Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-21

temptations that will confront her al
most every day of her life.
Keep Up Appearances at Cost of Com.
fort.
The living conditions of girls who
work for meager wages are little I'M
derstood, and to arrive at any definite
conclusions concerning them is ex-
tremely difficult. The home life of
some Of these girls Is secret shared
only by their room mates, and, as
most of them are more interested in
appearances" than statistics, it is
hard to learn Of the extremities to
which they are pushed by their lack of
sustaining salaries. Even a super
fetal Investigation, however will re-
veal that many girls curtail their food
supply In order to wear good clothes,
and, from confessions secured from
some of their number, it has been
learned that girls who work generally
regard a few articles of jewelry as a
greater asset than warm underclothes.
Students Of social conditions are
agreed that no girl away from home
, can maintain herself comfortably on
less than SO week, and many who
have given the question careful
thought say that young woman who
works should have twice that amount
If she is to retain her health and self
respect. Jane Adams of Hull house
does not believe any girl should work
for less than SO week unless she
lives at home or has some outside help.
Miss M. B. Cleveland, secretary of the
o,,Je mi
working girl ought to have at least So
week, although she does not believe
the question of wages has any bearing
on the moral standard Of girls.
Anna B.. Nichols Says So is Danger
Line.
Anna B. Nichols Of the Neighborhood
house thinks So is dangerously low,
and Mrs. E. L. Davidson, secretary Of
the Young Womens Christian associa-
ton, is convinced that girls working
for less than that amount are heset
with dangers that should be removed.
From statements maze by these wo-
men and a number of others, including
several girls who are regularly en-
ployed at the different wage amounts,
the following estimate of a working
girls expenses has been prepared. The
list includes all of the things that are
regarded as absolutely essential to a
girls comfort and health.
The figures are based on necessary
yearly expenses, and apply only to girls
who live away from home.
A study of the table shows that no
girl who is paid less than So per week
can live without sacrificing her COM
fort
At Sc per week a girl can live only
at the cost of her health.
At SIS per week no girl can live with
out outside help.
Washing Her Clothes in Her Room
This list we'll be seen to include a
daily and Sunday newspaper and a
pair of "elbow" gloves as among the
So girls requisites to a decent living
It also drops the laundry item from the
IS girls expense list, whereas the
newspaper fund is reduced as one OF
her necessities The disappearance
of the laundry account in the third
column may be explained by the fact
that girl working for SIS week us
ually washes her clothes in a basin
supplied by her landlady. A SIS girl
also gives up her hair "rat" which you
may be sure. is big concession on her
part.
A newspaper costs but a few pen
MES each week, and for that outlay a
working girl secures her want ads and
in the Sunday edition her fashions and
love stories. The want ad page rep
resents the future to all working
girls Therein may be the employer
who is looking for the girl they have
SO often seen in their mirror, beckon
ing her on to the haven of easy work