Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-06-22
Workers With Needles.
LONG HOURS OF TOLL POORLY
RECOMPENSED
The Life of Needlewoman In England
and In this Country-AverAxe Warpn
of Less Than 81 Week.

The condition of The needlewoman hv
which term Is meant plain sewers. dress
makers helpers and the like, il sorry
enough in any county, but their rirhfs
ana wrongs are only vaguely understood
by the great majority. Most peoDle are
ignorart OF the daily life Of their working
contemporaries, and very few persons are
ever afforded an opportunity of extending
their Information on this point by actual
observation. u woman may know some
thing Of those employed 10 her own house.
% OF those VINO work In their own homes.
but she can learn nothing of the great ar.
ny who spend The larger portion IL their
waxing hours In work-rooms. On This
account brief digest of an article on
this subject in the W0mdns World will
be of interes'. The story told Ii Of sue.
cessful needlewoman--a shirtmaker--
who was, moreover, blessed with rood
health. In England, MS In this country.
the entire making of fine white shirts ii
not intrusted TO women. They only
make certain portions OF them az so much
dozen, and there, as here, they are
paid according TO the work accomplished.
and meanwhile The employer claims the
disposal of the entire working day, regard
less OF the amount of work done. II
can readily be understood at what dis.
advantage the worker Is thereby placed.
Work may be slack or the foreman NAV
be slow in giving II out, thus cntaiIinr
the loss OF some considerable time in The
course Of the day. Under the system al
day wages the loss is the employers: on
the piece work plan the employed are the
'osers.. AT thc. prices paid In England 4
must be an Extraordinarily rapid and
skillfut necdlewoman who can make.
even when constantly employed. an aver
age 81 week The great majority
earn only from 50 to 50. so per week ana
this Is In the best shops. which send nnt
fine work, so that It is hardly possible "a
estimate how low their pay may descend
How is 1t possible for girl who must az.
pend upon such wages as this 10 live fhe
lie of decent human being. properlv
housed, fed aud clothed?
To return TO the successful sE.rtmaler
Of the story She began her business Of
plain sewing the year of the Crimcau war
ut shillings week and her tea. work
ing from s in the morning until D II
night, and living on bread and treacle.
But she got On because of her sturdy
health, patience and perseverance,. aud
after awhile (somc years. because sc ex.
pert that IN the busy season she could
earn 80 week. During all The twelve
years Of her married life, during the ln-
fancy of her three children, during win.
ter and summer year in and year ont.
she worked on, and now 10 her widow
hood she stil works To fe, 4 and clothe
herself and her little family. with no
nope of anything better this side tha
grave. And she is spoken of as suc.
esJut needlewomaul Heaven help the
unsuccessful ones.
Things are scarcely better in this coun-
try, and when one takes into considera-
ton the highest cost of wearing apparel
and OF living, there seems reasonable
room to doubt If the English needIewo.
man is not better off than her sister on.
this side of the Atlantic. Here very lit
tie work is done by hand bntin the beat
manufactures only skilled machinists ara
employed, and these are paid about e5
week or, If paid by the piece, an accom-
plished worker will sometimes make 4
trife more. Very many do not make %
much. Button holers are little better
paid. And these are the highest wages
earned under the most favorable condi-
tions. tits not probable that any EN-.
ployers can pay more under present con.
dltions, and 1t is certain that the majority
pay less.
Al IN all. it is safe TO estimate that the
skilled needlcwoman Of the world earn on
an average less than $3 a week And be
yond these there is great fringel Of 10
competent, careless workers, Of whose
yearly earnings 1t is impossible to make
any calculation.
Sad as this state Of affairs appears.
there seems to be no remedy for It.
Women bid against each other for thcse
places Of hard work ard poor pay. As
often as one falls out another fe readv ~
step in. and thus the ranks are ever kept
filled. The only thing that may be done
toameliorate their wretchcd condition "a
TO see that the rooms in which they
spenu their days shall be as comfortable
aud healthful as possible. The philan-
lhropist will have work enough TO do TO
bring about this result.