Huntsville gazette., 1892-08-13
IN WOMAN'S BEHALF.
BEHIND THE COUNTER.

| Women and Girls Find 1t Hard and
Poorly Paid Labor.
Thousands of girls of the better class
who have had good school facilities, and
many who have gone through normal
colleges expecting to teach, and failed
to obtain positions, turn to the stores
for employment They consider work
ing in store higher grade of employ
ment than working in factory. They
forget that it is harder work, and that
the pay is less. A few women in every
store are paid good wages, and some
are exceptionally paid. But take an
entire store through, the average pay
is less than that in factory. 1t is diff
cult to average the wages of girls in
| factory 1t is difficult to average the
wages of girls in shops, for the reason
that different places pay different rates,
and the pay varies in the same place.
Hundreds of cash girls sell notions and
| fancy articles while they are still paid
as cash girls, and get only from s.. so to
| $500 a week. These may be employed
several years before their pay is in
creased to s4.o0 week. After they
| become good saleswomen they are paid
ments. A fortunate few are paid S25. 90
a week; but they are women who are
thoroughly familiar with the business,
having worked up from much lower po-
sitions, and are possessed of exceptional
ability. They are given charge of de-
partment, or are buyers, or hold some
equally responsible position. The
wages paid to these exceptions should
not be an incentive to others looking
for situations, as there is room for but
few in these important positions. 1t
is safe to say that women of correspond
ing ability make more money in almost
any other employment than they do in
this. Even when they are heads of de-
partments, or buyers for the big retail
stores. women are paid much lower sal
aries than men who occupy similar po-
sitions. In some cases they receive one
third less. In many cases they get only
half of what is paid to men. 1t is diff
cult to learn just what women in shops
are paid, as they are not organized, and
are at the mercy of their employers,
and when asked what they receive, feel
ashamed of their low pay and are in
clined to exaggerate the sum.
Employment in stores is an unhealthy
occupation. The standing and the poor
ventilation make it that. In only few
of the better class of shops is the air
good. This and the long hours make
the existence behind counters especial
ly unhealthy. Ordinary hours are from
eight o'clock in the morning until six
o'clock at night, through the week, and
until ten o'clock on Saturday night
The stores are supposed to close at ten
o'clock, but it is considerably later than
this before the employees get their work
finished, and it is nearly midnight be-
fore they reach their homes. This
would be bad enough on any day of the
week, but it is particularly so on Satur-
day. The girls lie in bed until noon on
Sunday to get rested, and the only hol-
iday in the week is spoiled. 1t is cruel
to keep girls standing from eight o'clock
in the morning until ten o'clock at
night, as is done in the large stores
every Saturday, and for two or three
weeks before Christmas every day in
the week.
The long hours that are exacted of
saleswomen on Saturdays and at holi-
day times are not accompanied by any
extra compensation. Some stores have
saleswomen in the basement where the
poor ventilation and the heat, caused |
by keeping the gas lighted all day,
combine to produce a most unhealthy |
atmosphere. Girls who are required to |
stand and sell goods all day in these
places are often overcome, and are car
ried out in fainting condition. The
rules of many establishments are arbi-
trary and unjust. The girls are fined |
for lateness, which is not so bad as the |
other fines for talking, laughing, sing
ing, or failure to put away their aprons
when the work of the day is ended.
Often at the end of the week a girl who
is careless finds that nearly all of her
wages is used up in fines. In factories,
the law compels employers to give an
hour for dinner, but in stores the girls
are obliged to wait their turn before
going to the lunch room. In the busy
season only few are allowed to go at
n time, and it is often four or five
o'clock before some of the girls get a
chance to eat their midday meal. Eat
ing in the store is forbidden at all
times 1t is no wonder that the girls
faint, when they are compelled to stand
all day without eating. Some of the
b better class of stores are more consid-
crate, and even give one or two weeks
vacation with pay to the girls in the
summer.
If the normal schools taught girls
bookkeeping, many of them could be-
come clerks and book-keepers instead
of trying to get places as teachers, and
when they find no place open to them
turning to the stores and overcrowding
them. Girls have few opportunities to
prepare for positions that are remuner-
ative. The two or three occupations
which are considered genteel for women
are overcrowded, while there is often a
demand for girls as feather workers for
example. If trades such as the making
of jewelry, surgical instruments, and
similar manufactures. were taught here
in technical and industrial schools like
those of Paris, girls would receive bet