Part 37

=274. Watch Crystals.= M. told us there are two kinds of watch crystals made in this country: the English and Dutch. The English are the best. The Dutch make them in a cheaper way. Men bend, cut out, and clip them. Females grind the edges. The Dutch can be known from the English by a more sudden rounding near the edges, while the English round from the centre equally. In Williamsburg, German women can be seen at work in watch crystal factories. B. told me he used to "employ girls to grind and polish glasses. They were paid $3 a week--ten hours a day. It requires but two or three weeks to learn, and during that time they are not paid, because of the time lost in giving instruction and the material wasted. Now it is all done by Germans, and Americans need not expect to get in." V. confirmed the statement. He says it is mostly done by German families, and the women that are hired are never paid over $3 a week. It is light and steady work, and they are employed all the year, and do not work in the same apartment as men. In some of the factories of Europe, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty women are employed.

CHINA DECORATORS.

=275. China Decorators.= We find that in France, some years back, many females earned a livelihood by painting on porcelain. During the last century, a Madame Gerard, "who possessed a large fortune, had a hotel furnished with facilities for painting Sevres. Her splendid cupboards of polished mahogany were gilded and bronzed, and their contents looked like a rich collection for the gratification of taste rather than for sale. She purchased some pieces for sixty and eighty louis d'ors. A pair of vases, not very large, painted with sacred subjects, sold for 26,000 livres." "There are two distinct methods of painting in use for china and earthenware: one is transferred to the bisque, and is the method by which the ordinary painted ware is produced; and the other transferred on the glaze." In the former process, women called transferrers and cutters are employed. The cutter trims away the superfluous paper around the pattern, which the transferrer applies to the ware, and rubs with flannel to produce an impression. She then washes the paper off, and the ware is ready for the hardening kiln. Women are excluded from that department termed ground laying, though, from the care and lightness of touch required, it is very suitable. In Staffordshire, E., great opposition was made some years back to women becoming decorators, and even now they are not permitted to use a hand rest. In France, and to a limited extent in England, decorating, gilding, and burnishing are done by women. This is probably one reason that imported China is cheaper. Most of those in France and England who attain respectable skill in decorating, are the wives or daughters of working manufacturers. Besides the mechanical skill, it requires a very exact knowledge of the effects of the coloring matters employed, as they are much changed by being burnt. Decorating is certainly a beautiful employment for women, but few in this country have the opportunity and are willing to apply themselves long enough to learn the art. At K.'s china warerooms, Philadelphia, I was told, no establishments of any size in the United States are engaged in the decoration of china, because they can get it done more cheaply in England and France. K. employs Englishmen to do what decorating he wishes to have done. He employs women to burnish. The following contradictory statement I found in the "Manufactures of Philadelphia:" "Decorating porcelain and china ware, which had been imported plain, is done in one establishment in Philadelphia to an amount exceeding $75,000 per annum." At H.'s, New York, I saw women burnishing china. It is merely a mechanical operation, consisting in rubbing the gilding with agate, after being burnt. The girls earn from $3.50 to $4.00 a week. It requires care and physical strength. One girl was cleaning superfluous paint off the china. Women might learn to make impressions for letters, flowers, and other patterns. I saw an English lady in New York decorating china. A lady took lessons of either her or her husband, to teach in the school of design. S. employs one woman for painting, and fifteen for burnishing china. China decorating is usually paid for by the piece. Mixing the colors for china painting is not more unhealthy than mixing them for canvas, and putting them on not more so than any other sedentary occupation. A French decorator told me that in Paris he gave private instruction to some ladies who learned it for a pastime, and a few who made a business of it. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans are the only places where china is painted in the United States. L. thinks a person of taste and abilities could learn in one year, earning nothing during the time, and after that earn from $5 to $10 a week. He pays his burnishers $3 a week. Another decorator told me he pays his burnishers (girls) from $2 to $2.50 a week. The foreman of a large establishment in New York told me that it requires several years to learn to decorate perfectly. Most decorators design their own patterns, and usually earn $12 a week. He says, in busy seasons it is difficult to get enough of good burnishers. His girls work only in daylight, and earn from $3 to $5 a week. They are busy all the year--most so three months before New Year. It requires three months' practice to become a good burnisher. A learner receives $1 a week from the time she commences to learn burnishing: he thinks it is not hard on the eyes. The work is paid for by the piece. If there was a higher protective duty, more decorating would be done in the United States.

LEATHER.

=276. Leather.= A leather dresser, somewhere in New York State, writes: "Leather dressing is a disagreeable, wet business, fit only for men. After leather is dressed, all the other work can be done by women. We cut by measure and by pattern. A person cutting and making should earn one hundred per cent. Women can cut, make, and sell as well as men, I suppose even better."

=277. Currying.= The currying of skins might be done by women. Cutting it of the desired thickness, soaking it in water, and working it with a small stone, cleaning it with a brush, and, in the drying shed, applying oil and tallow, would not require very long practice for one of any mechanical talent. The skin is softened by being doubled and washed with a grooved board. It is then carefully shaved, and worked again, after which it is blackened and grained. The work would require some strength, but not more than the ordinary process of washing clothes. All the work must be performed standing. The process of converting the skins of sheep, lambs, and kids into soft leather, is called tawing, and is somewhat lighter work than currying; yet the leather requires much stretching and rubbing. I am sure the work would not be more, if so offensive, as morocco sewing.

=278. Harness.= A harness maker told me that a lady who stitches harness of the best quality, can earn from $1.25 to $1.50 a day. He pays $1 a set for stitching the blinds. The perforations are made by a man, and they are stitched by hand. Not a great many are engaged in it, and he thinks the prospect good of learners obtaining employment. Many earn $6 or $7 a week. He employs two women all the year. A person that can sew well, can learn in two or three weeks. It requires some instruction. A maker of horse collars told me his women stitch collars by machine; formerly by hand. He pays six cents a pair. The wife of one of his workmen stitches twelve an hour, with one of Howe's machines. B. employs from fifty to seventy-five girls to make fancy harness, horse blankets, and coach tassels. Fancy bridles he has stitched by Singer's machine. Good operators can earn from $5 to $7 a week, and for leather work are paid by the week. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. The fashions of fancy leather work change. One gentleman, who employs many girls in making harness trimmings, says the cloth pieces are made by hand, the leather by machinery. In Newark, Bridgeport, and New Haven, much of the stitching for the South is done by machines, and women are employed. The English harness is considered the best, and is done by hand. In England, men called "bridle cutters" get large quantities of bridles to make up, and employ from one hundred to two hundred girls to do the stitching. A lady who has quite an establishment in New York, and employs a number of work people, told me that she pays them each from $2 to $6 a week. She thinks machine operating is trying on the health, but not so bad as sewing with a needle. She pays by the week. Women do as well as men, except for heavy work. The trade can be learned in a few weeks. She pays learners something. Her hands have work all the year, but are most busy from October till the end of December. They work ten hours. She prefers men for most of the work. She would like American women, but cannot get them. She says girls think more of having a beau than laying up a few dollars in a bank, and consequently spend all they make on dress. A manufacturer writes: "Working on leather is considered very healthy. I employ thirteen women in the manufacture of fancy bridles, riding and driving reins, riding martingales, &c. They average $1 per day. Three of them run stitching machines. All are paid by the piece, except one, who does the overseeing and writing. We think the girls receive as good pay as the men. Considerable practice is necessary to do the work well. Learners are paid for all work that is sufficiently well done to be salable. Good judgment, accurate eye, and nimble fingers, best fit one for the occupation. As our business is wholesale, it depends upon orders. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. Sometimes the women are entirely out of work for a short time in winter. They never work over ten hours. We will not employ foreigners."

=279. Jewel and Instrument Cases.= At a manufactory, I was told they employ some girls, paying by the piece. The girls can earn $4.50 to $5 a week, of ten hours a day. It does not require long to learn. In busy seasons it is difficult to get good hands, and they have to advertise frequently. At another place, the proprietor told me he used to employ girls who earned $4 or $5 a week, but he prefers boys, because they can do all parts of the work. At a manufactory of morocco and velvet jewel cases, the man told me he pays girls $4.50 and $5 a week, of ten hours a day. In busy seasons it is difficult to get good hands.

=280. Morocco Sewers.= At a morocco manufactory, I was told by the proprietor, a German, that he employs girls, paying twelve cents a dozen, and they can sew from five to twelve dozen a day. He wants hands, and of course would speak favorably of the occupation. He says they can have work all the year except one or two weeks. At an American manufacturer's, I was told it is wet, dirty work, and requires considerable time and practice to learn to do it quickly. After working at it constantly four or five years, a good hand may be able to earn from $5 to $7 a week. Most of it is done in the families of tanners. Some women undertake it, but give it up because they do it so slowly it will not pay. The man said nearly or quite all who work at it are Germans, and the wives and daughters of those in the business. They are paid twelve cents a dozen. The occupation he thinks is full in New York, for women. Beginners are apt to hurt their fingers, as needles are used, the sides of which are triangular. Sewing five skins a day is considered very good work. Dr. Wynne says: "Exhalations from animal substances, which are very offensive to the senses, more especially to that of smell, not only appear to be in most instances innoxious, but often of absolute advantage in affording a protection from disease." Most morocco is made in Philadelphia, none South or West. S. employs sixteen women, and pays good hands from $4 to $5 per week. He thinks there are at least two hundred morocco sewers in Philadelphia. It does not take long to learn. He pays from the first. They have work all the year, but the prospect for learners is poor. At A.'s, Philadelphia, I saw some women sewing up goat skins, which were to be tanned. It is extremely disagreeable work, as the skins are wet and smell offensively. The women are paid twelve cents a dozen, and find their own thread. A steady hand can earn from $3.50 to $6 a week, and can always find work. They are most busy in spring and fall. A morocco dresser writes: "He pays by the piece, and his women each earn about seventy-five cents a day. A woman can learn in two or three weeks. The prospect for future employment is very poor, as skins are mostly tanned now without sewing. A location must always be had where pure water is abundant."

=281. Pocket Books.= One man told me he employs a woman to make portemonaies, paying $5 a week. On Broadway a firm employs four or five women, paying from $3 to $6 a week. It requires but two or three months to learn the business. The women sew with a machine, paste morocco on, and varnish some parts. C. pays his girls from $3.50 to $4 a week. At another place one of the firm told me their girls earn $3, $4, and $5 a week. It is piece work, and requires but three or four weeks to learn. A smart girl can earn $2 the first week. The busy seasons are spring and fall. They find it difficult to get enough good hands in those seasons. The business is mostly confined to New York and Philadelphia. A manufacturer in New York told me, about two hundred women are employed in making pocket books, &c., in that city. He pays $4.50 a week, but they have a certain quantity to do in that time. It requires but a short time to learn to do the stitching only (which he has done by hand), but about a year to learn to do all parts. He pays $2 a week while they are learning, and then he increases at the rate of twenty-five cents a week after a few months, and at the end of the year some are earning $3; some $3.25. Neatness in cutting and fitting the parts together is desirable. He keeps his hands employed all the year. There is a scarcity of good hands, but an abundance of indifferent ones. A manufacturer in Maine writes: "We employ from eight to twelve American girls. They are paid by the piece, and earn from $12 to $16 per month. Boys earn about the same as girls. They are paid while learning, if the work is well done. It requires about a year to become proficient."

=282. Saddle Seats.= In Philadelphia, I was told at a large saddle store that they employ women to stitch saddles, paying from fifty cents apiece for common ones to $1.25 for those of a better quality. At a large saddle and harness manufactory in New York, I was told they employ women to stitch by the machine and by hand. They are paid by the day, as there is a variety of work, and their girls are not confined to exclusive branches. In prosperous times their hands are employed most of the year. Spring and fall are the best seasons for work. There are small factories in most of the Southern and Western cities. The hand sewers earn but $3 and $5 a week; a few operators can make $6. At S. & M.'s they employ about twenty women in the different branches, and, when business is good, have work all the year. It does not require long to learn. They are paid by the week, from $3 to $4. Prospect dull. This kind of work is mostly done in Newark.

=283. Tanning.= Leather can now be tanned by a chemical process in a few days. Leather has been made so thin, and received so high a polish, that it has been used for making bonnets in Paris. Buckskin is used for making many articles in this country. Shoulder braces, drawers, shirts and gloves, are made of it. A tanner writes: "I know of no country where this business exists in which females are employed, unless perhaps in some of the smaller German States, where female service is not deemed incompatible with the services of the ox and the horse. The tanning business in all its departments is laborious and offensive, and although not unhealthy, is dirty and disagreeable, requiring a great amount of muscular power. I know of no employment less congenial to the taste of women, or less suited to their elevation. Morocco is polished by hand, and in some places is done by women. A tanner writes: "It requires strong and healthy men to perform _any part_ of a tanner's trade, and they do not get very highly paid at that. The business is decidedly dirty, and oftentimes very disagreeable, not fit for women in any particular. In order to conduct the business successfully, one needs to be located by a good stream of water, or where it can be easily obtained, plenty of bark, and not far from market." Among the Cossacks, some women are employed in tanning.

=284. Trunks.= A trunk maker said he thought women could not well put the tacks in trunks, because the trunks are first put together, and are heavy lifting; but I think it could be done by them. Putting the linings in trunks could certainly be done by women. The man referred to said he thought some women are employed in a large trunk factory in Newark, because the proprietors thought they could get their work done cheaper, and he hoped they failed, because of their motive. The employment of women, he urged, cuts down men's labor, and so all labor is reduced below its worth, just as it is now in England. There a woman must neglect her home duties, to help make a living. If women, he added, were paid at the same rate as men, and so there was a fair competition, he would not object to women being employed.

=285. Whips.= V., of New York, says he and his partner have whips manufactured in Westfield, Mass., and some in the House of Refuge, Charlestown. Westfield is the principal manufacturing place for whips in the United States. The daughters of farmers for miles around the town braid lashes. The covers are put on the handles by machines attended by girls. That part is usually done in factories. The part called buttons is also made by girls, and done by hand. Girls can earn from $3 to $5 a week. They receive about three fourths the price paid men, because the work is not so laborious. It requires from three to nine months to learn, according to the skill of the person. They are paid what they can earn while learning. They have been able to keep their hands employed all the year, but fear they cannot this winter (1860). In 1857, there were probably but one half the working class able to obtain employment. The prospect for work in this line is better than in most others, for the whip market has increased twofold in the last ten years, and is likely to extend. The work done at home is piece work, and that done in shops is usually so. The business suffers in hard times, for people then think they can dispense with whips. V. said the Philadelphians and Yankees have different views in regard to woman's labor. The Yankees know they can get it done cheaper by women, and the Philadelphians think they cannot get it so well done by women. The American Whip Company write "they employ eighty females; about one half are American, and one half Irish. Women are employed in any department where they can labor with propriety and advantage. The prospect is that the business will always continue as good as now. All seasons answer equally well for the work. During working hours, one of the women often reads aloud for the benefit of the others in the room. Board, $2 per week." "The reason why women are employed at making whips is, the work being light, they can do as much as a man, and competition compels the employer to get his work done for the lowest wages." P. & S., in Philadelphia, employ some girls to braid lashes. It requires about six weeks to learn. Some earn $3, and some $4 a week, working from nine to ten hours, but are paid by the dozen. All their girls are Americans, as are the generality of females in this business. "In London," says Mayhew, "the cane sellers are sometimes about two hundred in number, on a fine Sunday, in the summer, and on no day are there fewer than thirty sellers of whips in the streets, and sometimes--not often--one hundred." The branch of finishing in whip making has been entered by women in Birmingham, England, and created some opposition. Sellers of large, coarse whips usually frequent market houses--those with fancy whips stand on the sidewalks.

WHALEBONE WORKERS.

=286. Whalebone Workers.= The natural color of whalebone is nearly the same as gray limestone rock. The black ones we buy are colored. Whalebone is exported from New York. About four hundred American vessels are employed in whaling, and about ten thousand men. Enough whalebone can be prepared in one factory to supply the whole United States, I was told by one of the proprietors of a whalebone factory. He paid a boy $2 a week for tying up whalebone for parasols and umbrellas (which work could be done by a girl). Small holes are punched by machinery in the ends of bones to be used for stays. A woman runs a thread through, and ties them in bunches. She is paid one cent a bunch, and, as she ties up five hundred or six hundred a week, earns $5 or $6. At another factory, I was told they employ girls and women in tying up some whalebones and stringing others. They sit while at work, and are paid by the week, working ten hours a day. They keep their hands all the year, but are most busy in the fall. Tying up whalebones looks simple, but it requires practice to become expert, and requires discrimination to select the indifferent from the salable. The woman we saw earns $4.50, but she has been at it several years, and is very expert. Women seldom earn more than $3. Girls might polish the bones--a something I saw a boy doing.

BRUSH MANUFACTURERS.