The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-10-03
WORKING WOMEN.

Details of the Lives of Working
Girls in Boston and Providence.
Commissioner Wright, in the annual re-
port of the bureau Of labor for 1855, devoted
to working women in large cities, which
contains much interesting information about
working women in % representative cities
says
Boston and Providence we're the cities Sc
,ected for New England. Under the head Of
general conditions, the report says The
most striking feature of the home life of
working women in Boston is the great num-
Der who 1--we in lodging houses This is espec-
tally noticeable because of the urge numoer
of girls coming from tne surrounding country
places and from the British provinces. They
having usually few or no kindred in the
great city are forced into the lodging houses
which abound, for comparatively few pri-
vate families will receive boarders and the
working girls homes though becoming more
numerous than formerly are still entirely
made quate to provide for all these homeless
strangers. Such conditions necessarily
weaken the hold of the home life upon
do away with the sense Of pro-
prietorship which even the poorest tenan
feels in the house which shelters him; and
they also do away with that privacy which
is one Of the best features of the separate
home. Space being valuable there is some
times no parlor or reception room attached
to the lodging house of the working girl,
and she is forced to receive her friends in
her chamber or not to receive them at all.
Such cond,t ton tends either in the direction
of crushing out social intercourse, especially
between the S 'xes, or Of carrying it beyond
the limit of prudence.
Yet there are some compensations for this
cherries homelife, if home life it may be
called, and are found in the proprietorship
which the working women may have in the
intellectual life of the city, in its education
al privileges, in its libraries, museums and
exhibitions. Music, literature, art, lectures,
are all within easy reach and the working
girls of Boston avail themselves of such
privileges to great extent. A buttonhole
maker gave as her reas N for not living in
the suburbs, where living was cheaper, that
she would hen be debarred from lectures and
oratorios A necktie maker contributes ex,
cellent vers IS To first-rate magazine.
Suspender makers who have taught school
belong to Browning clubs and discuss the
tariff and similar vi al issues Work il
regarded as honorable, and the barriers
which exist betwe IL the people of leisure
and wage earners may in some cases be
overcome, The shops and factories are il
fair sanitary condition in a majority oil
cases and in very many employers seen
anxious to add to the comfort of their EN-
ployes. The factory laws are more gener
ally posted, and as regards the EN-
ployment of children under age more
generally observed here than elsewhere
The work is, generally speaking, quite reyu
lar during the entire year Many rumor,
were heard of improper proposals being
made to girls when APP lying for work OF
entering therein, but such ruiiors were gen
orally found to he groundless only on,
authenticated case of e kind having bee,
discovered in the investigation.
The homes of the woi king people in Provi
dence are generally fran, buildings, accom-
| modating from one to four families EACH tn,
tenement house proper being almost un
| known. These homes are very comfortable
| and rem are low. In the neighborhood O
| certain OF the mills where the houses of til,
| employers are owned by the mill operators
| drainage is neglected and the heslth of tn
inhabitants suffers, but. generally speak
| ing the sanitary conditions are fair. TIL,
| home surroundings of many of the girls il
the mills in iicate education AMI thrift car
| peted fl ors, books, pictures. etc, being no
| infrequeutly found. Over 20 per cent of al
the women seen in the investigation wer
| found boarding either in the board
ing houses connected with the mill
or in private families The educa
tional advantages are very superior, tn
school system being excellent, but tn
schools are depict d by the mills, into whicl
children are received as soon as they arriv
at the age permitted by he law, and in fac
the law is frequently dsregarded. Religion
observances are general, and the genera
morality of the working women is unques
toned. The older mills are defective il
light, ventilation and space, are oftel
without dressing rooms, and FIRE
quently the ordinary sanitary require
ments are disregarded These conditions
with the flo ting dust incident to work il
the mills and the rigor of the climate in tn
winter season induce diseases of the lung.
The extensive jewelry manufac cries ar
usually well suited for their Uses, but part
Of the work are said TO be very injurious t
health. Wages CORE pond with those re
ceived in other manufacturing cities. Fine
are common, sometimes becoming heav
grievance.