The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-13
THE BARMAID'S LOT.
One Unhappy Phase of English In
dustriaI Life.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
l find barmaids very much misunder-
stood class of women. To the ordinary
mind barmaids are bright, flashy-looking
women, who will serve beer and chaff, or
split Scotch and repartee, TO any man who
pays the price at a public bar They are
always cheerful, have word and a smile
for every one, and have decided pen
chant for peroxide" hair and painted
cheeks. The result is that their morals
are considered elastic, if not lax, and they
are subjected to both temptation and in
suit. And yet these women are volunta-
rily working from 102 TO 106 hours per
week, in barrrooms where steam tobacco
smoke, fumes of beer and spirits and gen
eral stencil, vie with each other for SUI
premacy. Such an atmosphere is not con-
ducive to the welfare of maidenly bushes;
they soon die out of the face of a new girl,
ana as her appearance is a matter of no
little importance, she must resort to rouge.
The peroxide follows in the same way.
Imagine London-bred women, who are
never robust a. the best of times, under
taking to work that compels them to rise
before a. m. and retire at or after l
O'Clock the next morning, and without any
appreciate chance TO rest on the Sunday!
And yet 1t is quite true, for the barmaid
must be at her post in the bar between
and in the morning, and when she is not
busy with serving customers, she must
busy herself with polishing glasses, bot
ties and metal taps No seats are allow
ed behind the counters, and the barmaid
must stand and smile, draw drink and
talk, and polish glasses for five or six
hours consecutlvely before she can rest
moment. Two hours are allowed to her
during the middle of the day, usually from
l o'clock to 8. But al she must be back
at her post again. still looking pleasant"
and smart, and, save for half hour or so
for a meal,must go on with her work I'M
til 1890 at night, which'is closing time. Nor
is her work then done. The crowds of
customers have made the rooms plggish,
everything is in disorder, and it rests with
the barmaid to tidy up the place before
| she leaves the bar Oftentimes it is after
l o'clock in the morning before she has
| finished her work and can go to bed. One
| would expect that, after six days of this
| the barmaid would be allowed to rest on
| Sundays, or a least 20 lie abed until Open
| ing time, at /. But his is not the case.
| Even on Sundays the barmaid must be
| up at 7:30 ana start work, for the day
| affords opportunity for a kind of
| strengthening, and the barmaid must put
an extra polish on the counters and the
metal taps must be made TO shine and
the glasses 10 glisten. In fact, everything
| has to be put in order, and the traces
| of the Saturday nights crowd done away
with. With break of half an hour, for
| breakfast, the morning work goes on until
| 1880 when the barmaid must change her
working clothes, and make herself look
attractive for the Sunday opening at
O'Clock. Work then goes on until in the
| afternoon, when the barmaid has her din
| ner, and may be at liberty until 6. But
I.-l,a Fs1-
nights, and the only time she has to her
self on her day OUT is from to s
O'Clock. and this only every other Sunday
For thus working from 102 10 los hours
per week the new barmaid gets nothing
When she has learned her duties she
thinks herself lucky to get from to z
| shillings per week, and if at the end of
two years she can command shillings
per week she considers herself very fortu-
nate. out of such sums the barmaid must
dress herself and pay her own Washing
and more often than not this pittance
must be stretched to meet the needs of her
people at home.
"And yet barmaids have bad reputa-
tion," one delicate girl told me. Don't
you think 1t too bad? Il makes men I'M
willing TO marry us and turns friends
from us And yet, l know a lot of girls
who spend their time off in doing their
own washing and ironing to save a little
more money for their mothers who per-
haps depend on them for part of the rent
Some OF them walk miles on their Sum
day off 20 save bus fares; it is their
only chance of seeing their people, ana
they can't afford to ride"
The barmaids do not. as a rule, have
their meals with the publican and fam
lily. They are served separately. and ac-
oording to all accounts, there Is much
room for Improvement in the food given
to these women, for the meals are AL
ways poor often bad, and sometimes I'M
fit to eat. On her Sunday out the bar
maid does not think the dinner worth
waiting fort Is bad. it would take time
to eat it, she is in a hurry to get home.
and she walks miles at times without
having eaten anything since breakfast
/ Tips are few and far between for the
class of men which frequents public
houses wants the worth of its money in
drink Occasionally the barmaid is invi-
ted to "have a drink" and if she is deft
she may manage to fill glass with water
and pocket the price of the drink, this
practice being allowed. But these things
do not add materially to her scanty wage:
and the barmaid does her own washing
in hours that she ought 10 be lying down
and she walks miles when she ought to
take a bus.
The consequences to her health are oft
en- disastrous. Sooner or later she nuts
in an appearance at the hospitals for
treatment. and when discharged has to
go forth to fight again the battle of lie.
broken In health and impaired in energy
Varicose veins. internal troubles and
weaknesses peculiar to women are some