The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-08-29
Woman's Real Place.
From New York Commercial Advertiser.

tory and store question has long engaged
the attention of women who are devotnS |
their lives to the Improvement OF the ma
terial condition of their sisters. In other |
words, those philanthropic persons are
wondering whether, after all, the working
woman has done wise thing by leaving
the sphere which was peculiarly her own,
with different surroundings, since the days
of Adam, and invading the occupations
which are by their nature, adapted to meu-
Some opinions on this subject have re
Gently been given They came from women
who thoroughly understand the existing
conditions of life, and their expressions
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 circumstances where they
may be led to starvation 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 on ly one that covers
the question in many cases. 1t is the
'lady craze" The ''saleslady'' and the
''faetory lady" have an ambition to eclipse
the wives and daughters of their employers
in the matter of dress, and they see moth
ing absurd in earring out their purpose.
And the community seems to agree with
them.
WAGES IN TWO LINES OF WORK.
Careful observers say that in this matter
the girls act juss the same as the young
men of the day who crowd one another for
clerkships, etc, whose pay is 81 or So
week, rather than learn a trade in which
they can earn three or four times that
much. The puny little clerk and the pale,
unhealthy "saleslady" think they are gen
tlemen and ladies and would be Mortified ii
any one offered to introduce them to the
rosy, healthy servant girl who has an ac-
count at the bank, OF to the robust me-
chanic who can produce a larger 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 ''gen-
tleman' who sells cuffs and collars for sixty
or seventy cents day. They are the ma
tural product of the new American lady
and gentleman craze, and they never realize
Just what it means unless they get married.
Then the gentleman" clerk wishes he had
mated with girl in domestic service who
knew how to cook and who had little
money laid by; and the "lady" regrets that
she did not devote her smiles to a mechanic
who could support her. The police courts
and the divorce courts give the culmina-
tions of these stories every day in the
year.
But the purpose of this article is to give
further particulars that enter into the con-
trast between the women in domestic ser
vice and those who have flooded mems oc
equations. According to the most accurate
statistics obtainable, the wages Of servants
in this city average, at the lowest estimate,
S15 month, besides board, lodging and
in many cases all the clothing needed.
Perhaps $3.50 Il week might be fixed as
the average money compensation oil all the
women in domestic service.
Now, according to the statement of Miss
Ida Van Etten, Mrs Creagh and Miss Fos-
ter, the average wages of working women
in stores and factories is, at the highest
estimate, 81 week.
A COMPARISON.
That is a half dollar difference in wages,
and that half dollar represents, as com
parison, 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 hoard and lodgings 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 'saleslady," if she
boards, has a cold room at the top of the
house. shared by three or four other unfor
tunates. 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 penny of extra pay reach
her pocket.
The servant has no longer hours, and
she can rest during great part of them,
and, besides, has her two or three seven
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 a good family, she receives the same
cordial attention that her mistress would,
and is surrounded by kind attentions
And her wages go on all the time,
But how about the "saleslady' 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 resumes 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 a nat
urally 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 marrying an hon
est man and settling down in a comforta-
BILE home.
| A BOX on the Ear.