El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-08

T7HE factory was a grim. smoke
stained place with windows that
looSe1 out on a narrow. dirty
street. There was a constant buzz Of
machinery whirring and clashing and
the new girls always found that hard
est Of all &c get used to- The work it
self wasn't hard.
1t meant simply the turning OF q
lever, the pulling OF a handle. minute
after minute, hour after hour, day after
day. week after week, until the thing
became habit and the habit a monoto-
ny almost impossible to face with .
brave heart
When Bertha came TO work in the
factory she was given her own special
piece Of work TO do. If Bertha had had
an education she would have realized
that the feeling she had at the begin
ming OF her days work was akin to
hopelessness. but she did not stop TO
think about IL and so she accepted her
lot Tar more pnllosOphlcally than many
Of those DO who have easy tasks and
hours Of light and sunshine.
She arrived at the factory at o'clock.
She worked six days in the week and
received five dollars a week for her
labor She was the daughter cot o
widow Who had two other children to
support. and from the time when she
had first walked she had dreamed of
the Gay when she could bring home her
own money TO her mother.
All day long Bertha sat near a dingy
window with a dirty brick wall for her
outlook and did the work reuired Of
her She developed slowly into a regu-
lar little machine herself and her work
became prOpOrtiOnarely easy. No one
cared whether the work was made in
terestng, no one cared whether Bertha
liked doing il or not As long as she
did her part toward the sreat whole
she was left in peace and her thoughts
were her own 10 do as she liked with
Happy Within Herself.
Bertha had singularly happy out
look on lie The first week Of her
job in the factory the noise oewildered
her Night after night she would lie
awake under her mea ger covering and
try TO stop the buzZiug in her ears
But gradually the buzzinE and the con-
slant racket become a habit and she
was able 10 hear above the uproar and
even laugh a little at the beWilder-
ment OF the new girls who came to
work at machines near her. Her face
was nearly always happy. and above
the clamOr and the noise Of the big en-
gines she would sing merrily at her
work. The other girls used to make
fun Of her for being happy.
what are YOU singing for" Mag
gle Flynn would ask bitterly. DO
you think YOU have much TO look for
ward to- Forget il. you'll soon be like
the rest OF us"
Would Laugh and Sing.
But Bertha would laugh and sing
and just because she sang she forgot
the ugly task that her busy hands per
formed so capably. and her thoughts
were Of the better thinEs-sreen mead
ows and birds she had heard Of such
things. but she never believed that she
would really see a cow
One day the manager walked down I
the grim room with a sweet faced /
woman at his side. Bertha was busy
singing away. her round. stOlid little
face turned toward the ray Of light /
har the window threw across her work. !
she was too absorbed with her own 4
thoughts TO look AT the lady but her
hands mechanically kept I'd their busy /
routine and her shriu little voice sang /
)ut the crude melody Of a song thar /
ihe had heard on the street Suddenly