binders,
stockbrokers, bills of exchange agents, auditors, teachers of domestic
economy, instructors in gymnastics, ladies' guides, wardrobe dealers (the
costly robes of the women of fashion are sold on commission through
agents), paperers and decorators, etc.

The Woman's Institute[47] has published a complete handbook on the
occupations of women. This book does not omit the occupation of explorer,
in which Mrs. French Sheldon has distinguished herself (by exploration in
the interior of Africa). In London, the number of women engaged in
gainful pursuits is naturally very large, many of the women being alone in
the world. The women journalists and authoresses in London have been
numerous enough to organize a club of their own,--the Writers' Club, in
the Strand. The number of women employed in commercial houses is very
large,--450,000. The weekly wages, especially the wages of the saleswomen
in the shops, are often quite moderate, 20 to 25 shillings where
exceptional demands are made as to attractive dress and appearance. The
women have organized the Shop Assistants' Union. For women with this
weekly wage the securing of good rooms and board at a reasonable price is
a vital question. There are three apartment houses for workingwomen,--the
_Sloane Garden Houses_, and the apartments for women in Chenies Street and
in York Street. Women teachers, designers, artists, bookkeepers, cashiers,
secretaries and stenographers obtain room and board here at varying rates.
There are bedrooms (with two beds) for 4-1/2 to 5 shillings a week for
each person, furnished rooms for 10 to 14 shillings. The dining room is a
restaurant. Only the evening meal, dinner (served from 6 to 7), is served
to all at once. This meal costs 10 pence (20 cents). In Chenies Street
living expenses are somewhat higher: 6 pence for breakfast, 9 pence for
luncheon, 1 shilling for dinner; which is about 55 cents a day for board.
For suites of two to four rooms $15 to $30 a month is charged. The
_Alexandra House_ in Kensington offers women artists similar privileges;
the _Brabanzon House_ (under the protection of the Countess of Meath)
accommodates employees of the shops only. Since the English women
are--fortunately--independent in spirit, these institutions lack the
scholastic, monastic, or tutelary characteristics that are unfortunately
found in many similar institutions on the continent.

Very few of the English women have become industrial entrepreneurs.
How