance which goes with membership is
made out for the benefit of husband or
children.
In the shoe towns majority of the women
operatives are unmarried, the disparity
being, however, less than ono would ex-
pect in non marrying New England, owing
to the fact that the wives OF many, If not
most lasters, work In the factory with
their husbands The unmarried stitchers
are apt TO include the best educated women,
because these, when they marry at all,
marry, rs a rule, professional men and
leave the factories, though they may come
back as widows after the lapse of years.
The married operatives as before stated if
less clever in books, are the most self-re-
liant women in the world | walked this
morning through what used to be ten years
ago a strip of rolling meadow land on the
edge of little shoe town. To-day it is laid
out in wide streets, bordered with small yell
low and white cottages, each with its row
of maple trees in front. SIX houses were
pointed out to me in succession owned by
stitcbers in the shoe shops who had become
the bankers of their families. heard of
case after case in which the household
plenishings of all sorts were the property of
tho women. English women and Nova SEQ
tians are particularly thrifty, even when,
as in one instance, there are thirteen child
rem to be looked out for.
And what becomes Of the children2 That
is where the mother who did extra duty be-
fore does the work of two or three women
sometimes There is usually grand
mother or sister who attends TO the little
people whose mother is "in the shop"
through the day, but the making and
mendng. the baking and boiling that goes
on in the morning and at night, makes
some OF the stitchers old before their time
Sometimes the double work il absolutely
necessary, sometimes it is dictated by ambi-
ton to have things as nice as ones neigh
Dor and TO get ahead in the world some
times it is born simply of the tradition that
the shoemaker's wife, just as she used to
take home "uppors" TO stitch, before the
factory system was fully grown, must now
go to the factory to stitch them. In any
case it makes a very independent race Of
women, and sometimes makes husband and
wife the best of helpmates, working to-
gether for the common good, and some
times ruins the husband by teaching him
to believe that his wife can and must un-
der all circumstances bring in money as
well as run the house.
ELIZA PUTNAM HEAToN.