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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1904)
V1 f I to Grata She Canmo! Qeltl. (6 If you have anybody in the world that cares for you, go to him and let him tell you not to come here," says an old maid who has followed the mar kets since '79. So Fascinated Do They Become with the Game They Forget , to Follow Fashions, and Wear Skirts, Coats, and Hats of Bygone Eras in Odd I 3 B ill Combination with Pres ent Day Styles. In the Room Where the Women Speculate. 2S kF you hav anybody In the world that carea far you no to him, and let hlra tell you not to coma here." Tha woman who, the other day. uttered thla advlca with an aarntvatnea bordering on the tragloal, waa ot a type that can only be found In one part ot Chicago. 8he had yel lowlsh gray hair cut on her forehead In a lit tle straight bang ot the period ot the early '80a. She wore a aerge blouaa coat, of youthful cut, and a atrange lit tle blink hat, tbv like of which could hardly be limittlned In an up to date metropolis 8he had a wrinkled, yellowish pallor that barred all euggeatlon of cold tuba and vigorous rub downs, and yet she had the kind of neatness that goea with well stitched dress bralda and wall bound petticoats. She had also a refinement that made Itself felt over and above peculiarities. Thla woman waa one of motley collection. Imagine If you can a dosen ot the most varied types ot femininity, of both high and low degree. Imaglns them sitting around a tnble and touohlng elbows literally and figuratively. Imagine them blindly oblivious of rank, religion, or aoolal position. Picture them aa being civil to each other, regardless of language, appearance, or apparel, and you have the atrange sight that met the eyea of the woman to whom the above advice waa given. Thla woman had stumbled Into the headquarters ot a group of habitual woman traders. It waa an airy little office with a ticker " presided over In turn by two or three of the " traders." It had a telephone constantly In use by the worn an whoaa bualneaa It waa to communicate with the broker. Contrasting Faces Under Gray Hair. To conceive of the contrasts gathered together la thla lit tle office, imagine the woman who gave the advice, seated next to a well groomed woman of middle age, with a crisp air and crisp silk drea linings. Ftcture next to her a dark aklnued pleasant faced girl with a felt fedora bat. tight but toned jacket, and shirtwaist cufts that are pitifully dirty even In dirty Chicago. Imagine rubbing elbowa with her a digni fied gray haired youthful matron In the kind of all black that suggests Rood milliners and modiste's. Add to this In your mental picture a faded white haired and pretty eyed gentle woman In widow's weeds that bespeak hard wear except that they are redeemed by nice black gloves the kind Who would be particular about her gloves, even In dire poverty Conjure up another good natured stout old lady with freckle, who wears a dolman, and who haa " frlzzea " held In under an ' Invisible " net. Then add to this a tall, spare, angular woman whose prototype can certainly be seen somewhere In the office of a board of missions. The same long face and hard twisted knot of Iron gray hair, the same Immaculate White lawn turnover collar, and the same Impossibly severe turban. Put next to her a radiantly attractive woman with young face and white hair (they have hair In all shades of gray, these women), with a hint of an Ellen Terry look about her, and with voice, and dress, and carriage that suggest a world probably never even seen by the others. Imagine theae women all giving you a quick searching look when you come In, and you have the "atmosphere" of the little room up under the eaves. The woman who had given the advice ao earnestly la an " old maid " who haa been coming here since '70. The husband of the woman In the widow's veil used to be a prominent speculator, and, although aha only looks on, the place haa a faaolnation for her that aha can't resist. Whole Family Speculators. One of the younger women of a dark skinned, pleasant faced type haa a boy playing about. She haa a husband who i a professional trader, too, and who drops In occasionally. The boy's grandmother la the old lady In the dolman. " It aeema to ma this boy haa a good deal of dirt on hia sweater. Why don't you wash It?" aha said to her daughter good paturedly. ? don't want dirty aweater washed," said the boy, loyal to Ilia mother. " Mother, dear, won't you please take roe a walk?" " Walt a little till the board closes and I'll take you. Keep Mill mother wants to listen." " wish It would hurry and eloae, ao that I could get home and da my work," said the young woman with the buttoned up Jacket and who was continually glancing up at the clock. ' What did you aay IVcember wheat was at 12 o'clock?" asked a woman who waa pouring over the quotations ahe had Jotted down. " I've read that a dozen times. I think you must calculate the market by the way It stands at 12 o'clock." said the woman who looked like a missionary. " Sit up here and I'll show you how It goes," she aald to th? atranger. " I'll never forget the day I began. I had $in and I came In and bought when wheat was way up. It went higher and I Just had enough sense to sell before It dropped. That waa twenty years ago and I have been at It ever since. Advice to Others: "Don't." " If there Is anything else in the world that you can do to make a living go and do It and don't coma here." " We are none of us young enough to do anything else or we would," aald another who wore clothes ot an oddly mixed type. " Well, I feel as If I could do something else If I could only get away," spoke up the girl at tha telephone. The "girl." who doesn't look more than thirty, haa daughter nearly grown. Her husband died ten yeara ago and ahe baa been here at a small aalary ever since. A few yeara ago, during the Lelter deal, ahe made $a.ooo, but she haa never made any since. She looks younger than anybody else here, and she has another look that aaya if something doesn't hap pen again pretty soon ahe may get desperate. " It aeema a pity for you to begin. If you have never tried it " aald the well groomed person with the wavy gray hair. " We lose more than we make," ahe said, comfortably. It turned out that. she and the woman of the good millinery had each well to do huabanda to take care of them. "I got to coming here." aald the latter, "simply be cause I hadn't anything else to do. If you want to try your luck let somebody handle your money for you. But don't come here yourself. If you begin once, It'a for alwaya. There Is a fascination about It that makes It Impossible to keep away. We come down here at ft o'clock. Wa neglect t very thing. If we are out anywhere and happen to bear something aald about wheat our hearts are In our moutha We are never wholly at rest. And what la the worst part about our coming is that we alwaya think we know Just what It's going to do. And the funny part of It Is we al' think differently. What was that? Closes at ft. 12 for De cember and $1.1141.11 fur May. It has closed at the same figure for May wheat that It was at 12:30, for three days running. What do you make of that Miss Li ? You look at things from the same standpoint." Little Thought for Dress. Perhaps the woman who has observed more of the ways of this class of woman traders than any other " outside " spectator in Chicago is a woman telegraph operator, who haa occupied a desk overlooking the speculators for ten yeara r nd whose work has kept her not only coming and going but lunching In the aime neighborhood. She says: " If you wish to see one of the sights of city life or to treat a friend to an expedition that la afer than slumming, and equally full of Interest, go Into the part of Chicago where you And the small woman speculator. ' Tou will find her first and easiest In the lunch places about the vicinity of the open board. If she haa had a fair day ahe will be In one of the large places, where a good order of meat and potatoes and coffee is served for about 4 cents. If, as is more usual, she la down on her luck, you will see her In a basement place near, where, by dispensing with aervlce, a bite can be obtained for a dime. Respectable? O, yes. perfectly to a person who la there on business, and aa to knowing her you can't miss that. She often haa an air of broken down gentility. Sometimes ahe has a distinct look of refinement. Ten to one she la well past middle age and often ahe la decidedly elderly. But the thing that atampa her absolutely la the rarely absent look of oddity In her dress. There la no thought and less time given to dress by the older habltuA of the market. Anything will do so long aa It la warm and whole, and she baa a faculty of mixing a skirt of one era with a coat of another and a bat of still a third, which would be hard to find anywhere else. And besides thla ahe Invariably carriea a little black bug. " Some of them have been here from 9 until 1 almost every morning for a great many yeara One of the odd things about It la that you can almost tell when they began by something In their look. If they have somebody back of thera and Just spend their pin money, you don't notice it But with those that haven't anybody but themselvea and who try to Increase their income In this way everything seems to stop. No matter how long ago it was when they began they will generally keep to something about the atyle of dresa that waa worn then. They will get new things, but some thing of an older day will be mixed in with them, and if you are a good fashion chronologlst you will be almost able to guess what year It waa that they acquired the ' habit' Try to Deceive Observers. " Tou need not be surprised If she tries to find out your business In the neighborhood. 8he la suspicious of possible observers, and she Is quick to notice an unaccustomed face. She will start a conversation on some slight pretext to find out if you are out on the same business as herself. They have gotten used to me now In the neighborhood, and they often tell me little romancea to ahow themselvea In aa good a light as possible. Some time ago I struck up a conversa tion with nn old lady who had an attractive face and was nicely dressed. ' I have a daughter In Michigan.' she said. 'She haa a beautiful home and a splendid husband. I live with her most of the time, but every once In a while I altp off down here for a little excitement. She hasn't the least Idea what I do here; she thinks I m visiting a friend, and I wouldn't have her know for the world.' I described this old lady not long after to a young woman I was talking to who waa also a frequent patron of the market and the neighbor ing lunch places, and ahe aald readily, ' Why that la my mother.' It turned out. In fact, that there was no other daughter and It was Just a harmless little day dream of the old lady'a own Invention. " It'a apt to run in families, and yet there are othera whose families probably do not know they come. They all seem to think that they are certain to escape observation because of the fact that the people whom they know would have no occasion to come into the neighborhood. Of course. In a sense. l!u is true, though somebody whm they know la bound to come this way sooner or later." Dangerous Occupations Followed by Women Workers in Chicago. saENKRAIXT speaking women are not guppoaee) Gl to be employed In occupation that may be I termed haaardoua. Few female applicant for I Ufa Insurance ara rejected because of (ha na ture of the work In which they ara employed. Comparatively few accidents to working wom en ara reported to tha police. In places whtra thera la an actual danger to the worker It la eupowd that a man will be employed. Hut between Iba theory and the facta there la wide oh asm in thia Instance, and la thla city women ara frequently employed where tha work U ot such nature aa to ba called extremely haaardoua An Investigation reyala tha tact that nearly every fac tory of Importance In (he city employing women haa de portments where the employes ara constantly In danger of serious accident. Not only In factories, but at telephone switchboards, elevated station, and chemical laboratories, to., la thla true. Tha list la long, but the moat haaardoua of them all must a aald to ba In tha twine mills of tha large harvealer fao t or tea. While evrioua accidents In these mill are Infre quent, minor acvMenta, Involving tha lose of a Anger or two, 'ara aa every day occurrence. Only because tha operatora of tha machine are all skilled workers and old hands la tha .number ot accldeata kept down, for a novice of either es starting In to work on one ot them would be fortunate If an hour closed without aome kind of accident- What la known aa tha "picking machine " la tha moat deadly of tha machine!, nj t i, doubtful If thera ara many machlnea or piece of factory apparatus where tha liability of accident to the operator la ao high aa In tha operation of theae. The "picker" la In reality a first claaa Imitation of a hundred or a thousand human fingers fitted on to aa Iron drum revolving at a high rate of speed. It (tars masses of the raw twine into strips the width of the finished article and doe It ao swiftly that the onlooker la fairly bewildered. Ulrla and women ara In charge of nearly If pot all of tha hundred of these machlnea used In tha city. Danger In Flutty tialr. So thoroughly la the dangerous nature of the machinery recognised by tha factory superintended that no one em ployed la theae parta of Iba worka la allowed to wear any loos clothing. Blmsy sleeves, or ribbons. A algu near each machine statea In forcible lauguage that any woman em ployed s an operator or la any capacity that briuga her In proximity uf the machine will not be allowed to dreaa her hair la tha fluffy al ao prevalent amung tha fair aea la these days. The girls wear tight fitting sleeves, aprona, and waist covers, and do their hair up aa tight on their hiada aa la possible. The spectacle of a girl s hair caught In the fingers of a "picker" la one that is not nice to contemplate. Perhaps next on the liat of dangerous occupations at which women are extensively employed la paper box making. Here on aoveral machlnea trte accident average approaches nearly that of the twine factory " picker." Partly becau.se the machines ara operated at a considerably lower rate of siK'ed and because they are neither so large and atrong aa the " picker " the accidiiua that occur In paper bX factories are seldom serious. There Is. however, alwaya the danger here, alao of get ting the hair or loose clothing caught In a whirring wheel or pulley. Occasionally an Item crevpa into the papers re lating a horror of thia nature. Apparently It matters not how long an employe may have worked at a machine, there la alwaya the liability ot the careless moment and the woe that follows. Where a girl each day haa to feed thouaanda of pieces of raper Into a swiftly running machine accidents are Inevitable. Run Risks like linemen. It la not generally known that girls are employed exclu sively to operate the machines that Insulate electrical wire. In this line of work hundreds of thtm find employment and ara constantly In danger of being hurt. The insulating Is done by machinery. The machine that does the work la a contrivance of bobbins and wheels which are a mystery and tangle to the casual observer. When in repose the whole Is a nicely arranged affair with each bobbin covered with dif ferent kinda of the colored thread used In wrapping wires. But when in operation the whole la a blur. So fast do the wbeela revolve that It la absojutely Impossible to distinguish one from the other and the colora blend Into one Indistinct inaaa. Yet the operator must work with the machine run ning at thia epeed and must guide the threads and wires when they go astray or anything gets out of order. To do this It I necessary to atand up all the time. This brines the operator a apron strings on a level with the bobbins A misstep, which would bring her tog vlose to the machine, would mein an accident of a serious nature. These three occupation may be placed at the head of tha list of dangerous work for women in the city. It ts Im possible, for many reasons, to obtain a line on the percentage of accldenta la them, but It la admittedly higher than In any other lines. Whlla there may app ar to be others where the danger Is of a m ire sensational nature au tnv situation brings to light the fact that these take the lead In this un pleasant matter. In fact, any work which brings the girl or woman within reach of the wheels and pulley of a ma chine may bo called dangerous. Accidents to Telephone Operators. Telephone operators sometimes suffer aceld nts from de fective wires or plug In their switchboards. A plug or wire may be dam.igevt In discontinuing a connection, and the next time it is taken up the operator experience a shock Such accidents are sld.uu serious, however. It is only during electrical storm or some serious accident to the wire that the lelt phone girl is In danger. Not long ao ooe girl In a Chicago exohangv lost her hearing and suff.-rvO such a shock to her uervims m in that ahe will probably be a physical wreck for the rt of her life. In view of the recent activity ot holdup men cashiers at ftcvateO station and all nuhl reaiauratit may L m.-tuioned as holdma haaardoua poJMior.a To b bl up at the point of a magasinc uu muat surely come under the head of haiirvla However, a canvass would show that few of th robtwrs' f.niile victim are Injured o it must be sal J that the . Si 1 1 v gn'e !n the close nierliotied are the cms " are u.- l k 1 to urT r from acc. dents. It m.iy be added that a woman I nt.ich m.T I'aN to 'i accident than a man employed in the same cajvacity. -6