The sun., 1900-12-09

finds IL difficult to take orders instead Of give
| them. md her employer dislikcs the SEN
| satlon of having an equal for her servant.
| Accordingly unless the lady with her lv-
Ing to make can bend herself to some new
| occupation, or make her one talent sala-
| Bile. she must either go back to her cold room.
he three-ycar-old bonnet and her worn
| black gloves and accustom herself TO an
| oatmeal diet. or take n position that seems
10 her menial and beneath her
A good stenographer IL In demand all
| tho year around. In winter for steady work.
IN summer to Ill In the vacation time Of regular
| stenoRrap pliers. A stenographer. indeed al
most divides the honors with the general
houscworker. who Is as popular In the In
tellicencs oflce connected with the st. Bar
tholomew Bureau as at the Salvation Army.
"A girl for general housework. please.
said the lady In furs and satin. who swept
into the room, bringing the odor OF violets
with her. Two in the family. An apart
m"nt: washing sent out: ! want her to cook
well. l don't want to pay more than s25.
A wcll-drcssed girl, with an intelligent face.
emerging from the inner room, sat down to
talk with the lady In furs and satin, while
another patron. simply dressed. with the look
Of n careworn mother. was stating desire
for Il general housework girl at SO month.
In the family.
we can't get nearly enough general house
work girls to Ill the places. aid the M nager
OF the office. Us soon as she had a moments
respite. The demand for housekeepers.
cooks. mattresses. nurses. &c, Is good now.
and will be until Christmas. but the general
houseworker is called for from June to June"
Down at the Free Employment Bureau
for the State of New York Mr. Balm dwelt
on the great demand for this mad-of-all-
work. and the difficulty OF getting her The
demand for a girl who com )ines so much
In his opinion. Is the result Of the great In
crease in apartment life Rich and poor
solve the question OF living in that way. and
domestic ARRANGEMENTS must Of necessity
conform to II An apartment affords scarcely
II sleeping place for one maid even. and two
would be out Of the question Therefore
the maid must get in line with the spirit Of
the age and genergll2e instead OF specialize.
Girls don't like it-general Homework,
said Mr. Bealin with a smile They think.
lie charity. it covers a multitude OF sins.
Iley feel as II their work was never done.
That is the particular reason whv general
hoUsework girls are 80 scarce. although we
can get cooks. nurses, Mattresses and the
rest in rnultitudes"
A glimpse through the little square window
into the room whore the applicants sat In
rows waiting TO % called showed score or
more of women with two or three men The
latter looked "a uneasy as cats In strange
garrets Nr Bcalin explained the disparity
In numbers bv his belief that women we're
less independent than men about seeking
places. and preferred to have some one act
as niddleman between themselves and their
employers while men went directly TO the
81, il.ht ha found
AZ the Y VI c. Labor Bureau, which
deals particularly with men who are not in
trades indications OF prosperous times were
well in evidence Good men were not out
Of work. the manager of the bureau said.
and the fact that he could not get all the men
he wanted who were expert in accounting
and stenography and some other things.
while individually inconvenient. was ex-
cellent proof OF the good condition II the
labor market Ofiice boys. good ones. he
never has too many Of The applicants he
breads TO see come in are the dabsters. who
can do a little OF everything. and not much
OF anything. and the foreigners who don't
know the language These are likely TO be
among the left-overs in the balancing OF
demand with supply
The employment bureau OF the Y W c. A,
which practically duplicates among work.
the Y NJ c. A. bureau acknowledged also
that times were good. The demand for dress
makers just now Is large; expert stenogra-
piers typewriters and invalid nurses with ex-
perience but not necessarily trained in a
hospital can almost always find places
The gentlewoman without means, seek Ing
something TO do. often drifts into this Office.
The number who come In here thinking
that they can be professional housekeepers.
because they have kept their own house,
said the woman in charge. is heartrending,
They can't. you know. and there seems TO
be nothing for them to do. The nonde-
scripts, who say they will do anything. !
find the hardest TO deal with. When you
question them. you nnd that their idea OF
anything is a good time with a salary and
next to nothing to do, These things don't
exist in New York. or course there are
many women with whom anything means
a will and purpose that will make whatever
they do succeed. but We do not have to num-
ber them among our surplus applicants"
In the labor bureau Of the Girls Friendly
Society, an organization which 10 IN touch
with more working girls perhaps. than any
other in the city. a middle-aged woman.
wiping her eyes and fumbling for the door
knob. furnished a dramatic illustration OF
one class OF workwomen. who need work
sadly and find 1t very hard to get. They
have families. and they cannot 60 out to
service. Work by the day is scarce. and there
are many mouths to feed. but this pre-
carous method OF getting money is their only
one. and they must struggle along as best
they may. Many girls. according TO the re-
port OF this bureau are out OF work. but not
more than usual. The best Of them have
places. The manager OF the bureau con-
cludes that dressmakers now are having a
busy time because none appli's for work
Az In other Offices. the bureau az the great
est difficulty with girls who want to do what
thew nre not fitted for. Among its members
Ia represented almost every kind OF work
ever attempted by wowen, candy making
and factory work of all kinds. There arc.
also, many who walk into the basement ONCE
OF the bureau with their heads up and no
idea OF what they can do. like one ambitious
young woman. with a scant gramn ar school
ale would like to do ONCE work; Asked
what she thought II was, she replied that
she didn't know at all, but she was sure she
could do II anyway. This sublime assur-
snca does not GO far with the level-hoaded
manager OF the bureau, and they comrromise
on something more elementary The do
mand In n good many lines just now is larger
than the places at the bureaus command.
hut il refuses to send girls where conditions
nre Ot bealthfu1 n nd Wp fnir. that tho