davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

by the open door of the living
room, and back of this and open
ing from it is another room, still
stuftier and darker, where the chill
dren sleep. All the odors from the
kitchen are waited in through the
open door and not Whit of fresh
air ever penetrates its darksome
recesses.
We went the other day into tene-
ment after tenement of this ma
ture; sometimes there was still
another dark room, making four in
all. The rent of this larger apart
ment had been S13, but on May l
it went up to $14.50. There are no
bathrooms in these tenements-a
hall toilet is shared by the four
families occupying each floor; there
is no hot water or heat furnished,
the stairs are rickety, the floors
uneven and the plumbing conditions
unspeakable, and yet the landlords
have raised the rents from 10 to
20 per cent and refuse to make any
repairs because of "war conditions"
(whatever they may be).
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Hopes Long Deferred May
Come True in the Fall

A resolution was recently pre-
sented to the Board of Aldermen
asking the Mayor to arrange for
"the immediate construction of
model municipal dwellings, to be
rented by people at COST" and
special revenue bond issue is called
for to meet the expenses of con-
struction. From which it appears
that the City Fathers are also sit
ting up and taking notice" of the
housing situation. And in Septem-
ber the amendment to the Penal
Code, Furnishing landlords who re-
fuse to rent to families having chill
dren, was due to take effect but
failed to pass.
The Tenants League, organized
in The Bronx, has accomplished a
great deal toward rousing public
interest in the question of increase
of rents, but no association can
really change the situation without
the solid backing of the law, which
is the only fear of the profteering
landlord. And here is where the
Reconstruction Commission comes
in; it is the Governors own com
mission and you may be sure that
he will see to it that it's reports are
not pigeonholed. 1t is pretty safe
to predict relatively speedy action
on the part of the Legislature to
at least ameliorate the housing
situation. The dwellers in the
tenements" of the lower East
Side, the ''f1ats" Of Harlem and the
apartments" of Park Avenue may
join in a hope for better days
if the days of the profiteering land
lord are numbered by the law.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

in, my elderly friend opened the
dumbWalter to get her morning milk.
The milk was there, but fianking it
on either side were two small boys
with very red hair, freckled noses,
and beautiful, marble-like bodies as
naked as the day they were born.
And they were both smoking ciga-
rettes. OF course the woman who
had opened the dumbwaiter door
shrieked outright.
"Hey, hush!" bcseeched the larger
of the two. "Wc'll be caught"
''Who on earth are you?" asked
my friend.
ave just moved in upstairs" said
the spokesman. "Carrie won't let us
smoke in the kitchen, and mother
won't let us smoke, anyway, so we
have to hide in the dumbwaiter! We
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
BY JANE GRAY
b ARENTS must often be most
incomprehensible creatures to

~
their children; and selfish
mothers-for there are selfish moth
ers ARE undoubtedly the most in
comprehensive Of ali to their chill
dren as we'll as to outsiders!
An elderly, motherly woman who
lives in an apartment house far out
in New York has above her a new
neighbor, young mother, very gay
and pretty and musical. She is a
widow, and supports her two chill
dren, boys of eight and ten, very
nicely, but she cannot give them
much intimate attention. That,
however, is not half as bad as the
example she sets them.
She worries about their health
and rightly so, for they arc not
strong. And, Of course, they ought
not to smoke cigarettes so young as
that---but they do!
One morning in the late summer
when thg young woman first movce
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
By ELENE FOSTER

HNHERE is knock at the door
and Mrs. Valinski, of Stan
ton Street, leaves her wash
tub, tiptoes to the door so as not
to wake the sleeping baby, warns
the three children playing with bits
of coal on the floor to be quiet.
opens the door a crack and beholds
through the aperture one of the
young women from the neighboring
Settlement.
Good morning, Mrs. Valinski,"
say the young woman in the CHEEKY
voice and with the radiant smile of
the social worker, II have come to
ask you few questions. 1t is for
your own good; you see we are 60
ing to try to help you to get your
house repaired and your rent re-
duced.'
Mrs. Valinski casts a sorrowful
glance at the tub filled with clothes
and another at the clock on the
mantel, then she silently picks up
the crying baby and sinks into
chair with a sigh of resignation.
She has been through this same
ordeal so many times beforel At
first she had implicit faith in the
promises of the social worker that
her condition would be improved if
she answered the questions on the
blue paper, but as time went on
and investigator after investigator
came and went and nothing came
of 1.-THE roof still leaked, the
wastepipe in the sink remained
clogged up, the windows still re-
fused to open and the rent re-
NAMED the same, or increasod-sh
lost faith and endured the visit
with martyr-like submission.
The failure, however, lay not with
the young woman herself nor with
the organization which she repre-
sents, but with the powers higher
up-the legislators who, in most
cases, suggested that the investiga-
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

Spasns

your offer and serve YOU we'll.
Il can make your apartment look
always cheerful and beautiful and
can cook and bake. Besides, | can
sew for you from the simplest to
the most exquisite gown, also, suits
and coats. l can, also, embroider
the prettiest decorations for YOUR
home and make you the most styl-
lsh hats, in exchange for being in
your intellectual confidence and sur
roundings and receive some re-
enumeration which l do not get from
my aunt who can only supply me
with board.
Il have intentions of entering
college in 2 years and from now on
will get inspiration needed and vet
be at your service with the best |
can do to leave your head free for
writing"
Don't answer that" cried all her
friends. You'll get into trouble if
you try to hire that mutt" warned
the writer's husband.
A series of telephone messages and
letters from the girl thereafter sent
the writer's husband on a little tour
OF investigation. The girl really
needed work. Her aunt kept shabby
boarding house and her uncle was a
baker out of a job. 1t evolved that
he, too, had read the advertisement
and thought he might do if his niece
were not hired! The girl fed on
Laura Jean Libbey and her kind and
made all her own clothes, not badly.
The writer finally hired her. She
stayed three days. They were the
most distressing days that home had
ever known. The girl sang snatches
of German opera at the top of her
lungs all day, and couldn't be in
duced to do the housework. Her idea
OF Remuneration" was SIS a week,
and she stole out of her comfortable
maids room at night to sleep on
sofa in the woman's study, 'to get
inspiration" she said.
Another answer to her advertise
ment appealed to this woman. A lit
tie English housemaid, who wrote
surprisingly pretty hand, said that
she was eighteen years old and
had longed for better position since
first coming to America three and a
half years ago. For two years."
she wrote, 81 have been parlormaid
to lady honor very much. / am
very happy here, but always feel
as if there was more in life than to
be dusting all the time. / want to
make way for myself in the world,
if / can"
"Poor creature!'' cried the writ
er. "She shall, if can help!"
The little English maid came. She
was pretty and trim and quick as
lightning in her movements and the
machinery of that apartment began
at once to run on wheels. 1t seemed
ideals
And then, what happened? A
mere American would never guessl
At the end of a month Nellie gave
notice. She was going back to the
lady she honored very much, and
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Reconstructing Rents
Is a Man-Size Job

This work is being carried on by
the Reconstruction Commission Of
the State of New York, which was
appointed by Governor Smith
shortly after he came into office.
The chairman Of this commission is
Abram |. Elkus, former Ambassa-
dor to Turkey, Who served as coun-
sci for the New York State Factory
Investigating Committee, and its
members are all men and women
who have long been identified with
movements for bettering social and
labor conditions. The following
paragraph from Governor Smiths
message to this commission explains
its duties:
"lt is Immediately necessary that
the commission examine carefully
the housing conditions of the state.
There exists among various volun-
tary agencies a large volume of in
formation on the subject of pres
ent conditions and | have no doubt
that these agencies and many others
interested in the housing problem
will be able to offer constructive
recommendations that will give re-
lief. l ask the commission to make
every endeavor to secure the full
est information and, after carefully
studying it, to recommend either
legislative or executive action. The
war made apparent how fundamen-
tai adequate housing is in relation
to labor supply. / am particularly
anxious that we find a solution Of
our housing difficulties that looks
to the future and that programme
may be initiated that will make for
the permanent welfare of the
state"
Acting in accordance with Gov
ernor Smiths suggestion, the COM
mission has called upon the neigh
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

she gave her reasons when pressed.
That mistress was a lady. She
preferred working for lady. The
lady never spoke to her, except to
give orders, and she radiated class
distinction. Nellie could net Under
stand the writer's efforts in her be-
half. East is East and West is
West, and never the twain shall
meet" rather sums up her viewpoint.
Whereupon the woman telephoned
a good employment agency. "Send
up good Irish maid," said she. "If
you have one that doesn't care for
reading and drinks a bit, she'll do.
At least she won't want to better her
condition."
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

only four small rooms I wondered
where the other family would be
slowed away.
The women of the tenements
have only two plans for meeting
the increase in rent-either they
take in another family and do CO.
operative housekeeping, or they
plan to do some sort of extra
work themselves. If there is no
small child in the family the mother
goes out to work, but if there is a
baby she works at home, finishing
waists for a nearby sweatshop or
making artificial flowers. No Won
der that these overworked women
are crotchety and cross and occa-
sionally vent their misery on their
husbands and children.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

the moderate priced apartments of
four or FIVE rooms, which formerly
rented for from $50 to $40 per
month, but which have been raised
to $40 and $50, and plan has been
submitted to the Reconstruction
Commission for building with pri-
vate capital a number of houses
with apartments which shall rent for
the former prices. to be finished
by autumn.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

Forties and in the Yiddish districts
of the lower East Side families of
from six to nine people live in three
small rooms, only one of which has
any outside light or air. This light
room is used as the family living
room and very often as the par
ents' bedroom, besides. Behind this
there is dark kitchen, lighted only
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

loan you helping hand The SER
vice is free. Perhaps women who
have been facing the summer with
dread and despair will find, after
taking the advice offered by the bu-
reau. that their chamber work will
be done by a trained nurse and their
meals prepared by statistician who
loves to cook. Fortunate mortals
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Uncle Sam Introduces the Household Assistant
How to Do 1T

not like New York offices during
July and August. I am a Column
bia girl and interested in great
many things. l think that house
work is very attractive under the
right conditions. If you will
write me when | may see you |
shall be glad
Dear Madam: Would like very
much to consider your position as
advertised, if agreeable to you.
Am the daughter of clergy
man and the widow of a lawyer,
we'll educated, conscientious and
refined. Please send me details
of duties required, number of
members in family, etc.
The character of the letters is
quite as striking as their number
All are written in excellent hand
some of them are we'll typed, hard
ly a misspelled word in the lot
Nearly half the writer's say: "This is
just the opportunity l wanted" One
woman said: II wrote an article
about this very plan fifteen years
ago for a woman's magazine"
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

vidual advice about her problem,
who is ready for the home assistant
and wishes to get one or two for her
country house this summer, is urged
to go to this bureau. 1t is located
at the United States Employment
Service, 112 West Forty sixth
Street. Inquire for the headquar-
ters of the committee on home as
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Your Rent Goes Up-Tell the Reconstruction Commission

ton be made and who promised all
sorts of improvements and reforms
and who received and pigeon
holed the statements of the investi-
cations and straightway dismissed
the matter from their minds. The
dlsgraceful sanitary conditions of
the tenements, the lack of repair
and the excessive rents can be rem
edied only by legislation, and it looks
as if we were going to get it.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
- How Not to Do 1t
An advertising Experience in 7tvo Acute Spasms

a WOMAN writer in Philadel-
~ phia, who really had the
~ A ories on the servant ques-
ton and asked only for a superior
young woman who would keep her
apartment fairly orderly, inserted
this advertisement not long ago in
all the city papers:
"Housework: Woman writer
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

and kept a portfolio full of them for
future copy. The humans she
hired-there was a procession of
them might very we'll have fur
nished material for a book on "Ser-
wants Not To Be Hired"
The first letter that brought re-
suits to its writer was, I have al
ways said, a unique composition.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

entire salary home and give it to
their wives. One dollar a month
may seem very small increase in
rent and one can only realize what
it means to family paying $11
a month by going into the home
and seeing for ones self the squalor
and poverty in which they live. In
the Italian quarter in the East
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

wants a maid in fve-room apart
ment. No washing. Place for ell
derly woman or girl who would ap-
Ireciate leisure for study or read
ing"
She was swamped with replies,
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
She Is a
"Home Assistant"

The home assistant who works on
a. business basis for eight hours a
dey, six days week, with extra
pay for overtime, and has her own
independent life, is an employe in a
private home. She is the solution
Of the problem which vexes the
housewife. The opportunity Of
standardized work in the private
home is a welcome one to women
who, for Some reason, are unadjust-
ed to industry or business.
1t looks as if-contrary to all ex-
perience and opinion-the demand
for housework were perhaps as great
as the demand for houseworkers.
These scventy-fvc letters have
proved that there is nothing the
matter with the occupation.
But the housewife must know
how to manage her house on an in
dustrial basis if she expects to Sc
cure superior women for employees
and keep them.
In one Of the Offices Of the United
States Employment Service there is
a bureau in operation which is "put-
ting over" the technique Of such or
ganization. BY lectures, personal
advice and supervision, women who
cannot get servants and who wish
emplogss are being taught how to
get them and how to plan the work
required in their households so as
TO fulfil the necessary conditions.
This bureau is operated by the COM
mittec for home assistants, which
includes in it's personnel representa-
tivcs from the Young Womcn's
| Christian Association, Teachers Col.
lcge, the United States Employ.
mcnt Service, the Womcn's Trade
Union League and progressive
housewives.
The United States
Will Help You
Any housewife who wishen indi
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
The Exodus of the
Well-to-Do

In the files of the Reconstruct
ton Commission there are hundreds
of letters that have been received
from tenants of all classes protest
ing against the increase in rents,
for this profiteering is by no means
confined to the owners of the tene-
ment houses; the tenants of the
palatial apartments on Park and
Madison avenues and on Riverside
Drive are victims as we'll. The
rents in these districts have in
creased from 20 to 80 per cent for
the coming year. These people,
however, have a great advantage
over the dweller in the tenement,
for they have the ready money with
which to move and they are moving
Thoroughly disgusted with the ex-
orbitant rents which the agents Of
the high grade apartment houses
are asking, they are buying houses
IN the side streets of the upper East
Side, where they can be free from
the profiteering landlord. / know
of whole block on East Sixty-frst
Street, between Second and Third
avenues, where all the houses have
been bought by former lessees of
high-priced apartments and are be-
ing remodelled for their occupancy.
The same conditions prevail in
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

sistants. There an efficient sccre-
tary will register you and give you
lecture dates; an experienced super
visor who has tried the plan and
knows how it works will write your
advertisement, help you select your
assistant, plan your schedule and
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Mother Must Sublet or
Go To Work

Sanitary conditions in these tene-
ment houses are probably no worse
to-day than they have been for a
long time, but it seemed to me, as
l made the rounds with several of
these investigators in different Sec
tions of the city on a lovely, sun
shiny spring day last week, that the
children were dirtier, the houses
smellier and the women more sullen
and uncommunicative than on pre-
vious visits. 1t seemed as if a
heavy pail hung over the tenement
districts; there was something
gloomier and more hopeless in the
atmosphere than ever before. After
listening to the first interview
realized that this was not whim of
my imagination; the people, espec-
tally the women, we're plunged in
gloom. 1t was the first of May and
in nine cases out of ten the rent of
the tenement had been raised on
that date. This increase ranged
from 10 to 25 per cent, and in rare
cases reached 33 per cent.
An increase in rent means
stricter economy and closer plan
ming for the woman of the family.
1t affects the man indirectly, for as
a rule these fnreiCners hrinor fhoi,.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

who have good servants are not ex-
pected to be interested in this ex-
pertinent; there is no attempt to in
terfere with the old regime. But
women who have nobody, whose
only alternative is no service at all,
are cordially invited to meet the
home assistant.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

"Der Madam" wrote the girl.
:" I beg to say, that I am 21
years of age. high school gradu-
ate, poor, but there is not a thing
under the sun that I cannot do or
any one more ambitious to accept
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Seventy-hve
Applied

In this month Of May, 1919 A.D.,
hundreds Of women munition work
ers prefer to remain unemployed
AkAer than return to housewOrk :;
employment bureaus are unable to
supply 30 per cent of their calls
IRON housewives and the servant
problem is apparently insoluble.
se. how many answers did that ad-
vertlsement receive?
twenty-five. Seyenty-fve WON
sn, willing to do housework, willing
- cook, to do chamberwork, to do
anything required Of them except
na laundry. Isn't it amazing?
Not at all, when one reads this
"ad" carefully. 1t is calculated to
appeal to the self-regpecting woman
VI good traditions and businegs
Standards. That it has done so is
apparent 10 any one who has read
sne letters which poured in. Here
are t~o of them:
Dear Madam; Your advertise
henG IN Sunday'g paper Interested
me yery much. have been with
ne Royernment department Of an
s@etfical houae for the last ten
months.
Although like the work, / do
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

Of all household duties
washing is the most Iabo-
rious. Yet washing can
be made as easy as turn
ing on an electric light.
To-day there is one washing
machine which operates smooth
ly and noiselessly, which elm
mates the tearing rub of the
old-fashioned washboard, which
produces snowy-clean clothes
and which costs but I cents for
an entire washing.
1t does away with the laun-
dress problem-it keeps the
help happy and it is an absolute
boon to the woman who is
forced through lack of help to
do things around her house.
This machine may be seen at
the shop of Walsh-3 f A.
the most unusual electric shop
in New York, dedicated to
comfort and beauty in the
home. For Walsh-3 f IT,
from out the thousands of cleo
trical devices invented yearly,
selects only the most practical.
And YET the prices are no high
er than in a commonplace cleo
trical store.
On Monday, May 5ih,
from nine to five, there
will he a special demon
stration showing this ma
chine in operation.
Dalsh
; f 47
Electrical Decorations &
Household Conveniences
New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

Young business woman can
spend three months in cottage on
Maine coast if willing to help with
housework in exchange for room
and board; eight hours a day, six
days week; travelling and Incl
dental expenses paid and SIS a
week additional. Apply by letter
only"
TIME above advertisement ap-
peared a short time ago in
one of the large metropolitan
dailies. 1t was inserted by woman
of peculiar temperament, a woman
to whose stubborn optimism friends
had tried in vain to apply reason.
"My DEAR" they said to her, al
most tearfully, don't you know that
we haven't been able to get any help
Tor months on end, even in town?
We've advertised and advertised,
offered large wages, promised the
earth-all to no avail. Only few
bedraggled biddies ever apply.
You're wasting time and money.
Everybody knows there are no
servants to be hadr
The stubborn one smiled quietly
But / don't want servant.
want an employe and I'm going
to get one. You'll gee"
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

Miss Evelyn Stafford Of Nor
gan City returned home Friday
after a visit Of several days to
her aunt, Mrs. A. L. Plcou.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28
Paterson Personals

The first $4,000 Allowance to
discharged soldiers arrived TINS
week, coming to MIR. Ed. Stin-
son.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

Gay on BUSINESS VIII Nj. = -.
Williams.
Mr.. Bernard Cameron left
Saturday for Atlanta Georgia,
where he viii attend school
next winter.
MIR. Dave Benoit Of Beaumont
Texas is visiting relatives here
for a few days.
Miss Birdie Riviere spent
Sunday wit hrelatiTes in JEAN
erette.
MIR. and Mrs. C. Gonsoulin and
children were visitors to Nor
gan City Sunday.
Mr.. Chas. Landry, late Of the
Medical Department of the
United States Army, arrived
home this week after being dis
charged.
Mr.. Berwick Shaw was a Sum
day visitor to Jeanerette-
Mr.. and Mrs. Oscar Zenor and
daughters mot0red to Jeanarette
Sunday.
Miss Louise Shelburne Of Nor
gan City visited Patterson Sun
day.
Mrs. McKneely spent Sunday
afternoon in Morgan City.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

Deputy Sheriff Mitchell Four
net and Mr.. Chas. Smeeds Of St
Martin Parish were IL town tri-
day on business with Mir. G. s.
Williams.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

NI-Honse with eIeu,r
|a.e7 and barb Posses.
18TH Telephone 35l. Az.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

NJ. Louis R0ussaland Miss
Helen NurzloW spent Sunday N
Houma with Miss Wurzl3W : par
ents.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

Miss Margaret Smith Wa tbs
guest Of Mr.. and Mrs. ?. c. Ro-
gers in Houn1a Saturday and
Sunday.
The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-03-28

Nr. and Hrs. Clarence Doty
were visitors lo Gibson a4n6.@r