Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-05-07
SAPGIRL LIFE.
SOME OF ITS OPPORTUNITIES AND DRAW
BACKS
Bow %Enpoymsn. Is Obtainsd-Wom'n as Sell
srs Compared With Nsn-inprssSOns
Of a Salssgirl Other Own Sex
Outside the Counter.


AAN0 -
women I'm the new anvil chorus? Every
morning. between the hours OF z and >,
the actors in the pageant hurry over
the bridge and across the ferries, rush
down from Harlem and drift In from
the East Side aud the West Side TO Join
the great procession that crowds the
shopping district, throngs 9th avenue
and swells the congestion OF 14th street.
There are fifty women TO a single
man-women Of all ages, from the little
cash girl, with her sharp, pert race 10
the g%ray-haired heads OF departments
alert, keen and commanding, ike gen.
erals long In the service. Brave, earn
est women these are; self-rellant' sell
respecting and self-Suticient. Inc
coming man that keeps up with TINS
procession In the mercantile world VIII
need to step lively.
Few OF its departments are closed
against the women, while In many they
have entirely crowded the men out, and
IN those establishments where the
greatest proportion Of women are en-
Moved. YOU hear the highest praise OF
~heitaGility and conscientiousness. IL
ItAlss been said that In the hiring oil
k,ese women the preference is always
(tiven 10 those who have a home, and
4 that some houses refuse to employ Wo-
men who are drifting about from one
boarding house TO another, which regu-
lation seems unduly meddlesome and
arbitrary.
"And why have we the right, said
one of the men in charge OF the women
employees OF q large business house, TO
cast unjust suspicion upon q working
woman without a home any more tnan
TO discriminate against the man Win
out a family who seeks employment?
The average morality Of the women IS
better, the standard higher.
1.-THE very factof a girls seeking en-
nlovuent shows in many cases the lack
OF a home aud friends to support hea,
and demonstrates most efectually her
desire TO be an honorable, respectable
member Of society. In the case OF cash
girls. who enter the stores very young,
we do prefer TO engage those who have
parents. for two reasons
zone is the extreme youth and lack OF
experience and fixed principles In the
girl herself; the other is that the small
salary paid to the cashgirl is insufficient
20 support her and provide suitable
clothing TO her work, unless she has a
mother TO attend 10 her sewing and a
home where her board can DO supplied
at small cost.
"Our method Of hiring girls and wo-
men is simply this: II a girl applies for
work who has never had any experience,
we take her name and address and the
number OF the school which she has az
tended. Then the matter is put Into
the hands of the regular department
which looks up references.
s'The same man who investigates the
standing OF the lady who comes in her
carriage and opens an account, inyestl-
gates the standing, social and moral, OF
the girl who serves her from behind the
counter. Inquiry is made az the school
OF the teachers; inquiry is made In the
house where the girl lives OF other fam
Nies occupying the same house or fami-
in the neighborhood.
NsThe~ house Itself or the boarding
Mace may be visited, and long expert
ence has made the reference mans OBJ
s~ervation keen, his judgment exact.
1.-THE facts collected are kept on rec
ord In the store, and TO them are added
such items as may from time to time
seem important in case OF promotion, or
n the girl leaves or is discharged and
aftsrward applies again for a place In
the store.
III a girl has had experience she
shows her references, il she has any, or
gives the names Of the firms where she
has been employed. Many OF the first
class firms keep an exchange list and
furnish all information TO each other.
Each case Is investigated and the his
tory traced as far back as Is available,
Aand this record is also put on file and
preserved.
1.-The careful investigation and in
nuiry, while It may seem unreasonable
ht the time, is in realty the best safe
guard 10 the girls themselves, ensuing
hem against unworthy associates aud
protecting them from the suspicion
which one Immoral or dishonest woman
night cast on all the others.
..In some stores this investigation is
ess comprehensive, and q lower grade
bfkirls. 3 lower tone in the standard, a
kifferent atmosphere results. Occa-
kioaally a girl passes q slight examlna-
> ton ia the making out Of checks and
the computing OF numbers, but all girls
can write fairly well, and II one fails in
the reckoning. II she is a good, bright
X saleswonan, she is removed 10 a depart
'ment where goods are sold by the piece
instead Of by the yard.
''Having satisfied the conditions q
girl is assigned 10 the department she
is best adapted 10, or in which there is
vacancy II she has had no expe-
rience she IL put in charge OF stock, or
takes her place among the cash girls,
where salaries are small, but promotion
is always the result Of ability and faith
fulness.
THE preference in promotion Is al
ways given to the cash girls in the en-
ploy Of the firm, which makes it diff
cult, except al busy seasons, 70 obtain a
foothold in higher departments in any
OF the better class stores where salaries
are generous and conditions agreeable"
II is interesting TO note how the old
traditions are COMPOUNDED by the fin de
SIEGE business women. Ii has been said
that women in business were less ambi-
tious. less responsible and less inter
ested in their work then men, because
their years OF service were shorter On
account OF marriage, and because they
upon any ayocatiOn as a tempo
ny matter TO tide over the interval
kween school days and the wedding.
n the New York shops there are Wo-
Z. married and unmarried, who have
kghteen and twentf years in the
N " the same firm, and have
On from the ranks OF the cash girls
70 be heads Of important departments.