Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1888-01-07


their tenements. SO long as women
take work to their homes it is hard
for any union 10 find out exactly what
they were paid; the women who do
such work are usually very ignorant
and refuse to spend the little time and
few pennies which it would De ncces-
sary to give in order to organize q
working union. That much suffering
does actually exist among these peo-
is Nnuuestionabie, and the many sug-
gestions toward an Improvement seems
to have resulted in nothing practic al.
Almost periodically the matter is
written up" in some newspaper. and
it is pointed out again that the life of
a family subsisling on less than 81 a
week cannot be either n heaIthful or Il
pleasant one. The fact that the vast
quantities of mems clothing and wom-
ems undertaking are made in the
living rooms of the very poorest peo-
pie, close quarters, where cooking
working, eating. and sleeping go on.
where children are reared and people
die, has more than once suggested the
possibility of the spread of contagious
disease through clothing which comes
from these places. Work is not sus-
pended because scarlet fever or other
contagious diseases is among the chill
dren; the beds are often made up of
piles of clothing in different stages of
preparation for the shops to
which they 90. This is one
danger of work in the tenements
which the law might consider.
Several employers of large numbers
of work-people were asked as to what
possible step sowing-wOmen might
take in order to obtain better pay. Not
one of the persons quest oned denied
that the condition OF both men and
women, and even children. in the tene-
ments where cheap sewing is the
occupation, is miserable in the extreme.
One manufacturer of cheap clothing
said: Il often go among the tenements
of Essex street to see the people who
do nv work, and / confess that it is Il
heartrending sight, especially the
sight of the unfortunate children who
seem to survive only by miracle; TO tell
they do grow up, is scarcely worth
living for. can cite scores of fam lies
in which the sew ng-machine huns
from 6 o'clock in the morning unit
or 10 o. clock at night; n which every
member of the family more than
years old works hard; in which any
thing but the coarsest of food is un-
known. Sundays and week days there
is the same unending drudgery carried
on at a speed which exhausts the
worker. These people drop off to
simply because they can work no long
er. The world of children brought ur
in the dens is a pretty dismal one, as
may be imagined, and the only hope
for them is that the laws may send
them to school and open a way OF
escape.
Nevertheless, with families. es
pecially in the case of the Polish Jews
east of the Bowerr, the amount O
money made is sufficiently large t.
warrant something lie a rest after
many years of this sort of toll. sup
pose that family composed OF father
mother, a son. and daughter grown
up, and one or two smaller children
all working in this incessant and un
healthy fashion, Will earn an averag,
of $40 a week. Very often the head o
! the family employs one or two girl
from outside who assist in the work
The rent required for two rooms il
| about SO a month. and the living eX
| penses of the family not more than s.
| n week, so that when work is stead
there is a cons :derable surplus at til,
end of the month. The sad case
which have been reported of late in tn,
newspapers by the advocates of organ
ization for sewing women. are mostl
taken from among people who have Il
work at a disadvantage owing to sick
ness or misfortune. Naturally
woman who has to sew upon under
clothing in her own rooms. and TO TAX
care of several children at the sam
time, has a hard time of it, for sh
completes with other women, perhap
quicker and more expert than herself
who do not require To pay rent, an
have no children to look after. Mos
of the cases cited as deserving sym
patty are those in which sick people
or widows with children. or incompei
ent workers, figure. An experience
and competent woman, even ut the 10y
prices paid for sewing upon the rougl
est of clothing, can to-day max
sufficient to keep body and soul tC
gether without wearing herself out. {
course. plain sewing is somethin
which every one can do. and the con
petition is tremendous; only til
ignorant and hopeless apathy of th
women who do this sort of work kee
them in such poverty. For an INTEL
gent and expert woman there al
dozens of occupations where the wage
are double those paid for sewing. j
making artificial flowers, in brait
making, in passemen;erie, in hat
ing, glove making mems neckties. etc
the wages paid for work above I'll
simplest drudgery are sufficient
enable women to live in decency, if NJ
much more"
A member of well-known clothin
firm by whom system of cooperate
has been practiced for several years, :
that the lowest sewing-women. as we
as the foremost salesman, shares in Il
profits, said:
THE lowest prices paid upon Il
average for the sewing upon men
| Il .