The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-30

and holds meetings twice a week, at
which hundreds of the poor women Of
Porto Rico come for aid. 1t has now
about 800 work women on its list. They
are paid for making clothes, which are
given away to such Of the poor who are
unable to work. They receive from Is to
80 cents for making dresses, and are very
glad to get work at these wages
Many Of the workwomen are the wild
ows Of officers who lost their lives dur
Ing the war Some of them can en-
bro1der beautifully, and the Ladies Aid
society takes orders for embroidery and
drawn work, paying these women what
they receive, with the exception of 10 per
? cent for the treasury Of the society This
Drawn work is beautiful and exceedingly
cheap, and any of our women who are
beneyolently inclined might get beauti-
fully embroidered pillow cases or napkins
ana table cloths, handkerchiefs and other
thlngs by sending money to the Ladies'
Aid society of San Juan.
Inc women have already established q
free medical dispensary. They also give
many OF the poor people tickets to the
I. M Z. a. soup Kitchens where a poor
man can get a dinner for cents.
WOMEN's WORK AND WAGES.
Speaking of the poorer women. there
is little chance here for a girl to make
her own living. Outside of school teach
Ing or acting as governesses there are
no openings whatever. Women are not
employed in the stores. Porto Rico has
not up to this date a female typewriter
and the work in the postoff1ces and tele-
graph offices is done by men. I see some
women In the dressmaking shops The
most Of them use hand sewing machines
and am told hat~they sew beautifully
with the needle. The wages are such.
however, that the American dressmaker
could not live upon them. Sewing women
who come Into the house and sew all dav
from in the morning until at night
are paid 10 cents a day, including their
breakfast and dinner. You can get a fna
dress made for 81. 40, and a lady's linen
night dress, including the material, tuck
ed at the yoke and trimmed with laca
and insertion, with buttons as desired.
costs only As cents This represents more
than one days work Linen is very
cheap here, and the American women
who visit Porto Rico fit themselves out
with linen underclothes, getting them
for about one-third the price they pay at
home.
All kinds Of servants are very CHEAP.
especially women servants Maids get
from So to $3.50 month, and for this sum
they will do anything. They are willing
~ WOAA, ciAO never SlT1hS. some Oh them
are white and some colored Not a few
come from the neighboring island Of ST..
Thomas. Some speak little English.
and all, as a rule, are clean and nice
looking. Ordinary servant girls get from
to pesos a month, or from $3.50 to
1920. You can hire f1rst-class cook for
from Sc to 81 a month, and such a cook
will do the marketing.
WASHING AND WAsHERWOMEN.
The cook, however, will not wash and
iron. This. as a rule is done by profess
sional washerwomen, who carry the
clothes to the streams and wash them in
cold water. There is no such thing as a
clothes line on the island, and nothing
like an American washboard or washtub.
| The clothes are dried on the grass or
hung on cactus bushes or wire fences.
| They are sprinkled while drying. and
usually come back beautifully white The
| Porto Rtcan washtub is a box made of
pine, about yard long, half yard wide
| and about six inches deep It has slop-
Ing sides, and the woman puts the clothes
| in 1t, dips it in the water and rubs them
between her hands with soap. Some
| times she Tits the tub against a stone
| so that half Of it is in the water, and
then, kneeling beside 1t on the edge Of
| the stream, she rubs and scrubs to wash
out the dirt. Frank G. Carpenter.