Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-16
WOMEN WHO WORK.
Ways in Which Bright Feminine ToiIers
support Thenseives-Labor No Longer
Observation-Disclosures Occupations That
Proved Proltable-Womanly Independ-

support Themseives-Labor No Longer
Undignifled-Peculiar Occupations That
Proved ProftnbIe-Womanly Independ-
ence Growing.
To-day there are two widely different roles
for the penniless woman to play She may sit
quietly with folded hands and let her friends
and relatives come forward and support her,
or she may do the FIRST thing her hands find to
do and so support herself. OF course there
are many women who prefer the former role.
Weak, indolent women, who have been brought
up in luxury, who have been accustomed 10
dawdle through life doing nothing, find it easy
to sit still and let some kind-hearted person or
persons support them. They do not stop to
consider that they are membranes in so DONG
nor that they are living,on charity; work Of
any kind to them would mean loss of social
position, but they can live on charity
There is another type Of woman. q type Of
the larger class, we believe and hope, who pre-
fer to, and who do, 60 bravely out into the
world and become selfsupporting. These
II though they DO
not ba happy If they were idle, and, as far as
their social position is concerned, they are in
different They have not the time for much
society, but they find that their real friends do
not think less OF them for helping themselves,
and they maintain their self respect. which
they could not do did they permit their friends
to support them in idleness. This latter type Is
the true American woman, possessed Of the
true progressive American spirit, and the num-
Der of such women increases every day.
Change for the Better.
The other woman is type Of the past age, a
relic Of false system Of education, and she is
rapidly passing away. It is only too true that
the entrance of gentlewoman into any kind
of business or vocation for the purpose Of max
ing money has been looked upon with great alb
horrence-somuchs SO that it has been a very try
ing thing for sensitive woman to come boldly
forward and to undertake work for the purpose
Of needed support. There are always friends
and relatives of such women who are ready ito
express horror at the idea of "a lady" doing
this or that, says New York Star writer, but
they do not suggest anything else that she may
do, nor do they offer to make up
from their own purses what their friend
loses by listening to them. But, happily.
such state of affairs is giving way to
something very different. Women are more
and more becoming workers, and sue
cessful ones IN nearly every field. They are
money take up work that Is profitable, and
those who do not need it take an active part in
various works where their sympathy, intuition
and judgment do vast amount OF good work.
q
found among those who work for living;
many fields become crowded and new ones
must be opened. Teaching and keeping board
ing houses, the only two occupations that Tor
merly suggested, themselves to the minds OF
women who were suddenly deprived Of COM
Portable homes, are left far behind now by
brisk, enterprising women. The Held was over
crowded, so they TUNED their attention TO
something else.
Work Thnt In Probable.
The craze for household decoration that was
started few years ago was boon to many
women, and resulted in the organization of the
various exchanges for the sale of womsn's
work. through which many women make COM
Portable income. These exchanges, by taking
many articles beside decorative work, gave
women an opportunity to find out what they
could do, and 80 we hear Of woman support
ing herself by making certain kind of pickle
or sweetmeat One woman, who has child to
support knew that she could make excellent
chicken pie and peculiar kind OF
pickle; she knew that she could do these
things well, and she determined to make
them her support. She supplies several
clubs, and makes . comfortable living. We
hear Of another woman who had q taste for
making bonnets; it was the only thing she
could do really well, SO she opened millinery
shop, and supports herself and three children.
If money must be made and children educated,
a woman must first find out what she can do
we'll and then go TO work earnestly and do it
with all her might.
There is plenty Of poor work on the market
that no one wants, and no one buys; there are
plenty of unskilled laborers poorly paid. 1t is
well to remember that there ID always room In
the market for good article, and that skilled
and skillful workers are always in demand.
Women ms shopkeeDers.
On Sixth avenue are two dainty little women
who keep a jewelers. shop. and if you go in 60
have a pin put on brooch you are politely
asked to wait minute until it is DONE This is
a business that does not seem to have been
taken up by women to any extent, and yet their
more delicate hands and deft fingers would
seem to flt them for jewellers and watchmakers
work. Two young women made very comfort
able incomes last year by teaching whist to
members of their own sex, whist cluos beng
always fashionable and popular Tor winter
evenings. Chess is rapidly coming TO the front
as fashionable game and here Is an oppor-
tunity for making money. Mending establish
ments, where everything, from the finest lace
to the most ordinary garments, may be neatly
by women who have taste for such work and
for nothing else, and who are wise enough to
have found it out.
Some young women started the idea OF going
about to houses of wealthy persons and busting
their bric-a-brac two or three times week for
a moderate sum, and they were quite success
full. Shopping for persons living at q distance
from the city has been done for years, and
many women have made very comfortable In
comes from commissions charged. Marketing.
also, on commission. might be made profitable
by woman who has kepthous and thoroughly
all about the ordering Of din
ner the best joints and cuts to be selected, and
the right season for certain meats and vege-
tables.
Some Unusual Occupations.
In fancy work the drawn linen worK Is very
much in demand for doyiies, teacloths and
bureau covers, and bring large prices. Some
women make specially Of this work. as others
make speciality Of knit goods for babies. An
other woman devotes herself to the making OF
photograph frames, and others to making bis
cults, pickles, jelly preserved fruits or candy.
All these things are supposed to be exclusively |
work. So they are, and they are |
honest and honorable work. Il