4 September 1880 - 'The Working Girls of London' by Mrs G.S. Reany, of Reading

I wonder how many readers actually had any real idea about what "temptations" are being referred to below?

The heart of some are strangely drawn today to protect from the sorrows surrounding them, and to win to a more happy and hopeful life, the 40,000 working girls who are to be found in the city of London alone.

The sympathy thus felt has taken practical form in the establishment of houses where board and lodging may be procured at a very nominal charge. Three houses of this description have been opened in the past two years, while we believe one or two others with a similar object have actually been in existence for some long period before. But as the united efforts of all the houses now in active operation would not do more than accommodate some 300 working girls, it will be readily admitted that before the actual needs of the 40,000 are met very much more has to be done.

And who is to do it?*

It must not be supposed that the whole of the 40,000 working girls of London are without good homes at the present time, for many of that number "live at home with their parents" and have no need to take lodgings anywhere. But at the same time there are several thousand who have found their way up from the country, owing to the scarcity of the work there, or because London always presents attractions to the young, who cannot be persuaded, until experience has proved to the contrary, that London wages are not always good, and that you have no need to ask twice before securing just the work you require. And it is for these, many of them young girls in their teens, for whom we would to-day ask sympathy.

After leaning by bitter experience that work cannot so readily be had, and that when obtained it often brings but a low wage, these girls find that they are obliged to keep themselves in board, lodging and clothing on the scanty pittance of 4s 6d a week, not to say anything about a wage which in some cases never exceeds half-a-crown.

This fact necessitates a very low-priced lodging - the half of a bed, probably in a well-packed lodging-house, where the overheated room causes headache and sleeplessness, and has, in time, a most deleterious effect upon the health. But what else can be done under the circumstances? One shilling a week for a bed - and this is, probably, placing it at the lowest cost - makes a large hole in the wage of 4s 6d. Out of the remaining 3s 6d food has to be obtained for seven days, averaging, at least, two meals a day; and some few coppers have to be spared to pay off the debt already incurred for boots or just so much clothing as helps to make the wearer respectable.

We must let down the curtain before the awful temptations which so surely present themselves to girls of this class to enable them to obtain a few additional shillings from time to time to eke out their scanty little income. But, dear sisters in sheltered homes, remember, though we have let down the curtain, the temptations are there, real, painfully real. We spare your eyes, your hearts; but those of whom we write will not be spared; possibly their trial may double what it need be because you know nothing of it, for if you did know, at least you would help them with your sympathy and means, and give them, if nothing else, hope of better things.

We have heard of a mother who, when wishing to bring home to her children their dependence upon others, with the desire to call forth sympathy for those who might otherwise have been slighted and scorned, would say, "Well, now let us consider where all the things you wear came from, by whom they were produced and made just what they are. Now, let us think of what you use, of things which may be but luxuries in your life, but which have come to you through the toil and earnest labour of others." A very wholesome lesson this. Would that more mothers gave it. Were it given with faithfulness in every detail we feel sure the working girls of London would have more of our thoughts and sympathy than the now possess.

I learnt to realise this more one certain evening, in the autumn of '78. I had been invited to give an address at one of the Working Girls' Homes alluded to above, which, because it had been called a home, and not a house (committees learn wisdom by experience), had been held lightly in esteem by those for whom it was intended. A free tea, with the promise of this address, formed evidently a great attraction, for, at the time named upon the ticket of admission, the basement of the house was crowded with just the girls who, until to-night, had passed and repassed the home with scornful indifference. More were waiting outside when I gained the Honorary Secretary's permission to draw off some who had already finished tea to the upper part of the house, where they could inspect bedrooms, bath-room, etc.

Some twenty or more followed me upstairs, quite unconscious that I was "the lady" whose address they were supposed to have come to hear. This gave me a grand opportunity of having a friendly talk with them. They spoke without any reserve, and, after a little while, we sat down in one of the upper bedrooms, and had a regular "experience meeting," but of a somewhat novel kind and character.

"Ah, dear," said one of the saddest-looking of my friends to me, putting her arm round my waist, and giving me a hearty kiss (which I greatly enjoyed, and felt grateful to her for giving) - "ah, dear, if only ladies would give us time, our life would be far less of a drudgery. How many ladies never take the poor dressmaker into consideration when they give their order for a dress to be made! They leave it all until the last moment, and then they are in such a dreadful hurry that poor we have to suffer. If they would but think that we, too, had our lives to live."

"In what way do you mean?" I enquired, a little wondering what explanation she would give to me.

"Why I mean this," she replied. "You know I'm married. Ah! I don't look old enough, do I, but I was but a girl when I settled down. Well, last week my baby was ill. I pay a neighbour to take charge of her, but one morning I left home with a very heavy heart. I longed for night to come to go back to the child. I am forced to go out; if I did not help to keep the pot boiling we should be nowhere. When seven o'clock was nearly come that day my heart was all of a tremble with longing to go back to my Annie - bless her! When in comes our forewoman and says she, 'You'll all have to stay on until that dress is finished. I've just received a note from the lady you are making it for, and she says if not home to-night it will be of no use to her, as she leaves  for the Continent in the morning!' Home that night, and the order had only come in a few hours before! We had to work hard until eleven, and every stitch I put in had a heart yearning for little Annie in it! I had said I should be back soon after seven, and I wondered what the neighbour would be after when she found I did not come. Now if that lady happened just to have known all the circumstances would she not have regretted hurrying us so?"

Of course she would! But how was she likely to know? Only by coming in close personal contact with these busy workers. Perhaps the simplest and the easiest way of doing this would be to attend one of Mrs. Fisher's meetings at 165 Aldersgate-street, held daily from 1 p.m. until 1.40 for these dear girls. Yes! Dear girls, it only needs to know them to care for them, to sympathise with them, and to long to be helpful to them.

We are so apt to forget that they are women as well as workers. That they have their thoughts and feelings, their joys and sorrows, their home life cares and responsibilities. That they are in short what we ourselves would be if the circumstances of our lives were changed, and if instead of being the favoured daughters of well-to-do or wealthy homes, we were the children of the poor who had to work in order that they might eat.

The three homes established in London during the past two years are Alexandra House 88 St. John's-street, West Smithfield; Victoria House, 135, Queen's-road, Bayswater; and Mortley House, 14 Fitzroy-street, Fitzroy-square.

In these houses board can be procured for 4s 6d a week, or, when preferred, each meal may be paid for separately, at a charge of 2 1/2d for breakfast, 6d for dinner, 2 1/2d for tea, or 1d for supper. Each resident in the house has to be 2s 6d or 3s a week for lodging, and she has to also pay for her own washing.

To charge more than the above quoted price would be to close the door practically to just the class of working girls most in need of these houses; therefore, it becomes needful to supplement in some form the income secured by the payment of the girls alone, in order to meet the very heavy outlay of rent, rates, taxes, and coal. And it is to aid in this that an appeal is made to our "English girls" of happier circumstances.

A lady much interested in the Zenana Mission wondered how she could find the means to send an annual subscription to the funds and out of her wonderings grew a shorter train, and thereby the saving of material in her dress, less costly bonnets, and a variety of those small self-denials in dress which do cost a woman something but which may most cheerfully be given to Him who said "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me;" and the result of it all has been the sum of £2 10s a year saved out of personal expenditure on dress, and devoted to the great work of sending messengers of glad tidings to the sad and sorrowful women who people the Zenanas of India, to whom the Gospel of Peace has never been brought.

Gnetle reader, is there no small self-sacrifice you could make in dress, to put within your hands some offering to make the Master Himself, in the form of helping forward the great work of providing comfortable homes - with all that that thought may mean -  for the working girls of London?

Will you seriously think the matter over?

*If all who read THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER would contribute the sum of one shilling, sending it to J. Shrimpton, Esq., 38, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Hon. Secretary of the Working Girls' Homes, a fund would at once be started out of which many new houses might be planted in the neighbourhoods most needing them.

17 July 1880 - 'Nursing as a Profession' by S.F.A. Caulfield

 I am given to understand that many of the readers of this paper are anxious to obtain all the information that can be procured on the subject of nursing, with a view to its selection as their vocation in life. The task of writing an article on this question is one of some little difficulty. Although regarding it as a grand profession, and one supplied with a staff most inadequate in numbers for a population such as ours, I decline the responsibility of recommending it, or of dissuading those disposed to join its ranks. According to the rough calculation made, and that probably under the mark, "to nurse the sick of all England properly, twenty-five thousand trained nurses, officered by one thousand fully-trained lady-superintendents, are required." In such hands with the work to be done could be fairly proportioned.

Before supplying any information as to the schools and hospitals in which the requisite training can be obtained,  the individual qualifications for a nurse should be carefully considered. These may be classed as mental, moral, and physical; each and all being indispensible in a "probationer."

Under the mental and moral she must possess good temper, self-control, patience, punctuality, cheerfulness, and a willing obedience to those in authority over her. Under the physical, good health, good sight, a delicate touch, quickness of hearing, dexterous fingers, cleanliness, and suitability of age. A chronic cough, a heavy tread, a tendency to faint, or to attacks of hysterics, any description of deformity, or repulsiveness in appearance and expression, would disqualify a candidate for permanent employment as a nurse.

Furthermore, it is only fair to those having so arduous a calling in contemplation, to prepare them for loss of rest, painful scenes, and the necessity  for the performance of every office that one human being could perform for another, both to relieve suffering, and to render the surroundings of a sick bed as comfortable and cheerful as possible.

No "fine lady" who calls any charitable service "menial work" should adopt such a vocation. And besides the trial of performing personally repugnant and painful duties, the ill-temper, ingratitude, and fretfulness of her charge must all be anticipated, and accepted patiently, as a part of the sacrifice that a nurse has to make.

Nursing should not be lightly undertaken, nor merely as a means of obtaining a livelihood. A competence, a home, an interest in life, and in some cases a small pension, are to be found by the professional nurse, but certainly not a fortune.

Judging from those whom I have seen or known, they seem to be happy and contented, and even cheerful; yet with a certain amount of gravity, which an intimacy with so much suffering must inevitably produce. But the cheerfulness can be quite as naturally accounted for in the fact that, they are able to assuage that pain, to aid so much in the cures effected, and to comfort the sad and sorrowful. You may now weigh the blessedness of the work against all its trials and self-denials, and then deliberately make your decision.

The profession is divided into three departments - viz., District Nursing, Hospital Nursing, and Private Nursing. Thus the intending nurse has some choice permitted her in the description of work to be done, and the external circumstances with which she would prefer to be surrounded. Beginning with the first-named departments - giving, as I consider, the severest description of work - I cannot do better than quote from Florence Nightingale, when she describes the extra labour incumbent on the "district nurse," over and above the personal attendance / sick. For instance, she goes into a dirty, squalid-looking room, and before she can hope for any change  for the better in her patient, she must "recreate the home," and "show it clean for once; sweep and dust away; empty and wash out the dirt; air and disinfect; rub the windows, sweep the fireplace; carry out, shake, and replace the scraps of carpet; lay them down again, fetch fresh water, fill the kettle, wash the patient and the children, and make the bed." Besides this she must "bring such sanitary defects as produce sickness and death to the notice of the public officer whom it concerns."

Having shown the dark side of the picture, I proceed to tell that the district nurse is well cared for when she returns to the home provided for her, and the pleasant companionship of those who have selected the same honourable profession. I need not enter into particulars, as the intending nurse should visit the several institutions where training is to be obtained. Let her see the home for herself, learn its rules, and take a view of the prospect which would open before her, as a probationer in one of the twenty-two institutions that train for themselves, or supply other hospitals.

The "Institution for Nursing Sisters" in Devonshire-square, is the oldest of the kind, and was established in 1840. It provides no less than 20 districts each with a nurse free of charge, but untrained; and trained ones for those who can pay for their services.

With the "Metropolitan and National Association' for providing trained nurses for the poor (free of charge) I have had some acquaintance, for through the kindness of Miss Florence Lees, late Superintendent-General of the institution, I have inspected every part of the central home in Bloomsbury-square. The four branch homes connected with it are all governed by the same regulations. In these houses candidates reside for a month on trial, and if suitable are passed on to the Hospital Training School, as "nurse probationers," to receive a year's training in hospital nursing. They are then returned to the Central Home to be trained in "district nursing," receiving technical class instruction during a period of three months, when, if found satisfactory, they are entered on a register, and placed on the staff of the association. A member so enrolled is expected to continue in the service of the association for three years, three months' notice being given on either side, should a termination of the engagement be desired. Nurse candidates have to pay £5 on admission to the home, to cover the expense of her board, lodging, and washing during the month of trial.

For the year's training in St. Thomas's Hospital Training School the probationers pay £15 on admission, and £15 after six months of residence and training. For this she will have full board, 1s 6d a week for washing, a uniform dress, a separate furnished bed-room, and the use of a common sitting-room. The instruction is paid for out of the "Nightingale Fund," but in case of dismissal, or of voluntary withdrawal the cost will be charged.

When the probationer returns to the home, after the year's training, she will have to pay in advance £14 for three months' training in "district nursing," class instruction, books, full board, and extras; 2s 6d allowance weekly for washing; a separate room (or compartment), and the general sitting-room. Once fully trained, and on the staff of the association, the nurse receives a salary, payable quarterly, of £35  for the first year, £38  for the second, and so on, increasing by £3 yearly until the sixth year, when it will amount to £50 per annum, in addition to their uniform dress, full board, separate bed-room, washing, etc.

From giving a sketch of the terms on which the candidate enters the "Metropolitan Nursing Association," I will give a general idea of those of other institutions. The age at which a candidate is taken varies between twenty-five and forty. At St. Thomas's Hospital she enters as a "Nightingale probationer," at a rising salary, beginning at £10, with partial uniform; and her services are at the disposal of the committee for a period of four years. Here ladies may be trained on a payment of a £30 premium, and after one year will receive a salary rising from £25 to £50, but they are expected to give their service for four years.

At the Royal Free Hospital (Gray's Inn-road) the nursing is done by the "Training School of Protestant Nurses," of Cambridge-place, Paddington, and probationers begin with a salary equivalent to fourteen guineas, rising to £25. Here they give a three months' training at the rate of £1 15s per week, or £30 for one year. In this latter case they are required to give their services for a period of two years extra.

At the Middlesex Hospital lady pupils are receives for not less than six months at one guinea a week. Probationers begin with a salary of £12, rising to £18 after the first year, and then by £2 yearly up to £26.

At the London Hospital "nurse probationers" receive £12 on admission, rising to £21; but they are not promoted to be "sisters." These latter are educated women entering as "sister probationers," whose salary begins at £25 six months after their admission. Both these and the nurses are required to remain three years in the hospital.

At King's College and Charing Cross Hospitals, probationers receive £15 per annum and their uniform. They are bound for three years' service, an engagement renewable for another three years, with a rising salary. Both hospitals are nursed by the community of "St. John's House," Norfolk-street, Strand. Pupil nurses for district work or other institutions are trained for six months at the rate of £24 per annum. Ladies also are trained for not less than three months at a rate of £50 per annum.

At Westminster Hospital probationers begin with £16 per annum. If willing to pay £52 for their training, they are not required to remain there beyond it.

At University College Hospital nurses receive £16 per annum, and everything found for them.

St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, trains gentlewomen and nurses desirous of qualifying for public appointments, or private nursing for one year. If required by the matrons so to do, they remain for fifteen months. They serve then as assistant-nurses, and are paid at the rate of £10 and uniform. Those who pass this year of probation satisfactorily are entered in a register, and recommended for employment.

The Deaconess Institution and Training Hospital will train women of known religious character gratuitously, if they propose to become deaconesses; and will supply them as nurses to public institutions at £12 per annum. (The Green, Tottenham, N.) These have a branch institution at Mildmay Park, and a hospital at Poplar.

The Institution of Nursing Sisters, in Devonshire-square, supply's Guy's Hospital, where the annual salary of sisters amounts to £50 and dresses, and which has a Superannuation Fund for them.

Nurses are also trained at St. Bartholomew's and other institutions in town, including the Children's Hospital (Great Ormond-street), where lady pupils are received of from 21 to 35 years of age, at one guinea a week; and nurses of from 17 to 35 years at 7s 6d a week, for not less than six months. At the London North-Eastern Hospital ladies are received for training at a guinea a week.

In Edinburgh and Dublin, at Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge, Leeds, Winchester, Leicester, Rhyl, Nottingham, and elsewhere, training is to be obtained.

There are other descriptions of work connected with the profession of nursing, such as, for instance, tending the insane, into which it is not necessary that I should enter in this article. Were I to give my private opinion as to the nature of the work to be performed, in the three departments to which I have referred I should say that "district nursing" was the severest of all; hospital nursing ranking next, in the trying nature of its experiences; and private nursing the least troublesome, allowing, of course, for some exceptional cases.

I have only named a few of the training schools for intending probationers, amongst the twenty-two or more valuable institutions which exist in London or its suburbs. Of the "Bible and Domestic Female Mission" at 13, Hunter-street, of which Mrs. Ranyard was founder, I should have made a particular mention, but that our magazine is especially designed for young people, whereas the nurses connected with this missionary society are required to be nearly of middle age. Still, the young nurse may have this institution in view, as providing a sphere of usefulness for her of a two-fold character in her after life.

Of such a sacred vocation as that of nursing it may indeed be truly said that

"If it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."

5 June 1880 - 'Our Own Schools'

"Lay in wisdom as your store for your journey from youth to age, for it is the only certain possession". So said one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, and the advice is as good now as it was in his day.

Our object in this paper is to show the principal public schools of the country, by attending which girls may lay in this wisdom and prepare themselves for being useful members of society. We shall speak only of schools, and leave those institutions which deal with the higher education of women to be treated another time.

London is the best point to start from, and in London we find a number of schools quite as remarkable  for the excellence of their organisation as  for the thoroughness of the education they afford. There are not so many, it is true, as there might be, but the last few years have witnessed a great improvement, and now that the country has come to realise the value of sound training for "our girls," we may hope to have schools established equal in number, at any rate, to the demand.

We have a model institution, to begin with, in the North London Collegiate School for Girls, established by Miss Buss in 1850, and now endowed by a grant from the trust estate of the late Alderman Richard Platt, administered by the Brewers' Company. Here girls may acquire a thorough education, beginning with plain needlework and ending with political economy. Pupils can only be admitted as vacancies occur, and these are filled up according to the order of application, provided the entrance examination can be passed. The fees are sixteen guineas a year, but pupils entering above sixteen years of age pay nineteen guineas. Pianoforte, harmony, and solo singing are extras, as, indeed, is the case in most young ladies' schools. The number of pupils at present attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls is about four hundred and fifty.

The Camden School for Girls was founded by Miss Buss in 1871, and shares in the same endowment as the North London Collegiate. The pupils number about four hundred, who pay six and a half guineas a year, or four guineas and a half should they have entered before ten years of age.

In both these schools there are several scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes to be competed for.

At Queen's College School, in Harley-street, girls of from five to fourteen years old can receive

London is the best point to start from, and in London we find a number of schools quite as remarkable  for the excellence of their organisation as  for the thoroughness of the education they afford. There are not so many, it is true, as there might be, but the last few years have witnessed a great improvement, and now that the country has come to realise the value of sound training for "our girls," we may hope to have schools established equal in number, at any rate, to the demand.

We have a model institution, to begin with, in the North London Collegiate School for Girls, established by Miss Buss in 1850, and now endowed by a grant from the trust estate of the late Alderman Richard Platt, administered by the Brewers' Company. Here girls may acquire a thorough education, beginning with plain needlework and ending with political economy. Pupils can only be admitted as vacancies occur, and these are filled up according to the order of application, provided the entrance examination can be passed. The fees are sixteen guineas a year, but pupils entering above sixteen years of age pay nineteen guineas. Pianoforte, harmony, and solo singing are extras, as, indeed, is the case in most young ladies' schools. The number of pupils at present attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls is about four hundred and fifty.

The Camden School for Girls was founded by Miss Buss in 1871, and shares in the same endowment as the North London Collegiate. The pupils number about four hundred, who pay six and a half guineas a year, or four guineas and a half should they have entered before ten years of age.

In both these schools there are several scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes to be competed for.

At Queen's College School, in Harley-street, girls of from five to fourteen years old can receive preliminary education fitting them for entering on a four years' course of study at Queen's College. A general idea of the rate of fees may be gained when we state that the payment for a girl under ten is four guineas a term.

The City of London College for Ladies, City-road, Finsbury-square, embraces the whole world of education, from instruction on the Kindergarten system to preparation  for the Cambridge, Oxford and other higher examinations for women. In the senior departments the fee for ordinary class subjects (not extra subjects) is a guinea a term for each subject.

The Burlington Middle-class School for Girls in Boyle-street, Regent-street, was founded as far back as 1723, and has an income of £300 a year. Girls are admitted here at seven, and may remain till they are sixteen years of age. As an example of the scale of fees we may mention that pupils entering the school above ten pay £1 10s a term. AT this school there are two hundred and twenty pupils.

The St Martin-in-the-Fields Middle-class School for Girls is situated in Castle-street, Leicester-square. It was founded in 1700, and is endowed to the amount of about £400 a year. The number of scholars is about one hundred and fifty, who pay the same fees as those at the Burlington Middle-class School.

At Hackney there is Lady Holles's Middle School for Girls, attended at present by about two hundred and fifty pupils. Girls are eligible for admission here at eight years of age, and they may remain till sixteen. The fees per term are  for the general course; lower class, £1 6s 8d; middle class £1 13s 4d; and upper class, two pounds.

Another school for girls of considerable importance is the Haberdashers' Aske's Girls' School at Hatcham. Pupils are admitted here at the age of eight, and may remain till they are seventeen. Instruction is given in the English language and literature, French, German, Latin, arithmetic and mathematics, history, geography, natural sciences, drawing and music, household management and needlework. The fee for tuition is £8 a year.

The Mary Datchelor Girls' School at Camberwell is a school for girls of the middle-class, at which daughters of persons connected with the City of London are entitled to priority of admission. The fees are £3 a term.

We come now to speak of a great enterprise in connection with girls' schools. This is the work of the Girls' Public Day School Company. The object of this company is, by an ample staff of competent teachers, and by employing the best methods of instruction, to ensure for girls an education adapted to their requirements, and as sound and thorough as that now furnished to boys in the best grammar schools. The schools of the company are eighteen in number, and are the means of affording instruction to over two thousand six hundred and fifty pupils. They are situated in different parts of the country, several being in London, and the rest at Bath, Brighton, Croydon, Gateshead, Ipswich, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford and Sheffield.

Priority of admission is given to the nominees of the shareholders, and there is an entrance examination. The fees for pupils under ten are three guineas a term; for pupils remaining after ten, and for pupils entering the school between ten and thirteen, four guineas a term during their whole stay in the school, and for pupils entering above thirteen five guineas a term during their whole stay.

We have now mentioned the leading girls' schools of the metropolis, and may turn our attention to those in regions more remote.

In several of the busy towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire there are excellent public schools for girls. At Bradford, for example, there is a Girls' Grammar School, attended by two hundred pupils. To gain admittance an examination must be passed, varying in difficulty according to the age of the applicant. Pupils may remain at the school till they are nineteen years old. The fees are four guineas a term for those entering under twelve, and five guineas for those entering over that age. The scholarships to be competed for in connection with this school are worth noticing. Amongst them are two of a hundred pounds each, granted to girls who have been in the school for at least three years. The successful competitors must proceed to study at someplace of higher education for women, approved by the governors of the school. There is another scholarship of £50, the holder of which may study either at Girton College or at Newnham Hall.

At Leeds there is a Girls' High School founded in 1876, at which a sound education is to be obtained at a cost of four guineas a term for pupils under ten years old, five guineas for those from ten to thirteen, and six guineas for all over thirteen. Boarders with the second mistress pay fifty-four guineas a year.

Halifax has also a High School for Girls, founded in 1877. The teaching here is on a Scriptural, but unsectarian, basis, and is as sound and thorough as that which boys now receive in grammar schools of the highest class. In the Kindergarten school the fees are two guineas, in the preparatory school three guineas, and in the upper school four guineas a term. Board is charged at the rate of £40 a year.

The Endowed High School for Girls at Wakefield is also deserving of our notice. This school, which was begun in 1878, and now contains about a hundred and twenty pupils, is open to all girls of good character and sufficient health residing with their parents or guardians, or in some boarding-house established under sanction of the governors. An easy entrance examination has to be passed. The tuition fees  for the whole course are £3 6s 8d a term.

Lancashire can boast of good girls' schools, in both Manchester and Liverpool. The girls' school in Manchester was founded in 1874, and is now attended by four hundred pupils, who receive a sound education for four guineas a term in the case of girls entering under fourteen, and five guineas for those above that age.

In Liverpool there are the Liverpool College for Girls, at which the instruction is based upon the principles of the Church of England, and the Girls' School connected with the Liverpool Institute.

At Leicester we have Wyggeston Girls' School, possessed of a more ancient history than most of the institutions we have been considering. True, it was only founded as a school in 1878, but it had existed over three hundred and fifty years previously as a hospital. The tuition fee in the junior departments is, for girls under ten, £1 a term; from ten to twelve £1 6s 8d; above twelve, £1, 13s 4d. In the senior department it is, for girls under fifteen, £1 13s 4d a term; and above fifteen, £2. The number of pupils is now about three hundred.

Newscastle-under-Lyme possesses Orme's Girls' School, attended by a hundred and forty pupils. The fees per term are, for those over fourteen, £1 15s; and for all under that age, £1 8d. Board is thirty guineas a year.

Edgbaston High School for Girls, founded by a limited liability company, and opened in 1877, contains about a hundred and eighty-four pupils. The fees per term are, for girls nominated by the shareholders, between eight and ten, £5 5s; between ten and fourteen, £6 6s; over fourteen, £7 7s. For those not nominated by the shareholders the fees are in each case one guinea a term higher.

In the south of England we have the Southampton Girls' College, founded in 1875 by a limited company. This institution is divided into three departments - the Kindergarten preparatory school for both boys and girls between four and eight years of age, the middle school, and the upper school. The fees per term are, Kindergarten, £2; middle school, lower division, £3; middle division, £3 10s; upper division, £4; upper school, £5.

Proceeding westward, we find a large High School for Girls at Clifton, founded in 1878 by a limited liability company. The girls attending it - and there are at present about one hundred and seventy of them - pay five guineas a term when under twelve, six guineas from twelve to sixteen, and seven guineas above sixteen years of age.

At Exeter there is a High School for Girls, attended by a hundred pupils. This school, which was founded in 1876, enjoys an endowment of about £300 a year. The fees for tuition are £15 a year, and the charge for board - in the case of girls coming from a distance - is £40 to £50.

Plymouth forms the headquarters of a High School for Girls, where there are no fewer than two hundred and thirty-five pupils. The nature of the fees may be judged of by the quotation of six guineas a term for girls above sixteen, when their parents or guardians are shareholders in the limited liability company which owns the school, and a guinea more when they are not. Board is forty to fifty guineas, exclusive of school fees.

Scotland has always held a high place in matters connected with education, and at Edinburgh, in the Merchant Company's Ladies' Schools, we have educational establishment of a thoroughgoing-class. These schools include the Edinburgh Ladies' College and George Watson's College for Ladies, the arrangements in both being precisely the same. The education given includes all the branches usually taught in the principal institutions and boarding schools in the country for young ladies. It comprehends English, French, German, Latin, lectures on literature and science, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, algebra, mathematics, drawing, vocal music, pianoforte, drill, calisthenics, dancing, needlework, cookery. The scholars are divided into three departments, elementary, junior, and senior, and the numbers in each class are strictly limited. The fees  for the entire course are,  for the elementary departments, 12s, 6d a quarter; for the junior departments, lower div £1 7s 6d; upper division £2; senior departments, £2 10s; advanced, £3. Boarders are received by the ladies' superintending both schools.

At the old university town of St Andrew's there is a school for girls established in 1877 by a limited liability company, and now numbering about eighty pupils. A girl here above fifteen would pay eight guineas a term for tuition, and should she be a boarder, thirty pounds additional for board. There is a scholarship of the value of £50 connected with this school, and falling to the lot of the schoolhouse girl who obtains the highest marks in the July examination.

The capital of Ireland has a large school for girls, known as the "Alexandra School." This was established in Dublin in 1873 by the authorities of Alexandra College, an institution at which girls over fifteen can obtain an advanced education. Alexandra School contains about one hundred and fifty pupils, all of whom are between the ages of ten and sixteen The fees  for the course are -  for the senior school, £9 per session, or £3 10s a term;  for the junior school, £8 per session, or £3 a term. Board and lodging is charged £45  for the school year.

There are many schools in England of a denominational character. Of these we may mention, as specially connected with the Church of England, St Anne's School at Abbot's Bromley, where the standard of education aimed at is one that qualifies girls to become governesses or school mistresses, and where they are also trained  for the homely duties of life, to become good accountants and good needlewomen,  and first-rate domestic managers. Other schools of this class are - St Michael's School, at Bognor; the Episcopal Middle School for Girls, at Exeter, now imparting instruction to about a hundred and ninety pupils; and at Leeds, the Parish Church Middle School where from a hundred and sixty to a hundred and seventy girls are taught.

The Primitive Methodists have a Ladies College at Clapham, established by authority of the Conference. Here the fees for board and tuition are thirty-six guineas if the girl is under twelve, and thirty-nine guineas should she be over that age. Music, drawing, German and Italian are extras We may add that there are classes for girls in connection with the Wesleyan Methodist College at Belfast. The fees for that these classes are reduced in all cases where the pupils are sisters or daughters of Wesleyan Methodist ministers.

At Bishop's Stortford there is a Nonconformist Girls' School, established in 171, by a limited company.

Daughters of clergymen and girls whose fathers have been officers of the army and navy, have had several schools devoted to their special service. Clergymen's daughters can go to Casterton, where there is a school, instituted in 1823, and now attended by about a hundred and twenty pupils. The object of its foundation was to enable clergymen with limited incomes to give a suitable education to their children. The charge for board and a complete English and French education is only £18 a year. There are eight scholarships of £30 a year to be competed for, and seventy exhibitions of £7.

Irish Clergymen's daughters may obtain a suitable education at the Irish Clergy Daughters' School, at Dublin.

There is a school  for the daughters of Independent Ministers only, at Gravesend - Milton Mount College. The fees and board are from fifteen pounds a year to thirty-five pounds, the number of pupils at present being one hundred and fifty.

In Queenswood School at Clapham Park, London, and in Trinity Hall, Southport, we have schools  for the education of the daughters of Wesleyan ministers. The former is attended by about sixty-two pupils, the latter by nearly as many.

At Walthamstow there is a school, founded in 1838,  for the education of the daughters of missionaries. The number of pupils is at present about sixty. For those under twelve the amount paid for fees and board is fifteen guineas a year; for those above twelve - and girls can remain in the school til they are seventeen - the charge is twenty guineas.

As to schools  for the daughters of naval and military officers, we have the Royal School for Daughters of Officers in the Army founded at Bath, in 1864. Girls are admitted here from ten to eighteen years of age, by the votes of subscribers, by payment of £80 a year, by purchased nominations of from £200 to £400, according to age, or a pupil may be kept in the school in perpetuity for a payment of £1,500. A liberal education is given of the highest order. There are about seventy pupils attending this school.

The Royal Naval Female School at Isleworth was established in 1840, for educating the daughters of naval and marine officers. Girls are admitted by the votes of subscribers. A limited number of pupils are received at £50 a year. Granddaughters of naval and marine officers are also admitted at this figure, priority of admission always being given to daughters.

We have now gone the round of perhaps the most conspicuous of "Our Own Schools." With few exceptions, it will have been seen, they are of recent origin. Our grandmothers had no such splendid opportunities of becoming well informed, and it is surely not too much to expect that, having such advantages within reach, we will make the best possible use of them.

1 April 1893 - 'The Evils of Hotel Life for Children

Well, this is news for Eloise. And I wasn't quite ready for the sudden swerve right at the end into how privileged working-class children are and how it's time someone thought of the rich children.

In the rush to the South, during this winter, whole families migrate – and it is a never-ending surprise to see how many discomforts and disagreeable these flocks of travellers will put up with in order to obtain the sunshine which they seem to think is unobtainable nearer home.  Of late years the custom of taking children on these yearly expeditions seems to have much increased, and these few notes on the evils of hotel life for children may be of interest to those who contemplate taking their little ones to spend some weeks or months in the Sunny South.  These notes were made during a long stay in many hotels on the Riviera, when I had endless opportunities of observing “the manners and customs” of large numbers of these unfortunate hotel children.

Children, at an age when they ought to be feasting on mutton and rice-pudding in their nurseries are, when on these travels, brought to a table d’hote dinner at least once, and often twice a day, or if not old enough to be promoted to this dignity, are banished with their respective nurses to the far-off regions where maids, couriers and children, have the equally unwholesome fare which their elders and betters are enjoying above.  Perhaps the unwholesomeness of the fare is compensated for in their parents’ eyes by the educational advantages they must gain from the conversation going on around them (In one case the subject under discussion was whether a certain lady – the mother of three children present – had, or had not, any pretensions to good looks!) and from the knowledge that at three or four years old they are cultivating a discriminating taste for champagne – couriers and maids being in this respect almost invariably better served than their masters.  In many cases it is probable that the mother is the last person who will find out of what the children’s dinner consists on these occasions, but surely, if misfortune obliges her to bring her children abroad, her duty would oblige her to see that they were cared for, both physically and men tally.  Rich people travelling with “children and suite” and engaging as often as not the best salons in the house for their private use, are quite awake to the fact that by sending the “suite” (including their children) to dine in company with other “suites”, a perceptible difference will be noticeable in their weekly bill without having themselves suffered any inconveniences from the economy.

A lady having written to the manager of a large hotel to arrange prices for a prolonged stay for herself, her husband, her little girl, and the governess, was surprised to find at the end of the first week that her bill was nearly twice as much as she had been led to expect.  Repairing to the bureau she interviewed the autocrat, who calmly replied, “You desired that your daughter and her governess should dine with you in the sale a manger.”  “Well,” said the lady, “and how does that affect the terms I arranged with you before I came?”  “I took it for granted that the governess and child would dine with the waiters and maids.”  Under these circumstances a rearrangement of terms was clearly the only way out of the difficulty for the amazed and indignant mother.  Were there a few more travelling mothers such as these, it might be worth a hotel manager’s while to add a third “salle”  to his public rooms, viz., a children’s dining-room, such as there is on most large steamers, where a good wholesome nursery dinner could be served to the children and their guardians; where a leg of mutton and simple puddings should take the place of a lunch or dinner of four or six courses, and where the children, at least inasmuch as eating and drinking is concerned, should continue to lead the wholesome life to which some of them are, we hope, accustomed at home.  But as long as parents are content to save a few francs a day at their children’s expense, and are avowedly unmindful of their wellbeing or comfort, why should the manager or owner of a hotel be “plus royalist que le roi.”

Of course there are so many ways in which money must b e spent upon children, that any saving such as we have mentioned must be considered.  The same children who are grudged the money which would secure for them wholesome food in wholesome surroundings are clothed in purple and fine linen for fear of any discredit being reflected on their owners, and there are few more pathetic sights than to watch a little group f smartly-dressed hotel children sent out to play in the garden, and watched not only by mamma and her friends, but also by a jailer or two in the shape of a nurse, who has her eye not so much on her charges as on the clothes of her charges.  “Baby, dear, you mustn’t pick up a stone, o you will soil your gloves – there, put it down, dear, and don’t sit down on the ground;” as baby, deprived of one amusement and thinking, no doubt, that nurse’s attention had now wandered to her brother’s white suit, bethought her of the harmless occupation of sitting down by the side of her little bucket and filling it with stones, scraped up with a diminutive spade, hands being forbidden.  But the white frock was now in danger, and baby was set on her legs and the spade confiscated.  Occupation number two was forbidden, and so it went on.  One thought of the time-honoured legend in Punch when Ethel is bidden to “go and see what baby is doing, and tell him he is not to,” and only wondered how long it would be before the temper of this fairy-like little apparition in white-silk frock and sun-bonnet would be ruined.  A few hours romping in unspoilable Holland smocks would be worth any number of weeks of this so-called “play” to these luckless and trim little mortals.

And how unchildlike they are – shyness is unknown, and they welcome new acquaintances in a manner which would make one smile were it not so pathetic.  To talk to these small people of dolls, or pet animals is to cause them to look at you critically as though they were wondering what manner of person you could be, and what language you were talking.  But ask them about their travels, where they have been, when they are “going on”, how they like the hotel, what they think of the food and the wine, and their tongues are unloosed.  How can they remain children when their lives are stripped of all that makes a child’s life worth living?  And what do they gain in exchange for the loss of a free life?  Not long ago talking to a small boy of ten, who ought to have been at school learning cricket, if nothing else, I ventured to inquire whether he had, during some months’ stay in Italy, learnt much of the language.  He replied that it was entirely unnecessary, whereupon I suggested that as he was to “make his money in business” such he had informed me was his intention – it might perhaps come in useful.  Also, I added, you may never have such a good opportunity again.  “I guess there's no Italian worth doing buzz with in New York, who can’t speak German or English,” he retorted.  These were the two languages with which he had been familiar from babyhood, and with the help of which he intended making his way in the world.  Months spent in France, and months in Italy had taught him not one word of French or Italian.

But so many tales are told of the independence and precocity of American children that one ceases to be surprised at fresh instances of it.

What comes upon us with a shock is to realise that as regards this precocity and unchildlikeness English children are becoming painfully like their American cousins.  In fact we, too, are in great danger of losing our children, and substituting for them these queer little puppets with the manners and tastes of men and women of the world.  What can be expected of a little girl who at three years old is brought down to a long seven o’clock table d’hote dinner, and who, in order to fit her for any gaieties, which may be going on afterwards, demands regularly her cup of black coffee “to wake me up,” as the poor mite explains in her prim little voice.  Night after night during a long stay u/ same roof have I gone upstairs at ten o’clock leaving this white-faced, white-frocked baby, still awake – still chattering among a crowd of grown-up people in the brightly-lighted salons.  Will she ever rest or ever have one hour of wholesome sleep of play.

People talk much of the unwholesome life led by the children employed in the pantomimes at Christmas-time.  The excitement of such a life, it is said, unfits them for settling down in after years to any more monotonous employment, the glamour of the stage blinds them for ever to the interest of ordinary occupations, and their lives are often ruined.  What a valuable comparison might be made between the months of stage life in one instance and the months of hotel life in the other.  In one case the children are taken from poor and cramped homes, they are subjected to discipline and healthy exercise.  Singing and dancing are natural pleasures to children, so that their work is their pleasure.  Their education is continued, in many cases at a theatre-school, whereby unnecessary fatigue is saved, and against these advantages are to be weighed the disadvantages of excitement and late hours.  Yet more advantage must be mentioned.  It is asserted by doctors that in cases of severe illness the theatre-children among the children of the poor have the best chances of recovery – the happiness and brightness brought into their lives doing more towards a cure than anything else.  So much for the months of stage life.  In the second case children are taken from comfortable and specially-arranged nurseries to hotel rooms where space is paid for almost by the inch.  I have heard of a small single room serving as day and night nursery for a nurse and her two little charges for months at a time.

They get, as we have seen, little or no play for their free time is often employed in being taken for excursions which they rarely care about, and which generally overtire and upset them.  Their education is neglected, inasmuch as lessons are given spasmodically instead of regularly.  In the garden, or in the public salons, children are often to be found “doing their lessons” under what, to both child and teacher must be almost insurmountable difficulties, perpetual coming and going, and ceaseless chatter.  At other times the poor little victim may be found fighting alone with French exercises or Latin verbs, while “papa” or “mamma” is having a walk.

Again, would be readers and lovers of quiet are distracted by the patient practising of scales and exercises in the public rooms.  The excitement and the late hours are equally applicable to both cases; but in the second case we must not forget that unwholesome living (especially accustom children to the habitual use of wine) is to be added to these two evils. 

If the months of theatre life strike some people as undesirable, how much more undesirable must the months of hotel life appear.  How will a quiet home life with its ordinary occupations strike girls brought up from infancy in the excitements arising from the public life.  They are blasé at six years old, and accomplished flirts at ten.  What will the discipline of school do for boys whose earliest ideas have been gathered from foreign waiters, valets and hotel managers, and who prefer claret to gingerbeer.

As I write I have in my mind a scene I witnessed only last year, evening after evening, for several weeks.  Between his parents at the dinner-table sat a little boy not yet promoted to knickerbockers.  Solemnly he went through the long dinner, duly demanding a tooth-pick to be handed to him after the joint, and alas! having his champagne-glass duly looked after by the admiring waiter.  Night after night was he carried from the room at the end of dinner, after having vainly attempted to walk alone, and on more than one occasion have I come across him lying half-stupefied on the stairs or fighting violently with the nurse who was endeavouring to get him to bed. 

But enough examples have been given to prove that cruelty to children may take a form which cannot be dealt with by any society, but which may yet effectually destroy the present happiness, and ruin the hereafter of many of the children who are supposed to be living in the lap of luxury.  “Charity begins and ends abroad,” is the nineteenth-century version of the old saying that “Charity begins at home”.  Much thought and more money are expanded in schemes for the wellbeing of the “ne’er-do-weel” and to be thoroughly wicked or thoroughly disreputable is to possess the “open sesame” to all the good things of this world.

Meanwhile much thought as to the welfare of many of the children of these same charitable folk is an impossibility – the poor demand all one’s time.  Children who happen to be the property of poor or improvident parents clearly deserve the first consideration.  These children are to be forcibly taken from the sphere into which, as we used to be taught in an old-fashioned catechism, “it has pleased God to call them” and to be boarded out or received in institutions where they will have a happy and child-like education, together with a liberal allowance of toys and cakes and holidays in the country or at the seaside.  The wherewithal to provide all this for other people’s children is generally asked for in “the name of your own little ones”.  So while on the one hand the lot of the children of the “masses” is being made every day more happy and luxurious, while endless new schemes are forthcoming to relieve their parents from all responsibility connected with them (for the mere fact that such and such parents possess more children than there is any possibility of being able to keep alive, let alone clothe and educate, is the surest passport to the favour and the purse of these sentimental beggars of other people’s goods); on the other hand the children of the richer classes seem to be every day less considered.

The children of the lowest classes are eagerly sought for, and to pay for their maintenance and education is fast becoming a fashionable craze.

The children of parents well-off, from a monetary point of view, often have far less thought and no more care expended on them than these little arabs.  Once more it must not be forgotten that unless the welfare of the latter is looked after by their lawful guardians it will be looked after by no one.  In this respect they are decidedly worse off than the former.

No – the children of the well-to-do are equally dependent on their parents, and surely a very little thought and a very little experience would prove that if the children of the street must have their toys, and their games, and their “child-like life”, so also ought the children of the well-to-do, who are now so often defrauded of their childhood and made old and terribly wise by the publicity and unwholesomeness of their lives.  Hotel life, above all else, kills child-life as surely as the hot-house kills the wild roses.
 

1 June 1889 - 'Our American Sale and How We Worked It' by T.B.W.

TL;DR (although as the banner image for this blog points out, there was no such thing in The Olden Days): an 'American Sale' is a jumble sale in which the donated goods are sold directly to the poor of the local parish, the proceeds of which sale go towards continued work for the good of said poor.

To those whose lot it is to work among the poor in London or any large city, it becomes a very pressing problem – How, with strictly limited resources, are we to meet the constantly increasing demand for aid in cases of sickness or poverty?  I am sure that all who do work of this kind – district visitors, Sunday-school teachers, and others, of whom there are many among the readers of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER – have often wondered how they are to meet the demands made upon them. The visitor – the “visiting-lady” – as the poor call her – when she goes her rounds, finds that the cases of sickness or want caused by the bread-winner being out of work are, as a rule, far more than the slender monthly allowance for relief will enable her to help as she would like to do, and she feels that it is very hard to have to go on in the work without enough of money to supply the sick and needy. And then in every parish and district there are sure to be very deserving objects in want of funds. The “Mothers’ Meeting” may be in debt; the Sunday-school library may sorely need some new books; the Temperance Society may find it hard to make both ends meet; the day schools may want help of one kind or another. It does not always do to look to the same people over and over again for support, and it is always desirable to extend the circle of money-givers, and make all who possibly can help in good works.

An “American Sale” provides a most excellent method of raising money, and it has the advantage of drawing it from other than the ordinary sources of parochial revenue; and the poor have a direct interest in making it a success, as the larger the receipts are they directly or indirectly benefited.

Now some of my readers may naturally ask, “What is an American Sale?”  Well, the answer, shortly, is this: - An American Sale is a sale of all kinds of clothing, household requisites, furniture, carpets, etc., etc., which are contributed by kind friends to be sold to the poor of a parish. I do not mean new articles, but the clearing out of wardrobes and houses of many things which their original owners would never either wear or use again, but which prove very acceptable to their poorer neighbours. Why this should be called an “American” sale I know not; perhaps the idea originated there; but the scheme is a most excellent one, as our experience will show. It has been tried, I believe, in several places with very great success, and it is with the idea of making its usefulness more widely known, that I venture to describe it in this article. Some people may object, and say that the poor are not likely to buy these kind of things, or that it is only in certain places that it may succeed. All I can say is, just try it, and if your district is anything like the one I have in my mind, where our experience is gained (a parish within ten miles of London), I do not think you will find it fail.

Let me now describe how we set to work, and what success attended our efforts. First and foremost, it is necessary to get someone to act as secretary, who must be exact and methodical in the work; it will not do to go about it in a slipshod way. We were most fortunate in securing the services of a gentleman who entered into it most zealously and systematically. A committee of ladies, nearly all district visitors, was then formed to collect articles for the sale. Then a circular was drawn up by our secretary, stating the things most likely to sell well, and this, as you will see, was a most exhaustive one. Here is the substance of it. It began by stating that an American sale would be held on such a date, and in such a place, and requested contributions from friends of any of the following articles:

“Upper and under clothing for men, women and children, especially cloth clothes and flannel garments, socks, stockings, collars, scarves, handkerchiefs, gloves, neckties, boots and shoes (especially women’s and children’s slippers), hats, caps, bonnets, bed-linen, table-linen, umbrellas and parasols, pieces of floor-cloth and linoleum, and carpet in strips (if not too large to be sent in a parcel), mats, rugs, curtains and fittings, articles of furniture if in fair repair (but not large ones if sent from a distance), perambulators, bedding, and blankets; toys of all kinds, children’s picture books, Christmas, birthday and other cards (if not written on), pictures in frames or mounted on cardboard; razors, scissors, smoking pipes, purses, etc., etc.; crockery, china, glass (but not jam pots or ordinary bottles), old dinner, breakfast, and tea services, or parts thereof (but crockery and brittle goods should not be sent from a distance), hardware, kitchen utensils, brushes etc., kettles and scuttles, but these should all be in good repair (leaky saucepans are of no use); knives, forks, spoons, etc. N.B. – Iron or other heavy goods and very bulky things should not be sent from a distance. Small contributions of money will be gladly received from those members of _____ Parish and congregation who are unable to help in other ways.”

Such was the circular we sent out, and I think the reader will admit that it was of a fairly exhaustive character, and that there are few households which could not furnish some articles, useful or ornamental, to place upon the stalls.

In most places it would not be difficult to get together enough articles to attempt a sale, at least on a small scale.

When we had sent out our circular a reasonable time was allowed to elapse, and then the exact date was fixed. The next question which arose was with regard to the tickets of admission. We found that the poor in all the districts were very ready and willing to secure them. At our first sale we had two classes of tickets; those at twopence admitted the holders in the sales half an hour before the holders of tickets at a penny each; but we found after the first experiment that this did not answer, and we have since then only issued tickets at twopence each, and opened the door to all at the same hour. These tickets were bought up most eagerly by the people; the only restriction to the district visitors (through whom the tickets were sold) was that they should not sell them to any persons who had shops for the sale of “old clothes”.

A few days before the sale the things begin to come in, and they are received by various kind friends in the parish, who take care of them until the day of the sale.

When that important occasion arrives, the heterogenous collection of goods, consisting of all kinds of clothing, carpets, books, pictures, crockery, ironmongery, lamps, etc., which had been sent to the various centres, was collected and brought to the parochial schools, where the sale was held. This was done early in the day, and then the various stallholders came and commenced the work of pricing those things which were allotted to them. To this they were guided on the first occasion by an experienced hand in these matters, but the sellers quickly learned what the things were worth. As a rule to each stall we appointed two or three ladies and one or two gentlemen, whose duty it was to protect the sellers when the rush came. We generally divide our goods among the following stalls:-

1. Men’s clothing
2. Women’s clothing
3. Hats, bonnets and umbrellas (at this stall remember to have a looking-glass)
4. Fancy articles (this includes pictures, books, ornaments, toys, etc.)
5. Carpets and curtains
6. Crockery and china of all kinds
7. Ironmongery
8. Underclothing for women and children, and men’s collars and ties, etc.
9. Boots and shoes of all kinds
And last, not least, a refreshment stall where for a penny a cup of tea and biscuits or cake could be procured. This stall was very fairly patronised when our numerous clients had exhausted themselves and their purses, and met together to discuss their bargains.

These various stalls were ranged round the walls of the school rooms, and in front of them a stout barrier of timber and rope was fixed to prevent the crowd getting in the way of the sellers. It was found desirable to secure the services of two stalwart policemen, to prevent a rush at the first opening of the doors, and to watch over the proceedings generally.

Our hours were from 5 to 8 p.m., and, as we always hold the sales upon a Saturday, it seems to answer very well, it has never, however, been of so long continuance, as we are generally pretty well cleared out in a little over an hour. When the moment of opening draws near, every stallholder has to be at the post assigned to him or her. The moment the doors are opened the crowd, which has assembled outside some half hour previously, comes in with a rush. Like eagles upon their prey they swoop down upon the stalls, and the sellers have at first a very warm time of it.

The stalls which are at once most fiercely attacked are men’s clothing, women’s clothing, and the carpets. The last named is generally cleared out in about half an hour, which leads us to suppose that we, as a rule, price these things too low. Around a fairly good bit of carpet the battle of the purchasers rages very fiercely, and those whose duty it is to protect the fair saleswomen have no easy task of it. The rush on the men’s clothing stall is also very great, and in a marvellously short time it follows the example of the carpet and curtain stall, and the sellers are free to help others. It is quite a novel experience for those who are accustomed to ordinary bazaars, where every effort has to be made by the stallholders to attract oftentimes unwilling purchasers, to find themselves surrounded by a crowd who are only too anxious to buy, and whom it is necessary to repress in order that those who are not first in the field may have a chance of getting something.

The stall for hats, bonnets and umbrellas often affords no small amusement, and the looking-glass has a busy time of it, as all who try on the hats or bonnets must have a look to see how they suit the would be purchaser’s style of beauty. Among the men’s hats we found that silk hats were always a drug in the market; the British workman does not seem to care for such things, and often very good hats would not be taken on any terms. Felt or soft-cloth hats went very fast, but it is a curious thing that it was very difficult to find one to fit the working-classes. In almost every case the hats sent in by gentlemen were much too large. Whether this is due to a superior education and more reading, or not, it is hard to say, but in dozens of instances we found this was the case.

The boot and shoe stall is one which is much patronised; the articles there are often of a very miscellaneous kind, including wading stockings (sent in by some enthusiastic salmon fisher), dress boots, pumps, slippers, shooting boots, etc. Here there is apt to be a considerable congestion of purchasers, as it takes time to try on the boots, and it is necessary to have some space round the stall and some chairs or forms near at hand.

The ironmongery does not, as a rule, find so many customers, nor do we generally get in so many articles for this department, the reason being, I suppose, that while the things are fit for use, the owners do not part with them, and after that, it is not easy to find purchasers for a saucepan which, although it may be very clean and bright looking, yet refuses to hold what is put into it; and the same remark applies to kettles, coffee pots, tea urns, etc.

The refreshment stall generally gets a good many supporters when the people have spent what they have on clothing, for then they repair with their very miscellaneous bundles to refresh themselves with the harmless cup of tea, and to discuss their purchases before carrying them off in triumph.

It takes usually about two hours to clear out our stock, and at the very end of that time empty stalls and weary stallholders are to be found. We made a rule that no small children (except those in arms) should be admitted, but somehow this rule gets broken, and in the rush in at 5 p.m. we find that the wary mothers often manage to bring in a small boy or girl with them, and the sad boy or girl as often gets temporarily lost in the crowd, but quickly is brought back to the mother by either the kindly policeman or one of the staff of helpers.

So much, then for our sale, and its various incidents. Now it may be asked what profit is likely to be made by such efforts? That depends, of course, very much on the resources of the place, and the number of kind friends who will help in the matter of sending in articles for sale. There need be no fear of not getting buyers if the thing is properly made known in the parish. Ours is probably a very typical parishof which there are hundreds about London and any other big town, and we find the people most eager to purchase tickets to admit them, and ready, only too ready, to buy when they get there. There aer in every household heaps of things which the owners do not need, and which must be got rid of some way, and as a rule we have not found any difficulty, if the work is begun in time, and sufficient notice of the sale given (say three months or thereabouts) in getting articles sent in. The expenses need not be very heavy. Printing is the chief item, and the necessary help in getting the room ready on the day of the sale, and hte hire of, say, cups, etc., if the parish has not got a supply, as most parishes have. The expense of police and a mean to take tickets at the door complete the list, except where the carriage of articles has to be paid, but this will not always happen.

We have had three American sales, and we find that the net profit of these, after the payment of all expenses, comes to 118 pounds. This sum was taken from the people themselves, in a parish of under 8,000 in ten months!

Almost all of this money went back again to the people in the shape of extra relief, to the district visitors to meet cases of sickness, and to deserving people in misfortune. Some of it was given to mothers’ meetings, some to school repairs, and all, as I have said, to the direct benefit of the working people. It would not be wise to attempt these sales more than twice a year; there were exceptional reasons for our having had three in one year.

I hope what I have said in this paper, in calling attention to this means of raising money to help the poor, may be useful to some interested in that work, and that they (if they attempt an “American Sale”) will meet with the same success as we have done. 6

15 May 1880 - Female Clerks and Book-Keepers (Earning One's Living)

As the G.O.P. was pitched mainly at the middle-class demographic, its readers were strongly encouraged to make themselves useful and busy - in accordance with social standards of respectability and femininity, of course. In this article the author (who is unnamed, sorry, the G.O.P. does this a lot) concisely outlines the above occupations, and how one goes about obtaining a position. Note the reasons cited for engaging young ladies in this kind of employment: namely it's cheaper than hiring men (who have an annoying tendency to leave for better paid positions once they get married and have families to support) and women by their self-sacrificing and self-effacing nature, are less likely to fiddle the books at their employer's expense.

To employment either as a clerk or book-keeper, no one can raise any objection on the score of its being unfeminine. It is respectable to work that we may be independent, and a girl may ju8st as well go every day to write letters and keep accounts for some business establishment as sit at home to add up the housekeeping book or act as her mother’s amanuensis.

Already there is a certain demand for women as clerks. When the last census was taken in 1871 there were five hundred and fifty-two of them engaged in connection with commercial business in London alone, and the attention directed of late years to occupations for women must have tended largely to increase their number. Indeed, we may look for some very interesting and encouraging statistics on this head when the new census comes to be taken next year.

One advantage connected with the occupation of a clerk is that it does not require a special education. It is, therefore, particularly suited to those to whom circumstances have denied the careful training required for other pursuits. What is wanted is a good ordinary education and punctual and orderly habits. Plain neat handwriting is indispensable, and no clerk is anything else than a sorrow to her employers who cannot copy correctly. Accuracy, then must be a special study. The ability to write a short letter, saying neatly what we wish to say, is another requisite. An ill-composed, ill-arranged epistle, beginning with a blot and ending with a scribble, will never do for business. It must be clear and to the point, carefully written and neatly folded – there you have in a nutshell the whole art of correspondence.

These, certainly, are not difficult attainments.  But in this very case with which we can qualify ourselves for ordinary clerkships, there is something unsatisfactory. It throws the occupation open to almost everybody, and in consequence we find each vacancy besieged by crowds upon crowds of applicants. Only one can be successful, and all the rest must turn away, often very sick at heart, to try elsewhere.

To meet this difficulty we would suggest to these girls who think of taking their place at an office-desk, that they should try to add to those every-day qualifications enumerated above, some special branch of knowledge. Short-hand, for example, would greatly increase one’s chance of obtaining a situation, and a girl knowing French or German would attract favourable notice from all employers worth serving. By knowing French or German, we mean ability to read and write these languages fluently, and not that slipshod knowledge by which we painfully spell out passages by the aid of a dictionary.

A girl possessed of these additional accomplishments would obtain much higher pay than one without them. It is a rule, with few exceptions, that what is easily acquired brings small remuneration, and it is a great encouragement to the industrious to know that in proportion to their labour so will be their reward. So then, my friends, if we are to be clerks, let us be the best possible clerks, striving to know everything that will make us more useful to ourselves and other people.

The routine of an office is usually simple, and a clerk seldom has any worry or trouble, except what she makes for herself. With pleasant companions to associate with in the intervals of business, she may be very happy, a great deal happier, indeed, than leading an aimless existence at home.

Omitting for the present the postal and telegraph services, there are some establishments in London which employ considerable numbers of young ladies as clerks. Foremost amongst these is a well-known Assurance Company, whose staff may well be referred to as a model of careful organisation. The young ladies employed by this company must be the daughters of professional men, clergymen, doctors, officers in the army and navy, merchants, and of similar social grade. Their comfort is well attended to, and much kind forethought seems to have been shown in everything connected with them. Their hours are from ten in the morning till five in the evening, with an hour between one and two for luncheon. Luncheon is provided in the building – and well provided, too – as the exact sum which it costs. When it is over there is time left for a walk. On the streets? Oh no; on the roof. The roof has been fitted up as a promenade for the young ladies, and there, on a pretty extensive exercising ground, they can enjoy the fresh air and have interesting views of the slate mountains and volcanic chimneys of the neighbourhood, whilst in the distance Hampstead hills may be seen on a clear day.

There is a library filled with interesting books for those who care to read, and for the musical a singing class is provided, meeting at regular intervals. Both are largely taken advantage of. The news of the day should be well understood, for each young lady takes a newspaper home with her every second day, one newspaper being allowed every two.

And what about the work? That is much the same as falls to the lot of insurance clerks in general. It contains nothing at all intricate, and for its execution requires nothing but ordinarily ability and extraordinary accuracy. The examples of accuracy we saw on the occasion of a recent visit were such that if our living depended on our furnishing similar specimens, we would entreat you, girls, to allow of our retiring on a pension into private life.

The salary begins at £32 a year and rises by stages of £10 till at the end of a few years a young lady finds herself in the enjoyment of £100 or so of annual income, after which she will, no doubt, be content.

There can be no question about the fact that the young ladies like the employment and that the experiment of employing them as clerks has in this instance – thanks, no doubt, to judicious management – been a decided success. This Assurance Company began, in 1872, with the employment of ten young ladies, and their staff now includes no fewer than one hundred and seventy.

Over young men young ladies possess several advantages as clerks. For the same salary you would not get such a respectable class, and it is a doubtful point whether you would get the same amount of steady application. Women, again, as a rule, are more happy and contended; a man must in the nature of things be pushing ahead, and after he has been three or four years at work, he is pretty sure to be marrying and settling down and so requiring a larger income.

A considerable number of young men are employed in the office of which we have been giving an account, but with them the young ladies never come into personal communication. So far as meeting is concerned, they might be a hundred miles apart, the two divisions of clerks even coming into the building by separate entrances.

Another establishment in the metropolis where women are employed as clerks is that of the printers of the Post Office Directories. The experiment of employing young women was begun here quite recently, and the result has been so satisfactory that a handsome room has been built, capable of accommodating forty clerks, and is now quickly filling up. The success of this experiment, we learn from the Committee of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, is in a great measure due to the good sense and earnestness of the lady superintendent and to the good conduct of the two clerks who first learned the work with her in her own private rooms. Everything is done throughout in the most methodical manner; no talking is allowed, and each clerk goes steadily on with her work, which is too varied to become monotonous.

Railway companies have in a few instances engaged young women as clerks, and provided them with occupation at country stations. We are not, however, sure that a railway booking-office is the right place for a girl. On the Continent, no doubt, it is a common field for women’s work, but our ideas of modesty and retirement are against it.

Banks present more suitable openings, and we should be glad to see these institutions throwing open their doors to young women of intelligence and capacity. There is a demand for this class of labour also from large warehouses and private counting-houses, and though, as we have said before, every vacancy has a host of applicants, one candidate has as good a chance as another; and to keep from applying because we are not certain of success would be nothing short of ridiculous.

Allied to the occupation we are now speaking about is the business of copying petitions, law copying, and engrossing. “This work,” says one authority, “may be taken by the piece, and can be done at home, provided the strictest business habits of neatness, punctuality, and dispatch can be maintained there. I have heard, however, of a single erasure condemning a whole deed, and except in cases of necessity such work is far better done in an office.”

We believe there is an office in London where girls may be entered for the study of the art. The apprenticeship should begin whilst they are young, for the special qualification of a clear, round legal hand is difficult to acquire after the ordinary running hand has been once formed.

For engrossing – which means the writing out of deeds in full and regular form on parchment or paper for signature – good eyesight is required and one must have a precision and delicacy of touch not unlike that needed for illuminating. In point of remuneration it is not a brilliant occupation. When business is brisk a good write can earn £2 a week, but there is a slack season, which brings down the average weekly earnings of the year to about seventeen shillings and sixpence.

We come now to speak of book-keeping. To be a good book-keeper requires much more preliminary training, and study than would be needed to qualify for a clerkship. Not that the mere mechanical work of book-keeping is at all difficult; it is in thoroughly comprehending why this and that is done that the real difficulty lies. An adult book-keeping class was started some years since by the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, the place of meeting being the office of the Society, 22, Berners-street, Oxford-Street. The first step towards entering this class is for the student to bring recommendations from two householders guaranteeing her thorough steadiness and respectability. In cases where the student has just left school, a letter from the mistress or her latest school report is required. No one can be admitted to the class who does not write clearly and neatly, spell correctly, and work accurately the first four rules of arithmetic, simple and compound.

The course if training ordinarily extends over four or five months. During that time students are instructed in all the mysteries of single and double entry, besides which, every effect is made to fill them with a high sense of responsibility, and teach them to be punctual, orderly, and earnest in the discharge of their duties. Training over, then comes examination by a competent authority and the granting of certificates. Only those are allowed to go up for examination whose conduct in the class has been satisfactory and who have shown a desire to do their work conscientiously. During the year 1878-79 this class was joined by fifty students, and certificates were granted to twenty-five candidates, all of whom gained at least seventy-five per cent of the maximum marks.

After having taken all this preliminary trouble, the chances the young book-keeper has of succeeding in the world are just what might have been expected. In the annual report of the Society we are informed that “book-keepers who have gained certificates almost invariably retain their situations with credit. It is often difficult to obtain a first situation, for practical experience is generally required; but in this the certificate is a great help, as it forms a good introduction and is a guarantee of efficiency and respectability. When she has once made a fair start, a certificated book-keeper is seldom unemployed.”

The number of book-keepers and clerks for whom the Society was fortunate enough to find permanent employment in 1878-79 was eighteen.

A certified book-keeper generally received in her first situation about fifteen shillings a week; after that the remuneration is from about eighteen to twenty-five shillings or its equivalent. If meals are provided, of course less is given. There are a few exceptional cases in which the pay is higher, but the holders of these situations are usually able to speak or correspond in foreign languages. The occupation of book-keeping is a highly responsible one. Upon the care and accuracy with which its books are kept depends the prosperity of many a business establishment. In not a few instances, bankruptcy even has been traced to no other causes than the keeping of an insufficient set of books, and the keeping of these badly.

When the duties of cashier are united with those of book-keeper, the preference is often given to women over men. And why? It has been found by experience that women are, as a rule, more trustworthy than men, and that they are less likely to be found making free with what is not their own. One reason for this is, perhaps, that they are, generally speaking, exposed to fewer temptations in the way of spending; but we hope that a deeper reason will be found in their superior sense of rectitude and their more self-sacrificing devotion to duty.

4 October 1884 - 'How I Keep House on £250 A Year' by Mary Pocock - Chapter 1

 Vol.6 of The Girl's Own Annual contains a series of essays by Mary Pocock, a regular contributor to the paper during this time, outlining in careful detail how she runs her small middle class household, consisting of "two ladies and one gentleman, all young, and all water drinkers" (remember the GOP was published by the Religious Tracts Society and was therefore fairly pro-temperance) and two servants both under the age of twenty. In this first installment of a twelve-part series Mary Pocock outlines her annual expenditures and sensibly opines that yes indeed women should worry their pretty heads about financial matters, and gives a brief breakdown of inland revenue. She explains that as far as her household is concerned, the convenience of two servants - there's always someone there to answer the door, for example - is worth the expense, she prefers having young servants - the "girl" is fifteen years old and earns £5 a year - and they get meat or at least eggs on Sundays. She concludes with a sample of a typical weekly menu (I can't decide what breakfast option horrifies me more, cold bacon or stewed eels) and a rundown of the weekly grocery bill.

Seriously, anything you could want to know about the day-to-day running of a small urban middle-class household in this era is here in twelve chapters, pretty much. 

To see all chapters of this essay, click the 'How I Keep House on 250 A Year' tag.

When I commenced housekeeping it was not with the idea that to be a housekeeper it was only necessary to know something of cooking, and be able to order a dinner. I had definite notions of what it was most profitable to buy, etc., but as much of my knowledge was theoretical, I had a great deal to learn practically and though, of course, no one person's housekeeping could exactly suit another, I hope that my experience may be of use to those who, like ourselves, have but limited means, but who do not mind taking a little thought and trouble about their arrangements in order to have a really well-regulated house.

I must premise that we are three in a family, two ladies and one gentleman, all young, and all water drinkers; we rent a small house (of which the landlord does the repairs) in a suburb of London within four miles of Charing Cross.

We keep two servants, the elder is twenty, the younger fourteen or fifteen years of age. When I began housekeeping I debated with myself as to whether we should have one or two. One would be more economical, but then we like to dine late, to have our dinners nicely sent up, and to be waited on at table, and we should neither of us cared to have stayed in or answered the door when our domestic went out; so I decided that my economy should be exercised in some other direction, where it would interfere less with our comfort, especially as I calculated that with two servants I could have all the small things and the table napkins, kitchen cloths, etc., washed at home and so reduce the laundress's bill considerably besides saving the linen. How we do the washing I will tell my readers in a future article.

The question of servants decided, I took a pencil and paper to make an estimate of our probable expenditure, doing my best that the items should be commensurate; but there were so many things to put down, that the task was not an easy one, and I am sure that many will be surprised at the number of things that have to be paid for besides food. The following is a copy of my estimate:-

Rent, per annum - £40 / 0 / 0
Inhabited house duty - £1 / 10 / 0
Parish rates (rated at £35) - £7 / 10 / 0
Water rate - £1 / 16 / 0
Pew rent - £3 / 0 / 0
Fire insurance on furniture, etc. - £0 / 10 / 0
Gas - £4 / 0 / 0
Coals - £9 / 0 / 0
Wages, cook - £14 / 0 / 0
Wages, girl - £5 / 0 /0
Entertainments - £12 / 0 /0
Extra expenses during the summer holiday - £12 / 0 /0
Wear and tear on house linen and crockery - £3 / 0 /0
Charities and subscriptions - £5 / 0 0
Newspapers, periodicals, stationery, etc - £2 / 14 / 0
Chemist - £2 / 0 / 0
Fifty-two weeks' board and washing at £2 8s. a week - £124 / 16 / 0

Total: £247 / 16 / 0
Balance for sundries - £2 / 4 / 0
TOTAL - £250 / 0 / 0

It will be seen that clothes have not to come out of the £250, which, however, covers all other expenses. There is nothing put down for medical attendance; all I can say is that should we be unfortunate enough to have illness in the house we must that year do without entertainments; and perhaps it even might happen that we could not all take a summer holiday.

It would appear from my figures that scarcely any margin is left; this is not quite the fact, for there is a sum put down for entertaining, but there is no reduction made for our being out sometimes, so that, in truth, I always have at the end of the year a small balance from the £2 8s. put down for board and laundress.

With regard to the second, third and fourth items in my list, I often hear ladies say, "Oh, I know nothing about rates and taxes". But why know nothing about them? A housekeeper should know everything connected with her house, and be able to tell whether the charges are right or not; they are, too, like most things, very easy to understand when once explained.

The inland revenue, generally called "Queen's" taxes, are collected once a year. They are: - the income-tax, which is so much (variable from year to year) in the pound on the rent, and has to be paid by the tenant, but the rent being the landlord's income, he is bound to allow the tenant, on the production of the receipt, the amount back out of the following quarter's rent. The inhabited house duty, which is always ninepence in the pound on the rent, is the the tenant's tax.

These two are paid by every householder; the others are special, such as a horse, carriage, using armorial bearings, under which head comes crested notepaper, or wearing a ring with a crest on it, licence to keep a dog, etc.

The next are the parish rates. Houses are generally rated somewhat below the rental, except in cases where the rent is below the value of the house; this frequently happens where have been for a long time in a house and the neighbourhood has improved; the house is then assessed at the fair value. The parish rates are collected twice a year, and vary a little; all particulars are given plainly on the papers themselves with the rateable value, and anyone who will read them through will find no difficulty in understanding them.

The rates vary very much in amount in different towns and parishes, being much higher where there are many poor; then, too, some country towns and parishes have special tithes and rates. The water rate is collected twice a year, and is four per cent, on the rateable value, with an extra charge for special services.

Some of the water companies know give particulars on the back of their accounts, from which one may easily calculate what the bill should be.

My readers must now see that they will altogether have five tax or rate papers sent them every year.

I always have young servants. I do not at all mind having to teach them; when I engage a fresh servant for the kitchen I inquire if she likes cooking, which is of far more importance than the little she may chance to know; the same with the younger servant. I would not take one who did not like waiting at table, for I find it is almost impossible to teach them things they do not care for. With young cooks I find it answers best to tell them how to do things, making them repeat to me the instructions, so as to find out if they have really understood me; then in a week or two, when they may be supposed to have mastered some of the rudiments of cooking, I lend them recipes and I must say that I very rarely have anything spoilt.

As account book I use Letts's "Housekeeper enlarged". This contains a tradesmen's summary, by which I am able to see how much each article of consumption has cost during the year, and to know on what I may spend a little more or must spend a little less the next year. It also contains a register for gas, taxes, etc. I enter my receipts and expenditure daily, and have no sundries; everything is put down separately.

I go down into the larder every morning directly after breakfast and see what is required, but I do not then say what will be for dinner, for I always go to the shops, see the meat and other things weighed, and pay for them. By doing this I am sure that I am better served. I do not say that the butcher actually charges me less, but that he trims the meat better, so I have not so much skin and bone to pay elevenpence a pound for. The reason for not ordering dinner before going out is that prices vary very much from day to day, and though one might like to have chickens or salmon, either would do as well on a day when it was plentiful as when it was scarce and consequently dear.

I have no bills except the milkman's and the baker's, and these I pay weekly. There is a basket hung by the back door, in which are two books, one for the baker, the other for the milkman. In these they write down daily the bread and milk taken. I look through them every week and by them check the weekly books. On my return from marketing I go to my store cupboard (in which I always keep a white bib-apron and a pair of gloves) and give out what is needed for the day.

Though I have a store cupboard with a great variety of things in it, so as never to have to send out for anything, I do not keep large stores. Storerooms sometimes lead to a great deal of extravagance - people are so apt to forget the cost of what is in the house. I know a housekeeper who, to be economical, orders her grocery in large quantities once a quarter from stores. I think she would be astonished if she calculated how much it cost her a week. She is careful in most things, but, having it in the house, she does not think whether it is better to give sago at 2 1/2 d. a pound for kitchen puddings, or Rio tapioca that cost 6 1/2 d. a pound; and so with many other things.

I am frequently asked what I "allow".  I order in certain quantities of things, and I expect them to last; but I do not ever say to a servant that I "allow" so much, and if they asked me for a little more of anything, if they were on the whole careful, I should give it. I neither allow beer nor beer money, but sometimes I have been asked for a little coffee. I give out every Saturday, for the two servants, two pounds of moist sugar and half a pound of tea; out of this they often bring us up two cups in the afternoon. They have a pound of butter a week, as much treacle as they like, and usually we all eat from the same cheese; soap, soda, matches, wood, etc., are also given out each week. We use about a third of a pound of yellow soap (exclusive of washing) a week, and a bundle of wood has to light two fires.

I neither allow meat breakfasts nor suppers in the kitchen, excepting Sunday, when they have eggs for breakfast, or at any time that I want something finished. They frequently have soup or such vegetables as marrow or haricot beans for supper. I find they like it, and it costs no more than cheese. Baked potatoes and stewed onions also make good suppers for them.

The following list of our meals for a week will give an idea of how we live. There is no gentleman at home to lunch; we are not great meat eaters, and often prefer soup of pudding to meat in the middle of the day. It is the rule that whatever soup or pudding is made for the kitchen dinner comes upstairs first, whether we want it or not. This is done to insure its being made, and being properly made, for sometimes cooks are negligent over kitchen cooking, and badly made things are probably wasted.

On Sundays we always have a joint and dine early. The servants dine after us.

SUNDAYS:- Breakfast: Fried cod and boiled eggs. Dinner: White onion soup, roast leg of mutton, cabbage and potatoes, baked apple dumpling, small water melon. Supper: Sardines, stewed spinach, and home-made tartlet.

MONDAY:- Breakfast: Sardines and curried eggs.  Midday dinner: Cold mutton, potatoes, treacle pudding. Late Dinner: Whiting, pudding, some slices of underdone mutton fried in paste and breadcrumbs and served with tomato sauce and mashed potatoes, boiled lemon pudding.

TUESDAY:- Breakfast: Fried bacon and remainder of sardines served on toast. Midday Dinner: Pea soup, cold mutton and potatoes. Late Dinner: Haricot beans stewed in gravy, roast fowl, boiled bacon (piece of flank) and cabbage, ground rice souffle.

WEDNESDAY:- Breakfast: cold bacon. Midday Dinner: Baked haddocks and potato pie made with the remains of the cold mutton. Late Dinner: Palestine soup, chicken croquettes (made of the pickings off the fowl bones), beef olives, potatoes rubbed through a sieve, macaroni cheese.

THURSDAY:- Breakfast: Cold bacon and remainder of croquettes or beef olives made hot. Midday Dinner: Pudding made of neck of beef, ox kidney, and Jerusalem artichokes. Late Dinner: Soles au gratin (with mushrooms), roast ribs of beef, stewed carrots and potatoes, fried jam puffs.

FRIDAY:- Breakfast: Stewed eels. Midday Dinner: Potato soup, cold beef, and baked potatoes. Late Dinner: Boiled haddock and egg sauce, cold beef, salad, and potato balls, baked currant pudding.

SATURDAY:- Breakfast: Fishcakes (made of the remains of the haddock and egg sauce), and eggs au plat. Midday Dinner: Remains of the beef stewed with carrots, potatoes and onions, bread pudding with plums in it. Late Dinner: Macaroni soup (made from the beef bone, etc.), scrag of mutton, haricot, pancakes.

I must append the result at the end of the week. I regret that space does not allow me to give the copies of my bills in detail, so I must give the totals.

Butcher (and fowl) - 17s. 6d.
Fishmonger - 14s. 2d.
Eggs - 1s. 6.
3/4 lb. fresh butter - 1s. 1 1/2d. 
1/2 lb. cooking do. - 0s. 7d. 
1 lb kitchen do - 1s. 2d.
1/2 lb. kitchen tea - 0s. 9d.
2 lbs. kitchen sugar - 0s. 5d.
1/2 lb. tea - 1s. 0.
3/4 lb. coffee, 9d., 2 oz. chicory, 1d. - 0 10d.
Milk bill - 2s. 3d.
Bread - 3s. 6d. 
Flour - 0s. 7d.
Bacon and cheese - 3s. 0d.
Greengrocer - 3s. 6d.
Used from stores, grocery, etc. - 2s. 8d.
TOTAL - £2 4s. 6 1/2d. 

Add to this three shillings to be paid the laundress for things sent out, and the readers of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER will perceive that at the end of my first week I had 5 1/2 d. in hand out of the £2s. 8s. allowed for housekeeping.