The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-04-05
CHEAP DANCE HALLS
AND $500 A WEEK
TWIN EVILS THAT
BESET GIRLHOOD
Continued from PAGE l.

| changed. Their eyes frightened and
their voices and gestures became ami
| mated. Everything got faster. For
! lew minutes life moved with a snap
and a9zz::zle. Even the girl who spoke
OILY Yiddtsh got in a. few broken
! English words. She knew the word
married" like book-a book where
her mind worked free, and pictured
all kinds of Sunday supplement fea-
lures. 9
do you save up for the dowry?"
I asked.
mo" they said, I'VE put it here!"
And With eloquent gestures these two
girls confessed to me that they waste
at least half of II cents a week upon
clothes! Clothes and hats, gloves and
shoes! Didn't care how much they
spent and weren't ashamed to say so!
And having SO squandered their
money, they went in these clothes and
things to the movies" where they
saw stories of love and marriage with
! rich, happy endings. Not that they be-
loved all this. In fact, the tall girl
liked better to go to the real" plays
of Nine. Lipzin at the ,Lipzin theater,
where all kinds of east side marriage
! problems are worked out in three
| hours of intense discussion.
l. Cheap Form of Amusement. III
| To- hear; and see all this costs IS
cents in the balcony. A top gallery
seat would have been cheaper. But
the top gallery is cheap place. And
publicity sitting in a cheap place
means privately getting a cheap hus-
band.
| So the IT cents each week went in
to clothes and hats and shoes and
gloves and theater tickets. And to
round out the reckless wasting, at
least once a week in their shop of $50
one girl reached the goal-got mar
r1ed-and then the others, out Of their
| wealth put in 10 cents a piece for
| flowers or fancy dishes or something
else of the kind. Something not too
| useful, something fancy, gay. Some
thing that fits the great idea of, get
ting married, starting out.
The Reason for Marriage.
Having discovered all this-that
girls earn money and strike for more
simply in order to waste it. and that
they do this because they want to
get married and want to get married
because they are young-I got one
step further and found another rea-
son. They want to get married while
they are young, and partly in order
not to get old. For in the tenements
you can get old fast without a man.
You can get old at thiry-flve.
1 talked just moment with one Of
these. She. was stunted, her hair
streaked with gray, her face getting
wrinkled, with muscles that twitched
and eyes that had an anxious look.
She had no grandfather, nor uncle,
nor husband. She had $1.03.. And
her shop had gone on strike.
She Is Without a Future. ..-f
She had no future. Even her past
was fast dropping out OF sight. This
past was man-her husband. They
had come to America eight years
back.
"And young at that" said a young
ster beside her. Sure you were.
Weren't you? Wake up and tell him!
Weren't you young eight years ago?"
Inc old woman's face seemed sud
denly to come to life. became alive
with queer twitchings and smiles.
sure was young! Young! Youne!"
declared this old woman of thirty-hve.
And she nodded her head each time
that she said it. s a Mr. .f ...5
ne had died and she had gone to
work in this shop. And there she had
stuck. Her wages had got lower as
she became older. And now she was
earning $3.50 week and had "a bed
In room with a lady
She did. not waste her money. She
Is one of thousands now on strike
who live along and grow old fast.
Women live on $3.50 q week. Wom-
en- who have a bed in a room with a
LADY, z5. q
WEAR BosToNIAN SHOES