The Employments of Women: A Cyclopaedia of Woman's Work, by Virginia Penny, a Project Gutenberg eBook.

428. Sewing-Machine Instructors.

In many of the stores of New York, where sewing machines are sold, we notice that many of those who give instructions to buyers of machines are men. Shame on the men that teach women to sew! When such is the case, to what may not a woman resort for earning a livelihood? Shame on the man that engages in such an effeminate employment, save he who is deformed and cannot engage in harder work! Shame, I say, on the man seen at a sewing machine, or with a needle in his hand! Surely the muscles and bones and sinews of men were never given for such a purpose. W. & W. employ five young ladies as instructors on machines, paying each of them over $6 a week. They have one to sell thread, and two to go about the city adjusting machines. It is something difficult to do, as it requires almost the mechanical talent of a machinist. They have no applications for instructors on sewing machines out of the city, but have for some in the city. They employ females because the purchasers of machines are generally ladies. G. & B. employ a lady for adjusting machines, as they find ladies prefer one of their own sex for the purpose. I was told at S.'s, by the bookkeeper, they do not employ female instructors. They used to employ both young men and young ladies, but they spent so much time talking to each other, that they found it necessary to dispense with either the one or the other. So they gave up the girls eighteen months ago, and have not employed any since. They paid girls $4 a week from the time they took them, and increased their wages to $5 or $6. Many of the women earned $6. They worked, on an average, ten hours a day. Ladies are employed in Boston to sell machines. The ladies of New York (said a young man selling machines) prefer to buy of a gentleman. (?) Yet, he thinks the crying sin of civilization is, not furnishing remunerative employment to women. Simply learning to sew with a machine is by no means difficult, though the time required depends very much upon the abilities of the learner. Some become proficient in all its accomplishments of hemming, tucking, gathering, preparing work for the machine, &c., in from three to six months, while others do not become efficient workers in less than a year. The time required to learn depends very much on the machine used, as some are more complicated than others; and a thorough knowledge of the machine is desirable for every good worker. It is more difficult to learn to operate on one kind of machine after learning on some other kind. By paying $1.50, a person can receive six lessons on sewing machines at S.'s. At W. & W.'s, and at G. & B.'s, purchasers and those who cannot pay are taught free of charge. Some people charge $3 for teaching to operate. L. & W. will teach any one to operate who buys a machine, but they charge others $2.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COMFORT OR AMUSEMENT OF OTHERS.

431. Bathhouse Attendants.

There are some people that cannot afford to have bathhouses in their dwellings, and for such it is well there are houses where, for twenty-five cents, they may enjoy the luxury of a bath. Particularly is it well for hard-working people, on whom the dust and perspiration collect, and who are refreshed and rendered more healthy by frequent baths. Where a bathhouse is used for women alone—there being no department for men—we think it might be owned and superintended by a lady, just like any other branch of business. Females, of course, would be in attendance to wait on those that frequent the bath rooms. Quite a number are employed at water-cure establishments, which are open for patients at all seasons of the year. Not only does cleanliness promote comfort, but it is conducive to health. Many of the diseases of the poor arise from a want of cleanliness. Even the morals are improved, and the mind freed as it were from its cobwebs. Most medicinal baths should be superintended by some one that has a knowledge of medicine and the human system. And those employed, if unacquainted with the business, should be particular in observing directions given. For baths, a person should have means to fit up rooms neatly, and enough to live on until their establishment becomes known. I called on the wife of a gentleman who has electro-magnetic baths administered. He is a physician, and gives medical advice as to the kind of bath required. He does not give much medicine, thinking the article that would be prescribed had better be administered externally in the form of a bath. The baths are $3 for a single one; $10 for four. More people take the baths in summer than winter. After a vapor bath the system is stimulated, not relaxed; it is then better prepared for the reception of medicine. The charge at one establishment I know to be 50 cents a bath, or $5 for twelve. In New York, I saw the People's Washing and Bathing Establishment, which was put up by some philanthropic citizens, for the benefit of the poor. A man is employed to take charge of it; and in summer, several women attend to bathers, and some wash and iron towels. They pay $3 a week to a bath attendant, and from $3 to $3.50 to washers and ironers. They have had 1,500 bathers a day, in summer. For a bath in a small room and one towel, six cents are charged; for better accommodations, twelve cents. A swimming bath for boys is attached, and a charge made of three cents a swim of half an hour.

432. Brace and Truss Makers.

I went to M. & Co.'s, New York, who are surgical and anatomical mechanicians, inventors, and manufacturers. They want to employ several good female workers. They will not take any to learn, because it requires time to teach them; yet a person of moderate abilities, that can sew neatly, can learn in a few days, or weeks at most, to do the cutting out and stitching. Part of the stitching is done by hand, and part by machinery. The workwomen are paid $3 a week, and work ten hours. At L.'s truss and bandage institute, I learned that he employs a number at $3 a week. He cannot get as many good hands as he wants. He drew several hands from his former employer by paying them a little more. His wife does the fitting for ladies. A truss maker in Middletown, Conn., pays his women by the piece, and they earn from $3 to $4 per week. A., Brooklyn, pays a girl that sews neatly, but has never worked at the business, $3 a week. Any one that can sew well or operate on a machine, can do the mechanical work. He pays experienced hands over $3, according to what they do. His girls work but nine hours a day. Manufacturers of surgical apparatus in Boston write: "We employ women in sewing exclusively, generally about twenty, and all American. The work is not more unhealthy than any sewing. We consider any steady sewing, and the consequent confinement, more or less injurious. Average wages, perhaps $4 per week—something depends upon capabilities, however. Some have earned $6 per week, though such cases are exceptions. All our work is done by the piece. Females are paid about half the price of males. There appears to be an ample supply of female labor. On this basis, prices, details, &c., are governed accordingly. That portion of the work done by males, it takes three years to learn; that done by women, three months, presuming they were good sewers at the start. Learners are paid the same as old hands. Of course, they are slower, and accumulate less until well learned. To be a neat sewer and possess some mechanical skill will prepare one for this employment. We are seldom idle more than two weeks in the year. The male portion of our work would be no more adapted to women than horse shoeing. Our hands work from eight to twelve hours each day, and have none too much time for the improvement of their minds, considering they must be occupied more or less upon their own private sewing in addition to their business." A truss maker in Boston writes: "I pay by the week, from $4 to$6 to women; to men, from $7 to $12, because they can do more. They work from nine to ten hours. All are Americans. It requires from three to six months to learn. Some portions of the steel work would not be suitable for women. Board, $2 per week." "W. & F. employ eight women for making braces, bandages, &c. They pay $3 a week to those who are employed by the week. Those that work by the piece can earn from $4 to $6, and sometimes by overwork $7 a week. Their work is steady in good times, and they are able to employ their girls all the year. All sew by hand but one, and she receives but $4 as an operator. The business is mostly confined to cities."

433. Chiropodists.

W., of the firm of L. & W., was quite a gentlemanly man in his manners, conversation, and dress. He mentioned three women, each in different cities, engaged in this occupation. He thinks his pursuit preferable to dentistry. Both depend on the class of patients. To follow the calling professionally requires a knowledge of anatomy and surgery. There is a great deal of charlatanism practised by some in the calling. A knowledge of how to extract corns is not sufficient. Bunions, inverted nails, &c., require scientific treatment. He charges $1 for removing one corn, fifty cents apiece for two, and proportionately less for three or more. There are a great many itinerant doctors. If any individual fits himself properly for the calling, he may, after three or four years, in a large city, living from hand to mouth during the time, succeed in establishing a name and gaining respectable practice. The number of ladies suffering from corns has not decreased, judging from his experience. Men are more liable to have corns than women, because of more severe and constant exercise. He thinks it would not do for women to work at men's feet. I think it would not be more agreeable to a woman to have a man work at her feet; and as far as propriety goes, one is no better than the other. He would discourage any lady friend of his from undertaking the business. I called on Mme. K., a French lady. Her father is a chiropodist in Paris, and what she knows of the business she learned from seeing him. She found it unpleasant at first, but now she does not mind it. She goes to the house of the patient for the same price as she operates at her own room, namely, fifty cents a corn. She has as much to do as she wants. She thinks, in other places there are openings, and a woman that thoroughly understands the business is in every way as fit and capable as a man. She knows of but one other lady in the business in this country, and she is quite aged. She thinks, by three months' study and practice with a skilful operator, one might do very well to commence for herself. She would as soon operate on a gentleman's as a lady's foot. It might be well for one commencing to practice to travel, or get custom in several towns and villages in the same vicinity. I think she would instruct any one for a satisfactory compensation. A chiropodist says, as long as people are fools enough to abuse their feet, the prospect for his employment is good. L. is the oldest practitioner in the United States, and has practised in New York for twenty years. He would be willing to instruct pupils, charging $100 for each student. He would give thorough and systematic instruction, and teach to make the material used. People have not had much confidence in ladies, because of their deficiency in surgical skill. Incompetent persons have injured the business. Times do not affect the amount of practice. There are openings in Boston, Baltimore, and Chicago. Many ladies come to L. to have their finger nails trimmed, polished, and tinted. They would no doubt be as willing to have a competent lady.

434. Cuppers and Leechers.

This business is sometimes connected with that of a barber. But in cities, some women engage in it, and, no doubt, are as competent as men. Indeed, for their own sex and children they are better fitted. Mrs. A., a cupper and leecher, told me the best way to obtain custom is to form the acquaintance of some of the best physicians, as they will then recommend you but you must always be ready to attend their patients, or they forget you. Her father was a physician, and in that way she learned the treatment of leeches. It is well to get into the favor of persons that serve as leechers at the infirmaries—they may be willing to instruct you. The Germans have killed the business in New York. Some charge but twenty-five cents for cupping, and proportionately low for leeching. Leeching is sooner learned than cupping, but there is much less of both done than formerly. Homœopathy has interfered with their use. She used to be out all day and up all night, but now she seldom has a call; and yet she must be always at home, and ready for a call. She never goes to take a cup of tea with a friend, and is frequently called out of church. Leeching and cupping require a steady hand, and ability to use the scarificator. A person in the business must go into all kinds of sickness, without even asking what it is. Accidents give considerable custom, and in the sickly season there is most. It has become common for lads in apothecary shops to be sent out to apply leeches. When they are to be applied to any hidden part of a lady, a female leecher, of course, is preferable. Mrs. A. charges twenty-five cents a leech, if more than one is applied—if not, thirty-seven cents. For cupping she charges $1. One lady in New York charges not less than $1 apiece for applying leeches, and in some cases more. Mrs. L. thinks a lady could not make a living at the business in New York, because the Germans have killed the trade by working at half price, and, as might be supposed, do not properly understand it. A good location should be fixed upon for an office. A cupper and leecher is expected to go in all weather, and in all hours of the day and night, and in any kind of sickness. Most of it is done in fall and winter, because there is then most inflammation. Judgment must be used in the quantity of blood to be drawn. A leecher should be a good judge of the quality of leeches, and the proper treatment of them. Particular attention should be paid to the directions of the doctor in applying leeches. Mrs. L. says there is an opening for a cupper and leecher in Albany, N. Y. A friend of hers there had to pay exorbitantly for the services of a leecher.

435. Fishing-Tackle Preparers.

In Philadelphia, I was told at the store where most fishing tackle is sold, that one woman is employed by them in fastening small hooks, with silk thread, on the end of worm gut. Large hooks are prepared in the same way for other kinds of fishing. It would seem that few women know of the existence of that kind of work in Philadelphia, for when the proprietor advertises for a female hand, he never has any applicants. It is clean, healthy work, and the materials can be easily carried home. Fifty cents a day a woman earns at it, but a man $1. There is but a small demand for fishing tackle in Philadelphia, but in New York the trade is much more important. C., of New York, says most engaged in this work are English women. A fast and correct worker can earn $6 a week at it. They are paid for by the dozen. He finds women more honest than men, and therefore prefers them. Men will steal some of the line or some of the hooks. For making flies, a superior hand may earn $8 a week. Something of a mechanical turn is all that is necessary to make a good workman. They have more work of that kind done than any house in New York, and pay a better price to have it well done. Nets pay very poorly, because all the large nets are now made by machinery, and the smaller ones are made by infirm people, who do it to keep employed as much as for the compensation. When the coarse netting is done by machinery, it can be obtained at 12½ cents a fathom, and a fathom of the same kind done by hand would require a day. The peculiar system of the business is that the work is all done in winter, and the goods sold in summer. It is a luxury, and consequently dispensed with when times are hard. C. pays for putting hooks on the lines by the gross. The silk lines are manufactured in England. G. & B. employ four women who work at home in making fishing tackle and artificial flies. They are made in winter. An experienced hand can obtain $15 a week, working from six in the morning till ten at night. He thinks, there are so few in the business, workers would not give instruction without good pay. A woman may possibly earn $4 a week making nets. They employ Irishmen to weave the silk worm gut on the hooks. The three or four large fishing-tackle establishments in New York could furnish all that is needed for the United States. Mrs. R., who makes artificial flies and fishing tackle, says she has now and then earned $9 a week—a difference of $6 in the report of the clerk. But there is considerable difference in the amount of work of the different kinds; and as they are paid for by the gross, some kinds of work pay better than others. There is now considerable competition in this work, because of the many that are out of employment. Girls apply at the store, offering to do the work at forty-two cents a gross. None are prepared South or West—so there may be openings before long in St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, &c. Making artificial flies is mostly in the hands of Irishmen.

437. Guides and Door Attendants.

"In Paris, the box offices of all the theatres are tended by women—not only those of the evening, but those open during the day for the sale of reserved places. The box openers and audience seaters are women." "The proprietor of the London Adelphi advertised, at the opening of the last season, that his box openers, check takers, and so on, would all be women." We have seen it stated that in some of the Roman Catholic churches in Paris, ladies of the congregation pass around the plates to take up a collection. Women in some of the old countries are occupied as doorkeepers at museums and galleries of paintings. In Great Britain, many of the door attendants are females, where the houses are occupied by several families, as is often the case. In England, some women are employed as pew openers. To come nearer home. Those who have visited the Academy of Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, will remember the pleasant face of the janitress who receives the tickets of the visitors, and that an obliging young woman checked the canes and parasols. In New York, most of the picture galleries have female doorkeepers.

438. Lodging and Boarding House Keepers.

Patience, a spirit of forgiveness, and an ability to overlook faults, are very necessary for gliding along smoothly in this difficult and often ungrateful calling. A cheerful disposition, too, is almost indispensable, for everybody likes smiles better than frowns. A love of society is desirable. It is a principle that has been wisely implanted in the human heart, and one that affords numerous and important advantages to mankind. It is one that tends to produce a desire for the comfort and happiness of those around. Yet too great a fondness for society may cause a neglect of duty and a love of gossipping. It is sometimes the case that light, frivolous talk and too great fondness for excitement characterize the keepers and inmates of a boarding house. Yet such, of course, is not always the case. Keeping a boarding house is an office that will give to one of a kind and benevolent nature a good opportunity of exercising her native qualities. Sympathy closely binds such to the unfortunate, and pleasures are doubled by participating with others. Whether those who keep boarding houses happen to have by nature more idle curiosity than others, or whether the business is one calculated to create and foster such a quality, I cannot say, but favor the latter opinion. The tempers of those who keep boarding houses are apt to be very much tried. They need great firmness and uniformity in deportment. The price paid for boarding is usually proportioned to the comforts enjoyed, but not always. In early times, houses of entertainment for travellers were kept mostly by women. In a region of country where hunting and fishing are good, or the scenery fine, and the roads pleasant, ladies often accommodate, for the summer and autumn, families from the city. It is a very general fashion for people in the cities to go during the warmest weather to the country, seaside, or springs. Boarding house keepers usually find it most profitable to keep a large house, as only one kitchen and parlor are needed, and many other expenses attending a house are proportionately diminished. Good boarding houses for workwomen are scarce in all large cities, particularly New York. Most keepers of boarding houses prefer men, because they are less about the house. I have been told that it is very difficult for work girls to get board in well kept houses. I think several respectable boarding houses should be established in large cities by wealthy and influential ladies, or religious societies, for working women. In New York are some houses where none but merchants' clerks board. Why might not one or more be established for shop girls? A list, as given by employers, of the prices paid by work girls for their board, I will annex at the close of this work; but I would add that comfortable rooms and wholesome food cannot be furnished in cities at these prices, and afford a reasonable profit to the keepers of the houses. And I would further say, the prices paid women for their labor does not enable them to pay higher rates for their board.

439. Makers of Artificial Eyes.

The science of supplying defects in the physique is such that an artificial man can almost be manufactured. Artificial teeth, hair, eyes, ears, noses, chins, palates, arms, hands, and legs, are some of the missing parts of the frame that can be supplied. In the census report of Great Britain for 1850, we find four women under the head of artificial limb and eye makers. G., of New York, knows two or three ladies in Paris, and one in London, that are engaged in making the whites of glass eyes. G. may be able to give employment to a lady in making the white of the eyes, in a few months. It is done by blowing the glass, and requires but a short time to learn. He says he would pay a woman well for the work. I called at D.'s, a manufacturer of glass eyes, and saw D.'s son, a youth about eighteen years of age. He says there are but two other makers of glass eyes in the United States, and only two or three in London. D. spent fourteen years in London and Dublin, manufacturing eyes at the infirmaries, and giving them away. He did it to get in practice. He prefers to insert the eyes himself. They move as a natural eye does, and certainly were very natural in color. He sells them at from $10 to $20. Some physicians furnish their patients with them, charging $60 or $70 for one, and so making a handsome profit. When a person that does not understand the form of the glass eye and the anatomy of the human eye inserts one, the inside of the eye is liable to become inflamed, and proud flesh is formed. D. spent a fortune experimenting. It requires an extensive knowledge of chemicals, and the effect produced on them by heat. A small furnace is used for burning the colors, in the glass. Some people would give thousands of dollars to know the chemicals used, and their proportions. The young man says his father has never even imparted to him the information. Some people that wear glass eyes take them out at night. D. judges of the shape and size required by merely looking at the remaining eye of the individual. We think a competent person in this business might establish himself at the South. I called on an Englishman who has been at the business twenty years in New York. He is over sixty years of age, and has been in the business fifty years; learned it with his father in London. He had a number of certificates on his walls. He says a woman would go into a decline directly, if exposed to the heat of a furnace in baking eyes. It is necessary to stay in the oven while the change is taking place in the chemicals. In summer it is intolerable. His son would not continue the business on that account. He says the French eyes are made of glass, covered with porcelain, and break easily; the white is made by being blown. The English are not blown, and are made entirely of porcelain. He says they will not break unless very cold water is applied in bathing the eyes (a common fashion in the United States). He has had eyes worn for a year without being taken out. He takes the dimensions of the eye by fitting in different sized ones. If an eye is too small, it will slip out, fall, and break. It requires long experience to become proficient in making glass eyes; but it is a beautiful art, and not inappropriate to competent women.

441. Artificial Teeth.

It is said that 3,000,000 artificial teeth are made in the United States annually. The materials are all found in the United States. Each tooth passes through ten different processes. I called at J. & W.'s, Philadelphia. They employ sixty-two girls, all American. They pay a learner, after two or three weeks' practice, according to the quality and quantity of her work. Their girls earn from $1.50 to $7 per week; average $4.50. They have but one hand earning $7. They would be glad to get more such at the same price, for it is difficult to get good hands. They have to turn away a great many applicants. The prospect is good to learners. They keep their hands all the year. The business has advanced rapidly during the last few years, and is likely to continue increasing. There are constant improvements in the business. Consequently a hand may be always improving. They will not receive a girl without reference, or credentials of moral character. They do not want any but intelligent girls, for the hand is guided by the mind. There are three or four processes carried on in different rooms. They work at the establishment, and never carry work home, unless a mother or sister is sick and requires their attention. It is a light, genteel business; and one well adapted to women of some education and intelligence. A lady in the cars told me she knew a lady who received $7 a week for making teeth in Baltimore. She came to Philadelphia, but could not get as good wages; so she returned to Baltimore. The New York Teeth Manufacturing Company pay from $3 to $5 a week. Learners are paid $2.50 a week, from the first, for six months; and then, if competent, paid more. The work is not unhealthy. Men average $10, but their branch is different; the work is heavier. It requires about two months to learn, in one department. Neither men nor women are often taught more than one branch. All seasons are alike, and they are never out of work. The supply of hands is greater than the demand everywhere. Small hands, nimble fingers, and good eyesight are important to a worker. In the establishment of R., New York, four processes in the making of artificial teeth are performed by women. Some branches require a longer time to learn than others. It takes six months to learn any one perfectly. R. pays $3 a week to his learners, and $5 a week to experienced workers. Careful manipulation is the most that is needed. Judging from the increase in the last five years, the prospect for employment is excellent; yet the openings in New York are limited. Women are the best workers, but some prefer men. The only manufacturers are in New York, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Bridgeport. It is desirable to have careful workers. B. had a girl ruin $500 worth of teeth for him. The parts performed by women are cleaning the moulds, setting the pins, filling the moulds with the tooth materials, and trimming, and putting on the pink color answering the place of gums; also placing them on slides preparatory to baking and carding.

442. Nurses for the Sick.

Attention to this subject has been awakened during the last few years, by the heroic conduct of Miss Florence Nightingale and the ladies who went with her to the Crimea to wait on the sick and wounded. When the people of England proposed making some testimonial of regard to Florence Nightingale, she proposed that, with the means expended in doing so, they should establish an institution for the training of nurses. We would not fail to notice a fact that reflects much credit on Miss Anne M. Andrews, of Syracuse, N. Y. While the yellow fever raged in Norfolk, Va., she left her home and went alone to Norfolk, devoting her time and services to the sick of all conditions. She received the medal that is usually awarded to a physician on such occasions, and the citizens talked of placing a statue in a conspicuous part of their city, as a memorial of her goodness and their indebtedness. In Berlin, Vienna, Turin, and Halle, hospitals have been established for the education of nurses. In Germany, there has been one for many years. A number of good ladies connected with that institution are now in Pittsburg, where they form an order of deaconesses. Some take care of the sick, and some have charge of an orphan asylum. St. Luke's Hospital, New York, is under Episcopal supervision, and connected with it is an order of Protestant deaconesses, who attend the sick. Most of the hospitals in this country have been established by the Roman Catholic Church, and are under its guidance. We think Protestant hospitals for the sick are greatly needed, especially in the Western and Southern cities—Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. It may be that some exist in those cities; but, if so, we think they must be quite limited in extent. Asylums for sick children are established in some of our largest cities. A number exist in Europe. A nurse should have a kind, sympathizing nature, good health, strong nerves, great powers of endurance, ability to sit up all night, and bear exposure to extremes of temperature. In addition, she needs a good memory, that she may give the right medicine at the proper time. If she has not, she should commit to paper such orders, and consult them frequently. A long and thorough training is needed by an attendant on the sick. Great self-control is necessary, for many persons are very impatient in sickness. A bright, cheerful spirit should be cultivated. A sweet voice is pleasant in a nurse, because a sick person is sensitively alive to the smallest matters. It requires a woman of education, consideration, and delicacy of feeling, to be an acceptable nurse to people of refinement; and such a one must become attached to those she serves, if treated kindly. To make a kind and sympathizing nurse, one must have waited, in sickness, upon those she loved dearly. A nurse should use the precaution of wearing camphor, or something of that nature, on her person, particularly where there is contagious fever. The room should be large and well ventilated, and preventives used to keep the infectious air from spreading. A better class of women are employed to wait on the sick than formerly. The infirmary for women, established by Dr. Blackwell, in New York, is designed partly as a school for nurses. There is also an institution in Philadelphia for training them. Nurses earn from $4 to $10 a week. Some wait only on male patients, some only on ladies; some attend incurables, but the most serve in general sickness. Mrs. B. gets $7 and sometimes $8 a week and her board for monthly nursing. She knows some that get $10 a week. She stays in the room with the lady and her infant, and takes care of and waits on them. When food is to be prepared, the child's clothes washed, or anything of that kind done, she rings a bell and gives orders to a servant. Mrs. B., another ladies' nurse, charges from $8 to $10 a week, according to the amount of rest she loses at night. She told me that most good physicians keep a list of the best nurses. A nurse is expected to be able to make all the nice dishes required by her patient. In most small places, she is not expected to have the assistance of any one else, unless the sickness is very protracted, or the patient is delirious. In some places, a nurse is expected to close the eyes of the dying, and wash them after death, and perform any other service of that nature. But it is not uncommon for an undertaker's wife to be sent for to perform these duties, and take a measure for a shroud. For these services she is paid from $3 to $5. A nurse runs the risk of contracting a contagious disease; but, if the system is in a good condition, there is not much danger. As long as people are sick, which will be as long as there are any, nurses will be employed. Of course, there is most to do in sickly seasons. I called on Mrs. P., who charges $5 a week for her services. She does all that is required for the patient, except give medical advice. She would rather wait on men than women, as they are sure either to pay better wages or make presents. As she has had children of her own, and raised them all, she feels competent to take care of children in sickness. It is well for a woman to have a home to go to, when relieved from the labor and anxiety of nursing.

443. Steamboat and Railroad News Venders.

Boys and men are much more frequently engaged in the sale of newspapers, than women and girls. They are more disposed to sell edibles. We have seen some little girls selling papers on the streets of New York and Philadelphia; but we do not remember ever to have seen women selling papers at railroad depots or on steamboats, though many are seen with baskets of sweetmeats. Many, perhaps, cannot read, and do not wish to sell papers with whose contents they are unacquainted. Others may think they will be less likely to make any profit by their sale. Some women sell papers at stands on the streets of New York, and about the hotel doors. I saw a newspaper boy with an armful of Ledgers. He had sixty that he had bought at three and a half cents apiece, and was selling at four cents apiece. A girl that sells newspapers at the door of a hotel on Broadway, told me that she and her mother take turns about in being at the stand, and the profits of their joint sales are from 50 cents to $1 a day. She has several Sunday customers, to whose houses she takes ordered papers.

444. Street Musicians.

Organ grinders and street harpers have ever found a fair representation in the softer sex. Such representation is, however, among our foreign population—German and Italian, mostly. Last summer, in the streets of Philadelphia, might be seen, from day to day, a German woman with an organ on her back, and a baby in a hand-wagon, going from street to street, stopping now and then under a window to play. And in New York was another, whose organ was placed in a small barrow, which she wheeled through the streets of the city. We have seen two old women going through the streets of New York, one playing an organ, the other a tambourine; and a few days since, we observed one drawing very creditable music from a violin. Girls in the Swiss costume are sometimes seen walking from place to place, with a harp and tambourine. Some people say that, by the encouragement of street musicians, we encourage idleness. Most such people would treat a musician with scorn, and close the door in their faces, but step out where they could enjoy the music and save their pennies; or they would stand behind closed shutters, that their neighbors might not think them capable of having such vulgar taste as listening to a street musician. Now, we may encourage a disposition to roam, but scarcely idleness. This propensity to roam may be unfavorable to the cultivation of business habits; but the class of listless Italians who engage in it could never become business people. In the first place, harpers, violinists, and flutists must depend on their own skill and knowledge of music, to perform. They must prepare for their particular vocation, as others do. Those who play on organs, harmonias, and similar instruments, where no knowledge of music is necessary, we must admit, require no training; but walking, as most musicians do, from eight to twenty miles a day, is in itself laborious. We have been told that in New York most street musicians are employed by two or three individuals, who furnish the instruments, and allow the carriers to have so much of the proceeds. In older countries, there is a greater variety in the instruments used by street musicians. "There are sometimes fifty persons engaged in the sale of second-hand musical instruments on the streets of London."

446. Travelling Companions.

Travelling alone, is most favorable to thought, but not to pleasure. How much more we enjoy a lovely scene in nature, or the novel and brilliant sentiments of an author, when in company with one to whom we can talk freely! Good conversational powers, and an ability to appreciate the beautiful, are desirable in a travelling companion. Conversation should flow in a free, easy, unrestrained current. Will it not promote the entertainment and edification of rational, responsible, and immortal beings, to engage in wholesome conversation—to exchange sentiments in regard to books and the improvements of the age—to learn of the heavens above and the earth beneath? In talking with strangers, might not much be learned of their various countries, and a thousand things pertaining to them? Conversation exercises the imagination, gives play to a talent of invention, and strengthens the reasoning faculty. It sharpens thought as fermentation does wine. It tends, also, to restore the diseased imagination of the secluded and morbidly sensitive.

MISTRESSES AND DOMESTICS.

447. Mistresses.

We scarcely know that it is in place to say anything to this large and influential class of ladies. Yet, as we treat of servants, and endeavor to impress their duty upon them, we hope we may be excused for saying a few words to those who have charge of them. From the relation existing between a mistress and her servants, the mistress is supposed to have had superior mental and moral advantages. Then let that strongest of all incentives, a good example, be given. In some cases, the only good influence likely to be exerted over the servant, is by the mistress. No woman of right feelings can look upon her servants as mere beasts of burden. She knows and feels that they have souls, and are accountable beings; that each one is capable of extremes of misery and happiness. Should they not therefore receive kind and careful instruction in what is right? If the same regular system of domestic service were employed in this country that exists in Europe, housekeepers would be saved much labor. There, each department, even of kitchen labor, is distinct, and a servant is promoted according to her industry and improvement. But the expense of a large number of servants is one that most people in our country feel unable to support. Difficulties often arise from labor being required of servants that they have not stipulated to perform; and no definite understanding as to the extent of the privilege of receiving visitors is likely to prove a source of trouble. The thousand petty annoyances to which a mistress is subject, renders it necessary that she have a perfect command of her temper. A mistress must make great allowance for ignorance of what is right and wrong, for untamed passions, strong appetites, unimproved reason, and want of self-control. Many domestics are foreigners—ignorant, dull, and unacquainted with our language. We are sorry to say some mistresses expect their servants to be faultless, when they themselves, with their superior advantages, are not so. Mistresses are responsible, to some extent, for the spiritual, as well as the mental and physical good of their servants. They are in charge of immortal souls. The tendency of their influence and example must be either elevating or depressing. The quiet of the Sabbath, we think, might be granted to those in most departments of domestic labor. Cooks, we think, might prepare a dinner on Saturday, to be served cold on Sunday, with tea, if the weather be cold, or the habits of the people require it. Sabbaths have been called "milestones in the journey of life," and has not the poor cook, steaming over the fire day after day, need to count the milestones in the journey of her toilsome life? Says Mrs. Graves, in her "Woman in America:" "Is it not strange, that, among all the societies of the day, not one should have been formed for the intellectual and moral improvement of domestic servants, and for instructing them in household employments?" At the House of Protection, a Roman Catholic institution, New York, girls and women of good character, out of employment, or strangers in the city, are received on application. The girls are taught to wash, iron, do housework, sew, and embroider. Would that the Protestants would imitate this noble charity more fully! I am happy to add that in connection with the Child's Nursery (a Protestant institution), Fifty-first street, New York, has been commenced a servants' school. Young girls taken into the institution receive a year's instruction in washing, ironing, house cleaning, and sewing.

448. Domestics.

We think an important work of benevolence presents itself in Free States. It is providing homes for servant girls, when they are out of employment or sick. Many of them are in a strange land, unacquainted with the language and the ways of the people. When sick, some of them are immediately sent off by their mistresses to save the trouble of waiting on them. The negroes of the Slave States, when sick, are (if they have kind masters and mistresses) as tenderly cared for as any member of the family, and are never without a home in health or in sickness. That lonely and wretched feeling of having no place to consider home, is not their experience. Connected with this subject, arises one to which we have never yet given much attention, but which forces itself on our mind as one calling for attention from the benevolent: it is the establishment of institutions for the afflicted portion of the colored population, both in Slave and Free States. We refer to the blind, the deaf and dumb, and the insane. We know of no separate institution for such, and no arrangement whatever, with the exception of limited arrangements for the insane, in connection with institutions for white people. Now and then we hear people advocate the old plan of binding orphans and destitute children. Whether that would be advantageous, would depend altogether on the kind of people to whom they were bound. Some servants soon fail, and are not fit for service more than a few years. It arises mostly from their exposure to cold and dampness without being properly clothed and fed, and sometimes from a too free indulgence in the pleasures of the palate, particularly that of the consuming liquid which burns out life and sense. The hard work that most Irish women can perform, and the large number in this country, have made them the most numerous domestics in the Free States. They are generally employed as maids of all work. I think the number of American girls going into service is increasing. The majority of white female domestics in this country are single women, from sixteen to thirty-five years of age. In Providence, R. I., a census was taken in 1855, stating, among other particulars, the number of American families having servants, the number in foreign families, and the aggregate; but the number of white domestics has never been fully taken in the United States, even when collecting statistics for the census. A short time ago, we counted in the New York Herald eight columns of situations wanted, three fourths of which were by female domestics. It shows what a surplus there is of domestics in the cities, that no doubt could find situations through the country, and in the villages. The majority of female domestics would rather starve in New York than go to the country, or even little towns around for fair wages. I think it arises from the fear that they will not find associates. A social feeling is natural, but should be controlled by circumstances. With many, the great drawback is the fear that they may not be able to have the privileges of their own particular church; and still another is that they may not find the place to which they go, or are sent, exactly what it is represented to be, and the expense that would be incurred by a return. Domestics are more respected in the country, and treated more as members of the family, than domestics in towns. The preference is usually given, in towns and cities, to domestics from the country, because of their superior strength and better health. "For a person to be a good servant, there are three requisites: first, she must have professional skill in her calling; secondly, she must be a good woman; thirdly, she must have feelings of kindliness and regard to her master and mistress." In 1853, domestics were receiving wages in San Francisco proportioned to the prices paid for everything else. Cooks got $100 a month, and board; house servants, from $35 to $70, and board. Chambermaids $40 to $70, and board. Prices have fallen since 1853 in California, but good female domestics can now earn there from $25 to $30 a month besides board. "In most towns through our country domestics get from $1.25 to $2.50 a week, and board. We give the rates of wages of domestics in New York (1857) at the intelligence offices. Maids of all work, very raw, $4 per month; average, $5; good, $6 to $7. Chambermaids—good, $6. Cooks—good, $7 to $8—extra $12 to $16. Laundresses $8 to $10. The cooks who obtain the highest rates, sometimes reaching $20, are employed mostly in hotels or private families, in New York. Five or six years' education in a restaurant, during which period the pupil is supporting herself, will thus often add seventy-five per cent. to the market value." I have had numberless statements from different parts of Free States that it was almost impossible to obtain good domestics. I have just taken up a paper in which I read: "Female domestics are scarce in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and obtain employment readily at good prices in almost all the river towns." More particularly are female domestics scarce, where there are factories. Girls, especially American girls, prefer to work in factories to being servants, as they think it more honorable, and it secures to them more time—in short, they are more their own mistresses.