48 HISTORY OF THE WHEEL AND ALLIANCE. 



HOW IT IS IN AMERICA THE SEWING GIRL'S PROTEST. 



The striking girls of Minneapolis recently held a mass 

 meeting, which was presided over by Mrs. B. S. Marble, 

 president of the local suffrage society. About 2,000 

 people were in attendance. On the back part of the stage 

 hung several garments made by the girls and the prices 

 paid for the same in St. Paul and by the firm for which 

 they had been working in Minneapolis, as follows: 



ST. PAUL. MINNEAPOLIS. 



Shirts, - - 6 cts. 



Pants, - - 12 " 



Overalls, - - 5 ." 



Blouse, 



Blouse Shirt, - 



Shirts, - 9 cts. 

 Pants, - - 14 j^ " 



Overalls, - - 6 u 

 Blouse, 6 " 



Blouse Shirt, - 6 u 



The condition of the miners in some of the mines, if 

 possible, is more deplorable than that of the farmers. 

 Harpers Weekly of June 16, 1888, in describing the 

 coal mines of Pennsylvania, has this to say about wages 

 and life of the miners: 



"Wages are very low in the coal regions. Laborers 

 receive from 60 to 80 cents per day. Year in and year out 

 for the last ten years, during which time the cheap 

 foreigners have been coming to this country in great 

 numbers, the average daily wages for a common laborer 

 has probably not been more than 70 cents per day. With 

 the stopping of work very few laborers make more than 

 $12 per month, the year round, and a third of this must 

 go as rent for the shanty. Bight dollars a month is very 

 little in the expensive coal regions for food, clothes and 

 medicines. 



1 ' There is many a miner who goes without dinner day 

 after day, and who tightens his belt when noon comes. 



"A piece of fresh meat is a luxury for holidays, and 



