The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-14

twenty-five to hundred clerks of her own
sex, whose business il is TO fill orders sent
by mail from out-of-town patrons. To
these a catalogue is sent with instructions
how to measure themselves for dresses and
other wearing apparel The mail order
girls'' select the materials to be submitted
to customers, and by this process entire
outfits are made for women and children of
all ages. Even trousseaus are ordered in
New York from remote points ia the coun-
try.
1t is said that these young girl clerks are
harder to please than the general run of
customers and take more pains to select
goods for orders than they would for them
selves. They are paid IS and $40 week.
The dry goods artistic is seldom seen by
shoppers, but is an important and well PAID
employee of great houses. She is called
''sketcher, and her duties are mainly with
the mail order department. She makes
sketches Of the suits, cloaks aud millinery,
imported or otherwise, IN stock. She
colors her sketches, which are forwarded
TO out of-town patrons, who order their
garments after the sketch that strikes their
fancy. Or, if a lady sees suit or cloak on
figure" which pleases her-that particu-
lar garment (perhaps imported and the
only one they have) will not be sold to
her, but the sketcher is directed to copy the
suit upon paper, and from her sketch an
exact counterpart of the article is made
and supplied to the customer Some of
these sketches develop artistic talent of a
high order. I know Of young girl en-
ployed by a Twenty-third street house who
gave evidence Of genius, and the firm gen.
erously sent her abroad at their own ex-
pense to be educated as an artist.
In the working machinery of a great dry
goods store the little business women play
no lnconsiderable part, and acquit them
selves, as a rule, as well as their elders
For instance, the cash girls. They are paid
from Sl.50 to s.. so week They are re-
Quired to deposit certain small sum week
ly for their baskets and badges. This is
called "oadge money! and is returned to
them upon promotion or when they leave
The cash girl generally evolutes into the
saleslady, and so may be said TO learn the
business from the ground up. Among the
little women are the stock girls and care
takers. The stock under woman's charge
is kept in the upper floors of the building
The stock woman is often also the buyer
Of the stock She has numbers of half
grown girl assistants, who dust, fold and
keep the stock in order and give out what
ever may be ordered from the salesrooms.
The cash girls are sent up for required
articles. The leash" gives q check for
any thing delivered to her from the stock
room. Nothing sent from the stock room
is returned to it. Stock girls are paid from
So TO St 8 week.
The care-taker's duties are confined to
the salesrooms. They fold and replace in
the drawers or on hooks the articles which
have been tried on, and sew on buttons
which have come of ia trying on goods
Little carc-takers are also employed be-
hind the counters to put back on the shelves
or in boxes gloves. laces, fans, stationery.
soap, perfumery and such light wares
Small as the situation is it is much priced
0y half grown girls, because they are al
lowed to sell goods when the regular sales
woman is absent, and when CAPABLE Of
waiting upon a customer care-taker re-
ceives So instead of SO.
In some stores little girls are used to
wrap up light goods, such as those in the
notion department
restaurant it gives employment to numbers
of women cashiers, superintendent, wait
ers, cleaners and laundresses. The clean
ers of stores are women, as rule. The
attendants of the ladies' parlors in big
store get about Sc week, and are the ONLY
employees who are allowed to receive tips.
and are said to double their wages by
gratuities. If shopper, overcome by
heat, faints In the ladies' parlor, she tins
the attendant for bathing her head, tanning
her and bringing her tor The mother
with heavy baby in her arms up from the
country for days shopping is glad before
ii is over to avail herself OF the rest afford
ed by the sofa ia the ladies' parlor, and to
tip the attendant for holding the baby while
she lies down..
There is a room for the female employees
In which TO leave their wraps and parcels.
where they may eat their lunch and rest
during the hour given them in the middle
Of the day. The attendant in this room is
sometimes paid weekly wages. and some
times she is only given the room rent free.
This is upon the condition that she keeps il
IN order and takes charge of the sales
women's belongings. She is allowed to
serve light lunch, and can make enough
by this Ia large establishments TO paw her
for giving her time gratuitously to the
firm.
/ have now described the duties Of all the
women engaged in the dry goods business
except the saleswoman herself. She is so