Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-27
WOMANs BREAD PROBLEM

The untalented woman when she
faces the problem Of bread winning
is perhaps the most deserving of sym
pathy of any of her sex. one who
found a field calls herself "emergency
woman" and gives II as her experi-
ence that there Is plenty of opportu-
nifty for other women to follow i'm her
footstep. She admits however that
the preliminary years of drumming up
custom were not so easy that one cares
to dwell upon them.
The emergency woman fills in any
gap In the domestic fabric at a mo-
ment's notice. While she has no one
great talent she has a smattering Of
many, and II is by making patch
work of them, which has been care
fully fitted to the pattern of life. that
she has been able to manufacture a
cover for the very coldest weather.
Her telephone bell is constantly ring
ing and the belt of inquiries extends
from Harlem downtown to the area of
business and professional offices. where
women find II necessary to depend on
another to help them out.
She is called upon to do all sorts
and kinds of work and has discovered
that every sort and kind of information
that she has ever gained can be put
to practical use. The trouble with the
woman who is obliged to become
wage Garner is that she is discouraged
at the outset because she cannot do
one thing so well that she is in instant
demand.
Cakemaking Profitable
The emergency woman when a re-
porter saw her was putting up fruit
cakes and plum pudding for a long list
of customers.
Il used to do this in my married days
as a joke; now l find that l can turn
a pretty penny by 1t. OF course, /
could not depend on this for my sup
port, but 1t is fraction, and it doesn't
take so many fractions to make a unit
II they are only important enough to
begin with.
Housewives know the value of the
cakes and pudding that are prepared
In the fall for the Christmas table.
There is as much difference as there
is in the vintage of wine that is re-
Gently bottled and one that has the
bouquet of age"
During the summer while her GUS
toners were out of the city the emer-
gency woman took advantage of the
cool days to put up a large stock of
preserves, branded peaches, MARINA
ladies' and jams. Some of these she
makes every year to fill up the shelves
of her housekeeping patrons, a great
many fill new orders from bachelor
women and young couples who do light
housekeeping and she even has q few
bachelors who have breakfast in their
rooms and like to have a shelf of sweet
things.
While you might think that trade
would lag in the hot weather the con-
trary has been the case and she has
been kept hard at work Her mail is
q large one, consisting of requests from
out -of-town folk to send some forgot
ten article left in the furry of depart
ure, to do some shopping, to purchase
bridge whist prizes or to take advan-
tage of some bargain noted in the Sun
day papers.
Some Funny Requests
Just to give you an example," she
says between hurried steps from pan
try to visitor. lone of my ladies tele-
graphed me to get her some arrack
punch for o'clock tea she was going
to have, and the very same mail l got
a hurry call to meet pet dog and have
1t taken to a veterinary"
She is called upon often to open and
air apartments before the homecom-
ing, to find maids and have them
ready-the most herculean labor of all
and in lieu of that to do such work
in the apartment as may render it hab-
table.
In her spare moments the emergency
woman has perfected herself in the
triple need of modern days-manicur-
ing. facial messages and shampooing.
She does not care to make her money
in this way If better opportunities Of
fer, but she can fill in unemployed
hours.
In the neighborhood of private schools
she can often be seen. a trim little
figure, leading one or two children to
their daily tasks, and when school is
over she returns to escort them home.
Many women are unable to spare a
servant or to go themselves, while the
child cannot be trusted to go alone.
Caring for Children
Her care of children extends to a
wider field. She takes them to the den
tist, to the matinees to any and all