Who that has had anything to do with the management of Sunday schools cannot recall some protracted teachers' meeting convened at the beginning of summer to discuss the plans for the children's summer treat? First there is generally a warm discussion as to whether they shall have a treat in the summer at all, or whether an entertainment in the winter would not be better; but when everyone else is thinking of their approaching holidays, it seems hard that the poor little children, particularly those in the back slums of our large towns, should not have one day's enjoyment of the fresh pure country air.
We think a change of air once a year to the country or seaside almost a necessity to the children of the higher classes, but hundreds of poor little creatures, cooped up all the year round in close rooms and narrow alleys, would never have a change of air, nor see the fields and lanes of the country at all, but for the annual excursions which have now become so general in all Sunday and ragged schools.
For children living in the country, who have plenty of fresh air all the year round, and a far larger share of healthy play than falls to the lot of the little ones in towns, there is much to be said in favour of winter treats instead of summer excursions. Being held in the schoolroom, there is not the fear that a storm of rain will damp the children's spirits and spoil their best clothing, and the anxious and responsible teachers are not kept in a constant panic by rumours that a boy has fallen into the river, or a girl is lost in the wood; and last, but by no means least, it is considerably less expensive. But, on the other hand, a very strong argument for the excursions in the summer is that they afford a great, often the only, opportunity for a teacher to become on a friendly footing with the scholars. The lower classes of scholars are too apt to look upon their teachers, either secular or religious, as their natural enemies, only one grade less obnoxious than the policeman, and these holidays give us an opportunity of showing them, by entering heartily into their happiness, that we are their friends as well as their teachers; and, indeed, that religion, of which we are in their eyes the representatives, makes us better able to sympathise with others in everything, their enjoyments as well as their troubles.
In most schools the discussion ends in favour of the summer holiday, and if this conclusion is come to, the next question to be decided is "Where shall we go to?" the details and minor arrangements being usually left to a select committee.
It has been said that if Rome had been built by a committee it never would have become the mistress of the world, and happy the school which has one competent person who will undertake all the arrangements and so dispense with the endless discussion of a committee meeting.
But to return to the question of a desirable spot for the excursion. This is generally a very knotty point, and a unanimous verdict in favour of any one place is as difficult to arrive at as though it were left to the decision of twelve stubborn jurymen. One timorous person puts his veto upon a lace, perfect in other respects, because it is too near the river, and children seem to make a point of getting drowned if within a mile of water. Another has a ghastly tale of tell of youthful scholars, decoyed away by gipsies, when it is proposed to pitch their camp for the occasion in a wood.
In choosing a suitable place the distance should always be considered, as the cost of conveyance is a serious matter to a poor school. Except in large towns, it is seldom necessary to travel far; the convenience of the place is the chief thing to be considered in the selection, for beauty and scenery are not so much the attraction to the children as the novelty of a picnic out of doors and of having a whole day with nothing to do but play. Nothing can be better than a large field, particularly if it contains a few trees, to which swings can be attached; for though in a limited space like a field it is necessary to provide more amusements, the extra trouble is more than compensated for by the comfort of knowing that all the children are safely under your eye and not getting into any of the mischief which children are so expert in finding out. Failing a regular field, we might put up with a common, or wood, or any private park which is open for parties.
One important consideration which must not be overlooked is the chance of obtaining shelter in case of rain. No one who has not suffered it can fully sympathise with the despair a teacher feels who has no means of sheltering the children, on seeing them huddled together during a heavy storm, like a flock of sheep, and looking very minute more wet through and miserable. One experience of this kind is generally quite enough to prevent its recurrence. It is most important that the superintendent, or some other competent person, should visit the place first to ascertain that there is a barn or room that can be used if required. If there is no such accommodation to be had, the best plan is to hire one or more large tents, the comfort of which will be found quite worth the outlay, and as the owner will always send men to put up and remove them, they are no trouble.
In the country, when a field can be had for the purpose close at hand, the greatest difficulty of these summer treats, that of conveying the children to their destination, is avoided, an advantage which country teachers cannot too highly appreciate. Comparatively few schools, however, are so fortunate; but there are contractors to be found in nearly all towns who will provide covered vans at a moderate cost, and most of the railway companies make special arrangements to convey schools at less than half price, so that the travelling expenses need not be so large as is generally imagined. The trouble and anxiety is a much more serious consideration, though if the teachers will all come forward t do their part even that is a very trifling matter.
It is generally arranged to meet at the schoolroom, when the children are divided into small parties, each party being assigned to the care of a teacher, who undertakes to see that they neither get into a wrong train nor are left behind altogether. This arrangement saves the superintendent a great deal of anxiety, and, indeed, if going by train, is almost a sine qua non.
And now, having reached our destination, how are we to amuse our young guests? As usual, the boys are most troublesome to cater for; but we generally succeed in making them very happy by providing some cricket-sets, a large ball for football (the goals have to be improvised on the spot), some bats for rounders, and any other games after which boy-nature is supposed to hanker. The number of each provided depends, of course, upon the size of the school.
In addition, we generally organise some jumping and running-matches, and other athletic sports. The prizes need not be at all valuable. We give simply a rosette of ribbon, which makes the winner proud and happy for the rest of the day, and is a most trifling expense to the school.
For the girls we take balls and a quantity of rope, to be cut up into swings and skipping ropes, both single and long ones; but they are much more easily entertained than the boys, and are usually quite content with different games which do not require any materials providing. Here comes in a splendid opportunity for a teacher who is fond of any kind of natural history to persuade those who are tired of games to notice the different flowers and birds and insects around them, explaining a little about each. It will be found that some of the girls will think little walks with their teacher a delightful change after a surfeit of games.
By the time the children have played for a couple of hours they will probably begin to get hungry. In most schools who go for the whole day no dinner is provided, but the children are expected to take their own; generally, however, their provisions are eaten, if not before their arrival, at least very shortly after it; so that when the proper dinner hour arrives they are very hungry and have nothing left to eat. In anticipation of this, it is customary to give each child in the middle of the day, either a large biscuit and cheese, or a thick slice of bread and butter, on the strength of which they can go till tea-time, which is generally about four o'clock. This meal, being the only one, is an important feature of the day; and the arrangements for it, unless it is contracted for, generally fall into the hands of one of the lady teachers.
When practicable, it is very much less trouble to put the whole thing into the hands of a contractor, who will provide a good tea, with crockery, tables and seats, for about sixpence a head; some of the large contractors do it for less. In consideration of the great saving of trouble and the little extra expense, this plan is much to be recommended.
For the assistance of those who are out of reach of these advantages, and compelled to manage the commissariat themselves, I will give a list of the average quantities supplied for 50 children.
Tea, 1lb; milk, five pints; sugar 4lb, bread, four quarterns; cake, 20lb, butter, 2lb.
If the children have not left home till after their dinner rather less than these quantities of bread and cake will be sufficient; but when they have been playing all day, with only such dinner as they take with them, their appetites become sharpened to a marvellous extent, and this supply will not be found at all too large.
The best time for treats has not been mentioned, but no rule can be given for it; as it must depend upon the convenience of the teachers, their presence in good numbers being of the first importance. Generally speaking, July is the favourite month, because as far as we can judge at all in our variable climate we expect more settled weather then than earlier in the year; there is also the advantage that the hay harvest being over, there is less difficulty in obtaining the use of a field.
Showing posts with label town life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label town life. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Sunday, 27 March 2016
3 April 1880 - 'Etiquette for Ladies and Girls' by Ardern Holt
If "manners make the man" they even more decidedly make the woman, and few gifts ensure greater happiness and affection to their possessor than a good manner.
Now, while all good manners are the offshoot of a good heart, and while kindly courteousness and thought for others are the very kernel of the matter, still there are certain laws laid down which it is necessary to thoroughly understand, and I purpose to set these before my readers. For etiquette and good breeding are not identical though they are twin sisters; for example, it is possible for a foreigner to be perfectly well bred and yet show an ignorance of some details of etiquette.
All the niceties of personal behaviour in regard to eating, drinking, and cleanly habits are learned imperceptibly by children from their parents and guardians, hence it is most necessary that mothers who are unable to have their children constantly with them should ensure innate refinement in the teachers and attendants who surround them.
It is when a girl is old enough to "come out" as the phrase is, and to take a recognised position in the social world, that a knowledge of the code that rules good society becomes necessary. For there is but one recognised code in really good society, although some old-fashioned modes may prevail in other places, and, with old-fashioned people. "Coming out" means introduction to society either at a party at home or by being presented at her Majesty's Drawing-room, or by merely accepting the invitations of friends. When a young lady is "out" her name appears on her mother's visiting card, immediately below her mother's name; or with those of her sister's as one of the Misses _____. An unmarried lad, unless she has arrived at a certain age, does not have a card of her own, nor does she make calls on her own account, as she should certainly not have acquaintances who are unknown to her parents.
Visiting cards should be printed on thin unglazed cards, in as plain letterings as possible in text hand, with no flourishes or any remarkable style of printing, the gentlemen's about half the depth of the ladies' but in cases where there is no mother the daughters have their father's name printed on cards of the usual ladies' size, with their own beneath. Some ladies put their husband's name on their cards as well as their daughters, Mr and Mrs S____ in one line. This is not a solecism, but is somewhat old-fashioned.
The plan of card-leaving is regulated by very plainly-defined laws of etiquette. Cards were originally introduced so that people on whom the calls were made might be aware of the fact even should the servant be forgetful, and when a personal call is made they are never sent in, excepting in cases of business visits where there is no acquaintance, as, for example, in calling for the character of a servant.
If an acquaintance is not at home when she calls, a lady leaves her own card with the names of her daughters upon it, and two of her husband's cards, one for the master and one for the mistress, with occasionally an additional one for the sons If the mistress is at home, on leaving she deposits two of her husband's cards on the hall table. She must neither give them to the servant nor to the hostess. As a rule, the wives do the card-leaving for married men, who rarely call in person.
The right-hand corner of a lady's card turned down means that she intends the call to be on the young ladies as well as their mother. Cards should bear the prefix of their owner - Mrs, Miss, Lady (if a knight or baronet's wife), Countess, or any other title. The only one never used on a card is "Honourable". The Christian name without a prefix is simply a barbarism unheard of in good society, such as "Jane Brown", though young gentlemen, at college and elsewhere, put the name without a Mr".
With card-leaving comes the question of calling. Calling hours are from three to six. First calls should be returned within the week. Calls should be made also within the week after every entertainment, whether it be a dinner, or an "At Home", held either in the evening or afternoon, always assuming that the "At Home' is a party for which invitations have been issued. Many people in London, and large towns, though not, perhaps, the ultra fashionable people of London, have certain days in the week on which they receive their friends, and as the friends who put in an appearance are in fact paying a call, a subsequent call in consequence of being present at such an "At Home" is therefore unnecessary. After a dinner-party it is best to go in if the lady is at home, leaving cards, if preferred after other entertainments Most people on coming to town call on all their friends by merely leaving cards; it is etiquette for those who come to town to take the initiative for, of course, it would be almost impossible for their acquaintance to ascertain when they came. If, when a call is made simply cards are left at the door and there is no inquiry as to whether the mistress is at home, the same plan should be adopted in returning the call. Servants should be trained to remember the distinction. It is a vulgarity under any circumstances whatever to send visiting cards by post. If after an entertainment the distance is too great for a call, it would be best, if you are very punctilious, to write a polite note; but to send cards by post to save the trouble of calling is a breach of good manners.
On leaving a neighbourhood, and sometimes at the end of the season, or going abroad, cards are left with P.P.C., viz., pour prendre conge, or pour dire adieu, written upon them. If young ladies are away from home, and have been accepting hospitalities in the way of dinners and other parties their names should be written in pencil on the card of their chaperone.
in the country old residents call on new-comers, but in London and in towns generally this plan does not hold good, and an introduction is necessary before a call is made. When a call has been made the receivers can continue the acquaintance or not as they please, but first calls are generally followed by invitations from those who make them. Cards left in the case of illness should have the words "to inquire" in pencil on the top. To very young ladies a morning call is often an ordeal they would fain avoid; but this should not e encouraged. If admitted, they, with their mother, would be announced by the servant, and should take a part in the conversation without in any way monopolising it. Supposing other callers were present the can, if they please, enter into conversation with them; their so doing does not require an introduction nor necessitate an acquaintance. A quarter of an hour is enough for a ceremonious call. Neither when other visitors come or go do those present rise; they can, if they please, bend slightly, but that is not necessary.
If the call is made about five o'clock, tea is generally served, and, as a rule, poured out by the lady of the house without ceremony.
When calls are received at home more devolves upon the young ladies of the house; then they are expected to help their mothers in the conversation and in dispensing tea, etc. They can, if they please, receive lady visitors in their mother's absence, but it depends on her approval whether gentlemen are admitted and this is not often allowed if there is but one daughter.
A young lady visiting at a house must use her discretion with regard to remaining in the room when visitors call. It depends whether she thinks her hostess would wish her to do so, and unless she happens to be herself acquainted with the people who come, it would be better, after a short interval, to retire. If visitors call upon her who are unknown to the hostess, as a young lady it would be right for her to introduce them, her chaperone taking the place of her mother for the time being.
A young girl with all the freshness of her youth and the sweet dignity of womanhood has a sure passport into society which secured her a warmth of welcome; it depends on herself whether this grows or is early nipped in the bud.
Fastness and prim sedateness are equally to be avoided; a calm, frank, unembarrassed manner, a sympathetic interest in and thought for others, a habit of saying the right thing in the right place, the power of being a good listener, and of letting the conversation take any turn most agreeable to the speaker, these are some of the component parts of good and pleasing manners. The fault of the age rather runs towards young people assuming too much, being too confident and self-assertive, and too thoughtless with regard to their elders - all essentially bad manners.
People who have at all a large acquaintance should keep a visiting book with the names and addresses of those on whom they are on visiting terms, and a correct alphabetical list of the several members of the family who, in case of an entertainment being given, would be invited. Without this a hostess is apt to forget the number of sons or daughters. A supplementary list in a small note-book kept in or with the card-case saves a great deal of trouble when visits are paid.
Twice a year as a broad rule is sufficient number of times to call on acquaintances, unless they have given entertainments which necessitate card-leaving.
On hearing of the death of an acquaintance, cards should be at once left at the house, and when the relatives feel able to see their friends again they send by hand or post either specially printed cards or their own "with thanks for kind enquiries", which are acknowledged by a call.
Ladies, do not leave cards on gentlemen, unless they have been entertained. After a dinner given to ladies by a bachelor a wife would leave her card with her husband's. Common sense should be exercised in all these matters. The wife of a naval officer would hardly leave her husband's cards on mutual acquaintances when he was at war.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR OF 'THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER':
The importance of attention to rules of etiquette will be admitted even by those whose pressing duties or higher avocations hinder from rigid observance of them. For example, no one would expect the ceremonies of formal visiting from hospital nurses, though some of these are of high and noble families. They are better employed. No one is surprised at their disregard of etiquette, any more than at their now wearing gloves, which they never do. Such exceptions are very different from those made without excuse of duty. We have known good people who, from ignorance, or neglect of rules and usages of social life, cause religion itself to be evil spoken of. They think such things to be "conformity to the world". But the true principle is to be in the world, yet not of the world. The Christian precept, "Be courteous" covers all the innocent usages of society in our time, as it did in the days when Divine illustrations were drawn from the usages of the Jews in their feasts and marriages and other social institutions.
Now, while all good manners are the offshoot of a good heart, and while kindly courteousness and thought for others are the very kernel of the matter, still there are certain laws laid down which it is necessary to thoroughly understand, and I purpose to set these before my readers. For etiquette and good breeding are not identical though they are twin sisters; for example, it is possible for a foreigner to be perfectly well bred and yet show an ignorance of some details of etiquette.
All the niceties of personal behaviour in regard to eating, drinking, and cleanly habits are learned imperceptibly by children from their parents and guardians, hence it is most necessary that mothers who are unable to have their children constantly with them should ensure innate refinement in the teachers and attendants who surround them.
It is when a girl is old enough to "come out" as the phrase is, and to take a recognised position in the social world, that a knowledge of the code that rules good society becomes necessary. For there is but one recognised code in really good society, although some old-fashioned modes may prevail in other places, and, with old-fashioned people. "Coming out" means introduction to society either at a party at home or by being presented at her Majesty's Drawing-room, or by merely accepting the invitations of friends. When a young lady is "out" her name appears on her mother's visiting card, immediately below her mother's name; or with those of her sister's as one of the Misses _____. An unmarried lad, unless she has arrived at a certain age, does not have a card of her own, nor does she make calls on her own account, as she should certainly not have acquaintances who are unknown to her parents.
Visiting cards should be printed on thin unglazed cards, in as plain letterings as possible in text hand, with no flourishes or any remarkable style of printing, the gentlemen's about half the depth of the ladies' but in cases where there is no mother the daughters have their father's name printed on cards of the usual ladies' size, with their own beneath. Some ladies put their husband's name on their cards as well as their daughters, Mr and Mrs S____ in one line. This is not a solecism, but is somewhat old-fashioned.
The plan of card-leaving is regulated by very plainly-defined laws of etiquette. Cards were originally introduced so that people on whom the calls were made might be aware of the fact even should the servant be forgetful, and when a personal call is made they are never sent in, excepting in cases of business visits where there is no acquaintance, as, for example, in calling for the character of a servant.
If an acquaintance is not at home when she calls, a lady leaves her own card with the names of her daughters upon it, and two of her husband's cards, one for the master and one for the mistress, with occasionally an additional one for the sons If the mistress is at home, on leaving she deposits two of her husband's cards on the hall table. She must neither give them to the servant nor to the hostess. As a rule, the wives do the card-leaving for married men, who rarely call in person.
The right-hand corner of a lady's card turned down means that she intends the call to be on the young ladies as well as their mother. Cards should bear the prefix of their owner - Mrs, Miss, Lady (if a knight or baronet's wife), Countess, or any other title. The only one never used on a card is "Honourable". The Christian name without a prefix is simply a barbarism unheard of in good society, such as "Jane Brown", though young gentlemen, at college and elsewhere, put the name without a Mr".
With card-leaving comes the question of calling. Calling hours are from three to six. First calls should be returned within the week. Calls should be made also within the week after every entertainment, whether it be a dinner, or an "At Home", held either in the evening or afternoon, always assuming that the "At Home' is a party for which invitations have been issued. Many people in London, and large towns, though not, perhaps, the ultra fashionable people of London, have certain days in the week on which they receive their friends, and as the friends who put in an appearance are in fact paying a call, a subsequent call in consequence of being present at such an "At Home" is therefore unnecessary. After a dinner-party it is best to go in if the lady is at home, leaving cards, if preferred after other entertainments Most people on coming to town call on all their friends by merely leaving cards; it is etiquette for those who come to town to take the initiative for, of course, it would be almost impossible for their acquaintance to ascertain when they came. If, when a call is made simply cards are left at the door and there is no inquiry as to whether the mistress is at home, the same plan should be adopted in returning the call. Servants should be trained to remember the distinction. It is a vulgarity under any circumstances whatever to send visiting cards by post. If after an entertainment the distance is too great for a call, it would be best, if you are very punctilious, to write a polite note; but to send cards by post to save the trouble of calling is a breach of good manners.
On leaving a neighbourhood, and sometimes at the end of the season, or going abroad, cards are left with P.P.C., viz., pour prendre conge, or pour dire adieu, written upon them. If young ladies are away from home, and have been accepting hospitalities in the way of dinners and other parties their names should be written in pencil on the card of their chaperone.
in the country old residents call on new-comers, but in London and in towns generally this plan does not hold good, and an introduction is necessary before a call is made. When a call has been made the receivers can continue the acquaintance or not as they please, but first calls are generally followed by invitations from those who make them. Cards left in the case of illness should have the words "to inquire" in pencil on the top. To very young ladies a morning call is often an ordeal they would fain avoid; but this should not e encouraged. If admitted, they, with their mother, would be announced by the servant, and should take a part in the conversation without in any way monopolising it. Supposing other callers were present the can, if they please, enter into conversation with them; their so doing does not require an introduction nor necessitate an acquaintance. A quarter of an hour is enough for a ceremonious call. Neither when other visitors come or go do those present rise; they can, if they please, bend slightly, but that is not necessary.
If the call is made about five o'clock, tea is generally served, and, as a rule, poured out by the lady of the house without ceremony.
When calls are received at home more devolves upon the young ladies of the house; then they are expected to help their mothers in the conversation and in dispensing tea, etc. They can, if they please, receive lady visitors in their mother's absence, but it depends on her approval whether gentlemen are admitted and this is not often allowed if there is but one daughter.
A young lady visiting at a house must use her discretion with regard to remaining in the room when visitors call. It depends whether she thinks her hostess would wish her to do so, and unless she happens to be herself acquainted with the people who come, it would be better, after a short interval, to retire. If visitors call upon her who are unknown to the hostess, as a young lady it would be right for her to introduce them, her chaperone taking the place of her mother for the time being.
A young girl with all the freshness of her youth and the sweet dignity of womanhood has a sure passport into society which secured her a warmth of welcome; it depends on herself whether this grows or is early nipped in the bud.
Fastness and prim sedateness are equally to be avoided; a calm, frank, unembarrassed manner, a sympathetic interest in and thought for others, a habit of saying the right thing in the right place, the power of being a good listener, and of letting the conversation take any turn most agreeable to the speaker, these are some of the component parts of good and pleasing manners. The fault of the age rather runs towards young people assuming too much, being too confident and self-assertive, and too thoughtless with regard to their elders - all essentially bad manners.
People who have at all a large acquaintance should keep a visiting book with the names and addresses of those on whom they are on visiting terms, and a correct alphabetical list of the several members of the family who, in case of an entertainment being given, would be invited. Without this a hostess is apt to forget the number of sons or daughters. A supplementary list in a small note-book kept in or with the card-case saves a great deal of trouble when visits are paid.
Twice a year as a broad rule is sufficient number of times to call on acquaintances, unless they have given entertainments which necessitate card-leaving.
On hearing of the death of an acquaintance, cards should be at once left at the house, and when the relatives feel able to see their friends again they send by hand or post either specially printed cards or their own "with thanks for kind enquiries", which are acknowledged by a call.
Ladies, do not leave cards on gentlemen, unless they have been entertained. After a dinner given to ladies by a bachelor a wife would leave her card with her husband's. Common sense should be exercised in all these matters. The wife of a naval officer would hardly leave her husband's cards on mutual acquaintances when he was at war.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR OF 'THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER':
The importance of attention to rules of etiquette will be admitted even by those whose pressing duties or higher avocations hinder from rigid observance of them. For example, no one would expect the ceremonies of formal visiting from hospital nurses, though some of these are of high and noble families. They are better employed. No one is surprised at their disregard of etiquette, any more than at their now wearing gloves, which they never do. Such exceptions are very different from those made without excuse of duty. We have known good people who, from ignorance, or neglect of rules and usages of social life, cause religion itself to be evil spoken of. They think such things to be "conformity to the world". But the true principle is to be in the world, yet not of the world. The Christian precept, "Be courteous" covers all the innocent usages of society in our time, as it did in the days when Divine illustrations were drawn from the usages of the Jews in their feasts and marriages and other social institutions.
Monday, 15 February 2016
31 January 1880 - 'On Earning One's Living - Fruitful Fields for Honest Labour' by S.F.A. Caulfield
"Into what pleasant fields do you propose to lead us?" I think I hear the query from the lips of many readers of this magazine. Here, in this dingy city of ours, the vision of fresh green glades and of strolls between fragrant hedges of hawthorn, clematis, honeysuckle, and eglantine make the heart bound. But alas! I cannot treat all of you to a pleasure exactly like this; yet, although my heading is only metaphorical, some of the plans which I shall suggest for earning your daily read may really lead you amongst these very fields and flowers.
With a hope that a few amongst you may some day find your way out of the noisy streets to a far more agreeable dwelling-place, I recommend you to turn your attention to a new society, called the "Ladies' Association for the Promotion of Horticulture, Food Industries and other Country Pursuits".
To keep bees and make a profit out of their honey - to raise poultry - to keep cows and have a dairy, and learn to make either butter or cheese, or else to take a situation in some great place as head manager of the dairy - to raise flowers for sale at the markets of large towns, or to undertake the charge of conservatories, winter gardens, pineries, and hothouses of all tropical plants - these are the industries which this Society will assist in placing at your service. Of course you will be taught in a thoroughly and scientific as well as practical way, and if you wish to know more of the new College about to be instituted for this purpose, you must make your inquiries at the office of the Society, 22, Berners-street, Oxford-street, London.
But many amongst you may have duties and ties at home, and those homes may be respectively fixed for a long time, if not for life, in London. All the same, there are, even there, charming and varied employments for your industrious fingers.
SCULPTURE IN WOOD
Is most delightful work - classes for teaching it are open to all, and an artist well able to direct the students superintends their labours. The Society of Arts opened the "National School of Wood Carving". You may hear all about the classes at 22, Bernes-street. The tools are not expensive, and if, in addition to skill in using them, you have any taste in designing patterns, you may get work in the trade from upholsterers, or private orders to sculpture panels, brackets, backs of pianos, backs of books, and portfolios, cabinets and picture-frames. There is now an excellent institution opened at 9, Conduit-street, called the "Institute of Art" where any such objects in wood-carving may be exhibited for sale by paying some trifle for their exhibition. I have done much in this most fascinating work, and certainly, as articles for bazaars held for charitable purposes, I never found any other work to sell half so quickly, or to fetch so high a price. Get a carpenter to prepare a piece of box-wood or walnut for you, or procure the kind of pieces you require at a fancy wood-carver's, and then draw your pattern upon it, or paste on a paper outline, and try the first cutting out with a small chisel and mallet. Then, if you find that you like the work, you would do well to join the classes I have named.
But I fancy that
ENGRAVING ON WOOD
Is likely to prove a more profitable business than carving, only it will require very good sight and a steady hand. Title-pages, headings for new chapters, decorative tail-pieces; armorial bearings, mottoes, and names for pasting inside the covers of books; portraits from photographs; facsimiles of sketches and copies of paintings - all these subjects provide work of a lucrative character for those who have learnt this beautiful art. Probably some of my readers will inquire - "Where could I obtain the needful instructions?" You can apply to the Secretary of the Lambeth School of Art, at 122, Kensington-road, should you like to join the technical class of wood engraving established there. But I should forewarn you that to be admitted to these classes you must qualify yourself first of all by obtaining a second grade certificate of the Science and Art Department. There is also a class held at 43, Queen-square, W.C.
Another sister art is
DESIGNING PATTERNS
For paper, for mouldings in wood or plaster, for carpets, for calico prints, for the Indian or African export trade, or for home use, as well as for china-painting. Designers for muslin and Swiss lace curtains can get good employment.
CHINA-PAINTING
Is a means for making a living, or of assisting towards it, which deserves some notice on your part. As an example of what may be gained at this work, I may observe that for a well-painted plate you may earn from twenty to fifty shillings, possibility more. Ladies are engaged in decorative work on stone-ware at Lambeth Potteries, also at several large commercial houses in China and faience painting, and in a lower department at Lambeth many young girls paint stone-ware etc., for which they obtain a fair salary.
At the School of Art, South Kensington, there are instructions given in other branches of art work as, for example, glass-painting for slides, etc., engraving on glass, plain and coloured lithography, colouring of maps and botanical works, fan-painting, tile-painting, and drawing outlines on silk and velvet, for the use of ecclesiastical or other embroiderers.
REPORTING AND SHORT-HAND WRITING
Afford a living to a moderate number of persons. The Government pays a guinea a day for the taking of notes, and a shilling a folio is paid by Law and Parliamentary Committees (72 words in a folio); and when the work is executed out of town, two guineas a day, with travelling expenses.
I have already suggested horticulture as a profession, and now I may propose
AGRICULTURE.
You are not all required to live in the old home circle. As with the birds, the nest will not hold the young when they have grown old enough to build for themselves, and some amongst you may obtain permission to seek your livelihood in France or Switzerland; if so, you have a new field opened before you in those countries. At the Great Exhibition in the Champ de Mars, Paris, there were splendid specimens of all manner of fruit-trees raised by women agriculturists, from all parts of France, growing in great pots, or painted wooden tubs designed for city or garden decoration; textile plants from Algeria and the cloth made from them; and dried and preserved fruits, all women's work. There are no Government schools for this occupation, but in orphan refuges, and under the care of various communities, the business has been taught with great success. Amongst other parts, in the Gironde women are engaged in utilizing the sandy district between Bayonne and Biarritz. In the neighbourhood of Bordeaux there are societies of Farming Sisters and Gardening Sisters, and besides these I may also mention there are women who conduct laundries worked by orphans, by means of steam and all the latest improvements in machinery, and bake-houses also for those who prefer a dry, to a wet sphere for work.
But perhaps the most remarkable of all the institutions for teaching gardening and agriculture in France, and with astonishing success, is the Atelier Refuge of Darnetal, near Rouen, which began with so small a sum as eightpence, and a school consisting of two little girls from a reformatory, and now has more than 300 girls from six years old to eighteen; more than 400 acres of land cultivated entirely by the girls; a large house, infirmary, schoolroom, church, and a garden-house; and is worth no less a capital than £32,000. The two little girls of whom I spoke entreated to be taken back to prison, for they had no home nor friends, and the official lady-visitor, on consulting the chaplain of the jail at Rouen about them, followed his charitable advice to "look out for a room, buy a loaf and a candle - for to-morrow God will provide". And help did come, and by agriculture all these girls have been supported in a great measure, and have learned a way of support for their future lives. They dig, sow, reap, plant, mow, prune, plough, and cart home the hay and corn. Besides this, they spin, wind yarn, make read, butter, and cheese; they understand the cares of cattle, have 100 cows, more than 1,000 head of poultry, 23 horses, etc. I tell you all this to show what young girls can do, and I must also add that, although their hands are rough, they have no coarseness of manner - nothing really unfeminine about them; they are very neat in their dress, and many of them sing very sweetly.
In Switzerland the Government provides courses of lectures on farming and gardening to ladies, and at the present time there are 104 students, from 16 to 30 years of age, attending them; and they likewise teach all kinds of domestic arrangements - preserving, cooking, bleaching linen, etc. There are also similar schools in Denmark and Sweden.
I think I have said enough about agriculture, and may now give you a list of some of the other occupations for women which can be pursued indoors, as many girls could neither leave home altogether, nor possess the strength to bear exposure, even for directing out-door work as head of a farm or garden, nor the muscular power required for any really manual labour.
BOOK-BINDING
Is by no means a difficult business, and much taste may be displayed in the decorative department connected with it. I have tried my own hands on a volume, and think it would prove a fair means of earning some addition to a small income. Some hundreds of women are employed in London at this business, folders and binders earning from nine to twelve shillings weekly, and vellum binders from twelve to fifteen shillings. Ladies might set up an establishment of their own, and procure trade orders.
In the stationery department there is also work for women's hands. Envelope makers are paid from ten to twelve shillings, best black borderers from fifteen to twenty, and in the relief and coloured stampers, from twenty to twenty-five shillings weekly.
PAINTING ON PANELS
Can be very quickly learnt, and at but small expenditure; birds, flowers, and butterflies are the usual subjects selected for it.
MOSAIC WORK
Is another branch of female industry quite worth consideration, of which you might obtain some information at the "Ladies' Self-Help Institute" in Baker-street. I believe that the floor of the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral is paved with the mosaics made by the inmates of some Female Reformatory. But work of a very much finer and more delicate description would be more suitable for you; and if you pay a visit to the South Kensington Museum, perhaps your fancy may lead you to select the formation of pictures and portraits in coloured glass, when you have seen those full-length figures of illustrious men that surround the walls of one of the galleries. Finer work may also be accomplished, such as for inkstands, brooches, etc.
FLOWER-MAKING
Is not necessarily an unwholesome occupation, as care may be taken with regard to the colours employed. Left-handed people work better at this industry than others, unless very expert with both hands. A year's apprenticeship is requisite, and the wages for work done out of the house are from fifteen to twenty-five shillings a week, and in the house from twenty-five to fifty.
FRAME-MAKING AND GILDING
Is a pleasant occupation, and any one wishing for an insight into the work, and to see a woman thus gaining a living, can pay a visit to 24, High Street, Camden-town, where a woman carries on this business and works for the trade.
Yet one more branch of art-work, and I will turn to a different class of employment; I refer to
REPOUSSE BRASS-WORK
For which you may find an opening in a "Rococco" shop. I believe that this is not more difficult than caring in ivory, another delightful occupation, accomplished by very fine instruments and the assistance of a lathe. From the editor of the Women's Gazette (42, Somersetshire-street, Portman-square) you can easily ascertain further information about it.
I need scarcely speak of the schools of cookery and needlework, as stepping-stones to the profession of teacher or the trade of a manual worker, so much has already been written about both. But I will make an exception in the case of needle-work, and that is to draw attention to the great opening there is for
SEAMSTRESSES,
Who will go out by the day at a moderate price - say, at from 2s to 2s 6d, and their board - an ample remuneration. These persons should be able to sew well by hand, and machine; turn or remake dresses; make or mend linen, or do upholstery work; good fitters, and be able to trim a bonnet delicately and with good taste. Such useful workers as these are inquired for in all directions, and few, alas, are the recommendations that can be given.
School teachers, like governesses are increasing in alarming numbers. Do not turn your thoughts in that direction, unless seriously disposed - as I hope some of you will be - to select one or two branches in an educational career that I shall now propose. In the first place, if you are fond of children, the
KINDERGARTEN SYSTEM OF TEACHING
Is not overstocked wit aspirants like the others. A college for the training of students is established at 31, Tavistock-place, W.C. Should you make up your mind to adopt such a profession as a teacher under this system, you must be prepared to pay £20 a year in fees. For the second year, however, you will get some return for your work - if you have succeeded in "qualifying".
The other branch of educational work to which I very earnestly direct your attention is that of
TEACHING DEAF MUTES,
Not by the finger alphabet, nor by the language of signs, but by the wonderful art known as "Lip-reading". If any of you would like to know how a deaf mute can read each word you utter by watching the movements of your lips only, and if you would like to hear those poor little afflicted children utter words in reply to sounds they have never heard from you, and in the distinct tones of their own voices, which they never can hope to hear, I recommend you to write to a lady who devotes her life to the work of teaching some gentlemen's children - all mutes when they come to her - and ask her permission to call, and see how she teaches them at her house in South Kensington (89, Holland-road). This lady (Miss Hull) will give you all the information you would require should you wish to enter the new college instituted for training teachers of the deaf. There is a great opening for them in this country, as well as abroad; and teachers who would go out as governesses for them would be far better paid than any others. But patience is one of the chief virtues - perhaps the most essential of all - that a teacher must bring with her into such a situation. It is so long before the mute can e made to understand what is meant by the first signs that are to lead the way to his learning even the names of the objects he sees, not to mention the far greater difficulty of understanding a conversation, and then of speaking himself.
The
DISPENSING OF MEDICINE
Has of late years been carried on by women, and very suitably so; but whoever undertakes such a profession should possess great steadiness of character, thoughtfulness, cautiousness, punctuality, and presence of mind. She should be very methodical also - in fact, such a position of grave responsibility should not be undertaken without serious consideration as to personal suitability, however competent she may be in point of attainments. To the daughter of a general practitioner, who has a dispensary of his own, training for such a profession would incur little expense, and she might also have facilities for the study of botany in her country walks. Women are by law admitted to the examination entitling them to keep a chemist's shop and practice this calling; and since October last women have been admitted as members of the Pharmaceutical Society.
If you would like to attend the lecture of the "Pharmaceutical Society" you can pay your fees, amounting to £4 4s, and avail yourself of them at their offices, 17, Bloomsbury-square. Both lectures and laboratory course are open to women at the South London School of Pharmacy, 325, Kensington-road, and this is the only place where you may fully qualify for the examination that will enable you to open a dispensary and practice. The expenses for the whole course, which extends over a year, amount to about £15.
I have said nothing of
MILLINERY,
But should at least observe that second-rate workers out of the house can, in the six busy months, make from £1 to £3 weekly, and in the first-class from £30 to £120 per annum. Much money is also made in dressmaking, although so few women appear capable of fitting well. Any ladies, however, who have a fancy for leaning, with a view to profit, or otherwise, should apply to the "Ladies' Dressmakers Association",42, Somerset-street, Portman-square.
There is a ladies'
LAW-COPYING
Office at 12, Portugal-street, Lincoln's-inn, conducted by two ladies, where all necessary instruction is given, and a good engrosser can earn from 17s to £2 a week. After two or three years of training, clerkships may be obtained from £30 to £40 per annum
NURSING
Is a good vocation, and one desiring to devote her life to it will have a large choice of institutions wherein to select her home, with a salary rising up to £50 per annum, food, fire, uniform, and some other perquisites, winding up with a pension for old age. But the fatigue and hardships are great, and many women are unsuited to do more than nurse their own families and relatives.
PAINTING IN WATER COLOURS
Here is a very large field for female labour and art, and it has many branches, such as painting from nature, both figure and landscape; but especially in flower painting do ladies appear to excel. Witness the many choice and valuable examples in the exhibitions of the "Society of Lady Artists", the Grosvenor, and other galleries every year. A very large and increasing demand is also arising for cheap spirited handwork for valentines, birthday and Christmas cards. Miniature painting also offers a wide scope, and now that it is so frequently painted on a photographic basis, that knowledge of drawing, formerly indispensible is not so much required. A lady may easily earn from one to three guineas when she has once mastered the touch required for this kind of work. An immense quantity of photographs are retouched in black and white only, which is nice and comparatively easy work.
OIL PAINTING
Many ladies find it easier to work in oil colours than in water colours, and although the latter is the cleaner of the two, the former has its advantages in greater brilliancy and durability. As regards painting photographs, any one who can paint them well in oil is certain of a very handsome income indeed.
I have but taken a rapid survey of some of the various occupations by which you could spend a useful life, earn a livelihood, or add to the pecuniary means you possess. I trust that while giving but an imperfect sketch of these far-differing fields of women's work, I have said enough to inspire some amongst you to make good use of your head and hands, either for your own support, or for the good and comfort of others.
With a hope that a few amongst you may some day find your way out of the noisy streets to a far more agreeable dwelling-place, I recommend you to turn your attention to a new society, called the "Ladies' Association for the Promotion of Horticulture, Food Industries and other Country Pursuits".
To keep bees and make a profit out of their honey - to raise poultry - to keep cows and have a dairy, and learn to make either butter or cheese, or else to take a situation in some great place as head manager of the dairy - to raise flowers for sale at the markets of large towns, or to undertake the charge of conservatories, winter gardens, pineries, and hothouses of all tropical plants - these are the industries which this Society will assist in placing at your service. Of course you will be taught in a thoroughly and scientific as well as practical way, and if you wish to know more of the new College about to be instituted for this purpose, you must make your inquiries at the office of the Society, 22, Berners-street, Oxford-street, London.
But many amongst you may have duties and ties at home, and those homes may be respectively fixed for a long time, if not for life, in London. All the same, there are, even there, charming and varied employments for your industrious fingers.
SCULPTURE IN WOOD
Is most delightful work - classes for teaching it are open to all, and an artist well able to direct the students superintends their labours. The Society of Arts opened the "National School of Wood Carving". You may hear all about the classes at 22, Bernes-street. The tools are not expensive, and if, in addition to skill in using them, you have any taste in designing patterns, you may get work in the trade from upholsterers, or private orders to sculpture panels, brackets, backs of pianos, backs of books, and portfolios, cabinets and picture-frames. There is now an excellent institution opened at 9, Conduit-street, called the "Institute of Art" where any such objects in wood-carving may be exhibited for sale by paying some trifle for their exhibition. I have done much in this most fascinating work, and certainly, as articles for bazaars held for charitable purposes, I never found any other work to sell half so quickly, or to fetch so high a price. Get a carpenter to prepare a piece of box-wood or walnut for you, or procure the kind of pieces you require at a fancy wood-carver's, and then draw your pattern upon it, or paste on a paper outline, and try the first cutting out with a small chisel and mallet. Then, if you find that you like the work, you would do well to join the classes I have named.
But I fancy that
ENGRAVING ON WOOD
Is likely to prove a more profitable business than carving, only it will require very good sight and a steady hand. Title-pages, headings for new chapters, decorative tail-pieces; armorial bearings, mottoes, and names for pasting inside the covers of books; portraits from photographs; facsimiles of sketches and copies of paintings - all these subjects provide work of a lucrative character for those who have learnt this beautiful art. Probably some of my readers will inquire - "Where could I obtain the needful instructions?" You can apply to the Secretary of the Lambeth School of Art, at 122, Kensington-road, should you like to join the technical class of wood engraving established there. But I should forewarn you that to be admitted to these classes you must qualify yourself first of all by obtaining a second grade certificate of the Science and Art Department. There is also a class held at 43, Queen-square, W.C.
Another sister art is
DESIGNING PATTERNS
For paper, for mouldings in wood or plaster, for carpets, for calico prints, for the Indian or African export trade, or for home use, as well as for china-painting. Designers for muslin and Swiss lace curtains can get good employment.
CHINA-PAINTING
Is a means for making a living, or of assisting towards it, which deserves some notice on your part. As an example of what may be gained at this work, I may observe that for a well-painted plate you may earn from twenty to fifty shillings, possibility more. Ladies are engaged in decorative work on stone-ware at Lambeth Potteries, also at several large commercial houses in China and faience painting, and in a lower department at Lambeth many young girls paint stone-ware etc., for which they obtain a fair salary.
At the School of Art, South Kensington, there are instructions given in other branches of art work as, for example, glass-painting for slides, etc., engraving on glass, plain and coloured lithography, colouring of maps and botanical works, fan-painting, tile-painting, and drawing outlines on silk and velvet, for the use of ecclesiastical or other embroiderers.
REPORTING AND SHORT-HAND WRITING
Afford a living to a moderate number of persons. The Government pays a guinea a day for the taking of notes, and a shilling a folio is paid by Law and Parliamentary Committees (72 words in a folio); and when the work is executed out of town, two guineas a day, with travelling expenses.
I have already suggested horticulture as a profession, and now I may propose
AGRICULTURE.
You are not all required to live in the old home circle. As with the birds, the nest will not hold the young when they have grown old enough to build for themselves, and some amongst you may obtain permission to seek your livelihood in France or Switzerland; if so, you have a new field opened before you in those countries. At the Great Exhibition in the Champ de Mars, Paris, there were splendid specimens of all manner of fruit-trees raised by women agriculturists, from all parts of France, growing in great pots, or painted wooden tubs designed for city or garden decoration; textile plants from Algeria and the cloth made from them; and dried and preserved fruits, all women's work. There are no Government schools for this occupation, but in orphan refuges, and under the care of various communities, the business has been taught with great success. Amongst other parts, in the Gironde women are engaged in utilizing the sandy district between Bayonne and Biarritz. In the neighbourhood of Bordeaux there are societies of Farming Sisters and Gardening Sisters, and besides these I may also mention there are women who conduct laundries worked by orphans, by means of steam and all the latest improvements in machinery, and bake-houses also for those who prefer a dry, to a wet sphere for work.
But perhaps the most remarkable of all the institutions for teaching gardening and agriculture in France, and with astonishing success, is the Atelier Refuge of Darnetal, near Rouen, which began with so small a sum as eightpence, and a school consisting of two little girls from a reformatory, and now has more than 300 girls from six years old to eighteen; more than 400 acres of land cultivated entirely by the girls; a large house, infirmary, schoolroom, church, and a garden-house; and is worth no less a capital than £32,000. The two little girls of whom I spoke entreated to be taken back to prison, for they had no home nor friends, and the official lady-visitor, on consulting the chaplain of the jail at Rouen about them, followed his charitable advice to "look out for a room, buy a loaf and a candle - for to-morrow God will provide". And help did come, and by agriculture all these girls have been supported in a great measure, and have learned a way of support for their future lives. They dig, sow, reap, plant, mow, prune, plough, and cart home the hay and corn. Besides this, they spin, wind yarn, make read, butter, and cheese; they understand the cares of cattle, have 100 cows, more than 1,000 head of poultry, 23 horses, etc. I tell you all this to show what young girls can do, and I must also add that, although their hands are rough, they have no coarseness of manner - nothing really unfeminine about them; they are very neat in their dress, and many of them sing very sweetly.
In Switzerland the Government provides courses of lectures on farming and gardening to ladies, and at the present time there are 104 students, from 16 to 30 years of age, attending them; and they likewise teach all kinds of domestic arrangements - preserving, cooking, bleaching linen, etc. There are also similar schools in Denmark and Sweden.
I think I have said enough about agriculture, and may now give you a list of some of the other occupations for women which can be pursued indoors, as many girls could neither leave home altogether, nor possess the strength to bear exposure, even for directing out-door work as head of a farm or garden, nor the muscular power required for any really manual labour.
BOOK-BINDING
Is by no means a difficult business, and much taste may be displayed in the decorative department connected with it. I have tried my own hands on a volume, and think it would prove a fair means of earning some addition to a small income. Some hundreds of women are employed in London at this business, folders and binders earning from nine to twelve shillings weekly, and vellum binders from twelve to fifteen shillings. Ladies might set up an establishment of their own, and procure trade orders.
In the stationery department there is also work for women's hands. Envelope makers are paid from ten to twelve shillings, best black borderers from fifteen to twenty, and in the relief and coloured stampers, from twenty to twenty-five shillings weekly.
PAINTING ON PANELS
Can be very quickly learnt, and at but small expenditure; birds, flowers, and butterflies are the usual subjects selected for it.
MOSAIC WORK
Is another branch of female industry quite worth consideration, of which you might obtain some information at the "Ladies' Self-Help Institute" in Baker-street. I believe that the floor of the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral is paved with the mosaics made by the inmates of some Female Reformatory. But work of a very much finer and more delicate description would be more suitable for you; and if you pay a visit to the South Kensington Museum, perhaps your fancy may lead you to select the formation of pictures and portraits in coloured glass, when you have seen those full-length figures of illustrious men that surround the walls of one of the galleries. Finer work may also be accomplished, such as for inkstands, brooches, etc.
FLOWER-MAKING
Is not necessarily an unwholesome occupation, as care may be taken with regard to the colours employed. Left-handed people work better at this industry than others, unless very expert with both hands. A year's apprenticeship is requisite, and the wages for work done out of the house are from fifteen to twenty-five shillings a week, and in the house from twenty-five to fifty.
FRAME-MAKING AND GILDING
Is a pleasant occupation, and any one wishing for an insight into the work, and to see a woman thus gaining a living, can pay a visit to 24, High Street, Camden-town, where a woman carries on this business and works for the trade.
Yet one more branch of art-work, and I will turn to a different class of employment; I refer to
REPOUSSE BRASS-WORK
For which you may find an opening in a "Rococco" shop. I believe that this is not more difficult than caring in ivory, another delightful occupation, accomplished by very fine instruments and the assistance of a lathe. From the editor of the Women's Gazette (42, Somersetshire-street, Portman-square) you can easily ascertain further information about it.
I need scarcely speak of the schools of cookery and needlework, as stepping-stones to the profession of teacher or the trade of a manual worker, so much has already been written about both. But I will make an exception in the case of needle-work, and that is to draw attention to the great opening there is for
SEAMSTRESSES,
Who will go out by the day at a moderate price - say, at from 2s to 2s 6d, and their board - an ample remuneration. These persons should be able to sew well by hand, and machine; turn or remake dresses; make or mend linen, or do upholstery work; good fitters, and be able to trim a bonnet delicately and with good taste. Such useful workers as these are inquired for in all directions, and few, alas, are the recommendations that can be given.
School teachers, like governesses are increasing in alarming numbers. Do not turn your thoughts in that direction, unless seriously disposed - as I hope some of you will be - to select one or two branches in an educational career that I shall now propose. In the first place, if you are fond of children, the
KINDERGARTEN SYSTEM OF TEACHING
Is not overstocked wit aspirants like the others. A college for the training of students is established at 31, Tavistock-place, W.C. Should you make up your mind to adopt such a profession as a teacher under this system, you must be prepared to pay £20 a year in fees. For the second year, however, you will get some return for your work - if you have succeeded in "qualifying".
The other branch of educational work to which I very earnestly direct your attention is that of
TEACHING DEAF MUTES,
Not by the finger alphabet, nor by the language of signs, but by the wonderful art known as "Lip-reading". If any of you would like to know how a deaf mute can read each word you utter by watching the movements of your lips only, and if you would like to hear those poor little afflicted children utter words in reply to sounds they have never heard from you, and in the distinct tones of their own voices, which they never can hope to hear, I recommend you to write to a lady who devotes her life to the work of teaching some gentlemen's children - all mutes when they come to her - and ask her permission to call, and see how she teaches them at her house in South Kensington (89, Holland-road). This lady (Miss Hull) will give you all the information you would require should you wish to enter the new college instituted for training teachers of the deaf. There is a great opening for them in this country, as well as abroad; and teachers who would go out as governesses for them would be far better paid than any others. But patience is one of the chief virtues - perhaps the most essential of all - that a teacher must bring with her into such a situation. It is so long before the mute can e made to understand what is meant by the first signs that are to lead the way to his learning even the names of the objects he sees, not to mention the far greater difficulty of understanding a conversation, and then of speaking himself.
The
DISPENSING OF MEDICINE
Has of late years been carried on by women, and very suitably so; but whoever undertakes such a profession should possess great steadiness of character, thoughtfulness, cautiousness, punctuality, and presence of mind. She should be very methodical also - in fact, such a position of grave responsibility should not be undertaken without serious consideration as to personal suitability, however competent she may be in point of attainments. To the daughter of a general practitioner, who has a dispensary of his own, training for such a profession would incur little expense, and she might also have facilities for the study of botany in her country walks. Women are by law admitted to the examination entitling them to keep a chemist's shop and practice this calling; and since October last women have been admitted as members of the Pharmaceutical Society.
If you would like to attend the lecture of the "Pharmaceutical Society" you can pay your fees, amounting to £4 4s, and avail yourself of them at their offices, 17, Bloomsbury-square. Both lectures and laboratory course are open to women at the South London School of Pharmacy, 325, Kensington-road, and this is the only place where you may fully qualify for the examination that will enable you to open a dispensary and practice. The expenses for the whole course, which extends over a year, amount to about £15.
I have said nothing of
MILLINERY,
But should at least observe that second-rate workers out of the house can, in the six busy months, make from £1 to £3 weekly, and in the first-class from £30 to £120 per annum. Much money is also made in dressmaking, although so few women appear capable of fitting well. Any ladies, however, who have a fancy for leaning, with a view to profit, or otherwise, should apply to the "Ladies' Dressmakers Association",42, Somerset-street, Portman-square.
There is a ladies'
LAW-COPYING
Office at 12, Portugal-street, Lincoln's-inn, conducted by two ladies, where all necessary instruction is given, and a good engrosser can earn from 17s to £2 a week. After two or three years of training, clerkships may be obtained from £30 to £40 per annum
NURSING
Is a good vocation, and one desiring to devote her life to it will have a large choice of institutions wherein to select her home, with a salary rising up to £50 per annum, food, fire, uniform, and some other perquisites, winding up with a pension for old age. But the fatigue and hardships are great, and many women are unsuited to do more than nurse their own families and relatives.
PAINTING IN WATER COLOURS
Here is a very large field for female labour and art, and it has many branches, such as painting from nature, both figure and landscape; but especially in flower painting do ladies appear to excel. Witness the many choice and valuable examples in the exhibitions of the "Society of Lady Artists", the Grosvenor, and other galleries every year. A very large and increasing demand is also arising for cheap spirited handwork for valentines, birthday and Christmas cards. Miniature painting also offers a wide scope, and now that it is so frequently painted on a photographic basis, that knowledge of drawing, formerly indispensible is not so much required. A lady may easily earn from one to three guineas when she has once mastered the touch required for this kind of work. An immense quantity of photographs are retouched in black and white only, which is nice and comparatively easy work.
OIL PAINTING
Many ladies find it easier to work in oil colours than in water colours, and although the latter is the cleaner of the two, the former has its advantages in greater brilliancy and durability. As regards painting photographs, any one who can paint them well in oil is certain of a very handsome income indeed.
I have but taken a rapid survey of some of the various occupations by which you could spend a useful life, earn a livelihood, or add to the pecuniary means you possess. I trust that while giving but an imperfect sketch of these far-differing fields of women's work, I have said enough to inspire some amongst you to make good use of your head and hands, either for your own support, or for the good and comfort of others.
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