The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-08-24

methods or standing up Tor Kansas .
But that which so severely shocked
the delicate moral sensibilities of
these immaCulates was the statement
that "women were compelled TO sell
their virtue" Let us turn to the
chapter entitled, "The Working Girls
of New York." and see what founda-
ton Jerry had for his statement
Read:
OF the harvest Of tares, sown in lnlquity and
reaped In wrath, the police returns tell the story.
The pen that wrote the ''SOng OF the Shirt is
needed TO tell of the sad and tOilwOrn lives OF
New York's wOrkingwomen. Theory echoes by
night and by day through It's tenements:
Oh, God that bread should be 80 dear,
And flesh and blood so cheap!
Six months have not passed since great pub
lie meeting in this city, the WOrkingwOmen's
Society reported:
II is known fact that mems wages cannot
fall below limit upon which they can ertSt, but
wOman'S wages have no limit, since the paths Of
possible for any woman TO live without assist
ance on the low salary a saleSw0man earns,
without depriVlng herself OF real necessities
It Is inevitable that they must in
many instances resort TO evil
1t was only few brief weeks before that ver-
dict was uttered, that the community was
shocked by the story of gentle and refined
woman, who, left in dlrest poverty to earn her
own living among strangers, threw herself from
her attic window, preferrlng death to dish0nOr.
II would have done any honest work, even to
scrubbing," she wrote, drenched and starving,
after vain search for work in driving storm.
She had tramped the streets for weeks on her
weary errand, and the only living wages offered
her were the wages Of sin. The Ink was not dry
upon her letter before woman In an East Side
tenement wrote down her reason for self mur-
der weakness, sleeplesSness, and yet obliged
to work. My strength falls me. Sing ct my
coffin: Where does the soul find home and
rest?'" Her. story may be found as one Of two
typical Of despair, In one little church c0mmu
nifty lnthe Ctty Missien SOCietvs Monthly for last
February. 1t Is the story that has many paral-
lels In the experience OF every missionary, every
police reporter and every family doctor whose
practlceis among the poor.
1t Is estimated that at least 10000 women and
girls earn their own living In New York, but
there is reason to believe that this estimate Is
far short Of the truth, when sufficient account Is
taken Of the large number who are not wholly
dependent upon their own labor, while con-
tributing by It to the family'S earnings.
What the everlasting law Of supply and de-
mand" that serves as such convenient gag for
public indignation has to do with 1t, one learns
from observation all along the road Of inquiry
into these real wOman's wrongs. To take the
case Of the saleSwOmen for illustration. The In
vestlgatlOn Of the Worklngwoman's Society dis
closed the fact that wages averaging from 80 to
$3.50 per week were reduced by excessive fines,
the employers placing value upon time lost
that Is not given to services rendered. little
girl, who received 80 a week, made cash sales
amounting to Sl87 In single day, while the re-
ceipts Of a Sl5 male clerk In the same depart
ment footed up s125; yet for some trivial mis-
take the girl was fined 60 cents out Of her o..
The practice prevailed in some stores Of dlvid-
ing the fines between the superintendent and the
time-keeper at the end Of the year. In one In
stance they amounted to $780, and the Super1n-
tendent was heard to charge the tlme-keeper
with not being strict enough In his duties. One
OF the causes for fine In large store Is sitting
down. The law requiring seats for SaleSwOmen,
generally ignored, was faithfully obeyed In this
The seats were there, but the
girls were fined when found using them.
Cash girls receiving Sl.75 week for work that
at certain seasons heightened their day to six
teen hours were sometimes required 10 pay for
their aprons. A common cause for discharge
from stores In which, on account OF the oppres-
SiVe heat and lack Of ventilation, 'girls tainted
day after day, and came out looking IKE
corpSes," was too long service No other fault
was found with the discharged saleSwomen than
that they had been long enough In the employ
Of the firm TO justly expect an increase Of salary
The reason was even given with brutal frankneSS.