The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-06-13

milnecy. enarne!Ipg, cigar making, book
binding. labelling, feather picking, print
cOloripg, PAPER box making, but, mcst
oVerwcIkad c! all and least compensated
the sewing WOMAN. Why do t'!ey not
tx. the ely cars On their way
up? They cannot aford the FIVE
cents. If. concluding 10 den7
berselt something else. she gets into
the car, give her a seatI You want to
see how Latimer and Ridley appeared
in the fire. Look at that woman and
behold more horrible maTtydom, hot
ter fire, a more agonjzing death!
One Sabbath night, IN the vestibule
Of my church, after service, a woman
fell in convulsiops. The doctor said
she needed medicine not so much as
something to ear. AS she began 20 re-
qive, in her delirium she said gasping-
": Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight
cents! l wish l could get it done! am
50 tired! l wish l could get some sleep,
but I must get it done" We found
afteWard that she was making gar
ments at cents apiece, and that she
could make but three of them in day.
Hear it, Three times eight are t~en-
| ty.fouT. Hear it, men and women who
have comfortable homes.
Some Of the worst Williams Of the city
are the employers of these women.
They beat them down to the last pen
nv and try to cheat them out Of that.
| The woman must deposit dollar or
| two before she gels the garments to
work on. When the work is done, 1t
is sharply inspected, the most insig-
nifca1t flaws picked out, and the
wages refused, and sometime the dol
lar deposited not given back. The
| Women's Protective union reports a
case where one Of these poor souls,
finding place where she could get
more wages, resolved to change en-
ployers and went to get her pay for
work done: The employer says, Il hear
you are going to leave me?' Eyes,
she said, "and I have come to get what
you owe me-" He made no answer.
She said, care you not going to pay
me?" "Yes," be said, Il will pay you,
and he kicked her down the stairs.
How are these evils to be eradicated
What have you to answer, yol who sell
coats and have shoes made and con.
tract for the southern and western
markets? What help is there, what
panacea, what redemption? Some say,
Give women the ballot" What effect
such ballot might have on other ques.
tioDs l am not here to discuss, but
what would be the effect Of female
suffrage upon Woman's wages? l co
not believe that woman will eyer get
| justice by Woman'5 ballot.
| Indeed, women Cypress women as
much as men do. Do not women, as
much as men, beat down to the lowest
| figure the woman who sews for them
| Are not women as sharp as men on
washerWomen and milliners and man
tua makers? If a woman asks dollar
| for her work, does not her female EN-.
pIoyer ask her If she will not take 90
cents? You say, "Only 10 cents differ
ence," but that is sometimes the diff
! ference between heaven and hell.
Women have often less commiseratiOn
for women than men. If woman
steps aside from the path CT virtue,
man may forglve-womaD, never!
Woman will never get justice done her
from Woman's ballot.
Never will she get it from mans bal
lot. How, then? God will rise up for
her. God has more resources than we
know of. The flaming sword that
hung at Eden's gate when woman was
driven out will cleaYe with its terrible
edge her oppressors.
But there is something for our WON.
en- to do. Let our young people prepare
| to excel in spheres of work, and they
| will be able after awhile to get larger
wages. If it be shown that woman
can in store sell more goods in year
than a man, she will soon be able not
only to ask but to demand more wa
ges, and to demand them successfully
Unskilled and incompetent labor must
take what is given. Skilled and com-
petent labor will eventually make its
own standard. Admitting that the
law of supply and demand regulates
these things, l contend that the de-
mand for skilled labSr IS very great and
the supply very small.
Start with the Idea that work is hon.
able, and that you can do some one
thing better than anyone else. Resolve
that, God helping,you will take care OF
yourself. If you are after awhile called
/ into another relation, you will all the
better be qualified for it by your spirit
of self reliance, or if you are called to
stay as you are you can be happy and
self supporting,
Poets are fond of talking about man
as an oak, and woman the vine that
climbs it, but I have seen many tree
fall that not only went down itself, but
took all the vines with 1t. l can tell
you of something stronger than an oak
for an ivy tc climb on, and that is the
throne of the great Jehovah. Single
or af1ianced, that woman is stronger
who leans on God and does her best.
The needle may break,the factory band
may slip, the wages may fall, but over
every good Woman'S head there are
spread the two great, gentle, stupendous
wings Of the Almighty.
Many of you will 60 single handed
through life, and you will have to
choose between two characters. Young
moman, l am sure you will turn your
back upon the useless, giggling, paint
ed nonentity which society ignomini.
ously acknowledges to be woman and
ask God to make you an humble, active,
earnest Christian.
What will become Of that goddess
disciple of fashion? What an insult to
her SEX Her manners are an outrage
upon decency. She is more thoughtful
of the attitude she strikes upon the car
ret than how she will look in the judg-
ment; more worried about her freckles
than her sins; more interested in her
bonnet strings than in her redemption:
Her apparel is the poorest part of
Christian woman, however magniti-
Gently dressed, and no one has so much
right to dress well as Christian. Not
so with the goddess disciple of fashion.
Take her robes, and you take every
thing. Death will come down on her
some day and rub the bistre off her
eyelids and the rogue off her cheeks,
and with two rough, bony hands scat
ter spangles and glass beads aud rings
and ribbons and lace and brooches and
buckles and sashes and frisettes and
golden clasps.
The dying actress, whose life had
been vicious, said: The scene closes
Draw the curtain" Generally the
o.I s.