Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-02-03
UNEMPLOYED GIRLS.
FLOCK TO NEW YORK.
INQUEST OF Jobs
INFLUX OF COUNTRY LAssEs
CAUSES SERIOUS SITUATION
BUREAUS FLOODED WITH APP.
PLlcANTs UNABLE TO FIND
PLACES.

New York.-The seriousness Of the
unemployment situation among women
has apparently no terrOrS for the girl
FROM upstate, the Middle West or the
South, says Miss Amy Talbot of the
Central Branch Y. W. e. A.. accord.
Ing to the New York sun. New York
Is the mecca toward which she turns
her steps confident that once here
there will be jobs without number
waiting her acceptance. Miss Talbot,
who Is head Of the Rooms Registry
Service has noted little decrease In
the number OF applications for rooms
received from out-of-tOwn women
seeking careers in the big city.
AS far rs | have been able 10 dis
cover" says Miss Talbot, girls are
not concerned with these reports OF
unemployment. Jobs seem Of little i'm.
portance compared with the fact that
the young adventurer has reached New
York. There is one difference. | find
that now the demand is almost entire
ly for the 81 room. where 1t used to
be that rooms were sought not SO
much for economy as for convenient
locations.
Situation 10 Serious.
THE situation is rapidly assuming |
serious proportions. Women, old and .
young, are now being laid Off by firms +
which have employed them for long
periods. our employment bureaus are .
crowded with women who have been .
thrown out Of employment, and yet .
every train that comes into our /
terminals brings its quota Of new
comers-all of whom expect to be sup /
piled with some means of earning
their livelihood. Not an hour ago |
talked with a girl who had just come
In from upstate. Nothing ! said In
explanation of the seriousness Of this
problem that is confronting so many
OF our men and women today had any
effect upon her. She has always
wanted to come to New York she
had always had good job. and she
did not see why she should not find
another one now. The idea that good
positions are not floating around to
be secured at will had evidently not
entered her mind.
I'VE have daily TO send back refus-
ais to oHt-of-town applicants who
would Ike to find rooming quarters in
one Of the Young Women's Christian
association boarding houses. The /
waiting lists show there will be no
vacancies for months. The pitiful
part of It is that we have so many
older women who are desperately in !
need Of place TO stay. let alone the
question of work to do. More and
more women well past the thirty-year
mark are being forced out by the
stress Of the times 10 earn their own
bread and butter. They stand little
chance Of being met even half way
the competition is too strong for them,
with these eager intelligent young
minds ready to snatch up every good
thing that comes along. Watch any
line in an employment Office and see
how many Of the women on II are
gray-haired. There are few boarding
houses and business womens clubs
which will admit woman TO resident
membership without considering her
age most carefully. In many Of these
places thirty years marks the age
limit. The reason that is given for
this preference Is that since there are
not accommodations for all, it Is felt
that the younger woman is more in
need OF the protection afforded by
these clubs.
War Work Brought Unrest.
Undoubtedly, the wanderlust which
brings the younger women from the
security Of their homes here to com
bat an almost hopeless situation is a
phase Of the unrest which followed
hard upon the heels of the war. So
many of our girls who until that time
were content TO stay quietly at home
Jumped into all the hundred and one
activities that suddenly required the
services OF women. They found them
selves necessary In a way they had
never before dreamed Of. They swun~