New-York tribune., 1903-04-20
W4ITRESSES HARD TO GET
Girls Dread Domestic SerJice So
Much Then EUen Shun Hotels.

The evening cla sses in chamberwork and wait
ing which are conducted each spring by the Alt
snce Employment Bureau, No. 224 West Twenty
sixth-st will be opened in the course Of the next
few weeks md the bureau Is already receiving
calls for its graduates. which never equal the de-
Enand.
This course which prepares girls for work in
sumner hotels and children's homes includes only
i've lessons and IS very satisfactory in its results
Tre work is done at one of the settlements where
the girls are taught make beds wait table,
wash silver and glasses and do various other
things which good many Of them have never
had occasion 10 do before When the classes were
first begun. four years ago. kitchen garden beds
were used for the lessons IN bedmaking, but now
the pupils have an opportunity 10 do exactly the
vr-k which viii he required Of them when they
take places.
The girls pay . cents for the course. and the
only drawback to the success Of the classes is the
lack Of students. To spend a few months as wait
-ess in Z summer hotel. when shops and factories
are suffering from depression is different thing
from private domestic service undertaken as a
regular profession. but the antipathy Of the mod
ern young woman this kind Of labor IS so pro-
found that she objects to it in any form and the
demand from summer hotels is far in excess OF the
SUPPLY. The prejudice in this case appears TO be
entirely without reason. and when girl can be in
duccd take such position two or three OF her
friends generally volunteer the next season For
this reason most of the calls for Mattresses which
aEe received by the Alliance are filed fr9T9 tas
srnoag all the members.
They generally find. says Mrs. J P O'Conne1,
Eu-eriuleadent Of the Employment Bureau that
They have nice time The work is hard. but IT is
Z change. ana there is generally d spare hour be
tween meals. while the evenings are entirely
--ee. There also agreeable opportunities Tor so
cial intercourse. and TWO of our girls have been
married in consequence OF these summer outings
CEe % the head waiter and another 20 guest. OF
course. We don't guarantee that This VIII happen
10 which we send employees We never send any
20 the shore hotels, We 1ud that those are IN
homes although the girls usually prefer the hotels
on account Of the opportunity OF making extra
The Alliance Employment Bureau takes its name
from Us aation with score Of settlements Is
ana pt1aflttlIvIlC o 5e-Le ~ ~ 80 49, - -
4 ind employment LOT young women IN the NdLI-
Gus trades open the The summer work
Just alluded taken up because Of the sum
-rer depression IN trade and business W !en Ir4Ge
good. II Is this year, II IS dlhcut TO M Ihe
calls from the hotels. and girls never apply Toy
such positions until their regular Norh beSips ~
slacken.
Until last November. when the Trades School
vas opened. the bureau conducted training classes
*or the various feminine trades but these have now
teer taken over by the Trades School
Most OF the applicants for employIne are resi-
dents Of the city but in the case Of girls coming
from the country rhe bureau undertakes 70 nhd
hoard and lodgings for them. The staff is IN touch
~ jr(eetips+e6 bT the stnerfntendenr
Miss Ellen J. Stone Is president OF the Alliance
Employment Bureau, Miss Virginia Potter wee
president Miss Sara straus secretary. and Mrs.
cteties are the Eer-York Association Of " orhlng
Girls Societies Warren \ Godd2rd House. DO ; 9
eet4ier1eTt West side Branch Of University Set
flement West Side NeighborhOOd House. Hudson
si5e House calvary Parish settlement Riverside
Association. Nurses Settlement West SIDE settie-
renf Children's Aid Society. Women's Conference
~ fbe Society for Ethical Culture. St Roses Set
Home Manhattan Working Girls Club. Alumtaa
Settlement nd Greenpoint Settlement