Four Years in the Underbrush: Adventures as a Working Woman in New YorkAnonymous
History
Four Years in the Underbrush: Adventures as a Working Woman in New York
Anonymous
Women employees -- New York (State) -- New York
“I’m a poor man,” he said, and taking his pay-envelope from his pocket
he held it up, “but if I had a million dollars in this I wouldn’t give
you a nickel. My father brought us from Poland when I was ten years old.
When this war came my brother, the youngest of the family, was the only
one able to fight. My father and I promised to care for his wife and
four children.”
The lame man slipped his pay-envelope back into his pocket, then fitted
the crutch under his arm. You might have heard a pin drop.
“Your brother’ll come back,” a woman addresser assured him hopefully.
The lame man straightened up and swung himself around on his crutch.
“Less than two months after he went away we got the news—he had been
killed in battle.” He turned and faced the slacker. “My brother was a
good husband,” he said; “he loved his children.” Clutching his hat and
his little lunch-box in one hand, he stumped out.
This pay-day brought me a real surprise. Instead of counting the
envelopes I learned that they reckoned by weight. My three days’ work,
according to my own count, amounted to five thousand envelopes. Soon
after the basket in which they had been packed was taken out, the girl
with a face like a tomahawk hurried in and informed me that there were
only three thousand and three hundred. Against the advice of my fellow
addressers I demanded a recount—perhaps I should say a count, for they
had been weighed, never counted.
After considerable bluster my work was turned over to another young
girl. In the first box she found eighty-one while I found one hundred.
On a second counting she also found one hundred. The difference in the
second box was even greater. After that she evidently decided it was a
hopeless task—trying to cheat me. According to her final count, I had
addressed five thousand five hundred and fifty-seven. I was paid for
five thousand.
Beyond a weak protest the day that I began work for Daskam & Howe the
girl manager of the addressing department made no objection to my
stopping work every day at four o’clock. That gave me time to eat a
second cold lunch, and report at the West Side headquarters of the
Suffrage Party by five. When applying for the position I told Miss
Madeline Marks that I would be glad to be assigned to the tenement
section of her district. Thereupon she assured me that she felt sure
that I would be more useful on Riverside Drive and the adjacent side
streets. So taking a list of voters to be seen, and a package of little
yellow pledge-slips, I sallied forth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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