The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-06-12
THE SHIRT EINISHER.
A Sad Recital by Poor Girl Who =
Obliged to Do Good Work for Poor

uOu l KNOW Wildl L I'LL GOiuS W III
| about IT. said the shirt-finisher. '.My
room-mates VOW they won't consent to
have the alarm clock go off at half.
past 5 ia the morning. You see all
| three of 'em are salesladies and SO they
can afford to lie abed till nearly z,
while ought(o be up as soon as l can
/ see to work, though for the life of me,
/ can not wake without the alarm. I'd
/ rather sew late at night. so as to sleep
/ the next morning. but my room-mates
won't agree to my having candle, AS
/ they say the light keeps them awake;
/ so | am sometimes left in the dark, in
! the middle of a button-hole, when the
/ gas is turned off at half-past 10. !
! don't sew on buttons in my dreams, as
| that woman done in the Song of the
! Shirt CT heard it read at a club meet
I ing). but it would be a great saving of
| time if ! could sew them on in the
dark. By working early and late |
1 can't finish more than shirts day
when they are custom shirts l do
four-and as the highest pay at the
! place where | work is $50 a dozen,
pay my board, So, ut the end of the
week. For stock shirts get only 81 a
dozen, and when business amt brisk.
of course. | get more stocks than any
thing else.
Il could do an awful lot more if ]
was allowed to slight my work, like
girls who finish cheap jerseys. The
buttons drop off my jerseys the first
time fasten 'em. but no such work as
that is put on shirts. 1t amt poor
work, poor pay with me, but good
work poor pay. The overlooker at
our place, though she wears glasses.
has got the eyes of IA hawk. and in the
button-hoes the stitches have to be Just
so close together. and the hemming in
the musSets has to be almost as nice as
what would be put on pocket hand
kerchicf; the buttons must be sewed on
hard and tight; and as for the eyelets,
they are just the torment of my life,
they have to be worked SO awfully
round and smooth | always dread to
get set of shirts with eyeiets in 'em
| because then | am sure to be found
fault with when | hand my work in
| sometimes | get EN- too large and
| sometimes too small. | don't have
that trouble with button-holes, because
| they are cut for me.
Supplied with thread and needless?
That we amt, We buy our own
thread and needles, and it counts up in
the end | can tell YOU. That's all l do
buy nowadays, and it often comes out
| of nv board money. AS for having
my washing done, just told the super
intendent of the home where | live that
l just couldn't afford it, and so there
| has been an exception made in
my favor. and am allowed to 60 into
the laundry and wash my own duds.
| It's against the rules for the other
boarders to do it, though they all like
to no matter how much they may earn.
| The girls in my room are always wash
inc their handkerchiefs and such things,
and hanging them behind their wash
stands where they think they won't be
seen.
Why do l work for so little? Well,
s. week is better than no dollars a
week. and as | amt got nobody to look
to for support, | have to catch on to
any work that comes along. Relations?
None nearer than cousins, and they
don't amount to much-at least, mine
| don't. Why cousin of mine, whose
husband earns his s. a day as a painter,
invited me to do my washing at her
house Chat was before got permission
to do it at the home) and afterwards
fell out with me, and made me pay for
the coal had burned in heating my
| irons.
The girls in my room tell me that
l could never get a place in a store be-
/ toll h.. hut &
could once lay up money enough to
pay my board for a week or two I'd
tramp up and down the city till found
place where they would take me. |
was in Il store once around the hOli-
days, when there was lot of extra
! hands needed, and l tell you it was
satisfaction to bring nome my s. every
Saturday night! It's an awful mis-
fortune to be so short when girl has
her own living to make. If was six
inches taller I'd be earning almost half
us much again as | am now, for l amt
one of the stuck-up sort who think
they are put behind counter only to
show off their bangs and their bangles.
| made lot of sales when | worked as
an extra. and could do it again as a
regular hand if the storekeepers could
only get over my being short. l get
out of all patience when l hear girl
whining and saying she don't see why
she has to work. Why work is what L
want. and the only thing that l do
want. If could earn S. a week at
shirt-fnishing, I'd be willing to keep
at it till was too old to thread a
needle. It's only work that doesn't
pay enough 70 keep me that l don't
like. On s. a week l could live like
lady; three for my board; one to put
aside for my dress; and one for
my other expenses. Any girl that's
got the knack of fixing things can
dress decent on $50 a year, but it's
awful hard to do it on nothing."-M