plants, and particular kinds of grasses, and the fibres of the cocoanut
cover. Hair from the manes and tails of horses is also used. Hemp and
flax are most common in the United States. The simplest mode of making
rope is under long sheds. After the material is spun into yarn, it is
doubled or trebled, and twisted. Ropes for the rigging of vessels employ
a large number of men. The great variety and amount of cordage used make
it an extensive trade. Ropes are now manufactured in some places by
steam. A small number of women are employed in rope making. S. & M.,
Philadelphia, employ about fifty female hands. Some are engaged in
spinning, and a dexterous woman will keep from forty to fifty spindles
in constant motion, some at carding, some at balling. The last-named
operation is the only one in which the women can sit while at work. They
work ten hours, and earn from $1.50 (for young girls), to $5 a week (for
the experienced frame spinners). The last mentioned are mostly English,
Scotch, or Irish women, who have followed the trade from childhood. It
requires long practice to command the highest wages. A good steady hand
is much valued, and is not liable to be thrown out of work. Water power
is used with the machinery. W., New York, employs them in his
manufactory for spooling only. A manufacturer on Long Island writes: "I
pay my hands $1 a week, for the first four weeks; then $1.50 a week, for
the next four weeks; and for the four weeks following, $2 per week; and
so increase their wages till I allow them $3.50 per week. I employ
mostly boys and girls. I pay them the same, regardless of sex. They work
from ten to twelve hours, and are employed all the year. Board, $1.25 to
$1.50 per week. At eighteen, my boys learn a trade. I pay my hands well
and use them well. I do not receive children under twelve years of age.
I encourage them in going to school before and after they work in my
factory." There are only two factories of this kind in New York city
that employ women. The proprietor of the largest gave me the following
items: "I employ thirteen girls and women (mostly Irish) in spooling,
twisting, &c. Most are paid by the week. Women receive $3.50; girls,
from $1.15 to $3.50. The time of learning is one, two, or three weeks,
according to the kind of work, and the ability of the girl. The prospect
is poor for more learners. My girls work ten hours a day, and have
employment the year round. There are enough of hands in New York. Some
of the minor parts could be performed by women, that are not, but not
enough to give many employment. Cities are the best for selling the
article, country the best for making. Men do not perform the same kind
of work women do. Women are best suited to their branches. Boys could be
got to do the work of the girls for as low wages. Indeed, most boys work
for less in New York than girls." We think the last assertion a mistake
on the part of H. The agent of the Royal River Yarn and Twine Company
writes: "We consider our employment healthy. It proves so. Take, for
instance, a certain number, at random, of different ages, employed in
cotton mills, and compare with the same number, taken in the same way,
from farm neighborhoods, and you will find more sickness and death among
farmers' daughters." (This is rather a startling statement, but we are
not prepared to disprove it.) He adds: "The regularity in exercise,
taking meals, and resting, accounts, I think, for the steady employment
in cotton mills, and the like, being so conducive to health. I have been
engaged as a machinist, &c., about a cotton mill, for thirty-five years;
and, according to my observation, more girls improve their health,
taking ordinary care of themselves, than otherwise. Part of our hands
are paid by the week, and part by the piece. They have from $2 to $4.50
per week, new hands having only $2. It takes from three months to two
years to learn. Common sense and industrious habits are the only
qualifications needed. Spring and summer are the best seasons, but work
is furnished continuously the year round. Our girls go home now and then
to spend a few weeks, visit, fix their clothing, &c. To shorten their
time would be rather a disadvantage, as capital invested must pay, or no
encouragement would be given to invest more. Demand for hands is steady;
and if a surplus, it is on the neatest and lightest kind of work. Women
are neater, steadier, and more active than men. Our girls make the best
of housewives. Overseers, agents, and business men marry them, and we
may look around and see, in some that have worked in mills, the
brightest and best mothers of the land. The faculties of the mind are
quickened by the busy hum and movement of machinery. Board, $1.50,
respectable and comfortable. Parties not regarding that, would not have
respectable help."
=505. Sail and Awning Makers.= I think it would require considerable
strength and long practice to make sails, but not more than some
occupations in which women are engaged. L. sometimes employs women to
run the binding on awnings, paying 2 and 2½ cents a yard. He thinks no
women are employed in the United States in making sails. They worked at
tents during the Mexican war, but now only men are employed. S. knows
that, in France, women make the lightest kind of sails. In Russia, sails
are made by women. A sail maker in a large maritime city writes: "Some
women are employed in sail making in Massachusetts. It is a healthy
trade, and men spend three years learning it. A sail maker needs a tough
constitution and steady habits. Some parts of the work are suitable for
women. The best locations are on the lakes or in seaport towns." An
awning manufacturer told me he employs girls in summer, and pays from $4
to $5 a week, of ten hours a day. They work by hand, and bind and put on
fringe. T. employs some girls for binding. They can earn from $3 to $4 a
week when constantly employed. He usually pays by the week, and has it
done in his shop. A sail maker in Connecticut writes: "Women are
employed at sail making in France. A knowledge of arithmetic and
draughting are essential. The work is done at all seasons. The
occupation is filled. It is usual to spend four years as an apprentice.
The best locations are in seaports or river towns. I think the
occupation is too laborious for women."
=506. Shoe-Peg Makers.= A shoe-peg manufacturing association, in New
Hampshire, furnish me a report of the work they have done by women, as
follows: "Women are employed only to feed the machine with prepared
blocks, and sorting pegs after they are split. The work is light, and
well adapted to the physical capacity of girls and women. They can do
the work just as well as young men and boys, and perhaps a little
quicker. Wages are perhaps two thirds as much as that of men in the same
branches. Two hundred women would do all the work, in their several
departments, in the business, for the whole of North and South America.
We employ sixteen in our mill, at $3.50 per week, including board, which
is called about $1.75. Men are not employed in the same branches. A part
could be learned in one month--nearly half of it would require from six
to twelve months. Girls are paid $3 a week, while learning. Nothing
needed but ready and quick application. They work eleven hours. Each
hour less would be more than a private loss. All are Americans."
=507. Shroud Makers.= There is something repulsive in death--the
shroud--the cap--the coffin--the sunken eyes--the still hands and
ghastly face. Death is fearful, even in its mildest forms. And yet how
we yearn for rest--how we long for quiet! How we pant for that glorious
freedom from anxiety and care, that awaits the just in heaven! The
change of the chrysalis to the butterfly, of the seed to the plant, of
the earth beneath our feet, and the heavens above--the very
consciousness within us, all proclaim unmistakably the truth that the
spirit will not die--that it is immortal. There are duties connected
with the house of mourning that afflicted friends and relatives have not
the heart to perform. These, therefore, devolve upon persons interested
in the dead, or hired attendants. Closing the eyes, washing the body,
making the shroud and putting it on, are in some cases performed by the
hired nurse, but generally making the shroud is done by the undertaker's
wife. Some undertakers keep shrouds in their shops ready for sale. In
large cities, an undertaker's wife is in many cases sent for by the
nurse, to assist in laying out the dead, and receives, as a
compensation, from $3 to $5. The wife of an undertaker told me that she
lines the coffins for her husband. They buy their caps already made, of
an old lady who brings them around. Mr. ----, an undertaker, is always
willing to dress the remains of any but those who have died of small
pox. He charges $3 to wash and dress a corpse, $5 with shaving. An
undertaker told me he knew women could be employed in plaiting the folds
of silk in coffins, and making coffin pillows. The wholesale trade send
away large quantities of shrouds and caps, and so have many made up. A
man in Newark, who devotes himself exclusively to making shrouds,
employs several women. In England, some undertakers employ women to make
up mourning suits.
=508. Sign Painters.= Sign painting requires a long, steady, and regular
apprenticeship. It requires also a correct eye and a steady hand. In
large cities, sign and ornamental painting can be made a distinct branch
of painting; but in a town or village it is combined with carriage or
house painting, as one individual seldom has enough sign and ornamental
painting to keep him constantly occupied. It is not more necessary for a
painter to know how to mix the paints, and use judgment and taste in the
selection of colors, than to form letters according to geometrical
proportions. A painter must measure, more by the eye than a rule, the
size and arrangement of letters in a given space. Good painters receive
$3, $4, and $5 a day for their work, but generally are paid by the
piece. When paid by the week, and they work regularly, they receive from
$12 to $15 a week. Mrs. K., New York, says in Dublin there are many
families that devote themselves to sign painting, but she knows of none
in this country except her own. She employs a man to grind paints, put
up signs, &c.,--also to paint out-of-door signs, that is, such as must
be painted on the building. Her two daughters paint all the signs that
are to be put up. Some of the large signs above stores in New York have
been painted by them. They are paid as good prices as men. She thinks an
individual should commence early to learn. Her daughters received their
instruction and advice from their father. In that way they acquired
maturity of judgment and nicety of hand. Judgment needs to be exercised
in regard to size and space, and artistic taste in ornamenting. A sign
painter told me that superior workers can earn from $3 to $15 a day, if
they have sufficient employment. Many house and other painters, in
cities, profess to paint signs, but in reality have it done. Germans do
much of it in New York, because they do it cheaply, but many of them do
not execute their work well. It is customary to have an apprentice three
years, and pay the usual terms, $2.50 a week, the first year. A boy,
during the first year, mostly grinds paints, goes errands, &c. Spring is
the most busy season. Painting in oils is not neat work. A sign and
carriage painter writes me: "The work is unhealthy on account of the
poisonous vapors and dust. It requires two or three years to learn, and
one must have a great deal of practice. A common education, natural
taste, and a correct eye are the qualifications needed. Many parts of it
are very easy and pleasant. Some parts might be done by women." The
business pays best in large towns and cities. An ornamental painter
writes me: "Women are employed in sign painting in England, France,
Germany, and Belgium. The time required to learn would depend on the
taste or genius of the individual. The qualifications requisite are
those of an artist in a less degree." B., an emblematic sign painter,
thinks the employment very suitable for females, but supposes there are
better openings in other cities than New York. It requires two or three
years to learn all the different branches well. During the first year a
learner could not support herself, but after that could, if she had a
taste for it, was industrious, and received enough orders to keep her
busy.
=509. Snuff Packers.= At a snuff factory, I saw two women putting up
snuff. The women color the bladders for holding snuff, in tobacco water,
pack, cap, label, varnish, and wrap them. They are weighed after being
packed, and women are paid at the rate of one cent a pound. Women always
stand in packing. They can earn from $5 to $6 a week, and have work all
the year. The woman with whom we conversed was a sensible American, who
told us her health had failed greatly during the nine years she had
worked in snuff. While working in the snuff, women wear caps, but are so
covered with it that they might be mistaken for bags of snuff. Of
course, a great deal is inhaled. Both the women I saw complained of
difficulty in breathing, particularly when they lie down at night. One
said, when suffering great oppression she would vomit, and throw up
snuff as fresh in taste and smell as before it was inhaled. For packing
snuff in jars, they are paid by the week, $4.50, and, for putting it in
bottles still less. Men are mostly employed in packing snuff.
=510. Stencil Makers.= A stencil-plate maker told me that cutting the
plates could be done by women, but it would require a strong, stout
woman to hammer the plates after they are cool. In learning, a boy
receives $2 a week. There are very few stencil cutters in the South and
West. People send North for their plates, or get them cut by travelling
peddlers, who are not allowed now in the South. The price of stencil
plates has fallen very greatly. Such as would have sold for $5 a few
years ago, can now be had for fifty cents. I saw a lady who cut stencil
plates. She wanted an agent to sell her plates and ink.
=511. Street Sweepers.= The girls seen in New York sweeping the
crossings in winter, are not paid by the city, but receive, now and
then, from a passer by, a penny for their labor. If enough of strong men
were employed by the city, and properly paid, it would serve to diminish
the $13,000,000 annually spent in New York for preventable sickness,
where thirty-one die every day more than in Philadelphia, while its
natural advantages are greater. In Paris, women are employed as street
sweepers.
=512. Tip Gilders.= Most hats and caps are made in New York city. There
are six establishments in the city devoted to tip gilding, and morocco
cutting and rolling, and four girls, on an average, in each. The girls
put the sizing and gold leaf on, and, when the impression is made, brush
the loose gold leaf off. A man in the business told me he sometimes
finds it difficult to get a good hand, and always prefers to teach a
girl. He pays from $2 to $6 a week. The men cut the morocco for linings,
and girls roll down the edge by running it through a small machine.
=513. Tobacco Strippers.= In tobacco factories, women are generally
employed to strip the leaves from the stems. Smoking tobacco is cut in
machines, and put in papers of different sizes. But little chewing
tobacco is prepared in the Southern and Western States, though some
factories have commenced it in the West during the last few years. Some
leaf tobacco is put up in the South by slaves. In the West it is
difficult to get hands, but in New York there is a surplus, though they
are the very dregs of society. A. told me the women he employs are
mostly Irish, and of low origin. They are generally old women, not fit
for much else, and they are quite as poorly paid as in any other branch
of labor. The part done by women is not unhealthy, though some of the
parts done by men in close rooms are thought to be unhealthy. H. pays by
the pound for stripping, and the girls earn from $2 to $4 a week. They
sit while at work. In packing they stand, because they can do more. He
employs his hands all the year. For packing tobacco in papers and boxes
the girls are paid by the paper, and earn about the same as the
strippers. The work is dirty, and the hands change their clothes when
they come and go. It requires some time to acquire expertness. H.
considers tobacco very healthy, if not taken inwardly to excess. He says
tobacco workers never have fevers. (?) I went through G.'s factory. I
never saw females engaged in such degrading work, and so uncomfortably
situated, in all my life. It is far worse than rag picking. A tier of
bunks (two on a side), in dark, narrow rooms, the centre filled with
hogsheads of tobacco, a hatchway, and machinery made up the furniture of
the place. The air was so close and strong, that I was almost stifled
during the short time I spent there. The floor was covered with filth
and waste tobacco. In the lower bunks, in one room, it was with
difficulty I could discover the features of the old women and neglected
children, at work. A forewoman had the superintendence, who assisted the
workers in weighing the tobacco, and keeping an account of the amount
given each. They were mostly Irish. It is very filthy, disagreeable
work. Their tobacco strippers are paid fifty cents one hundred pounds.
They strip from twenty to fifty pounds a day, earning from $1 to $3 a
week. The majority have no homes, but hire lodgings at thirty-seven
cents a week, and buy something to eat. They work from seven to half
past five or six, having half an hour at noon. At C.'s, the rooms were
not so dark, cramped, and uncomfortable as at G.'s. They employ
seventy-five women and children. The forewoman told me that a smart
hand, working in good leaf, and having constant employment, can earn
from $3 to $5 a week. They are paid two cents for three pounds. The
packers, if active and skilful, can earn more. At a place on Greenwich
street, they pay thirty-five cents per hundred pounds for stripping, and
a woman may earn from $1 to $4 a week at it. At packing they can earn
from $3 to $6. At L.'s, they employ one hundred and twenty-five girls
and women. At packing their girls can earn from $4.25 to $9 a week,
working only in daylight. Strippers can earn from $1.50 to $3.50, and
are mostly old widow women with children. The foreman thinks it most
healthy for packers to stand, as they are thereby saved from stooping.
He tries to get the best class of girls he can, but he finds it
impossible to secure the services of American girls. I am glad American
girls object to working in the filthy weed. The girls at L.'s have
employment all the year. M. pays forty cents per hundred pounds for
stripping. His strippers earn from thirty to forty cents a day. Some
packers are able to earn $1 a day. They have work all the year.
Tobacconists in Albany write: "We employ women in papering tobacco, and
pay by the dozen, the hands earning from $3 to $5 per week. They work
ten hours a day, the year through." A tobacconist in Hartford "pays his
women by the week, $3.50, for stripping tobacco. They work ten hours a
day. It requires but a few weeks to learn the work done by women."
B----'s, of Boston, write: "We always have employment for women, in
stripping and papering tobacco, and other light work. They are employed,
also, in making cigars. By some physicians the work is considered
healthy. We pay by the week, from $3 to $5, working ten hours a day. The
men who make cigars are mostly foreigners, thoroughly acquainted with
their business, a kind of work which requires a regular apprenticeship
to learn. The women never give their time to learn, and we cannot afford
to teach them, on account of the low price of goods made in Germany,
shipped here by millions. Hence, the men, in their part of the business,
earn from $6 to $15 per week. Learners receive their board. It would be
much better if a tariff, excluding cheap cigars, were passed. The
comfort and remuneration are as good as any branch of female industry.
Board, $2 to $3."
=514. Toy Makers.= The thousand and one inventions for amusing children
have given exercise to a variety of talents. Any particular style of toy
follows the fashion of the world--it passes away, and another takes its
place. Pewter toys are made in New York, tin toys in Philadelphia and
Connecticut. The reason more toys are not made in this country is the
high price of labor and living. Children's drums are made both in the
city and country. N. & Co., manufacturers of military and toy drums in
Massachusetts, write: "We employ one woman only in our factory, who
makes the straps for drums. She works by the piece, and earns $1 a day,
boarding herself." A manufacturer of pewter toys, in New York, employs
ten or twelve boys. He pays $1.75 per week, of ten hours a day. He could
use girls just as well, but prefers boys. I called at a manufactory of
tin ware. The proprietor makes tin toys, and employs some women to paint
them. The work has to be done on the premises, as the articles have to
be subjected to heat after they are painted. The girls work ten hours a
day, and are paid $3 a week. H., New York, makes small boats and
vessels. They range in price from 37 cents to $30. The highest priced
are perfect in all their parts. He pays a woman $80 a year for stitching
by machine the edges of the sails. B., manufacturer of mechanical toys,
employs twenty girls in soldering and painting. The painting is done by
stencils. It requires but a short time to learn. Good hands earn from
$2.50 to $4 per week. There are two departments in the manufacture of
dolls--making and painting. D. employs women out of the house to make
bodies for dolls--muslin stuffed with wadding. G., New York, pays his
girls about $4 per week for dressing dolls. At a large store in New
York, I was told they employ a number of girls for dressing dolls,
paying from $3 to $4 per week. They pay by the piece, according to the
size, and style of dress. In busy seasons, the girls are allowed to take
some dolls home and dress them in the evening. Doll dressing requires
taste, expertness, ingenuity, and economy in cutting the materials.
Their room is superintended by a lady. At a store for the sale of fancy
goods, on inquiring about the canton-flannel rabbits, mice, &c., I was
told they give them to a school girl in Brooklyn to make. She makes them
out of school hours, and earns $1.50 per week. They are sewed by a
machine, because it can be done faster. The treasurer of a firm
manufacturing Yankee notions, in Providence, writes they have six women
employed in labelling and packing light goods, who earn from $3 to $6
per week, of ten hours a day. It requires about four weeks to learn to
do the work. There is no difference in seasons. What work women do at
all they do as well as men. Some places are better than others for this
style of manufacture.
=515. Varnishers and Varnish Makers.= In France, women are employed as
varnishers of furniture. At some varnish factories, women are employed
to separate the good from the imperfect gum, and I think are paid the
usual price of woman's work, 50 cents a day. Women might make spirit
varnish. Copal varnish has to be boiled, and is liable to take fire. As
it requires much strength to stir it, women could not very well make it.
The varnishing of pianos could be done by women. A manufacturer of
musical instruments told me a solution, one constituent of which is
pulverized marble, has been made for varnishing, that is very
substantial. A knife can be broken against it, after it has become
hardened on furniture. It will probably be used very extensively.
=516. Water Carriers.= "Everywhere on the banks of the Nile, the poorer
sort of women may be seen bringing up water from the river, in pitchers,
on their heads or shoulders." There are from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty water carriers in London, but they are mostly or all men.
EMPLOYMENTS FOR THE AFFLICTED.
=517. Blind Women.= Many blind persons are employed as follows:
Attendants in blind institutions, authors, basket makers, bead workers,
broom makers, brush makers, carpet and rug weavers, chair seaters,
flower and fruit venders, governesses, hair and moss pickers, hucksters,
knitters, match sellers, mattress makers, milk sellers, music teachers,
netters, newspaper and book agents, paper-box makers, seamstresses,
stationers, straw braiders, teachers, umbrella sewers, washerwomen,
willow workers. We think they usually engage in their work with pleasure
and profit. Fortunately the tools employed in the occupations of the
blind do not cost much. So if the blind have a thorough knowledge of
some pursuit, and means to keep them until they are established and able
to secure constant work, they may feel sure of a comfortable livelihood.
Their occupations are of a kind to furnish them with most constant
employment in a city. Though the compensation for each article is small,
yet, when one's time is fully occupied, the aggregate is considerable.
=518. Deaf Mutes.= Deaf mutes can engage in most branches of book
making, fancy work, sewing, shoe making, teach drawing, and teach those
afflicted like themselves.