INTRODUCTORY
There are no words too noble to extol the courage of mankind in its
brave, uncomplaining struggle for existence. Idealism and estheticism
have always had much to say in praise of the "beauty of toil." Carlyle
has honoured it as a cult; epics have been written in its glory. When
one has turned to and performed, day in and day out, this labour from
ten to thirteen hours out of the twenty-four, with Sundays and legal
holidays as the sole respite--to find at the month's end that the only
possible economics are pleasures--one is at least better fitted to
comprehend the standpoint of the worker; and one realizes that part of
the universe is pursuing means to sustain an existence which, by reason
of its hardship, they perforce cling to with indifference. I laid aside
for a time everything pertaining to the class in which I was born and
bred and became an American working-woman. I intended, in as far as was
possible, to live as she lived, work as she worked. In thus approaching
her I believed that I could share her ambitions, her pleasures, her
privations.
Working by her side day after day, I hoped to be a mirror that should
reflect the woman who toils, and later, when once again in my proper
sphere of life, to be her expositor in an humble way--to be a mouthpiece
for her to those who know little of the realities of everlasting labour.
I have in the following pages attempted to solve no problem--I have
advanced no sociologic schemes. Conclusions must be drawn by those who
read the simple, faithful description of the woman who toils as I saw
her, as I worked beside her, grew to understand in a measure her point
of view and to sympathize with her struggle.
MARIE VAN VORST.
Riverdale-on-Hudson,
1902.
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A MAKER OF SHOES AT LYNN
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