WORKING WOMEN.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1474, 13 December 1881, Page 3

WORKING WOMEN.

Ujnder the above heading, an American paper gives an accouut of the women in New York who are self-supporting. They number some seventy- five thousand, not including servants, and many of them belonging to highly respectable families, and may bo considered comfortably off. This shows how the prejudices which which formerly existed with regard to ladies working for themselves are gradually wearing off, and the fact of their so working does not cause them in any way to lose caste, as years ago would have been the case. A leading lawyer and politican in New York has trained his three daughters each to a different line o f Pecuniary independence. A leading so^ety belle in" the same city could, we learn, at anytime support herself by her own technical skill. There are women lawyers, ministois, physicians, one of the ablest in New York being the wife of Dr Jacobi (Mrs Putnam Jacobi), and in every way his equal in the profession. Female reporters, critics, and editors of papers are also to the fore. | One of the leading illustrated family ■ papers (Sarpo 's Jiazaai) has a lady editor, while in art and literature women are holding their own. The dramatic profession is the " woman's profession." As at present constituted, a clever woman has in it decidedly the advantage over clever men. Decorative art opens many new fields ot employment for ladies. Wood carving and wood engraving aie peculiarly well adapted to the delicacy of touch women possess, as also to their ar-ti-tic tastes. One woman wood-carver in >St, Logis earned last year as much as £500, to expert is she in the art. In decoration of pottery, in china painting, panel painting, dress, parasol and tapestry painting, women— those with talent especially — excel, while there are other and less well-known employments which have been taken up by our cousins across the water. For example, one lady earns a very decent livelihood by teaching, privately, ladies of neglected education who are desirous to supply the deficiencies of early life. This lady has many pupils from whom she receives from 12s to 20s. per lesson. Another lady educates birds instead of women, and in training canaries finds a pleasant and pecuniarily profitable employment. Another designs bonnets and dresses, and adds considerably to hor income by offering "suggestions" to leading milliners and modistes, who pay handsomely for the said suggestions. Few people are aware of the extent to which women are employed in the service of the Government of the United Ssates. In the Treasury department alone there are 1283 female clerks. One of these — bhe is in the office of the Commissioner of luternal Revenue — receives a salary of ISOOdols. per annum ; another, in the Bureau of Printing and Engiaving, IGOO doK There are fomteen female clerks whose salaries arc I4oodols. each, fiftybix draw 1200dolp. each, forty-six 1000 dols. each, four hundred and thirty-five 900dols. each, two 720 each, thhty-oight GGOdols each, one GOOdols., three 480dols, each, seven 240d01s each, and eightyfive 180dols. each ; these last are the sweepers, cleaners, &c. There are 377 engaged on piece work ; the rest are employed by the day at odols. to 75c. each All the departments of the Government employ women as clerks ; the Treasury, however, affords more opportunities than the others, During the time of the pressure of work on the Census Bureau, the superintendent had 1286 persons attached to his office, and of these no loss than 577 were women. As far as regards clerical labor generally, suoh as correspondence, tho tabulation of figures, and all matters requiring pains- taking and patience, woman clerks have proved themselves quite equal to those of the other sex ; it is only when engaged in sturdy routine operations which involve great mental and bodily fatigue that they exhibit less endurance than men, and this is not to be wondered afc. Most of the European Governments employ women to a much greater extent than formerly in the various branches of the public service, chiefly as telegraph operators and in post-offices. Strict examinations as to educational qualifications and health are required in moafc instances, and the appointments go a good deal by favoritism, the relatives of wellknown civil and military functionaries standing the best chance. In France and Austria restrictions are placed on marriage. In Russia those employed in tho telegraph must be familiar with no less than four languages. The pay is in many cases very small, much less everywhere than in the United States. In Austria some 50 cents per day is about the rate at which female clerks are remunerated, one-third less tiian the scrubbers and sweepers receive in Washington. In the employment of the Government of this country 7 dols. 50 cent, per week is the highest compensation given to a female employee, and she cannot obtain that unless she has worked her way up from the lowest rank, in which the pay is very small indeed— 'about 2 dole, per week, The advantages women workers have in America over their sister toilers in this country are therefore very considerable, especially as regards the Government female clerks.

In England, when they wish to avoid cookie or other noxious weeds, the seed is brought into the house, and the whole family 13 employed for weeks in picking it over carefuUy and rejecting: every uneound or imperfect grain, frequently using a magnifying glass to facilitate the operation. Mulch is placed about plants to prevent the sun from evaporating the moisture. In many cases it takes the place of cultivation, No doubt, if it were not for the expense and trouble, it would bo more extensively used about herbaceous plants, Mrs 3. H. Lord, Hartford, Connecticut, tells The Fruit Recorder that ehe has kept geraniums for years during the winter by hanging them, roots upward, in a cool collar. *It is remarkable how the wretched skeletons will pat on flesh as soon as they meet- genial air and sup. They must not freeze' msa.awh jle, '