Work For Women

Investigation proves that unskHled fetnale labor in Chicago is not poorly paiU, says the IV'ew of that, city. The usmblefct work performed by women for hire receive a fair compensation in 6cli and every iostance, and there is plenty of work to do. Undertheticad of unskilled female labor are laundrv gids, washei-vvoineu, un professional iiurses, scrubwomen, chanibermaids, waitresses and domestics. There are pcrhaps 'J,000 women in Chicago working in launüries. Tliey work nine hours each day and reeeive as compensation not less tlian $9 a week. Sinee the introduetion of steam laumiry machinery their labor iscompuiativel.y light, the only hardship endured bcins; the heat in the summer. Tberc is no apprenticeship except one week at the besiivning of the emplo.vment, and any girl can earn a full salary at the end of the flrst week. There aj-e, however, small ?iris who psrform light work, suen as dam)ening linen by sprinkhng water on it, and they do not reeeive more than H for a week's service. Waslicrwomen who go out by the day to wash for private families reeeive $2 for a day's work and in many instances aregiven ;heirmeals. ïhose who tako in washingat their homes are generally widows or dedeserted wives who have small children -nat necd their attention. They flx their own prices by the piece, and charge the same as 9team laundnes. Inquiry at sevnral female employmcnt aRencies shtved a demand lor this kind of service that eould not besïpplied. Unprofessional nurses are paid $30 a month as a minimum salarv. and this in. eludes board and room. They are neat and tidy girls, who have intelligence enough to make themselves useful ai-ound a sickroom, and many are often paid Í30 a month br their services. If they are careful and reliable, physicians will recommend them, and they need never want for employment At twelve o'clock every night the scrubvomen in the big hotels begin their work. "hey get down on their hands and knees and with soap, water and a stiff brush scrub the marble floors, wiping them dry with a cloth as they go along. These women are mostly Poles and Bohemians. ?heir pay ranges from $12 to 16 a month, which iucludes board and room. There is an irmy of these women employed to scrub the down-town office buildings, and they receive, in most instances, $3 a day. The white-capped chambermaid, who aXways looks so ueat in her plain calicó dress, receives an ineome of $3 a week, including board and room. She nee ds no previous experience if she is intelligent and is capable of the orders of the housokeeper. The waiter girls m restaurants, boarding houses and hotels get not less than$3a week, which always includes board and, except in restaurants, a room. Many of them receive $4 and 5 a week, wnile the kitchen girls and dish-washers get H a week with board. There has never been a time in Chicago when girls were not in demand at good wages to do general hou se work. Thera seems always to be a scarcity of this kind of domestic service, although the lowest wages paid are Í2.50 a week and in many cases {5 is offered without sweuring help. A very estimable woman who keeps a female employment office on Washipgton boulevard said: "I can offer a good explanation for the scarcity of domestic servants. Girls refusa to work where they are misused. Even tha worm will turn if trampled upon, and in my opinión the mistress of the house is often to blame for the dissatisfacüon oi servants. Their poodle dog is petted while a sensitive girl bas her life made miserabla. The fault is not in the girls, but in those who hire üiem."