Part 17

=92. Map Engravers.= Map engraving is divided into two kinds: the lettering and plain work. The last can be learned in six months by a person of taste and talent. The most that is needed is practice. A knowledge of drawing is not necessary for this branch. There is not much map engraving done in this country, because of the expense. Most is done in New York and Philadelphia. The best map engraving done in Paris is executed by ladies. There are also some ladies employed in map engraving in London, and card engraving is there quite common for ladies.

=93. Picture and Heraldry Engravers.= Engraving pictures pays well--a man often earning $10 a day. A superior landscape engraver calculates to earn $2,500 a year. Mr. R. historical engraver, does the engraving for the _Cosmopolitan Art Journal_. He says: "In England, better prices are paid for historical engraving than here. Those who do the work receive less, but the employer has a greater profit than in the United States. More time is allowed the engraver in England to execute a piece of work." Mr. R. pays his hands from $7 to $10 a week, and the best historical engraver never gets in this country over $30 a week. In England the work hours of an engraver are nine; here seven. He says the art is dying out both here and in England. It is a something in which we can always be improving. Seven years was formerly the length of apprenticeship in England, and there an apprentice was paid nothing while learning; on the contrary, the parent usually pays a premium of £100. When an apprentice has finished, he will earn £1 a week, and continue to receive more according to his skill and ability. Some people send pictures from the United States to England to be engraved, saying they cannot do such work in this country as in England; while, if they would pay the same price, and allow the engravers as much time, it could be done just as well. Such an engraving as you would pay $150 for here, in England you would pay $200 for. In England it is customary for an engraver to confine himself to one style; for instance, in "Falstaff Mustering his Recruits," one engraver would do the wall, another the figures, and another the drapery. Mr. R. was paid only $2,000 for engraving "Falstaff Mustering his Recruits," and it took three men two years. The business is not unhealthy, and not injurious to the eyesight, although a glass must be used constantly. Mr. J., historical engraver, used to have persons employed that did the different parts of a picture, and he paid them each from $15 to $25 a week. He thinks, of those who learn metal engraving in Europe, not more than fifty per cent. pursue it as a vocation, and not above four per cent. attain perfection. Some engraving, both picture and letter, is done by etching, but the best and most expensive with a graver. Mr. J. M. Sartain writes in answer to a circular: "I have no females in my employment, because I work alone. To direct others or alter what they do wrong, takes longer than doing the whole work myself. Neither do I know of females being employed by others in my branch of business. But if I were willing to be troubled with the teaching of any one at all, I should choose a female. This is from my experience of the males I taught in times past. Women have the requisites more than men--patience, neatness, delicacy; and the occupation is as suitable for them as any other they are accustomed to adopt. An unmarried daughter of mine is about to learn from me, with a view to follow it as a profession. The chance of employment is however very limited, for the reason that the cost of printing plates separately necessitates, in an extensive class of pictorial embellishments, the use of woodcuts. This wood engraving is equally suited for females, and to a limited extent they are thus employed. The field in that branch is a wide one already, with a constantly increasing demand. In my own branch of engraving, the kind of skill required is that of _drawing_. The mere mechanical skill required in _any_ kind of engraving is easily attained; but the art of _drawing_ is the great thing, and positively demands aptitude and taste--at all events, quite close application and earnestness. _Skill in drawing_ is a key that admits to a wider range of arts than I can readily enumerate, and successful and profitable employment in any engraving depends on _that_. I am chairman of the committee on instruction of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and in that capacity do all I can (as do also the other directors) to encourage female talent. We have seven or eight ladies among our students, and they _certainly_ are fully equal to the males in capacity for acquiring art. Some model, others only draw. The whole of our academy studies are gratuitous. For whatever branch of the fine arts is to be followed, the first requisite is _drawing_, and the next is _drawing_, and the third and last is _drawing_." Mr. B., heraldic chaser, says there are several processes in making heraldry plates, sketching, engraving, embossing, chasing, and burnishing. He used to employ girls to burnish. The making of patterns for heraldry is never taught in this country to women, as it would cause the labor of men so employed to depreciate. He pays a man from $15 to $20 a week for chasing. He charges $1 for finding the coat of arms of an individual or family.

=94. Telegraph Operators.= A new source of employment has been opened by the invention of the electric telegraph. Most of the telegraphing in England is done by women, and in the United States a number of ladies are employed as operators. To a quick and intelligent mind it requires but a short time to learn. An English paper says: "Here women do the business better than men, because of the more undivided attention they pay to their duties; but considerable inconvenience is found to result from their ignorance of business terms, which causes them to make mistakes in the messages sent. However, a short course of previous instruction easily overcomes this impediment." We have been told that, in one telegraph office in London, several hundred women are employed. I hope the application of steam to the operations of the electric telegraph may not interfere with the entrance of women into the occupation. In New Lisbon, Ohio, a young woman was employed, a few years ago, as principal operator in a telegraph office, with the same salary received by the man who preceded her in that office. "I was told by her," writes my informant, "that several women were qualifying themselves, in Cleveland, for the same occupation." The ex-superintendent of a line writes: "I have long been persuaded that ultimately a large proportion of the telegraphists, employed exclusively for writing, would be females, both because of their usually reliable habits, their ability to abstract and concentrate thought upon their engagements, their greater patience and industry, and the economy of their wages. In offices where there is a large amount of business, and, consequently, much intercommunication with customers, I have supposed the arrangement would be to have a clerk to receive and deliver communications, and the corps of operators and writers, composed exclusively of females, in an adjoining or upper room, apart from public inspection. And to this arrangement, I think, there is at this time very little to oppose, except the antagonism naturally felt by male operators, who see in it a loss of employment to themselves, and a want of proper facilities for teaching and obtaining a complement, in number, of female telegraphists. Any female proficient in orthography, with an inclination to useful employment, would make a good telegraphist, and might readily command, under a system above indicated, a salary of from $300 to $500, and be profitable to her employers beyond the ordinary male telegraphists employed under the present arrangement of office. It is in operating by the Morse system that ladies are mostly or entirely employed. The Morse is the easiest. They telegraph in small towns, where there is not much to do, and the compensation is small." The Electric Telegraph Company in London suggests that women should be employed in preference to men, as working more rapidly. All the lady telegraphists we have heard of gave satisfaction to all parties concerned. To Mr. A., connected with the New York and Boston telegraph line, I am indebted for the following information: "Women are employed in operating the Morse instrument. They are paid from $6 to $25 per month, and are paid by the month. For the class of offices in which females are employed, about the same wages are paid both sexes. It requires from three to six weeks to learn, and nothing is paid while learning. The qualifications needed are a fair knowledge of orthography, arithmetic, geography, and ordinary mechanical ability. We may want a few operatives, say six annually. The employment is constant, and about ten hours a day are devoted to work. We employ about fifty women, and they only at small offices. Nearly all are American. The employment is comfortable. There are no parts of our occupation suitable for women in which they are not engaged. They are generally more attentive and trustworthy than men. The price they pay for board depends on the locality, say from $1.50 to $2 per week."

=95. Vocalists.= This is an important and profitable employment--one that has secured to many a poor foreigner visiting this country a snug little fortune. We have only to cite the cases of Jenny Lind, Garcia, Sontag, Parodi, and Catherine Hays. It was stated in the New York _Tribune_ of December, 1853, that Catherine Hays had sent $50,000 to purchase an estate in Ireland. American talent is in some cases very highly cultivated; but we fear the Scripture verse applies to the substantial encouragement of native vocalists amongst us: "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house." Too much money and attention, we think, are lavished upon foreign vocalists, while home talent is depreciated. An American singer must often go to other countries and acquire a name, before she is received with eclat in her own. It may be that other countries have the same failing, but, we think, not to the same extent. Let us love American talent, and encourage it before every other. Adelaide Patti, Miss Hinckley, and Miss Kellogg are at present the most noted singers of American birth. Mr. C. told me, that in New York, lady singers receive from $100 to $400 per annum for singing in churches. One lady choir-singer of whom we knew, received $500 a year, singing twice on Sabbath. Not more than from twelve to fifteen lady singers in New York receive over $350. One lady in a fashionable church receives $1,000; but she is a widow, and somewhat favored. Another lady, leading the choir in a Broadway church, receives a salary of $1,000, I have been told.

=96. Wax Work.= I called on two Italians that make wax fruit; their baskets vary in price from twenty-five cents to $2. It would take a day and a half to make a $2 basket. The Italian that could speak some English told me that when he goes out to work, he charges $2.50 a day; but to give lessons, he would charge $2 a day. He thought an individual might learn in eight, ten, twelve, or fifteen lessons, according to abilities and taste. Miss W., teacher of wax flowers, charges $1 a lesson, and thinks eight or ten lessons sufficient. She thinks in country places there would be openings for teachers. I think, where there are large seminaries, a teacher would do better. She says there is an opening in Troy. If a person has enough to do, it pays well. She makes by hand; they are more natural than those made by moulds.

=97. Wood Engravers.= Much and long-continued toil is requisite for success in wood engraving. A great deal depends, also, on the talent of the individual. Wood engraving is a business adapted to women, as it requires mostly patience and application, and but little physical strength. Mechanical skill is the most that is requisite, yet, as in everything else, it bespeaks the soul and taste of the originator. "Women's nimble fingers, accustomed to wield the needle, lend themselves quite easily to minute operations in the use of small instruments and the almost imperceptible shades of manipulation that wood engraving exacts." As more publishing is done in our country, of course there will be a greater demand for wood engravers. A great many newspapers now contain a large number of woodcuts, as _Harper's Weekly_, _Frank Leslie's Illustrated News_, &c. Wood engraving has been called into use for Government reports and scientific works, aside from its extensive demands for periodical literature. A lady engaged in the business writes of a class in wood engraving: "The pupils vary so much in ability, application, perseverance, and in the number of hours devoted to it, that it is impossible to judge what any one may do who has not made a trial. My own experience is that the practice of wood engraving brings a sure return for all the outlay of time and trouble spent in acquiring the art. It would hardly be safe to rely entirely upon the proceeds of the second year; the third may make up for it. The best wood engraving is done in England and the United States. In classes of wood engraving in the schools of design in England, the students are required to produce the drawing as well as to engrave it." "For a quarter of a century past, many hundreds of young women, we are assured, have supported themselves by wood engraving, for which there is now a demand which no jealousy in the stronger sex can intercept. The effort to exclude women was made in this, as in other branches of art; but the interests of publishers and the public were more than a match for it." "In 1839, Charlotte Nesbit, Marianne Williams, Mary Byfield, Mary and Elizabeth Clint, held honorable positions among English wood engravers." Miss F., at Elmira, New York, carries on business for herself in wood engraving. She learned it at the Cooper Institute, four years ago. The pupils of that institute canvassed for work, some two and two, but she went alone, and principally in the lower part of the city. They visited publishers mostly--she went to manufacturers. She got an order for $500 worth of engraving at a gas-fixture manufactory. I have heard that ladies in the school of design, New York, receive the same price for wood engraving that men would receive. N. Orr, the wood engraver, thinks the prospect very good for a woman to earn a livelihood at it. He knows a lady who has not only supported herself but partially supported her parents by her work. For wood engraving, women usually receive as good prices as men. The business is increasing. There are none West, except a few in Cincinnati, and I believe a still smaller number in St. Louis and Chicago. A person that has any talent for it can earn a living at it in less than two years' practice. A knowledge of drawing is not essential, as the drawing is usually put on the wood by the designer. Mr. Orr takes apprentices, but pays nothing the first year. They are bound to him for five or six years. Some engravers require a premium. I have been told that designing requires a very different and much higher order of talent than wood engraving. One designer can do enough in a day to keep a man busy a week. New York is the principal city for wood engraving. I think most men, while engraving, stand; but all the ladies that I have seen at work sat. "A wood-engraving office in Cleveland employed three girls in 1845, at wages varying from $3 to $7 per week, according to the experience of each in the business, being the same that men receive in the same office."

MERCANTILE PURSUITS.

=98. Merchants.= Occasionally we hear such complaints as these: "Women who keep stores of their own ask higher for their goods than men, and saleswomen are less obliging than male clerks." Women, as a general thing, do not understand their business as well as men, and that is the reason they are not so well liked. Those inclined to be bold, may become pert; and those in poor health, peevish. "If women were more employed in stores," said Mr. P., "there would probably be less shopping, but as many goods sold. Young girls that go shopping to whisper in the ears of clerks, would then find something else to do." Woman has a power of adaptedness that fits her admirably for the vocation of a merchant. A friend remarked to me that Mr. Stewart, of New York, she thought, would employ women in his store, if a large number of fashionable and influential ladies would petition him to do so. If the retail merchants of our large cities and towns would combine and employ only saleswomen, how greatly would they promote the welfare of the nation! Young men would no longer waste their health, strength, and talents selling gloves, tape, and dress goods, but would cultivate the soil, or find openings as traders, speculators, mechanics, and manufacturers, in cities, towns, and villages of our Western country. They might do something more creditable to their physical powers, while they gave their half-starved sisters a chance to earn an honest livelihood. If ladies would patronize those stores only in which there were saleswomen, and influence their friends to do so, employers who now engage the service of salesmen would soon learn what was to their interest, and make a change. Promptness and regularity are desirable qualifications in a shopkeeper. The business brings those engaged into intercourse with all classes of people. Mrs. Dall makes this statement: "It is a singular fact that there are a great many more women in England in business for themselves than employed as tenders or clerks; while in America, the fact, at the present day, is directly the reverse." A lady who has lived in New York all her life said, if the merchants of the city would employ women, they could find twenty thousand to-morrow, ready and willing to enter their stores. In Paris large stores are owned and conducted by women, and even the importing and exporting of goods is in the hands of some. The tact and address of French women admirably fit them for shopkeepers. Many of the smaller fancy and variety stores in our cities are owned by women, that have by long-continued industry earned a competency. Lady merchants can to some extent control the taste of the community where they are; for such articles as they purchase and keep on hand will be likely to find sale. The taste of the best keepers of dry-goods and fancy stores, millinery establishments, and embroidery shops will be displayed in the dress of their patrons. To merchandize extensively, requires much experience and knowledge of business; but to those that are qualified it presents an extensive opening for enterprise. Barter, or the exchange of one kind of goods for another, is very common in the villages and towns of our country. The Gothscheer (Austrian) women often follow the trade of peddlers, and are absent from their homes many months, travelling about the country with staff in hand and a pack at their back. "Advertising and politeness are the main levers to get customers. Advertising will draw them; ability to fill their orders will satisfy them; and politeness will induce them to buy." Quick perceptive powers and judgment are also essential to the success of merchants. It is very desirable to have a good location for a store. A lady keeping a small dry-goods store told me she sells $100 worth of goods a week on an average. She has been nine years in the business, and constantly gaining trade. She likes rainy Saturday evenings, as she then sells most. She said one must use judgment in the amount of profit to be made on various articles. A person must regulate her prices by others. On some goods she can make but five per cent., and on some others fifty. Many of the fortunes in Boston are said to have been founded by women engaged in trade. And the ladies on Nantucket Island during the Revolutionary war conducted the business of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. A lady wrote, some years back, of some stores in one of our large cities: "The proprietors say they give from twenty-five to fifty per cent. more to the males than to the females of equal talent and capacity, but can give no reason why they should do it, except that it is the custom, and some parts of the business require more physical strength, as some articles are too heavy to be handled by women." Yet why not, we would ask, place women in the lighter departments, and pay them exactly what would be paid a man for the same work? The average wages of females in Philadelphia are $4.50 per week, though some get as high as $7 or $8, but very few above $6. In a few of the stores of New York and Philadelphia the business is conducted entirely by ladies. There is a school of commerce for women at Perth, France. We read an account some time ago of a colored woman on the Island of Hayti, who is a wholesale dealer in provisions, and worth from $15,000 to $20,000, that she has made by her own industry and business tact. She can neither read nor write, but trusts entirely to her memory. She sells on credit to retail dealers, and to girls whom she has trained. The merchants have such unlimited confidence in her, that they will trust her to any amount. Nearly all the commercial business of Hayti is done by women.