Part 29

=178. Sewing Thread.= A manufacturer in Andover, Massachusetts, writes: "We employ about one hundred women, who receive about $3 per week, working eleven hours per day. Women are sometimes paid while learning. Morality, industry, and intelligence best fit them for their work. They work at all seasons. Very few are Americans. Women are inferior only in strength to men pursuing the same branch." The secretary of the American Linen Thread Company writes: "We employ about sixty women in spinning, twisting, reeling, rolling, skeining, &c. Those that work by the week receive $3; those by the piece, more or less. Women do the lightest work, and are paid about half as much as men. There is a prospect of this branch of labor increasing. They have work all the year. Those that are paid by the day work twelve hours. The time could not be shortened without serious loss. Most are foreigners. Board, $1.50 to $2." A member of a firm in Schenectady writes: "We have thirty women in our flax and tow factory, because they are best adapted to the work. The work is healthy. We pay from $3 to $4.50 per week, working twelve hours per day. The working time could not be shortened. A superintendent would require from two to three years to learn. A girl, say sixteen years old, would require about a year. Learners receive half wages. Summer is the best season, but they have work all the year. There is no surplus of female workers in the business. Two thirds of our women are American, one third English. Women could not perform that part of the work done by men, and _vice versa_. One third board, and pay $1.50 per week. The Americans have a common school education, and are intelligent. The larger ones are teachers in Sabbath schools; the smaller ones scholars. The best localities are in the Northern and Western States."--SHOE THREAD. A manufacturer told me, most or all the flax used for shoe thread in this country is imported. "The greater part of the shoe thread used in the United States is spun by machinery, at Leeds, in England, from Russian flax." The flax of this country is not fine enough; and, for bleaching, the climate of this country and Scotland is too changeable. If the bleachers succeed in getting it of a pure white, they extract the substance--the life of the plant--so that it will not retain its strength. Flax is not much attended to in this country, but it is because the tariff is so low that no encouragement is given to manufacturers. Pennsylvania makes more woven goods of coarse linen than any other State, and Philadelphia more than any other city. Labor is so cheap in Europe, that linen can be made there more cheaply than here. Mr. A. employs a number of small girls in his mills for winding the thread into balls, as it is imported in skeins, and pays them from $1.50 to $2 a week. They work only in daylight. He thinks the occupation is well filled. Most factories of the kind are in small towns where living is cheap.

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=179. Woollen Manufacture.= Women and children are not so much employed in the woollen as in other manufactures, owing to the severe labor required in some of the processes. Wool growing is increasing in the United States, particularly in Texas. We doubt not but many woollen manufactures will spring up when business revives. We called on the widow of a wool puller, to ascertain what the business is, and learned that it consists in steeping sheep skins in lime water, then rinsing them in clean water, then removing the wool from the skin, and packing it in bales to send away. The daughter of a wool puller in Utica writes: "Part of the work of a wool puller could be performed by women--that of removing the wool from the skin, and sorting it according to the quality. In Gloucester, England, women were at one time employed as wool pullers. The business is healthy, owing to the presence of disinfectants employed in manufacturing. It could be made respectable and remunerative." A wool puller in Buffalo writes: "I employ some girls in sewing sheep skins. They are paid by the piece, and earn $4.50 a week. Board, $2. It requires a week for a woman to learn her part--a lifetime for a man to learn his. A steady hand and good eyesight are essential. There must be work of this kind as long as boots and shoes are fashionable. The most busy seasons are fall, winter, and spring. The best location is where sheep are raised and bark to be had." People employed in the making of cloth are wool sorters and pickers, scourers, carders, slubbers, spinners, warpers, sizers, weavers, burlers, boilers, millers, giggers or dressers, croppers, singers, fuzers, glossers, drawers, and packers. Some of these are women. I am sorry to say that carding--the most unhealthy process of all--is performed almost exclusively by women, and at low prices.

=180. Blankets.= "Blankets were first made at Bristol, England, by a poor weaver named Thomas Blanket, who gave his name to this peculiar manufacture of woollen cloths." One hundred and twenty-two women are reported in the census of Great Britain for 1850, as blanket manufacturers. A blanket manufacturer in New Hampshire writes: "Women are employed in carding, weaving, and binding. The work is not unhealthy. Average wages are seventy cents per day of eleven hours, and they are paid by the piece. Women receive about two thirds of the wages of men, because they do less laborious work. It requires from one week to three months to learn. They are paid small wages while learning. The manufacture of blankets will increase. Business is the same at all seasons. There is a demand for hands in many of the manufacturing villages, and a surplus in country towns. We have twenty women, all American. They do light work faster than men. They pay for board twenty-one cents per day, in private families."

=181. Carpets.= Mr. Lagrange writes: "The carpets of Smyrna and Caramania, so widely esteemed, are evidence of what woman's genius can produce. They are all woven by feminine hands." In 1858 there were 2,500 persons employed in the manufacture of carpets in and near Philadelphia. Ingrain and Venetian are the kinds mostly made there, but some of a very cheap quality are also manufactured. Those made at Hartford and Lowell are all worsted goods. The business, we believe, has been a successful and lucrative one. It is said that much carpeting is sold in this country, as English, that is in reality American. Our finest carpets are imported. I visited Mr. H.'s carpet factory, New York city, and saw the entire process, from putting the wool in to its coming out in various kinds of carpeting, ingrain, velvet, Brussels, tapestry, &c. From that manufactory we have the following report: "Females tend carding, spinning, spooling, weaving, and other machines, in the manufacture of carpeting. The employment is not unhealthy. The branch of manufacture and the capacities of females vary the wages from 50 cents to $1 per day of eleven hours. Three fourths work by the piece. Males and females are not employed at the same kind of work. The time required to learn any branch of the carpet trade depends on the natural talent and application of the learner. Many never become proficient enough to pursue the business profitably. The prices paid to learners depend on their success. Health, natural talent, and application are essential. The prospect of employment in the business is good. They have work the whole year, except during unusual depressions of the trade. Whether the work time of eleven hours could be shortened would depend on the profit on the quantity produced in ten hours, compared with that produced in eleven hours. There is no demand for female labor at the present time. We employ from 500 to 600 females, because their labor is cheaper. About one third are Americans. The comfort and remuneration is better than the average of other employments in this city. They are employed by us in all branches they can be. Females perform some branches better than men. They have free evening schools, libraries, lectures, and churches in abundance. About one half board. The majority board in private families, the comfort depending generally on the price paid." Carpet manufacturers in Wrentham, Massachusetts, write: "We employ women in winding yarn. It is unhealthy only because of sitting so steadily. Women average $14 per month, and are paid by the piece. They work ten hours a day. It requires but a few weeks to learn the business. Women are paid something while learning. They are employed all the year. We employ eight, because the work is better adapted to them. All the workwomen are foreigners. Men, as a general thing, do not want to be confined to indoor work, unless the wages are high. Good board can be had at $1.50 per week." A gentleman, who was once superintendent of the carpet factory at Lowell, informed me all the weavers were females, when he was there, and earned from $3.50 to $4.00 on an average. They had about thirty pickers (females), whose business it was to pick the knots and loose wool off the carpets.

=182. Carpet Bags.= K. & M., carpet-bag makers, have a factory in Newark. The carpet bags are sewed up and the buttons put in by machines. The lining is put in by hand. It is piecework, and the girls earn from $3 to $6 a week. It requires but a short time to become sufficiently expert to make it pay. The busiest times are from February 1st to June, and from the middle of July to the 1st of November. One of the proprietors thinks the prospect to learners is good, for the business will extend. It has increased five hundredfold in the last five years. Their girls are mostly Americans. Making trunk covers is piecework. The linings could be put in trunks and valises and the varnish put on by girls. The linings could be better put in valises than trunks by women, as they are lighter and less difficult to handle. At H.'s carpet-bag factory, I was told they employ seventy girls, and make from ninety to one hundred dozen bags a day. They keep their hands all the year, with the exception of three weeks. Some work by machine and some by hand. They take learners when busy. A smart girl can learn in making two or three dozen bags--of course, is not paid while learning. They used to allow a few hands, accustomed to the work, to give instruction to learners, having the profits of their work for their time. Those that work by machine can earn from $3 to $4.50; hand sewers from $3 to $6. These work by the piece. Those paid by the week work ten hours, and earn from $2.50 to $5. The gentleman thinks the prospect for learners to enter the business is poor. I think differently, if the statement that he made is true, that there are no manufacturers West or South. A regulation that struck me as being very unjust was, that if a girl learns in their factory and goes elsewhere to seek work, she cannot be taken into their factory again, unless she makes eight or ten dozen bags for them without pay. A manufacturer of carpet and oil-cloth bags writes: "We pay by the piece, and women earn from $4 to $6 per week, working ten hours a day. Women can learn in one month, if skilful with the needle. Spring and fall are the best seasons, but we find work for our hands through the winter. They work at home."

=183. Cassimere.= A manufacturer of cassimere in New Hampshire writes: "We pay mostly by the week, $3.50, working eleven hours a day. We pay the same to women as men. It requires from two to twelve weeks to learn. They are paid what they can earn while learning. There is no surplus of workwomen in this branch of labor. Our girls board in families, and pay $1.34 per week." A manufacturer in Vermont says: "Twenty women are employed by me. They are all American or English. They are paid according to the amount of work they do. Girls that weave make $3, besides board. Some are paid by the yard, and some by the week. They are paid as much as men for the same kind of work. It usually takes four weeks to learn to weave. Learners give their time. Work is performed ten hours a day all the year. Women prefer factory to housework. They pay $1.50 per week for board." A manufacturer in New Hampshire writes: "We pay from $2.50 to $4.50 per week. For the work that women can do in our establishment, they are worth more than men, as they can work quicker. Women soon learn to weave, but for the first six months they are not worth more than half pay. The prospect for future employment is good. The best seasons for work are spring, summer, and fall. They are usually employed ten hours a day. We employ none but American women. Some parts of our business are suitable for women, but we can get boys cheaper. Board $1.25 per week." B. Brothers, of Proctorsville, Vermont, write: "We employ from thirty to forty American women in preference to men, because the work is more suitable for them. Prospects for increase of employment in this line are very flattering. The women average $2.50 per week with board. They work twelve hours a day, and can be employed all the year. They are superior in all respects to men. If they were not, we should employ men. Their facilities for mental and moral culture are good. Women are paid less than men, on account of the work being light. Board $1.50 per week." The Globe Woollen Company (Utica, New York) write: "Our women, seventy-five in number, earn from $3 to $6 a week, and are paid both by the piece and week. Men and women work together in the weaving room. It requires but a few days to learn to weave, although experience is valuable, both on account of wages and excellence of production. Mental and physical ability ought to be combined to insure success. The prospect for future employment is good. Continual employment is given. Our hands work 12 hours each day, Saturdays 10½. One fourth are Americans, and they live and dress well. The demand for labor is good all through the country. There is no part of our business where women could be advantageously introduced, where not now employed. The women have all the facilities a city affords for mental and aesthetic culture."

=184. Cloths.= A manufacturer of gray cloth in Vermont writes: "Women are employed at spinning, carding, burling, and weaving. We have ten, because they are more easily obtained than men. We pay women from $2 to $3.50 per week, and board them. They work twelve hours per day. The work done by men requires more than double the experience of that performed by women. Women can learn in four weeks, men in sixteen. Women are paid half wages while learning. They are busy except in the winter. All board with me." C. & Sons, of T., N. Y., write: "Experienced hands receive $3.75 per week--inexperienced $3--board included. Women are not employed at the same work as men. It requires two years to learn our business--six months for women. We adopt the ten-hour system. There is no difference in seasons as to work, except in case of low water. Our labor yields sufficient to keep them until they find an opportunity to marry. They have a good library--ten periodicals every week. They pay for board from $1.50 to $1.75 per week." A manufacturer in Derby, Conn., writes: "We employ about fifteen women, because they are cheaper and more easily obtained; but many are now using male weavers. They earn from $3 to $6 per week, and are paid both ways. They work eleven hours. To work ten instead of eleven hours, we would lose that amount of the product of those who work by the day. I think there is a demand for such labor all through New England, and I do not know where there is a surplus of such help. We have had but few whose parents were born in America. Women might be employed on shearing machines. They are not, because it is as easy getting boys. Women have less strength and endurance, and are less constant at work, but quicker in motion and less liable to bad habits. Board for females from $2.25 to $2.50 per week." A manufacturing company of satinets and printing cloths, Troy, N. Y., give the following information: "We pay from $2.50 to $6 per week, average $4.50. Men and women get the same wages for the same work. Women learn in from two to four weeks. At best it is but partially learned. Some are paid while learning, and some are not. There is now, and always will be full employment. We furnish steady work all the year. The hands work twelve hours per day. The time could be shortened, but the workers would lose by it. There is a demand for female labor of this kind in Cohoes, N. Y. We have sixty-nine women, and one half are Americans. They are well fed and dress better than any other class of working people. Women are more steady and neater than men. They are all Protestant, and their intelligence is about the average. They pay $1.50 per week for good board." The Monsoon Woollen Co., Mass., say: "We pay fourteen mills per yard for weaving. The women make just the same as the men, and perform the same kind of work. They earn on an average eighty-three cents per day of twelve hours. The work can be done without apprenticeship. The prospect is that our business will be on the increase for years. Our help are employed the year round: three quarters are Americans. They have their evenings after seven o'clock. They pay $2 per week for board." The agent of Shady Lee Mills, R. I., writes: "Women are employed in woollen mills in England, Germany, France, and this country. They are paid in our mill by the piece, and earn $5 per week on an average. Women weavers earn as much as men. It takes a lifetime to learn; some learn better than others. Learners are paid. The business is improving daily. Women work all the year round, unless broken down. They work twelve hours a day. The time could not be shortened. The supply of hands about equals the demand in this manufacture. We employ seventy-five women, because they are better for weavers. Nearly all our work people can read and write. Board $1.75." Mr. H., a manufacturer in Massachusetts, writes: He "pays from $14 to $18 a month, working by the piece. While learning they are paid for what they do. They can earn fair wages after two weeks' experience. They work thirteen hours a day, and are employed through the year. There is no surplus of weavers. He employs twenty-five, because they are better adapted to the work. Women are superior in hand work. Board $6 a month." A satinet manufacturer in Maine, writes: "Our women weave by the cut and earn about $6 per week. A person can get an insight of the business in a few years; but to get a thorough knowledge requires at least the English term of apprenticeship--seven years. Women are paid half price while learning. Summer is the best season, but our women are employed the year round. They work twelve hours--which is the usual time here, and less would be a loss. Women are handier than men, and can be boarded for less. We have churches in the village and a good moral influence. Board $1.50 per week; comforts quite equal to those of their homes." Manufacturers in Pittsfield, Mass., inform us "they have a number of women employed in weaving and sewing, mostly weaving. The employment is considered healthy, and the condition of weavers is entirely comfortable, as this is, of course, for the interest of the employers as well as the employées. The average time of work is thirteen hours. The wages paid them is from $4 per week to $6. They are paid by the yard, and their earnings depend upon their attention, activity, and capability. They are paid $3 a week while learning. Women weavers earn quite as much as men, and can stand the confinement as well, if not better. We have no difficulty in keeping our looms supplied, and frequently have applications which we are obliged to reject. We employ sixty women, nearly one half Americans. In this place they have every advantage for moral and mental culture. Those who have parents or friends working in the establishment usually live with them; and those who have not, live at our boarding house, which is as comfortable and well regulated as any house in the country. The price charged for board is from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." A company in North Berwick, Me., writes: "We pay both ways; when by the week, from $2.50 to $4. Males and females do not perform the same kind of work with us. The time of learning varies with the capacities of the women. Some of our hands have been with us more than ten years. Seasons alike. They work eleven hours. We employ twenty-five women, because it is more economical. Not one of our women will do housework. Our employées are Yankee girls--can all read and write; and, so far as we know, converse intelligently on general subjects. They have their evenings and a portion of each Saturday. Board $1.33 ¹/3 per week." We would add that every cotton and woollen manufacturer from whom we have heard, expresses the opinion that their occupation is healthy. All, we believe, pay some hands by the week and some by the piece, and most pay men and women at the same rate for the same kind of work. It will be observed that the rates paid for labor decrease the farther you go North, but that board is also something less.

=185. Coverlets.= A manufacturer of woollen coverlets in Allentown, Penn., answers inquiries in regard to prices paid, &c., as follows: "I employ eight American girls for spooling wool and cotton yarn in my coverlet manufactory, and pay two cents per pound. They earn from $2 to $2.50 per week. I pay girls the same as boys. The prospect for increase of work is good. There is a surplus of hands here. I prefer girls, as they have more patience than boys."

=186. Dry Goods Refinishers.= A. & Co. employ women when busy to put up dress goods, cravats, ribbons, &c. They pay $3 a week. I was told by a satinet printer and refinisher, that he employs one woman to sew the ends of the cloth together. She does it with a machine, and earns $5 a week, working ten hours a day. The coloring matter rubs off on the hands. S. employs some women, and pays $3 a week. He gives them about eight months' employment. During two months in summer and two in winter, there is not enough doing to employ them. He says some women, like some men, know nothing but how to eat. He finds it difficult to get women of intelligence and judgment to do his work. (I should think he would, for such wages.) The girls fold, label, and pack. There are but three large houses of the kind in New York. At another place we saw a girl who gets $3 a week for such work--ten hours a day.