Part 28

=170. Hosiers.= The invention of machinery for making hose is ascribed to William Lee, of England, 1589. Some trace the invention of knit stockings to Spain. The number of hands employed in the manufacture of hose in Saxony amounts to 45,000. Cotton, woollen, linen, and silk are the kinds of hose common to us. The manufacture of hose worn by Americans is mostly English. The amount of capital required, and the small number of good operatives in our country, cause the products of some of our manufactures to be of an inferior quality. Years back knitting was much done, particularly in the country, but the general use of machinery has superseded the knitting needle. In our large cities, the great amount of hosiery worn might make the sale of hose and half hose a payable business. In making cotton and woollen hose, some children wind the cotton, some join the seams, and others sew them on the boards, to put them in shape. We called to see Aiken's knitting machine. It is quite an ingenious affair; price, $65. I think if any two women would buy one, and one should knit, while the other formed the feet and finished them off, it would pay better than sewing. Large quantities of hosiery are made in Germantown, Pa. It gives employment to many women, who, at their houses, finish them off. The United States Government have usually obtained their clothing, shoes, hats, and socks for the army and navy at Philadelphia, but since the war commenced, most of the clothing has been made up in New York. The manufacture of hosiery is very limited in New York. At the principal hosiery establishment we were told they only employ women to seam that are the wives of the weavers, and they do the work at home. It is very poor pay, and is done almost altogether by English women who have been brought up to the business. It would not pay a person to learn it. An English stocking weaver told me that he does theatrical work, as it pays best. He has known two women from his own country that wove hosiery in the United States. One did journey work with her husband in New York. She earned from $4 to $5 per week. Such work is paid for by the piece or dozen. The work pays poorly. A woman cannot earn at it more than thirty-seven or fifty cents a day, being paid eighteen cents a dozen for seaming socks. To seam shirts and drawers pays better, six cents being paid for each article. Weaving stockings by hand looms will not pay in this country--they can be imported so cheaply. It is rather light work. Work done by steam power is not so neat; the selvages are not well made, and the goods must be cut and sewed in seams. Many women are employed in hosiery manufactures where steam is used. A stocking manufacturer in Lake Village, N. H., writes: "Seven hundred girls and married women are employed in this village to make stockings. Wages run from 50 cents to $1 per day of ten hours; some are paid by the day, others by the piece. Men's work, being harder, is better paid. It requires from three to five weeks to learn. Women have their board paid while learning. Spring, summer, and autumn are the best seasons for work. Some work at the business to maintain their families; others, because they have nothing to do. All are Americans. They pay for board from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." A manufacturer writes: "We employ twenty-five females in the mill, and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five who take work to their homes. Nine tenths are Americans. We pay from $3.50 to $6 per week. It requires but a short time to learn in some departments. They are paid from the time of entering the factory as a learner. It is considered a permanent business. Men and women do not work on the same branches." At the Troy hosiery manufactory, "sixty women are employed in tending knitting machines, winding yarn, and sewing by hand and by machines. The employment is healthy. Their wages run from $3 to $6 per week, average $4.50. They work mostly by the piece, a few by the week. Males and females usually work side by side, and the wages are alike. They are continually learning, from 18 years old to 40. The prospect is good for future employment, and the employment in factories is generally constant. They work twelve hours per day. If shorter time was universal, it would not affect the profits. About one half are Americans. The rooms are well ventilated, and the temperature from sixty to seventy degrees summer and winter."

=171. Men's Wear.= A gentleman in Darby, Penn., writes: "Women are employed in factories equally with men, throughout this section of country, as weavers. They are paid just as well, for the same kind of labor. The employment, for aught I can see, is entirely healthy. They receive from $18 to $25 per month of four weeks. They are paid by the piece. It requires about three months to learn weaving, dependent upon the facility with which the learners acquire knowledge. Learners are never paid while receiving instruction; but on the other hand, they more often pay their companions for the privilege of being taught. Industrious habits and quickness of perception are essential to complete success. By a law of Pennsylvania, sixty hours constitute a week's labor in factories. There is neither a demand nor surplus of hands at present, though a number of factories are in course of erection in this section of country; but they will doubtless be filled as soon as ready, for American women especially prefer factory to household labor. About one half our hands are American. Women have more stability of character than men, and are generally superior to them in the neatness with which they bring the cloth from the looms. Board for operatives is from $8 to $9 per month."

=172. Print Works.= The Calico Print Works, New Hampshire, report: "We employ about 24 girls. The employment is healthy. We pay girls about fourteen years old, thirty-three cents a day for 10½ hours in summer; in winter they work till dark, averaging ten hours. To girls about twenty years old, we pay fifty cents per day. The men and women do different work. The prospect of future employment is good. Hands work all the year the same. The price of good board is from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." The agent of the Pacific Print Works, Lawrence, Mass., gives the following reply to inquiries: "We employ one thousand women in carding, spinning, spooling, warping, and weaving, on sewing machines, sewing by hand, measuring, knotting, ticketing, &c. The employment is generally healthy, but the workers are more or less exposed to bad air and to dust. They are paid from twenty-five cents to $1 per day, according to age or skill. They work from ten to eleven hours per day. Some work but 5½ days, from choice. It would doubtless be a pecuniary loss to shorten the hours. Women are as well paid here, generally, as men, when comparative strength and power of endurance are considered. It requires from three to twelve months to learn. While learning, they usually receive enough to pay their board. The more strength and intelligence they have, the better. The prospect for this employment is good. They work during all seasons. Women are not usually as well fitted as men to attend large machines, but are better for smaller ones. From three hundred to four hundred of our women are continual readers of our library. They pay $1.50 per week for board. It is as good, for the class of people to be accommodated, as any I ever saw." The agent of the print works, Manchester, N. H., writes: "Women are employed in all departments. They average sixty-five cents a day, and work eleven hours. They are paid by the piece, and at the same rate as the men. It requires from one to four weeks to learn. This kind of business is increasing. There is a demand all through New England for female labor in our branch of business. We employ 1,200, and three fourths are American. They are more steady than men. Some of our girls go West to teach, and some teach here. They have separate boarding houses, and pay $1.37 per week, including washing and lights. The houses are kept with as much order as any female school. No operative is received until they certify that they will comply with the regulations," a copy of which we examined, and found to be very good. From the print works at Haverstraw, N. Y., we receive the following information: "Women are employed in sewing, measuring calico, and in the engraving department, in running the pantograph machines, which dispense entirely with hand engraving, die making, and machine engraving. Women are employed in England, but only partially in other European countries. The women earn from $2 to $4 per week. Men receive double the pay of women: I know of no reason but usage. Only a few weeks are necessary to become proficient in our work, except in the engraving department. Men serve seven years to learn the art of engraving and printing. Women learn to trace by the pantograph in three months; become proficient in one year. Ability and good judgment are necessary. The prospect for the employment of females is good in many other departments, particularly _designing_. We are decided that females could successfully acquire the art and trade of designing and drawing patterns for calico. Wages of males for this work are from $10 to $40 per week--few at the former, more at $20. Ten hours constitute a day. The time could be shortened an hour or two without loss. We employ about forty females, because their labor is cheaper, and they are more reliable. We find women superior in all branches in which they are employed. The trade society forbids their employment in other parts of the work. Ability to read and write are indispensable in some departments. Men pay for board, $3; women, $1.50." The Suffolk print works pay by the piece, and average eighty cents per day. One of the proprietors at the print works in Pawtucket, Mass., writes: "Women are employed in tracing pantograph designs, and receive from fifty to sixty-seven cents per day. We have one woman who does a man's work at folding, and is paid a man's wages. The work is soon learned, with ordinary capacity. A good physical condition is needed. There is prospect for employment as long as calicoes are used. Cool seasons are the best for work--in very warm weather, work is suspended a short time. We employ fifty. The work is light and clean. The number of American women is very small. We adopt female labor as soon as the aid of machinery renders it practicable. Men are superior in strength and endurance. A locality is desirable where a free circulation of air is furnished on all sides. For ordinary board, women pay $2.50." The agent of the Fall River print works writes: "We pay women by the piece. They earn from $18 to $20 a month; have work the year round. For five days in the week they work 10½ hours; on Saturday, 8½. We employ women because they can do more and cost less than men. Localities are sought where there is a good supply of soft water. Board from $2 to $2.50." A lawn manufacturer in Lodi, N. J., writes: "We employ women in engraving, in stitching, and in finishing goods. The work is very healthy. We pay women $5 per week for engraving; from $2.50 to $5 for other branches. The work can be learned in from four to five weeks. The business is increasing. The women are never out of work. One half are Americans. Women are employed ten hours a day; on Saturday, eight. Women are employed, to help the village along. Very comfortable board, $5 per month." The proprietor of some works in Rhode Island writes me: "We employ about twenty women and girls in measuring cloth, sewing the ends together for bleaching and fulling, knotting the ends of the pieces of cloth when folded; also in engraving copper rolls for printing calicoes, with a pantograph engraving machine. The prices vary from $1 per week to $3 and over, working ten hours a day. For the same work, females are paid the same as males. The work is easily learned. Women are paid while learning. Women will be more employed in future. Work is constant, so far as seasons go. There is probably no other branch of this work, in which women may be employed, than those in which they are. Where women are employed they are as valuable as males. Board of women, $1.50 per week." "In the calico mills of Great Britain, girls grind and mix the colors. They are called teerers. They begin at five years of age, and labor twelve hours a day, sometimes sixteen; and are kept late into the night to prepare for the following day."

=173. Spinners.= "Each of the workmen at present employed in a cotton mill superintends as much work as could have been executed by two hundred or three hundred workmen sixty or seventy years ago; and yet, instead of being diminished, the numbers have increased even in a still greater proportion." Again, we read that "a single person can spin as much cotton in Lowell in an hour, as could three thousand Hindoos, by whom at one time cotton cloth was principally manufactured." The wages of cotton spinners in Paris are only from twenty to forty cents per day of twelve hours. We read in the _Monthly Review_, that "the masters of mills are unanimous in asserting that girls, and they alone are trained to flax spinning, never become expert artists, if they begin to learn after eleven." The small particles set loose in spinning affect respiration, and in the course of time do so very seriously. In many parts of Europe women carry portable distaffs, and spin as they walk. Two kinds of wheels are used for spinning--one for spinning cotton, tow, and wool--the other is used for flax. Steam machinery is mostly used for spinning cotton. The prices usually paid spinners will be found under factory operatives. I inquired of a girl spooling cotton for a weaver of coverlets, what wages she received. She replied: "$1.50 a week, working five hours a day."

=174. Spool Cotton.= A manufacturer at Fall River, Mass., writes: "We employ twenty women in spooling thread, and preparing it for market. The average pay is $3 per week, and they work eleven hours per day. It requires from one to two months to become expert. When learning, they are paid for what they do carefully. The qualifications needed are neatness, and dexterity in their manipulations. They are employed at all seasons. The demand and supply of work people are about equal. We employ twenty females, because the work is adapted to them, and they are quicker in motion than men. They pay $1.75 per week for board."

=175. Tape.= At W.'s, New York, I saw several women weaving tape for hoop skirts. They looked dirty and sad enough. They earn from $2 to $3.50 a week. It does not require long to learn, but they must stand all the time. W. finds it difficult to get good workers. The incessant hum of the machinery in such a low-roofed room would deafen me. I think it must affect the nerves of females. He pays a learner the first month $1.50 a week. After that, if she is competent, she will receive full wages. At the Graham Buildings, I saw the girls putting up tape for skirts. They earn from $3 to $4. The weavers earn from $4 to $6. It requires but a few days to learn to weave, and but a few hours to learn to measure and tie up tape. Most of the girls were Irish. Sixty were employed, and received work all the year.

=176. Weavers.= Weaving is an occupation that was followed by all classes of women in primitive ages. The story of Penelope's shroud has been read as far as Homer is known. In Africa spinning is mostly done by women, and the weaving by men. The invention of machinery has very much done away with manual weaving. Fifty years back all woollen and most of cotton goods were made in that way. Some jeans, coarse flannel, rag carpets, coverlets, and other similar articles are still woven by hand. Now, shawls, dress goods, gloves, hosiery, fine carpets, cassimere, and cloth in all its varieties, are woven by machinery. The uniting of threads, and a constant attention to the machinery, are all that is necessary. The wages vary according to the places, the capabilities of the operatives, the goods woven, and the price of living. "A practical working machine is now in activity, weaving silk by the motive power of electricity. It is applied at Lyons and St. Etienne to the Jacquard loom." Children are extensively employed in Great Britain as drawers to weavers. "The great majority of hand-loom cotton weavers work in cellars, sufficiently lighted to enable them to throw the shuttle, but cheerless, because seldom visited by the sun. The reason cellars are chosen is that cotton, unlike silk, requires to be woven damp. The air, therefore, must be cool and moist, instead of warm and dry." In Philadelphia, the average payment of female weavers is from $2.50 to $4 per week. Spinners and spoolers make but from 75 cents to $2. They are generally unskilful adults or very young girls. The number of female operatives engaged in the manufacture of textile fabrics in Philadelphia exceeds twelve thousand. A manufacturer in Providence writes me: "We do not consider weaving particularly unhealthy. We pay on an average $1 per day, by the piece. They work eleven hours a day; the time could not be shortened. Men spend from three to twelve months learning; women, from three to six weeks. Women are not paid while learning; men are. All seasons are alike. There is always a demand for weavers. We employ twenty-two women, one fourth are American; they are not inferior to men as weavers. Men pay $2 for good board; women, $1.75." A manufacturer of negro cloth in Connecticut writes: "The employment is very healthy. We pay weavers from $3.75 to $5 per week, and some make more by the piece. We pay men and women the same for their labor. Some parts are learned by women in two or three weeks. We generally pay women while learning. We sometimes stop a few days, in July and August, for water. They work eleven hours and a half, except Saturday; then from eight to ten hours. The time could be shortened by adding extra help and looms, equal to difference of time. We prefer women, because they weave more than men. All Americans. They are superior to men in tying knots. Good board, $1.25." A manufacturer of cotton cloths for calicoes writes: "Women and girls are employed in power-loom weaving. Weaving requires a little more labor and skill than the other departments. None under sixteen years are allowed to weave. Women are so employed over New England, much of New York, and Pennsylvania, but mostly in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. There is always a demand for girl weavers. It requires from one to three months to learn to weave. They will continue to grow more expert for three years. They weave by the cut from thirty to forty pounds. The wages of an expert weaver are from $4 to $6 per week; board, $1.50 per week. Men weavers are paid per cut the same. An expert weaver attends four looms, weaving from 150 to 160 yards per day. Seamers generally pay their way at the end of four weeks. The employment is not thought unhealthy.

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=177. Linen Manufacture.= Very little flax has been raised in this country. The quantity grown was mostly for the seed and the fibre. Ireland grows and exports large quantities. The soil is not adapted to its growth. It is the result of the most severe labor and high culture. In France, almost every peasant woman has a flax plot. She tends its growth, reaps, dresses, spins, bleaches, and weaves it herself. Some women are there employed in rotting flax and hemp. Generally, the manufacturers of flax goods confine themselves to special departments. Some take the raw flax, and convert it into yarn, and then stop. Some take the yarn and weave it, and when woven, bleach it; and some only take the unbleached woven cloth, and bleach it. In D. & Co.'s establishment in Ireland, all the departments are combined. Eight thousand people are dependent on this firm for support. Of these, four hundred females are employed in spinning and weaving flax. Hand-loom linen weaving is carried on chiefly in the north of Ireland, and, for the most part, made subsidiary to other employments--therefore, not the sole dependence of families. Women are employed in flax mills, in this country, England, and Canada West. A manufacturer writes from a village in New York: "The business is healthy, and women can do any part of the work, as well as men. Here, men receive from $9 to $14 per month. While learning, I pay my men $11 per month, and board them. The work is done in cold weather, away from the fire, and requires strong, healthy persons, warmly clad. The business is increasing in this country. The best season for work is from October till May, and sometimes later. It is not heavy work. I would pay women $5 a month and board, while learning; but to men would pay $11 a month and board." (Justice!) The treasurer of the Boston flax mills writes: "Dear Madam, women are employed on the different machines in preparing the stock, and in spinning and weaving. They are employed largely in England, Scotland, and Ireland, but not much in the United States. They are paid from fifty to seventy-five cents a day, and from fifty cents to $1 for piecework. Ordinary female hands are paid about one half as much as men of the same stamp; best workwomen about two thirds of same grade of men. Men are employed where it would be too difficult and laborious for women. For most work, a very short time is needed to learn; for the higher grades, often many months or years, according to capacity of worker. Common hands can earn fifty cents at once, and we would pay about that, or more, while learning the better description of work; but should not continue it, if they did not improve. A quick eye and hand, and a desire to give satisfaction, are the best qualifications. The prospect for employment in this branch is good. All the year work is furnished. Average time through the year for work is ten hours forty minutes. It is probable that a mill, where all hands were interested to do their best, would turn off as much work in ten hours as a similar mill would in eleven or twelve hours, where the hands were indifferent or careless. There are but few linen mills in this country, and probably in none of them is there a superfluity of good hands. We employ one hundred and twenty women and children. The work is different from that of the men. Our workwomen are mostly foreigners--Scotch, English, and some Irish. There is as much comfort in this occupation as laboring people would expect. The women pursue different branches. We find a great difference in the capacity of different women, but cannot suggest any superiority or inferiority as regards sexes. The general intellect among our women is very fair for foreigners, but would not be considered remarkable for Americans. Their evenings are their own, although there have been times, occasionally, when we have worked till nine o'clock, paying, of course, for extra work. The mill has a good library, and there is usually evening school in winter for those who wish to attend."