Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-02-22
HER TRIALS ENDED

Yes" said her husband II had over 30
all able, according 10 their own accounts, Il
do everything / wanted, all experienced
shorthand writer's and typewriters, ane
used to Office routine. Really, Jennie, i'll
dreadful to see so many girls--pretty ones
too, some Of them--so eager for work and th,
money it means"
Yes; II is dreadful, poor things. Tell ma
about some Of them. Have you engaged any
one definitely"
There were two equally good" he an
swered, land / shah decide between them
tomorrow; but I'm not thinking about then
so much as about another girl-well, she
was woman, 40 or more, should say
who applied. She was quite out Of the ques
ton, OF course; indeed, / don't know why
she ever came, as | distinctly stated young
lady in the advertisement; but she was il
such state of anxiety to get work that
she quite impressed me, and / tested hen
capabilities, which were nothing to speak OF
She offered to come for anN hing-three dol
lars week. evea, .she said-and | was Sc
much annoyed with her that am afraid
spoke rather sharply. i told her thought
1t very wrong for any woman to offer to work
for so little and thus lower the wages oil
| feel on this matter, Jennie, and / thought
afterward perhaps | said too much. She was
nearly crying, and said if | could give her
any kind of work she would be most CRATE
full. She was such funny-looking old maid,
too-prim and thin, looking as If she had
come out of the ark"
ooh, Richard" said his wife, chow / wish
you could have given her the appointment!
/ am so sorry for her; perhaps she was
starving. Have you her address? DO try
and find something for her to do"
9Why, little woman, dom get so anxious
about it. | have lot of copying l want
done, and have been half thinking / would
ask her to do it. III write to her to-mor-
row, and perhaps ] might hear Of something
permanent that would do for her. 1t was
absurd offering to come for three dollars a
week. think kept her address--yes, here
it is Miss Priscilla Brown cher name
sounds like the ark, 200 Stanhope street"
'Oh, write now, at once, do, do, dear. See,
it is only alf-past five She win get the let
ter tonight, and it win set her mind at rest
Here are paper and everything. | will ad.
dress the envelope"
Miss Brown was sitting in the top floor
back of house that was noticeably dull and
dirty-looking, even among the dullness and
dirtiness surrounding it on every side. She
was sitting in front of the freless stove,
half asleep, though she was not so much
sleepy As exhausted by cold and hunger and
absolute hopelessness.
She was 40, small and thin, with dead
looking fair hair, streaked with gray, and
blue eyes, faded by many tears. Years ago,
before her father had died suddenly, leaving
his wife and daughter almost beggars, she
had been a pretty, if not exactly beautiful,
girl, with good reasons for thinking that her
name would not always be Brown. But with
loss of fortune came loss of friends and lover
She and her mother had come to the city;
she had learned shorthand and typewriting,
and found work, neither well paid nor in
teresting, but sufficient to keep them. Then
the firm had dissolved, and since that time
she had had no regular employment.
She was too old for clerk was the reply
shs had to all her inquiries, and her attain
ments were not good enough to counterbal-
anee this drawback. Then her mother died,
and Miss Brown left the tiny fat they had
rented and took a dull room in poorer
neighborhood
She had answered hundreds of advertise
ments. by letter and in person; she had
tramped miles after utterly unsuitable APP
pointments; she had endured hunger and
thirst, cold and fatigue, hopeless misery and
blacklist despair. Each day made her older,
each day lessened her chance of work She
had sold everything worth selling, she owed
four weeks rent she had neither food, nor
money, nor friends
She thought duly OF the advertisement she
had answered in person that day; it had
sounded unlikely, she knew, but it was a
chance, however vague, and she had lowered
her selfrespect by offering to 90 for so little.
Even now her pale cheeks flushed holly and
her cold blood tingled at the memory of the
man who bad told her candidly his opinion
of women who work for inAnitesimal wages
to the detrimeht of their sister workers, and
so lower the market value of work She
had been tired and faint; she had nearly
broken down under his Indictment, and she
admitted its truth. 1t was wrong to work for
so little, but was not half loaf better than
no bread three dollars a week preferable to
Starvation Was ii not ones duty to keep
ones Divine-given life as long as possible,
or was Il true that
''v h'~ e cannot be helped. Defeat is great.
rs Want and Death a Blessing"
She could not say. Her tired brain refused
TO work, her head fell back in her chair and
she slept.
Downstairs in the kitchen Mrs. Todgers
held forth wrathfully.
"And ms for ladies what only takes the top
floor back and don't pay for that for weeks
and weeks. / don't hold with them, and
she'll have to march. It's only right should
look after my interests, and unless she paws
mc every penny she owes me by Saturday
out she goes, and you hear me say it,
Eliza"
Foe small maid-of-all-work nodded
'Seeias hard on the poor lady" she said, for,
smutty face, Eliza had kind heart,
f'5 $50 liked being politely treated. Miss
.''ava, in great distinction to the other lodg.
ers, I'd never bullied nor sworn at her, and
Ne' znorant little mind vaguely felt that
op 1oor back" was very poor and mis-
c-al1e
"''7~4 or not. It's the truth, 4" repeated the
N' r WV there's the postman; it's
80" 1e comes here Run and get the
!tter, Eliza. auick'
=.