The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-06-09
A STRONG PLEA FOR THE WOMEN.

BILL ARP ON REST FOR CLERKS
The Hard Life of Working Girls-The
Insincerity OF Society Folks.
Let the good work go on. The shop
girls OF Atlantis are now allowed to sit
and rest their weary limbs for brief
; time when not waiting on customers.
and their working time is out at G
O'Clock in the evening. This reform
that means much to them, and our
sympathetic people will all thank the
Cham berlin house for starting it. The
girls have not demanded it nor have
they uttered q word Of complaint, but
we know that they get tired, very
tired, and sometimes they are sick and
they get homo. But they never strike
mo, they had rather suffer and en-
dure and always look CHEEKY and try to
be happy and contented. 1 have won.
dered why they did not organize and
choose their leaders and sometimes
get on strike and walk out and make
demands on their employers like the
men do. No, they will not do that. It
Is not their nature, and for that reason,
II no other, those who employ them
should be all the more considerate.
Every shop girl and every shop woman
has an individual history, and could
tell a tale of sorrow or misfortune, and
some of them would be intensely sad
and pathetic IL written and published.
| Many of them belong to that class who
| have seen better days-many are or
phans-some have a widowed mother
or an invalid sister to support. All
are dependent and have no bright
prospects OF bettering their condition
Nf
are not strong, and often go to their
work with headache or q heartache,
but they must not complain-sad faces
or sick faces or very homeIy ones are
not wanted. 1 know four sisters who
are shop girls at different places. The
eldest is only sixteen. They have
neither father nor mother nor brother,
but they live together and work by
day and comfort each other by night.
ters "only shop girl I" is their mot
to-, and their service Is worth what it
will bring-that much and no more.
They fix the price and keep it there
There is no promotion in wages. I
know one who kept a girl down to 500 |
a month. She was refined, diligent,
conscientious aud popular, and had
been reared a4ady in all respects, but !
she was only shop girl, and out of
and clothing. Not an hour did she |
ever lose-but by and by she was offer |
ed $50 by another house, and then, and |
not until then, did her employers pro-
pose to increase her wages to the same |
amount. Why did they not do it be- |
fore!a-1 know another large, wealthy |
house that kept a yyoung man for three !
years, promising at intervals to raise |
his wages, but it was only a prorGtse.
At last he quit and sought other bustsl
ness, ind then they offered him nearly
double what he had been getting If he
would come back. That Is what the
the poor" Why !. .rvvst7r4..s aicIs lie
and health away by feedlng ns7 Ufff !
hope until it turns to despair ? Only |
shop girl A young lady who had
once been independent was forced by
the common calamity Of these hard
times to become shop girl-4and she
told me that the hardest thing to bear
friends-the lack of familiar social
recognition; when they traded st the
counter they hardly knew her--they
said good morning, but not in the
sweet old way. After Job had lost his |
property, he said: "But now they |
that are younger than hold me in de-
rision-whose fathers [ would have dis
dained to set with the dogs of my flock"
1t Is the same old story of social in |
sincerity. A man never knows who |
are his friends until misfortune over.
takes him. Thank heaven there are |
some exceptions to this rule, and these |
shop girls do sometimes find somebody N
to love them and share their sorrows. |
There Is nothing more unbecoming to |
woman than her disposition to rule |
money into her social set and rule |
poverty out. No real, well-bred lady |
will do 1t. My observation is that this |
foolish vanity Is generally indulged in |
by the shoddy Observation-Disclosures who |
have nothing elseto their credit except |
money-those whose fathers got rich |
by questionable means. Peachtree is !
lined with many such, and so are the |
fashionable quarters Of all cities. This |
folly Is mainly feminine one; the |
men are not given to it no man dares
to snub another because of his poverty,
or his humble origin. With men there |
Is no aristocracy except that of intel
lect. 1t Is related that when Douglas
and Lincoln met for the first time on
the hustings Douglas, who was great
OF an acquaintance with his opponent,
and, in fact, had seen him but once,
and that was when he was selling
whiskey behind the bar in cross
roads saloon. When old Abe rose to
reply, he smiled from ear to ear, as he
remarked. "Thats so, my fellow
citizens. That is the only time ever
saw him until now. He was on one
side Of the bar and 1 was on the other.
He took drink and took the money.
We are about even on that score."
What's the difference? A nice, sweet,
well-mannered girl or young woman
who waits on the customers in large
dry goods house Is on one side of the
counter and rich aristocratic lady Is
on the other. One had money, the
other had goods and they exchanged
that's all. Which is ahead in the comedy
of life and which will be ahead when
the play is ended and final judgment
Is rendered With one life is fash
ionable farce with the other strug-
! gle for bread. "Give us this day our
daily bread Is her morning prayer.
The position OF these working girls
is hard one at best, but kind words
and fair wages soften it down greatly.
They beg for these places and get
them, but why women should not be
paid as much as men for similar SER
vice cannot understand. MY infor-
nation Is that they are paid about half
and the employers excuse Is that COM
| petition is very great and as others
cut rates they must do go, too, for la
Dor Is worth only what it will bring
and a womans labor can be had cheap