Pianos.
In England, the men engaged in making piano
actions used to do much of the work at home, and their
wives and daughters would assist them. In the United States,
each branch in the making of pianos is now done separately, except
in very large establishments, and consequently most of the
work is done at home by the workmen. At a factory in New York, an
apprentice, nearly out of his time, told me that an individual to
learn the business is bound, and must remain until of age. Otherwise
he could not get a certificate, and is not likely to find employment
without one. An apprentice receives $3 a week the
first year, $4 the second year, and more afterward if he is bright
and quick to learn. A journeyman receives from $10 to $12 a
week for his work. At W.'s piano manufactory, New York, we
were kindly permitted to pass through and see the entire process
of making. Among other parts that I thought could be done by
women, were those of varnishing and polishing. This work
forms a separate branch of itself, and requires an apprenticeship
of three or four years. It looked to be very simple. The
pianos are first rubbed with pumice stone, to render them
smooth and susceptible of a polish, then with rotten stone.
Rubbing with pumice stone all day might be too laborious, except
for a very strong woman; but the other process is feasible
for any woman of moderate health. Indeed, the finest polish
could be better given by women than men, because it is done by
the naked hand, and the softer the hand the better. The ornamenting
of the sounding boards could be done by women that
know anything of painting, and also the gilding on the inside top
and outside front. I asked an old Frenchman, doing that kind
of work, how long it would require to learn. He said he had
been at it fifty years, and had not learned it perfectly yet. It is
pretty work, and very suitable for a woman of taste. The delicacy
of woman's touch, with some knowledge of drawing and
painting, would enable her to succeed. Covering wire, and putting
it in, is another branch that might be done by women.
Bleaching ivory for the keys, cutting them, and gluing them on,
are also within woman's range. Cutting leather and buckskin,
and gluing it on the hammers, are very light and simple work.
Another branch suitable for women is regulating the tone of
pianos. Men, said W., would oppose women working at the piano
business in large establishments, but a man would not be likely
to suffer inconvenience from employing women in his own house
to do the part he carries on. If he were independent of his business
it would be better. At ——'s, New York, a manufacturer of
pianoforte actions, I saw two girls at work. It is very nice, clean
work. Part of the time they stand, and the remainder they sit.
One is paid $3 a week, and the other less. The young man who
showed us through the factory, said much of the work in making
pianoforte action that is now done by men could be done by
women. D——'s girls looked to be Americans. They have work
all the year. It mostly consists in covering hammers. A manufacturer
of pianofortes writes: "Our men are paid both by the
piece and by the week, according to the departments in which
they are engaged. The time of learning is from five to seven
years for men. Apprentices (boys) are paid from 25 cents to $1
per day, beginning with the first amount, and increasing from
year to year. In some departments, physical strength is required,
in others, aptness and ready tact—in others, a cultivated musical
ear. The prospect for future employment is very fine in all
branches for men—in some, equally good for women. The majority
of workmen are below mediocrity, as compared with most
all others in manufacturing." A manufacturer in Meredith,
N. H., writes: "We once employed a lady in our key and action
department. She was the wife of one of our workmen. She
earned as much as her husband, and in every respect did her work
as well. She learned her trade in half the time it took her husband
to learn the same. Theirs was jobwork; the two earned
about $3 per day. She did her housework besides. I think
there might be many ladies employed in our business, to the advantage
of all concerned. We expect to test the matter further
by employing some in our varnish rooms soon."
Seraphines.
A manufacturer writes: "I think women
might be employed to advantage in some parts of the work,
and in any part of it, if they could adopt a different style of
dress, something like the Bloomer. The long dress with hoops,
as now worn, must be an insurmountable barrier against their
entering many employments. It is injurious to health, and prevents
a proper development of form."
496. Musical String Makers.
The manufacture of
strings for musical instruments is carried on as a separate branch.
A German violin maker told me that women are employed in
Germany in winding wire for guitar strings. I find they are
also in a factory in Connecticut, and the manufacturer said they
could earn as high as $9 a week. It is rather severe on the fingers,
but that can be avoided to some extent by wearing a glove
finger. In New York, it is mostly done by Germans and French,
who have taken the trade from Americans. The preparing of
catgut from the intestines of sheep and goats, and making it into
strings, is carried on mostly in Germany, and some women are
employed at that. Most metal strings are of steel, and covered
with fine wire of other metals. Mrs. Z., whose husband, when
living, manufactured covered strings for musical instruments, told
me, she and her daughters had often assisted in covering guitar
strings and the lighter piano strings. She thinks a person of
good abilities could learn it in from two to four weeks, with an
attentive instructor. She usually rested against a bench while
employed. A good worker will earn from $3 to $5 per week.
She has never heard of any but English and German women
being engaged in it. In some of the up town shops the machinery
is moved by steam, but it does not answer so well, because
it is not so easily slackened or checked. Harp strings and the
larger piano strings cannot be made by women, because of the
strength and firmness required.
497. Netters.
Netting is now generally done by machinery.
Seines are mostly made in that way. When by hand, it is
done by old people, who receive a very inadequate compensation
for their labor. The nets so much used for horses are mostly
made in a large factory near the city of New York. In England,
woollen netting is used by some gardeners for the protection of
the bloom of fruit trees from frost. They are also used to prevent
birds destroying currants, cherries, raspberries, and other
small fruit. The making of purses of different kinds, and of
hammocks, have employed a small number of people. Net and
seine manufacturers in Gloucester write me: "We employ one
hundred women who work at their homes, and are paid by the
piece. It requires a year to learn. From October to June are
the best seasons for our trade. A few that we employ to work
by the week spend ten hours a day at it. The comfort of the
occupation is good, but the pay poor. We think women better
company than men. Health and strength are the best qualifications
for our work." A net and twine company in Boston
write: "We employ women for converting twine into netting. It
is mostly job work, and they have cash for what they earn. The
comparative prices of men and women are the same as those of
factories in general. It requires about as long to learn as it takes
a woman to learn to knit stockings. The business is good as
long as the sea furnishes fish and mankind eat them. The employment
of women in the work is a providential necessity.
Nearly all ours are American. Women are quicker in their
work—men stronger. Our women have the leisure that belongs
to nearly all manual occupations."
498. Oakum Pickers.
Perhaps some one reading this
book may not know what oakum is. It is old rope, pulled to
pieces until it is soft and pliable, like the original material, and
used for the purpose of corking vessels. Ten years ago, the picking
was done by hand, and many women employed. Now, this
work is mostly done by machinery in this country, and very few
women are employed. In some factories, women are employed
in teazing, that is, untwisting the pieces of rope that are not
pulled to pieces by passing through the machinery the first time.
They are paid so much per hundred pounds, and do not earn
more than $2 a week. It is dirty, disagreeable work. A firm in
Maine write: "We have seen females, both young and old, at
work in oakum mills in the State of New Jersey. In England
(we believe) all oakum is made in their almshouses, consequently
a part by females. The business is healthy. We use many boys
that do work which might be done by females; but we prefer the
boys."
499. Paper Hangers.
An English lady, who has spent
much time in various parts of Europe, told me she had known of
women being engaged in paper hanging in small towns. I believe
it is customary, when papering a room, to have one person put the
paste on, and another put it up. We are confident women could
do the first-mentioned part of the work.
500. Polishers.
Women are employed in France in polishing
furniture. They are mostly the wives of cabinet makers.
It requires art to do it that some can never learn. A person
must be able to put the gum shellac on evenly. A woman in
London earned a very good living by applying French polish to
the furniture of cabinet makers. A French woman that polished
furniture in Paris, told me that the work is hard on the fingers,
and one could not learn it in less than a year. A piano manufacturer
told me that women could be profitably employed in polishing
pianos. It is better learned by women than men, he thought. It
is tedious, however, and requires patience. I have been told that
the finest polish is imparted to furniture by the naked hand, and
the softer and finer the hand the better. For that reason, women
are employed in France to polish piano cases with the palms of
their hands, and, when not employed, wear kid gloves to keep their
hands soft and smooth.
501. Pure Finders.
The finders of dog pure constitute a
small class in this country; but Mr. Mayhew thinks in the city
of London there are between two hundred and three hundred
constantly employed. It is used for dressing leather and kid,
and sold at from sixteen to twenty cents a bucketful. In our
country, it is probably carried on with bone grubbing and rag
gathering.
502. Rag Cutters.
I find nearly all rag cutters are
Irish, and they are mostly old women or young girls. The girls
usually earn about 75 cents or $1 a week. I called at a rag
dealer's, and was told by a woman that one cent a pound is paid
for cutting the seams off, taking the linings out, and removing the
buttons. A woman can earn, she says, from $2 to $2.50 a week.
It is not unhealthy. They grow fat on it. Theirs are mostly
old women, and all are Irish. For assorting they are paid by the
week, and receive $2.75. They work from seven to five in winter;
in summer, ten hours. The keeper of the wareroom sells his rags
for making paper, and sends many to Europe. The women work
all the year. No other kind of work could be done by women in
that business, as the only other is packing in bales, and that, of
course, must be done by men. The warerooms close at six; so the
women have the evenings for themselves. P., a rag dealer, says
he buys and sells according to the quality of the rags. It is customary
to pay by the week for sorting rags. Some get $2, and
some $2.50. Cutting the seams off is paid for by the pound.
The odor was extremely offensive (it was a damp day); but the
man said it was not unhealthy, unless the rags are worked with in
a close room; then the dust is apt to affect the eyes. Occasionally
the small pox is taken from rags. I called at a rag dealer's,
and was told by a filthy, squalid, barefooted girl at work, that for
cutting up rags a penny a pound is paid. She was assorting.
For that work, hands are paid twenty-five cents a day, and their
board. It is very dirty work. The dust and sand must affect the
eyes and lungs. Some men can cut as many as thirty-five pounds
a day. Men are paid twice as much as women for assorting. I
inquired why. I was told by a young junk dealer, standing by,
that they could pick twice as much in the same time, the truth
of which the reader can decide as well as I. Some men earn at
it, he said, $6 a week. A woman, who seemed to have some interest
in the place, remarked the girls have work all the year.
Called at the door of a large wareroom, where I saw men assorting
waste paper to be sold for the purpose of being made into new paper.
503. Rag Gatherers.
The chiffoniers or rag gatherers
of Paris are said to number about 6,000; those of London about
800 or 1,000. The chiffonier in Paris can collect only from
eight in the evening until early next morning, as the streets are
all swept before six o'clock in the morning, as after that time until
eight in the evening the citizens are passing. A few in Paris
have realized fortunes; but we suspect the most, in all countries,
barely gain a subsistence. They all lead a hard and gloomy life.
In the United States, most of the rags collected are converted
into paper. Some are sold at shoddy manufactories, and those
unfit for either shoddy or paper are spread over corn land, or
used as a fertilizer for hops. One of the most handsome buildings
on Broadway is said to be owned by a man that commenced
life in the petty business of a rag collector. So much for econ
omy
and industry! Most of the rag pickers in New York live in
the Five Points, and near the Central Park. Scarcely any person
that has seen the old women rag pickers of New York in
rain and snow, cold and driving winds, partially clad, can ever
deny that a woman is capable of very hard and degrading labor,
when driven to it by want. Rag picking and rag assorting are
distinct branches. Rag pickers make the most, and are chiefly
Germans. The number of rag gatherers in New York is very
great, and the majority of them are women. I never observe the
face of an American or French woman. Rag gatherers have
each their own province, and none of the rest dare intrude. The
majority do not confine themselves to picking up rags only, but
bones and bits of metal and glass. Some even carry a basket in
which they gather waste vegetables or putrid meat, or the trimmings
of uncooked meat, which they feed on themselves, or
give to a pet pig, or trade with some neighbor better off
that has a cow. When the rag collectors reach their homes,
they assort the articles they have collected. They separate
the rags into clean and dirty (the last they wash), into linen and
woollen, and the paper into clean and dirty, white and colored.
The life led by rag gatherers is very laborious, as they must
spend all the hours of daylight on their feet, walking many miles.
Their earnings are so scanty that they must be out in all kinds
of weather. The enormous rent they pay for wretched accommodations
is a disgrace to the landlords. Many of them sleep a
dozen in a room, on the bare floor. By the most rigid economy
and unremitting industry, a few are enabled to lay by a small sum
for old age, or purchase a little cottage and a plot of ground,
when they change their filthy occupation for a more healthy and
agreeable one, that of raising vegetables for the market. If I
had to make a living on the streets of New York, I would prefer
carrying a wheel around to grind knives and scissors, or putting
window-glass in, to collecting rags, for the work of neither is so
filthy. The children of rag gatherers begin very early to follow
the pursuit of their parents. I saw some children one day
picking rags, that told me they received two cents a pound.
They were at the dirt heaps where carts of dirt from town
had been emptied. They sometimes gather forty pounds each a
day. They cannot do so well in winter. I saw a rag collector
who starts at five in the morning, and is gathering rags until
eight in the evening. She eats nothing during the time. She
was German. Her father and mother also gather rags. Her father
sells them at two cents a pound. She did not know how many
pounds she gathered, but said she got three large bags full every
day in good weather. I saw other collectors, who told me they
gather each from ten to thirty pounds a day. Some families succeed
in gathering from fifty cents to $1.50 worth a day, in good
weather and good seasons. "The prices paid for the staple articles
of their trade, purchased exclusively by middlemen, are:
bones, 36 cents per bushel; rags, whether linen or woollen, $1
per cwt.; paper, $1 per cwt.; and these sell them again to the
down-town customers, the rags at $2.50 to $3.50; the paper at
$1.25 to $1.50; with a proportionate advance on bones, and all
the articles in the junk business."
504. Rope and Twine Makers.
Ropes are made
of the fibres of various 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, twist
ing,
&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.
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.
519. The Lame.
The lame can braid straw, color photographs,
copy, cut labels, edit papers, embroider, engrave, make
mats, make pens, model, paint, sew—indeed, do almost anything.
Lameness is no excuse for idleness. What do lame men do?
None of them, that have any self-respect, beg or sit idle because
they are lame.
520. United States.
Last summer, a lady ascended
alone in a balloon, from Palace Garden, N. Y. She went
up once in a balloon filled with hot air. She received part of
the profits derived from the admittance fees, and the keeper of the
garden the other portion, neither of which were very large.
Several women have gone up with their husbands. We take the
following items from the summary of the San Francisco
Alta
California, of December 5th: "At the recent election, two
women were elected to fill office in Placer County—one as jus
tice
of the peace, and the other as constable. Each received
one vote in the precinct, and there was no opposition." It is
seldom that a lady's exertions are called forth as were those of
Mrs. Patton, wife of the captain of the ship
Neptune's Car.
Yet, it goes to confirm what we have stated in some other place,
that any valuable information acquired will always come in use.
We will quote the extract as we saw it in a newspaper, copied
from a San Francisco letter: "Fifty days ago, Captain Patton
was attacked with the brain fever, and for the last twenty-five
days has been blind. Previous to his illness, he had put the first
mate off duty on account of his incompetency. After the captain's
illness, the second mate took charge of the ship, but he did not
understand navigation. The first mate wrote Mrs. Patton a letter,
reminding her of the dangers of the coast, and of the great responsibility
she had assumed, and offered to take charge of the
ship; but she stood by the decision of her husband and declined
the offer. She worked up the reckoning every day, and brought
the ship safely into port. During all this time she acted as nurse
to the captain. She studied medicine to learn how to treat his
case, and shaved his head, and by competent care and watchfulness
kept him alive. She said that for fifty nights she had not
undressed herself. Few women could have done so much and
done it so well. She was at once navigator, nurse, and physician,
and protector of the property intrusted to her husband." The
Geneva
Courier notices the appearance in that village "of a strong-armed,
strong-backed, and, of course, strong-minded woman, in
charge of a canal boat, of which she is owner and captain. She
is of German origin, and manages her craft with great ability."
In New York, I saw a woman driving a bread wagon, one rolling
a wheelbarrow, and another drawing a similar wagon filled with
ashes. A few women are employed in charcoal burning in New
Jersey.
521. England.
In looking over the census of Great Britain,
for 1850, we are surprised to find that in some of those
occupations most suitable for women, as physicians, music composers,
teachers of mathematics, macaroni packers, mask makers,
honey dealers, lecturers, reporters, and spice merchants, not one
female is reported; while, in occupations altogether unsuitable,
many women are employed—in some, even hundreds. No doubt
many of these women, perhaps a majority, and in some occupations
it may be all, are the widows of men who have been engaged
in the business, and who employ others to do the work. In some
of the other occupations, the women probably do only the lighter
work, under the direction of the masters or competent foremen.
Circumstances, as regards occupation, certainly do much to in
fluence
the fate of every one. But in no respect is there a greater
need of reform, than in the proper appreciation of employments
by the sexes. Men have, in bygone times, seized upon the lightest
and most lucrative occupations, and by custom still retain them.
The most laborious and disagreeable work is left for women, and
what is still worse, they are paid only from one third to one half
as much as men, doing the same kind of work. Of the occupations
that strike us as odd for women, in the census of Great Britain,
are makers of agricultural implements, anchor smiths, barge
women, barge boat builders, bell hangers, bedstead makers, bill
stickers, blacksmiths, brass manufacturers, brick makers, bristle
manufacturers, builders, carpenters, case (packing) makers, chimney
sweepers, coke burners, commercial travellers, engine and
machinery makers, ferriers, goldbeaters, grindstone cutters,
gun makers, hawkers, hemp manufacturers, hinge makers,
nail manufacturers, oil refiners, paper hangers, parasol and
umbrella stick manufacturers, peat cutters, plasterers, potato
merchants, railway-station attendants, razor makers, ring-chain
makers, rivet makers, rope makers, saddle-tree makers, sail
makers, scale makers, sawyers, scavengers, sextons, ship agents,
ship builders, small steel-ware manufacturers, snuff and tobacco
manufacturers, spade makers, spar cutters, spirit and wine merchants,
stone breakers, stone quarriers, stove, grate, and range
makers, sugar refiners, surgical-instrument makers, timber merchants,
timber choppers and benders, tin manufacturers, trunk
makers, turners, turpentine manufacturers, undertakers, vermin
destroyers, well sinkers, wheelwrights, white-metal manufacturers,
wine manufacturers, wood dealers, and zinc manufacturers. In
the furniture trade of Great Britain, 5,763 women are employed,
while 7,479 are engaged in conveyance. I would also add, that
in Great Britain, women have been, and still are, to some extent,
employed in coal, copper, iron, lead, manganese, salt, tin, and
other mineral mines. Of those for men extremely inappropriate,
are reported three hundred and sixty-six dress makers, and
sixty-one embroiderers. "In the reign of George II. (says Mrs.
Childs), the minister of Clerkenwell was chosen by a majority of
women. The office of champion has frequently been held by a
woman, and was so at the coronation of George I. The office of
grand chamberlain, in 1822, was filled by two women; and that
of clerk of the crown, in the court of king's bench, has been
granted to a female. The celebrated Anne, Countess of Pembroke,
held the hereditary office of sheriff of Westmoreland, and
exercised it in person, sitting on the bench of the judges. In
ancient councils, mention is made of deaconesses; and in an edition
of the New Testament printed in 1574, a woman is spoken of as
minister of a church." Miss Betsy Miller has for years commanded
the Scotch brig, Cleotus. Her father commanded
a vessel plying between England and France. After his
wife died, the daughter frequently accompanied him. On his
death, being without a home on land, she took command of the
vessel, and remained in the capacity of captain several years.
An English correspondent of an American paper writes: "Walking,
lately, near some white-lead works, about the hour of closing,
we observed the sudden egress of about a hundred women from
the establishment, all Irish, and all decently clad and well conducted.
On inquiry, we found that they are employed continuously
in the works, piling the lead for oxidation, and in various
other processes, not by any means coming under the denomination
of light labor." A few years ago, a singular death occurred in
England. It was that of a woman, who, owing to harsh treatment
from her parents when a child, left her home at the age of
eight, dressed in boy's clothes, got work as a boy, learned the
trade of a mason, and worked at it until about middle age, when
the business was changed for that of a beer house, in which occupation
the individual continued until her death, at the age of sixty.
She always dressed as a man. When quite young, she was very
industrious and hard-working. Many of the large houses and tall
chimneys in Manchester and Salford were built by her. "The
7,000 women returned in the census under the head of miners,
are, no doubt, for the most part, the dressers of the ores in the
Cornish and Welsh mines. The work is dirty, but not too laborious;
less laborious than the work which may perhaps be included
under the same head—the supplying porcelain clay from the same
regions of country. Travellers in Devonshire and Cornwall are
familiar with the ugly scenery of hillsides where turf is taken up,
and the series of clay pits is overflowing, and the plastered women
are stirring the mess, or sifting and straining, or drying or moulding
the refined clay. The mineral interest is, however, one of the
smallest in the schedule of female industry; and it is likely to
contract, rather than expand—except the labor of sorting the
ores." In Great Britain, some women work in alabaster, and
some in alum mines. In what is called the Black country, some
women are employed on the pit banks, and some about the furnace
yards. A London paper says: "Melton and its neighborhood
can boast of three public characters, which, perhaps, no other
can; namely, two independent ladies, who have taken out game
certificates, and who enter the field, and can bring down the game
equal to any sportsman, as well as those indulging in fishing,
hunting over the country with hounds, &c. The third is a female
blacksmith, a daughter of Mr. William Hinman, who is such an
adept at shoeing a horse or working at the anvil, as to cause universal
excitement. It was but the other day that she took off the
old shoes of a horse, pared the feet, and fitted the shoes at the fire,
and affixed them in the most scientific manner possible, and in
considerably less time than her father could, who is called one of
the quickest shoers in Melton." Some women are employed as
kelp burners in Great Britain; and some, as bathers, manage the
bathing machines used on the coast. In the census of Great
Britain are reported some women as hack proprietors.
