et Street to the day's work.

In a building devoted to the printing and sending out of a popular
weekly of the cheaper order, the lower rooms met all requisitions as to
space and proper ventilation.

"We have nothing to hide," said the manager, "nothing at all. You may go
from top to bottom if you will."

This was said at what appeared to be the end of an hour or two of going
from room to room, watching the girls at work at the multitudinous
phases involved, and wondering how energy enough remained after twelve
hours of it, for getting home.

A flight of dark little stairs led up to a region even darker, and he
changed color as we turned toward them.

"This is all temporary," he said hastily. "We are very much crowded for
space, and we are going to move soon. We do the best we can in the mean
time. It's only temporary."

This was the reason for the darkness. Stumbling up the open stairs,
hardly more than a ladder, one came into a half story added to the
original building, and so low that the manager bowed his head as he
entered; nor was there any point at which he could stand freely
upright, this well-fed Englishman nearly six feet tall. For the girls
there was no such difficulty, and nearly two hundred were packed into
the space, in which folding and stitching machines ran by steam, while
at long tables other branches of the same work were going on by hand.
The noise and the heat from gas-jets, steam, and the crowd of workers
made the place hideous. The girls themselves appeared in no worse
condition than many others seen that day, but were all alike, pale and
anemic. Their hours were from 8 A. M. to 8 P. M., with an hour for
dinner, usually from one to two. The law also allows half an hour for
tea, but in all cases investigated, this time is docked if the girl
takes it. Cheap "cocoa rooms" are all about, where a cup of tea or cocoa
and a bun may be had for twopence; but even this is a heavy item to a
girl who earns never more than ten shillings ($2.50) a week, and as
often from four to seven or eight. No arrangement for making tea on the
premises was to be found here or anywhere.

"We mean to have a room," the employers said, "but we have so many
expenses attendant on the growing business that there doesn't seem any
chance yet."

This employer brought his wage-book forward and showed with pride that
several of his girls earned a pound a week ($5.00). But on turning back
some pages, the record showed only fou