Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-04-04

work in great variety of ways. In
the big department store of Bond
man e Co., in the long row of fac
tories by the river, in the girls re-
freshment rooms at the Young Wom-
ems Christian associa ton, in the of
fees of business friends where the
click of the Typewriter was the con-
slant note of service, in the res
taurants and waiting-rooms about
the big union station, in the different
hotels and a few of the boarding
houses of Crawford, Barbara met rep
resentatives Of the great army of
young women at work in the city;
and out of what seemed like meager
and unsatisfactory opportunities Tor
confidence and the sharing of real
purpose in labor she succeeded in
getting much true informa ton, much
of which shaped her coming plan and
determined the nature of her appeal
to the mistresses on one hand, and
the servants on the other.
''With a few exceptions, them" she
said to Mrs. Ward one evening after
she had been at work on this per-
sonal investigation for three weeks,
''all this army of girls at work repre-
sents a real need in the home some
where. I found some girls workin g
in the Offices, and very few in the
stores and factories, who said they
were working for other reasons than
for necessary money. Here is a list
of girls in Bondman's. I told them
I did not want it for the purpose of
printing it, and it is not necessary
But there are over 200 of these girls
VIII 1u "
any money out of their expenses, and
a few of them',-Barbara spoke with
a sense of shame for her human kind
and of indignation against I'M
Christian greed in business-'sa few
of them limited at temptations to live
wrong lives in order to earn enough
to make them independent. And yet
all Of these girls vigorously refused
to accept a position offered to leave
the store and go to work at double
the wages in a home as a servant. I Of
fered over so of these girls four dollars
week and good board and room at
Mrs. Vane's, and not one of them was
willing to accept it, even when, as in
many cases, they were not receiving
over three and a half a week, out of
which they had to pay for board and
other neceSsarieS.'
''And the reason they gave was ?''
Mrs. Ward, who was an interested lis
tener. asked the question.
''They hated the drudgery and con-
finement of house labor. They loved
the excitement and independence of
their life in the store. OF course,
they all gave as one main reason
for not wanting to be house servants
e 81
the girls in the factory had been
hired girls They all without excep-
ton spoke of their former work with
evident dislike, and with one or two
exceptions refused to entertain any
proposition to go back to the old
work. I think one of the girls in the
Art mills will go to Mrs. Vane's. She
worked for her some years ago, and
liked her. But what can the needs of
the home of to-day present to labor
in the way of inducement to- come
into it's field? I must confess I had
very little to say to the girls in the
way of inducement. Not on account Of
my own experience" Barbara FASTENED
to say, with a grateful look at Mrs.
and Mr.. Ward, ''for you have been
very, very kind to me and made my
service sweet; but in general, I must
confess, after these three weeks con-
tact with labor outside the home,
see somewhat more clearly the
reason why all branches of woman's
labor have inducements that house
labor does not Offer
''And how about the prospects for
pupils for the training-school?" Mr..
Ward asked, keenly. He had come
to have very earnest interest in
the proposed building.
''Out of all the girls have seen,"
Barbara answered, with some hesita-
ton, "only four have promised def
nitely that they would take such a
course and enter good homes as
servants. One of these was an Amer
lean girl in an Office. The others were
foreign-born girls in Bondman's.''
"The outlook is not very encourag-
ing, is it 2" Mrs. Ward remarked, with
faint smile.
cit looks to me, Martha" Nj. Ward
suggested, cas- if it might be neces-
sary to put up a training-school for
training our Christian housekeepers
as well as Christian servants. If what
Barbara has secured in the way of
confession from these girls is ac-
curate, it looks as if they are I'M
willing to work as servants because
of the unjust or unequal or IN
Christian conditions in the houses
that employ them"
eat the same time, Richard, re-
member the great army of incompe-
tent, ungrateful girls we have borne
with here in our home for years un-
L
housekeeper do with such material?
If the girls were all like Barbara, it
| would be different, you know"
SsyUon nm - ronJioa Mr.