Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-04-11
4 Land Of Hard Work, LoU Wages and Long Hours
Hard 6imeS and Hoa Trey affect the
Markets.

TO 1915 the latter being paid for skilled
hands and overseers. Think OF making
collars for from / TO cents apiece and
cuffs for 20 cents a dozen and you have
an idea how some women work In Ber-
lin, / have heard Of places where but
tonholes are made by hand for cent q
hole and where, If the place % work
and the thread and needles are furnish
ed by the employer a reduction of %
cents per head is made,
The percentage Of women workers IN
Germany has rapidly Increased of late
years, owing to the enormous number of
men required In the army IL is esu-
mated that there are more than seven
and a half million German women who
earn their own ll"lng. and this Is an
increase Of more than a million within
the last rs years OI these 40 per cent
are employed on the farms. 20 per cent
In domestic service and 10 per cent in
public offices, About per cent work In
the factories and per cent act as ser.
wants In the hotels and In the beer and
wine rooms.
Within the past few years the men
have been trying to keep the women
from doing certain kinds Of work in the
factories and foundrIes, and the unions
are generally against the employment
Of married women when their husbands
have work.
LIVING NOT CHEAP.
But how can people live on such
wages? They can't If you use live in
our sense of the word II is the general
opinion that things are cheap in Eu-
rope. They are not. Here in Germany
good things cost as much as IN the
United States, and many things more.
A fair price for beefsteak Is % cents a
pound mutton, 20 cents and veal the
same Good butter costs from 20 to 30
cents pound, sugar Z cents and -four
cents
Germany has to import a great part
Of her food. We send her much of her
breadstuffs Russia Is her poultry farm
and Holland and other countries her
butcher shops. Eggs are imported by
the millions, and they sell for 80 cents
and upward per dozen. An ordinary
chicken costs 80 cents, ana It Is a poor
goose that won't bring a dollar.
Clothing is somewhat cheaper than
with us, but the better kinds are equal
~ high, Shoes cost so much that the
average workman wears sandals OF
wood with toes Of leather. | see men
so shod on the streets of Berlin and
the clack, clack, olsck OF the wooden
sole is heard in every factory, Fuel is
high, and altogether the necessaries as
we'll as luxuries cost much.
PUBLIC SOUP HOUSES AND PEo-
PLIES KITCHENS
Many people cook as little as possible.
You can buy all sorts Of eatables al
ready cooked, and this Is done by both
rich and poor You can get roast beef.
roast chicken, and puddings ready TO
warm up In every block, and the de-
licatessen shops will supply you with
a cooked dinner ready to take home
and serve II you want II.
There are but few free lunch count
ers and public soup houses where you
get things for nothing, but there are
many cheap restaurants where the poor
are supplied at cost prices. Some Of
these are managed by the charitable Ia
dies OF the city, and that under the pat
ronage Of the empress herself. They
are known as the peoples kitchens and
are open TO ALL In them you can get
dinner for about five cents. a bowl
of soup costs three cents and a cup Of
good, strong coffee one cent. The rooms
are very clean and well kept and the
food is nicely cooked. As you come in
there is a cashier who gives checks for
the articles wanted upon payment Of
the money, and by presenting these
checks at the luncheon counter you are
handed your order Everyone waits
upon himself, carrying his bowl OF soup
or coffee TO one Of the tables and sit
ting there while he consumes IL.
took dinner in one OF these kitchens
the other day. My first check was for
soup and II cost me three cents. The
soup was made Of beans, and | venture
the bowl contained over pint. 1t was,
OF any rate more than enough, and
that which I ate stayed In my delicate
stomach for hours. ] had also two
cents worth Of boiled beef. one-cent
cup Of coffee and finished up with
penny's worth Of custard for dessert,
so that my dinner all told cost me seven
cents.
INSURANCE AND PENSIONS.
The conditions have described nre.