The Washington times., 1913-12-12

I-HE shop girl, the one who stands
! behind the counter for wage OF
| 81 week-perhaps less-has her
champion in another girl who
once worked for 81 week. not so very
long ago, either, and who has a mes
sage for every shop girl in Washington.
provided any of these busy people have
time to read it during these strenuous
| before Christmas days.
The shop girl who does the talling
is only a make-believe shop girl. to be
sure. and she draws a salary envelope
perhaps fifty times fatter than any
shop girl anywhere in the country, but
she knows all about the S7-a-week feel
ing, for she has been there, and she
has all the sympathy in the world, and
all the confidence, too, Tor the girl who
tucks away the S. bill and the two Hs
In her pocketbook every Saturday night
She knows. too all about the shop
girls search for happiness. and the
longings that come to- every girl who
has her own way to make In the.world;
knows all about the struggles and heart
pitlful little efforts to make ends meet,
and the pathetic attempts 10 make her
self look well groomed and stylish on
that same five and two ones.
Helen Ware. the Mary Turner of
within the Law. knows the three
life, from two of which she is never
free. The first great big want is food
Tie second big waEt is clothing, and
the third big want is little wee bit
of happiness.
And it is at O'Clock. when the big
department stores close. and the stree.
is filed with girls hurrying home from
their work that one sees how penurious
fate has been with each of their de-
sires.
None Of them seem famished. None
of them are dressed in rags None of
them have tears streaming down her
face. But few seem over-nourished, of
that you may be sure Miss Ware says.
Again and again you see that pinchcd.
large-eyed look that means restricted
diet both in the society matron. who
endures it because she yearns to keep
her figure. and the shop girl, who en-;
dures 1t because she must.
But the thing those girls strive for
even more than for the food to keep
them going. or the clothes to cover
their backs. Is their never ending search
for happiness. Out of their small means
they give pennies to cripples and beg
sGrs along their way. Seldom Is Ii more
than 4 penny, but you can count three
girls for every man who stops and drops
d coin into the beggar's outstretched
more happiness than $1,000 could buy
for some people.
They laugh and chatter together,
loudly but il is the reaction
from the decCrum forced upon them
during the day, and there is always the
hint of WEAKNESS in their little at
tempts at joyfulness. Some of them are
absorbed in the fiction page of
an afternoon p&per-you can get lot
Of romance for a cent in printed form
Girls behind the counter are so close
to the raw edge of existence that every |
one is bound to be sympathetically in |
terested in their struggles. Perhaps the |
girl who sold you a pretty Christmas |
gift which You are going to send to |
some one who doesn't need il. and will !
not appreciate It. is saving so cents a |
week to buy blankets for her own little ,
narrow cot in some hall bed room which !
she rents unfurnished for seven of the
~ she receives each month.
You are in exactly the same position