Part 56

=425. Lighthouse Keepers.= Miss H. told me of two young women whose father keeps a lighthouse, but he is very feeble and infirm. They attend the lights, and often row out, if they see a wreck, and do what they can to rescue the passengers. We observed this newspaper paragraph a few years back: "A Mrs. Lydia Smith has been appointed assistant keeper of the lighthouse at Manitou Island (Michigan) at $250 per annum." "They have a Grace Darling at Bridgeport, Conn. On the night of the 13th inst., Miss Moore, an accomplished young lady, the daughter of the keeper of the lighthouse on Fairweather Island, just below Bridgeport, heard cries for help at a distance from the shore, and determined that an effort should be made to rescue whom it might be. It was too dark to tell the direction or the distance, but, summoning two young men to her aid, she launched the boat belonging to the lighthouse, and ordered them to pull out in the direction of the cries, herself holding the tiller. About two miles out in the Sound, they found a sailboat capsized, and clinging to it were two men nearly exhausted. One of them was entirely helpless, and with great difficulty got in the boat; but both were finally rescued from death by the courage and efforts of this brave girl, and brought safely to shore. Mr. Moore, the keeper of the lighthouse, has been for some time afflicted with ill health, and when unable to see to the details of his office, this daughter assumes the entire management, and, through the lonely watches of the night, it is her fair hand that trims and tends the beacon that guides the mariner safely on his way."

=426. Pawnbrokers.= I suppose this business requires a general knowledge of the value of goods. Some pawnbrokers profess to make liberal advances, but a very heavy percentage is usually charged. Indeed, some pawnbrokers extort an incredible interest on money loaned to the poor. S., an intelligent Irish pawnbroker, into whose office I went to ask something of the business, told me he never knew of but one woman in the business. She was nominally a widow, and employed a young man to stay in the shop. When women are employed in pawnbrokers' establishments, it is nearly always as auxiliaries, being the wife, sister, or daughter of the keeper. He thinks it not a suitable business for a woman, as the class of people that come require a strong man to deal with them, who can use their slang language, and drive them away if they become very rude. No doubt, many go to pawn what they have when under the influence of liquor, or to pawn their clothes to get liquor. The broker retains what is pawned for a year, if it is not redeemed in less time. It is then sold at auction. There is a law that permits it. His shelves were filled with bundles, on which were pinned numbered papers. Another pawnbroker told me that the fashion and quality of goods decide the price put on them, particularly wearing apparel. There may be a difference in the value estimation of pawnbrokers, just as there is in different establishments where the same kind of new goods are sold. I saw the name of a female pawnbroker in a business directory, and called. I did not see her, but the young man who was employed to assist her in attending the store said they have most business to do in summer, and that it is a business requiring experience. They pay on articles taken to them what they will be likely to sell for at auction. They must make some allowance for what they may lose on the article. They charge at the rate of twenty-five per cent. for a year's time, which is as long as anything pawned is kept. They lose more on clothes than other goods. They allow a depositor to draw any sum of less amount than the estimated value of an article; and when the article is redeemed, a percentage is paid on the amount of the money drawn, and not on the full value of the article.

=427. Postmistresses.= There are (1854) 128 postmistresses in the United States. They receive the same salaries that postmasters do. The clerks in post offices sometimes count at the rate of sixty letters a minute. There are 29,000 post offices in the United States, ninety clerks in Chicago, and, I think, nearly three hundred in New York. Might not a large number of these be women? I have read that it is in contemplation to place in the general post office in London a number of lady clerks. I called on Mrs. W., who was for nearly two years at the ladies' window in the general post office, New York. Very few approved of a lady being there. She found some advantages, but many disadvantages, arising from her position. In the first place, it yielded her and her child a support, the salary being $600. She was treated with respect by all the attachés of the office except two--one of whom was immediately dismissed, and the other removed. But the class of women who go to the general post office constantly for letters, are of a kind a respectable woman would not like to come in contact with. The majority receive letters under fictitious names. Some of them were very impudent to her. And sometimes men would come to the window and insist on her getting the letters of their lady friends for them. Besides, there were about fifty clerks immediately around her, and altogether in the office between two hundred and three hundred. They were men of all classes and nations. The office is one influenced by political motives, and a man has the advantage as candidate by gaining the votes of his friends. She says she was kind and courteous, but found it necessary to be very decided, and keep at a distance from every one. The men in the office did not like it, because they had to guard their tongues. She remained there from 8.30 A. M. to 4.30 P. M., and was on her feet all the time, with the exception of a few minutes. There were no conveniences or comforts for a woman. So she suffered severely from the effects. She thinks the plan of employing ladies in the post offices of towns and villages might be done more easily. Even here it might be done more advantageously, if the office was situated farther up street, the regulations were different, and a number of ladies were employed instead of but one. A lady could not well use a ladder to reach down letters from the upper boxes. A young man did that for her. For a postmistress we might enumerate the qualifications of quickness of eye, strict integrity, a retentive memory, and patient industry. "Unmarried females only can hold the office of postmistress. They are appointed, give bonds, and are commissioned in the same manner as postmasters, and receive the same compensation. There is, however, a larger number of females, generally the wives and daughters of postmasters, employed as assistants; but as the latter are appointed and paid by the postmasters themselves, to whom alone they are responsible, their names are not recorded on the government books."

=428. Sewing-Machine Instructors.= In many of the stores of New York, where sewing machines are sold, we notice that many of those who give instructions to buyers of machines are men. Shame on the men that teach women to sew! When such is the case, to what may not a woman resort for earning a livelihood? Shame on the man that engages in such an effeminate employment, save he who is deformed and cannot engage in harder work! Shame, I say, on the man seen at a sewing machine, or with a needle in his hand! Surely the muscles and bones and sinews of men were never given for such a purpose. W. & W. employ five young ladies as instructors on machines, paying each of them over $6 a week. They have one to sell thread, and two to go about the city adjusting machines. It is something difficult to do, as it requires almost the mechanical talent of a machinist. They have no applications for instructors on sewing machines out of the city, but have for some in the city. They employ females because the purchasers of machines are generally ladies. G. & B. employ a lady for adjusting machines, as they find ladies prefer one of their own sex for the purpose. I was told at S.'s, by the bookkeeper, they do not employ female instructors. They used to employ both young men and young ladies, but they spent so much time talking to each other, that they found it necessary to dispense with either the one or the other. So they gave up the girls eighteen months ago, and have not employed any since. They paid girls $4 a week from the time they took them, and increased their wages to $5 or $6. Many of the women earned $6. They worked, on an average, ten hours a day. Ladies are employed in Boston to sell machines. The ladies of New York (said a young man selling machines) prefer to buy of a gentleman. (?) Yet, he thinks the crying sin of civilization is, not furnishing remunerative employment to women. Simply learning to sew with a machine is by no means difficult, though the time required depends very much upon the abilities of the learner. Some become proficient in all its accomplishments of hemming, tucking, gathering, preparing work for the machine, &c., in from three to six months, while others do not become efficient workers in less than a year. The time required to learn depends very much on the machine used, as some are more complicated than others; and a thorough knowledge of the machine is desirable for every good worker. It is more difficult to learn to operate on one kind of machine after learning on some other kind. By paying $1.50, a person can receive six lessons on sewing machines at S.'s. At W. & W.'s, and at G. & B.'s, purchasers and those who cannot pay are taught free of charge. Some people charge $3 for teaching to operate. L. & W. will teach any one to operate who buys a machine, but they charge others $2.

=429. Shepherdesses.= Boys who keep sheep in Scotland, knit while so employed. Girls and women who tend sheep, might perhaps do the same. Sheep are being raised to considerable extent in Texas, and the raising of them is on the increase in the Western States, but we do not know that females have ever been employed in this country to tend sheep.

=430. Toll Collectors.= It is not unusual to see women receiving toll at the gates, but they are mostly foreigners, or poor widows, or the wives of the gatekeepers.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COMFORT OR AMUSEMENT OF OTHERS.

=431. Bathhouse Attendants.= There are some people that cannot afford to have bathhouses in their dwellings, and for such it is well there are houses where, for twenty-five cents, they may enjoy the luxury of a bath. Particularly is it well for hard-working people, on whom the dust and perspiration collect, and who are refreshed and rendered more healthy by frequent baths. Where a bathhouse is used for women alone--there being no department for men--we think it might be owned and superintended by a lady, just like any other branch of business. Females, of course, would be in attendance to wait on those that frequent the bath rooms. Quite a number are employed at water-cure establishments, which are open for patients at all seasons of the year. Not only does cleanliness promote comfort, but it is conducive to health. Many of the diseases of the poor arise from a want of cleanliness. Even the morals are improved, and the mind freed as it were from its cobwebs. Most medicinal baths should be superintended by some one that has a knowledge of medicine and the human system. And those employed, if unacquainted with the business, should be particular in observing directions given. For baths, a person should have means to fit up rooms neatly, and enough to live on until their establishment becomes known. I called on the wife of a gentleman who has electro-magnetic baths administered. He is a physician, and gives medical advice as to the kind of bath required. He does not give much medicine, thinking the article that would be prescribed had better be administered externally in the form of a bath. The baths are $3 for a single one; $10 for four. More people take the baths in summer than winter. After a vapor bath the system is stimulated, not relaxed; it is then better prepared for the reception of medicine. The charge at one establishment I know to be 50 cents a bath, or $5 for twelve. In New York, I saw the People's Washing and Bathing Establishment, which was put up by some philanthropic citizens, for the benefit of the poor. A man is employed to take charge of it; and in summer, several women attend to bathers, and some wash and iron towels. They pay $3 a week to a bath attendant, and from $3 to $3.50 to washers and ironers. They have had 1,500 bathers a day, in summer. For a bath in a small room and one towel, six cents are charged; for better accommodations, twelve cents. A swimming bath for boys is attached, and a charge made of three cents a swim of half an hour.

=432. Brace and Truss Makers.= I went to M. & Co.'s, New York, who are surgical and anatomical mechanicians, inventors, and manufacturers. They want to employ several good female workers. They will not take any to learn, because it requires time to teach them; yet a person of moderate abilities, that can sew neatly, can learn in a few days, or weeks at most, to do the cutting out and stitching. Part of the stitching is done by hand, and part by machinery. The workwomen are paid $3 a week, and work ten hours. At L.'s truss and bandage institute, I learned that he employs a number at $3 a week. He cannot get as many good hands as he wants. He drew several hands from his former employer by paying them a little more. His wife does the fitting for ladies. A truss maker in Middletown, Conn., pays his women by the piece, and they earn from $3 to $4 per week. A., Brooklyn, pays a girl that sews neatly, but has never worked at the business, $3 a week. Any one that can sew well or operate on a machine, can do the mechanical work. He pays experienced hands over $3, according to what they do. His girls work but nine hours a day. Manufacturers of surgical apparatus in Boston write: "We employ women in sewing exclusively, generally about twenty, and all American. The work is not more unhealthy than any sewing. We consider any steady sewing, and the consequent confinement, more or less injurious. Average wages, perhaps $4 per week--something depends upon capabilities, however. Some have earned $6 per week, though such cases are exceptions. All our work is done by the piece. Females are paid about half the price of males. There appears to be an ample supply of female labor. On this basis, prices, details, &c., are governed accordingly. That portion of the work done by males, it takes three years to learn; that done by women, three months, presuming they were good sewers at the start. Learners are paid the same as old hands. Of course, they are slower, and accumulate less until well learned. To be a neat sewer and possess some mechanical skill will prepare one for this employment. We are seldom idle more than two weeks in the year. The male portion of our work would be no more adapted to women than horse shoeing. Our hands work from eight to twelve hours each day, and have none too much time for the improvement of their minds, considering they must be occupied more or less upon their own private sewing in addition to their business." A truss maker in Boston writes: "I pay by the week, from $4 to$6 to women; to men, from $7 to $12, because they can do more. They work from nine to ten hours. All are Americans. It requires from three to six months to learn. Some portions of the steel work would not be suitable for women. Board, $2 per week." "W. & F. employ eight women for making braces, bandages, &c. They pay $3 a week to those who are employed by the week. Those that work by the piece can earn from $4 to $6, and sometimes by overwork $7 a week. Their work is steady in good times, and they are able to employ their girls all the year. All sew by hand but one, and she receives but $4 as an operator. The business is mostly confined to cities."

=433. Chiropodists.= W., of the firm of L. & W., was quite a gentlemanly man in his manners, conversation, and dress. He mentioned three women, each in different cities, engaged in this occupation. He thinks his pursuit preferable to dentistry. Both depend on the class of patients. To follow the calling professionally requires a knowledge of anatomy and surgery. There is a great deal of charlatanism practised by some in the calling. A knowledge of how to extract corns is not sufficient. Bunions, inverted nails, &c., require scientific treatment. He charges $1 for removing one corn, fifty cents apiece for two, and proportionately less for three or more. There are a great many itinerant doctors. If any individual fits himself properly for the calling, he may, after three or four years, in a large city, living from hand to mouth during the time, succeed in establishing a name and gaining respectable practice. The number of ladies suffering from corns has not decreased, judging from his experience. Men are more liable to have corns than women, because of more severe and constant exercise. He thinks it would not do for women to work at men's feet. I think it would not be more agreeable to a woman to have a man work at her feet; and as far as propriety goes, one is no better than the other. He would discourage any lady friend of his from undertaking the business. I called on Mme. K., a French lady. Her father is a chiropodist in Paris, and what she knows of the business she learned from seeing him. She found it unpleasant at first, but now she does not mind it. She goes to the house of the patient for the same price as she operates at her own room, namely, fifty cents a corn. She has as much to do as she wants. She thinks, in other places there are openings, and a woman that thoroughly understands the business is in every way as fit and capable as a man. She knows of but one other lady in the business in this country, and she is quite aged. She thinks, by three months' study and practice with a skilful operator, one might do very well to commence for herself. She would as soon operate on a gentleman's as a lady's foot. It might be well for one commencing to practice to travel, or get custom in several towns and villages in the same vicinity. I think she would instruct any one for a satisfactory compensation. A chiropodist says, as long as people are fools enough to abuse their feet, the prospect for his employment is good. L. is the oldest practitioner in the United States, and has practised in New York for twenty years. He would be willing to instruct pupils, charging $100 for each student. He would give thorough and systematic instruction, and teach to make the material used. People have not had much confidence in ladies, because of their deficiency in surgical skill. Incompetent persons have injured the business. Times do not affect the amount of practice. There are openings in Boston, Baltimore, and Chicago. Many ladies come to L. to have their finger nails trimmed, polished, and tinted. They would no doubt be as willing to have a competent lady.

=434. Cuppers and Leechers.= This business is sometimes connected with that of a barber. But in cities, some women engage in it, and, no doubt, are as competent as men. Indeed, for their own sex and children they are better fitted. Mrs. A., a cupper and leecher, told me the best way to obtain custom is to form the acquaintance of some of the best physicians, as they will then recommend you but you must always be ready to attend their patients, or they forget you. Her father was a physician, and in that way she learned the treatment of leeches. It is well to get into the favor of persons that serve as leechers at the infirmaries--they may be willing to instruct you. The Germans have killed the business in New York. Some charge but twenty-five cents for cupping, and proportionately low for leeching. Leeching is sooner learned than cupping, but there is much less of both done than formerly. Homoeopathy has interfered with their use. She used to be out all day and up all night, but now she seldom has a call; and yet she must be always at home, and ready for a call. She never goes to take a cup of tea with a friend, and is frequently called out of church. Leeching and cupping require a steady hand, and ability to use the scarificator. A person in the business must go into all kinds of sickness, without even asking what it is. Accidents give considerable custom, and in the sickly season there is most. It has become common for lads in apothecary shops to be sent out to apply leeches. When they are to be applied to any hidden part of a lady, a female leecher, of course, is preferable. Mrs. A. charges twenty-five cents a leech, if more than one is applied--if not, thirty-seven cents. For cupping she charges $1. One lady in New York charges not less than $1 apiece for applying leeches, and in some cases more. Mrs. L. thinks a lady could not make a living at the business in New York, because the Germans have killed the trade by working at half price, and, as might be supposed, do not properly understand it. A good location should be fixed upon for an office. A cupper and leecher is expected to go in all weather, and in all hours of the day and night, and in any kind of sickness. Most of it is done in fall and winter, because there is then most inflammation. Judgment must be used in the quantity of blood to be drawn. A leecher should be a good judge of the quality of leeches, and the proper treatment of them. Particular attention should be paid to the directions of the doctor in applying leeches. Mrs. L. says there is an opening for a cupper and leecher in Albany, N. Y. A friend of hers there had to pay exorbitantly for the services of a leecher.