The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-12-28
WOMEN IN EUROPE.
What a YANKEES Working Woman Saw
While Among Them.
Hrs Barry Says Their Social Condition Il
Much Inferior to That Of Our Working.
womea-scenes in Tires Citiss-"Thank
God Am an American Woman"

ers, cloak makers, tailoresses, MILL
ners, fower-makers, saleswomen, etc. |,
but there are few manufacturing or
productive industries employing wo-
men in this large city, mostly all such
work being done in the country towns
of France, says Mrs. Barry in her most
interesting report to the Seripps
League. The reason of this may be
inferred from the remark made to me
by one OF the proprietors OF a large
wholesale and retail lace establish
ment. who said that If they manufac-
tured lace in Paris they would have to
pay or francs a day, but in country
places they paid but II francs day,
Ga franc equals 20 cents in American
money!. He showed us some beauti-
full specimens of handmade lace that
took from six to eight months of steady
labor to make a yard, and in the MAX
ing Of which no two parts OF the work
was done by the same persons. This
particular pattern retails for $500 per
yard.
l saw very many women in Paris
yoked into carts, hauling market pro-
duce and merchandise of all kinds.
Sometimes the. woman pulled the great
numbering cart unaided, but sometimes
she was assisted by either dog Or a
donkey. This condition among women
was also found at Brussels but here
the law specifies how many pounds the
dog shall pull seven kilos being the
limit Ga kilo equals two and quarter
pounds). But the woman may pull
all she can.
At Crefeld, in Germany, noted for
its silk industry, l visited several
homes in which silk is manufactured,
and here the methods are an entire
departure from any have seen. ops
of a population of 10000 people "a.
600 are engaged in the manufacture Vi
silk, yet every yard is woyeo III 'he
homes of the operatives 10 d "os'
peculiar sight to SEQ the streets
thronped with men and women OF all
ages, carrying homo their beams ana
natterns In some homes there are
forr 1ooms. some two, and others six.
Evcry meaoer of the family is engaged
:, sou6 capacity or other.
For. weaving the finest quality of
covered silk-S60 threads, three
colors-an operative gets marks and
20 pfennigs per meter. A meter is
about three inches longer than our
yard, and marks and 20 pfennigs
equal So cents of American money. OF
this quality of goods two meters per
day, commencing at 5 a. m. and stop
ping at 8 p. m, is an extraordinarily |
good days work. About one and one
half meters is the average.
In Scotland / saw women working in
the brick yards wheeling and piling
bricks; tS.s5eo binding grain; but as this
was while en- rte l could CLEAN very
little information concerning them.
AS far as my observations went, the
social condition of the Eulapean work
ing-women is much inferior c that OF
American working-women. THy
seem to receive secondary considera- !
ton in all the countries we visited. |
In England, whenever we were out |
side OF London, there was no organiza-
ton whatever among women. While !
the average English working girl Is
industrious and thrifty and will ave
more OF her earnings than an merl-
can girl, owing entirely to tie differ
ence in their style of living
In Paris there seemed/to me to be
little or no home life, ss all classes of
society seemed to fipd their homes on
the boulevards. An American seeing
Paris for the first time would be at a
loss to decide whether the Pariasians
were extremely moral, seeing no harm
in the most utter abandonment and
license of conduct, or whether they
were excessively immoral, having little
or no regard for the restrictions that
Ame rioans endeavor to observe and in
culcate at home. There is no breakfast
proper in Paris the midday meal being
called breakfast. Their dinner is at
6 p. m. At all hours-from In the
morning to l the next morning-in
the cafes at little round tables along
the street, men and women of all grades
of society may be seen drinking beer, i.
wine, or coffee. Milk is seldom used
in the coffee, but burned brandy and
sugar instead.
Among the poorer classes of Paris,
where father and mother are both en-
ployed during the day, night lodgings
are all the home the family en-
joys. There are institutions in Paris, !
something on the order of our
kindergarten, into which children of
any age are received and cared for dur !,
ing the day and evening. While
parents are at work or enjoying them
selves they put their children in these
institutions, and, as a conseque nee,
not u child is seen on the streets of =.
Paris. either as bootblack or newsboy.
Most of the women who 60 out to =.
service of any kind in Paris 60 bare
headed, and, as a consequence, great
attention is paid to dressing the hair
neatly. did not see frowzy-headed
or filthy woman while in Paris. l saw
but one garbage-picker, and her hair !.
was done up in curl-papers.
New York has its Mott, Orchard,
and other streets where poverty and
its kin-sin, misery, and vice-abound,
but they are not TO be compared to
places where similar conditions exist
in other countries. Manchester has ,
its Angel street, London its Strand and .
Whitechapel district, Paris its Rue St. ,
Antoine, Brussels its Market square
and surrounding alleys, Rotterdam its
Hoaeg street. Edinburg its Cowgate
and Grass market, and Glasgow its
Argyle street and Glasgow green, in