FACTORY WORKERS, DOMESTIC WORKERS, AND MATRIMONY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 231, 23 June 1908, Page 5

FACTORY WORKERS, DOMESTIC WORKERS, AND MATRIMONY.

.- NEW ZE VLAND EXPERIENCE. " A statistician.on the staff of the "Deutscho Dionstboten.Zcitung," a newspaper which devotes itself to the interests of German servants, ha? been collecting data with tho object of proving that of all tho daughters of Eve in . tho kingdom of Prussia' servant girls are tho most sought after as wives. The. results seem to 'bear out tho contention, for of the 309,922 spinsters who achieved marriage in Prussia during the previous year no .fewer than 68,468, or 22.per cent., were domestic servants. From 63,468 there.is'a.big drop to 30,109,. which is the number of brides recruited .;from . ther millinery and tailoring trades. •''Factory, eirls, are a bad third;,in the matrimonial, race, .with 18,115 marriages -rjust over per cent.. Waitresses can only muster 9349 brides, or, roughly 3 per cent., while at tho .bottom of the ladder are shopgirls, typewriters,;and clerks, of wlyim only 5258 y or less than 2 j)er cent., succeeded in making the matrimonial harbour.

. Now one would pxpcot to find that a .domestic servant would make a better wife than a factory or office girl, but/"Dominica" was lately assured by a lady who had a great.mdny friends among both classes that. ; the factory girl is a much more successful home-maker than the girl who has been used to'doing domestic work all her- days.. Tho explanation : given was that the domestic worker is tired to death of the eternal round ' of-' washing dishes, cooking meals, washing dishes again, with the clothes washing, cleaning, and dusting that' have to bo gone through in constant routine. She hates tbe deadly monotony of her task, and oven when she. is working.for her own comfort in her own home the work palls on her. After a life of confinement to tho kitchen, she loves to.be able to go. out and enjoy, herself. Sho finds' tho shops and tho movement in, tho streets' attractive,' and prefers .'excitement rather | than the quiet of a . well-kept homo. To the'factory girl, on the other Eand, the thought of having a homo,of her own is delightful. 'She. has probably .tired of the factory work, tired of being out all day, and a quiet homo.life appeals to her. K She finds a welcome chango , from her . factory work in the household duties. She takes a prido in her - little rooms, and is interested in her now achievements as cook and sewing woman. And she is not always longing for some ex-, citornent. She has tried tho life of the world outside, and while no doubt sho has enjoyed it, she bas had quite enough. In fact, judging from what this authority said, it would be well for most girls to have some business experience before going into homes of their own, not only because of tho training in business methods they would acquire, but because sucb.a course would ra'ako them more contented with their own homes when at last they settled down. • This is a cheerful view for'those interested in factory workers, but | positively painful in the light of those Prussian statistics.'■'■. There seems to be a lot of ;trouble abeadfor some 60,000 odd households in Prassii. . '• . I '.