Confronted with my ignorance of the English language, as I now realized myself, I postponed starting for the medical school in Philadelphia, and, having letters of introduction to well-stationed people in New York, I decided to settle in a two-room home of my own as soon as this could be found, we having concluded to commence housekeeping on a small scale in order to be more independent and to save money.
The week was mostly spent in looking for apartments. On our arrival, I had borrowed from my sister the hundred dollars which my father had given her on our departure from Berlin and which was to be my capital until I had established myself in business. I succeeded in finding a suite of rooms with windows facing the street, in the house of a grocer; and having put them in perfect order, we moved into them on the sixth of June, paying eleven dollars as our rent for two months in advance.
My sister took charge of our first day’s housekeeping, while I went to deliver my letters of introduction. I went first to Dr. Reisig, in Fourteenth Street. My mother, who had employed him when he was a young man and we were small children, had spoken of him kindly, and for this reason I had confidence in him. I found him a very friendly man, but by no means a cordial one.
He informed me that female physicians in this country were of the lowest rank and that they did not hold even the position of a good nurse. He said that he wished to be of service to me if I were willing to serve as nurse, and as he was just then in need of a good one, he would recommend me for the position. I thanked him for his candor and kindness, but refused his offer as I could not condescend to be patronized in this way.
Depressed in hope but strengthened in will, I did not deliver any more of my letters, since they were all to physicians and I could not hope to be more successful in other quarters. I went home, therefore, determined to commence practice as a stranger.
The result of my experiment discouraged my sister greatly. After meditating for some time, she suddenly said, “Marie, I read in the paper this morning of a dressmaker who wanted some one to sew for her. I know how to sew well; I shall go there, and you can attend to our little household. No one here knows me, and I do not think there is anything wrong in my trying to earn some money.”
She was determined, and went. I put up my sign, and spent my time in attending to the household duties and in reading in order to gain information of the country and of the people. Occasionally I took walks through different parts of the city to learn from the houses and their surroundings the character of life in New York. I am sure that, though perhaps I appeared idle, I was not so in reality, for during this time I learned the philosophy of American life.
But our stock of money was becoming less and less. To furnish the rooms had cost us comparatively little as we had brought a complete set of household furniture with us, but paying the rent and completing the arrangements had not left us more than enough to live upon, in the most economical manner, until the first of August.
My sister obtained the place at the dressmaker’s; and after working a week from seven in the morning until twelve (when she came home to dinner), then from one in the afternoon until seven in the evening, she received two dollars and seventy-five cents as the best sewer of six. She brought home the hard-earned money with tears in her eyes, for she had expected at least three dollars for the week’s work. She had made each day a whole muslin dress, with the trimmings. And this was not all—the dressmaker often did not pay on Saturday nights, because, as she said, people did not pay her punctually, and the poor girls received their wages by six or eight shillings at a time. For the last two weeks of my sister’s work, she received her payment seven weeks after she had left.
We lived in this manner until the middle of July, when I lost patience, for practice did not come as readily as I wished nor was I in a position for making money in any other way. My sister, usually so cheerful and happy, grew grave from the unusual work and the close confinement. One of these nights on lying down to sleep, she burst into tears and told me of her doubts and fears for the future. I soothed her as well as I could, and she fell asleep. For myself, I could not sleep but lay awake all night meditating what I could possibly do. Should I write home, requesting help from my father? He certainly would have given it, for two weeks before we had received a letter offering us all desirable aid. No! All my pride rebelled against it. “I must help myself,” I thought, “and that to-morrow.”