The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-18
HOMEs ron WORKING GIRLs'
Described ut Charities Conference as an
Urgent Need In New York.

The housing Of working girls ana sihSfe
women was discussed yesterday morhlhg
at the monthly conference OF charities In
the United Charities Building. IL was de-
clared that few better opportunities LOT
philanthropy exist than to better their
home conditions and that lodging houses
for women in New York were an absolute
failure ard boarding houses not much
better.
Mrs. Flor noe E. Kelley, formerly fac-
tory inspector in Illinois and now secretary
Of the Consumers League, spoke on the
Sixty Hour Labor Law for Women She
said that while abe was at the Hull House IN
Chicago she us vi to observe the girls VINO
worked all night In factories. In the morn
ing, going home from work, she declared,
many Of them were met by young men,
who took them into saloons. In Illinois
there Is no restriction against girls working
under is. In New York there Is a paper
restriction only.
Mrs. Kelley declared that there must be
great changes in child labor laws all over
the country and that, II necessary oeaoe
Constitutions must be amended. More
than that" said Mrs. Kelley, "the Consti-
tuition Of the United States must be AMENDED
to bring about these reforms il necessary.
Mrs. Clarence Burns spoke on a pro
posed Mills Hotel for Women" using mat
name because the audience would under
stand what she meant and not oecaus
any such place was contemplated just now.
Mrs. Burns declared that there were 100000
women wage earners in New York cry,
and that Of these 103 900 were domesuos'
Most lodging houses for working women,
she declared, we're utterly unfit for a decent
woman. There are a few we'll managed
places, she said, but they are 6 mere drop
In the bucket. Boarding houses prefer
men to women because the women are re-
garded as fussy and in the way.
Mrs. Burns asserted tina 1t was impos.
sible for a So a week girl to live a decent
schools like the Clara de Hirsoh school,
which tries to make the SO girls SO girls.
The average wages Of the 20 900 shop girls
Of the city, she declared, was SO so a week,
scarcely enough to give them a living
She asserted that II was possible to pro-
vide proper homes for these wage earners
and told Of one home in New York where
there are e~ighty-five girls from 10 70 Il
whose meals cost them 0 LILO cents each.
Mrs. Burns pointed to the Eleanor Hotels
porting and successful and pleasant and
respectable. She declared that such hotels
| could be operated here and said 1t was
time for the women social workers to get
together and see that such were estao-
ished here.
Miss Alice C. Smith, a police court proba-
ton officer, declared that the facilities for
housing women who come to New. York
seeking employment are absolutely made,
quate. She said that recently she FOUND
a girl who had beer compelled to sleep
two nights in the Grand Central Station.
She declared that merchants were not
altogether responsible for low wages paid
in shops. A large amount of the labor, she
said, was unskilled and the girls them
selves were so poorly fed and clothed that
they could give no adequate return in labor
for their wages. She declared that the
proper housing Of working girls, was so
urgent q matter that every effort should be
made to solve the problem at the earliest
moment.