The Portland daily press., 1891-03-12
woMAN's REAL PLACE.
A Contrast between the shop Girl
and the Servant.
IN. Y. Commercial ADVERTISER

The kitchen and nursery versus tb,
factory and store question has long en-
gagged the' attention of womei- who art
uevotng their lives to the improvement
OF the material condition OF their sisters.
In other words, those philanthropic per
sons are wondering whether, after all,
the working woman has done wise
thing by leaving the sphere which was
peculiarly her own, with different sur
roundings, since the days Of Adam, and
invading the occupations which are, by
their nature, adapted to men.
Some opinions on this subject have re-
GENTLY been given. They came from wo-
men who thoroughly understand the ex-
listing conditions of life, and their ex-
nressions were echoes which are heard
everywhere nowadays. The best friends,
male and female, of the working women
are asking the same question-Why do
women put themselves under circum-
stances where they may be led to starva-
ton or shame when they can readily
avoid both by remaining within their
natural sphere?
The answer given by leader of the
working women is the only one that COW
ers the question in many cases. 1t is the
"lady craze" The 'fsaleslady" and the
"factory lady" have an ambition to
eclipse the wives and daughters of their
employers in the matter of dress, and
they see nothing absurd in carving ont
their purpose. And the community seems
to agree with them.
WAGES IN TWO LINES OF WORE
Careful observers say that in this mat
ter the girls act just the same as the
young men of the day who crowd one an
other for clerkships, etc., whose pay is
"a or IS week, rather than learn trade
in which they can earn three or four
times that much. The puny little clerk
and the pale, unhealthy ''saleslady" think
they are gentlemen and ladies and would
be Mortified if any one offered to intro
duce them to the rosy, healthy servant
girl who has an account at the bank, or
to the robust mechanic who can produce
alarger roll of bills on Saturday evening.
The 'lady" who sells handkerchiefs
and toilet boxes during the day for an
income of fifty cents is the other half of
the gentleman" who sells cuffs and col
lars for sixty or seventy cents a day.
They are the natural product of the new
American lady and gentleman craze, and
they never realize Just what it means I'M
less they get married. Then the ''gentle-
man" clerk wishes he had mated with a
girl in domestic service who knew how
to cook and who had a little money laid
by; and the Gladly" regrets that she did
not devote her smiles to mechanic who
nonld support her. The police courts and
the divorce courts give the EXAMINATIONS
of these stories every day in the year.
But the purpose of this article is to
give further particulars that enter into
the contrast between the women in do
nestle service and those who have flooded
mems occupations. According to the
most accurate statistics obtainable, the
wages of servants in this city average, at
the lowest estimate, $15 month, besides
board, lodging and in many cases all the
clothing needed. Perhaps So. so a week
might be fixed as the average money COM
pensation of all the women in domestic
service.
Now, according to the statement of
Miss Ida Van Etten, Mrs. Creagh and
Miss Foster, the average wages of work
ing women in stores and factories is, at
the highest estimate, 81 week.
A COMPARISON.
That is half dollar difference in
wages, and that half dollar represents,
in comparison, the board, lodging, etc.,
of the servants. OF course, no woman
can live on fifty cents week. 1t takes
her whole 81 to pay for board and lodg-
ings If she gives anything like proper
nourishment to her body. So it amounts
to just this: At the end of week the
servant has $3.50 to lay by, while the
"saleslady'' has not a penny.
AS to lodging, the average servant has
her own little room, nicely furnished
and heated in winter. The 'ssaleslady,"
if she boards, has a cold room at the top
of the house, shared by three or four
other unfortunates The latter works
on an average of ten hours day, while
in the holiday season she works as much
as sixteen hours, and never does a penny
of extra pay reach her pocket.
The servant has no longer hours, and
she can rest during great part of them,
anu, D6SlucS, LAS ucI kWOOI bI1Ito 0NSu-
ings Off during the week. Her work,
on the whole, is much lighter, and she
does not know what fines are. If she
falls i'll, in good family, she receives
the same cordial attention that her mis-
tress would, and is surrounded by kind
attentions. And her wages go On all the
time.
But how about the 'tsaleslady" up in
the top of the boarding house if she
should get sick? Well, unless she is
absolutely at the point of death she is
packed off to a hospital when the time
for which she has paid her board has
expired. But even if she is allowed to
remain there till she gets well, she re-
sumes her work with her trunk under
bondage to the landlady, and with a,
to her, heavy debt staring her in the
face. Is it any wonder that many
naturally good girl seeks escape from
such troubles in the concert halls?
And is it any wonder that the comfort
able servant girl generally ends her
career of working for others by marry
ing an honest man and settling down in
comfortable home