Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-12-11
Christmas
Life Behind
The Counters.

shop early. Buy your Christ
mas presents early-earIy in the
day and early in December. That
viii be your biggest gift Of the
holidays to the workers behind
the counters and on the delivery
wagons"
This slogan has been made famous
hy the National Consumers League
which, actuated by humanitarian rea-
sons, has fought to modify the IN
Christmas shopping. For two weeks
before Christmas most department
stores do a capacity business" and
the pressure is intensified at every
point. Authentic records from the
lives of clerks, delivery boys and
wagon divers show that as a result
the season OF ChHstmas festival and
OF charity for the lame, the halt and
the blind reduces TO illness and ex-
haustion the young and faithful who
serve us. seen and unseen.
a kind Of meanness in human re-
lations was Witnessed by Miss John
son, an inquirer for the Consumers
League, who worked in one of The
stores during the week Of Christmas
goodwill. Her actual experiences are
told in volume entitled Making
Both Ends Meet" by Sue Ainsiee
Clark and Edith Wyatt, OF which
The Macmillan Company is the pub
Usher.
THE rush had begun when Miss
johnson was transferred in this
Christmas week from the .neckwear
to the mufIier department on the first
floor ef one of the cheaper stores.
All the girls stood all day long-from
eight to twelve and from one to eight
at night on the first days: from one
at noon 20 ten and eleven at night.
as the season progressed; and. on the
last dreadful nights, from noon to
the following midnight The girls
had 81 cents supper money. Except
for that. all this extra labor was UNI
paid for.
In a Days Work
The work was incessant The girls
were nervous, hateful. spiteful with
one another The manager, It beau
tiful and extremely rough girl OF
nineteen, sWere constantly at ali of
them. The customers were grabbing,
insistent, unrea sonabie from morning
to evening, from evening to midnight
Behind the counter. with the advance
Of the day, the place became an in
ferno of nervous exhaustion and ex-
ASPIRATION. In the two weeks of Hiss
Johnson's service one customer once
thanked her; and one tipped her five
cents for the rapid return Of Il parcel.
Both these acts Of consideration took
place in the morning. Miss Johnson
said that this was fortunate for her,
as. at one word Of ordinary consdera~
tlon toward The end Of her long days
work, she thought she must have
burst into tears
There was little bundler in the
department, Catriona Malatesta. a
white. hungry looking little North
Italian of fourteen with a thin chm
and a dark Swallowed. worried face
She had an adored sick sister of four
besides six other Younger brothers
and sisters, and worshipped moth
er, to whom she gave every cent Of
her wages of three dollars and a half
a week. An older brother. day la
borer, paid the rent and provided
food for all of them. Every other
family expense was met by Catriona' $
three dollars and half. so that she
was in the habit of spending only
five cents fer her own lunch. and
on the nights of overtime. five cents
for her own dinner. in order to take
home the extra thirty cents: and
every day she looked whittier and old
er.
At the beginning of the weei, before
Christmas. the store raised Catriona's
wage to four dollars. Her mother
told her she might have the extra half
dollar for herself for Christmas
Though Catriona had worked for
some months. this was the first money
of her own she had ever had. With
pride she told the department how
it was to be spent. She was going
to surprise her mother with a new
waist for Christmas, a waist Catriona
had seen in the store marked down
to forty-nine cents a ten per cent.
discount was allowed to employees So
that the waist would cost fortv-five
cents. With the remaining five cents
Catriona would buy her sick Rosa a
doll All her life Rosa had wanted a
doll. Now, at least, she could have
one.
On the day when she received the
| money, Catriona kept it close at hand.
| in a little worn black leather purse,
in shabby bag hanging from her
arm and not out of sight for an in
slant
Her purchases We're to be made in
| the three-quarters of am hour al
! low I'd for supper. The time Catriona
| consumed in eating her five cent meal
was never long so that, even allow :