The Washington herald., 1912-09-14
TOPICS OF INTEREST TO EVERY WOMAN
MANI
IN THE THYME FACTORY.
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

A bit Of testimony happened to catch
my eye in connection with the investiga-
ton of the International Harvester Com
pany's plants, and while 1t is not by any
means Indicative of the worst conditions
the woman worker meets, 1t brought an
+, unpleasant appreciation Of some or the
forbidding ways of spelling daily work.
One of the girl workers, who Is Just
nineteen now and has worked since sne
was sixteen. testified that the long hours
of standing on a slippery floor tired her
feet SO that when the day was over she
could do little more than creep into PEG
ut night, weary from the standing ana
sick from the dust
Il Is a Irvine factory. and when asked
II there was dust from the Irvine, she
replied in the matter-of-fact way that
often follows when there is nothing to do
but grin and bear 1t: Sure, awful; and
Ii hurts"
The Way Her Days Run.
AnC this is the way it runs with her
from day to day.
At $50 in the morning. when many OF
us are hoping for the last pleasant winks
of sleep, she is at her post. watching the
machinery. putting the Irvine on, then
taking it OF, standing all the while.
When the noon hour comes she stops,
for fifteen short minutes. 1t takes five
minutes to walk home. another five to
eat her lunch. and in five minutes more
che is back at the machine, her eyes
and hands busy with the everlasting
Irvine. And she keeps that up until the 6
o'clock whistle brings release. when she
goes home, tired and unfit for anything
but rest.
And she gets 81 week, unless she
works very hard, when 1t runs up as
high as s..
Must Work "Terribly Hard"
Some of the workers receive IS a week,
and that is the extent of their earnings
for board and living expenses. 1t is
easy to understand why the investigators
find the appearance Of the women work
ers very disheartening. They tell of one
girl whose face was ashy in its white
ness and who looked unfit for work of
any kind. She testified that IL she work
ed terribly hard" she could make 81
q week, but apparently those days of
pushing effort had taken their toll. There
is no system for the removal Of dust,
and colds and sore throat are in fire.
uuent evidence. Some of the workers
are in dark, poorly ventilated rooms, and
one woman whose days were passed
under such conditions was found to be
suffering from some form of anaemia.
caused the doctor declared, by want
of fresh air." She said she worked her
best to make $50 a week.
Many of them work by the piece, SO
they push and hustle the day long, stop
ping five or ten minutes for luncheon.
and eating at the machine. that no time
may be lost.
On the Night Shift.
On the night shift there are more
women than men, and most of them
are married. And the worst of it is
that their daughters are almost certain
to follow in their dreary and unwhole-
some footsteps. They stand for ten long
hours in poorly lighted, poorly ventilated.
dust-laden rooms and when the week is
all over they usually have less than IS
to show for their labors.
It is the night work that is worst
of all, for somehow WIEN there is sun
light around, even If it is all on the out
side, things DO not look quite so hopeless
and so upside down And then, night
work for women, whether they are moth
ers or daughters. covers many features
that are deplorable.
1t does not make pleasant reading, but
folk who are very comfortable in their
work and in their play can afford once in
while to look out upon the big army
OF women workers who toll in unprof-
table and unloveiy fields. Because the
looks and all they reveal must bring bet
ter understanding of life as it runs. up
and down.
And also because with better under