The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work

156. Sugar Makers.

When the part of the sugar cane to be pressed, is cut, it is tied in bundles and drawn to the mill in wagons. It is deposited in heaps outside, and negro girls carry the bundles on their heads to the mill door. After the cane has been subjected to pressure by cylinders, to obtain the juice, it falls through an opening in the mill walls, and is carried off by negro women and spread in the sun, to dry for fuel. The work in sugar mills is very warm and heavy. The work in sugar refineries is very laborious, and requires the workers to be subjected to great heat. Several refiners have informed me that the business does not admit of the employment of women in any department. The business is said to be very trying on the constitution, and produces an unhealthy increase of flesh. It is said to be good for consumptives on account of the great nutriment in sugar. A sugar refiner died not long ago, whose salary received from the company amounted, I was told, to $25,000 per annum. I have thought there is one part of the work a woman might do—it is enveloping the sugar in paper cases. At a sugar refinery a man told us, some women are employed to make bags for containing char, i. e., burnt bones, and earn several dollars a week. The sewing is done by hand; making the bags requires but a short time, though it is heavy work. Most refiners buy theirs at bag factories, or have their men to make them.

157. Tea Packers.

A boy fitting himself to be a tea broker told me, 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.

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.

167. Dyers and Bleachers.

Dyeing may be divided into seven branches: 1, calico and cotton; 2, fur; 3, fustian; 4, leather; 5, linen; 6, silk; 7, wool and woollen. Silk and wool are of animal origin, and require different treatment in dyeing from substances of a vegetable nature, such as cotton and flax. All the various colors and shades of dyed goods were originally derived from the combination of the four simple colors—blue, red, yellow, and black. Cotton is more easily dyed than linen, and the colors are brighter. Much of what is said under "Print Works" will apply to this subject. They are so similar, a distinction is scarcely necessary. In large manufacturing cities, dyers usually confine themselves to one kind of goods, as wool or silk, and some to certain colors. Dye houses, in other than manufacturing cities and towns, are mostly for the coloring of goods that are worn, or new goods that have been damaged. A great deal of dyeing is done in our large cities. Frequently, persons going into mourning have articles of dress dyed. Steam has taken the place mostly of hard labor. When goods have been well dyed, a casual observer could not detect it. Permanency of color is a desirable item in dyeing. Some women make a living by keeping a little shop, where they receive goods to be colored, and have the work done at dye houses, making, of course, a profit. There is generally a dye house connected with every large factory of woollen goods. A girl who was employed in a dye house says the work is far from being neat. The work of most of the girls is light. It is to put letters or figures on the articles sent, and when dyed, fold and tie them up, and place the numbers on. In the dye house where she was, one girl received $3.50—the others, each, $3 per week. They worked ten hours a day. One girl was employed in finishing the goods—that is, running them over a heated cylinder to smooth and dry them. She says the floors of dye houses are so wet that women would find it not only filthy, but injurious. Mr. Y. says women are not employed in the mechanical department of his dye and print establishment—that the business requires the workers to stand in liquids, and the atmosphere is very damp. A woman would be liable to suffer from exposure of that kind. A girl employed at another place to mark goods, told me she received $3 per week. Was told at C.'s dye house that he employs four girls, paying $3, and $3.50 a week. They put numbers on goods, and do other work of that kind. They work ten hours. A cotton goods bleacher and dyer told me the work was too wet and dirty for women. Most of the winding of cotton for dyeing is done by machinery. By steam power one person could do ten times as much as by a wheel. At one place they paid thirty-five cents for basting together two pieces of cloth eight yards long to be bleached; and a woman could earn from seventy-five cents to $3 per day; but the work could not last long. We called at a dyer and bleacher's. He said: "Very few women are employed in dyeing in this country, but in the old country they are. He has seen them at it in Scotland, and there it is rather better paid than most women's work. They are also employed in bleaching, both by chemicals and exposure to the sun. It is not unhealthy, although in a dye house a person must be wet from the knees down. By wearing thick boots, and leggings of India rubber, they would not be likely to suffer. Occasionally, dyers get some of the chemicals they use into sores on their hands and feet, which may injure them some, but not seriously. He says the work must be done in a certain time, and so they cannot be particular about keeping their feet dry. He pays old women for hanking cotton 37½ cents a score, and so they may earn $2.25 a week." There are mechanical modes of printing textile fabrics. In the Staten Island Dye and Print Works, "there are a good many women and children employed. The latter are principally confined to the printing department, each of the sixty printers engaged there being allowed a child for the purpose of adjusting or distributing the color evenly, previous to the application of the block. The rate of wages paid in this establishment is, we understand, as follows: the printers and block makers are paid by the piece, and when in full work can earn from $60 to $70 a month; the dyers and other workmen receive from 37½ cents to $1.25 a day; the women $6 to $12 a month, and the children from $6 to $8." A dyer writes: "Women are sometimes employed in the finishing department, and are mostly paid by the day. Spring and fall are the busy seasons." One in Walpole, Mass., writes: "I think more than an ordinary degree of intelligence is required for the business, because of the thought and observation necessary." A dyer in Buffalo, N. Y., writes: "I employ two, and sometimes three women. Women are employed in basting work together, and in finishing it after it is dyed. In some places they have charge of the office, and receive and deliver goods. For a healthy person it is not injurious. In finishing, the individual is on his or her feet all the time. I pay from $1.75 to $5 per week, and hands work from ten to sixteen hours. The time could not be shortened, owing to the nature of the business, and the loss during the winter. The comfort and remuneration of the part done by women is very good. Women of equal intelligence with men do better, as it is of female apparel the business mostly consists. In winter they have considerable unoccupied time they could devote to mental improvement." The proprietor of the Chelsea Dye House writes: "We employ about seventy-five women to wash, iron, and finish dyed goods. About one eighth are Americans. It is not unhealthy, to my knowledge, or in my experience. Average pay is $3.50 per week. Those that work by the piece can earn from $3.50 to $6 per week of eleven hours per day. Women are paid all which the business they do will afford. It requires a woman of fair capacity a few weeks to learn. Work is constant for good hands. Work is nearly uniform through the seasons. Large cities are the best localities for business. They pay about $1.75 per week for board in private families of their own standing." A member of a firm at Astoria, L. I., writes: "We employ from seventy-five to one hundred women in washing and dyeing yarns and cloth. We know them to be so employed in Berlin, Prussia. The employment is not unhealthy. We pay by the week from $4 to $5. They work ten hours. We pay men $7 per week for the same work that the females are employed at, because they do more. It requires about four years to learn fully that portion of work done by females. They are paid $2 per week while learning. A good public school education is needed, and temperate, steady habits. The prospects for females are good—eventually they will supersede the men in one branch of the business. The spring and fall seasons are the best. The winter is not so good. About two months in the summer our works are partially stopped. There is a surplus of dyers in Lowell, Mass. We employ women in preference to men, because we believe them to be more intelligent than men—especially emigrants. About two thirds are Americans. They have evening schools, lectures, and church services. Those that board pay about $1.50 per week."

168. Factory Operatives.

The larger number of operatives in our manufactures are females. They are of all ages. They do not remain so permanently in our factories as in those of older countries. They make skilful and active workers. The factory operatives of this country are more favorably situated than those of most countries. Most of them have wholesome food and comfortable homes, or boarding houses. They are not confined in factories from early childhood until they lie down to take their last, long sleep; consequently, they are not stunted and deformed, and prematurely old. The activity and variety attending life in the city are likely to produce great restlessness, and insatiable thirst for excitement. This must be checked, or its results may be ruinous. Vent of the feelings is harmless; wholesome amusements, recreation so far as is possible in the quiet of the country, reading good books, and social intercourse with the virtuous and worthy, will form a good substitute for this artificial excitement. So greatly is the manufacture of materials into cloth, and cloth into goods, facilitated by machinery, that wool taken from the sheep's back to-day, can be worn as clothing to-morrow. The number of factories has greatly increased since the introduction of machinery; nor is it strange, for goods have become cheaper and the demand is greater. The materials for manufacturing are abundant in this country; but the want of workmen acquainted with this business, and the want of capital, have prevented some branches of American manufacture from equalling those of older countries. The improvements in machinery for removing dust and floating cotton in the work rooms, no doubt renders it more healthy than it was. "In proof of his assertion that factory labor shortens life, Dr. Jarrold deposed, that having examined, in the schools, all the children whose fathers had ever worked, or were still working in factories, he found that from one third to one fourth were fatherless." "Out of about two thousand children and young persons taken promiscuously, who were carefully examined in 1832, two hundred were deformed. These were factory operatives." These statements refer to operatives in England. Some women are employed in the manufactories of Birmingham, England, as overseers in the departments where women work, but the number is small, and in our country it is still more uncommon. Cotton and woollen goods are extensively manufactured in the New England States, New York, and Pennsylvania. A gentleman told me that a little more than a year ago, as he came from Vermont, he saw a young man in the cars with about twenty girls, that he was bringing down from Canada to a cotton factory in Massachusetts. The manufacturers had offered a bonus of $5 apiece for girls, and to pay their travelling expenses, and this young man was making a business of it. He says, in busy seasons there is a scarcity of hands in the New England factories. We believe that when men and women do the same kind of work, such as weaving, and are paid by the quantity, no difference is made in their wages. In comparing returns from several factories in Massachusetts, I find weavers earn in them from $4 to $5.50 per week; warpers, $3 to $5; dotters, $3 to $4. Irish women, by working for less wages, have pushed American women out of factories. In Lowell, a few years back, nearly all the operatives were young American girls from the country. Many worked from the most honorable, self-denying motives; some to educate younger members of the family, some to assist widowed mothers or hard-working fathers, some to lay by a sum to support themselves in old age, and some to acquire the means for obtaining a more extensive school education. A manufacturer of printing cloths, Reading, Pennsylvania, writes: "In all countries where there are cotton mills, women are employed as weavers, fly and drawing tenders, spoolers, warpers, dressers, and cloth pickers. The work is not more unhealthy than any indoor employment. Workers earn from $2.25 to $6. Men and women are paid the same for the same kind of work. Our kind of work may be destroyed a year or so by the unsettled state of the country—otherwise it is good. The hands work about eleven hours at present prices, one hour less would reduce wages about 10 per cent. There are openings in cotton mills along the Hudson River, and farther East, and a surplus of hands in mechanical towns inland. The work is lighter than most of womanly employments. Women are superior in attending faithfully to their work, and are more easily managed than men. Board is from $1.50 to $1.75 per week, and is much better than their homes would be, if they were the daughters of day laborers, as many of them are. I would say further, in our branch of business women are treated in all respects as regards their work the same as men, paid the same, and under the same rules and restraint. In our dressing department the women make from $6 to $8, while the men make from $8 to $10, with the same machine at the same price. There are but few mills that employ women dressers, except in Pennsylvania. They are not strong enough; but here the descendants of the old Dutch stock are more masculinely developed, and are taking the place of the men in this branch." A gentleman who has been manufacturing cotton cloth in North Adams, Massachusetts, between twenty and thirty years, writes: "We employ women and girls in our mill. Some of the work requires constant stepping and walking. Wages for spinning girls, $2.50 to $3 per week; for boys the same, for spooling; from $2.75 to $3 for speeder and drawer tenders; $3 for warpers, or $4; all the rates of labor include the board. Farther East, women are employed as dressers, earning from $4 to $6 per week. Weaving is paid for by the piece—most other work by the week, as it cannot so well be let by the piece. To learn to spin on the throstle frames requires from six to eight weeks. The qualifications desired in an applicant are expertness, good behavior, ability to read and write, industry, and a desire to be useful to the employer. In midsummer, hands are most scarce. Good workers are never thrown out of employment except during panics. In this place (North Adams), hands usually work from twelve to twelve and a half hours; Saturdays we close at four o'clock in summer. Farther East, a number of operators work eleven hours; some, twelve; and some, even twelve and a half. The legislature of the General Government is, and has been for many years, against encouraging the industry of the country. Whatever revenue laws would promote the making of iron, wool, cotton, or cutlery, would assist and support agriculture, the making of shoes, and all other branches of labor. The cotton mills can merely subsist. The hours could not be shortened. Those employed in watching, warming, oiling up, superintending, repairing, &c., have the same hours. There has been a demand for hands everywhere in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and adjoining States. Women are more orderly, more easily governed, and more cleanly than men. Their slim fingers enable them to be more expert. They are more attentive, as a general thing, where the labor requires only looking after, creating no fatigue, except that which arises from close attention. For these reasons women are preferable. Their labor is somewhat cheaper than men's of the same age. In Western Massachusetts, about three fourths are American women; in Eastern Massachusetts about one half are, and the other half foreigners. The women have good boarding houses, and live and dress well. Here, a hand can leave his employer by giving two weeks' notice; farther East, four weeks' notice is required. In both places, effort is made to spare them at once, if they desire it. My American work people are above mediocrity; the others, rather below. Children under fifteen years of age are required by law to be kept out of the mills for at least three months in the year, to attend school; more if the parents choose, as the schools are free. Employers, as a general thing, press and urge the children to school, as intelligent hands are worth more than ignorant ones. For good board, women pay $1.50 per week; with lodging and washing, $2. Many hands lay up sums in the savings banks; very many more might do so, if they chose. Good female spinners, speeder tenders, spoolers, warpers, twisters-in, and weavers are always rather scarce. They command from $3 to $6 per week. Widow women, with families of girls to support, can get a good living by such work, and lay up some money if they try." Hitherto few manufactories have been established in the Southern United States: but now that the South will depend more on its own resources, no doubt manufactories of cotton goods will be built up very rapidly. From "Northern Profits and Southern Wealth," we make an extract: "One third of the hands employed in factories at the East are females. At the South, female labor is taking the same direction. At the North, this element of labor is supplied by immigration in nearly its whole extent—a very large proportion of the females employed in the factories being Irish. The Eagle mills in Georgia have one hundred and thirty-six looms, and employ seventy girls, who earn 50 cents to $1 per day. The operatives in all these factories are white people, chiefly girls and boys, from twelve to twenty years of age. On an average they are better paid and worked easier than is usually the case in the North. Country girls from the pine forests, as green and awkward as it is possible to find them, soon become skilful operatives; and ere they have been in the mills a year, they are able to earn from $4 to $6 a week. They are only required to work ten hours a day. Particular attention is paid to the character of the operatives, and in some mills none are received but those having testimonials of good moral character and industrious habits. Churches and Sabbath schools are also attached to several of the manufactories, so that the religious training of the operatives may be properly attended to. In 1860, 45,315 males and 73,605 females were employed in cotton factories. The woollen manufacturers employed as operatives in 1860, 28,780 males and 20,120 females.

169. Gingham.

From the Manchester Gingham Manufactory, we learn 149 American women are there employed in weaving, winding, spooling, piecing, drawing, reeling, and spinning. "Spinners' maximum is sixty cents per day. Weavers receive twenty-six and eighteen cents per cut. Women receive for winding ten cents per cut, nine cents for spooling, forty cents per day for piecing, for drawing $2.50 per week, and for reeling 1¼ and 1½ cents per doff. We pay the same to men and women for the same kind of work. They are usually about two months learning. Prospect for work is very good. We make a staple article. Summer is the best season; we have steady work the year round. Hands work sixty-nine hours during six days—twelve hours, five days; and nine on Saturday. There is some demand for them; we prefer women for weaving. They pay for board $1.40 per week." The agent of the Gingham Mills, in Clinton, Mass., in reply to a letter seeking information, says: "We employ four hundred females, young and old, in the various branches of cotton manufacture. They are paid from forty cents to $1.25, according to skill and ability; they work 11½ hours. They are paid partly by the piece, and partly by the day. By the piece, and for the same kind of work, women receive as much as men. Some branches are learned very quickly, and some slowly, according to capacity. Women are paid while learning, much to our loss. Ordinary intelligence and complete use of the physical faculties are necessary qualifications. We work at all seasons. The women are very careful to select their times for absence, visiting, &c., when we are preparing the winter style of goods, which are of darker colors, and possibly less profitable to them. They are sure to come back during the manufacture of lighter styles. It is clearly a womanly way of doing business, but the men do the same. The kinds of work women do in mills do not require the strength of men, and so women are employed. It is cheapest to employ women; because, if we employed only men, half the village would be idle. Boys can do all the work that the females do. We have four hundred males also. One third are American. In weaving, where men's and women's work is most justly and fully compared, men do the most and the best in quality. In other branches there is no decided difference. Board $1.50 per week; the houses are of good moral character, and very comfortable."

170. Hosiers.

The invention of machinery for making hose is ascribed to William Lee, of England, 1589. Some trace the invention of knit stockings to Spain. The number of hands employed in the manufacture of hose in Saxony amounts to 45,000. Cotton, woollen, linen, and silk are the kinds of hose common to us. The manufacture of hose worn by Americans is mostly English. The amount of capital required, and the small number of good operatives in our country, cause the products of some of our manufactures to be of an inferior quality. Years back knitting was much done, particularly in the country, but the general use of machinery has superseded the knitting needle. In our large cities, the great amount of hosiery worn might make the sale of hose and half hose a payable business. In making cotton and woollen hose, some children wind the cotton, some join the seams, and others sew them on the boards, to put them in shape. We called to see Aiken's knitting machine. It is quite an ingenious affair; price, $65. I think if any two women would buy one, and one should knit, while the other formed the feet and finished them off, it would pay better than sewing. Large quantities of hosiery are made in Germantown, Pa. It gives employment to many women, who, at their houses, finish them off. The United States Government have usually obtained their clothing, shoes, hats, and socks for the army and navy at Philadelphia, but since the war commenced, most of the clothing has been made up in New York. The manufacture of hosiery is very limited in New York. At the principal hosiery establishment we were told they only employ women to seam that are the wives of the weavers, and they do the work at home. It is very poor pay, and is done almost altogether by English women who have been brought up to the business. It would not pay a person to learn it. An English stocking weaver told me that he does theatrical work, as it pays best. He has known two women from his own country that wove hosiery in the United States. One did journey work with her husband in New York. She earned from $4 to $5 per week. Such work is paid for by the piece or dozen. The work pays poorly. A woman cannot earn at it more than thirty-seven or fifty cents a day, being paid eighteen cents a dozen for seaming socks. To seam shirts and drawers pays better, six cents being paid for each article. Weaving stockings by hand looms will not pay in this country—they can be imported so cheaply. It is rather light work. Work done by steam power is not so neat; the selvages are not well made, and the goods must be cut and sewed in seams. Many women are employed in hosiery manufactures where steam is used. A stocking manufacturer in Lake Village, N. H., writes: "Seven hundred girls and married women are employed in this village to make stockings. Wages run from 50 cents to $1 per day of ten hours; some are paid by the day, others by the piece. Men's work, being harder, is better paid. It requires from three to five weeks to learn. Women have their board paid while learning. Spring, summer, and autumn are the best seasons for work. Some work at the business to maintain their families; others, because they have nothing to do. All are Americans. They pay for board from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." A manufacturer writes: "We employ twenty-five females in the mill, and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five who take work to their homes. Nine tenths are Americans. We pay from $3.50 to $6 per week. It requires but a short time to learn in some departments. They are paid from the time of entering the factory as a learner. It is considered a permanent business. Men and women do not work on the same branches." At the Troy hosiery manufactory, "sixty women are employed in tending knitting machines, winding yarn, and sewing by hand and by machines. The employment is healthy. Their wages run from $3 to $6 per week, average $4.50. They work mostly by the piece, a few by the week. Males and females usually work side by side, and the wages are alike. They are continually learning, from 18 years old to 40. The prospect is good for future employment, and the employment in factories is generally constant. They work twelve hours per day. If shorter time was universal, it would not affect the profits. About one half are Americans. The rooms are well ventilated, and the temperature from sixty to seventy degrees summer and winter."

171. Men's Wear.

A gentleman in Darby, Penn., writes: "Women are employed in factories equally with men, throughout this section of country, as weavers. They are paid just as well, for the same kind of labor. The employment, for aught I can see, is entirely healthy. They receive from $18 to $25 per month of four weeks. They are paid by the piece. It requires about three months to learn weaving, dependent upon the facility with which the learners acquire knowledge. Learners are never paid while receiving instruction; but on the other hand, they more often pay their companions for the privilege of being taught. Industrious habits and quickness of perception are essential to complete success. By a law of Pennsylvania, sixty hours constitute a week's labor in factories. There is neither a demand nor surplus of hands at present, though a number of factories are in course of erection in this section of country; but they will doubtless be filled as soon as ready, for American women especially prefer factory to household labor. About one half our hands are American. Women have more stability of character than men, and are generally superior to them in the neatness with which they bring the cloth from the looms. Board for operatives is from $8 to $9 per month."

172. Print Works.

The Calico Print Works, New Hampshire, report: "We employ about 24 girls. The employment is healthy. We pay girls about fourteen years old, thirty-three cents a day for 10½ hours in summer; in winter they work till dark, averaging ten hours. To girls about twenty years old, we pay fifty cents per day. The men and women do different work. The prospect of future employment is good. Hands work all the year the same. The price of good board is from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." The agent of the Pacific Print Works, Lawrence, Mass., gives the following reply to inquiries: "We employ one thousand women in carding, spinning, spooling, warping, and weaving, on sewing machines, sewing by hand, measuring, knotting, ticketing, &c. The employment is generally healthy, but the workers are more or less exposed to bad air and to dust. They are paid from twenty-five cents to $1 per day, according to age or skill. They work from ten to eleven hours per day. Some work but 5½ days, from choice. It would doubtless be a pecuniary loss to shorten the hours. Women are as well paid here, generally, as men, when comparative strength and power of endurance are considered. It requires from three to twelve months to learn. While learning, they usually receive enough to pay their board. The more strength and intelligence they have, the better. The prospect for this employment is good. They work during all seasons. Women are not usually as well fitted as men to attend large machines, but are better for smaller ones. From three hundred to four hundred of our women are continual readers of our library. They pay $1.50 per week for board. It is as good, for the class of people to be accommodated, as any I ever saw." The agent of the print works, Manchester, N. H., writes: "Women are employed in all departments. They average sixty-five cents a day, and work eleven hours. They are paid by the piece, and at the same rate as the men. It requires from one to four weeks to learn. This kind of business is increasing. There is a demand all through New England for female labor in our branch of business. We employ 1,200, and three fourths are American. They are more steady than men. Some of our girls go West to teach, and some teach here. They have separate boarding houses, and pay $1.37 per week, including washing and lights. The houses are kept with as much order as any female school. No operative is received until they certify that they will comply with the regulations," a copy of which we examined, and found to be very good. From the print works at Haverstraw, N. Y., we receive the following information: "Women are employed in sewing, measuring calico, and in the engraving department, in running the pantograph machines, which dispense entirely with hand engraving, die making, and machine engraving. Women are employed in England, but only partially in other European countries. The women earn from $2 to $4 per week. Men receive double the pay of women: I know of no reason but usage. Only a few weeks are necessary to become proficient in our work, except in the engraving department. Men serve seven years to learn the art of engraving and printing. Women learn to trace by the pantograph in three months; become proficient in one year. Ability and good judgment are necessary. The prospect for the employment of females is good in many other departments, particularly designing. We are decided that females could successfully acquire the art and trade of designing and drawing patterns for calico. Wages of males for this work are from $10 to $40 per week—few at the former, more at $20. Ten hours constitute a day. The time could be shortened an hour or two without loss. We employ about forty females, because their labor is cheaper, and they are more reliable. We find women superior in all branches in which they are employed. The trade society forbids their employment in other parts of the work. Ability to read and write are indispensable in some departments. Men pay for board, $3; women, $1.50." The Suffolk print works pay by the piece, and average eighty cents per day. One of the proprietors at the print works in Pawtucket, Mass., writes: "Women are employed in tracing pantograph designs, and receive from fifty to sixty-seven cents per day. We have one woman who does a man's work at folding, and is paid a man's wages. The work is soon learned, with ordinary capacity. A good physical condition is needed. There is prospect for employment as long as calicoes are used. Cool seasons are the best for work—in very warm weather, work is suspended a short time. We employ fifty. The work is light and clean. The number of American women is very small. We adopt female labor as soon as the aid of machinery renders it practicable. Men are superior in strength and endurance. A locality is desirable where a free circulation of air is furnished on all sides. For ordinary board, women pay $2.50." The agent of the Fall River print works writes: "We pay women by the piece. They earn from $18 to $20 a month; have work the year round. For five days in the week they work 10½ hours; on Saturday, 8½. We employ women because they can do more and cost less than men. Localities are sought where there is a good supply of soft water. Board from $2 to $2.50." A lawn manufacturer in Lodi, N. J., writes: "We employ women in engraving, in stitching, and in finishing goods. The work is very healthy. We pay women $5 per week for engraving; from $2.50 to $5 for other branches. The work can be learned in from four to five weeks. The business is increasing. The women are never out of work. One half are Americans. Women are employed ten hours a day; on Saturday, eight. Women are employed, to help the village along. Very comfortable board, $5 per month." The proprietor of some works in Rhode Island writes me: "We employ about twenty women and girls in measuring cloth, sewing the ends together for bleaching and fulling, knotting the ends of the pieces of cloth when folded; also in engraving copper rolls for printing calicoes, with a pantograph engraving machine. The prices vary from $1 per week to $3 and over, working ten hours a day. For the same work, females are paid the same as males. The work is easily learned. Women are paid while learning. Women will be more employed in future. Work is constant, so far as seasons go. There is probably no other branch of this work, in which women may be employed, than those in which they are. Where women are employed they are as valuable as males. Board of women, $1.50 per week." "In the calico mills of Great Britain, girls grind and mix the colors. They are called teerers. They begin at five years of age, and labor twelve hours a day, sometimes sixteen; and are kept late into the night to prepare for the following day."