Morning journal and courier., 1892-11-08

icacy 1t will finally mend this system OF
employing girls to deal out liquor by en-
tirely ending it.
But the girls themselves, considered In
the mass, and with due allowance for some
fagrant exceptions, are as honorable as
any class of workers in all this vast me-
tropolis. They keep inviolste, drink only
to the extent to which most English wo
men do, and seldom tamper with the cash
drawer. In the matter of wages they are
exceedingly we'll off; as they ought to be
considering their long hours and the moral
risks they run. In the largest houses it Is
not unusual for smart girls to get five dol
lars week. Those getting as much as
four dollars are in great number. Scarce
ly any get less than two dollars and seven
ty-fve cents a week, and the lowest of
these sums, with board and lodging in ad-
dition, is big wages for working woman
in England.
From barmaids to domestic servants Ia a
big jump. So, at least, the bsrmsids
would think, and perhaps some of the
housemaids would think the same. Do
mestic service is more of life calling
here than in America. The daughters of
laboring men drift into 1t as their natural
sphere, and unless some policeman, or one
of her msjesty's red coated soldier boys
runs off with them, they are likely to stay
in service, and frequently in the same
house, till old age forces them to superan-
nuate. There is little chance for them
elsewhere, and they know 1t. Hence,
from the good housewives standpoint, do
mestic service over here is more settled
and satisfactory than with us. But it can
hardly be very satisfactory to the maids
themselves, looked at from a financial
point of view. The wages of this class
are reckoned by the year as rule, and are
paid monthly. This is good for those who
have to pay out the money, but bad for
those who have to work for it. An ordi-
nary female cook in London gets seventy
five dollars year. Housemaids about the
same; though, of course, in both cases
there are some who get little more than
that, and some who receive less. A gen.
eral house servant in family unable to
afford the luxury of more than one girl
will range from sixty to eighty-fve dol
lars year.
A distinct class among London's great
army of female toilers are the factory
girls. Many of these hail originally from
the provinces. There lie one fact about
London which may rather surprise those
who have thought of its great population
as being almost entirely to the manor
born. 1t Is that in some districts one
third of the people were born elsewhere.
In some parts the proportion of aliens to
natives is as great even as one half.
These people have foolishly made their
way to London for the purpose of bet
tering themselves. Too often the head
of the family who has come here too seek
his fortune finds it at the dock gates as
a casual laborer. His wife takes in wash
ing, and his daughters drift into the al
ready swollen ranks of those who work
for pittance in East End factories.
These factory girls, whether native or
alien, seem to be all alike in their pas
sion for cheap 6nery and for putting
themselves on exhibition Upon the pub
lilo thoroughfares after the days work is
done. But in their earnings they vary
from bad to worse, some of them getting
as high as three dollars and half and
many others toiling through q whole
weary week for no more than third of
that amount. The average for this olass
would be about ten shil ings a week
two dollars and half.
A class of London girls in whom spe-
cisl interest will be felt by Americans
are stenographers and type writer's. This
is new industry over here. We have
been assured that in all London there
are not more than about three hundred
girls employed at such work as this.
These Englishmen are dreadfully Glow In
adopting latter day conveniences. One
wonders how the big business houses of
London ever get through with their work
without such useful attachment as a
who Is nimble at shorthand. But they
do it. At least they have done it, all of
them, until quite recently. But now the
mountain is moving. Girls are being
trained to this work, and some very in
telligent and skilful young women are al
ready earning living at it. Sad to say,
though, 1t is not very much of a living.
Some who are not yet expert at the bus
mess are glad to get from five to eight
shillings week Those who are quicker
get fifteen shillings a week, and for a
frst-class hand the ordinary weekly wage
is about twenty shillings.
Naturally there are a great number of
girls working bshind counters in London.
In the drapery (dry goods line nearly all
the clerks are lodged and boarded by the
firms employing them. The female clerks
serve term of apprenticeship. Usually
they give two years merely for their keep,
and sometimes their friends have to pay "a
premium of one hundred and twenty five
dollars to get them employed even on con-
get. if they develop good selling quail
ties, a yearly stipend, in addition to their
keep, of from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty dollars. The only chance to get
more than the latter sum is when they are
promoted to the august position of a "frst
assistant"
Waiter girls in the numerous establish
ments of the Aerated Bread company be-
gin, we are assured, at seven shillings a
week. On this they must dress in black,
and trim themselves up pyettily with
starched collars and cuffs, and with the
daintiest of aprons. After three or four
years these girls will climb up to weekly
wage of fourteen shillings-three dollars
and half. This is the highest for walters,
though girls behind the counter, after five
years of good service, may get twenty
shillings a week. Of conrse this comps-
ny, which only pays dividend of twenty
per cent, could not afford to give its en-
ployes free meals after paying them such
big wages. So the girls have to pay for
the dinner provided for them out of their
own pockets.
In referring to tailoresses We naturally
think of Miss Hicks, the young lady who
created such q sensation recently by the
disclosures she made regarding the wretch
edly inssnitsry conditions under which
the clothing of royalty has been made.
We interviewed this young lady while the
storm of popular disturbance was still al
its height. She ia one of the most intel
ligent of London's army of working girls,
and is quite leader on the female side OF
trades unionism. We learned from Miss
Hicks that in the West End frst-class
tailoress might make as much as five dol
lars a week-some few little more-but
that ordinarily the earnings OF such girls
would be only about three or four dollars
while in East London the best hands, even
when working under the best conditions
would not make more than a four dol
lar wage, and tine general run not more
than from two dollars and a quarter tc
three dollars q week.
Dress makingi such delicate business
and those who follow 1t are generally 90
bright in manners and speech, that We
leave this class TO sp,sk for themselves
| There are indoor and outdoor workers
ALL have to serve from two to three year.
| as apprentices without pay, and many are
assessed from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty dollars as bonus for the priv
ilege of learning. After that-whati In
Tit Bits recently one of the indoor work
ers related her experience. Here is whst
she says on the point in question:
although two others as well as myself
| receive eighteen shillings per week, there
| are several who have not yet exceeded if
teen, and two who have to content them
selves with twelve shillings. When 1t IL
remembered that, besides having to fnd
1 IA l..