The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-05-02
WORKING women
Of GATE CITY
LoNGFELLoW CLUB HEARD ONE
OF MOST INTERESTING AND
PRACTICAL PAPERS EVER DE.
LIVERED BEFORE FARGO CLUB
YESTERDAY,

The Longfellow Neighborhood club
met yesterday afternoon at the Long
fellow school. The minutes were read
and the secretary reported that Mrs.
Porter had been appointed chairman
of the committee to cooperate with
the remainder of the club for the
School Garden club.
The programme was opened With
three excellent numbers by the girls
chorus, their Interpretation Of Lead
Kindly Light was specially commend
able. Mrs. Best who presided intro
duced the new president of the club,
Mrs. Wilder, who made a very pretty
inaugural speech and took the chair
following the reading of her paper
On The Conditions of Working Girls
in Fargo. .r.
Mrs. Wilder began by citing the
various conditions in which women
have labored. At first women per-
formed all of the manual labor, while
the men hunted and protected the
tribes. Later as people became more
civilized the men did the labor in
the fields and the women did weaving,
and the household work. Later as
the people grew richer as in Rome
the woman parasites among the higher
classes became common. The lower
cast women still drudged and shaved.
Later in the middle classes and poorer
people the women worked because
they we're considered inferior intellec-
tually and because idleness was con-
sidered a sin. Real progress began
in 1908, when some Of the professions
along manufacturing ines were open
to women, there being about 100 in
dustrial positions open to women in
1880 in the United States. At the
present date in all lines of bust
ness and industry where women are
found there are over 1,009,0 900 ONE
in the United States. The regretable
feature, however, is that for the same
amount of work and the same kind,
although women as a rule are conced-
ed better workers, they receive q
much lower wage.
Conditions in Fargo.
Wages and conditions with women
who work in Fargo are better than in
the eastern cities, where some really
deplorable conditions exist. Mrs.
Wilder continued her paper by citing
the relative conditions of the working
girls in this city. Maids average 81
per week with room and board, while
the who goes out to work by
the day is very poorly paid, when it
is taken into consideration that she
must cIothe, feed and support a family
on less than $3.50 per day.
''The conditions in some of the
laundries in Fargo are poor" said Mrs.
Wilder, although perhaps better than
in other cities. Poor light, with I'M
sanitary conditions and overheated
rooms, prevail in most of the Fargo
Iaundries, although some are fairly
good. mattresses receive from SIS to
$40 per month with board, while tips
generally double the wages OF a good
waitress. The hours OF the waitress
are from twelve to fourteen hours per
day while she is required to wait for
special banquets and receive no over
time. Chambermaids receive compar-
atively small wages, but are usually
furnished with rooms and board,
which lessons their expenses. The ho-
tells of the better class in Fargo pre-
sent better than the average conditions
in most cases for their girl helpers,
and as far rs sanitary conditions go,
the better restaurants n cafes rank
very good.
"The conditions in the candy fac
tories of Fargo are fairly goo The
cracker factory employs mostly home
girls, while the conditions of wages
and hours are better than In the
cities. Stenographers In Fargo labor
under the best Of conditions. Most
Of the Offices have excellent accom-
modations and the hours are not long.
while the wages are above a good
living wage In many cases.
The school teachers are u~nderpaid.
They are required to shoulder the re-
sponsibilities of setting proper ex-
anples for the children and practical
ly have the moulding of the child's
future in their hands. They must
be of the best morally and be able to
solve almost any problem that may
come before them. Yet their q
are very low comparatively, for they
are only paid nine months of the year
and must live the other three months
out Of their nine months salary.
There are over fifty trained nurses
outside Of the hospitals In Fargo. and
while their wages are comparatively