Show I SIX DOLLARS A WEEK HoW a Saleswoman Lives On That mount < I NO MONEY TO WASTE I + SHE DRESSES DEGENTLY AND SENDS JiIQNEY V qME fIt f It is the Poorest Sort of Living BU It Is PossibleActut1 Living E i enses 4 a WeekGirls Expet to Marry So Are Not Paid as Jduch 1S the Men Clerks k I am a salesgirl at the perfumery counter of one of Ule iargcst deparf ment stores In the United State There are 2000 women employed ii I ra thin beehIve and as many men and boys The editorhas asked me to write something about the life we lead and how such a girl cal lice in a great city on a salary of 6 per week and sometimes send home a little money to her family I In the first place I work In one of the bestmanaed stores In the world Everything Is done to get selfrespect ing employees apd to treat them well I came from a farm up the country and was fortunate in getting this position posi-tion through a girl friend who used I to Jive near my home Harriet and I share a room together In a house which I takes lodgers but does not furnish table board It Is In a respectable in cality and is within fifteen minutes walk of the store So we save car fares The room is nicely but plainly furnished fur-nished and has a large window Ve pay 3 per week for it We might save a little by living away up town This saving howeer would go In trolley car > fares Ve get up promptly at a quarter be fore 7 each morning and at once start to male coffee on a littlq < < oil stove that also helps to heat the room in very cold weather at other times we are careful not to use a teaspoonful of kerosene ker-osene when It can be helped By the time we aredresse the coffee is i ready and we always have a lan of con densed milk and a little paper of Sugar on hand Ve each have a cup of coffee and two or three slices of bread and I butter for breakfast Sometimes we I treat ourselves to oatmeal but not I often s Whenhaifpast 7 comes we start for I the store and must be upstairs back of the counter ready for customers he I I minute the clock strikes 8 for then the 1 doors arc thrown open and early shoppers are sure to co lIre I From that time on until lunch It is a I steady hustle unless the weather is stormy My employer has provided plenty of little chairs that may be I swung under the counters when not in use but as a m ttero fact they are not much account The business In every part of the store Is enormous I and we get little time to sit down and rest I am always ready to quit work when lunchtime comes at a quarter before 12 Of course all the clerks cannot leave at the same hour so we go in relays ail the way from 1130 until 10 and each oftis has a full hour too My employer realizes that 4000 employees whose nerves arc on a constant strain must have rest at noon if they arc to sell goods succcssfully later In the day Then my lunchtime comes I go downstairs to the basement which has I a big recreation room so arranged that not one customer In 5000 knows 01 its existence Lunch Is served there by I the house and mighty good food too no fancy dishes very few sweets but j good substantial stuff For a cent I can get a cup of good coffee or tea j fc Pbr l on st Two slices of bread and butter Cost a I cent Meat sandwiches arc 2 cents j each canned or stewed fruits 3 cents a dish and other things In proportion I I never yet have been able to eat 10 cents worth This sounds cheap and i It is but the house furnishes everything every-thing at cost and In order to cater to I a thousand neople a day It buys everything every-thing 111 very large quantities I After lunch I have about forty minI min-I utes to talk Ol read magazines that are provided for us or to exercise In l the recrcationroom but In tine weather weath-er I always try to get out doors for a breath of fresh all During thc afternoon we Set awfully tired and at 6 oclcck Harriet and I go downstairs for our hats and coats and leave the store As a rule we dont say much on our cay to dinner In a nice little restaurant nearby It is not until we have swallowed our hot soup that we want to talk even tac3ch other The dinner consists of soup meat two vegetables bread and butter but-ter anti pudding all for 25 cituts I Sometimes we dont cat dinner but go home and have coffee and bread in I OUIown room and save about 20 cents A great many Mth girls do thIs reg ularly living 011 coiled or tea with brad and butter twice a day and only having one real meal then a hearty lunch at nvon Do you wonder that after a lear or two of this semlstarva I tfonsame of the girls in great department depart-ment stores lSoic pale and thin or are Irritable My share f the room rent costs 150 per week lau drr 25 cents breakfasts and ludchecns75 cents dinners on an average 150 That leaves out of 6 per week just 2 f hr clothing charity amusements a penny paper every day andmuneyto sehd home 1 am 1hanlt ful to Sal I can usually send home 150 a month which helps wbnderfully althoUgh I am sure I dont Imow how j manage to do it Oh yes I belong to a sIck benefit soclety managed b the store aml 15 cents is deducted by the cashier every month from my wages In order to pay the dues Naturally we an expect to marry sometime and the store experience Is usually looked on as a temporary makeshift And as a matter 01 fact mQst girlclerks do marry Perhap that is one reason why they are not paid as wen as the men M R S < |