midday
At very slight expense the proprietors of large shops could give all their employes a generous plate of soup and a cup of good tea or coffee . Many bring meagre and unwholesome lunches ; more dine on cake , pastry , and confectionery . These ill-taught girls are just as prone to sin against their bodies as the better-taught children of the rich . If employers would give them something substantial at midday , and furnish small bracket seats which could be pulled out and pushed back within a second of time , they would find their business sustained by a corps of comfortable , cheerful , healthful employes ; and such a humane , sensible policy certainly ought to be sustained by all who have any sympathy with Mr. Bergh . The belief of many , that the majority of the girls are broken down by dissipation , is as superficial as it is unjust . Undoubtedly , many do carry their evening recreation to an injurious excess , and some place themselves in the way of temptations which they have not the strength to resist ; but every physician knows that some recreation , some relief from the monotony of their hard life , is essential . Otherwise , they would grow morbid in mind as well as enfeebled in body .