To anyone with a taste for dressmaking we undoubtedly recommend the business. We receive intimations continually of good openings for women to establish themselves as dressmakers. We will reply to “Stoke’s” numerous questions in their order. In two years a girl ought to be able to obtain a fair all-round knowledge of dressmaking; but she must be careful to insist on being taught the work of each department, as in some firms there is a tendency to keep a girl at one kind of work only. An outdoor apprentice is not usually asked to pay a premium, but is expected to give services for some little time. The length of this period of free service varies greatly, as much according to the custom of the firm as the ability of the young dressmaker. In any case the outdoor apprentice is not likely to receive more than a shilling or two a week during any portion of the first year. What she would receive at the end of two years is most difficult to foretell, so much depending on the amount of aptitude she had developed in the meantime. The average wages of employees in London dressmaking businesses are, resident fitters, £40 to £100 a year; experienced bodice-hands, 16s. to 20s. a week; ordinary bodice-hands, 12s. to 15s. a week; assistants, 8s. to 10s.; skirt-hands, 8s. to 18s. It is probable that she would have to begin as an improver at 8s. A fashionable and well-paying firm in the West End that is known to us pays its out-workers 11s. to 18s. a week. The maximum fee to indoor hands is £2. Dressmakers’ hours are regulated by the Factories and Workshops Act. The regular day, that is to say, is one of twelve hours, including meal-times. A good deal of overtime is unfortunately worked during the season. An apprentice, whether paying a premium or not, would be expected to work these hours; but it is possible she might be excused the overtime, if special conditions to that effect were made at the time of engagement. We do not happen to be able to recommend a firm of dressmakers in Brighton.
Emigration.—“Will the Australian Agents-General be sending out any more girls from this country to Australia this year, on the same terms as last year? I am a general servant, getting £20 a year. Could I do better in Australia? Do they treat their servants better out there than here? I do not like service, but am very fond of housework and do not mind what I do. Would you recommend the Cape or Canada in preference to Australia? I think many of us girls complain and grumble when we ought to emigrate instead.
“A Would-be Emigrant.”
If it is the conditions of English service that “A Would-be Emigrant” dislikes and not the work itself, we think she might very likely find herself happier in Canada or Australia. The Cape is less to be recommended, as much Kaffir labour is employed there and consequently only very good servants are wanted. Free passages are given to domestic servants of good character between the ages of 18 and 40 who wish to emigrate to Western Australia. Inquiries should be addressed to the Agent-General for Western Australia, 15, Victoria Street, London, S.W. To other parts of Australia there are no free, but some assisted and nominated passages. To Canada there are no assisted passages. The emigrant to Canada should select April as the month in which to leave. Women should communicate with the Women’s Protective Immigration Society, at Quebec, and at 84, Osborne Street, Montreal, if they think of going to Canada. Servants in Canada receive the following wages per month:—Prince Edward Island, £1 to £1 8s.; Nova Scotia, £1 4s. to £2; New Brunswick, £1 4s. to £1 12s.; Quebec and Ontario, £1 4s. to £2 8s.; Manitoba and the North-West, £1 8s. to £3; and in British Columbia—where nurse girls mainly are wanted—£2 8s. to £4.
Employment for Middle-Aged Ladies.—“How can three middle-aged ladies, greatly reduced in circumstances, best obtain a living? They could spend about £30 in preparing for employment, and have an income of £30 per annum. Some persons have suggested that they should take a small house at about £50 per annum, and then let apartments; but these ladies do not feel that they could incur heavy liabilities or have the responsibility of a large establishment. They are educated, and used to keep a ladies’ school.—M. S. S.”
These ladies are quite wise not to spend all they have on the rental of a house, leaving themselves nothing for board or servants’ wages. The profits on lodgers are small and would certainly not cover the expenses of conducting such an establishment for some time to come. In our opinion it would be best for the ladies to separate and to take any posts that they could fill. They should try to obtain some kind of employment in the capacity of matron. Possibly one of them might obtain the matronship of a workhouse, or of one of those homes in which young children are trained. Educated ladies who are equal to doing some housework are much sought after to act as “house-mothers” to small colonies or families of poor children. Matrons are likewise sought for rescue or preventive homes for girls. It is for some occupation of this class that the ladies might wisely offer themselves. If they fail to obtain such posts on immediate application in reply to advertisements, then it would be advisable to spend some portion of the pounds they have by living and working for a few years in one of the London women’s settlements. This is the best advice that can be offered; but the case is certainly both sad and difficult.