Show Caste Distinctions amons Workingwomen Work-ingwomen Is there rank then in all industrial pursu la A tailoreaa declares that no where are the lines of caste more strictly drawn than among tailoreaaee and sewinggirls Those on custom work and those onsale workneed not necessarily know each othsr Here is a classification given by one who understands works and aids others in various ways Employments Employ-ments of working people are either subjective or objective one cannot consort with another Under the first are included 1 the stenographer stenog-rapher 2 the newspaper hack 3 the typewriter 4 those engaged in lifeinsurance business and in any sort of nursing The second division embraces 1 mercantile women 2 saleswomen 3 tradeswowen and4 servants who are Pariahs so speak in the eyes of all workingwomen These words plainly indicate wherein lies the difficulty of obtaining good domestic service Not only is there a certain loss of personal independence independ-ence as to hours and meals outhouse out-house ark ranks lowest in the scale ot honest labor ambition uppish ness or aspiration is of national growth The proofreader by uni versa testimony ranks highest in the scale of laborers for good proofreading proof-reading requires not only an excellent elementary education but alsoao in tutive mind A copyreader often advances to be a proofreader whereas a typesetter seldom or never becomes a copy reader The most amusing instance of drawing the line is seen in toe superbly quiet manner in which the ladiee behind the counters at large dry goods establishments establish-ments regard the women in thread andneedle stores and they in turn look down upon the1girls employed in confectioners shops and the still lower kind of omnium gatherum stores always to be found in the neighborhoods neighbor-hoods of the poor They all my stand upon their feet throughout the day and sell goods but that is all they nave in common except through incidental in-cidental charitableness Again the newspaper hackwork ranges from that of regularly paid lady contributor contrib-utor on certain subjects to that of the women with the ready wit to puff up patent medicinea and do a job in twenty minutes In talking with thi thinking work ingwomen one is struck by the philosophical phil-osophical terms obtained through processes of imitation and by imbib ing mental atmospheres which spring as readily to her lips as do the words feeling Htone value to those of writers on art Such women analyze life lay down propositions premises and reason from them Very often their foundation is weak Qua of them whose analysis of the mental requisites for different kinds of labor was very keen observed There are sensuous and supersen suous classes The superseneuoua care less about technique of their work > nd fail in execuotion but they are capable of improvement if lofty motives are appealed to and are ever ready to encourage the etumblers they long to be all they feel and their lives are full of strivings and failure The scensuouB cOuld be represented re-presented by the Irish girls who dont know and dont know what they dont know they are honest and virtuou but their taste are on a low plane The workingwomen are struggling against the identical limitations within themselves which philanthropists philanthrop-ists and believers in social cooperation cooper-ation and those of notable goodwill in churches have always felt Those women recognize the power of mutual aid they acknowledge that employers are not individual tryants and that their only chance for a 1 i eer happier life lies not in strikes but in combinations backed by a public sentiment sen-timent in favor of I qual wages for men and women Then the more intelligent daily see the bopeleasnea of any such attempt at union on account of the intensity of the caste feeling among them the enjoyments and occupations of each class are distinct the latter being the cause of the former Decembe Atlantic 1 |