The San Francisco call. [volume], June 30, 1907, Page 16, Image 16

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
ONLY IN BELGIUM ARE WOMEN
STILL THE HEAVY TOILERS
SOCIETIES for the advancement of Vonja.nhood
could find abundant work In Belgium.'
Today, the land or King Leopold .Is perhaps
further behind the times' In treatment of the
gentler Bex than any other country of Europe.
Here woman still does the manual: labor of the
land, as she once did it all over the world. The voice
of progress, whose modern note Is spelling emancipa
tion everywhere else, has not yet sounded for the
woman of the little strip of land 173~miles v by 112 that
rejoices in the name of kingdom.
The Belgium woman is the nation's farmer, miner,
laborer and mechanic. \u25a0' She tolls from dawn till sun
«et at the heaviest kind of work, and none pities or
makes an appeal for her.
The little country, of whose existence she is the
cornerstone, Is one -of the most densely populated in
the world, and every square mile- of territory must
support .485 persons. That it is able -to! do 'so is only
frecause of the Industry, the slavish willingness of the
"women of the country to do the kind of work from
irhich other nations have freed them.
The soil of Belgium is well adapted Jto agriculture.
The once impassable morasses of- «he Morlni and the"
Menapii have been drained" and .converted into fertile
fields, surrounded by dense plantations. ' A system of
canals helps the Scheldt and the Maas in their work 'of
Irrigating the land,, and .the variations of climate
from very hot summers to extremely cold winters give
advantages for they production ofwaried farm stuffs
that are denied to the neighboring country,of Holland.
But the seed sown by nature would never be reaped
it the work of doing it were to be left to man.>
M The population of the country, some 7,000,000, is
olvldea luto the -proportion of three rural dwellers to
one who lives In the city, and probably-the same pro
portion, three to one. would show trfe number of
women and children as against men who -toil in the
Selas.
Centarles of habits have made man regard the Bel
gian woman as a natural, wage earner. If lie is in-,
dustrlouß o« i works in the factory, while she goes out - '\u25a0
*^? d^ r i?5 et *.£" far , m Produce that is eaten on his table
when there is a surplus sold. . \
'^£ O iEifL W £ la *? *?£ old think nothing of working a"
XJI-"*.* 07 i n **,? flelds - where wheat, barley, rye.
**&&*& SS-iff&ff* Plants and chicory are pre- -
S^iSSiiiESPf dd # 8 « of ?5 res dev <>te<i to vineyards, wherp .
vwh? dS^h^k^v' b , u K. not tamous wlne ' it is women :
w«. cf , the , work ', and tne gourmand who &,
N^^^sssaisifssfif^ the ' women of :
NiSIM Jmiii " ™ a y «•«».\u25a0 thejrare actually miners.
xSliSSra^w»h d h™ S jf hp always, been a matter. of-
Xw^fd i^ih* umani tarians. that in 'order that- the
\thlv^ m nf™« up^ ll s ed ,-Y ithicoal ' men m »st do all
Vhe^angerous work incident to mining and scttinc it
T V} C^ a rt«cles have beln wrHten ' < •
n f®r s °*>mking shafts.^ of blasting;the coal . *
sfhl iS.?^'*, 1 6tate , wit] } dynamite, of getting it to
>^he shafts and- carrying it to the. surface. - *" -
Xfl»»stv n U^ 11 i eS °i thc v breaker boys, who sit in itlie - :
VbufwiS« ii*SS« c ?l! fuson of the lofty ' ramshackle :-
X.befo?f th^ lns U thc sl »te from the coal- as: it- moves
X» sad «w»^i i^ n f hut^ s> lias often Veen painted- as -
N^SiThi J«»i- 'iOlli 011 andmis ery that has gone far to .
t . he rl c ° *J miners support ,ln, their various conten- , -
belr cr "P°ycrs-over thequestlonof -wages. ..^
y w and then some accident/a cavein, an»ex- ; -»
\ZLf Was i h .? ut> -directs attention to the dangers ; • \u25a0
f^#?^^ 6 tS^^* nd ?^ ?ln^fenantr*n'd^^
LPL PU t bUc .£ orces legislatures to t pass, laws in . \u25a0-..-.
VO G man WUh thG Pi ° k ! cv = r y P° ss J ble •• '
this country ,the miners who are •'\u25a0•"subject "of- 1 so \u25a0 •
solicitude arc men, but, in: Belgium :;the saipV^;,
Wnsers pnvationsand exhausting; work-are the por- -H
won' Of.-woman. »\u25a0 ... \u25a0 .« S'-^v *T- ";'•
all the Belgian mines;women^work'atHhe^suri%
:e# h , andI e;<sOal,'push ; wagons and do the ? work that - .
boys accomplish in the United States.. In:aom«^v
tno mines they are not permitted toVgo below ."-the *\u25a0!
ace, but in others they.', actually compete \u25a0 wlth'the".].* %
"roiale^ miners: \ .-\u25a0 \u25a0 :-.^ l -/ \u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0„\u25a0''\u25a0-:\u25a0"\u25a0. .-,.'.•• £':"'\u25a0' •-,-.; "•'w'f''.*
\ So in all , the .centers :'of : the various^mirieralsr^-it*^
where copper, is^wrought;' at r .the' black" marble »-<j»,
of Diant,;the.s.late quarries of Iferbemon't-laTid/^i
mines of 'Liege— there *. will \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0be: found* women Vi
working,-and';in most cases'. very.hgratef ul ; " f or;^ the
v " v ..;;-"; •;•>> '\u25a0\u25a0'\u25a0'.'\u25a0:> i \u25a0?; '?\u25a0'<\u25a0•\u25a0 S- } ' ',•''\u25a0 ' y -'..'."\u25a0 -?,'',~j : > &&%
? Tlio-r^SaE jrrancisco Sunday Can.
it ithe /great . seats J of i the '.linen - Industry— Courtney^aSk^
? dc ßruges.*". in, West i Flanders. Ghent in-East Flan-*^
ders,, Brussels. in Brabant., Mechlin or Malines in Ant-V.
:. ;werp. i Tourney ~ lnv Halnault— women are . employed ia
>"."greaf; numbers andiare -more skillet! -uhan ; m«n. Bat
1: no <accotmt'of "their j ability is taken in the wages paid
isAthemr. which, are. for, the most part pitifully small, j
. ;.When Dowle, as part of .his dream of a modern Zion
a.ln the United States, brought a number of lace workers
\u25a0 from;Belglum,wlth the idea of making a fortune fronV
s>thelr*.work' he imade them no extravagant -otters ofi
'."Salary.'yet, their income was as much in one- day as i*
* ? ;had-been-in^a-month".in their. native land. '. ."'\u25a0 *
• : But'the: lots of these linen workers and lac<? makers^
; -is a" 1 dream "*of; luxury compared :to what some othei*
.ißelglan \u25a0: women .mu«t. endure. -\u25a0••" - * . |
'.: jltila.hardtoconceive of a woman brick maker. but£|
- they whave* them in Belgium "by the thousand. Theirft
'* part r of< the work -Is to prepare the clay, for the moldersl
' -who;actually;make ;the .bricks. . : : . |
.' . 'FromTearly. In the morning .till late evening the*>
V Flemish iLwoman; or "girl sits -^n front of the 'mass ofi
~: iwet *\u25a0 clay, s getting'" lt; to the : proper consistency. , Nol
;•; ? matter i how'hot ; the « rays 3 of • the \u25a0 sun.t no " matter ; howj
temperature.:. the comparative cold|
j-.^of-thetmorning and the intense heat^of midday, exposes
-•-'her. ""to* rheumatism; and "other ills,"" she must stick tog
,*"*herj?-work.id*y"in:and' day 'out, and ;for this toll sh»J
*:.lrecelve«ra**compensation'- that -the poorest paid sliopn
;<i girl in- the *Unltpd< States^would sneer at. - I
\u25a0^.-vOnlyaifewjhours' ride -away. 13" Parish thfi center ofi
r'*i the "world's 'civilization."- and fn another direction lag
'the 'suffragists. are carrying on thelis
battles for "iequal* political Tights* with "men.^ but the*
v!. Flemish-woman'knows nothing of this as she digs into!
• her clay.V Her mother, did '-the same. before her. and shes
fc thinks it onlyther. fit portion in: the battle of life.:-;.- I
,' .- \u25a0\u25a0•.-.- Still "another^ unfortunate section : of . King Leopold's ;
f% feminine. 'Population . finds I Its. livelihood working th%
.-\u25a0; oyster don •; breeches like a mang
\u2666-i and* labor ?as hard ias r the > strongest : ot - their sonsj
; .' fathers,' brothers or husbanda. ' i