Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-08-01
THE SHIRT FINISHER.
A Sad Recital by n Poor Girl Who II
Obliged to do Good Work for Poor
Pay.

room-mates VOW they won't consent TO
have the alarm clock go off at half
past in the morning. You see all
three of 'em are salcsladies and SO they
can afford to lie abed till nearly z,
while ought to 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 ut night, so as to sleep
the next morning, but my room mates
won't agree to my having candle, rs
they say the light keeps them awake;
so am sometimes left in the dark, in
the middle of button-hole, when the
gas is turned off Mt half-past 10. /
don't sew on buttons in my dreams, as
that woman done in the Song of the
Shirt 0 heard it read at club meet
ing), but it would be great saving of
time if could sew them on in the
dark. BY working early and late
can't finish more than shirts day
when they are custom shirts l do
four-and as the highest pay at the
place where l work is $3.50 dozen,
/ consider myself in luck when l can
pay my board, So, at the end of the
week. For stock shirts | get only 81
dozen. and when business amt brisk.
of course, get more stocks than any
thing else.
Il could do IN awful lot more if l
was allowed to slight my work, like
girls who finish cheap jerseys. The
buttons drop off my jerseys the first
time fasten EN- 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 hawk, and in the
button-holes the stitches have TO be 1ust
so close together, and the hemming in
the gussets has to be almost rs nice as
what would be put on a pocket hand
kerchief; the buttons must be sewed on
hard and tight; and rs 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 eyelets in 'em
because then | am sure TO be found
fault with when l hand my work in
sometimes l get 'em too large and
sometimes too small. L 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 my board money. As for having
my washing done, just told the super
intendent of the home where l live that
just couldn't afford it, and so there
has been an exception made in
my favor, and am allowed to 90 into
the laundry and wash my own duds.
It's against the Jules 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
ing their handkerchiefs and such things,
and hanging them behind their wash
stands where they think they won't be
-een.
why do l work for so little? Well,
S. week is better than no dollars
week. and as l amt got nobody to look
to for support, | have to catch on 10
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 So day rs a painter.
invited me to do my washing ut her
house Chat was before got permission
to do it at the honey 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
| could never get Il place in store be-
cause 1 am not tall enough; but if
could once lay up money enough to
pay my board for week or two I'd
tramp up and down the city till found
place where they would take me.
was in n store once around the holt
days. when there was lot of extra
hands needed and / tell you it was n
satisfaction to bring home my s. every
Saturday night! It's an awful mis-
fortune to be so short when n girl has
her own living to make. If l was six
inches taller I'd be earning almost half
rs much again as / am now, for | amt
one of the stuck-up sort who think
they are put behind n counter only to
show off their bangs aud their bangles.
| made lot of sales when | worked rs
an extra, and could do it again us a
regular hand if the storekeepers could
only get over my being short. / 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
want, and the only thing that do
want. If could earn s. II week at
shirt-fnishing. I'd be willing to keep
at it till was too old to thread
needle. It's only work that doesn't
pay enough to keep me that l don't
like. On 50 II week could live like a
lady; three Tor 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 year, but it's
awful hard to do it on nothing."--M
i TRIBUNE.