The Opelousas courier., 1899-06-24
FRENCH NoMEM RAILWAY WORKERS.
Increasing Competition With Men-Low
: Wages Received and tho Cause.

tbtIlVSbb
Increasing Competition With Men-Low
j Wages Received and the Cause.
Thoss people who are opposed to
women entering the industrial pursuits
will find some interesting data in Bull.
letin No. 20, just issued from the De-
partment of Labor, Washington, treat
ing on the condition Of railway labor
In Europe. The point of special in.
terest is the employment of female
labor by the railways of France, where
the competition Of women with men
for industrial places has been rather
keenly felt, as the number Of female
employees has been steadily increasing.
In 1896 there were 10, $50 women en-
ployed in the French railways; in 1881
there were II, 1886; in 1885, 81. 1924; in
1891, "a, OLA, and in 1896, 26,626. In
other words, there were seventy-seveh
women per 1000 employees in 1876, "a
compared with 1O2 per thousand in
1896. q
places which Otherwise would be filed
eby men; but, & they are frequently
Wye VI daughters Of present EN-.
ployes or widows Of former ones, their
employment is not considered a handi-
cap by the labor staff. The fact. how.
ever, that they stand in this domestic
relation to some Of the male employees
has a decided effect upon their wages
Their wages are extremely low, even
for female labor, and this is rendered
possible by the fact that their wages
need not be sufficient to supportthem,
but are considered as extra earnings
on the part of the family.
In France the women are largely
employed as g~ate-keepers and such
work in the department of ''way and
works" Of the railways. On v OF
the principal railways 23,22l women
were employed at this kind of service,
as against 30O8 in all other depart
ments. The smallest number Of wom-
en- undertake such work as the selling
of tickets, keeping of books, ETC., and
they are sometimes employed in the
telegraphio bureau. Some of the rail-
ways employ large numbers to sell
journals and to care for the toilet
rooms.
This labor is divided between those
who are employed by the month, o
numbering 1873. andthose employed
by the hour, who now number 3718.
Ninety-nine per cent. of the former
number are between the ages of nine
teen and sixty. Of these, II, $3.50 were
between the ages of nineteen and
twenty-five. This shows the prepon-
derance of married or widowed wom-
en- among the employees paid by the
month.
The pay of female employees In
French industries is a little over one-
half as great as that of male employees,
the average daily wages for twenty-one
groups being forty-one cents for wom-
en- and seventy-fve cents for lei
The disproportion in the wages be-
the two kinds of labor on the
railways i; still greater. Of the 49,
919 women employed by the month,
5275 obtain less than $2.9 80 a month,
and 7703 between $3.50 and $4.S9 a
fifteen per cent over
81. SO a month. Equally low wages
are paid to those female employees who
work by the day Or hour.
A fair estimate of the increase can
aot be had without taking into con-
,ideration the free lodging for female
employees provided by the railways.
The value Of such accommodations is
7ariously estimated by the railways at
rom ifty-eight cents to 81. 80 month.
About n%inety-two per cent. of the
emale employees secure the privilege
# this free lodging. DR.. Walter E.
Neyl, who is the author of the bulletin
mentioned, estimates the value of the
odging at $1.93 a month.