Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-05-05
CHILD SLAVERY
AT 'NEURALGYLLNE"
Girls Making 60 Cents Per Day Have
Wages Cut in Half.
GIRLS WILL STRIKE
MONDAY MORNING.

o'clock in the morning until five
thirty in the evening, with only the
dinner hour off, and all the balance
Of the time you were glued to your
work, denied the privilege of leav-
ing your task during the long hours,
for any purpose,-and then the boss
sent around notice that your wages
of sixty-six and two-thirds cents per
day were to be reduced to thirty cents
WOULDN'T THAT. MAKE YOU
FEEL LIKE JOINING THE UNION?
Well, that is the complaint of the
children employed at the plant of the
wealthy Neuralgyline Company of
this city. Hundreds of employees,
mostly young girls. grind out the
profits for this company in its manu-
facture of patent medicines. Those
in the factory part have been receiv-
ing $3.50 per week and in the "ofice'
81 per week. The. office work con-
sists principally Of addressing envei-
opes; all day long, every day in the
week, every working hour. in the
day-and every minute of the hour,
these young girls bend over table,
addressing envelopes.
Iron Rules.
IH another column is reproduc-
tionNof one of the typewriter notices
which the company is Always pasting
around among its child employees. 1t
shows conclusively that the children
are not allowed the latitude which
health itself demands. As an Illus
tration of the serious effects of this
worse than feudal rule, one instance
can be cited: One of the girls en-
ployed there, arriving home in the
evening, rushed frantically through
the house to the kitchen. Her moth
err, surprised and even alarmed at the
girls strange actions, followed her
to the kitchen and saw her gulping
water. "Ah," the girl cried, con-
tentedly, ave wanted drink of
water all afternoon" =
Reduce Meagre Wages.
But these iron rules, by which the
wealthy patent medicine company is
enabled to sap all the strength from
the promoters believe that they can
still further exploit the children. So,
last Tuesday, there was another issue
of the perpetual general order no
tees, which stated that on and after
that date the company would pay so
cents per thouss1d for addressing
envelopes.
If the gentle reader would sit down
and correctly address ten envelopes,
some Of them with five lines to- them;
and time himself, OF herself, and then
multiply this by 100, some idea could
be secured as to the time required
to address 10OO-though probably no
idea could be secured of the strain
and fatigue accompanying that mo-
notonous task.
But the girls, having worked at
it., know. One girl, bright, clever
and careful in her work, counted her
days work after that notice was re-
ceived, and found that she would
have made 80. cents. In other words
she would have worked all morning
for just enough to buy lunch for
dinner, and then worked all after
noon for just enough to get supper.
There would be nothing left for lodg-
ing nor breakfast. not to think Of
wearing apparel.
Girls Rebel.
But the spirit having not been en-
.tirely crushed out of the girls, they
rebelled. With no semblance Of or
ganization, crowd of them locked
into tie Office of the management,
and their visit was sufficient to cause
the management to issue another
celebrated circular notice to the eff
feet that the piece work arrange
ment would not be put into effect I'M
til Monday.
The girls say they will strike Mon
! day if the order is enforced. The
management says plenty of girls can
be secured, as vacation time will soon
| be here.