The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-09-21

<..,stts.. Of Cirss VIA
,-s~~<.s xs.m.ins In N~- Vera
an, x,,, wan, 10 ses real white SAWS
-.,.r,. wt.o work ~ hours . week TOY s'
vsssea s~agc
The srcAkrr w.s cigar uaAkT W'
.-round down by the wrvteh~d conasaon
a che trade, fest patty for the girls wn"
are worse OF evvn than the wr~'cas!
,.,a cigar makers The speaker, not wAi-
ing for an answer. said. Come WIN
me. and the reporter followed nin 70
Ix,.,ue n, where the cigar makers WORK
.rs "a, and sleep and exc out fnfscf-
able existence. s.-.,,
,..,.nsn, the man turned and haac Inc
yonrnal man wax until he rcturnsd-
They are a Bit wild in here, ne OK
claimed apolss.rtieally and II they don't
know who You are they might se'
ts,cious and make trouble
Yes, they were suspicious As the man
entered the dreary doorway seVerai Vi
the inmates eyed the visitor and whisper
"A their susp.cion that he was from the
factory inspector. They were cut short
nv the temperance of the man, who haa
made il all right with the sweating eene-
ment keeper.
"Thes. are the girls mean, said be,
noin,ing 10 two girls with bright eyes
and pinched faces who iabored in an at
mosphere which positively reeks-i with
tobacco. The air WAS heavy, WARM ana
damp. The moisture was that OF steam
ing tobacco. The girls sat. scantIy and
very poorly attired. each with a wooden
block between her knees.
Each had bundle of tobacco leaves,
called hand From this the girl takes
q leaf, dexterously whips out the end OF
the stalk running down the center. apd
with a twist of the wrist deftly strips
out the stalk. leaving Two perfect halves
Of leaf. The two halves are laid across
the top of the block. The girls are known
as ''strippers.
Wages were pretty good when We
first started in the business, said one OF
the girls, but they are very bad now.
A few years ago the girls earned p a
week. Now $3.50 a week for 20 hours
work Is all we can earn"
Strip, strip, strip, bent forward, with
eyes and muscles strained, all day long
these poor girls toll for beggarly pit
lance. Ii they enjoy good health, they
do not enjoy cleanliness with it. The
girls are not allowed to waste time by
washing their hands, SO they wipe them
upon the piece of rag across their knees
and upon which the tobacco Is stretched
So thick does this dust accumulate
upon their tobacco moistened hands that
they have to devote a few minutes at in
tervals in removing it, so as TO be able
to go on with the work. The ''stripper"
girl also inhales more tobacco fumes than
any other cigar worker and at first Is
overpowered by the vapors.
At present little girls from IL to 10
years of age are set to work In many
shops and more tenements stripping to-
bacco in direct violation of the factory
act. 1t is significant that after maturity
women are rarely to be found in the
cigar factories, preferring almost any
kind of work to the surroundings Of the
cigar shop.
Il tell you," exclaimed another cigar
maker, a Cuban. who are the most ex
pert in the business and command good
wages, chose girls are the most misera-
bly, paid and treated of any women in
New York or anywhere else. Week In
and week out they work morning, noon
and night--for what? What indeedi
Twenty-Five cents a day, to keep body
and soul together, and in many instances
to help support others in the family who
cannot work.
after the heavy labor of stripping,
and when other girls troop home to rest
and enjoy themselves, the poor stripper
is glad if she can be allowed to take
home a few hands of tobacco to go on
stripping far into the night. By this
means they may make up the weekly
earnings to 81, and sometimes even a few
cents more.
1.-The root of the evil is the tenement
house cigar maker and the work which
the men are compelled to take home to
the wife and children to enable them to
keep the roof over their heads. New
York Journal.