Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-27
Copyright, 1902, by James Heaton.)

commonly TIL the crops. Yet within the
limits of the city from which he sailed
hundreds of women are today employed as
farm laborers, and within a few miles
radius of New York may be found more
than 5000 women farmers and farm hands.
In fact, if the returned tourist were to
explore the country roads to the south Of
the village of Jamaica, Long Island, he
might almost think himself back in Aus
tria or Italy, so gay are head kerchiefs and
the cotton dresses of the SMALL brown
skinned. bright-eyed women who are every
where busy in the fiat, level fields. To-
ward evening, when the sun Is setting be-
hind the trees of Woodhaven, gliding in
the distance the spire of a little Italian
church, the tourist might see before him
many a scene suggestive of Millais' An
gsius." The woman with the hoe is as
common as she is picturesque in the land
scape.
Crowded In the tenements of Jamaica
live at least 1850 women who are employed
more or less steadily on the surrounding
truck farms Here is another foreign touch
for the traveller. In former days the Euro
pean peasant was a village dweller for the
sake of security-as in brigand-cursed
Sicily he still must BEGGING out in the
morning to work in perhaps distant fields.
The habit, thus established, has lived and
has been transplanted and, Joined with
convenience and the social instinct, it eX-
plains why there are huddled in HicksviHe,
Mineola, Woodhaven and especially in ia
maica, the Poles, Bohemians, French, Ital-
tans and Slovaks whose work on the Long
Island farms may be miles away.
Capturing Women Farm Hands.
Long Islands women farm hands are
mainly Poles from Russian Poland. They
work for American, Irish and German
truck farmers, who hire them by the day.
In harvest time when farmer needs wo-
men laborers, he lays in a stock of one
dollar bills and passes the word to one OF
his men. The man stops the first Polak he
meets and points to a field. Few Polaks
speak English, but the sign Is enough. The
mans work is done. Next morning at the
farm gate there may be fifty women walt
ing.
The farmer who lives at a distance from
the village uses a different method. Har-
Messing big hay cart, he drives to town,
halts, beclsOns TO a group of women in
the street. waits until twenty more have
scrambled in, and then drives off with his
capture. His object is to prevent the
Struggling Of his help and TO make sure of
the number wanted; but in the dewy fresh
ness of the early morning the wagon loads
Of laughing girls look less like laborers than
a picnic party.
Women are employed for planting onions,
for harvesting crops that are picked by
hand, such as green peas, string beans,
lima beans and tomatoes; for punching rhu-
barb and for wedding tender crops, like
onions and young carrots, that cannot stand
the Cultivator
In planting time and in June and Septern-
Der, when the first and second crops Of
peas are gathered, the outfocking Of wo-
men is sudden. One may see as many as
fifty at work in a plot of a few acres where
the day before there was not one
They say labor's scarce in the west"
said one farmer; its plenty here Whistle
and you'll see dozen women comm" An
other farmer said that Polaks were as thick
as mosquitoes.
Babies in the Fields.
In June when green peas must be rushed
TO market and every days delay means
monetary loss, the larger farmers need all
the help they can get so even women with
babies are set picking. Up and down the
fields, between long, straight, green rows of
vines. stand baby carriages, covered with
mosquito netting. While the mothers work
the babies sleep or kick in the sunshine.
As soon as the children are old enough
to pull pod they, too, are called into
service, and at noon when work stops and
the luncheon OF rye bread, cheese and
onions is eaten the scene Is festive Groups
gather by families under trees or shelters
matched with green boughs. Sometimes,
among Italian or French laborers, there is
singing.
The wages received by women farm
hands are better than might be supposed.
For filing a two-bushel bag OF peas
picker gets p cents: for beans half as
much. At these rates a good hand earns
$50 per day. One reason for compare
lively high earnings is curious; the old two
bushel bag has shrunk gradually In size
until now II holds only bushel and half.
The farmers have tried TO substitute the
bushel as the unit of measure, but the
women object, and bag measure is still
customary.
To insure industry the farmers. when
sell la h1rr
tried to pay for wedding by the row but
as rows In different fields are OF different
lengths, pay by time is more convenient
The usual rates are IS cents or 81 per day.
Even when hiring by the week, the farm
ers pay their help daily. Every afternoon
the farmer appears In the fields carrying
a leather bag filled with silver or one-dollar
bills. and the women form in line to receive
their earnings. The farmer says he takes
this trouble because he cannot tell the
women apart. and II he waited until Sat
yrday night there might be endless con-
fusion in his pay rolls.
Old-World Habits Cling.
At pea picking and hand wedding one
sometimes sees Polak men working side by
side with women. but not usually. The
male laborer drives the cultivator or is
told off for heavy work Indeed the Polak
man Is less apt than his wife to be a farm
hand. He digs cellars or sewers and works
on roads and railroads. When he is en-
Ployed on the farm he Is usually hand
hired by the year and given, when help is
scarce: to bringing forward his wife and
daugnters TO exc out the family income.
Flocklng In village tenements. the Long
Island Poles remain as old-world in habits
as they might IN a New York Quarter"
They speak little English The women
wear head 'kerchiefs. black sometimes an
often white or red. Some wear hoods
many work bare headed. They wear short
full cotton skirts and big aprons Manv
work barefooted. their tanned soles peep
ing out in rows behind their skirts as they
kneel at wedding.
They are not easy subjects for the wan
dering photographer. Sometimes they run
from the devil in the box" sometimes
they are afraid Of being victims Of some
scheme. mo gotta no monma todaya."
they scream at sight of the camera Even
bit OF silver dropped in each hand needs
Q minute to teach them that money for
once fs passing In a pleasant direction.
Then what change from suspicion! Down
On the grass they fling themselves, laugh