The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-11-12
WORKING-GIRLS OF LONDON
With a Glance at Some Of the Darker
Aspects of the Great City's Society.
Bar Maids. Waiter Girls, Stenographers, Type
Writers, House. Servants, Salsswomen and
Dress Makers-1hey NumberS77, 600.

Correspondence OF the Sunday Journal
LONDON, Oct 26.-After writing so much
about men and their employments, We
turn to the fair sex with feelings of the
most grateful avidity, ard we are quite
sure that in devotipg a special letter to the
working girls of this mighty city of Lon
don the reader will be as much taken by
the novelty of our theme as tho writer L.
Woman is q captivating subject In any SIT
uation in which she may be
brought before MS. but woman in Lon
don. making her way through the
rushing tides of activity aud the still
stronger tides of temptation which beat
about her, is q subject which, in the living.
human interest attaching to it, could
hardly be- excelled. Fancy q population In
which there are not less than $1,000 girls
between the ages of fifteen and thirty.
Such is London. if those are to be believed
who have made . study of the last census
returns. and 1t cannot be doubted that the
larger part of this vast aggregation of
youthful femininity is earning It's own
livelihood.
= 1t would not be too much to say that ct
least forty thousand Of the young women
of London are supporting themselves by
means which are disreputable and even re-
voting. This biggest city in the world is
q dreadful place when looked ar In this as
pect 1t is sort of receiving depot for the
depraved and unfortunate of the whole
Kingdom. No city of the United States
bears the slightest comparison to it
in m
only o little upon the West. and Chicago
is too far away 20 attract in any consider
able number the feminine refuse Of the
East. But London Is not very far from any
place. and it is SO immensely vast withaI,
and offers. in this particular, such q good
prospect for sin and misfortune To hide
itself from recognition that it becomes IN
evitably sort of social sink into which
are drawn q large proportion OF the
wronged and depraved from every section
OF the British isles.
Besides this it is turning ont fallen wom-
en- of it's own at an enormous rate. The
social conditions which obtain in it's slums
have n big share in this sad work, but
the social conditions of the aristocratic
West End are still more to blame. Really
there are 30 many shameless libertines
abroad in London that an attractive girl
Ia hardly secure against them even in broad
daylight The vnly thing which equals tho
peril m which virtuous girls are placed by
the ogling and lechery of men in this
metropolis. Is the annoyance and tempta-
ton to which men and boys are subjected
by the over present seducers of the op-
posite sex. In these two phases London
life represents an awful problem TO social
thing to match it any " here else In the en-
tire English-speaking world.
This will DO thought dlgreselOn. So it
is. and surely. In writing of girls In Lon
don, 1T is quite pardonable one. The out
cast and unworthy. however, we must dis
miss. For the unfortunate amongst them
We have only pity and sorrow; for the vile
and Intentionally wicked, regret mingled
with ioathing. And now, returning to our
proper theme. what n. relief it is to know
that after all the great mass of London's
$1,000 girls beat hack like verItable
heroiDes every assault upon their virtue.
and notwithstanding the pinches of want
which many of them suffer, plod their way
through the dangerous aud bewilderine
streets of this city, In pursuance of their
daily vacations. or in search of some 0p-
portunity so to do. not only without actual
faint. but with the firm purpose of keeping
free from evil to the end, spite of all in
ducements TO contrary course.
THE BAR-MAIDs.
Foremost among the worthy females who
toll for living in London. we mention
the bar-maids. We put these first as a pro-
test against the general suspicion in which
they are held, and as means of lifting
from them-so far as the pen of one man
can do this-that ban of social prejudice
which they incur on account of their call
ing. These bar-maids must be judged by
English. not by American standards. They
are where they are because the customs of
certainly out of place. but the nation Is
to blame, not thu girls. That their
occupation exposes them to extraordinary
peril Is beyond donbt. and it is hardly
surprising that some of them yield. Ex-
cessive drinking, we are told. Is their most
common fault, but some succumb to q
worse enemy still. If the testimony given
before the royal commission Oh labor
may be believed, some are engaged with
the distinct understanding that they are
not to be prescriptions toward either
customers or the men who employ them.
This is frightful, if true. and we may we'll
hope that as the nation progresses in moral
delicacy it 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 "a honorable as
any class of workers In all this vast me-
tropolis. They keep virtne inyIolate, drink
only to the extent TO which most English
women do, and seldom tamper with the
cash drawer. In the matter of wages they
are exceedingly well OH. as tney ought 10
be. considering their long hours and the
moral risks they run. In tho largest
houses il is not unusual for smart girls to
get So week. Those getting much as
81 are in great number. Scarcely any get
less than g.. as week. and the lowest of
these sums, with board and lodging in addi-
ton. Is big wages for working-woman in
England.
From bsr.maids to domestic servants is q
big jump. So. at least, the bar-maids would
think. and perhaps some of the h0usemaids
would think the same. Domcstic service
is more of q life calling here than in
America. Tie daughters of lab0ring men
drift into it as their natural sphere, and
unless some policeman or one of her
Majesty's red coated soldier boys runs off
with them they are likely to stay III serv-
Toe. and frequently In the same house,
till old age forces them to superaunuate.
There is little chance for them else
\ from the good housewives stand
point domestic service over hero
is more settled aud satisfactory than
with us. But it can hardly be- very salts
factory to the maids themselves, looked 1T
from financial point of view. The wages
, of this class arc reckoned by the year AZ .
rule, and are paid monthly. This 10 good
for those who have TO pay out the money
but bad for those who have to work for It,
An ordinary female cook in London gets
SIS a year. Housemsids about the same;
though, of course. in both cases there arc
some W ho get little more than that, and
some who receive less. A general house
servant in a family unable to afford the
luxury of moro than one girl Will range
from $50 TO $50 year.