New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
All Out of a
Pamphlet
By Courtesy o. "The New Republic $

With a propitiating smile asked AMI,
She too smiled, but j. was as she RESPONDED :.
a reckoning gesture OF the fat-faced nan al u.
handicapped table next TO mine. I hated h.
I wanted the butter. Like some other studsr,.
/ am perforce devotee of the contineu,,,
breakfast, and with nothing but coffee and ,,r,
one must at least have enough butter ~
course knew the reason for my short rst,..
/ hadn't tipped her for couple Of days. IA,
the commercial traveller type had dimes euouv.
to command an unlimited supply Of smiles a..
attention.
With an increased contempt FOR women -.
turned TO my room and tried to clear the d.s.
Of the pamphlets which drip from The pocket,
of my statistical roommate. Pamphlets ann,
me. They appear so utterly devoid Of hum,
interest But the title Of one Of them caus.,
my eye. It was "Behind the Scenes n Re-.
taurant" | opened directly % chapter a,
the tipping system, and | paused from nv
Wordsworth concordance long enough /.
read it,
As result I haven't divided my life int
Before and After reading pamphlet issued !,
The Consumers League of New York City, ban
have decided always to tip the waitress, en-,
TO the bitter extent Of abolishing dessert
haven't been converted to tipping. Restauxr,
keepers should no more expect the public huy
three-fourths Of the wages of their cmpkvs
than shop keepers should expect IT, Arksuus
Iowa, Mississippi and South Carolina have To-,
hidden tips, but until the less enlightened state
pass similar laws mattresses will be forced to
work" for tips either by making me eat bot.
teress rolls or by Sinking at the commercial
fat-face. One girl is quoted as saying: Girls
have to live on tips. If you tell the boss ycv
can't make any, he says you are no good and
discharges you. You have to put up with II o,
starve. The majority of girls-the better class
of watresses-if they could get good Living
would be glad to do without tips"
But though women restaurant workers are
far from being the only actors in the TRAGEDY
of underpayment and cvercrowding, they can
lay claim to the dubious distinction Of being the
largest group of women without the protection
of the law as far as hours is concerned The
New York state labor law makes it illegal to
employ women in factories and mercantile
establishments more than fifty-four hours or
six days in any one week, or between ten
o'clock at night and six o'clock in the morning
In one restaurant girl of twenty was found
working one hundred and twenty-five hours
week, longer than the law allows factory en-.
ployes to work in two weeks. This may be
extreme case, yet one-ffth Of these women wort
twelve hours day and seven days a week, and
fifteen-hour days are not uncommon. Not quit
one-half of the mattresses work over fifty-iou
hours a week, but that is because thirty-one per
cent of them are what is known as "one-meal
girls" who only come for the rush at neon or
all the other restaurant workers, however, sew.
enty-eight per cent exceed the ffty-four hour
week
She starts in at seven, walks many miles
during the day, carrying heavy trays and work.
ing at constant nervous tension, for speed
one of the requisites. She must not only re.
member a digging list of orders, but she must
fill them quickly and keep her temper under
the exactions of the most rasping customer
The law requires that girls in factories and
stores must have at least half an hour Of for
luncheon, but the waitress must eat whenever
she can snatch moment from her work. When
she reaches home at eight o'clock or after
there is still dress and an apron to be washes
and ironed for the next day. since very few
mattresses can afford to have their laundrS
done. After that there is nothing left but The
brief rest Of exhaustion; social or educationa
activities are out Of the question.
At the back Of the restaurant where vsiny
ask for more butter, there is a square hole IN
the wall. Into this hole go the syncopste
orders shouted by the mattresses, and out Of
come hot, sticky, strong-smelling vapor and
much rafting of metal pans. The pampls
informs me that in this atmosphere Of ncis
and malodors live the cooks, the dishwsshsrs
the silver cleaners, the kitchen girls and the
pantry hands. Since they get no tips, they
earn even less than the mattresses, but Their
hours are equally long Amid the confusioa
and clatter Of this hot, crowded place the COOK
must keep her head. The kitchen girl must Be
everywhere at once with a helping hand sne
must lift heavy pots full of vegetables and nj
in all the gaps. The dishwasher's very jo0
depends upon her quickness. One Of them sad
that she washes seven thousand articles in an
hour and half.
The greater proportion Of the women resss''
rant workers are European peasants. Vnp
these are able to endure the strain for any
length of time, ard even so it is significant tn'.
two-thirds of them are under thirty years
age. When the waitress gets older she crns
toward lesser pay and inferior restaurants.
her strength decreases, she is no longer abe
IL c.,rl shZ