Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-06-09

will catch these oppressors between the
two millstones of his wrath ind grind
them to powderl
hear from oil this land the wall Of
womanhood. Man has nothing to an
swer to that wall but batteries He says
she is an angel She is not. She knows
she is not. She is human being, who
gets hungry when she has no food and
cold when she has no fire. Give her no
more batteries Give her justicel
There are about so, 900 sewing girls
in New York and Brooklyn. Across the
darkness of this night 1 hear their death
groan. 1t is not such cry as comes
from those who are suddenly hurled out
Of life, but a slow, grinding, horrible
wasting away. Gather them before you
and look into their faces, pinched, ghast-
ly, hunger struck Look at their fingers,
needle pricl1ed and blood tippedl See
that premature stoop In the shonldersl
Hear that dry, hacking, merciless coughl
At large meeting Of these women,
held in hall in Philadelphia, grand
speeches were delivered. but a needle
woman took the stands threw aside her
faded shaw, and it'll her shriysled
arrn hprIe ed very tthnnde rbolt Of elos
qued6e, speaking out the horrors oss her
own experience. = p - 70
A Pathetic Picture.
Stand at. the corner Of a street in New
York in the very early morning as the
women go to their work. Many of them
had no breakfast except the crumbs that
were left over from the night before or a
crust they chew on their way through
the streets. Here they come-the work
ing girls Of the ethyl These engaged In
beadwork, these in flower making, in
millinery, enameling, cigar making,
bool1binding, labelling feather picking,
print coloring, paper box making, but,
most overworked of all and least
compensated, the sewing women Why
do they not take the city cars on their
way up? They cannot afford the
5 cents If, concluding to deny herself
something else, she gets into the car,
give her seat. You want to see how
Latimer and Ridley appeared in the fire.
Look at that woman and behold more
horrible martyrdom-a hotter fire, o
more agonizing death.
One Sabbath night, in the vestibule
Of my church, after service G woman
fell in commissions. The doctor said she
needed medicine not so much as some
thing to eat AS she began to revive,
in her delirium she said gaspingly:
eight cents Eight cents! Eight centsl
wish I could get it done I am so
tired wish could get some sleep,
but must get it done Eight centsl
Eight centsv' We found afterward
that she was making garments at 8
cents apiece, and that she could make
but three of them in day. Hear it'll
Three times s are 24 Hear 1t, men
and women who have comfortable
honest
Some of the worst villains of the city
are the employers of these women.
They beat them down to the last penny
and try to cheat them out Of that. The
woman must deposit 81 or 50 before she
gets the garments to work on. When
the work is done, it is sharply inspected,
the most insignificant flaws picked out
and the wages refused, and sometimes
the 81 deposited not given back. The
Women's Protect q union reports q
ease where one of these Door souls, find
ing place where she could get more
wages, resolved to change employers and
went to get her pay for work done The
employer says, II hear you are going to
leave me?' Eyes, +" she said, land 1
have come to get what you owe me. "
He made NO answer. She said, Are
you not going to pay me?" Eyes, he
said, II will pay you" and he kicked
her down stairs.
Women Against Women.
How are these evils to be eradicated?
What have you to answer, you who sell
coats and have shoes made and con-
tract for the southern and western mar
kets? What help is there, what panacea,
what redemption? Some say, GIVE
women the ballot" What effect such
ballot might have on other questions l
am not here to discuss, but what would
be the effect of female suffrage upon
woman's wages? do not believe that
woman will ever get justice by woman's
ballot.
Indeed women Cypress women as
muck 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 rs men on
washerwomen and milliners and man.
tua makers? If woman asks 81 for her
work, does not her female employer ask
if she will not take 80 cents? You say,
"Only 10 cents difference. F" But that Is
sometimes the difference between heav-
en- and hell. Women often have less
commiseration for women than men. II
woman steps aside from the path Of
virtue, man may forgiye-woman 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 cleave with its terrible edge
her oppressors.
A Source of Strength.
But there is something for our wom-
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 q man, she will soon be able not
only to ask but to demand more wages,
and to demand chem successfully. I'm
skilled and incompetent labor must take
what is given. Skilled and competent