Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-11-10
How Vicious Employers Impose
Upon inexperienced Young
Women Seeking Work.
Many Who Come from the Coun-
try to Make Their Way
Are VictimiZed.
After a Bitter Experience Some
Are Glad to Be Once
More at Home.

| OUT III chicago 10 IOOh 1Or pOSluOlS
There are thousands of girls employ
ed in the great office buildings down
town. OF these some live in their own
homes, but the majority are from coun-
| try towns. They flock in here from all
over the country, from far and near.
Every little village nowadays has its
school Of stenography. 1t is only a
step from the country SchOolteacher
to the stenographer. The same ambi-
ton that prompts a girl to fit herself
for Il teacher carries her a step farther.
Lured by the prospect of large wages,
and eager to get peep at the great
unknown, these girls fiutter into the
city like moths around an electric
light. They fly straight for the one
bright spot in the dark armament, only
to be dashed against the cold case
ments and fall back dazed into the
dark waters below.
Not a few of them have a girl friend
who has some kind of a position down
town. Their stock per capita when
they reach the city is perhaps $50 or
! $50
A4O1A COUAIS pO1AC, "hS1C
board is not to exceed s. a week, and
where incidental expenses are a mere
nothing, that amount ought to last at
least two months. But in the city,
| where board is at least So, not to men
ton carfare, newspapers, laundry and
lunches, the money soon goes. Then
there is the temptation to buy pretty
Yi1ll n71 in. of oil los
it is really important to have these
| things on a business basis. For do
not nearly all the lads read: "Must
be bright and attractive"
For a few days amid the seduction
OF so much that is strange and attract
| i've the country girl does not notice
the rapid diminutiOn of her small hoard.
But one fine morning she is just be-
| ginning to feel a little fatgued from
| the noise aud excitement and for the
! first time she gives thought to the
! quiet little town she has left and to
| the familiar faces at home But the
| roar in her ears soon browns all that.
| She looks into her pOcket-bOOk and is
surprised that she has so little left.
| She tries to count up how she has
| spent it, but soon gets all mixed up
! between gloves and candy and street
car fare and lunches. Then there was
q rose she bought just because it was
! like the ones growing in the front
| yard at home. Oh, yes, and there was
| a whole dollar spent for seat at the
| theater-she ought not to have done
| that. But then the music and the
| lights and the beautiful girls all glitter
| ing with diamOnds-it was all so like
a delicious dream.
A sudden loneliness comes over ner.
! Her eyes begin to ill. But no: she
must not cry. She ruSheS over to the
wash stand. bathes her face vigorous
| ly, and feels refreshed at once. Just
| then she notices the lads" she has cut
| the pin-cushfOn. She sits down and
| dashes off a line home to say that she
| is all right, that she has net got a
! position yet, but that she expects to
| this morning. She dOns her hat, dashes
a little powder over her face, for fear
| it looks shiny after that sudden bath
and as she walks gayly down the
street she feels equal to anything.
1t is from this point that the greatest
| interest centers in the young wOman's
career But it is just from here on
that the least is knwon Of her.
They all have the same story to tell
with variations as numerous as the
stars. They start out in the morning
buOyed up by all the possibilities of
a day. They swarm in and out of the
mammoth buildings, each a small vii
lage by itself They thread their way
up and down the various offices like
pearl divers. And, like the diver, in
how many a shell they find only sand
instead of the coveted pearl! They re-
turn to their lodgings at night discour-
aged-yes, far worse than discouraged.
For things have been said to them,
or insinuated if not said outright, that
make them feel for the first time that
it is hard to be woman. And for the
first time the wisdom Of coming to a
great city, against the advice of older
heads, is doubted. SubjOined are some
of the stories cleaned by the reporter
from the young women themselves.
Miss A, fair-haired girl, with frank,
blue eyes, whose round face bespoke
youth and inexperience. She went into
an office on Dearborn street in reply
to an "ad." The first words that greet
ed here We're: ''Well, I'm glad to see
one young girl. I have had enough old
hens in here this morning" He sat
down beside her and continued: II
like nice, plump girl'-here he gave
her a caressing pinch on the arm.
"How much do you weight" She in
dignantly arose and left the Office. Not
without a parting shot, however, about
being "t0O touchy"
Miss B., a brown-eyed. unsophisticat-
ed girl. was a school-teacher from
little town out in Kansas. She told
a story that would have been almost
amusing but for the teardrops that
stood so suspiciously near her long
lashes. She went to an Office on La
Sale street in answer to an "ad." The
man locked at her and said at once:
81 guess you'll do" She hung up her
hat and clicked away on the type
writer until noon. Her employer went
out and about noon she sailed forth
to get her lunch She had gone only
a block when she was accoSted by a
woman with: ooh, I have caught you.
new stenographer, going out to meet
my husband" The poor girl was daZ- |
ed and dTmfounded. But the woman |
was in deadly earnest and protested |