The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-04-30
WOMAN'S REAL PLACE.
A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE SHOP
GIRL AND THE SERVANT.


The Former Tries to Keep Body and Soul
Together with Scarcely More Money
Than the Latter Gets as Pocket Money.
The Cause of the Evil.
The kitchen and nursery versus the
factory and store question has long en-
gagged the attention of women who are
devoting 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 a 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-
isting conditions of life, and their ex-
pressions 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 .'saleslady" 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 carrying out
their purpose. And the community seems
to agree with them.
WAGES IN TWO LINES OF WORK.
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
g. or $5 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 'ssaleslady'' 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
larger roll of bills on Saturday evening.
The 'slady" who sells handkerchiefs
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 un-
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 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 culminations
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 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.
COMPARISON.
That is a half dollar difference in