The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-06
ARE VERY POORLY PAID Paris Girls Must Work
 Long Hours TRYING TO IMPROVE Many of the Big Establishments Are Doing What They Can to
 AmeliOrate the Hard

From the Drygoods Economist.
 The midinettes, or seamstresses, of Paris are misereblv paid earning from 2.5O to francs (5O cents to SD day, and the latter sum only when work is given after hours. From this small pay these girls and women must find lodg- ings and food, clothe themselves, and pay carfare from long distances. as they can live only in the poorest outlying quarters of Paris. where rents are cheap.
 They work long hours in crowded rooms. many of them in garrets up next to the roof dirty dark and with no ventilation-in little bits of rooms where they huddle together about tables, or stitch with the work on their laps They sit on stools with no backs. After a long days continuous work, they climb to the tops of omnibuses and exclaim. ''Bnfin, 1e peux m'appuyer" (At last can cleanD.
 With few exceptions. the conditions under which they work are deplorable. A few of the big houses, however, have already done much to ameliorate the conditions. Most of the girls are from 14 to 20 years of age. Many of them die of consumption, from lack of prop CT nourishment and long hours in mis- | erable worlirooms. Instances have been known of death in the workroom. Strong men, too, go down under these conditions, and Heaven for a Paris seamstress or a tailor Is to be put out of doors, with plenty of fresh air to breathe.
 l The Paris seamstress is called midi nette because she Is seen on the streets at midi. or mid day, where she strois along. smiling. chatting, often singing, as she munches her noon-day meal which has cost but a few sous, usually consisting of fried potatoes or a piece of sausage And as by nature she would rather sing than eat, she frequently | squanders two sous on a song, which she buys from a street musician, talk ing thereby from her already too frugal meal the price thereof.
 In the evening after working hours these girls may be seen standing at the counters of numerous little cafes. where they go to buy cups of coffee for two sous each. and stand eating the lunch which they have brough with them. having bought 1t at even a cheaper place. | II SIi6 oOSS hOl frequent the par, Sne stands on the sidewalk and eats from her hand what she has bought from the little shop.
 Night Work Lessened
 Night work used to be terrible curse 1 in the Paris dressmalSing shops, but re- gently a law has been passed prohibiting work through all the night. In times past, however, around the Place Ven dome and up the Rue de Paix, where ms df ffA fac o1,I cho IO
 cated, could be seen a glimmer of lights from the attic windows where weary tailors spent their nights making beau- tiful things.
 Now there is a. government inspection, , keeping watch over the hours Each es- 2 tablishment is allowed to work overtime
 only limited number of nights during
 the year, and then only when the
 workers volunteer
 l Each midinette hopes some day to be-
 come premiere, but alas! many of them, starved and overworlSed. find early . graves or are so discouraged and forlorn
 that they become social outcasts P Much of the work given out In the big [ shops Is by the piece; thus, when there
 is work there Is pay; but when there is
 no work there Is no pay. It Is said 7 that there are workrooms in Paris that 3 close half an hours earlier during the dull days. in order to save the pltifu
 half-hours pay that would otherwise
 come to the little seamstress. Every midinette Is specialist in her line as she does only one thing. Perhaps . she sews on sleeves all day, or 1t may be only hooks and eyes, or she may pin
 the work together for another to sew Ceaselessly, endlessly, she tolls at one thing, and can hardly hope to learn how
 to make a complete dress.
 l This plan or work. however results
 in f,f,, r. [ vellously quick. All work Is prepared for the seamstress by the premieres and the secondes, who, after the piece oi
 work is done, assemble the various
 parts, and then, the workers gather
 around, each in turn finishes what Is ! left to be done of her part
 r When She Is Old and Ugly When the mdinette first begins she ' is young and bright and happy but if l she lasts very long at the work she becomes old and ugly from the misery
 There are married women in some of
 the big Paris shops who can earn only three of four francs on working days and yet they have children to support ? Societies for the prevention of cruelty r to horses and dogs have been organ ized in Paris, but as yet there is non,
 for the prevention of cruelty to girls It is said that organizations will soon b, made to prevent the exploiting ot womens labor. in the hope or cnangine the woeful conditions.
 The embroidery, which Is so much g feature of Paris dressmaking. is usual, done outside the dressmaking establish ment in the big workrooms where there are embroidery workers only. This work is taken on contract by the em. broiderer, who not only employs girls and women in his workshops. but also places the piecework outside in the homes of those who are unable to other wise seek employment.
 The mannequine that is. the girls upon whom the dresses are shown te customers, earn from 80 to 125 francs a month. These girls must be young with pretty faces good figures, and a ! stylish carriage. They must be mani cured, styllhly coiffured. and must wear a good corset. Few houses supply their mannequins with corsets. but they
 require them to buy expensive corests
 even if thev pay for them out of their
 own slender salaries These girls must l be sweet-tempered and always smiling When the mannequin goes offp in
 her looks unless she is fortunate enough 0 to have a marriage. she usually goes tr
 the street. lt is said that nine. ont ot
 fen of these girls are practically forco1 into immoral lives.
 So much for the story of tho midt. . nette, or dressmaker girl And what nj the men who are employed in this worl,
 For there are many tailors These alse earn only pittances, and work unde,
 the same depressing conditions; the,
 stand for long hours. pressing garment, with leaky gas irons, creating an at ! m0sphere that is almost unbeara ble ;a. cold hot x<r.t