The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-01-24
CASH BOTS AND GIRLS.
THe CHANCES WHICH THEY HAVE
IN THE BATTLE OF LIFE.


rbo,tsands Of These Children In the Dry
(sooda Houses-Hard Rules to he Old
served-A Vocation which Has Escaped
tho Notice OF Eeformers.
Rat tat tat!
The origin OF this sound was the blunt end
OF a lead pencil in the hands OF q young lady
in an ND town dry goods store. She was
salcswoman. or, begging the young persons
parton. a saleslady, IL she will consent to use
the word salcsgentleman when speaking OF
her maIe Wis a Wis who dances attendance
on customers on the opposite side of the
raem Tho taps on the counter were the
noodoio substitute for tho exclamation cash.
formerly uttered 10 call TIC attention OF tho
sa,csmon's devil They were hardly given in
this co ~ before several urchins matcrialized
from among the wilderness of skirts that
filled the passageway, and, shouting certain
talis,napic numbers, they stood before the
conjuring witch. What followed 1T VIII 10
necessary TO tell to no feminine reader who
has seen her money disappear over a dry
goods counter.
There mus. be several thousands OF these
interesting children, male and female, known
under tho generic name OF Cash, III the city
of New York at this time. Rejecting on the
number Of dry goods houses OH broadway
Twenty-third street, Sixth avenue, Four
teenth street and Grand street, and the num-
Der employed by all the leading firms, 1t
is oven possible to estimate the total at
1000 or 5000 They represent great indus
try, OF which the object is chiefly consump-
ton They stand, also, on the lowest round
OF tho mercantile ladder, and some are DIES
lied TO mount until they become clerks, su-
pcrintepdcnts and propriotors Others, again,
will be fated to fall by the way, or, belong
ing 10 the gentler sex, they will Hoat OIL and
perform matter Of fact roles in domestic
dramas. They arc now leading lives Of con-
siderable hardship They look bright and
cheerful in the morning, heavy at MONDAY,
and sometimes jaded in the evening. 10
persons familiar with the habits Of children,
and who reflect Oh their ability to play fif-
teen hours on the stretch without any appa
rent sense of fatigue, this declaration may
sound like n waste of sympathy. But some
how there is world OF difference between
worl, and even the kind Of recreation which
taxes tho muscles more severely than work
Cash girls and boys are usually the chill
dren Of parents who are not able to live
without turning all their resources into the
market These children do not seek the situ-
alton Of their own free VIII, and they often
hold it very much against thor Will. Ask
them how they like their employment, and
they will not always give cheerful answer.
They speak Of the hard rules which they arc
obliged to observe, and Of the fines which
merchants think it necessary to impose to
maintain discipline. In the largest stores
the pay OF cash girl is only $3.50 per week,
a sum that may be increased TO $3.50 per
week by closer attention and greater activi-
ty. But even this small amount is liable to
a considerable reduction through the inilic-
ton Of penalties. Perhaps the cash girls ex-
aggerate; perhaps, in the innocence Of souls
inherently truthful, they sometimes tell Gbs.
They oro occasionally sent home, they say, at
the end Of week with no more than fifty
cents in their pockets. Tho poor dears think,
too, that they are often imposed upon, and
even made the scapegoats for their elders,
who have reached the age of feminine per-
lection, and can do no wrong. 1t is conyen-
lent to have q cash girl at hand to charge
with tho loss of articles which have disap-
peared from the counter without having
been sold.
But these are only the girls. The cash boy
is moro demonstrative and aggressive
creature than the cash girl, and it is to be
presumed that he fares better. The place to
sec him at his best is at store where he is
paid according to the service rendered Here
he is like a high ofilcer-a deputy sheriff, for
example--who draws his salary in fees, and
whose profits depend on his activity. The
~, eto
to maximum company of infantry, 100
strong, and a champion club Of football
players could not be more active. We are
told that at this store cash boys earn as much
as 81 week, and that none earns less than
8, a fact which speaks well for the liberality
Of tho firm. They make boast, too, at this
store Of the number Of faithful boys who
have been promoted to the various depart
ments of tho house. Some Of the employees
who began in this humble sphere have been
as many as thirteen years in service.
The qualifications demanded for the SER
vice are not necessarily Of very high order
As for personal recommendations, it is to be
presumed that only sufficiently good looking
boys and girls need apply. Looking at some
of the dry goods warehouses fronting on
several streets, with exits everywhere, and
packed with customers one would suppose
that it might be necessary to give bonds
before being permitted to enter the service
1t looks entirely feasible for any discontinued
Cash to indemnify himself for unjust fines
by slipping away with money enough in his
hands to buy an outfit for an Indian hunting
campaign at the west. But since no attempt
Of the kind was ever reported, we have to
conclude that cash boys and girls all come
from the stock which is proverbially honest
because it Is poor.
This is one Of the few vacations which have
not yet attracted the attention of the social
agitators. Neither has it come under the sur
veillance of the Society for the Prevention Of
Cruelty to Children. Yet it cannot be denied
that it is capable of furnishing topics for all
sorts Of reformers. Cash is exactly Of the age
when be ought to be at school nine months in
tho year. But in lieu Of walking in tho paths
Of instruction be must run only in the ways
that le0d from the counter to tho cashiers
desk, and there is not much Of knowledge to
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