Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-12

ticfes bU Doctor ConUeii. telling OF
the birth and tcork Of Temple Uni.
cerSity.
BY DR.. RUSSELL H. CONwELL
This interview took place in 1884
between Miss Emily Norton Speer and
the writer while waiting I'm the rail.
way station in PHILADELPHIA:
Questioner-"Can get "A recon.
mendation to some firm I'm Philadel-
phia which will be willing to give me
employment near enough to my home
so that I can walk to and fro ana
save the street car fare? ~. doing
work now for SO a week. but il Is
very hard to walk such a long dis
tance and my present employment is
TOO wearisome to allow me to give
much time TO the housework when I
get home at night. Mothers health is
not good and she can do none OF the
hard work, and father has been un.
fitted for bricklaying by an abcess in
his hand caused by rusty nail. Our
family consists of father, mother, two
boys. n younger sister and myself"
Answer-"What kind Of occupation
do you expect to enter?"
Questioner-"I am at present work.
ing In the kitchen of a restaurant
and doing generally rough work. l
tried to do cooking, but 7 found l
did not understand 1t we'll enough
to cook for the public. and so accepted
any place which they would give me-
l do not Know what to apply for,
but suppose l must go from place to
place and find what is open to such
n girl as I am, for I have very little
education and only a very limited eX-
perience."
Answer-"How old are you?"
An Ambitious Girl
Questioner-"I am only sixteen
years old. but the people all tell me
that i am old for my years. and I
have had to work either at home or
for an old uncle since 1 was ten years
old"
Answer-"I could not write a recon-
mendation for you under these cir.
cumstances; because ! could not hon
estly say to any employer that you
would be worth the money which you
must ask for wages. 1t seems to me
that general housework or a place In
some factory furnish th> only hopeful
outlook for you. But those places are
crowded just now and the wages are
very low"
Questioner-"There seems to be
little hope for a woman in any posi-
ton when she needs to earn money.
and 1t looks to me as though every
girl would have to get married or
starve. or course, there are many
girls who have fathers to provide for
them. and many others have mothers
who are we'll and strong, but, situated
as I am, there seems to be no place
fitted for my hands.
Poverty Prevents Schooling
"If / could have kept in school
few years longer / would have had
much better opportunity, but that
was denied me because we were very
poor. Father has always worked
steadily and hard. and has never vast
ed his money in drink, but he will,
not be able to go back to his work
as a mason and he. too, must find
some other occupation. He says he
il broken.hearted to find that after
all these years Of hard work his girl
will be obliged to be the principal
bread.winner of the family.
Cant you think of some place
where | can work near home at some
thing, no matter how hard it is; for
some one Of us must work or apply
for city charity. / would not want to
live IL | were compelled to see my
father and mother in an almshouse.
Please try and find some place for me
and give me a letter of introduction.
for will do the best i can not to dis
appoint the people to whom you rec
ommend me. There surely must be
some place for me-"
About two weeks after the inter-
view with Miss Speer. we met in the
market and she informed me that she
Ia oh 70 "a n, "
station. cleaning certain rooms every
morning and that she was receiving
for the work $40 a week. She said
that the pay was, of course. very
small for them to live upon. but 1t
gave her all the hours after 2 o'clock
in the afternoon to help about the
housework at home, and sometimes to
help her father, who had secured a
newspaper route and was delivering
an evening paper.
Sought in Vain for Job
Two Of my friends and myself made
diligent search among the business
houses of the city to find some place
where Miss Speer could earn more
money and our efforts were futile. A
young woman without education was
not wanted in any situation unless
she would accept wages upon which
It was impossible for even one person
TO live. Fortunately fors Miss Speer
that happened to be the result of our
efforts, for II set us to thinking very
seriously of the condition in which
thousands of girls must find them
selves in q great city. and awakened
very strong sympathy for such a
class OF persons who were willing to
work and yet who could find no profit
able occupation. We found that II
Miss Speer could attend some business
college and fit herself for some office
work or stenographic reporting she
| Moodys drama, "The Great Divide,
succeeding Miss Margaret Anglin In the