The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-20
THE NEW YORK SHOP GIRL
Great Improvements In Her Cond,ts..
During Recent Year.

| Great Improvements in Her C.ra,....
/ During Recent Years.
| 1t will be remembered that ahon4
eight years ago there was a nonnla,
demand upon the storekeepers that
| their women clerks should be treated
more like human beings than as mere
automatons, that they should be given
seats behind the counters on which
they could rest themselves, and that
they should have some APARTMENT
wherein they could retire and secure
occasional rest from the constant
strain upon their nerves and their
bodies The general clamor for re-
form in this direction led to a most
marked improvement in the wav in
which these young womenwere treated.
| The change came slowly, but it came
| at last, and now the proprietors of the
great stores have made admirable nro.
| visions for the comfort of their en.
/ ployes.
1t may have been observed by shop
pers that there is marked improve
I ment in the personnel of the girls en-
ployed in the big stores. Purchasers
are treated with more courtesy and
the interest in the purchaser is SO
manifest sometimes as to be almost
amusing to persons who have been in
the habit OF shopping in other cities
This is based upon very sound finan-
clal reasons. Several Of the BIG shops
! have entered into an agreement with
their employees to give them a certain
percentage on their total daily. weekly
or monthly sales, small, it is true. in
each sale, but in the aggregate a very
handsome addition to their salaries
The result of this is decided eager
ness on the part of the clerks to wait
upon the customers and an anxiety
that they shall be pleased. This is an
improvement founded upon the inter-
est of both employer and employees,
and gives the latter an interest in their
work which deprives it of much of its
drudgery.
The question of seats in the stores
has been always an important one be-
cause OF the necessity for room in the
alsles between the counters and the
confined space within which the clerks
are obliged to work. But an ingen-
lous inventor solved the problem by
providing queer little stool, which
resembles an artists sketching stool in
many respects, though more solid
and comfortable. This in many stores
is hinged to the lower part of the coun-
ter, and the rules of the store permit
any clerk when she is not actually en-
gagged In a sale to use these stools at
will. AS most of the shopping is done
between II a. m. and 4. p. M, this
would seem to give the clerks five full
hours during which there is little
chance for rest, but this is obyiated in
this way: The clerks in each depart
ment are divided into what on Ship
board would be known as watches.
During the busy hours in a depart
ment where there are fifteen clerks
not more than twelve are, with few ex-
ceptions, behind the counter at once.
But these twelve are understood to do
the full work of the fifteen, so that at
hourly or fifteen minute intervals
they may in turn have a rest.
Formerly the clerks were compelled
to get a bite to eat whenever they
could between the customers demands.
Now, however, things are changed so
that each girl or set of girls has half
hour In which they may eat their
meal in quiet. Not only THE, but in
the big stores a room is provided for
them with tables and condiments
where they have almost as many COM
forts as they would have at home.
These rooms are usually in the base
ments, for the employers are COM
PEELED as rule to utilize every bit of
space above ground that they can Sc
cure, but they are kept clean and COM
Portable by women who also care for
the cleanliness of the main store.
There is, however, one exception, in q
great store in Fourteenth street, in
which the clerks are not obliged to 20
below ground to eat their luncheons.
Here they are given big apartment
upstairs, where they have all the fresh
air they desire, and also the opportu-
nifty to obtain warm food from the ad-
Jacent restaurant.
So far as the accommodations for
storing wraps and any little valuables
which the clerks may have some de-
sire to keep in safety while they are
attending to their duties, they are pro-
vided in most stores by small rooms
where these things may be kept under
lock and key, and which answer at
the same time as dressing rooms,
where the clerks may keep a store
dress, and in the morning change their
street costume for it, to very mani
fest saving of the latter.
The routine of the employment of
persons in the great stores is based
TO a great extent upon civil service
principles. The department chief is
selected because of his or her peculiar
fitness for the position. But none of
these vice regents of the proprietor is
given power of dismissal over an en-
ploye who has been more than year
in the store. Each one of these has the
right to be heard, and if the excuses
are satisfactory the person complain
ing must give good reasons before
they are discharged. Another thing
that goes far toward making the shop
girl more content with her lot is that
IN several of the stores her wages are
yearly increased in proportion to her
time of service.-New York Times.
A Chemical Ballet.
At banquet which was given at
the conclusion of the German con-