Telegram-herald., 1889-10-14
HOW A CITY GROWS
BY Swallowing Up Thousands Of
Ccu-try Girls Every Fsll.
WHERE IHEY ALL FIND PLACES
Whzt BscsEuss of the n oulen N ho Entsr
Ist0 the CutthFost Com petition 81
B4oao - tiad tiat AZ olalssi e kue-s ot
the Boarding House Bedrooms


tWos and threes from every little coun-
try village and town they tzke their
riehL aud as the lines or them con
Nerre toward Manhattan Island every
train that swings into the Grand Cen
iral Station reminds one OF the sWarms
OF oigeous that used 10 blacken the 2lr
and break the tree boughs when they
settled down in the Kentucky forests.
Years ago this sutUmnal migration
WAS almost wholly masculine Nova
DAYS. from mOrtgaged farms and village
economies, with Tie diplomas or rustic
schools ia their pockets and the fresh
ness Of the country breezes in Their
cheeks. girls who nave been drawn from
every State in the Union by the great
magnet New York, which acts over
wide areas even more powerfully than
did Lowell and Lawrence on the New
England rural districts in the beginning
Of the factory era, are hustled on every
block by the impatient elbows OF busl-
ness on Broadway and begin their init
iation into the homesickness provoked
by boarding house hall bedrooms.
= at least 90 per cent. Of the army OF
people al work in the dry goods stores,
40 per cent. Of the telegraph operators,
20 per cent. OF the type settlers and more
than 50 per cent. of the typewriters are
women; women's faces have become
familiar as clerks, bOOkkeepers. secre-
taries and even errand girls in the
larger counting rooms. in the general
offices and lawyers cham bers, and OF
the army OF working women which is 10
be paralleled nowhere on earth, unless
in London, the country proportions Is
large, aud get the October swsrms are
increasing.
What IS TO become of this fresh young
blood that Is SO eager and buOyant,
though SO inexperienced. and that now
gives piQUancy and color To the worK-a-
day routine? The idea OF earning ones
own living and belief in the independ-
ence and freedom which is supposed 10
go with II has a fascination for the
bright-eyed adventures for the golden
fleece of fortune, but az a matter of fact,
stripped Of the rosy halo which the life
NAV assume in the distance, the bitter
est dependence that a woman can know,
the most calling yoke that a woman's
shoulders can bear, the most cyuel an
noyances that a woman can suffer Will
in all probability be the lot of four out
of five OF these rosy damsels who throw
themselves on their own resousces and
the tender mercies Of the big city for q
livelihood.
In spite of the talk about the widen.
ing of women's opportunities most OF
the practicable avenues are choked with
travellers before the rights of way are
fairly secured. No class of working.
men can claim g ,perience of such cut
throat competition as exists among
women. The typewriter who asks for
place at 81 a week will find somebody
ready to take it at s. from under her
hand. The gOverness who applies for
SIS month situation will meet on the
doorstep half dozen $50 teachers. The
would-be telegra pher who applies at the
Cooper Union free school for instruo.
tion will be refused admission, in view
Of the crowded market. unless she has
the definite promise of position at the
end Of her course. The Normal College
turns out every year hundreds of teach
ers who have to wait weary periods for
scholars. The average age of women
at marriage, which has direct bearing
on the labor problem, IS increasing and
larger and larger numbers remain un-
married.
Women look hopefully TO the profes-
sions to relieve the strain. Medicine is
by long odds the most promising. How
many women doctors does New York
them on your fingers. The wages of the
trained nurse, though still good, threaten
continually TO fall? How many women
dentists has the city? Three. How
many lawyers? One. How many clergy.
women? None. How many newspaper
women? 4 handful who earn excellent
wages, and a skirmish line OF free lances
whose board bills are often overdue. A
young lawyer who advertised for a
housekeeper al s16 month had over 200
women blocking the passageways. A
woman who advertised for a music
teacher for her little boy had thirty ap
plicants within four hours.
What does art work mean? A few
little samples Of water colors or decor
ated menus hopefully placed under
glass for a sign at the door Of the board
ing house and mouths of hand 20 hand
wrestle with fate. with destitution in
the background and hunger and cold
Snarling in the middle distance, with
final defeat almost certain. If indeed
the rout stop short OF death on draw
ing board stretched between two chairs as
happened TO a young girl with am
bitions some time ago.
What is a woman TO do7 This Is
what one woman is doing. Ten years
ago or therea bouts she graduated with
honors from one of the best girls
schools in the country. Her father gave
q graduation party for her and a bril-.
liant career was predicted by the guests
for he beautiful and talented creature.
By and by her father failed and the
care Of him broken in health and need
ing luxuries and Of her invalid mother
come on the carefully educated girl.
Six dollars a week is what she is able
To earn behind a ribbon counter and
there she stands In October there are
advertisements for ssleswomen for the
fan trade. ! have numbered Dy count
more than fifty waiting At : o'clock in
the morning 80 ask the u1erintendent
for one OF half dozen positions
College graduates are expected to be
satisfied With 900 and 800 places at the
teachers agencies with fees and per
centare 70 pay, and often accept f3oo
or $500 in private schools with corridor
duty at night after the days grind is
ground. And what comp. nsatiOn e
thare in The public schools for desks IN
which this fan there are many sppii-
cations from country girls. FOR many
hours work per day in a foul stTuos-
phern and with constant strain on the
nerves. In the New York schools a
year aQoout of :. 845 teachers. 3 I23 were
women and 222 men. but FOR the fret
years service mems salaries run up
from f-7o and women from e4cS Does
not every woman know that % is next 70
fmpossihla FOR self-6eps sndent woman
70 live In the cIty on 3f0s year in Any
dagree of comfort and cloths herself
Nth Sufficient neatness % insurs the
respA~t of her pupils and associates In
BROOKLYN woman rho - not q Norm Al
srhool graduate faces rhe same problem
or 500 And What stimulus ia there
20 a tesshers A. htfion2 simply ss >
pnatter % pnblic policy What encour
- 40 ~ rItLns LIZ .nt - he