Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1901-04-18

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their eyes are not normal. They wea
the glasses as the matchmaker wear
the single glass, to make their eye
more acute than normal.
In the boarding house of the Beld
ing mill, which l visited. found ac
commodations for 80 girls. Ever!
room In the house-which has the ap
pearance OF big private residence
built upon knoll, with a wide porcl
on three sides, and green lawn stretch
ing away in three directions-is excel
lently furnished, we'll heated by steam
bright, large and cheerily homelike
Such room as all the rooms are il
this boarding house, would cost tran
sient in Detroit hotel OF the frs
class on the European plan, 81 a day
or in a rooming house from $12 TO 81
a month. These working girls in the
Belding silk mills obtain one OF these
rooms, not necessarily with room
mate, singly If preferred, with board
for the amazingly small sum of 81 8
week. 1t is suggested that the board
must be rather slim. 1t is the same
board that the young clerk here in De-
troit pays So so week for.
Unknown to Mr.. Howard, the man
ager of the Belding mill, or to Mr..
Washburn, the manager of the Rich
ardson mill, and on the advice OF Mr..
Belding, interviewed two different
girl "hands" at the noon "hour OFF,
that is allowed all workers each day
for dinner and rest.
Both girls were selected for their
appearance. They might have been
taken for school teachers. The an
swers to the questions put them showed
an intelligence that was not expected.
Indeed their minds seemed more alert
than the minds OF the average country
school teachers one meets, the same
being the result OF natural aptitude
coupled with certain "town expert
ences" that have served to knock of
the rough corners.
| asked them how much they re-
ceiyed a week. They said six dollars
"How many hours do you work each
week?n
"Sixty. 1t seems great many for
the pay, but it isn't really. We go to
work at 6:15 in the morning-rather
early and dark it seems in the winter
months, but we feel the better for it
and at noon we've an hour off, stop
ping work at five minutes after six in
the evening. That means dark, too,
in the winter months, but what is the
difference? we've all the better appe-
tites when we get to the house. Then
we've all Saturday afternoon off.
That makes it 60 hours week, a dol
lar day for a day of ten hours work.
We pay two dollars week for room
and board. On the farm we received
nothing for our work, save when faith
er could give US little, and we'd
much more fatiguing work to do.
Then, too, we are allowed the privil-
ege OF doing our own laundry work in
the boarding house, which means a
saying that is impossible with the city
working girl. Do we read? Oh, yes.
No, not alone the papers; we get the
better magazines as well; and / think
il you were to go into any of our rooms
you would see that most OF us own a
certain number of books''-I found
this to be true.
asked these girls If they had rather
be employed in city shop than in a
Belding mill. They both answered in
the negative. "Why, we couldn't live
on what we would get in city," they
said, land we surely wouldn't receive
a cent MORE" All OF which is very
true.
In this connection it is interesting
to quote Mr.. Belding again. He said:
"Were two or three OF our girls to
come to me and complain OF their work
and wages, l would offer to secure them
for fortnight in city
department store. They would re-
ceive no more money than is paid them
here, but they would work longer and
harder. They would be on their feet
all day, subjected to sneers and insults;
and / would be willing to wager good
round sum that, at the end of the fort
night, the same girls would come to
me and beg me to take them back; that
is, assuming them to be decent, moral
girls, and we've none OF the other sort
here"
This latter is shown in the fact that
none OF the girls who live in the mill
boarding house object to the necessary
and seldom broken rule OF the institu-
tion, which is that all lights must be
out at 10 o'clock. No girl Is allowed
to stay out all night at will. And no
girl rebels at this discipline. A girl
who conducts herself immodestly,
noisily or indecently is not wanted in
the Belding mill nor in Belding itself,
and this soon shown her, not alone by