, 1892-03-16
WHERE FACTORY GIRLS WORK.

Miss sydney Armstrong. Of The Lost
Paradise" Went to See for Herself
II that half of the world that is pro-
verbally credited with not knowing how
the other half lives would follow the
example of Miss Sydney Armstrong, the
mill owners daughter in THE Lost
Paradise" they would be considerably
enlightened and possibly not a little
touched by the result.
So impressed has Miss Armstrong
been by the vividness of the suffering
which the play depicts that she deter.
mined TO assume the character of an
amateur factory inspector and observe
for herself the lights and shadows Of
factory life in their plaintiye, realistic
character.
"My heartfelt sympathies have al
ways been with the working girls" she
said in relating her experiences In one
of the east side iron factories, ''and !
wished to see for myself whether the
piiful cry of the factory toiler wa con-
fined to the stage or whether 1t existed
in actual life. Perhaps, also, when
started out / had some selfish fancy In
my mind that after seeing the realistic
side of factory life / would be enabled
to infuse more genuine pathos into my
acting. But the woman's heart got the up
per hand of professional zeal when / saw
the girls at their work. Imost certainly
did find that the stage portrayal In The
Lost Paradise of the hard life of the
factory hand was no romance. talked
with these girls. saw for myself their
pitiful condition, and i saw enough also
to convince me of the depth of their self
sbnegation and the entire absence Of
selfshness in the manner in which they
live for zach other. That which struck
me most forcibly was their brave resig-
nation. With the spirit Of truehearted
American girls they appeared to take a
cheerful view Of everything, and gave
me the impression that with it all they
were working and hoping for better
times. What a shame it is that em-
ployers should make them work for such
pitifully low wages.
"And then they are 80 neat in spite Of
the poorness Of their clothes. And how
they stand by zach other!
at was q trying ordeal for me sven
during the short time l was there to
stand amid the incessant whirr Of the
machinery and breathe the oil tainted
atmosphere, and l cannot imagine how
the girls manage to live day after day
under such conditions. l cannot think
how they a get along or their three or
four dollars q week; but, would you be-
heve 1t, they not only do so, but nearly
every girl 1 talked with had others to
support besides herself. And well for
them that they have, strange as 1t may
sound. A woman's heart must have
something to love and tend and sacrifice
for. From only one of the girls did l
hear bitter words, and she lived alone,
she said, and was glad of 1t; it was
enough to have to support herself with
out having others depending upon her.
Another girl told me that she supported
her crippled father, and they lived to-
gether in one tiny room. She got up in
the morning and got the breakfast for
herself and her father and left him in
the room while she toiled at the factory.
Isn't 1t beautiful Another had neither
father nor mother, but had two little
brothers depending on her earnings.
This one spoke Of her little box of flowers.
Poor little thing, she had a box Of fowers
like the little crippled girl in the play.
She managed to live, she told me, with a
cheerful light in her brave eyes, but
added that 1t was all hand to mouth
work, with none too much for the hand
to carry to the mouth, and the dreadful
possibility Of getting sick and losing time
was always hanging over her like a night
mare. For, Of course she added, we
can never manage to ave anything out
Of our little earnings, and it would be
dreadful If we got sick and lost time
"My coming was known beforehand,
and 80 Of course l vas shown every
courtesy and possibly did not see the
darkest side of their lives, but l saw
enough TO show me that the factory girl
is a noble specimen of American WON
anhood, and her life is an example of
fortitude and resignation under the most
trying circumstances that we would all
do well to profit by. l hope you will
print this and trust that 1t will be the
means of awakening the people who are
responsible for this state Of things to .
sense Of their duty to their employees
New York Mercury.