384. Ink.
A large quantity of writing and printing ink is
used in this country. There are factories for making each kind.
Making printing ink is hard and dirty work, unsuitable for women.
Some persons cut stencil plates and make indelible ink, and employ
agents to sell the ink and plates. Indelible, and all writing
inks, could be made and bottled by women. Care should be
taken that the acids used do not touch the flesh. Common clothes
should be worn while at work, as both the ingredients and compound
are of a kind to injure clothes. A maker of writing ink
in New York, employs three girls in summer for bottling and
labelling, and pays $3.50, working from seven till dark. He
never employed any in winter, but if his business extends, he will
employ his girls all the year, paying the same price in winter.
He has found it difficult to get good hands. The prospect for
learners is poor. A manufacturer of ink writes: "I have never
yet employed female help, though I am satisfied that most of the
work in my laboratory might be as well done by women as men.
The employment is not unhealthy. My men work ten hours a
day, and are paid by the month."
385. Label Cutters.
At P. Brothers', I was told some
of their labels are cut by hand, and some by machinery. The
first are square or oblong, the others are of different shapes.
Those cut with shears are most neatly done. For cutting by
hand the price is one cent per hundred. They take them home.
A lady and her two daughters, who work for them, often receive
$50 a month. Those cut by machinery could not well be cut by
women. It requires practice to make one expert. B. pays a
girl by the hundred to cut labels at home. He would employ a
girl to cut and attend his store, paying $3 a week from the first,
but she must not be absent a day. If her health is such that
she cannot always be there, he does not want her. He had one
three and a half years, who was absent only ten days during that
time. S. says cutting labels is always piecework, and a good
worker can earn from $4 to $6 a week. He gives them out, and
they are cut by hand. Common ones, for spices, mustard, &c.,
are cut by machinery. It does not require long to become expert.
The business is always dull in December and January.
386. Lead Pencils.
The young man at the agency for
the sale of Faber's pencils, says they are made at Steinway,
Germany, and he thinks women there are employed in varnishing
the wood of the pencils and tying them up. The pencils are
either painted or the simple wood varnished. "A man in New
York is reported to have made $60,000 by selling lead pencils
about the streets at a penny a piece, and safely investing his profits."
Some large pencils, such as are used by carpenters, were
some time back made in Massachusetts. The writing part of lead
pencils is made of lead and clay, mixed, pressed, and burnt. The
wooden part is in two pieces that are united when the lead is put
in. In Germany each man has his own part to do. Children
do some parts of it, such as joining the wood.
387. Operatives in Paper Factories.
Paper is of
various qualities and colors, and is adapted to different purposes.
At least one half of the operatives in paper factories in the United
States are females, amounting to several thousand. Water
power is used in some paper mills, but in most large mills steam
is used. Women are employed in paper mills to sift, sort, and
cut up rags. It is dusty, disagreeable work, and we presume
not particularly healthy, as much of the dust is no doubt inhaled.
In some factories, women attend the picking and cutting machines
and calenders. They are also employed for hanging, laying off,
reeling, folding, assorting, counting, enveloping, and labelling the
paper. The inability to meet fully the demand for rags in the
manufacture of paper has led to experimenting with a variety of
articles. One agent for the sale of paper made in New Jersey,
and the foreman of the same establishment, told me their girls
get from $2.50 to $3 a week. The majority receive $2.50. Part
work six consecutive hours, have a rest of one hour, then six
consecutive hours more, that is from six at night till seven in the
MORNING, HAVING ONE HOUR AT MIDNIGHT; THE OTHER HALF FROM 7
A. M. till 6
P. M., having an hour at noon. The day and night
workers take week about. They board for $1.50 a week. In Lee,
Mass., women get $3.50 and $4, and the men twice as much.
Women are paid best in the ruling department. In the paper
factories in New York, women receive from $3 to $5 per week.
Paper maker's girls, $1.50 to $2.50 per week. S. says, in some
paper factories girls are able to earn $6 a week. All the labor
in paper mills, except attending to the fires and machinery, could
be done by women. All manufacturers report the occupation as
healthy, except one in South Adams, who states that small pox
is sometimes taken from the rags—
not often. A paper manu
facturer
in Lee, Mass., writes: "Women are employed in all
countries where paper is made. The time of learning depends
upon their skill and developments in certain directions in the
business. They are usually paid by the piece. Men are paid
more because their labor is greater. Boys learn the business in
about five years, girls in about one year. In learning they generally
receive enough to pay their board. They work at all
seasons—sometimes have nothing to do in July. There is a demand
for hands in the loft, a surplus in the rag room." The
New England Roofing Co. manufacture a felt, which is similar
to sheathing paper, but made of a fine stock. They employ six
females in sorting rags and other materials for the felt, and pay
from $3 to $5 per week, one half the price of males. They work
eleven hours, and pay $2 per week for board. A manufacturer
of wrapping and wall paper, in Connecticut, writes "he employs
a few females, and pays fifty cents per day of from eight to ten
hours. He prefers them because most economical. Those working
by the piece can earn from fifty to seventy-five cents per day.
He pays men $1 per day for doing like work. They require less
attention, and can perform other work when wanted, that is not
suitable for females to perform. He usually pays beginners the
same as others when they work by the day. His most busy time
is when there is most water for power. An active person can
usually earn as much in from six to eight hours as a house girl
is paid for a full day's work." A manufacturer at Niagara Falls
"employs between forty and fifty women, paying each from $2.50
to $4 per week, without board. They are paid about one half less
than men, because boys would do. The prospect of employment
is good. They are most busy in summer, although they run the
whole year, day and night (except Sunday). They are twelve
hours on, and twelve hours off. Board, $1.25 to $1.75. A firm
in South Adams, Mass., write me: "We pay by the piece and
the day. The prices for female labor, we think, compared with
work done, better than for male. It requires no time to learn to
cut rags, but experienced hands can earn more wages. For finishing,
from four to six months are given. Women are paid while
learning. We employ women always, when they can do the labor.
Women are superior in the neatness with which they do their
work. New England, and such States as have abundance of clear
spring water, are the best. Board, from $1.25 to $2 per week.
We think, perhaps, that at present the business of paper making
is pretty fully supplied with laborers, male and female, in this
section of the country, yet
good help finds ready employment, at
fair wages." Manufacturers of bank-note paper, in Lee, Mass.,
inform me by mail, they "pay by the piece, to women, from $3
to $4.50 per week. It would require five years for a man to
learn the business, so as to properly superintend it. That portion
done by women can be learned in one month." A newspaper
manufacturer in Taunton, Mass., writes: "Fifty or sixty women
are employed by me, in manufacturing cotton goods and newspaper. I pay by the piece and the week, from $2.50 to $6 per
week, depending on the age. I give equal pay to both sexes for
the same work. They are employed the year round, and work
eleven hours on the average. The climate of New England is
best adapted to indoor labor." Paper manufacturers in Dalton
write: "We pay women by the piece, from $12 to $16 per
month, and they have work all the year. No men are employed
for the same kind of work. For other branches of the business,
men are paid from $25 to $35 per month. Women are paid
while learning for what they accomplish. The prospect for work
is good. We employ women because they are cheaper. They
pay for board $1.25." A firm in Russell, Mass., write: "We
employ from forty to fifty; one tenth are Americans. They can
all live comfortably and earn good wages. New England is the
best part of this country for fine paper mills, on account of the
purity of the water. Board, $1.50 to $1.75."
388. Paper-Bag Makers.
At a paper-bag factory in
Brooklyn, the man pays from $1.50 to $2 a week to his girls. They
work ten hours. The work is all done by hand. The bags are
considered better than those made by machinery. He has twenty-six
girls at work. Some he pays by the quantity; for some kinds,
twenty cents a hundred; for some, thirty-seven cents. Those that
work by the piece have a forewoman, with whom he makes a contract.
She cleared $14 one week. It takes but a week to
learn. Work is furnished all the year. Some have worked for
him five years. Paper-bag manufacturers in Watertown, Mass.,
write: "We employ six women in tending bag machines, and
pay seventy cents per day of ten and a half hours. To males
we pay one third more. It requires about one month to learn,
and all that is necessary are care and application. Summer and
fall are the best seasons, but they can have work the year round.
We will not have any but American girls. Women are more
accustomed to sitting, but cannot keep the machine in order.
Their dress is objectionable, particularly their hoops, which take
up much room, and are in danger of getting in the machinery."
389. Paper-Box Makers.
Though this may seem a
trivial business, it is one very extensively carried on. Every
size and shape is called for. The most are made, we suppose,
in New York and Philadelphia, as greater demands exist there,
owing to the variety and quantity of goods manufactured and
offered for sale. Boxes are almost entirely made by women. I
think most of the men in this trade in New York are Germans.
The occupation for women is pretty well filled. The bandbox
manufacture is a distinct branch. Some women, who make small
match boxes, receive but one cent for thirty boxes. At a place
in New York where seventeen girls are employed, I was told they
are paid by the piece, and some can earn as much as $5 a week.
The calling can be learned in three or four weeks. At one
place, where they make bandboxes also, the girls earn from $2 to
$5. At another, they earn from $2.50 to $5. Some seasons of the
year are better than others. They have mostly American girls. It
is sometimes difficult to get good hands. They keep their hands all
the year. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. Very little
sewing is ever done—mostly cutting and pasting. In some large
factories, machinery is used for much of the work. K. employs
a number of hands all the year. They work by the piece (customary
plan), and earn from $1.50 to $6. They are paid $1.50
per week from the time they begin to learn. He thinks there
are not more than from five hundred to six hundred females in
New York employed in his branch. There were three hundred
in Philadelphia about fifteen months ago. One paper-box maker
told me he pays fifty cents a hundred, and a smart girl can make
one hundred and fifty in a day. He gives employment all the
year; his brother, in the spring and fall. The work is always,
I think, cut out by a man. B.'s girls are paid by the piece, and
earn about $4 a week. While learning, his girls are paid $2 a
week. It requires but two or three months to become skilful.
I noticed the girls in some work rooms sat, and some stood. I was
told those making small boxes sit, but those making large boxes
stand, because of the time consumed in rising to reach the parts
needed to be joined. Learners work with F. fourteen days for
nothing, and then are paid by the hundred. Some can accomplish
more than others in the same time, because they are quicker
with their fingers and apply themselves more closely. In putting
on labels, it is best to stand, as it can be done more expeditiously.
It is best for girls to learn where the cheap kind of boxes are
to be made. Those that make fine boxes are seldom willing to
take learners, because of the materials that are wasted in learning.
Good hands can get work all the year; indifferent hands
are likely to get out of employment for one or two months. The
girls in the trade are mostly Irish and German. For three months,
the past year, F. was out of hands. He deserved to be all the
time, for his factory was on the fifth floor, and the steps of the
open wood kind. So girls must have been very much exposed in
going up and down stairs, as every flight of stairs led to a floor
on which men were at work. At C.'s, I was told his best workers
earn from $4 to $6 a week, and are paid by the gross. They never
work over ten hours, as his work is of a large kind. In some factories,
where the boxes made are small, the girls are allowed to
take work home with them to do in the evening. He keeps his
best hands all the year. He requires two weeks of learners, and
then pays them according to the amount of work done. Another
box maker gives his work to three or four families in an adjoining
city. His workers earn from $3 to $4 per week. A girl sewing
small bandboxes told me she is paid six cents a dozen, and can
usually sew ten dozen a day. It takes but a week to learn. They
are most busy in spring and fall. In pasting, girls can earn from
$4 to $5 a week. The girls sewing, sat; those pasting, stood. At
another factory I was told April and September are their most
busy months, and then they take learners. Most box makers have
steady work. If they are not making boxes for one branch of
trade, they are for another—confectioners, candle makers, &c.
The business is increasing. Girls can earn from $3 to $7. There
are openings in New Orleans. It is difficult to get good hands in
busy times. It takes some time to become expert. A boy remarked
to me that paper-box makers are a hard set; but I find
there is considerable jealousy and envy existing between some
members of the different trades, and consequently always make
some allowance for what I hear. A firm of paper-box manufacturers
in Connecticut write: "Women are employed by us to
run machinery, making paper boxes, &c. It is healthy, clean,
neat work. Average wages are seventy-eight cents per day, including
board. Our male help are employed at some laborious work,
which females could not perform. Average price paid men is
$1.25 per day, of eleven hours. No time is required to learn the
paper-box business, but practice makes it more remunerative.
There are advantages in being in large cities; but, having no
market near, we prefer the country, on the ground of better
advantages for our help, and its being easier to procure trusty,
intelligent girls to labor. Our women have constant employment,
and are superior to men in their work. Most of them are well
suited for making good wives, being from eighteen to twenty-five
years of age. Board, $1.75." B., of Philadelphia, writes:
"We pay women from $2.50 to $5 per week, working by the
piece. Men's wages are double, as they generally have families.
Neatness and to be good sewers are desirable. They generally
have work the year round. The demand is greatest in Philadelphia,
New York, and the Eastern States. We employ them because
of their ability to use the needle. Women are superior in
their own branch." A manufacturer of hook-and-eye and button
boxes writes: "We employ twelve women, and pay by the piece,
from $4 to $6 a week. Women's wages are low, because of the
competition in the article manufactured. Time of learning depends
upon the natural skill of the learner—one can learn for
years. The prospect for a continuance of this work is good.
The price, and fittedness for the work, recommend women to us."
390. Paper Marblers.
I saw the process of marbling—something
very suitable for women, if they would properly qualify
themselves for it. The young man said a paper marbler in
Philadelphia used to employ some women to assist him, but he
had to mix their paints. A paper marbler in Boston writes: "I
do not know of any females being employed as marblers of book
edges in the United States. Some are employed in marbling
paper for the covers and linings of books."
391. Paper Rulers.
In ruling paper for blank books
and ledgers, females are employed in some establishments to feed
the machine. It is not difficult to learn, though there are not
many willing to take learners, as considerable paper must be
wasted before they can become proficient. Only a few weeks are
required, and they are seldom paid while learning. $4 a week is
a fair average for female workers. Very closely connected with
this branch is that of paging blank books. It may be learned in
from ten to twelve days. This is a limited business, and would
not justify many in learning. K. thinks thirty girls would supply
the demand for the whole United States. The most busy
season is from the first of July to the last of October, and they
seldom refuse any applicants during this season. March and
April are also busy months. About half the hands are retained
through the dull season. The girls earn from $5 to $6 a week;
the forewoman something more. All are required to be orderly
and respectable, and there are no associations that would have an
immoral tendency. A journeyman paper ruler in Boston writes:
"There are a few girls employed in this city at ruling,
i. e.,
where they feed on the paper, watch the work, fixing it when it
requires attention, &c. The paper is trimmed for them, it being
hard work, and requiring a man's strength to do it. The wages
are from $3 to $4.50 per week—$3.75 about the average—and
when they board away from home, pay $2 to $2.25 per week. I
work by the piece, and make sometimes $10, sometimes $16 per
week; can make $12 and $13 per week well enough, nine hours
to the day. One disadvantage females have, is, that some
of them are inclined to marry when a good opportunity
is offered. I wish to be understood that this is a disadvantage
only as keeping down the price of female labor. The
young man learns his trade, then he marries. He does not
quit the shop, but still improves in skill in his trade. The
female, when she marries, bids farewell to the shop and her
trade. Nine or ten hours a day is as long as girls work at our
trade here. One great objection girls have to our trade is, they
do not like to soil their hands with the ruling ink, and one cannot
get through much ruling without soiling their hands more or
less."
392. Press Feeders.
"The number of women who feed
power presses in printing offices in Philadelphia may number one
hundred and fifty. They can earn, upon an average, $4 per week."
At the Methodist Book Concern, New York, they pay to press
feeders the usual price, $4 per week. It requires about six months
to become a good press feeder. When work is scarce, they retain
all their hands, if possible, but work a less number of hours,
and pay in proportion. At a blank-book manufactory I was told
their girls are paid $6 a week for feeding. Their girls think they
make poor wages when they earn but ten cents an hour. Some
embossers, in Boston, who employ thirty women in binding and
press feeding, write: "They pay both by the week and by the
piece. Their women, on an average, earn $5 per week. Female
labor is thirty-three per cent. cheaper than men's, and the part
done by women is too effeminate for men. Women spend from
one to two months learning. Prospect of employment in this
branch is good. The women work ten hours. They are out of
employment in summer. Board, $1.50 to $2.50." At a printing
office where from forty to fifty women were employed, I was
told the girls were mostly German, because the foreman was a
German. It requires four weeks to learn. They work ten hours
a day, and are never thrown out of employment. The demand
seems to be fully met in New York.
393. Printers.
"In 1476, Fra Domenico da Pistoya and
Fra Pietro da Pisa, the spiritual directors of a Dominican convent,
established a printing press within its walls; the nuns
served as compositors, and many works of considerable value
issued from this press between 1476 and 1484, when, Bartolomeo
da Pistoya dying, the nuns ceased their labors." In the
Victoria Printing Office, of London, all the compositors' work
is done by women. The Printers' Unions in the United States
have done all they could to prevent women from entering the
occupation and obtaining employment. Men's employments in
the cities, they say, are now filled, and if women enter, men's
wages will fall. They do fall, at any rate, because women will
work for less than men. To obviate this difficulty, I would suggest
that more men engage in agricultural and other occupations
that will take them out of the cities. At present, the war demands
large numbers. A printer told me that type setting could
be carried on more easily by women in towns and villages than
in cities, where men are slaves to the Unions. In the latest rules
of the Printers' Union, New York, a printer is not prohibited
from working in the office with a woman. Yet few publishers
are willing to employ them, because it is supposed they are employed
for less wages. At a printers' convention, held recently
in Springfield, Ill., the following resolutions were adopted:
"Whereas, the employment of females in printing offices, as compositors,
has, wherever adopted, been found a decided benefit,
both as regards the moral tendencies inculcated and the dependence
to be placed in their constant presence and attendance upon
the duties required of them, and as a means of opening a wider
field of remunerative labor to a deserving class of society; therefore,
be it resolved, That the Association recommend to its
members the employment of females in their offices, wherever and
whenever practicable." Printing is mostly paid for by the thousand
ems. More is paid for printing from manuscript than for
reprint. Newspaper is paid rather higher than book printing,
and morning papers more than evening. Much has been said of
the unhealthiness of a printer's work. The majority of causes
that render it so are not confined to the occupation itself. Some
printers must work during the night. Their habits become
irregular, and many run into dissipation. The rooms occupied
by some are poorly ventilated, and so poorly lighted as even in
the day to require artificial light, which helps to absorb the oxygen
of the atmosphere. When type are heated they emit an odor
that affects respiration, and will in the course of time paralyze
the hand. But there is no necessity for using them when heated.
The standing position of compositors weakens the organs of
digestion; but compositors can as well sit as stand. Stools may
occasionally be seen in the offices of men. Bending over the
stone to correct is not more tiresome than bending over cloth
when sewing. A good education and general intelligence are
necessary for a printer. A gentleman connected with a printing
office remarked to me that printers generally possess much desultory
information, but have not their faculties more fully developed
than people in most other trades. Women's fineness of touch and
quickness of motion will fit them for type setting. "They might
be instructed, not merely to compose and distribute, but to correct,
make up, impose forms, and prepare the type completely for
the press or stereotype foundery." A man should be employed
to carry the chases to the press room. When the pressman has
had the type inked and used them, he should have the form
washed and returned to the compositors' room. When women
have had as much experience as men in the printing business,
they will be fair competitors. In most large cities, and even
towns, many are now employed in type setting; but they are
much scattered, and consequently not much is known of them.
In Boston, women have been engaged in type setting for nearly
thirty years, in New York eight years, and in Philadelphia five
years. More girls are employed as type setters in Boston than
any other city of the United States. They set type for nearly all
the large periodicals. They are paid less than men; but some
earn $8 a week. F., of Boston, who employs some women as
type setters, writes: "I pay twenty cents per thousand ems,
which averages to a good hand about $6 or $7 per week. It requires
about six months to learn type setting. I pay my learners,
because I consider it to my advantage in the long run to
do so. Type setters with an ordinary education will improve
as they progress. In a few years, women will work in many
branches that to-day would be termed innovation. I consider
winter the best season for printing books and periodicals. On
account of neatness and taste, women are well suited for the ornamental
branches of printing." The proprietors of a printing
house in Boston, who have some thought of employing females,
write me: "The printing business is considered rather unhealthy,
on account of its being both mental and physical. It requires
from two to three years to become good workmen at our business
for males, and would take about the same time for females,
although our business is now classed composition room and press
room, and females are sometimes employed in other offices in
both rooms. Our business does not vary much, except in the
month of August, when it is generally dull. Our number of
hours for work are ten, the year through. Our business is not
considered very laborious, and females make from $4 to $8
per week. Men are generally superior to women in education
and judgment. The printing business is almost a school for
learning. Board, from $1.50 to $2.50." The largest number of
printers in New York are employed on books and periodicals. I
think it likely there are more Americans employed in the book-making
trade in New York than any other trade. From an article
on "Printers," in the New York
Tribune of April, 1853, we
extract the following: "We estimate the services of a competent
young woman at type setting as worth in this city $2 per week,
after a fortnight—$4 per week, after three months—$6 per week,
after a year—$8, after two years. Every compositor on the
Tribune
at work at the case has thirty-seven cents per thousand
ems, and thirty cents per hour for steady time." The present
price required by members of the New York Typographical Union
for newspaper work, when employed by the week, is $12—ten hours
constituting a day's work. For book and job work $11 is required.
At the
Day Book office I saw one of the editors, who thinks
women do not correct so well as men, and they want self-reliance.
Besides, they cannot lift the forms. Men are paid better for
these reasons. He thinks more women might very advantageously
be employed in setting type for papers. Job printing he
thinks not so well adapted to them, because of the variety in the
work, and the judgment and self-reliance required. Two of
the girls in the
Day Book office have with their earnings bought
their mother a home in the country. Their girls are more intelligent,
have more pride, and dress better than most working
girls. To set type requires more intelligence than most shop girls
possess. The foreman of the same paper writes: "We employ ten
women, whose exclusive business is type setting. Seven are
American women. I deem the employment of type setting unhealthy,
but not more injurious to women than it is to men. We
pay women twenty cents per thousand ems. Men receive
thirty-one cents per thousand ems in our office. Women are not
as competent to do all kinds of work as men, particularly in a
newspaper office; hence the difference in wages. The time of
learning depends almost wholly on the aptitude of the new beginner.
Some persons (men as well as women) would or could
not learn the business in a lifetime. Women have been paid
while learning in this office. A knowledge of the English
language, and a disposition to improve that knowledge on all
suitable occasions, are the principal requisites. The general order
of intellect did not amount to much, when we first tried the experiment;
those who have worked steady have improved wonderfully.
They work ten hours per day. Average wages $6.50 per
week in this office. With proper training and instruction, they
would be competent to do any portion of the work not requiring
too much physical exertion. The best seasons for a printer's
work depend almost wholly on circumstances. Large cities are
the best places for the printer who wishes to have steady employment."
T., of New York, told me "he employed girls for a
while, and would have retained them if he could have had time
to attend to the composition department. He paid his girls the
same price he did his men. He thinks it strange that more
broken-down ministers and worn-out school teachers do not turn
to type setting, as it is learned in a very short time, requires intelligence,
and demands no outlay of muscle. On the principle
that a stout muscular man should be a blacksmith, and a small
delicate one a watchmaker, a woman should be a type setter. A
girl should begin when young. Women are no more thrown
with men in type setting than in feeding presses. In all large
establishments, type setting and press work are done in separate
rooms." I think if some lady teachers would learn the art of
printing and get places as forewomen, they could from girls obtain
as much work as a foreman does from boys; but he thinks it
difficult for a foreman to be exacting with women, particularly
with those who are old enough to be sensitive and self-willed.
He thinks, "in New York, women are not so much employed in
intelligent occupations as in Boston. In the cities printers make
most all their profits off two-thirders, as they are called—boys who
have not attained their majority, and do their work as well for
much less than journeymen. His son, a boy of sixteen, earns
from $5 to $6 a week as type setter." H., in New York, employs
three girls. They get $6 a week of ten hours a day. They can
sit if they choose. They have a room to work in, separate from
the men. At W.'s, opposite, a youth told me a fast worker could
earn $8 a week. The girls there were working in the same room
with the men. J., of Philadelphia, said he used to employ
women to print his labels, but they demanded $6 a week, and
men he could get for $9. He told the women they were cutting
their throats in asking so much. He said women should not expect
as high wages as men, even if they did their work as well,
and as much of it, for they would thereby displace men; and besides,
you could not order women about as you could men. B.,
editor of the Pittsburg
Commercial Journal, employs six girls
as compositors. Connected with his office are two journeymen,
who set type after 6
P. M., reporting telegraphic and local news.
All type setting should be done by women in the day, unless they
board very near, or in the house of the printing office, because of
the exposure of going home late at night. Three fourths of the
work of a printing office could be done by women. Afternoon
and weekly papers could be very well printed by ladies, as they
are printed in the day. One of B.'s lady compositors receives
$7 a week, another $6, and the others $4 and $3.50. They work
eight or nine hours a day; and to a learner they pay $1.50 a week,
until she can set type correctly—then more; and in two years she
will be very nearly or quite perfect in the art. It requires
quickness of eye and finger to succeed. At the office of the
Detroit
Daily Democrat, girls as apprentices are paid from $3
to $4 per week, and those advanced twenty-five cents per thousand
ems. "The compositors' office of the
Ohio Farmer, at Cleveland,
has four apprentice girls. Compensation light at present, but
after the first year they will have the same that journeymen are
receiving in this place,
i. e., twenty-five cents per thousand ems."
A lady learning to set type in Indiana writes: "I think the reason
of the printers objecting to my learning was that I was not required
to run of errands, or, in other words, be the 'devil' of the office,
as boys are who learn the printing business. Besides, my compensation
is better than theirs, in consequence of my ability to
do more than they. I receive my board and $50 a year while
learning; after that, journeyman's wages by the week or by the
thousand ems, as I prefer. In this time I can learn to do all,
except the press work, making up, &c. The girls employed as
type setters in the office receive $3 per week while learning." I
have been told that in Rochester, Buffalo, and New Haven, printing
is done more cheaply than in New York, and some publishers
send their printing to those towns to have it done. A great deal
of raised printing is done for the blind in the United States, but
women do not work at that. Printers were wanted some time
back in Charleston, S. C., and when affairs become settled in the
South, we doubt not there will be many openings for printers.
An institution has been founded in Edinburg for teaching girls the
art of printing. Monsieur P. says in many of the villages of
France it is difficult to get printers. He proposes that a certain
number of girls be qualified for the work, as women are well
suited to such work, and it is of a kind that pleases those who
have tried it.
394. Sealing-Wax Makers.
D., sealing-wax, ink, and
mucilage manufacturer, employs two girls in putting up carmine
ink and gum mucilage, also in rolling, stamping, and boxing
sealing wax. To one he pays $5 a week, to the other $4. He
employs his girls all the year. Making sealing wax is too heavy
work for women, D. thought, and there is not much demand for
the kind used in sealing letters. Self-sealing envelopes and
mucilage have done away with both wafers and wax. In the
United States, one pound is sold where formerly one ton was sold.
Had the use of wafers increased with correspondence, it would
have been an extensive business; but the making and baking of
wafers, D. thought, was too heavy work for women. I expect it is
not more so than making and baking bread. But little ink is made
in the South and West. C. said women could not make sealing
wax, because of the danger of being about the fire. I suggested
there is not more than in cooking. He said lifting the vessels is
very heavy.
395. Stereotypers.
All the first plates in this country
were moulded by a Mrs. Watts, the wife of an Englishman, who
introduced the art from London. Stereotyping could be learned
by women. It is an interesting employment, but requires intelligence
and judgment. In stereotyping, one department of labor
is that of correcting metal plates. If a letter is wanting, a type
is soldered in the plate. If any of the letters or spaces are filled
with superfluous metal, it is removed. I think stereotyping an
occupation well adapted to skilful and educated women. It requires
an apprenticeship of three or four years.
396. Type Rubbers and Setters.
At P. & Co.'s, I
saw the whole process of type making. They employ some
women to rub type, and some to set them up. The setters earn
from $1.50 to $2 a week. It is very simple, but there is much
difference in the quantity done by different individuals. A careful
and rapid manipulation is desirable for the worker, as it is
paid for by the number of types set up. The rubbers are paid by
the pound, and earn from $8 to $9 a week. Some people can rub
2,000 types in an hour. The fingers become hardened. P. & Co.
do not employ many American girls, for American girls do not
like such dirty work, and most of them dislike to work where men
are. Breaking off the jets is in some places done by women. It
is a mechanical operation for removing the inequalities of the
metal, caused by the imperfect chasing of the moulds. It requires
a very rapid movement of the hand, but is not a laborious operation.
It is said that some fast workers can break off 5,000 in an
hour. Girls are employed at type rubbing and setting, in the same
room with men. Type are cut of a soft metal, from which copper
moulds are taken for forming printers' type. It requires a steady
hand, a correct eye, and some practice to cut them, but not much
strength. It could be done by women. B. thinks the work is
not unhealthy. I suppose the same objection as regards health
might be made to breaking off the jets, type rubbing, and type
setting, that is often made to the business of a compositor—that
the lead in the metal has a tendency to paralyze the arm; but I
have never heard the objection offered. B. does not pay learners.
Prospect for employment tolerable. When times are good, he
keeps girls all the year. They are paid by the quantity. The
little girls can earn $2.50 each, and some of the larger girls, who
are very expert, can earn $4.50. Girls always sit in rubbing
type. In setting up, I think they can sit or stand, as they please.
There will be a demand for type so long as books and papers are
printed. I suppose there will now be an opening in the South
for type founderies. W. takes learners, and pays by the quantity
from the first. All his women sit while at work. It is not
healthy work, because of the lead floating in the atmosphere being
inhaled. He can always get hands by advertising. Setters
get about $2.50 a week, and rubbers $3, and $3.50. C. says, if
type rubbers are industrious and attentive, they can earn from
$3 to $7 a week. Rubbing pays better than setting, but is quite
laborious. Setters earn from $2 to $3.50, and are generally
small girls. They are always paid by the quantity. It does not
require long to learn. The prospect is good for employment. In
ordinary times they are employed all the year. At H.'s, I was
told that girls are never taught rubbing until they have learned
setting, as rubbing pays best, and it is not fair to give a learner
the advantage of an old hand. Setters cannot earn more than
$2.50 a week; rubbers, from $4 to $6. He gives work all the
year. Some of his girls are always absent on Monday. He
thinks there are from 700 to 800 girls in founderies in New
York. His girls earn from $3 to $6 a week. Printers, he says,
are always first to suffer in a panic. A type founder in Buffalo,
writes: "I employ fifteen American girls in finishing type, and
pay by the piece. They earn from $3 to $5 per week. One day
is sufficient to learn, and nimble fingers greatly assist. Seasons
make no difference with the work. The work is easy in a warm
room in winter." The proprietors of the Boston Type Foundery
sent me the following intelligence by mail: "We employ about
twenty women in breaking, rubbing, and setting type. The
metallic dust from the type is considered unwholesome. We pay
by the piece. The girls are from ten to twenty years of age, and
average from $1 to $6 per week, working from six to nine hours.
But a short time is required to learn the parts, except rubbing,
which occupies some months. They are paid while learning. All
other parts of our business, except those mentioned, are too severe
for women. The prospect for a continuance of work is tolerable."
397. Wall Paper Gilders.
Most of the wall paper
used in the United States for many years past has been made in
Philadelphia, and I believe it is still thought to produce the best
qualities. There are three modes of impressing wall paper: one by
printing, another by stencilling, and the third by painting with a
brush. In the cheapest paper, the outlines are printed and the
colors put on by stencil plates. For printing, large blocks are
used that are cut by hand, and for each color a separate block
must be used. This work forms a separate occupation, that of a
block cutter. For the finest papers, the outlines are printed, and
then filled by the use of the brush. The ailments of colorers of
wall paper arise principally from the coloring matter, much of
which is very poisonous. "By laboring upon arsenical paper in
the finishing department, small tumors are produced, and some
have to change their occupation in consequence." At H.'s store,
Philadelphia, the young man told me they employ girls from
twelve to sixteen years of age, for putting gilding on paper.
They work ten hours, and earn from $3.50 to $4.50 a week.
They merely lay gilding on, which is fastened by the pressure
of machinery. Some manufacturers have the gilding put on
with a size. At C.'s, New York, the foreman told me they
employ two girls, at $3 a week each. A powder is sprinkled
on by boys, which, by the way, could be done by girls. The
girls then lay the gold leaf on the powder. A machine then
passes over the gold leaf, making an impression by a die, of the
pattern desired. Another branch of labor in which they employed
girls for a time, was the rolling of paper for the store. It requires
a peculiar tact acquired by practice only. They are paid
seven cents for 100 rolls, each roll containing eight yards. It
would take a brisk and careful hand to become at all expert three
months, at which time she could earn about sixty cents a day, of
ten hours' work. At the end of three months more she would,
perhaps, be able to earn an additional twenty cents a day. It
makes the fingers very sore, as considerable force is thrown into
the tips of the fingers. Some fingers cannot become hardened to
it, and the individual has to give it up. C——'s have work all the
year, except a week in summer, and one in winter, and when the
machinery is out of repair. They have most to do in winter,
getting their paper ready for spring sale, and to send away to the
West and South. It is not unhealthy labor. Many girls might
be employed in departments now occupied by boys. At N. C. &
Co.'s, I was told by a young German that from one hundred to
one hundred and fifty boys are employed in that building, but no
women or girls. There are several parts that could be done by
women. The common paper is rolled by machinery, the fine by
hand. In one factory in Boston, girls are employed to roll, and
in one in some other part of Massachusetts. Paper stainers in
Nashua, New Hampshire, write: "Women are employed in coloring
and finishing papers. The work is healthy, though all cannot
use green. We pay some by the week and some by the day:
$3 per week for day hands. It requires two or three months to
learn. A light hand, quick motions, &c., are desirable qualifications.
The prospect of employment is the same as all other
branches of manufacture. Warm weather is our most busy season.
The hands spend a few weeks in the country in midsummer.
We employ from twenty to twenty-five women, and they
work ten hours a day. They have the advantages of libraries, religious
services, &c., and pay for board $1.50 per week." A wall-paper
manufacturer, in Boston, writes: "The different kinds of
work and a fair knowledge of the manufacture of paper hangings
must be seen to be appreciated. For one to be capable of taking
charge of a manufactory in my line, he must devote many years
of close application, and must be a man of fine taste, in order to
get up a
taking style of goods, as the success of the business, in
a great measure, depends upon that, coupled with a fine finish.
The perfection of the manufacture may be all that could be desired,
but if the arrangement of the shadings of the colors were
faulty, there would be a very limited sale of them. A woman
might perhaps make a color mixer (as we call them), if the work
was not too hard and too dirty. We employ three girls to roll
paper. It is light work, and they are paid from $2 to $4 per
week—day hands, ten hours. The time to learn depends upon
the capacity of the learner—say a month. The women are not
out of employment long. The women are mostly foreign, and
can make a comfortable living if they choose. Women have not
sufficient strength for some parts of our work."
398. Chemicals.
One chemist wrote me that some part
of the work in the manufacture of chemicals is wet and disagreeable.
Another writes that "women are not employed in that
branch in this country, but may possibly be employed in England,
Germany, and France; but if at all, only to a small extent. The
employment is not generally unhealthy. To learn it in all its details,
a pretty thorough knowledge of chemistry ought to be acquired.
But a short time is required to learn the ordinary part
of the business. The prospect of the employment of women is
slight, but your inquiries have, however, suggested the idea and
possibility of employing women to a small extent. Men in chemical
works are employed at all seasons, and constantly for eleven
hours per day. No particular locality has advantage over another,
except its proximity to market. Uneducated persons, of ordinary
intellect, can be employed to some extent in the labor." Another
informant writes: "The manufacture of those chemicals most
largely used in the arts, requires laborious work. It is, besides,
rather severe on the clothes and hands, and is entirely unsuitable
for women. There is, perhaps, room for the employment of
women in the manufacture of the finer chemicals, but rather in
the way of putting up than in the manufacture itself. We are
not engaged in this branch. The demand for pure chemicals is
so very limited, that only regularly educated chemists engage in
the business, and they do most of the nice work themselves.
There is nothing to hinder women from studying practical chem
istry,
but there are few chances for educated chemists; and there
are more than men enough to take all the places that are to be
filled." A manufacturer of acids writes: "We employ no female
labor in our establishment, it being heavy work, not suitable for
them." The present style of female dress would be inconvenient,
if not dangerous, in the preparation of such chemicals as require
the operator to be near the fire. This difficulty, however, could
be obviated.
399. Baking Powders.
D. employs girls to put up
baking powders, spices, &c. It is piecework. A very brisk
hand can earn $5 a week, but few can do so. They work longest
in summer days. They like to close early enough to give their
girls time to get home before it is very late. Mechanical talent
only is necessary.
400. Bar and Soft Soap.
Large quantities of soap are
made in the United States. That sold in groceries is made mostly
in towns or the country. It is hardened by muriate of soda, and
called bar soap. That used by people in the country is generally
of their own make, and called soft soap. In New York, we observed
in some groceries barrels of soft soap of a very light color,
almost white. Vegetable substances were used previous to the
invention of soap, for washing the person and garments. A plant
growing in California is said to yield a very good substitute.
Some kinds of earth, mixed with lye ashes, have been used.
Making soap in large quantities would be very heavy work for
women. A machine has been invented for cutting soap into bars,
which will doubtless in time do away with the primitive plan of
cutting it with wires. At a soap factory, a man told us that
women are never employed in factories in making coarse soap.
Attending the kettles could not be well done by them. The
only part that could be done would be cutting it in bars, but
that is rather too hard, on account of the strain and change of position.
It is cut with wire after it has become hard.
