St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-20

places the smell of the wool was quite
diSagreeable. l staid around the weav-
ing room until noon, and was self-in-
vited guest at din er, Nearly all of the
girls brought their lunch, as many of
them lived long distance from their
work.
had intended to ask one of the weav-
ers to go through the rest of the mill
with me, but to my surprise several
said: Oh! we don't know anything
about the girls in other parts OF the
mill; we hardly ever go out of our own
ROOM" l have heard people talk of an
''arlstocracy of labor" and 1 found
something of that sentiment in this mill.
1t was true that the girls in one depart
ment often knew absolutely nothing of
the wages or kinds of work in other
rooms. l found girls who had been in
the mill for four or five years, but they
had never visited the whole establish
ment more than once or twice, and could
describe no kind of work except their
own. In speaking of this fact many
said: 1--WE never have chance to get
acquainted with each other; the fOremen
don't like us to run around and talk
during working hours, and when g
O'Clock comes everybody hurries home
to supper"
''Don't you have an hour at noon?"
eyes, but we have to clean our ma
chimes and sweep and fix up the place
neat and tidy during our noon hour?"
"Why, noticed how clean the mill
is, but didn't know that the girls had to
work in their noon hour to keep 1t look
ing nice. | should think you'd want to
rest few minutes after dinner or go
out for a walk rather than stay here all
day." l remarked.
Perhaps we would, but how can we?
We clean up at noon and sometimes quit
| work at $40 and finish; then when Wis
itorS come in its SO nice to hear them
preach about the clean place we have to
work ill.," said several. | agreed with
them.
Finding that the girls were too busy
to accompany me, | sauntered around
in various parts of the mill by myself.
In the basement of the new addition
were the girls who finished and pressed
the blankets. This was the
MOST PLEASANT DEPARTMENT
of the mill. 1t was we'll lighted, clean
and cool, and the work was arranged SO
that the girls could sit if they chose. 1t
was sharp contrast to the wash and
dry room in the other basement near by.
found the average wages in all de-
partmentS, except weaving, to be so
was light and tolerably clean, but the
girls complained that, with few eXcep-
tons, they had to stand at their work
all day, and of course were very tired at
night.
The weavers received the highest
wages, earning from 81 to S1.35 a day,
and occasionally fast worker could
earn 50 day on good material.
The weaving is such hard work that
many complain that although their
wages seem good, yet they cannot work
all the year around, often having to
stay and rest, or perhaps pay large
Doctors bill out of their earnings.
"HOW long can a girl work steady
without iniuring her health?" asked.
OF course there were various opin-
ions: foreigners would last longer than
Americans, but the general opinion was
that three or four years of steady work
were sufficient to finish girls useful
ness.
where do they go then?"
"Some get married; some go to the
hospital. and we don't know anything
about many of them; they just drop out
and others take their Places" was the
| answer.
Many of the girls were stoop-shoul-
dered and thin, but others were as
BRlGHI AND HaNDSOME
girls as one could find in higher walks
of life.
The large doors which / tried on my
first visit and found locked, were thrown
open at noon.
remember seeing fire extinguishers
at each landing of the stairs, but here
were over 100 girls working in a place
where, in case of fire. there were no
no means of egress except very narrow
stairways, one fire escape, and one
small door opening from the office. !
didn't think l would feel quite safe On
that score if L were working there.
The girls told me that they were al
ways treated pleasantly and cOurteously
! by their employers and foremen, and
that although many strict rules had
been made from time to time, yet they
were not always enforced.
Except the conditions that ] have
mentioned there was not much cause
for complaint.
The process of converting the wool
into cloth and blankets is quite inter
esting, so | departed little before &
O'Clock in the evening, feeling that my
day had been pleasantly spent.
EVA GAY.