The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-05-10

WRITTEN o TIL SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
: Since the publication Of The Woman
Who Tolls / have been constantly pre-
sented with statements which benevolence.
aged gesture as though the benefactors
should say:
I Il wash my hands Of the whole matter.
falling to obtain any proper and reasonably
expected result.
Lectures. reading-rooms clubs. nigh;
schools, gymnaSur1s and amusements are
provided for the factory hands. and
e through diSuse the public halls are closed.
no one comes to hear the speakers. and the
night schools are deserted"
VIII you tell me- no later than last
week an earnest young pniianthropist asked
me: will you tell me how TO reach the
working women"
Il have given all my time during the
last three Summsrs to the factory hands in
ermont. l had quite a following for the
first Few months at my night classes. why're
i taught cooking. sewing. history and art.
/ began with ninety members. and when
the class windle dow to TWO OF three I
smut the schools"
Is it not something Of the old delusion
OF Revolutionary times wnen a. queen
naively ouered a royal substitution OF cake
when he people cried for oreac!
TIT woman IN a Lynn factory. who at
daybreak bends her BODY over an ~eiectric
0aaS6AAo " putting tea OSbSSIS OA d SOtL
at one sole vtbrauon-this woman. VINO
watches the machine with alert senses, lest
the dangerous velocity and wonderful skill
may treat her as it has treated her friend
IN the hospital. saw a line OF buttons down
her own soft hand II she is not on the Qui
v1ve-this woman. with strained eyes and
tense nerves. narrowing shoulders, VINO
gives ffty-six hours of her week to toll. has
no great spirit for art classes!
ulhop lha hos dpiSh.J har .E1lrs 4; . r.
wants anything but rest, it is 10 laugh, 10
utterly change her ideas. rather than to
feilow studies which she will have no time
or occasion to apply.
II she can be entertained. she would like
to be. Even then-l0 to I-she is too tired.
Ny Lynn shoe-factory friends told me that
they were too tired to go to the play.
why. Sarah Bernhard. II she came here,
like as not, would act to an empty house.
We'd just as soon go INTO a dance hall and
take a few good turns. il there's right good
music; then you sort OF forget when you're
dancing: but somehow you don't seem to
want to stay still. in one seat. for a couple
of hoursv'
Therefore, to begin with. even amuse-
ment seems at rather a low value.
OF THE COTTON MILL
WOMAN SLAVE.
Consider the otton-mil hand before her
: carding or spinning frame.
This woman, while you sit before your
breakfast, table at let US say 9 o'clock on
8 dark January morning. has been three
hours at work in an artificial daylight.
When you have been long at home after
the END Of your days occupation. which for
the majority OF money spenders and
money makers ceases in the early hours of
the afternoon. she IL still spinning or speed
ing. weaving or carding, well on into the
night.
Push the sympathy that many of US must
force ourselves. to feel for her-who. when
We are peacefully sleeping at 2 and 3 and
O'Clock In the morning. is working on a
night shift In q foul-smeiiing Southern
factory in July and August, when all tbs
endurance can bear is one single cotton
garment against the heat Of the night.
This woman demands. first of all II she is
to rave a chance to demand a~nything-a lit
tie less work. She will ask you. If you are
going to do anything for her. to make her
q little less a slave.
She viii call for rest and time. Later she
undoubtedly may respond to the require
ments OF the New World. exacting from its
citizens certain enlightenments OF intellect,
appreciation Of the privileges Of education
These things. In our country, the individ.
usl Is called upon to possess If he or she
intends competing in the general struggle
for ~pre-eminence. or II he hopes to enter
the race for survival.