Lizzy Glenn; Or, The Trials of a Seamstress

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Arthur Timothy Shay. Lizzy Glenn; Or, The Trials of a Seamstress

LIZZY GLENN; OR, THE TRIALS OF A SEAMSTRESS

CHAPTER I. LIZZY GLENN—MRS. GASTON AND HER SICK CHILD

CHAPTER II. HOW A NEEDLEWOMAN LIVES

CHAPTER III. DEATH OF MRS. GASTON'S CHILD.—A MOTHER'S ANGUISH

CHAPTER IV. LIZZY GLENN AROUSES THE INTEREST OF A STRANGER

CHAPTER V. SOME OF THE TROUBLES OF A NEEDLEWOMAN.—A FRIEND IN NEED

CHAPTER VI. PERKINS' NARRATIVE

CHAPTER VII. HENRY GASTON LEAVES HOME WITH SHARP

CHAPTER VIII. HENRY GASTON'S TREATMENT BY SHARP

CHAPTER IX. LIZZY GLENN FINDS IN MRS. GASTON AN OLD FRIEND

CHAPTER X. LIZZY GLENN'S NARRATIVE TO MRS. GASTON

CHAPTER XI. PERKINS ANXIOUSLY SEEKS LIZZY GLENN

CHAPTER XII. PERKINS FINDS IN LIZZY GLENN HIS LONG LOST EUGENIA

THE FATHER'S DREAM

I'LL SEE ABOUT IT

HUMAN LIFE

THE SUM OF TRIFLES: OR, "A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY GAINED."

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NEEDLE-WORK, at best, yields but a small return. Yet how many thousands have no other resource in life, no other barrier thrown up between them and starvation! The manly stay upon which a woman has leaned suddenly fails, and she finds self-support an imperative necessity; yet she has no skill, no strength, no developed resources. In all probability she is a mother. In this case she must not only stand alone, but sustain her helpless children. Since her earliest recollection, others have ministered to her wants and pleasures. From a father's hand, childhood and youth received their countless natural blessings; and brother or husband, in later years, has stood between her and the rough winds of a stormy world. All at once, like a bird reared, from a fledgling, in its cage, and then turned loose in dreary winter time, she finds herself in the world, unskilled in its ways, yet required to earn her bread or perish.

What can she do? In what art or profession has she been educated? The world demands service, and proffers its money for labor. But what has she learned? What work can she perform? She can sew. And is that all? Every woman we meet can ply the needle. Ah! as a seamstress, how poor the promise for her future. The labor-market is crowded with serving women; and, as a consequence, the price of needle-work—more particularly that called plain needle-work—is depressed to mere starvation rates. In the more skilled branches, better returns are met; but even here few can endure prolonged application—few can bend ten, twelve, or fifteen hours daily over their tasks, without fearful inroads upon health.

.....

"I couldn't get back any sooner, my dear. But see! I've brought the orange you have wished for so long. You can eat it all by yourself, for Emma is fast asleep on the floor, and can't cry for it."

But Emma roused up, at the moment, and began to fret and cry for something to eat.

.....