the business is best in the spring, fall, and winter. The quality of tea
is principally decided by smelling--which is done before it is
moistened, by blowing on it with the breath and then putting it to the
nostrils. Boiling water is then poured on it, and tasted. The boy said,
it is a paying business. It is not healthy on account of the dust
inhaled. It does not take more than a year to learn to judge of the
quality of kinds of tea. Boys learning the business do not live long.
They are paid $2, and $2.50 a week. In busy seasons, they sometimes work
as late as nine o'clock. There are not many tea packers in the city, and
one told me, most of them cannot make a living. We called on Mr. N., a
teapacker, who charges for putting tea out of the large boxes, in which
it is imported, into canisters and packages, according to the way in
which it is put up; whether in paper covers, or canisters of lead or
tin. The facing or labelling varies some. He says, packing could be done
by girls. He employs men and boys, paying the boys from $2 to $4 a week.
There are only two tea packing establishments in New York, and not more
than one in any other large city. It is not at all unhealthy. Packing is
done most in spring and fall. Mr. N. thinks it would be best to have the
girls work in separate apartments from the men. He complains of the want
of promptness in girls. A tea packer of Boston writes: "I employ from
six to ten girls to cover and line boxes, &c. They are American, of
Irish descent. There is nothing in the business, that the girls do, that
can be considered unhealthy. Wages run from $2.50 to $3 per week. It
does not take a long time to learn, and full wages are paid while
learning. I employ my help the year round, though less hours are used
for a day's work during the winter. Ten is the number of working hours
during the summer, spring, and autumn; and eight, during the winter
months." In London, a number of men and women, principally women, buy
exhausted tea leaves of the female servants and sell them at
establishments, where they are dried, and a fresh green color given them
by a copper preparation. They are sold for new tea. The quantity so
renewed is thought to amount to 78,000 lbs. annually. The Chinese women
assist in gathering tea leaves and drying them, but men do the packing.
=158. Vermicelli.= Vermicelli is moulded by passing through a machine
and being laid on frames until the next day to partially dry. Then girls
cut it in short pieces, and twist it. The twisting requires a little art
acquired by practice. They receive from $2 to $3.50 a week. It is cruel
for females to be kept on their feet all day while at work, when they
might sit. At a factory I saw a French lady, the wife of the proprietor,
cutting and twisting vermicelli. A young Frenchman was at work, who told
us he was paid 75 cents a day; but women, he said, would not be paid as
much, because he had to attend to the machinery. The lady sat, as girls
in factories should do if they wish.
=159. Vinegar.= A plant is now grown from which vinegar is made. "In
addition to the consumption of vinegar in culinary uses and the
preparation of preserved food, it is indispensable in several branches
of manufacture, as in the dressing of morocco leather, and in dye and
print works." The labor of making vinegar is too hard and heavy for
women. The handling of barrels, changing of liquids, and constant
exposure to heat and cold, without cessation of labor, are too great for
the female frame to sustain. The workers often pass from a temperature
varying from 92° to 105°, to one of extreme coldness." A Boston vinegar
manufacturer, writes: "Women are never employed in making vinegar in
large quantities. They are not adapted to the occupation. It does not
agree with some constitutions. It requires but a short time to learn the
business. The prospect for future employment is poor." Some women make
vinegar from parings of fruit, tea leaves, &c., for family use.
=160. Yeast.= A manufacturer of yeast powders writes: "There is but a
small part of the work that women can do. It requires the strong,
muscular arm of a man to do most of it." We know women are sometimes
employed for putting up the powders, and are paid by the number of
packages.
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
=161. Cotton Manufacturers.= Only so far back as 1789, doubts were
entertained whether cotton could be cultivated in the United States,
while now the amount of calicoes annually produced in the United States
is supposed to equal twenty millions of yards. "The number of females
employed in the various factories of Lowell, in which textile fabrics
are produced, will exceed 12,000. Those engaged in weaving can earn,
upon an average, from $2.50 to $4 per week. Those who labor as spinners
and spoolers make only from seventy-five cents to $2, but they are
generally very young." In the cotton mill at Cannelton, Ind., there were
"in 1854, about 200 females. They worked by the job, and their pay was
the same as would be given to men for the same work. They earned from $1
to $5.50 per week." We believe, in the majority of factories, the plan
of paying some hands by the piece, and some by the week, is adopted. B.,
manufacturer, told me quite a number of his weavers earn from $5 to $6 a
week, being paid by the piece. It requires two or three months to get in
the way of weaving well. His hands are busy all the year. His factory is
in New Jersey, twenty-five miles from New York. The laws of New Jersey
prohibit the employment of operatives more than twelve hours out of the
twenty-four, but some evade it. The law, also, forbids the employment of
children under ten years of age. The smaller children are engaged in
spinning, and not so well paid. It requires but a short time to learn to
attend the spinning machinery. There is generally a full supply of
weavers to be had, because it pays well. Manufacturers usually have
their work done in the country, because living, and consequently labor,
are cheaper there. A cotton manufacturer in Rhode Island, who employs
about 100 operatives, writes: "I pay both by the piece and the week.
When by the week, from $4 to $5. When by the piece, the women are paid
at the same rate as the men, but the men are able to make from fifty
cents to $1 per week more. It requires from three to six months, to
learn. Girls are paid while learning, if they grow up with us. They are
employed through the year, and work sixty-nine hours per week, twelve
hours per day for five days, nine hours on Saturday. All classes of
laborers must work during mill hours. Women keep the rooms and machinery
neater than men. About seven eighths of the women employed in our mill
are Americans; one half would be the nearer proportion in mills
generally in this section, three fourths in some instances. There are
other parts that women might be employed in, but the custom has not been
introduced in our section, on account of their dress. They pay from
$1.50 to $1.75 for board, and are all in private families." The Lawrence
Manufacturing Company, at Lowell, write: "Women are employed in carding,
spinning, dressing, and weaving. The employment is not unhealthy, and
they earn from $1 to $4 a week, clear of board, according to capability
and skill--average, say, $2 per week. They work eleven hours a day; men
average about eighty cents a day clear of board; their work is
altogether too hard for women. The women learn in from one to three
months. They are paid, usually, $1 a week, besides their board, while
learning. The qualifications needed are respectable character and
ordinary capacity. They are employed all the year round. The scarcity of
hands is greater in the departments requiring most skill; there is an
abundance of inferior sort. We employ 1,300 women; perhaps one third are
Americans. They are employed in all branches where it is expedient. The
Americans are well informed; the Irish, improving, though low in the
scale of intelligence. They have churches, evening schools, and
lectures. Work stops at 6.30 and 7 o'clock. They live in boarding houses
under our care, well regulated, respectable and comfortable, and pay
$1.25 per week." At the New York mills, "361 adult and 99 minor females
are employed in the manufacture of fine shirtings and cottonades. Wages
of adults are $3.99, and minors, $2.12½ per week. Price of board, $1.50.
They work 12 hours per day." The Naunkeag Steam Cotton Company, Mass.,
"employ 400, and pay by the week, from $2.50 to $3. Those that do
piecework, earn on an average, $3.50 per week; six months will enable
intelligent hands to earn three fourths pay. Their board is paid for two
weeks, while learning, then they receive what they earn. Desirable hands
find steady work; they are employed all the year; they work eleven hours
a day. We prefer women, because neater and more reliable. They have more
time for improvement than is made available. Board, $1.50 to $1.75. Good
boarding houses are provided." At Kingston, Rhode Island, a man
employing nine girls, pays by the yard, and the girls earn from $4 to $6
per week. Men receive the same wages as women. They work from sun up to
sun down, except at meal times. If other mills ran but ten hours, they
would. They have work all the year. Hands are rather scarce in that
State. All are American. They prefer it to general housework. Women are
the best in mills for light work. Female operatives pay $1.50 for board,
lodging, and washing. The Jackson Manufacturing Company of New Haven
writes: "Women are employed in the various branches belonging to a
cotton mill. Average wages of our females are $2.30, and board money
$1.25, making $3.55 per week received by them. Some females in our
employ earn eighty cents per day; average price of male labor, about
eighty-four cents per day. Women are paid less, because they cannot do
such work as is done by men. In regard to the time required to learn to
do the work in the different departments, much depends upon the
dispositions of the learners. Six months would ordinarily be sufficient
time to render one competent. Women are usually allowed their board
while learning. A good character and good health are needed. There is
much changing among help during the spring and summer months, say for
four months in the year; but we almost invariably keep our supply good.
Our working hours are eleven and a quarter per day. With the exception
of our weaving department, but little work is done on Saturday
afternoons aside from cleaning, so that our working hours will not
average over ten and a half per day. By giving a suitable notice to the
overseer, it is so arranged that the help can be absent from their work
one day of a month. The largest proportion of American help is found in
the weaving and dressing departments. We have in our employ 140 men, 310
females, about one half American. We have good boarding houses,
carefully watched, and kept clean in all respects. Our American help are
quite intelligent, also some of the foreign. Some of our help attend
school during the winter months. Board $1.25 per week--the keeper of the
house not paying rent. The houses will each accommodate about twenty
persons comfortably." Another manufacturing company pay from $2 to $4
per week, mostly by the piece. The work can be learned in three or four
months. Their hands are paid small wages while learning. They have
constant employment. They usually work twelve hours per day; three
fourths American. From a manufacturer in Gilford, New Hampshire, we
learn he employs forty women, who work by the piece, and whose average
pay is $3 per week. They work eleven hours. Females are paid the same as
men for the same kind of work. Some parts of the business can be learned
in one day, others ten, and some hands will learn in one day what others
would not in ten. Work at all seasons; spring and fall most busy. It
pays better than housework. Board of males, $2.50; females, $1.25 to
$1.50. A manufacturer in New York writes: "I employ about twenty women
in weaving, twenty-five in spinning, spooling and other branches; boys
and girls from fifteen to twenty each, and ten men. Women average about
$2.50 per week. Women are paid the same price as men. Weavers earn about
$3.50 per week. My mill runs twelve hours per day, the year round. Women
are mostly American. The girls have an hour for each meal." A medical
man has stated, that the health of operatives is promoted by occupying
rooms with large windows on each side of the room, so that the sunlight
will penetrate the apartments during the entire day. And those rooms
with white walls are more healthy and better for the eyes than those
with colored walls.
=162. Batting.= A manufacturer of cotton batting writes: "Women are
employed in our factory to tend machinery. They are employed in Europe.
It is only unhealthy from being indoor work. We pay, per week, for best
hands, $2 and board. They work twelve hours. I think there is a surplus
of hands at this time. The work is light and does not require an
expenditure of strength. The work is as comfortable as any can be. All
parts will not answer for women. Board $1.42. Men are paid $1 more than
women, but perform a different part of the work. Learners usually
command wages after two weeks. The summer is the most profitable time to
manufacture."
=163. Calicoes.= Calico takes its name from Calicot, a town in Malabar,
where the art has been practised with great success from time
immemorial. Calico printing is the art of producing figured patterns
upon cotton. They are transferred to its surface by blocks, or engraved
by copper cylinders, by which the colors are directly printed, or by
which a substance having an affinity for both the stuff and coloring
matter is employed, which is called a mordant. "In England, calico
printing employs a vast number of children of both sexes, who have to
mix and grind the colors for the adult workpeople, and are commonly
called turners. The usual hours of labor are twelve, including meal
time; but as the children generally work the same time as the adults, it
is by no means uncommon in all districts for children of five and six
years old to be kept at work fourteen and even sixteen hours
consecutively. They begin to work generally about their eighth year, as
in Birmingham and Sheffield, but often earlier." Calico is printed
mostly in Lowell, Philadelphia, Saco, Dover, and some other towns. A
manufacturing company of lawns and calicoes in Providence, R. I., write:
"We employ fifty women in stitching, folding, and tracing pantograph
designs. The employment is healthy. We pay from fifty cents to
sixty-seven cents per day of ten hours. We have one woman who does a
man's work at folding, and is paid a man's wages--$1 per day. The time
to learn the business is according to natural ability; very soon with
ordinary capacity, say, two weeks. Cool weather is the best for work,
but the women are not thrown out of employment at any season. We have
more applicants than we can accommodate. The light, clean work, is best
for women; the rough and heavy for men. We adopt female labor as far as
practicable. Ordinary board is from $2 to $2.50 per week."
=164. Canton Flannels.= A manufacturer of Canton flannels in Holden,
Mass., writes: "We employ from twenty to twenty-five women in spinning,
spooling, drawing, and speeder tending, warping and weaving. We like
them because they are neater, and more reliable, and the work is better
adapted to females. They earn from fifty cents to $1 per day of twelve
hours. Women are paid the same as men, except the overseers, who get
from $1.25 to $1.67 per day. It requires from one week to four to learn
the business. We sometimes pay their board while learning, if they are
attentive to work. It is as reliable as any business. There is no
difference in seasons; we work the year round. The time could not be
shortened. In weaving there is no surplus of hands. I would say, that
with the present prospects for business, it would be well for many of
the females in want of employment to learn to weave. They can make from
$4 to $6 a week, but mostly average $4.75. It is healthy work. The labor
is not hard, but confining; and the girls are generally happy and
contented. Three fourths of ours are Americans."
=165. Carpet Chains.= We were told that in the manufacture of carpet
chain, "women are employed in spooling. We saw women employed in weaving
various kinds of binding for carpets, webbing for girths, reins, and
harness. The hours of labor are nominally ten, which, indeed, seems
reasonable, in Philadelphia; but in the suburbs, and some parts of New
England, both men and women work fifteen hours. Our informant uses no
artificial light on the premises, and when the daylight fails, his
workpeople leave off labor. The wages are the usual fifty cents a day.
Steady hands are kept in work the year round; but unskilful workwomen
are dismissed after fair trial. Men earn double what women earn, though
they do not produce double the work, nor do it any better. When
machinery is used, women frequently require assistance from a workman."
=166. Cord.= C., of Philadelphia, manufacturer of black and white cord,
employs about thirty women in spooling, twisting, balling, and making
into skeins. He keeps his hands all the year. He did not permit us to
see them, saying they object to being seen by strangers, on the ground
that they are "en deshabille." We can bear witness to the probability of
this statement, for almost all the women we have seen at work are very
untidily clad, and dirty; indeed, in the present total disregard of
cleanliness in the workrooms, if they wore better clothes, they would
spoil more than they can afford. Ought not employers and workwomen to
consider this subject, since it undoubtedly degrades a female, even in
her own estimation, as in that of others, to be habitually in what is
mildly qualified "deshabille?" The spoolers receive the highest wages,
viz., $5 per week; the other hands from $2 to $5. The _fine_ cord is
made farther East, as it can there be produced cheaper; the _coarser_
can be made in Philadelphia, at a lower rate. Mr. J., of New York,
employs six women, two of them earn $7 each--the others less. It is paid
for by the quantity. Prospect for work, good. There are but five
factories in New York city, but they do seven eighths of the city
business. In Philadelphia most is made. It takes but two or three months
to learn. They give employment all the year, and learners receive
something from the first.