On Strike by Edric Glenfield - HTML preview

ON STRIKE,

OR

WHERE DO THE GIRLS COME IN?

Reginald Oofbourne was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. It is not necessary for the purpose of this work to say how his family acquired their wealth, but at the age of twenty-one he was approximately worth six million pounds sterling. He was deeply in love with a young lady who was born in a village adjoining his own property.

His love was no sudden infatuation. He had carried Edith Marton in his arms as a baby, he had worshipped the sweet child of twelve, and when she reached the age of eighteen he was madly in love with her. They were about to be married, when one afternoon Edith, who was riding on the banks of the Thames, near Slangbourne, with her great friend, Mrs. Croolbred, met with a serious and, as after events proved, a fatal accident. Her horse shyed at an amateur photographer, and she was thrown violently on the road. Assistance was at once obtained, and she was carried home insensible. Reginald Oofbourne was at once sent for, but only arrived in time to see his darling girl expire in his arms.

Before she died she was able only to say a few words, and her last request to her devoted lover was—“Promise me, Reggy, that you will devote your enormous wealth to benefit any of my sex who require assistance throughout the world.” “I promise, darling,” replied the distracted lover, and Edith fell back dead.

I will draw a blank over the next few days. Our hero was struck down with an attack of brain fever, and his life was despaired of. He, however, was rescued when on the brink of the grave by the careful nursing of a few devoted friends. When he became convalescent he was a broken-hearted man, but by his promise his life and wealth were devoted to the benefit of the female sex throughout the world.

For some twenty years Reginald travelled about, totally unsettled, doing good to womankind whenever opportunity occurred. On one occasion he fed twenty thousand starving Chinese school-girls on Bath buns, which he imported from England by a special steamer for the occasion.

However, no opportunity had occurred for our hero to do any great thing to prove himself the champion of womankind until he took an idea into his head to visit Australia. He arrived in Sydney by the Orient steamer “Cuzco” in September, 1890, and, on landing, found the city in a state of ferment owing to the great maritime strike.

Though he had no sympathy with the unionists, he naturally came in contact with some of them, and could not help discussing the question, as nobody talked about anything else. Federation, the great hobby of the Australians, was forgotten for a time. Reginald could not see that the men who were on strike had any particular grievance, but he realised that the children were suffering on account of their fathers being out of work, and so he spent most of his time driving about in cabs loaded with fruit and food of all descriptions, which he distributed to the children about Miller’s Point and Sussex Street.

One day he happened to go into the establishment of Cordons, the great drapers, to buy a pair of gloves, and he was served by a young woman whom he noticed looked very pale and careworn. He got into conversation with her, in spite of the frowns of the shop-walker. In a short time he found out exactly how the respectable working girls, who were trying to earn an honest living in Sydney, are treated, and he found that they had three particular grievances, viz.:—

Too long hours,
 Too little wages,
 And not allowed chairs

—that is, not allowed to sit down when not serving customers.

He went further into the question, and he found out that Messrs. Cordon and Co. treated their girls well in comparison to another firm of the name of Paul Pry, who keep open at night, whereas Cordon’s always close at six o’clock.

There are some mercantile establishments in Sydney which it is advisable for the public convenience should be kept open till a late hour, as their customers are principally men who are working all day, and can only get away after six o’clock to purchase any articles they may require. I allude to such a business as that of Ringbourne, of George Street, the bootmaker, whose business is done amongst seafaring men, and Ringbourne, by keeping open, is benefitting the public as well as himself, but the people who deal with the drapers’ shops are mostly women, who can do their shopping in the afternoon, and have no need to do it at night.

It must be remembered that the class of young women I am alluding to, on account of the way in which they behave, have as much right to be treated with proper respect as the Governor’s wife has. But are they treated as they ought to be? Yes, by the gentlemen who go in on business, but not by the shop-walkers and other men who are in authority over them.

It is generally known that barmaids are looked down upon on account of the position they hold. I myself should not wish to see my sister behind a bar; but if my sister was in Australia, and had to work for a living, I would sooner see her behind some of the bars in Sydney than in a situation in a firm of the description of Lazy, Bones and Co., Cordon, or Paul Pry. Of course, as everybody knows, there are bars and bars, barmaids and barmaids; but in the respectable hotels a girl who behaves herself is treated better and leads a better life and gets higher pay than the female employees in firms of the description of those I have mentioned.

I might refer to a hotel in Sydney which is well-known by the name of Nodoubts. In this hotel the young women are treated as well and with as much respect as it is possible to treat a woman who has to work for her livelihood, but at the same time the barmaids in Nodoubts would sooner be behind a counter in the employment of one of the leading drapers in Sydney, if they got proper pay and treatment, than behind any bar.

The Hero, having ascertained that the women in Sydney had some real grievances, at once set about to rectify them. He consulted with some friends in Sydney whose sympathy was on the side of the working girls, and they organised a system of campaign for the girls’ strike. Every respectable girl earning her own living was called out on strike, and received a pound a week out of Reginald’s own pocket. About five thousand girls came out, and the employers at once filled up their places with union men who were out of employment owing to the late strike amongst the men.

Of course, the fact of having wharf labourers and officers of the steamers employed in the place of the girls in these establishments caused a great deal of annoyance to the Sydney public generally. It is a well-known fact that there are certain articles which a lady may require which she can only ask a woman to serve her with, and, though the capitalists themselves were opposed to the strike, their wives, feeling the inconvenience they were subjected to, were urging them when at home to give in to the demands of the strikers. A girl on strike also has a great advantage over a man in a similar position. When a man strikes he is unable to work at all; he can do nothing but walk about the streets with his hands in his pockets, looking absolutely miserable; the girl on the other hand can always employ herself at home doing needlework, or some other useful occupation, which would at the same time bring in a certain amount of money towards her support. It was felt by Inspector Gooseberry and his staff that precautions must be taken to protect the city against any possible outbreak amongst the girl strikists. Though the girls had behaved in a thoroughly lady-like manner, still 5,000 of them walking about Sydney together caused a great deal of inconvenience to the public, and traffic generally was much incommoded.

To make an example, the Inspector-General ordered a constable to arrest one of the girl strikers. The policeman, who was a timid man where a woman was concerned, walked up to the girl, who was very pretty and well-dressed, and half raising his helmet stammered something about being very sorry, but would she mind coming with him? “Certainly I do, you impertinent fellow,” replied the girl, “I have a good mind to give you in charge; anyway I will tell my ma.” The constable blushed, as only a policeman can blush, and, muttering an apology, returned to Inspector Gooseberry, and told him he was unable in this case to obey orders. Gooseberry at once saw what a difficulty he was placed in, and retired to his office in a most dejected state of mind. Next morning an advertisement appeared in the Morning Terror, requesting any persons having had experience in quelling girl strikers to call on the Inspector-General.

About eleven o’clock a carriage dashed up to the office, and a fashionably-dressed lady alighted from it, giving her card, on which was engraved Mrs. Pitcher, Potts’ Point, to a constable; she requested to see Inspector-Gooseberry.

She was immediately ushered into his sanctum, and when the Inspector recognised her, a smile of satisfaction lit up his face. “I have come to offer a suggestion to you in the present crisis.”

“Mr. Gooseberry,” said she, “you find that you are unable to control these respectable young women with your present force! What you must do is to raise a force of special girl constables.” Gooseberry at once saw the wisdom of this idea, and thanked Mrs. Pitcher warmly. He immediately advertised, inviting 1500 of the Sydney young ladies to come to the assistance of the Government, and act as special constables. Next day the whole of Phillip-street was blocked with the carriages of the elite of Sydney society. The Miss Canarykins were the first to join, and their example was quickly followed by all the other young ladies. It was decided that the force should be dressed in uniform, the choice of which was left to Mrs. Pitcher, who was also aided by Busybee who kindly offered her assistance.

These ladies decided upon the following uniform:—It was to be full dress, as no undress was thought necessary, and to consist of white silk blouses, blue serge skirts, and sailor hats, with Oxford blue ribbons; the badge for the constables was a gold hat-pin, modelled after an oar, on the blade of which was engraved S.G.C.; the officers, in addition to this, wore a plain gold bangle similarly engraved. The Government also thought it as well to raise a corps of 100 special mounted girl constables, and Captain Easton was sent for and requested to allow his two daughters, who are generally admitted to be two of the best lady riders in the colony, to take charge of this corps and organize it. He readily consented, and, after some deliberation, the uniform of the troopers was arranged; it was to consist of a blue serge habit, hussar tunic, with scarlet facings and slung jacket; the head dress, opossum skin hussar busby.

The young lady troopers were all to be mounted on black chargers, and armed with riding whips only. The officers’ badges to be a gold horseshoe bangle.

The constables from numbers 1 to 200 were ordered to parade in the yard at the head office of police at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and, as may be imagined, a great many applications were made to Mr. Gooseberry by some of the leading men in Sydney to be allowed to be present at the drill. Only a few, however, were allowed in, and those mostly officers of the Navy and Land Defence Forces. The uniforms of the first two companies had been rapidly made, partly by the constables themselves, and partly by Free Labour, and very pretty the young Australian ladies looked as they fell in by companies in the yard. The officers were selected from those young ladies who had had any experience with the Navy, Army, or Volunteers, and it was remarked that there was a decided majority on the side of the Navy. After the officers had been selected the roll was called, and Mr. Gooseberry gave the command to No. 1 company to size. Some fun was occasioned by one young lady who, as soon as the Inspector-General said size, mistaking his meaning, stepped forward and answered, “Oh, I take five and three-quarters, six buttons, tan, if you please.” The Captain of number two also made a slight error, as, when requested to form her company into fours, she gave the command “All fours,” which was literally obeyed by most of the company, who fell on their hands and knees. However, with the exception of these trifling errors, the drill was altogether most creditable, as was allowed by Colonels Scalding, Major Darey and Capt. Pathan, who were looking on and chatting about the happy days they had spent together in the Soudan. When the drill was over the companies were served out with Gem air guns, and after a few instructions had been given, in case of any emergency, the parade was dismissed. The following day the next two companies were paraded, and so on day by day with the others until the whole were properly organized. The mounted lady troopers had in the mean time been exercised in the Domain, and were subjected to some little annoyance on the first day by the strikers pelting them with rotten chocolate drops. However, they showed great firmness, and arrested some of the ringleaders, and then the mob dispersed. After this they were allowed to drill without molestation.

In the mean time public business was in a great many cases seriously interfered with. Not only was the inconvenience which I have mentioned before of having men to fill the girl’s places in the shops seriously felt, but the girl constabulary themselves unwittingly became a source of annoyance to the managers of the leading banks and mercantile houses, as, when a company of the girl constabulary was marched through any portion of Sydney to quell a disturbance, there was at once a cry, “Here come the girl police;” bank clerks left their counters, barristers ran out of court, and in one or two instances men were actually known to leave their matutinal B. and S. untasted on the bar, and rush to the doors to stare with enraptured eyes at this beautiful contingent.

The girls on strike were very jealous of the admiration excited by the girl constabulary, and they decided if possible to organize a grand procession; with this idea a deputation waited on Reginald Oofbourne, and asked for his assistance. He readily consented to arrange the procession, regardless of expense, and, with the assistance of some of the leaders of art in Sydney, he organized one of the most splendid sights that has ever been seen.

The whole of the ladies employed in the different theatres gave their services for nothing, and were commanded in the procession by Miss Trueheart, who is an Australian, and is known to have the greatest sympathy with all her poorer sisters in the Colony; they were all beautifully dressed to represent different characters in history; the banners, which were all specially painted for the occasion, exceeded in beauty and design the magnificent ones which had been carried through the street in the late strike amongst the men, and the best girl musicians had been brought, regardless of expense, from all parts of Australia, and formed into bands, which played at the head of each company as they marched, such appropriate tunes as “Over the Garden Wall,” “We won’t go home till Morning,” etc. The procession eventually reached the Domain, where they halted, and speeches were made in favour of Women’s Rights, Home Rule, etc.; they then broke up, and returned to their homes. As time went on, one or two slight disturbances took place amongst the strikers; some of them who were of Dutch extraction had been arrested for ill-treating a very small free labourer, but on the whole they behaved very well. Of course, by this time it was known where the money was coming from to support the strike, and as the capitalists saw it was useless to prolong it any further, they held a meeting at the Exchange, and after an interview with the delegates from the girls’ union, they decided that there was no use attempting to hold out any longer, and so they yielded every point asked for with as good a grace as possible; in fact, during the conference, one of the capitalists was so struck with the beauty and good sense of a girl delegate, that a wedding will soon take place, when we shall see that desirable end obtained of Capital united to Labour. As soon as the girls gained their point, of course, they returned to work, and ceased to draw the strike money which our hero had allowed them. The girl constabulary were disbanded, but not before the Government had recognised their great services by giving them a splendid fancy dress ball at the Centennial Hall, at which they all appeared in their uniforms, and which was generally admitted was even a more brilliant and successful affair than the great banquet given by the Government to the gentlemen of the special constabulary at the Prince Alfred Exhibition Building, on the termination of the great maritime strike a short time previously. It is whispered amongst people who are generally well posted in coming events that Reginald was so much struck with the charms of one of the young lady troopers he met at the Constabulary Ball, that it is possible there may be some happiness left for him yet, though he will never forget the great sorrow of his early days, and can never even now look upon an amateur photographer without shuddering.

THE END.