The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-03-14
3::3:;:;;;;;::;:;;;:
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;:


medium height, with pre-
maturely furrowed face,
Irz0zI and the dropping, squint-
us9lL l2II ing. strained motion of her
eyelids indicated a granu-
lated affection. Her home was little,
three-room tenement, high mp in one
of those old double-decker tenement
houses which abound in New York
There are thousands upon thou
sands Of these hulks of tenement
houses. the construction OF which far
Gntedated the enactment OF the present
Tenement House law, ana the house
she lived in was but a routine specimen
OF vast blocks Of the same type. Two
stores on the ground floor and four
families 10 a floor, two in the front and
the same IN the rear-for five stories
skywadd, that is the rule. You found
yourself in a dark hallway. and by the
aid Of the balustrade you groped up the
uncertain stairway until you reached
the fourth story front 70 the right.
There were no names downstairs TO
show where each family lived, and in
IhttteH AAA ~ pt A4a+t - epu 40
cended.
There were no superhuitIes about her
home. One room served the combined
purpose Of kitchen. dining, sitting and
work room; the other rooms for sleep
ing. A stove, a table, a sewing ma
chine, and few chairs were the outfit
OF the main room, with its many pur-
poses. and some cheap pictures hung
on the green painted walls, aud bits OF
crockery such as are given for trading
stamps or for certain purchases Of tea,
adorned the mante.
She lived there with her husband and
their boy OF four years Back a time,
when a girl Of dfteen years, she had
begun working IN box factories. she
had made ali kinds Of pasteboard boxes
handkerchief boxes. shoe and cigar
cite bo-es-boxes for all manner Of
things For eight years she worked
thus: ana by being nimbIe and sticking
az her task from $ in the morning until
S az night. with n half-hour intermis-
sion nt noon for lunch aud half-how
at night for supper she had managed
10 make a living. In the busy season,
from July TO September. she made from
$40 70 SIC a week. After September
The slack season would set in. She
would work eight hours a day then.
ana made 81 a week Later. IN the
winter months, rush OF orders would
come rs. and the factory would run
\ tNieve hours day again.
A FAMILY'S EARNINGS.
She thought herself well on There
were fully 1000 box-making girls in
New York. end not many of them could
excel her in qulckness OF work aud in
amount Of wages. The pay was by
p.eae work; the hest pay went to the
best workers She considered the lot
II most or the other girls. Many Of
them earned only s. or S6 week. On
fails sum they had TO live. How they
managed to do II she didn't know. She
lived Mt home with her father, her -four
brothers. and sister. The combined
carvings Of all amounted 70 $40 a
week. The family had 4 pleasant fat,
and Tessie-- for that was her name-al-
ways had money enough for dresses,
fnsry and amusrments.
'reSsie sympathizedaleeph with most
of the other girls. How could they pay
board buy apparel. and live deeently III
general ION S. or s6 Il week. Many
of them had no families and moSr OF
them were IN debt to the instalment
dealers. They would buy their dresses
aud coats from these deaiers-cheap
garments AZ exorbitant prices-and pay
twenty-five or fifty cents week on
acconnE But those girls never could
succeed in clearing OF their debts. The
inssalmcnt men were always dunnina
them. As for hats and shoes. the gir.s
hadn't much 70 spend A quarter was
the limit for a hat. and forty cents fol
ribbon TO adorn il. 10 may more than
SlaJ for pair Of shoes was IAN un
heard-of extravaganza; the shoes, Will
care and periodic mending, would be
pressed into service for a year at least
Tessie was a fortunate girl compared
to the most OF them. At least sh,
priced her lot So. Now and then sh,
would delieately make presents OF hei
DID dresses and coats TO some OF TIL
most needy
Tessie was a favorite at dances. Sh'
was pretty girl, and always had at
tractive clothes, 1t followed, of course
thai there were not wanting suitors
for pretty, well dressed girl with
pleasant home and ability to make /
good living, was dazzling star Il
Tie nelghborhood in which she lived.