The new age. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1896-1905, 1906-01-06
WOES OF A STRANDED GIRL.
She Has "A Hard Time Here, but
Worse in England.

gown, according 10 the New 1OIh
Press, but you can't think what it is.
Walking on the stage Just walking
on and walking off without saying a
single word. Imagine it. |, who in
cess, who was for time with Irving,
who have played leading woman again
and walking on and off the
stage without saying a word!
Il am going to take it as huge
joke" she smiled lightly. Il am go
ing to make the best of it. 1t is very
hard for an English girl to make head
way here in New York. Very hard.
Many of my friends are without work.
They can't even walk on and Off"
Never mind" said the woman to
whom she was talking, you will walk
on and off so gracefully that they will
give you something else to do. | will
wager that in less than a week they
will let you open your mouth, in an
other week they will let you speak.
What, If in month they should let
you speak whole sentence? Wouldn't
that be lovely?"
The English girl smiled as she
smoothed down the fingers Of her long
gray gloves.
II do play little something on the
piano" she said.
What greater opportunity would
you have, then?" exclaimed the wom-
an, for the girl was an exquisite plan
ist. I'm a very little while they will
let you play more"
Il can't make my own selections"
she sighed. Il have to play something
that belongs to the play"
"You can't tell me anything about
the difficulty of breaking into big for
eign city and trying to help run it all
at once" unused the woman, reminis-
Gently. Il know all about it. l came
here to New York once upon time,
not so very long ago. and did so well
with my work that said to myself: 1
went down TO the sea in ship and
eventually landed there
Talk about trying to get place
on a stage in New York! Try getting
something into London newspaper or
magazine for awhile | was simply lost.
There were a million newspapers and
it seemed more than a million maya
ziens, small, large and medium. The
editors were polite, they accepted some
Of my stuff, but when they published
"a +nht n
about seventeen magazines and it was
the rule to publish work without the
writer's name unless the name was of
some consequence.
Fortunately, had some money
left from the sale Of my little Ken
lucky home, or l would have starved.
| got so disgusted l skipped to Paris
and spent my money foohshly, having
a good time.
But the stranded girls heard Of in
London Terrible There was one
across from me In an attic room In
Russell square who killed herself
threw herself out the window on the
spikes of an iron fence. She hadn't a
sou. am not so very generous, but If
| had known of 1t, l certainly would
have divided up with her a little any
way That's the trouble. You don't
know Of 1t until after they have made
away with themselves.
And there were hundreds Of them
in those little old rooms up under the
skylights in the American quarter.
You know those rooms. One big room
with a dozen paper partitions you can
hear the sobs through. Awful little
rooms repeated the woman with a
shudder. Terrible condition Of af-
fairs. Young girls without money in
that London whirlpool Women with
out money. A thousand times while |
was there l thanked my stars that |
was not penniless, too
There should be some provision
made by the mother country for wom-
en- and girls who invade foreign cities.
A committee should be appointed TO
meet them at the docks and find places
for them. | mean the pretty, charm
ing, cultivated girls who find it diff
cult to get something to do. There Is
a demand for servants IN all countries.
There is less demand for brains, cul-
ture and refinement
There Is one man in London-Mr.
Chamberlain-whO is committee and
an eleemosynary institution rolled in
one so far as helping stranded Ameri-
can girls to get work or go home is
concerned. He'll go straight to heaven
when he dies for that If nothing else"