The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-08-14
THE GIRLS OF ENGLAND.
Some Duties That Devolve Upon
Most Of the Heads Of
Households.
HE English Shop Girl and tho
Social Position Which She
Occupies.
Titled Young Wo'me in Various Trndes
and How Thor Actions May Affect
Poorer Ones.

There are tourists and tourists. Some
will come home and be able to tell only
that they have seen the Alps and been to
Paris, while Others will have done" Rome
in q day, and az an English lady wonder
ingly narrated Of ono such American who
had performed the feat got a wonderfully
clever idea OF 1t at that" Nevertheless
the most persistent and observant tourist
would find it a herculean task to penetrate
into the English home unless furnished
with exceptional letters Of introduction or
possessed of exceptionally fascinating man
ners and exceptionally rare advantages Of
meeting people who arc exceptionally un-
prejudiced.
IAN Englishman's house is his ~castle'' Is
aphrase familiar to us all, but to those I'M
familiar with the survival of fcudal ideas
the full force OF the saying is lost. From
the noble lady who graciously accepts
American hospitality on this side Of the
water and then forgets to extend an invita-
ton for q return visit to tho slovenly wife
Of the gvecn grocer who slams the door Of
her back parlor when she enters the shop
to serve u customer, the privacy of the
home il jealousy guarded.
Novelists have introduced us to the draw
Ing rooms of the great and the sitting rooms
of the humble, but a discreet silence has
been maintained concerning the house
holds OF the s~hopkeepcrs, and it may be re-
membcred that England is a nation of
shopkcppcrs. So, after all, the stranger
forms IN idyllic conception Of the English
home, which, while it may flattcr the Eng
lish and satisfy those who never learn to
the contrary, by no means represents the
true state of affairs.
1t may be well before entering further
upon the subject to explain exactly what is
meant by q shopkeepcr. The entire bust
ness of the country is divided into three
classes and 10 conducted in warehouses,
which IS the name given to buildings de.
voted to wholesale trade; offices, where
goods are sold from samples, md shops,
which last is synonymous with DIR retail
store. A man keeping either q warehouse
or an Office is n tradcsman, but he is not
a shopkecper, though a shopkccper is a
tradesman, petty" or otherwise. A shop
girl is not II factory hand; neither is she a
'saleslady." Her highest title is that con
ferred upon her by act Of parliament in re-
cent enactmcnts, "shop assistant"
These young persons" lead very differ
ent lives from those in similar positions in
this country. In the first place, for the
most part they leave home and live in the
house of their employer. This is of course
q survival of tho old apprentice system.
Even in warehouses it is quite common for
those learning the business to live ''in-
DOORS" and many prosperous tradesmen
have their homes over their shops and Of
fees in rooms fitted not for family COM
fort, but the idea of accommodating q small
army of assistants.
The kitchens and larders of such estab-
lishments resemble those of our hotels
When it Is remembered that the trades
mans wife has to superintend such a house
hold, the life Of an American boarding
house keeper looms up as elegant leisure in
comparison with her lot, not to mention
that the American woman has the handling
of money, whereas the bridesmaids wife
receives no reward save the consciousness
of having done her duty. Men who have
incomes ranging as high as $4,000 a year
do not employ housekeepers, but impose
households Of 20 or more strangers upon
their wives. These young people, havo
to be lodged, fed and in many cases uni
formed, and the mistress must see that no
waste takes place in any direction; that
the health and morals of her charges are
carefully guarded, and if a conscientious
woman she frequently performs the duties
~ I III SCkicuo iiiSS lOT UuOSC VINO HT0
far from home or who lave no home save
that of their employer.
1t would seem impossible with the strict
surveillance 10 which all those in respect
able house are subjected for serious evil to
creep in, but there are sad tragedies con-
tinually taking place in those vast house
holds which only show that the gentle, red
checked English girl is no stronger moral
ly than her American sister, who has more
freedom, but possibly no greater tempta-
ton.
Much has been said and written about
titled ladies going into trade, and recent
articles in the English press declare that
the daughters of professional men are now
entering west end establishments and
taking their places behind the counters and
in the workrooms. All this tells u sud
story to those who read between the lines.
While we admire the pluck and energy of
a woman who puts pride behind her and
works bravely to carr her living, one can
not but remember that the entrance Of
titled milliners and dressmakers has ruined
many n respectable shopkeeper whose mod
est bank o would not pay for the ar
tistic signs and expensive fittings of her
noble competitor. And as to the daugh-
tiers of professional men going behind the
counter, what is to become of them when
the upward PRESSURE bursts all bounds?
That pressure is increasing with every
class that leaves the board schools. God
help those who seem doomed to be caught
beween the upper and neither millstones.
we, as Americans, must rejoice that
England is fast becoming a democracy.
Nevertheless, those of US who know thu
feudal system only through poem and ro-
nance, who have never suffered from tho
tyranny arising from the survival of the
idea that the sovereign owns the lord, tho
lord owns the knight, the knight the
squire, and so on down to the beggar, may
BIO permitted one little sigh over the loss Of
chivalry, but sober second thought makes
us rejoice that England is becoming Gamer
icanized," thu the rights OF the individual
IRE more and more recognized. But while
we look at the rapidly dissolving views Of
olden times would it not be well to bear In
mind that we'll developed systems MS well
as human beings have in them some germ
of good worth rescuing?
We are rubbing up tho old andirons and
polishing the worm eaten furniture Of our
ancestors because they have n beauty no
modern work can attain. Surely, then.
1t woul be no degradation to us to adopt
the gentle courtesy toward those who serve
us-such us the English slopgirl receives
to this day from even chance customers.
Surely 1t would be nc confession Of inferi-
GRITTY for the shopgirl-we beg pardon, the
saleslady-to learn that %neatness and avoid
Ance of DISPLAY arc the dictntes of pond