449. Chambermaids.

"Of the 200,000 female servants in England, the largest in number, the shortest in life, and of course the worst paid are the general housemaids, or unhappy servants of all work." Chambermaids in the United States may be classed under three heads: those in hotels, those in private families, and those on steamboats. The business of a chambermaid in a hotel, or on a steamboat, is an occupation affording variety in frequent change of faces. Of course, prices and conditions are stipulated for. Many get $20 a month, and do the washing of the boat, that is, the table and bed linen. Others get $25, $30, and $35 a month. On small boats, they are expected to do the washing of the boat, but in some cases have a woman hired while in port to assist them. On large boats, or small packet boats, there are generally two chambermaids. The first chambermaid attends to receiving lady passengers, seeing that they are furnished with berths, and giving them such attention as they need. She cleans the state rooms, and wakes any lady passengers that are to land in the night. The second chambermaid does the washing and ironing. In some cases, the washing is sent up from the boats, while in port, to laundries. But clothes are thought to be injured in that way, and the plan is not so popular as while the novelty lasted. Most of the rivers of the United States are either too low to be navigable, or are frozen over, part of the year; so, constant employment in that way cannot be found. The first chambermaid on the steamboat E. received $20 a month. Her business was to wait on the ladies. She had several hours' time that she could devote to sewing for herself. The second chambermaid did the washing of the boat, and received $15 per month. A steamboat chambermaid told me she averages $20 a month (and board, of course); but, in addition to her services as chambermaid, is required to do the washing for the boat; that is, the sheets, table linen, and towels. In families, the prices for chambermaids are about the same as at hotels, and of course the duties are pretty much the same, except that in families all of a chambermaid's time is expected. In a hotel, a chambermaid is often through her work in the early part of the afternoon, and has several hours as her own. We think it advisable for a servant to keep a place with good people, even if her wages are less, rather than with more selfish and more remunerative people. The first mentioned would feel an interest in, and be more ready and willing to do for a servant in sickness or distress. Besides, they would be more apt to keep a watch over her welfare, should circumstances intervene to bring about a separation. It does not answer well for servants to move about much from place to place; it is likely to create suspicion of unfaithfulness or want of qualification. Yet, if they are not comfortable and satisfied, I would advise them to move, if confident they have a prospect of bettering their condition. The usual wages of chambermaids in cities are from $1.50 to $2.50 per week. In the Northern cities, white chambermaids are rather better paid than in Southern, as colored servants are preferred in the South. For doing housework by the day women receive in New York, fifty, seventy-five cents, and $1; for cleaning stores, they often receive $1.25 per day. Tidy, honest American girls will not find much difficulty in getting situations. If every family in New York city would take a girl, and either instruct her thoroughly or have her instructed in one branch of domestic service, there would not be such universal complaint of bad servants. In Paris, men are employed in some hotels as chambermaids. In a newspaper, we met with the following paragraph some time ago; "Females are so scarce in some of the interior towns of California, that men have to be employed to do the chamberwork."

450. Cooks.

I know of several benevolent institutions in Philadelphia and New York where poor women are furnished with employment. From most of them sewing is given out; but, in a few, housework is given to those who cannot sew. A school of cookery is now in operation in London. The object is to give instruction, gratis, to the lower classes, in preparing the most common articles of food in general use. It was established by Miss Burdett Coutts. To acquire the higher branches of the art requires much time and practice. Much of the nutriment of food is lost in cooking. Health depends much on the kind of food eaten, and the way in which it is prepared. Simple diet is most healthy; yet what contributes to the nourishment of one person may not to another. Persons can better learn what is nutritious and beneficial to them in health than it were possible for an Æsculapius to prescribe. Eating too hastily and too hurriedly, when the mind is excited and agitated, is one cause of bad health. The modes of preparing food, in the most wholesome way, should be a matter of study and interest to all engaged in a matter where health is so much at stake. Articles of food that contribute to the nourishment of every part of the body should be used. Children should have not only wholesome food, but as much as nature craves, when the system is in a state of health. A morbid appetite, of course, should be regulated. Some cooks devote themselves exclusively to the making and baking of pastry. At hotels they command a good price. In New York and Philadelphia, cooks receive from $1.50 to $5 a week, but in the small towns adjoining do not get more than from $1 to $1.50. Much of the success of servants will depend upon themselves. They may rest assured they will be able to please most families if they are good-natured, honest, truthful, active, and willing to do what they can. They will need patience. They should consider there are many trials, cares, and griefs attendant on those occupying a more responsible station. Punctuality is a desirable item in a cook. A skilful cook, of taste and experience, can, at any time, for reasonable wages, obtain a situation in one of the Northern cities. Hotel cooks are most frequently in demand, and receive from $12 to $25. A woman who cooks for a saloon frequented by gentlemen only, in a business part of New York, told me that she goes at 8 in the morning and remains, generally, until 2 o'clock next morning, when she goes home. She is paid $12 a month for her work, having her meals besides. A colored man, a public cook, told me he employs two or three women to assist him in getting up parties. He pays them from $6 to $7 a week. He loans plate for parties, charging for plated knives twenty-five cents a dozen, and the same price for forks, and thirty-seven or fifty cents for a basket. He keeps some articles, but hires most from another party. Sometimes he will receive three or four orders a day; then again he may not have one for two weeks. It is a very irregular business. He prepares lunches for bankers and political men, mostly; but finds it inconvenient, as these lunches are often given in their offices, and he prepares the dishes at home, and must have them warm when served up. In some offices, he can have an apartment for that purpose; in others, he cannot. A colored woman, who goes on a propeller in summer, and does the cooking for ten men, told me she receives $19 a month. The boats at New York seldom stop running longer than three months in the year. She thinks the trouble in New York is, you cannot have one kind of work regularly. In Germany, most of the women, in every class of society, learn to cook. In Stuttgart, a wealthy man died, leaving a certain sum, the interest of which goes to a given number of the best hotel cooks, to teach a limited number of young women the art. In some cities in Germany, ladies pay something to pastry cooks at hotels and restaurants for instruction in cooking.

451. Dining-Room Waiters.

It would be well, had we such laws as England, for the protection and rights of servants. There, a servant cannot have her character scandalized, her good name maligned, or her faithfulness as a servant belied. Neither may a servant say aught that is false against her mistress. Scandalizing becomes, oftentimes, a curse in our Free States, and consequently self-respect, with servants, becomes, to a great extent, a defunct virtue. Nor is the fault confined to one party. Both are often culpable—mistress and servant. A good character is the best capital a servant can possess. Servants have an opportunity of improving themselves, and gaining much practical information from intercourse with their mistresses while in the discharge of their duties. If worthy American girls would get situations as domestics in respectable families, they would be likely to fare better than by working in shops; for they would lay by more money, secure the interests and good wishes of their employers, and be more certain of lasting employment. A servant should be active and quick in motion, to perform well the duties of a waiter. In 1854, from seventeen to twenty-four white girls were employed as dining-room waiters at the Delavan House, Albany, N. Y. Their wages were from $5 to $7, in one or two cases $8, a calendar month. The wages of men for similar service were from $14 to $20. The ages of the women were from seventeen to twenty-four. They dressed uniformly in calico, and were under a head waiter—a man. At that time, women had been employed at the establishment about two years and a half. The result was entirely satisfactory in every respect. A gentleman inquired of the proprietor, after he had employed them two years, if there was any inferiority to men's service, and was informed there was not any. They were more quiet than men, and less troublesome. In this time, only four had left the house of their own accord, and then to be married. When more hands were needed, there was no difficulty in getting them. It was apprehended that improprieties might occur, from the gallantries of the gentlemen. No difficulty of the kind had been experienced. It was suggested that it might be otherwise in a liquor house. In April, 1860, we had a few lines from the proprietor of the Delavan House, saying he found women would not answer for first-class hotels, where the crowd is very great, as the work is too severe. He changed the plan of having them in 1858.

452. Ladies' Maids.

Some of the most wealthy or self-indulgent ladies have a female attendant to dress and wait on them, but it is not so common in the United States as in older and more wealthy countries. In Slave States, a colored woman, graceful and good natured, is often set apart from the family servants for this purpose. The difficulty that attends the taking of a colored servant in travelling, sometimes calls for a white attendant to act in this capacity. The business is light, and brings good wages. A maid should endeavor to secure a place with a lady that is amiable and patient. She will find ability to perform the services of a lady's hair dresser a valuable acquisition.

453. Nurses for Children.

None should enter this occupation unless they have a love for children. It requires affection and patience. Added to this, is needed a degree of mild firmness that children find it difficult to resist. It requires strength too, and a lady had better, if possible, furnish a grown nurse for her child. Nurses receive as wages from $1 to $1.25 per week. Wet nurses receive higher wages. Being able to speak the French and German languages correctly, is in some places a desirable qualification. Fashionable and educated people, who desire to have their children early instructed in the languages, are willing to pay a better price for such a nurse. The habit of nursing children is indicated, in both mothers and nursery maids, by the right shoulder being larger and more elevated than the left. C. thinks it would be well for young American girls to devote themselves to domestic service—thinks it a misplaced pride which prevents their doing so. Many would certainly be much better off in every respect than they now are, and, if their affairs were well conducted, would save money.

454. Saloon Attendants.

"This class of labor is performed by young men and girls. Although the girls are preferred in some places, and do make most excellent waitresses, their remuneration is not as high as that paid to men. In some cases the men get as high as $14 a month; in most cases, however, they do not receive more than $12 a month. The girls get paid from $8 to $10 a month, varying according to experience. The hours employed do not exceed, in most cases, ten per day. These rates are exclusive of board and lodging. Where lodgings are not provided, an allowance is made for the purpose." The ladies that T. employs in his saloon, board in the International—a hotel connected with the saloon and confectionery. He pays them $6 a month, besides their board. M., Broadway, pays those that stay in his confectionery $12 a month, and their board. In the northern part of France, women are employed on some of the packet boats as table waiters. They are young and pretty, and misconduct among them is very rare.

455. Washers, Ironers, and Manglers.

The plan of washing by steam is said to have been practised many years back in France. There were, some years ago, over 300 different models of washing machines at the Patent Office in Washington. Some families have their washing done by hand, some by machinery, and some at laundries. Where washing, ironing, and mangling are carried on extensively, it is mostly by men, but women are employed to do the labor. It is thought by some that clothes are injured when washed at laundries. We do not know whether it originates from the plan of washing, or the carelessness of those employed. In New York is a public washing house, where, for four cents an hour, steam, water, and troughs can be used for washing clothes. At the same price, the privileges of the wringing machine, the drying room, and the ironing room are granted. A mangler costs from $50 to $100. Those that are operated on by steam cost more, and are often used in laundries. A woman told me that she is paid fifteen cents a dozen for mangling sheets and table cloths. She can mangle eight or nine dozen pieces a day, and so earn from $1.20 to $1.25. It takes but a very short time to become expert. Strong arms and a strong back are more necessary than anything else. She could work her mangle all day, but it would be a hard day's work. She has much work in summer, before people go to the country. The prices given for family washing and ironing by the dozen, range from fifty cents to $1. Others make arrangements by the parcel, at so much a week or month. Those employed in ironing receive good wages. Where new shirts are done up for stores, the best prices are given. A woman employed in an establishment of the kind in Cincinnati, told me that she received for her work, which was ironing the bosoms of new shirts for stores, $7 a week. She ironed thirty or forty a day, averaging one, I think, every twelve minutes. I called on Mrs. S., who has a laundry. Women in that branch are well paid, both principals and employées. Some of the laundry keepers in New York go down to Castle Garden and get fresh emigrant girls. They give them their board until they can wash right well (for about four weeks), then pay them by the week or the piece. If by the week, $6 a month and their board, or allow them $1.50 a week to pay their board. They instruct some hands in ironing, if they need hands in that department. When qualified, they pay three cents a shirt for ironing; or, if by the week, §4.75. It is most satisfactory generally to both parties to pay by the piece. The best doers up of muslin and cotton goods are the French. New shirts are sent from Boston, Philadelphia, &c., to New York, to be done up. The openings for ironers are good, and the work pays well. A right active, skilful hand can iron fifty shirts a day, and so earn $1.50. When women are employed by the week, they are required to iron twenty-five shirts a day, and, if brisk, may get through by one or two o'clock. Mrs. S. charges $1.50 a dozen for store shirts, and $1 for others. Washers earn $12 a month; ironers, $21; and starchers, $14. The girls employed in laundries are mostly Irish, with strong muscular power. A shirt manufacturer told me that ironers of new shirts are much needed. He cannot obtain enough. Ironers can learn the business in three months. Ironers earn from $5 to $8 per week. I called on A. G., who charges from $1 to $1.50 a dozen for doing up new shirts, according to the quality and the work on them. She pays her ironers from $10 to $12 a month. I called at B.'s laundry. The proprietor and his family are Americans. They do only store shirts. They employ more than one hundred hands, who are boarded and paid by the month. Learners receive their board. Ironers are paid best. Those that work fast get through earliest in the day, each one having a certain number to do. I called at another laundry, where I was told all the girls receive $1.75 per week for board money. While learning, they are paid their board money, and more, if their services are worth it. The washers are paid $12 a month, and ironers from $10 to $25, boarding themselves. Some are fast, and some are slow; some smart, and some stupid. The ironers are paid 2¼ cents a piece for common shirts, 2½ for fine ones. The proprietor says experienced ironers are so scarce, you never find a good one in an intelligence office. If a laundryman fails, a good ironer can go to another laundry and get a place at once. At another place, I was told their washers receive $5 a month and their board. Ironers are paid by the month, and required to do so many in that time. She corroborated the statement of the other that a good ironer need never want a place. I heard a washerwoman say that, as the system is very much relaxed by washing, the vapor from the suds and soiled clothes renders it unhealthy. H. pays ironers $10 a month and board; $1.75 a week. Some he boards in his own house. An ironer is expected to iron from twenty to thirty a day, according to the contract. It requires a long time to iron well. Almost all washers and ironers are Irish girls—they are stronger and quicker in their motions. He has washing done only for the New York stores, because the time and trouble of going to steamboats for those from other places and returning them, are more than he wishes.

456. Backgammon-Board Finishers.

We called at L.'s backgammon-board manufactory, and saw a girl about thirteen years old, who has worked at the business for one year. She pastes the morocco on the back of the boards, and lays the gold leaf on, which is passed under a press, and receives, from a man who has charge of it, the ornamental gilding. They used to employ girls, and paid $4 a week, working from 7 to 6 o'clock—eleven hours. L. does not take learners—it is too much trouble. K. used to employ girls in finishing boards, but those he had were not steady and reliable.

457. Balloon Makers.

Large balloons are stitched up by sewing machines. Prof. L.'s required several days' work. Prof. W.'s sister and niece make both cotton and silk balloons. They have the substance put on the silk by men with a brush. They think that part of the work would be rather hard on women, because of the stooping and bending.

458. Billiard-Table Finishers.

I saw G., who employs one woman to make and put on the billiard bags at the corners and sides. He pays her such wages for her work that she can by industry earn $1.50 a day. He does not know of any woman that makes it a regular business, but thinks, if a woman could engage all that kind of work to be had at the billiard manufactories in New York city, it would be a good business, and probably pay about $3 a day. It is very easy work, and would require but a few weeks' practice. Besides, it would not require any capital, as the manufacturers furnish the materials. They pay twenty-five cents for making a cover of unbleached domestic, when two seams are sewed and it is hemmed at the ends. The cloth that is fastened on the table could not be put on by a woman, as it requires too much strength. Netting the bags is done by hand. I was told by a manufacturer that two women could do all the work for New York.

459. Bill Posters.

This is a business confined to cities. W. heard of one woman that went through New York distributing circulars for some benevolent institution. I do not see why a woman might not be so employed. An immense quantity of waste paper is sold in London to grocers, butchers, fishmongers, poulterers, and others that need paper for wrapping up the articles they sell to purchasers.

460. Block Cutters.

Block cutters prepare blocks of wood for the coloring of wall paper. A block about eighteen inches square and two inches thick is made perfectly smooth. The pattern is then traced on it with a lead pencil. It is then cut with chisels, which are of all sizes and many shapes. Each one, as required, is driven into the wood with a mallet. It requires considerable physical strength, but is remunerative when sufficient orders are given to keep one constantly employed. Each color, and even shade, in wall paper, requires a separate block. It is the same case where wooden blocks are used for printing calicoes. The wall-paper establishments in Philadelphia are the most extensive in the United States. A lady in Philadelphia, engaged in the business, told me that she got about $10 a week, working ten hours a day, but that she had not orders enough to keep her constantly employed. At N. & C.'s paper-hanging factory, New York, they employ six male block cutters, who earn from $2 to $2.25 a day. A boy, when apprenticed to a block cutter, receives $2.50 a week the first year, $3 the next, $4 the next, and $5 the last. There are probably from sixty to one hundred block cutters in New York city. Block letters, we were told, are made by machinery. A gentleman in Maine writes: "There are but very few females in this section who work at block cutting (blocks for printing oil carpets); but three or four in this State, I think. I have none with me excepting my wife. It is a branch of business that females cannot carry on alone, as the most of it requires considerable labor that women are not able to perform." In the census returns of Great Britain for 1850, we find four women under the head of block cutters.

461. Boatwomen.

In the countries of Europe, it is not unusual to see women employed as rowers of boats, on the lakes and rivers. On the lakes of Scotland, made famous by the poetry and fiction of Sir Walter Scott, women are seen waiting in their little boats to take passengers out on the lakes. In the sealochs of Scotland, fisherwomen manage their own boats. In Germany, women also ply the oar. In the United States, it is seldom done; but I think Miss Murray, in her Travels, mentions being rowed upon a lake in New York State by a woman. Some of the Indian women, of the Arctic regions, are noted for their skill in the management of a boat; and some of the women of the Polynesian Islands are distinguished in the same way. In the census of Great Britain for 1850, in class eight, and third division (Carriers on Canals), are reported 1,708 bargewomen over twenty years of age, and 525 under that age.

462. Bone Collectors.

Some collectors of bones sell them to people who make soup of them, and sell it to the poor at a penny a bowl. Some sell their bones to soap manufacturers, who boil them to obtain the marrow and oily substance, and then sell them to button makers, or makers of cane and whip handles. Some sell them to glue manufacturers, who boil them to obtain the gelatine for making glue. Some have establishments where they are ground and sold as a fertilizer for the soil. Some bone gatherers give toys to children for collecting bones. I saw a girl gathering some, who told me she sold them at fifteen cents a half bushel. She gathers sometimes half a bushel a day, and sometimes more. A boy told me he got thirty cents a bushel for bones; and another, that he got one cent a pound. The profit must be great of those who sell them again, judging from the price paid by the makers of cane handles. Yet it may be, so much is not paid by manufacturers for those taken from the street as for new ones.

463. Bottlers and Labellers.

In large establishments where wine, porter, ale, or beer is corked, women could, and in some places do, have the job. When it is done from day to day, it affords a reliable resource. The payment is generally, I believe, by the dozen or hundred bottles. "In one house or more, in London, are seen from one hundred to one hundred and fifty women bottling pickles all day long, at the charge of sixpence a score of bottles, at which an industrious woman, without any extra exertion, will earn her two shillings a day." In establishments for the sale of patent medicines and other articles of a similar nature, women are employed. I saw a man bottling lager beer by hand. He is paid $15 a month, and full board. For labelling, another received $6 a month, and full board. In Europe, where women do such work, they wear wooden shoes to keep their feet dry. A woman could as well cork as a man, when it is done by hand, and, no doubt, could use the machines employed for corking. A large manufacturer of hair restorative employs two girls to put it up, and pays from $3 to $4 a week. A brewer writes that "women might be employed in the bottling department, cleaning, filling, corking, &c., but the proportion would be small in comparison with the number of men at work." A woman that buys and sells empty bottles says she and her husband made a comfortable living at it. If they make three cents profit on a dozen they do well. They send a wagon to hotels, groceries, and private houses, if the number is sufficient to justify it. They find a ready sale for their bottles. The bottles must be washed clean before they will buy them. I was told at the office of Mrs. W.'s S. Syrup, that girls are paid by the week, from $5 to $6. R., in putting up his Ready Relief, employs several girls to fill bottles, cork and label them. They earn from $3 to $6 a week. They are paid by the quantity, and the work is all done in daylight. Until the last few days they have had work all the year round. S. employs from five to ten girls, and pays from $4 to $5 a week for bottling medicines and putting up Seidlitz powders. He keeps his hands all the year. They can either sit or stand. He does not know of any women being so employed South or West. L. employs three, and pays $5 a week, ten hours a day. One is employed in putting up Seidlitz powders—the others in bottling. All three work at the store. K. employs three girls to put up Seidlitz powders, perfumery, &c. He pays from $3 to $3.50 a week. B. & M., stove-polish manufacturers, employ girls to put up the polish in papers. The paper is folded on a wooden block and pasted, then withdrawn, and the polish put in and sealed.

464. Broom Makers.

C. employs a girl to paint the handles of brooms, paying $4 a week, of ten hours a day. After New Year is the most busy season. It requires but a short time to learn. A man can earn at broom making $1.25 to $1.75 a day. At some of the broom factories girls are employed to assort the broom by laying perfect pieces of a certain length in one pile, and those shorter in another, &c. Only strong, robust women could perform the entire process of broom making.

465. Bronzes.

When a bronze appearance is desired for some metals, bronze powders are used. I have been told that a patent has been granted for the making of them. Parties that we think competent to know tell us that "bronze powders are made in very few establishments in this country, and they think women and boys, much more than men, are both here and in Europe engaged in the making and working of bronze. They suggest that manufacturers, printers, japanners, and all who have operatives engaged in handling bronze powders should, in all cases, see that their people are protected, by gauze, sponge, or some sort of screen over the mouth and nostrils, from inhaling the fine particles that arise and impregnate the atmosphere where the powders are handled, and which are liable to cause serious injury to those who inhale them. The same might also be said of Dutch metal or gold leaf used in gilding house paper and other things." Magnetic masks are used by some grinders and polishers to prevent iron filings from passing down their throats. We suppose they would answer also for bronzers. Men oppose the introduction of women into the business. I saw three sisters bronzing in New York. They told me each receives $5 a week, and works about nine hours a day. It requires but a few months' practice to become perfect, and seemed to be an easy business. The young ladies employed at it looked genteel enough to grace any calling. Men get $10 a week. Women do it just as well, if not a little better, and accomplish just as much, yet receive only $5. I called in the store of the Ornamental Iron Works, New York. The young man says they employ about twenty-five German bronzers. It is a work easily done, and would require but a short time to learn. Women could just as well do it as men. If women were employed, it would be desirable to have a separate room for them to work in. Their men work ten hours a day, and receive from $1.50 to $2 a day.

466. Canvas and Cotton Bag Makers.

The firm of B. E. C. & Co. employ about forty females during the whole year, and seventy during the summer. Men cut out the bags. The folding and turning is done by little girls, who receive, some $1.50 per week, and some more, while the sewing is done by machines, for which the operators receive $4.50 per week. I do not remember what the spoolers were paid. This business is confined exclusively to seaports or river cities, and is not very extensive. The usual time required is ten hours. For extra work, girls receive double wages. C. & Co. have certain regulations, requiring morality and order. The girls were more cheerful, neat, and genteel-looking than the general run of work girls. They have a dressing room, where each one has a peg for her bonnet and shawl, and a small box in which to lay her dinner. They have washbowls and all the conveniences needed. Spring and fall are their most busy times, but they are able to keep their hands all the year in prosperous times. They are always busy just before the sailing of vessels, as they supply many vessels with bags to carry grain. They are well located for their business, being immediately on the river. The prospect for learners C. thinks very good, as bags are considered almost as essential as boats; and now they can be purchased so cheaply they are used for purposes to which they were never applied before. V. employs fifteen girls all the year, and sometimes extra help. Some girls get $3.50, and some $4 a week, of ten hours a day. Most of their machines are propelled by hot air. They never have any trouble in getting hands. There are a few bag factories in the West. W. & O. make cotton bags for flour, seed, grain, &c. We saw the girls sewing on machines moved by steam. They are paid $3 a week, ten hours a day. Their girls are not punctual, and are so often absent that they find it necessary to employ more hands than they want, that they may not get out of a supply. I met an old woman with bolts of heavy unbleached cotton, who was going to make up bags, sewing them with the needle. She receives seventy-five cents for one hundred bags. A bag manufacturer in Boston writes: "We pay by the week; girls, from $3 to $4—men, $7.25. The men's branch requires from six to twelve months to become proficient and reliable. Women require about one week. Perseverance and industry are needed by workers. Business in future is dubious. Winter and spring are the best seasons, but we are generally employed ten months out of the year. The hands work ten hours, unless driven up by brisk trade, when extra wages are paid pro rata. They receive all the comforts which women of this class require, viz., sufficient to live upon, with a small surplus for the priest, and to send to 'ould Ireland.' The labor of the men and women are entirely dissimilar. The advantages have been entirely in favor of the city of Boston; but from present indications, I fear that this business, if done at all, will be done in the cities of Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans. The women can scarcely read; none can write. They can have free access to the city library and free evening schools. Board, $1.25—mostly whole families in one room."

467. Carriage and Car Painters.

At a very large car establishment in New York, I was told that when they take boys to learn ornamental painting, they pay $2.40 a week the first year. After that, eight cents a day more, the next year; and so continue until the apprenticeship expires. Three or four years are usually given. We saw a foreman ornamenting the side of a car to be sent to Liverpool, who was taken by the firm when a penniless boy. He now has $3,000 deposited with his employers, drawing a handsome interest. The painters are paid twenty-five cents an hour while ornamenting cars, and omnibuses. They do their work better than when paid by the piece. They prefer Germans, as they have more taste, and are more easily obtained. Miss H. knew a young lady that painted a cutter. Her father was a coach painter, and she painted in oils on canvas. A lady, if she would give time and attention, might become an ornamental painter of carriages, omnibuses, and cars. E. G. & Co., car builders, in Troy, write: "There are some portions of our ornamental painting women might be instructed to perform, that would be suitable for them, and, if proficient, they could make good wages at it."

468. Carriage Trimmers.

I was told by G., a carriage maker, that women usually make the cushions and trimmings for carriages. At a railroad-car and omnibus factory, the trimmer told me the work was too hard for women. The sewing is all done by hand. Much wax must be used on the thread, and a machine will not draw the threads tight enough. A shield of leather is worn on the little finger. I have read that "landscape painters, upholsterers, and trimmers of cars and carriages receive from $1.50 to $2 per day, of ten hours, in New York and New Jersey. Women are not generally employed; but they are occasionally serviceable in preparing the hair for seats, by which they could make, at steady employment, from $3 to $5 per week." B., at his carriage manufactory, said he intends employing two women to make curtains for his carriages. He now employs a girl to make covers for them. He thinks the curtains and much of the lining might be stitched by a machine. He thinks women might make fair wages at it—say, $4 or $5 a week. A carriage maker in Boston writes me: "I employ female labor only to the amount of about $50 a year. It is done by the piece, and a woman who is tolerably smart with her needle can in a very short time learn to do it, and can earn from eight to ten cents an hour. The work is irregular, a large portion of it coming in the months of April, May, and June, and sometimes requiring to be done at short notice." Car builders in Albany, N. Y., write: "Dear Madam—In reply to your inquiries, would say that, out of seventy-five to eighty hands employed by us, two only are women. One has charge of a sewing machine, the other picks curled hair. They have constant employment, at $5 a week." Carriage makers in Syracuse reply to a circular, saying: "We employ one lady to run the sewing machine in making leather and cloth tops for carriages. The work is healthy. We pay from $3 to $4 per week, of ten hours a day. Girls receive from one third to one half as much as men. It requires about two months to learn. Learners receive from $2 to $2.50 per week. The prospect for more such work to women is increasing. The employment is steady. There is a demand for women capable of good, heavy stitching." C—s, of New Haven, write: "We employ about twelve women in carriage trimming, running sewing machines, &c. Good wages are earned—from $5 to $9 per week, of ten hours a day. We pay mostly by the week. At the same kind of work our girls earn as much as men. The main part of their business being sewing, women are preferable at the same wages as men. In two days any ordinary person can learn to use a sewing machine; but to learn all parts of the business would require from two to three months' time. Girls receive a small compensation while learning. They are never out of employment, except in hard times, like the past winter. Two thirds are American girls. The girls employed by us are intelligent and happy; earning good wages, and always have work when we are doing anything. Board, $2.50."

469. Chair Seaters.

The putting of seats in chairs, the material being of cane, hickory, flags, willow, and corn husks, is carried on very often in orphan asylums, institutions for the blind, or for the deaf and dumb, and in penitentiaries. There is a large establishment in Worcester, Mass., where women are employed. At the House of Refuge, on Randall's Island, I saw the boys seating chairs with rattan. It is learned in three months. It is very severe on the fingers at first. In a small second-hand furniture store, I saw a woman seating chairs with cane. I stepped in and inquired of the woman how long it required to learn the work. She said she learned it in one day, of a German who kept a furniture store next door, and who wished her to work for him. She could seat two chairs in a day, and earn by doing so a dollar. For such a chair as she would be paid sixty-two cents the cane would cost twelve cents, leaving her a profit of fifty cents a chair for her work. It cuts the fingers some. She has most family work in winter; but her husband can always get enough for her from the stores. Another German woman seating chairs said she could seat three in a day. She charged fifty cents apiece for ordinary chairs. At a chair-seating factory, I saw several girls caning chairs for the proprietor, who receives orders from stores. We were told that it is always piecework. Some girls earn from sixty to seventy-five cents a day. They have work all the year. The girls were very clean-looking. They stood while at work. A girl told us it would take but three weeks to learn. Work is most apt to be slack in January, February, August, and September. The work is mostly done by German women. At another factory, I was told the prospect for work is very good. The man said, three years ago he had more work for his women than they could do. They are not paid while learning, and have work the same all the year. His best hands can earn $4 or $5 a week. The work is always paid for by the piece. The superintendent of the Monroe County Penitentiary, N. Y., writes: "We employ our female convicts at the manufacture of both flag and cane chair seats. They are equally adapted to the employment of women; the flag seats, however, cannot be made except near a chair manufactory, because of the expense of transporting the frames upon which they are made. The cane-seat frames can be easily transported; but the market is overstocked, and has been for years. They are made in many Northern and more Eastern prisons, and are made by both sexes. At the Albany (N. Y.) Prison, the females are employed at cane-chair seating, and at some part of the manufacture of shoes. At the Erie County Penitentiary, Buffalo, N. Y., the female convicts are employed at cane chair seating and packing hardware, manufactured by the male convicts; and at the Onondago County Penitentiary, Syracuse, caning chair seats. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are the only States, probably, having county prisons, where the convicts are regularly employed. Cane seating is a business employing many females (free labor) in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and is well adapted to girls and women of the lower grades of intelligence; and the same is applicable to flag seating. They can earn, on an average, about thirty cents per day. The business may be acquired in a few days—say, thirty." The proprietor of the Oswego chair factory writes: "I have in my employ about forty women and girls in the cane-seating department. An attentive worker, possessing ordinary skill, can earn about fifty cents per day, of ten hours. Young persons of either sex are much more sprightly at the work than older persons." By a chair manufacturer in Fitchburg, Mass., several hundreds of women, girls, and children are employed in seating chairs, which they do at home.

470. China Menders.

All parts of this work are very suitable for women. Covering and repairing fans, mending china, wax dolls, works of virtu, &c., require care and taste. Connected with this might be the mending of jewelry, card cases, work boxes, and other ornaments of the toilet. A china mender told me he estimates his time at twenty-five cents an hour. His prices vary, according to the quality of the article, and the time and care required. He sells the composition for cementing at twenty-five cents a bottle. His work was beautifully done. I talked with another china mender and glass driller. After the fourth of July he goes to the country and mends ware. Some learn his business in a short time. He charges $10 to teach to make cement, drill, and mend articles. He thinks, in Boston, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn, there are probably openings. He says money can be made at the business by advertising, and having some one to go for the articles and collect the money. He is recommended by one customer to another, and so has enough to do; yet, from the want of capital, barely makes a living. If he could get a place in a china store, ladies could get their china mended there, and the store would give him some. He makes between thirty and forty kinds of cement. Some of them stand water. If a lady would learn, he would pay her $3 a week for her services.

471. Cigar Makers.

At F.'s, Philadelphia, we were told that girls who make cigars are usually idle; but when we afterward saw the rapid motion of their fingers, we felt disposed to doubt the charge. Habits of order, temperance, industry, and the reverse, are said to run in some trades. F. had heard some employer lamenting that there is no such thing as a sober reed-cutter. May not the flavor of tobacco, in making cigars, produce an excitement that craves some artificial stimulus? We think it would not be strange if it did; but have no means of ascertaining, and hope that it does not. Bending over was the only item mentioned by F. as being uncomfortable or injurious in the work. "In Philadelphia, the whole number of employés, journeymen and girls, engaged in making cigars, is fully four thousand. The average labor expended upon each thousand cigars costs $3.50, and the average cost of each thousand cigars is $8." In Philadelphia, many Americans work at the business; but in New York, almost all are Germans. In Germany, many women make cigars. A cigar maker told me that some women find the odor too strong; and even men with weak lungs are likely to have the consumption, if they work at it long. He pays women the same price as men, and he pays according to the quality and the workmanship—$2, $3, $4, $5, and $6 per thousand. Quickness in the use of the fingers is necessary. He has never known women to make the finest cigars. At K.'s, New York, I saw some bright, pleasant-looking girls at work. They are paid six cents a hundred. One girl told me she generally made thirteen hundred a day—seventy-eight cents. Women receive the same rates of wages as men. The son of the proprietor told me he had thought the work not altogether healthy; for the men you see working at the business are pale and thin. His father's girls are kept busy all the year. Girls generally make from $3 to $4 a week. There are enough of girls at it in New York, though there are but few places where girls are employed. The atmosphere almost stifled me, the tobacco scent was so strong. I inquired of a girl if she thought it unhealthy. She said no—that when she first came there, her head ached all the time, and she had constant nausea of the stomach; but now she never notices the smell of the tobacco, and does not feel any bad effects. She said she had learned to make cigars in three weeks; another girl said she learned it in one week. In summer, when the days are long, a girl earns most. A bundler is paid the best price, as she receives six cents a hundred. It is very dirty work. A cigar dealer told me he pays from $2 up to $6 per thousand. A man can make two hundred per day, and so earn from 40 cents to $1.20. He thinks it not unhealthy, where there is a circulation of air. The rapidity in making cigars depends much on the quality of the tobacco. Some leaves are not so well dried, nor so fine and perfect, as others. Such, of course, require a longer time to make. D., New York, says women mostly make the quality called sixes; and he knows that, farther East, in making that kind they often earn $1 a day. They can make the common ones more rapidly than men. He attributes the inability of women to make fine cigars to the want of instruction. Men do not like to teach them, because they are afraid of the competition that may be created, causing them to lose work or have to do it at lower wages. Now and then a woman may be found who makes cigars equal to any man. It requires a knowledge of tobacco, to select the different kinds for the various grades. Some judgment and intelligence are needed to cut the leaf economically, and to select tobacco of proper strength for making various brands. It is usual for a boy to serve three years, who is paid about $30 a year, and boarded. He has boys fifteen years of age working for him as journeymen. He says cigar makers in New York earn from $6 to $15 per week. Good hands can usually find employment. It can easily be learned in one year. All seasons are favorable for the work. From five hundred to fifteen hundred cigars are made in a day, according to the expertness of the manipulator and the kind of tobacco. Machines have not as yet been found to work well. The machine cigars are finished at the end by hand. He remarked that machines never can succeed so well as men, until they have the brains of men. A very nice widow, who kept a cigar store in New York, told me that many more women are employed in making cigars in Philadelphia than in New York; but the cigars made and sold there are mostly of the cheap kind, selling for two or three cents apiece. Six months' practice is required by a learner, to become perfect. Careful and rapid movement of the fingers, and ability to use the left hand, are desirable. I would suggest that a few smart women learn of a competent workman to make the best quality, and instruct several of their own sex. I find the making of cigars is paid for, altogether, by the thousand, and cigar makers earn from $3 to $18 a week. The usual price paid for a thousand cigars is $5, and a fast worker can make fifteen hundred a day.