Part 54

=398. Chemicals.= One chemist wrote me that some part of the work in the manufacture of chemicals is wet and disagreeable. Another writes that "women are not employed in that branch in this country, but may possibly be employed in England, Germany, and France; but if at all, only to a small extent. The employment is not generally unhealthy. To learn it in all its details, a pretty thorough knowledge of chemistry ought to be acquired. But a short time is required to learn the ordinary part of the business. The prospect of the employment of women is slight, but your inquiries have, however, suggested the idea and possibility of employing women to a small extent. Men in chemical works are employed at all seasons, and constantly for eleven hours per day. No particular locality has advantage over another, except its proximity to market. Uneducated persons, of ordinary intellect, can be employed to some extent in the labor." Another informant writes: "The manufacture of those chemicals most largely used in the arts, requires laborious work. It is, besides, rather severe on the clothes and hands, and is entirely unsuitable for women. There is, perhaps, room for the employment of women in the manufacture of the finer chemicals, but rather in the way of putting up than in the manufacture itself. We are not engaged in this branch. The demand for pure chemicals is so very limited, that only regularly educated chemists engage in the business, and they do most of the nice work themselves. There is nothing to hinder women from studying practical chemistry, but there are few chances for educated chemists; and there are more than men enough to take all the places that are to be filled." A manufacturer of acids writes: "We employ no female labor in our establishment, it being heavy work, not suitable for them." The present style of female dress would be inconvenient, if not dangerous, in the preparation of such chemicals as require the operator to be near the fire. This difficulty, however, could be obviated.

=399. Baking Powders.= D. employs girls to put up baking powders, spices, &c. It is piecework. A very brisk hand can earn $5 a week, but few can do so. They work longest in summer days. They like to close early enough to give their girls time to get home before it is very late. Mechanical talent only is necessary.

=400. Bar and Soft Soap.= Large quantities of soap are made in the United States. That sold in groceries is made mostly in towns or the country. It is hardened by muriate of soda, and called bar soap. That used by people in the country is generally of their own make, and called soft soap. In New York, we observed in some groceries barrels of soft soap of a very light color, almost white. Vegetable substances were used previous to the invention of soap, for washing the person and garments. A plant growing in California is said to yield a very good substitute. Some kinds of earth, mixed with lye ashes, have been used. Making soap in large quantities would be very heavy work for women. A machine has been invented for cutting soap into bars, which will doubtless in time do away with the primitive plan of cutting it with wires. At a soap factory, a man told us that women are never employed in factories in making coarse soap. Attending the kettles could not be well done by them. The only part that could be done would be cutting it in bars, but that is rather too hard, on account of the strain and change of position. It is cut with wire after it has become hard.

=401. Blacking.= In London, in 1852, there were, by Mayhew's estimate, one hundred and fifty women and girls selling cake blacking. M., manufacturer, Philadelphia, occupies a four-story granite-fronted building. He employs about fifty women in making tin boxes, filling them with blacking in paste, and labelling them. It requires but a few weeks for a smart girl to acquire dexterity. We saw the women at work in two large rooms (each being the whole floor of the house). They looked cheerful, though somewhat grimy. They work ten hours, and earn about $3 a week. The steady hands are kept in work the year round. The tin boxes pass, almost with the swiftness of thought, through eight hands, three of these operations being performed by steam machinery, tended by women. The boxes are soldered by men, who receive $6 per week. It was once done by women, but is right warm work, particularly in summer. All stood while at work, except the women sorting bands. The premises had been rendered as healthy as possible. All the small pipes of the soldering stoves led into one large pipe, which carries off the fumes of the coal; and a cylinder has been made to confine a white powder which is used in the business, and which formerly floated through the atmosphere of the work rooms. The women are sometimes employed in bottling ink, and earn from $2 to $3 a week, working about the usual time--ten hours.

=402. Candles.= Candles are made of different materials, of which wax, tallow, and spermaceti are most common. Some candle makers employ women to prepare the wax for candles. Candle manufacturers write us: "Women are never employed in our business, and we never heard of their being so employed. We consider the work too heavy, and too cold. The principal part of the work is done in winter, and the manufacturing rooms must be kept cold. Women were at one time employed in cutting and preparing the wick for candles; but since the introduction of machinery, that part is dispensed with." A manufacturer writes from another city: "Men sometimes work all night, at the season when the nights are long. The only place, I think, where there can be a demand for female labor in my branch, is where there are no men." Another informant writes: "I think women could not be to any considerable extent employed in making soap and candles, for several reasons: 1st. It is for the most part a heavy business, requiring more than female strength. 2d. It is objectionable on account of the dirt, which is the result of coming in contact with tallow, &c." Another says: "Our plan for moulding is too heavy for women to work at." At an oil and candle manufactory, New York, I was told they used to employ some women in putting wicks into moulds, drawing candles, and packing them. Machinery is so much used now, that women cannot do as much of it as they did. Besides, candles are not used so much as they were, owing to the introduction of gas and various oils. They paid their girls $4 a week. They now employ one woman in putting the wicks in moulds for wax candles, and drawing and packing them. J. employs two women in making sperm candles, but they have been at it twenty years. They each get $4 a week. M--s, New York, write: "We employ six women in making and packing candles. They are so employed in France and England, and very likely in Germany. The work is not unhealthy. Our women are paid from $2.50 to $4 per week, of ten hours a day. They are generally paid by the week, though sometimes by the piece. Men's wages are from $9 to $12. We know of no reason why women are paid less, except that it is the general custom. It requires from two to three weeks to learn. Women are paid while learning. Dexterity of the hands is the best qualification for a worker. The occupation is gradually decreasing. There is no material difference in the seasons for work. Women are sometimes thrown out of employment in the summer months. We employ women because they are more nimble fingered than men, and female labor is cheaper. Workwomen are more apt to get in trouble among themselves, where many are employed, and are more difficult to control. We have generally found them more careless and less uniform in their work than men; so much so, that their employment is constantly diminishing in our work, being replaced by machinery. We find them in no way superior to men, except their nimble fingers." We place against this the preliminary report to the United States Census of 1860, where one hundred and forty-two women are returned as being employed in soap and candle manufactures.

=403. Chalk.= I saw a man making prepared chalk. He sometimes employs small girls to put it in boxes, and pays from seventy-five cents to $2 per week. They work ten hours a day. There is nothing unhealthy in it. He thinks there are but few manufacturers of it, and consequently there is not much prospect for employment.

=404. Emery Paper.= G. would be willing to employ girls to pack and tie up emery paper, paying $3.50 a week. It is dirty work, on account of the glue that is used, and is very severe on the fingers, causing the blood to flow often, and unfortunately does not harden the fingers by practice.

=405. Fancy Soaps.= Some of the fancy soaps of American manufacture are equal to any in the world. Those of Bazin, Philadelphia, are considered best. Those of Jules Hauel and Harrison are nearly equal. There are other manufacturers of fancy soap in the United States. On Spruce street, Philadelphia, is a place where they employ girls to put up fancy soaps, and pay by the piece, from $2 to $5 per week. L., New York, employs girls by the week, for from $2 to $3.50. It requires practice to put up either soap or perfumery. They are most busy in spring and fall. None made South or West. L. has lost the custom of shop girls by the hard times. They have no money now to spend for fancy soap and hair oil.

=406. Fire Works.= Two hundred and eleven females are reported in the census of Great Britain as being employed in making fire works. S. & Co., New York, employ ten or twelve women for pasting the paper covers on fire works, but not for filling with powder. All the work is done in daylight. They are paid something while learning, and then from $3 to $5 a week. For overwork, they are paid by the hour. Their factory is in Greenville, N. J. There is one in Cincinnati, one in Boston, and one in Philadelphia. Girls sit while at work. The prospect for learners is good. S. & Co. are most busy in spring and summer but able to keep their hands employed all the year. They have a great many children employed on Long Island, in making torpedoes, who cannot earn more than $1.50 a week.

=407. Flavoring Extracts.= Manufacturers in Rochester write: "We have about twenty women engaged in putting up and packing perfumery, &c., and pay from $2 to $3 per week. A smart girl will learn in a week. Quickness of movement and steadiness of habit are the best qualifications. The prospect of work in this line is good. They are employed all the year, and work ten hours a day." C., of Boston, employs a number, "because they can work cheaper than men. They are paid by the day or week, according to their experience. Good workers earn 50 cents a day, of nine hours. To thoroughly understand the business requires a lifetime. Women's part of the work is learned in six months. Women are paid while learning. All seasons are alike. The work is easy, and the pay good. Board, $1.50." H. C. & Co., of Boston say: "In compliance with your wishes, we give below answers to your inquiries. We manufacture perfumery, cooking extracts, hair oils, &c. We employ females to bottle and label them. We pay by the amount of labor done, and the average earnings are about $4 per week. Why women are not generally better paid is a difficult question to answer. We think, however, the argument is good that they do not as a general thing have family expenses to bear. If they were taxed (are not those that own property?) and also bore a proportionate share of family expenses, there is no good reason why they should not have the same pay for the same labor as males. (Have not the majority of workwomen some one dependent upon them, even with their scanty wages?) The work may be learned in a few weeks. An aptness and tact to handle small bottles, to tie ribbons, and cut corks quickly, best fit one for this work. There is a constant demand for the kind of goods we manufacture. Our females work ten hours a day, and their employment is steady. The work is clean and comfortable; the remuneration, we think, just. Women are superior to men, from being quicker in their movements and displaying better taste. Board, $2.50." Other manufacturers in Boston write: "We employ ten American women, because they do the work cheaper than men could. We pay by the piece. They earn $6 a week, and receive three fourths of the wages of men. They are paid $3 per week while learning. Women are inferior in business capacity, superior in details. Board, $3 per week."

=408. Glue.= Glue is made from the parings of hides, and refuse leather. First they are put in alkaline water to be cleaned, and then boiled in large vessels. The liquid is poured off from the gelatine which coats the vessel and forms in sheets. I think women might spread the substance on nets in drying rooms, and, when dry, cut it and pack it. It is cut by wires having handles, which are held in the hand, to assist in pressing the wire with more force across the glue. S. employs several girls, who earn from $3 to $6 per week. He pays by the gross. Most of the girls have been with him ever since he commenced manufacturing, eight years ago.

=409. Gunpowder.= The agent of the Hazard Gunpowder Company told me they employ at the manufacture as many of the widows and children of those killed by explosions as they can, in making linen covers for kegs, and putting gunpowder in envelopes, and cutting labels, and putting on them. D. writes to an acquaintance for us: "We employ women at times in labelling canisters, and then only two."

=410. Oils.= A manufacturer of machine oil says a lady that understands the business could give men orders, and keep the office, and so carry on the business; but the work is too warm for women, and too laborious. It is certainly greasy work, and therefore hard on clothes. A manufacturer of oil writes me "he thinks the business not at all suitable for women: the only part that could be done by them is such as pertains to the office, which would be the same as that of other merchants." The manufacture of hair oils forms an extensive business. A manufacturer of linseed oil told me he could employ a woman to remove the seed from the bags, after the oil has been pressed out, but it would be greasy work. Some oil manufacturers told me they would employ girls to put oil in bottles for sewing machines. They would also be willing to employ female agents to sell oil for sewing machines. If a lady could sell twelve bottles a day, at 25 cents a bottle, she could make $1.75.

=411. Paints.= Oil paint is so disagreeable to handle and put up in such large quantities that it is unsuitable work for women. An English workman in B. & I.'s factory told us that women are employed in the paint factories in London and Hull as extensively as men. What they do we could not exactly learn, except that they put the powder for paint in cans, and label them. The man said the business is pernicious to the health. Ex-Mayor T. employed some women in his color factory at Manhattanville to label. At O.'s Philadelphia, a few women are employed in moulding the cakes of water paints, and stamping them, and in tubing and packing fine oil paints. A paint manufacturer in Brooklyn writes: "The only way we can employ females is at putting up paint dry in six-pound boxes or in cans. This last is ground in oil. We have generally employed boys for this purpose, but I think females would suit better, provided they were kept by themselves. If this could be done, we might be able to employ from four to five hands. The work is rather unhealthy, as it affects the lungs. We pay one woman $4 per week, working ten hours a day. It requires a week to learn. We do not work for four months in winter. Cleanliness and tact are necessary for putting up goods. Women would attend to their work better than boys."

=412. Patent Medicines.= Women are very extensively employed in putting up patent medicines. At H.'s, Philadelphia, where extract of ginger is made, they once employed women in the summer. They prefer boys and men, because in intervals men and boys can do other work that women cannot. Women were only employed by them to put up, seal, and label. Where H.'s bitters are made, women are employed to envelop, seal, and label, and paid according to the industry and skill of the workers. They receive from $3 to $4 a week. Dr. Ayres, I have been told, has his medicine put up by females in Canada, because he can have it done there more cheaply, although a duty of 15 per cent. is paid for importing.

=413. Pearlash.= Women could make pearlash in the country, where large quantities of wood are burned in clearing off land, and would no doubt find it pay very well for the trouble.

=414. Perfumery.= Perfumeries have been used in oriental countries from the most remote ages. The finest and most costly perfumes are still brought from the East. They were much used in England about the time of Queen Elizabeth. The essential oil of plants confers their odors. This oil may be obtained by expression, infusion, or distillation. In some cases, it may be pressed out of the cellular structure that contains it. Roses and such plants are mostly steeped in water, but some plants are steeped in wine and similar substances. There is a difference in oils obtained from different parts of the same plant; for instance, the leaves, flowers, and fruit of the orange tree yield distinct oils. The perfumeries of France have the best reputation of any others. Considerable perfumery is manufactured in this country, that meets with a ready sale at a good profit. At J. H.'s, Philadelphia, the woman who superintends others employed in putting up perfumery, told me that the hands work three months before they are paid. They then receive from $1.50 to $5 a week. It would require two years, she thinks, to acquire proficiency. J. H. finds employment for his hands all the year round. The girls cut kid for the tops, tie them on, label the bottles, lay them in cotton in small boxes, and then put them in large boxes ready for nailing and sending away. The girls each perform the entire process. It is not divided into separate branches. Sometimes they are employed in putting up fine soaps. The labels are all imported from France. They sit while employed, and spend from ten to twelve hours at it, according to the work on hand. R. says some perfumery is made by machinery and some by hand. He thinks a woman should spend from six months to one year learning to put up perfumery, as it must be done very neatly. He pays his girls, while learning, $2.50 a week, and after that according to ability and industry. The business is now dull, for people cannot afford to indulge in luxuries. At P.'s perfumery manufactory, I learned that the girls work from 7½ to 6, and earn from $2 to $8 per week--the average, $3.50. They are mostly Americans. Spring and fall are the best seasons, but they keep them all the year. They have many applications, but are often puzzled to get enough of good hands. Girls do better than men for putting up perfumery. It requires some taste. Poor workers are very destructive, for the articles of which some perfumeries are made are very costly. There are employed in packing fancy soap and preparing perfumery, between six hundred and seven hundred girls, in New York; average wages, $4. A manufacturer of hair oil pays his men from $10 to $15 per week. Good taste and a quick hand are the requisites. Near a city is the best location. At H.'s perfumery and fancy soap manufactory, one of the firm told me they "import" Frenchmen to make the perfumery, who impart to them the secret, and they furnish the materials. Their busy season commences in January. They pay their girls from the first, but not much until they get to working well. It requires some time to become expert and tasteful in putting up perfumery. They are paid by the piece (customary plan), but do not work over ten hours, as it is all done at the factory. They can earn from $3 to $9 a week. They keep their hands all the year, but in busy times employ extra hands. They employ a number of girls in making boxes, who earn about $3 a week. P. & F. employ one woman, paying $3.50 a week. P. told me such work is usually paid for by the gross, and workers earn about $4.50. The business is likely to increase. No manufactures West or South. It requires six months to become expert. Vacancies are often occurring among the hands. Some are employed in label cutting some in filling bottles, corking, tying, labelling, and boxing, while others envelop and seal the soap. They sit most of the time, but change their position every little while. There is but one establishment of the kind west of Philadelphia, and that is in Cincinnati.

=415. Quinine.= At P. & W.'s laboratory, Philadelphia, they employ a number of girls in weighing and putting up quinine, calomel, &c., to send away. The girls work eight hours in winter and nine in summer, and receive from $3 to $9 a week. The employment is thought not to be healthy. It changes the fairest complexion to a sallow, just as the taking of the medicine would. The air of the room where we sat, and where the girls were corking, sealing, enveloping, and labelling, was strongly impregnated with the quinine. It was so offensive that I could not rid myself of the taste for several hours after I left the room. In one apartment a man and woman were weighing the article. The woman wore a bandage over her mouth and a muslin cap on her head, and spectacles with large, dark, convex frames, to prevent the quinine from getting in her eyes, as it turns the white of the eye yellow. The women had each their own apartment of labor. They looked as healthy as you generally see, but I do not know how they may have looked when they commenced working there. The lady who accompanied me, said her friend had fallen off very much and lost the beauty of her complexion while working there during the last two years.