401. Blacking.

In London, in 1852, there were, by Mayhew's estimate, one hundred and fifty women and girls selling cake blacking. M., manufacturer, Philadelphia, occupies a four-story granite-fronted building. He employs about fifty women in making tin boxes, filling them with blacking in paste, and labelling them. It requires but a few weeks for a smart girl to acquire dexterity. We saw the women at work in two large rooms (each being the whole floor of the house). They looked cheerful, though somewhat grimy. They work ten hours, and earn about $3 a week. The steady hands are kept in work the year round. The tin boxes pass, almost with the swiftness of thought, through eight hands, three of these operations being performed by steam machinery, tended by women. The boxes are soldered by men, who receive $6 per week. It was once done by women, but is right warm work, particularly in summer. All stood while at work, except the women sorting bands. The premises had been rendered as healthy as possible. All the small pipes of the soldering stoves led into one large pipe, which carries off the fumes of the coal; and a cylinder has been made to confine a white powder which is used in the business, and which formerly floated through the atmosphere of the work rooms. The women are sometimes employed in bottling ink, and earn from $2 to $3 a week, working about the usual time—ten hours.

402. Candles.

Candles are made of different materials, of which wax, tallow, and spermaceti are most common. Some candle makers employ women to prepare the wax for candles. Candle manufacturers write us: "Women are never employed in our business, and we never heard of their being so employed. We consider the work too heavy, and too cold. The principal part of the work is done in winter, and the manufacturing rooms must be kept cold. Women were at one time employed in cutting and preparing the wick for candles; but since the introduction of machinery, that part is dispensed with." A manufacturer writes from another city: "Men sometimes work all night, at the season when the nights are long. The only place, I think, where there can be a demand for female labor in my branch, is where there are no men." Another informant writes: "I think women could not be to any considerable extent employed in making soap and candles, for several reasons: 1st. It is for the most part a heavy business, requiring more than female strength. 2d. It is objectionable on account of the dirt, which is the result of coming in contact with tallow, &c." Another says: "Our plan for moulding is too heavy for women to work at." At an oil and candle manufactory, New York, I was told they used to employ some women in putting wicks into moulds, drawing candles, and packing them. Machinery is so much used now, that women cannot do as much of it as they did. Besides, candles are not used so much as they were, owing to the introduction of gas and various oils. They paid their girls $4 a week. They now employ one woman in putting the wicks in moulds for wax candles, and drawing and packing them. J. employs two women in making sperm candles, but they have been at it twenty years. They each get $4 a week. M—s, New York, write: "We employ six women in making and packing candles. They are so employed in France and England, and very likely in Germany. The work is not unhealthy. Our women are paid from $2.50 to $4 per week, of ten hours a day. They are generally paid by the week, though sometimes by the piece. Men's wages are from $9 to $12. We know of no reason why women are paid less, except that it is the general custom. It requires from two to three weeks to learn. Women are paid while learning. Dexterity of the hands is the best qualification for a worker. The occupation is gradually decreasing. There is no material difference in the seasons for work. Women are sometimes thrown out of employment in the summer months. We employ women because they are more nimble fingered than men, and female labor is cheaper. Workwomen are more apt to get in trouble among themselves, where many are employed, and are more difficult to control. We have generally found them more careless and less uniform in their work than men; so much so, that their employment is constantly diminishing in our work, being replaced by machinery. We find them in no way superior to men, except their nimble fingers." We place against this the preliminary report to the United States Census of 1860, where one hundred and forty-two women are returned as being employed in soap and candle manufactures.

403. Chalk.

I saw a man making prepared chalk. He sometimes employs small girls to put it in boxes, and pays from seventy-five cents to $2 per week. They work ten hours a day. There is nothing unhealthy in it. He thinks there are but few manufacturers of it, and consequently there is not much prospect for employment.

404. Emery Paper.

G. would be willing to employ girls to pack and tie up emery paper, paying $3.50 a week. It is dirty work, on account of the glue that is used, and is very severe on the fingers, causing the blood to flow often, and unfortunately does not harden the fingers by practice.

405. Fancy Soaps.

Some of the fancy soaps of American manufacture are equal to any in the world. Those of Bazin, Philadelphia, are considered best. Those of Jules Hauel and Harrison are nearly equal. There are other manufacturers of fancy soap in the United States. On Spruce street, Philadelphia, is a place where they employ girls to put up fancy soaps, and pay by the piece, from $2 to $5 per week. L., New York, employs girls by the week, for from $2 to $3.50. It requires practice to put up either soap or perfumery. They are most busy in spring and fall. None made South or West. L. has lost the custom of shop girls by the hard times. They have no money now to spend for fancy soap and hair oil.

406. Fire Works.

Two hundred and eleven females are reported in the census of Great Britain as being employed in making fire works. S. & Co., New York, employ ten or twelve women for pasting the paper covers on fire works, but not for filling with powder. All the work is done in daylight. They are paid something while learning, and then from $3 to $5 a week. For overwork, they are paid by the hour. Their factory is in Greenville, N. J. There is one in Cincinnati, one in Boston, and one in Philadelphia. Girls sit while at work. The prospect for learners is good. S. & Co. are most busy in spring and summer but able to keep their hands employed all the year. They have a great many children employed on Long Island, in making torpedoes, who cannot earn more than $1.50 a week.

407. Flavoring Extracts.

Manufacturers in Rochester write: "We have about twenty women engaged in putting up and packing perfumery, &c., and pay from $2 to $3 per week. A smart girl will learn in a week. Quickness of movement and steadiness of habit are the best qualifications. The prospect of work in this line is good. They are employed all the year, and work ten hours a day." C., of Boston, employs a number, "because they can work cheaper than men. They are paid by the day or week, according to their experience. Good workers earn 50 cents a day, of nine hours. To thoroughly understand the business requires a lifetime. Women's part of the work is learned in six months. Women are paid while learning. All seasons are alike. The work is easy, and the pay good. Board, $1.50." H. C. & Co., of Boston say: "In compliance with your wishes, we give below answers to your inquiries. We manufacture perfumery, cooking extracts, hair oils, &c. We employ females to bottle and label them. We pay by the amount of labor done, and the average earnings are about $4 per week. Why women are not generally better paid is a difficult question to answer. We think, however, the argument is good that they do not as a general thing have family expenses to bear. If they were taxed (are not those that own property?) and also bore a proportionate share of family expenses, there is no good reason why they should not have the same pay for the same labor as males. (Have not the majority of workwomen some one dependent upon them, even with their scanty wages?) The work may be learned in a few weeks. An aptness and tact to handle small bottles, to tie ribbons, and cut corks quickly, best fit one for this work. There is a constant demand for the kind of goods we manufacture. Our females work ten hours a day, and their employment is steady. The work is clean and comfortable; the remuneration, we think, just. Women are superior to men, from being quicker in their movements and displaying better taste. Board, $2.50." Other manufacturers in Boston write: "We employ ten American women, because they do the work cheaper than men could. We pay by the piece. They earn $6 a week, and receive three fourths of the wages of men. They are paid $3 per week while learning. Women are inferior in business capacity, superior in details. Board, $3 per week."

408. Glue.

Glue is made from the parings of hides, and refuse leather. First they are put in alkaline water to be cleaned, and then boiled in large vessels. The liquid is poured off from the gelatine which coats the vessel and forms in sheets. I think women might spread the substance on nets in drying rooms, and, when dry, cut it and pack it. It is cut by wires having handles, which are held in the hand, to assist in pressing the wire with more force across the glue. S. employs several girls, who earn from $3 to $6 per week. He pays by the gross. Most of the girls have been with him ever since he commenced manufacturing, eight years ago.

409. Gunpowder.

The agent of the Hazard Gunpowder Company told me they employ at the manufacture as many of the widows and children of those killed by explosions as they can, in making linen covers for kegs, and putting gunpowder in envelopes, and cutting labels, and putting on them. D. writes to an acquaintance for us: "We employ women at times in labelling canisters, and then only two."

410. Oils.

A manufacturer of machine oil says a lady that understands the business could give men orders, and keep the office, and so carry on the business; but the work is too warm for women, and too laborious. It is certainly greasy work, and therefore hard on clothes. A manufacturer of oil writes me "he thinks the business not at all suitable for women: the only part that could be done by them is such as pertains to the office, which would be the same as that of other merchants." The manufacture of hair oils forms an extensive business. A manufacturer of linseed oil told me he could employ a woman to remove the seed from the bags, after the oil has been pressed out, but it would be greasy work. Some oil manufacturers told me they would employ girls to put oil in bottles for sewing machines. They would also be willing to employ female agents to sell oil for sewing machines. If a lady could sell twelve bottles a day, at 25 cents a bottle, she could make $1.75.

411. Paints.

Oil paint is so disagreeable to handle and put up in such large quantities that it is unsuitable work for women. An English workman in B. & I.'s factory told us that women are employed in the paint factories in London and Hull as extensively as men. What they do we could not exactly learn, except that they put the powder for paint in cans, and label them. The man said the business is pernicious to the health. Ex-Mayor T. employed some women in his color factory at Manhattanville to label. At O.'s Philadelphia, a few women are employed in moulding the cakes of water paints, and stamping them, and in tubing and packing fine oil paints. A paint manufacturer in Brooklyn writes: "The only way we can employ females is at putting up paint dry in six-pound boxes or in cans. This last is ground in oil. We have generally employed boys for this purpose, but I think females would suit better, provided they were kept by themselves. If this could be done, we might be able to employ from four to five hands. The work is rather unhealthy, as it affects the lungs. We pay one woman $4 per week, working ten hours a day. It requires a week to learn. We do not work for four months in winter. Cleanliness and tact are necessary for putting up goods. Women would attend to their work better than boys."

412. Patent Medicines.

Women are very extensively employed in putting up patent medicines. At H.'s, Philadelphia, where extract of ginger is made, they once employed women in the summer. They prefer boys and men, because in intervals men and boys can do other work that women cannot. Women were only employed by them to put up, seal, and label. Where H.'s bitters are made, women are employed to envelop, seal, and label, and paid according to the industry and skill of the workers. They receive from $3 to $4 a week. Dr. Ayres, I have been told, has his medicine put up by females in Canada, because he can have it done there more cheaply, although a duty of 15 per cent. is paid for importing.

413. Pearlash.

Women could make pearlash in the country, where large quantities of wood are burned in clearing off land, and would no doubt find it pay very well for the trouble.

414. Perfumery.

Perfumeries have been used in oriental countries from the most remote ages. The finest and most costly perfumes are still brought from the East. They were much used in England about the time of Queen Elizabeth. The essential oil of plants confers their odors. This oil may be obtained by expression, infusion, or distillation. In some cases, it may be pressed out of the cellular structure that contains it. Roses and such plants are mostly steeped in water, but some plants are steeped in wine and similar substances. There is a difference in oils obtained from different parts of the same plant; for instance, the leaves, flowers, and fruit of the orange tree yield distinct oils. The perfumeries of France have the best reputation of any others. Considerable perfumery is manufactured in this country, that meets with a ready sale at a good profit. At J. H.'s, Philadelphia, the woman who superintends others employed in putting up perfumery, told me that the hands work three months before they are paid. They then receive from $1.50 to $5 a week. It would require two years, she thinks, to acquire proficiency. J. H. finds employment for his hands all the year round. The girls cut kid for the tops, tie them on, label the bottles, lay them in cotton in small boxes, and then put them in large boxes ready for nailing and sending away. The girls each perform the entire process. It is not divided into separate branches. Sometimes they are employed in putting up fine soaps. The labels are all imported from France. They sit while employed, and spend from ten to twelve hours at it, according to the work on hand. R. says some perfumery is made by machinery and some by hand. He thinks a woman should spend from six months to one year learning to put up perfumery, as it must be done very neatly. He pays his girls, while learning, $2.50 a week, and after that according to ability and industry. The business is now dull, for people cannot afford to indulge in luxuries. At P.'s perfumery manufactory, I learned that the girls work from 7½ to 6, and earn from $2 to $8 per week—the average, $3.50. They are mostly Americans. Spring and fall are the best seasons, but they keep them all the year. They have many applications, but are often puzzled to get enough of good hands. Girls do better than men for putting up perfumery. It requires some taste. Poor workers are very destructive, for the articles of which some perfumeries are made are very costly. There are employed in packing fancy soap and preparing perfumery, between six hundred and seven hundred girls, in New York; average wages, $4. A manufacturer of hair oil pays his men from $10 to $15 per week. Good taste and a quick hand are the requisites. Near a city is the best location. At H.'s perfumery and fancy soap manufactory, one of the firm told me they "import" Frenchmen to make the perfumery, who impart to them the secret, and they furnish the materials. Their busy season commences in January. They pay their girls from the first, but not much until they get to working well. It requires some time to become expert and tasteful in putting up perfumery. They are paid by the piece (customary plan), but do not work over ten hours, as it is all done at the factory. They can earn from $3 to $9 a week. They keep their hands all the year, but in busy times employ extra hands. They employ a number of girls in making boxes, who earn about $3 a week. P. & F. employ one woman, paying $3.50 a week. P. told me such work is usually paid for by the gross, and workers earn about $4.50. The business is likely to increase. No manufactures West or South. It requires six months to become expert. Vacancies are often occurring among the hands. Some are employed in label cutting some in filling bottles, corking, tying, labelling, and boxing, while others envelop and seal the soap. They sit most of the time, but change their position every little while. There is but one establishment of the kind west of Philadelphia, and that is in Cincinnati.

415. Quinine.

At P. & W.'s laboratory, Philadelphia, they employ a number of girls in weighing and putting up quinine, calomel, &c., to send away. The girls work eight hours in winter and nine in summer, and receive from $3 to $9 a week. The employment is thought not to be healthy. It changes the fairest complexion to a sallow, just as the taking of the medicine would. The air of the room where we sat, and where the girls were corking, sealing, enveloping, and labelling, was strongly impregnated with the quinine. It was so offensive that I could not rid myself of the taste for several hours after I left the room. In one apartment a man and woman were weighing the article. The woman wore a bandage over her mouth and a muslin cap on her head, and spectacles with large, dark, convex frames, to prevent the quinine from getting in her eyes, as it turns the white of the eye yellow. The women had each their own apartment of labor. They looked as healthy as you generally see, but I do not know how they may have looked when they commenced working there. The lady who accompanied me, said her friend had fallen off very much and lost the beauty of her complexion while working there during the last two years.

416. Salt.

"In certain cities, especially at Dieppe, France, women have the business of carrying salt; it is a monopoly which has belonged to them from time immemorial. They form a corporation, have a syndic, and salt in the sack cannot, in this city, be transported from the vessel to the depots or warehouses by any but them." According to the statistics of the salt manufacture in 1850, there were 2,699 males employed and 87 females in the United States. Water from the ocean, lakes, and salt springs, I suppose, could be boiled by women. A rock-salt manufacturer writes: "Women might do some of our work better than a man; but one man can tend the hopper and tie as fast as another can fill. The best salt for dairy purposes is imported, and therefore a seaport is the best place for our business." A manufacturer in Barnstable, Mass., writes: "Women are not employed in my branch of industry, as far as my knowledge extends, in making salt; but, when it is ground for table use, women are sometimes employed in making the bags to put the salt in. They formerly made good wages in this business; but, since sewing machines have come into almost general use, the price of labor has fallen, and I am not posted as to the price now paid, as most of the ground salt and the bags are manufactured in Boston. Working with salt is very healthy. We manufacture our salt between the 1st of April and the last of October, by solar evaporation; but very little if any salt can be made in this way after the latter month, as the sun runs too low for salt making. Our works are provided with covers, which require too hard labor for women to shove on as rain approaches, and to be opened every fair day. Women can, and occasionally do lend a hand in this business; but it is too laborious. Then, the salt has to be taken out by men with shovels, and this is too hard labor for women. They might assist in drawing the water from one room to another, by simply taking out and putting in plugs; but under a hot summer's sun, we think our business entirely unsuitable for them. In the winter, we manufacture epsom salts; but even this work we consider too laborious for women." A salt manufacturer in South Yarmouth, Maine, writes: "I believe women are employed in the mills in Boston for grinding salt, in making the bags, putting it up, &c., for table use. Otherwise, the service is too hard." Manufacturers in Syracuse, N. Y., say "they have but a limited number of women employed in making sacks. The most of their sacks are furnished by the manufacturing establishments." Salt clarifiers in Burlington, Vt., write: "We employ one woman, because it is cheaper to do so. We pay her $4 per week—a man we would have to pay $6. The work is healthy, and women's part soon learned. Spring and summer are the best seasons. The prospect for work in this line is good. Board, $1.70 per week." A gentleman in the salt business at Geddes, N. Y., writes: "There used to be employed far more women than now in making bags to hold dairy or bag salt. Now, sewing machines have entirely superseded them in this branch of our business. During the summer season, formerly, there were from one hundred to three hundred women at bag making. There are now, say one hundred or more women engaged in packing and filling the barrels with salt. They are all foreigners. It is dirty, heavy, and laborious work, and not suitable for women, but is extremely healthy. No difference is made in the price paid men and women, all being paid by the piece, and earning from 75 cents to $1 per day. A strong woman can learn very soon. The amount of work, probably, will not change much in future. The work is done only in the summer season. A large proportion of all the salt made in this country is made here. The annual product of our salt springs is about seven million bushels salt, produced at an expense for labor of not less than ten cents per bushel. Nearly all is paid to men, Irish and Dutch getting the most of it. A very small part of the work, if any, is adapted to women. Most of our women workers are the wives or mothers of men and boys who fasten hoops on barrels. Most of the salt at Syracuse, N. Y., is made by boiling down the water that springs from artesian wells. At Turk's Island, salt is made by simply digging vats in the meadow and throwing the water into them. As it rarely rains there for a number of months, they require no covering to their works, and have only to take out the salt and stack it up when it is made."

417. Soda.

I find that in factories of this kind, girls are not employed in this country, except for putting the article in papers. They are paid from twelve to sixteen cents per hundred, according to the size. At a factory I saw many at work. They looked very neat. All wore clean calico dresses, and snow-white handkerchiefs over their heads, to prevent the soda from lodging in their hair. They must inhale considerable of it, as the atmosphere was strongly impregnated. One of the workers told me they are paid eighteen cents per hundred packages, which were rather large. A box contained sixty packages. Some are able to put up as many as seven hundred packages a day. The proprietor and one of the girls said it was not unhealthy work; but it is my impression that it is, if worked at constantly. It requires but a week to get in the way of doing it, and expertness is gained by practice. They work all the year, but sometimes there is not much to do. They are most busy in spring and fall. Some of the hands live near; so, in slack times, if the proprietor receives an order to be filled, he sends immediately for his girls. At another factory, I was told September and October are the most busy months for their hands. They cannot send much away in winter, because the rivers are closed and railroad freight is high. Soda, I was told, is more used in the South than saleratus. Some of their girls are paid by the week, and some by the box. They earn from $3 to $4. The gentleman said the dust was disagreeable, but not unhealthy. Their girls stand while at work.

418. Starch.

A large number of plants and vegetable substances contain starch. Wheat, potatoes, rice, and maize are the principal. It is also found in the seeds and stems of plants. It is not soluble in cold water, consequently may be easily washed out of any vegetable substance. For those from which it cannot be so removed chemical decomposition may be employed. Manufacturers write us: "The making of starch is hard and unsuitable work for females; but girls are employed to put up the starch in papers and label it, receiving from thirty-seven to seventy-five cents a day, according to what the worker accomplishes." The following intelligence we received from the Oswego factory: "We employ from fifteen to twenty women, because we find them more attentive than boys. They paste labels on packages of starch, and receive thirty-seven and a half cents per day, of from eight to ten hours. A smart girl can learn in a few hours. The prospect of employment in future is good. They are paid the same that boys would be, and have work the year round. There are no parts suitable for women, in which they are not engaged. Board, $1.25 to $1.50."

419. White Lead.

At the store of a white lead manufacturer, I was told they employ a number of girls, when busy, to label the tin cans. The making of white lead is unhealthy, and, I suppose, very disagreeable work. Women are employed in England in the manufacture of white lead.

420. Whiting.

This article is used for cleaning silver, and one preparation of it for the face. There are not more than from twelve to twenty women at the work in the United States. B. used to employ women, and paid by the pound. The women earned about $3 a week, of ten hours. They were employed merely in putting up the article.

421. Assistants in Public and Benevolent Institutions.

There is a wide field of usefulness open to ladies, as matrons in charitable institutions. Blessed is the influence a woman exerts as a matron, if she is a kind, good woman. Her responsibilities are great, but a consciousness of the vast amount of good she may accomplish should reconcile her to them. The discharge of her duties will often cast her in the society of visitors, many of whom are refined and educated people. In reformatory institutions for children, a matron may do incalculable good. The female department of almshouses, lunatic asylums, hospitals, prisons, workhouses, and all other public and charitable institutions, should be in the hands of women. They can exert a better influence. They know better the wants of their sister women. They can enter into their feelings. They can check familiarities with the male inmates, and exert more influence when temptation is offered. In short, they are women, and know a woman's heart. Orphan, and deaf and dumb asylums, houses of refuge, eye and ear infirmaries, schools for imbecile children, and all such places, should be managed by women, as far as practicable. The managers of the home department of such institutions should be firm and efficient, yet kind hearted. Nor should merely the filling of these offices be given to women, but there should be a number of lady visitors to coöperate with the managers. They can often suggest many improvements for the comfort and health of the inmates, that would escape the notice of men. I was told by a friend, now deceased, who took an active part in establishing and advancing benevolent institutions, that she found it very difficult to obtain matrons, seamstresses, and tailoresses, willing and competent to instruct the inmates of the institutions in their various branches of labor. She thought it would be well to instruct women so thoroughly in their business that they might efficiently impart a knowledge of it to others. She thought there should be a house where women and girls could be properly prepared to perform the duties of cooks, nurses, and house servants. A lady friend suggested that many of the situations in the public institutions of New York might be filled by some of the women who are now keeping boarding houses, and so, the pressure in that quarter being removed, there would be fairer and fuller play to those that are left in the occupation. A principal reason of the order and cleanliness of the workhouses in Holland, is the attention and humanity of the governesses; for each house has four, who take charge of the inspection, and have their names painted in the room. For the moral management of convicts, men are systematically trained in some countries of Europe. In the hospitals, prisons, and reformatory institutions of England, supported by the government, women are employed. They are even eligible as overseers of the poor. The President of the Board of Public Institutions in New York city furnished me with answers to questions in regard to the women employed therein, as follows: "Women are employed as matrons, nurses, and laborers in this city, and on Blackwell's and Randall's islands. They receive from $5 per month to $430 per annum, and are paid by the month. The labor performed, properly belongs to women, although we employ some men for part of the same labor, but their pay is about the same. There is no need of an apprenticeship to become familiar with their employments, and the only special qualifications are health and strength. There is no difference as to seasons with us. They work only as many hours as are necessary. The demand for those occupying this position grows out of the number of the destitute and criminal thrown on our hands. About twenty-five per cent. employed are Americans. We employ women in all work for which they are suited. The more intelligent are selected for the most responsible positions. If so disposed, they have ample time for mental and moral culture. They live where they labor, and their places of residence are comfortable." Each of the janitresses of the public schools of New York receives a salary of from $100 to $400 per annum. At the Tombs of New York, a woman has charge of the department where the female convicts are. At a meeting of ladies in Dublin, for the employment of women, Mr. McFarlane said that "for the last twenty-five years, the Grangegorman Penitentiary had been under the management of a lady, and it had been most admirably conducted."

422. Commissioners of Deeds.

There are about two hundred in the city of New York, and, with a moderate run of custom, each can make several hundred dollars per annum. Their duties are very light, and, I have been told, could as well be performed by women as men.

423. Housekeepers.

A kind, yet decided manner, will more effectually govern a household than fretting and scolding. A portion of time should be regularly set aside for servants to feel as their own. It will often prove a matter of economy to those who exact work of them. Those of principle will work more diligently. Everybody needs some rest. Gain the good will and confidence of servants, and they will reward you in the labor of their stronger muscles. But avoid familiarity, by all means. Much of the long, wearing toil of servants might be avoided by consideration and management on the part of a housekeeper. Domestics labor hard, and much of the comfort of a family depends on them. Do not accuse on suspicion those in your employ of doing or having done wrong. Be careful of the reputation of others, particularly dependent females. A man of standing, to whom I expressed the desire that more occupations should be opened to women, expressed the wish that our domestics should be Americans, and of a more intelligent class. An effort should be made to elevate the standard of servants, he said, to induce more respectable and intelligent women to enter domestic service. Those engaged in it, he thought, should find something else to do, and will be pushed out as a more competent class enter. I would prefer to see our present class of servants fit themselves better for the discharge of their duties, and American girls enter occupations of a more refined and exalted nature. The same gentleman referred to, stated that his servants each receive $2 a week, dress handsomely, and lay by money. (?) They do better for themselves, he remarked, than the girls in his bookbindery. In some of the convents of France, the sisters go through a course of training to prepare them for the duties of housekeepers, and are then sent to take charge of religious and charitable institutions connected with their church. Why might not some such plan be pursued by Protestants? Says an English review: "In Germany, the employment of women in the offices of house-steward, maitre d'hotel, butler or lackey, sanctioned by universal custom, is not considered so incompatible as it would be with us, with the other branches of a first-rate establishment."

424. Keepers of Intelligence Offices.

Intelligence offices are established for the purpose of giving information to or respecting persons seeking employment. They are individual enterprises. From fifty cents to $1 is paid by an applicant for information of persons desiring one of such capacity as they seek to fill. The same price is paid by the person seeking an assistant or domestic. Most offices are limited to supplying domestics; but one or more might be established for the supply of seamstresses, saleswomen, milliners, dress makers, &c. Girls often find it an advantage to apply at an office, if they have not friends to interest themselves and secure them situations. But they should be particular to know the character of the office they patronize. A lady remarked to me, if a girl was willing to spend a year in a family where she could be well instructed for her work, she could then be sure of a good home and fair wages. Servant girls are universally complained of at the North. Many of them are very exacting. Most are raw Irish girls, who think, when they come to this country, everybody is equal. Consequently, they do not know their places as they do in the old country, where there are distinct grades in society. Another thing that makes some so trifling is that such swarms come, and they are so ignorant, and many of them so corrupt, that they instigate each other. I was told, by the keeper of an intelligence office, that girls and women always ask more than they expect to get. Some cooks get as high as $20 a month. They are mostly French and German. Now and then he has a good American. He has a lady in attendance that can speak French and German. His terms are fifty cents a month from the employer, and the same from the employée. It gives the privileges of the office for one or two months. Few are willing to go to the country. Many girls come from the country that do not know where to board. The keeper of the office sends them to a cheap but respectable house. His office is open from eight to five. To employers he sends a blank certificate of character, to be filled when the servant leaves. There is a Protestant office in Philadelphia, and one or more in New York. At an intelligence office on Grand street, where girls pay fifty cents and the employer fifty cents, the girl has the privilege of being supplied with places for two months, if she remains on trial the time specified by agreement with her various employers. If not, she forfeits the privilege. This office had a servants' home connected with it, that is, a boarding house for servants out of employ. The girls paid $2 a week. A training school was connected with this, in which the servants received instructions in cooking and the various details of housekeeping. The cooking of the boarding house was done by some of the number. He failed in his enterprise, he said, from want of capital. One has been in operation in England for eight years very successfully, connected with which is a training school. They have few Americans to apply for places; for Americans like lighter work, as nursing, sewing, being lady's maid, &c. In summer there is a scarcity of girls, for they go to the country and watering places to cook and do housework. In the fall they flock to the city, and there are more applicants than situations. At some offices the privilege is accorded for three months, and at some only one month. A lady who keeps an office in Williamsburg told me, when the girls come to her, she takes their names and qualifications. She receives the calls of ladies wanting girls, and also records their wants. After five o'clock, and on Saturday after two o'clock, the office is closed, and she then compares the wants of employers and employées, and makes out a corresponding list. Next day she sends girls to their places. I could have got a lady's maid for $5 a month with board and lodging. I saw a lady securing a nurse for her child at the same price. Fifty cents is the fee for the privilege of her office for three months. She furnishes girls during that time until the mistress is satisfied; and the girl pays the same, and is furnished with places for three months until she is satisfied. She does not require references from her girls, but sends the lady to the last employer of the girl. I called at Mrs. Y.'s office, New York. Girls, she says, get different prices in different States. In wealthy States, as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Southern States, they get good prices. In Cincinnati, and the States of Wisconsin and New Jersey, poor prices. She sends many from the city to every part of the United States. People write to her, inclosing the money for the girl's passage. She then buys her a ticket and provisions, and sends her on; but the arrangement is always for a year or six months, as people are not willing to incur the expense of paying the passage of a girl for less time. She could get many more places for girls, if they would go to the country; but they do not wish to go, and, if dissatisfied, be at the expense of returning. The girl may be deceived, by finding there are twice as many in the family as represented, or the work is much harder. Mrs. Y. learns the character of a girl that applies to her, and then registers it in her book. So ladies applying for a girl have from her the true character. She has no difficulty in finding places for her girls. She is always busy but on a rainy day. People object to having an intelligence office near them, as the girls are inclined to stand about the door. It is said that the majority of the keepers of intelligence offices furnish the best places to those by whom they are bribed. A few years ago, the number of white female servants in New York city was estimated at 100,000, that of Boston 50,000, Philadelphia 30,000, and Baltimore 20,000. There is a lady in Boston who goes around among her friends and secures to them good domestics, receiving some compensation for her services—I think, fifty cents a domestic. When the influence of servants over children is considered, I think parents cannot be too careful in the selection of their servants; and to obtain good ones, they should be willing to pay a fair price. There is a waste of time to girls sitting in offices, and a risk run of being sent, by a person of whose moral character they know nothing, to a house that may prove the wreck of their virtue. At a boarding house and intelligence office for workwomen, the lady told me they charge $2 a week for board, allowing the privilege of the wash room, and of sitting in the parlor in the evening, which is warmed and contains a piano. To those who cannot pay as much as this, they charge from $1 to $1.25, giving them rooms in the attic. They have been applied to often for persons of a higher class than usually frequent intelligence offices, but only until since the times have been so hard have they had such applicants. I was told, at another office, they seldom have American girls apply for places, except as house girls, and they are mostly girls who have worked in factories. They send girls to California and all parts of the United States, and they have some who travel through Europe in the capacity of ladies' maids. Their office is open from nine to five o'clock. When a girl is sent for from another place, the money is sent by express and a receipt taken, or by mail, and a receipt taken at the post office. One of a high order for cultivated women, who desire places as bookkeepers, copyists, secretaries, &c., is quite necessary. We would suggest the establishment of such an office for furnishing female workers to different parts of the United States, where they are wanted in the higher branches of woman's labor. It would confer a blessing on virtuous and industrious women, and be an accommodation to employers. A paper devoted to the same interests might do much good also; but we think it doubtful whether it would pay its way.

425. Lighthouse Keepers.

Miss H. told me of two young women whose father keeps a lighthouse, but he is very feeble and infirm. They attend the lights, and often row out, if they see a wreck, and do what they can to rescue the passengers. We observed this newspaper paragraph a few years back: "A Mrs. Lydia Smith has been appointed assistant keeper of the lighthouse at Manitou Island (Michigan) at $250 per annum." "They have a Grace Darling at Bridgeport, Conn. On the night of the 13th inst., Miss Moore, an accomplished young lady, the daughter of the keeper of the lighthouse on Fairweather Island, just below Bridgeport, heard cries for help at a distance from the shore, and determined that an effort should be made to rescue whom it might be. It was too dark to tell the direction or the distance, but, summoning two young men to her aid, she launched the boat belonging to the lighthouse, and ordered them to pull out in the direction of the cries, herself holding the tiller. About two miles out in the Sound, they found a sailboat capsized, and clinging to it were two men nearly exhausted. One of them was entirely helpless, and with great difficulty got in the boat; but both were finally rescued from death by the courage and efforts of this brave girl, and brought safely to shore. Mr. Moore, the keeper of the lighthouse, has been for some time afflicted with ill health, and when unable to see to the details of his office, this daughter assumes the entire management, and, through the lonely watches of the night, it is her fair hand that trims and tends the beacon that guides the mariner safely on his way."

426. Pawnbrokers.

I suppose this business requires a general knowledge of the value of goods. Some pawnbrokers profess to make liberal advances, but a very heavy percentage is usually charged. Indeed, some pawnbrokers extort an incredible interest on money loaned to the poor. S., an intelligent Irish pawnbroker, into whose office I went to ask something of the business, told me he never knew of but one woman in the business. She was nominally a widow, and employed a young man to stay in the shop. When women are employed in pawnbrokers' establishments, it is nearly always as auxiliaries, being the wife, sister, or daughter of the keeper. He thinks it not a suitable business for a woman, as the class of people that come require a strong man to deal with them, who can use their slang language, and drive them away if they become very rude. No doubt, many go to pawn what they have when under the influence of liquor, or to pawn their clothes to get liquor. The broker retains what is pawned for a year, if it is not redeemed in less time. It is then sold at auction. There is a law that permits it. His shelves were filled with bundles, on which were pinned numbered papers. Another pawnbroker told me that the fashion and quality of goods decide the price put on them, particularly wearing apparel. There may be a difference in the value estimation of pawnbrokers, just as there is in different establishments where the same kind of new goods are sold. I saw the name of a female pawnbroker in a business directory, and called. I did not see her, but the young man who was employed to assist her in attending the store said they have most business to do in summer, and that it is a business requiring experience. They pay on articles taken to them what they will be likely to sell for at auction. They must make some allowance for what they may lose on the article. They charge at the rate of twenty-five per cent. for a year's time, which is as long as anything pawned is kept. They lose more on clothes than other goods. They allow a depositor to draw any sum of less amount than the estimated value of an article; and when the article is redeemed, a percentage is paid on the amount of the money drawn, and not on the full value of the article.

427. Postmistresses.

There are (1854) 128 postmistresses in the United States. They receive the same salaries that postmasters do. The clerks in post offices sometimes count at the rate of sixty letters a minute. There are 29,000 post offices in the United States, ninety clerks in Chicago, and, I think, nearly three hundred in New York. Might not a large number of these be women? I have read that it is in contemplation to place in the general post office in London a number of lady clerks. I called on Mrs. W., who was for nearly two years at the ladies' window in the general post office, New York. Very few approved of a lady being there. She found some advantages, but many disadvantages, arising from her position. In the first place, it yielded her and her child a support, the salary being $600. She was treated with respect by all the attachés of the office except two—one of whom was immediately dismissed, and the other removed. But the class of women who go to the general post office constantly for letters, are of a kind a respectable woman would not like to come in contact with. The majority receive letters under fictitious names. Some of them were very impudent to her. And sometimes men would come to the window and insist on her getting the letters of their lady friends for them. Besides, there were about fifty clerks immediately around her, and altogether in the office between two hundred and three hundred. They were men of all classes and nations. The office is one influenced by political motives, and a man has the advantage as candidate by gaining the votes of his friends. She says she was kind and courteous, but found it necessary to be very decided, and keep at a distance from every one. The men in the office did not like it, because they had to guard their tongues. She remained there from 8.30 A. M. to 4.30 P. M., and was on her feet all the time, with the exception of a few minutes. There were no conveniences or comforts for a woman. So she suffered severely from the effects. She thinks the plan of employing ladies in the post offices of towns and villages might be done more easily. Even here it might be done more advantageously, if the office was situated farther up street, the regulations were different, and a number of ladies were employed instead of but one. A lady could not well use a ladder to reach down letters from the upper boxes. A young man did that for her. For a postmistress we might enumerate the qualifications of quickness of eye, strict integrity, a retentive memory, and patient industry. "Unmarried females only can hold the office of postmistress. They are appointed, give bonds, and are commissioned in the same manner as postmasters, and receive the same compensation. There is, however, a larger number of females, generally the wives and daughters of postmasters, employed as assistants; but as the latter are appointed and paid by the postmasters themselves, to whom alone they are responsible, their names are not recorded on the government books."