The mother died soon afterward,
leaving the orphan dependent. Then came the disappointments, one after
another, and finally, the almost inevitable result in such cases, the
fall into the slums and the sweat-shops. By hard work six days in the
week, fourteen or more hours a day, this girl of tender age could make
$4 a week! She had to get up at half past five every morning and make
herself a cup of coffee, which with a bit of bread and sometimes fruit
made her breakfast. Listen to her story:
[Sidenote: Her Own Story]
"The machines go like mad all day, because the faster you work the more
money you get. Sometimes in my haste the finger gets caught and the
needle goes right through it. We all have accidents like that. Sometimes
a finger has to come off.... For the last two winters I have been going
to night school. I have learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. I can
read quite well in English now, and I look at the newspapers every day.
I am going back to night school again this winter. Some of the women in
my class are more than forty years of age. Like me, they did not have a
chance to learn anything in the old country. It is good to have an
education; it makes you feel higher.
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