The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-14
HARD WORK Frank Carpenter Writes to \ -s. @s- ' 1Ae Advertiser ef Conditions

eGeSs fs ss<s fS Sunday. although they are closed during church hours. Some storekeepers are % pfous that they will not allow an adver- tisement to be exposed at this time. There Is a glass case of such advertisements under the railroad at the Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof. Between 10 and F on Sundays some Of thses advertisements are covered with paper. which is torn off as soon as church Is out.
 speaklng of time in the stores. at an investigatlon somes years ago 1t was found that 4s per cent of the establish ments worked their clerks fourteen hours a day, and that in 6 per cent of them they worked sixteen hours. In nearly all places there Is an hour or so of at noon for lunch.
 Farm Work and Wages.
 In the country districts the hours run from sunrise to sunset, with very few holidays. iae. great exodus from the farms to the cities has some what increas- ed farm wages. but they are still low. being competed with By tho gangs brought In from Austria, Russia and Pu- land at harvest and seeding times.
 am told that the Poles work for as little as 25 cents day. with poor food thrown In. and that there are farm dis- tricts where the ordinary hand gets only IS cents a day. Throughout Prussia 50 cents Is good price for farm work. and in some sections the wages are 70 cents for men and es cents for women.
 A great deal of farm work is done by the women. They spade and hoe. weed and do other back-hreaking work. They commonly follow the blow and scatter the manure, working side by side with fhe men,
 Some farmers hire married couples. Fsnting them small houses on their estates and taking the rent out of the wages. Such a tenant agrees to give all his work to the owner of the estate and to take s5 cents day for 1t in the winter and 50 cents per day in the summer. The mans wife may set % cents q day in the winter and 25 In the summer. At such wages. if one has good healthy wife, he may possibly earn as much as s2e0 during the year.
 The Workwomen of Berlin.
 Women in Germany are everywhere poorly paid. have already given the wages in the big stores. where as nicely dressed and as intelligent girls as you will find ip any of, our department stores of the United States get from & to $l2 . month and board themselves. The average wages of female clerks are from 2s to 60 cents a day, and it must be a very good clerk indeed who gets the lat ter. Some time ago an investigation of women's wages in Berlin showed that there were 5000 women who averaged s2.s0 to se,55 per week. and that there were thousands who got less. Such girls who do not live with their parents must have some outside support. for they must dress well and look well in the stores.
 Tn the Sweat Shops of Berlin.
 Berlin is flied with swest. shops. It Is one of the manufacturing centers of Flu rope, and 1t has tens of thousands of sewing girls engaged in making nnantles. cioaks, mems and women''s clothing, jack cts and and infants wear, Many of these sweat shops are in the eellars and some in the atties. The houses look well on the outside. but within you And scores working away in little rooms. and not . few working and sleeping in the same room. The police regulations require that the rooms be of a certain size, but today there are thousands of men, wo- men and children who live In cellars in this most beautiful city of Germany There gre other thousands tH rooms which cannot be heated. and many of which lack ventilation and light.
 Nearly all the sweat shops pay their employees by the piece sHd that at such rate that only the best sewers can make as much as 50 or 90 cents day. There is a fine for every mistake, and trumped-up fines reduce the receipts be- low the amount agreed upon. I am told that few sewing girls earn as much as si per week. Gir;s make jackets for 2 cents apiece and shirt waists for 25 cents You can get girl to come to your house and sew for less than 50 cents day, and you can hire a dressmaker who will cut. fit and make A plain dress tor you in two days, ehaFgtpg y0n 50 eeats per day for her work, and perhaps % cents per day for the siri who helps her.
 Factory Girls Get $2 Week.
 Music teachers are paid as little as 2i cents a lesson, and singing teachers the same. Girls in some factories receive less than sS week. In others they get s, while forewomen receive from $6 to SIC. Some figures taken by the Government not long ago showed that cloak makers were earning g ( week and that girls on underclothes received from q .25 to BIO, the latter being paid for skilled hands and overseers. Think of making collars fer from l to cents apiscs and cuffs for z0 cents dozen and you have an idea how some women work in Der lin. have heard of places where but tonhoies gre made by hand for a cent a hole; and where, if the place to work and the thread and needles are furnished by the employer. a reduction of 2 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 If is estimated that there are more than seven and a half million German women who cara their own living. and this Is sn increase of more than a million within the last thirteen yesfs, Of these 70 per cent, are employed on the farms, % per cent. in domestic service and 10 per cent, In pub lie 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 do- ing certain kinds of work in the factories and feundries. and the unions are geheT- ally against the employment Of married women when their husbands have work.
 Living Not Cheap.
 But how can people live on such waBesy They can't, if you M Hive" in our sense of the word. IL is the general opinion that things are ehe&p in Europe. They are not. Here in Germany good things cost es muth as in the United states, A fair price for beefsteak Is 2s cents a pounJ; mutton 20 cents, and veal the same Good butter costs from % to 30 cents pound, sugar cents and Hour cents.
 Germany has to import great part eI her fcod We send her much Of her D.,a~io ia hAr nollIfrV farm,