Part 57

=435. Fishing-Tackle Preparers.= In Philadelphia, I was told at the store where most fishing tackle is sold, that one woman is employed by them in fastening small hooks, with silk thread, on the end of worm gut. Large hooks are prepared in the same way for other kinds of fishing. It would seem that few women know of the existence of that kind of work in Philadelphia, for when the proprietor advertises for a female hand, he never has any applicants. It is clean, healthy work, and the materials can be easily carried home. Fifty cents a day a woman earns at it, but a man $1. There is but a small demand for fishing tackle in Philadelphia, but in New York the trade is much more important. C., of New York, says most engaged in this work are English women. A fast and correct worker can earn $6 a week at it. They are paid for by the dozen. He finds women more honest than men, and therefore prefers them. Men will steal some of the line or some of the hooks. For making flies, a superior hand may earn $8 a week. Something of a mechanical turn is all that is necessary to make a good workman. They have more work of that kind done than any house in New York, and pay a better price to have it well done. Nets pay very poorly, because all the large nets are now made by machinery, and the smaller ones are made by infirm people, who do it to keep employed as much as for the compensation. When the coarse netting is done by machinery, it can be obtained at 12½ cents a fathom, and a fathom of the same kind done by hand would require a day. The peculiar system of the business is that the work is all done in winter, and the goods sold in summer. It is a luxury, and consequently dispensed with when times are hard. C. pays for putting hooks on the lines by the gross. The silk lines are manufactured in England. G. & B. employ four women who work at home in making fishing tackle and artificial flies. They are made in winter. An experienced hand can obtain $15 a week, working from six in the morning till ten at night. He thinks, there are so few in the business, workers would not give instruction without good pay. A woman may possibly earn $4 a week making nets. They employ Irishmen to weave the silk worm gut on the hooks. The three or four large fishing-tackle establishments in New York could furnish all that is needed for the United States. Mrs. R., who makes artificial flies and fishing tackle, says she has now and then earned $9 a week--a difference of $6 in the report of the clerk. But there is considerable difference in the amount of work of the different kinds; and as they are paid for by the gross, some kinds of work pay better than others. There is now considerable competition in this work, because of the many that are out of employment. Girls apply at the store, offering to do the work at forty-two cents a gross. None are prepared South or West--so there may be openings before long in St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, &c. Making artificial flies is mostly in the hands of Irishmen.

=436. Fortune Tellers.= In London is a class of men and women called Druynackers, that take goods around in baskets to sell, and profess to tell fortunes. This magic power gives them influence over many silly girls, that are tempted to buy of them on that account. We cannot believe that God would vouchsafe to a mortal the power to foretell future events--to unite the present and future--time and eternity. The constitution of all nature and the teachings of the Bible confute such a belief. "The veil," says some one, "which covers futurity is woven by the hand of mercy. Seek not to raise the veil therefore, for sadness might be seen to shade the brow that fancy had arrayed in smiles of gladness." Wherever there are people tempted to pry into the future, there will be some to take advantage of it. Many a fortune teller sells her soul to Satan for the power of imposing the belief that she reveals future events. The prices charged by fortune tellers for their services vary from 25 cents to $5.

=437. Guides and Door Attendants.= "In Paris, the box offices of all the theatres are tended by women--not only those of the evening, but those open during the day for the sale of reserved places. The box openers and audience seaters are women." "The proprietor of the London Adelphi advertised, at the opening of the last season, that his box openers, check takers, and so on, would all be women." We have seen it stated that in some of the Roman Catholic churches in Paris, ladies of the congregation pass around the plates to take up a collection. Women in some of the old countries are occupied as doorkeepers at museums and galleries of paintings. In Great Britain, many of the door attendants are females, where the houses are occupied by several families, as is often the case. In England, some women are employed as pew openers. To come nearer home. Those who have visited the Academy of Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, will remember the pleasant face of the janitress who receives the tickets of the visitors, and that an obliging young woman checked the canes and parasols. In New York, most of the picture galleries have female doorkeepers.

=438. Lodging and Boarding House Keepers.= Patience, a spirit of forgiveness, and an ability to overlook faults, are very necessary for gliding along smoothly in this difficult and often ungrateful calling. A cheerful disposition, too, is almost indispensable, for everybody likes smiles better than frowns. A love of society is desirable. It is a principle that has been wisely implanted in the human heart, and one that affords numerous and important advantages to mankind. It is one that tends to produce a desire for the comfort and happiness of those around. Yet too great a fondness for society may cause a neglect of duty and a love of gossipping. It is sometimes the case that light, frivolous talk and too great fondness for excitement characterize the keepers and inmates of a boarding house. Yet such, of course, is not always the case. Keeping a boarding house is an office that will give to one of a kind and benevolent nature a good opportunity of exercising her native qualities. Sympathy closely binds such to the unfortunate, and pleasures are doubled by participating with others. Whether those who keep boarding houses happen to have by nature more idle curiosity than others, or whether the business is one calculated to create and foster such a quality, I cannot say, but favor the latter opinion. The tempers of those who keep boarding houses are apt to be very much tried. They need great firmness and uniformity in deportment. The price paid for boarding is usually proportioned to the comforts enjoyed, but not always. In early times, houses of entertainment for travellers were kept mostly by women. In a region of country where hunting and fishing are good, or the scenery fine, and the roads pleasant, ladies often accommodate, for the summer and autumn, families from the city. It is a very general fashion for people in the cities to go during the warmest weather to the country, seaside, or springs. Boarding house keepers usually find it most profitable to keep a large house, as only one kitchen and parlor are needed, and many other expenses attending a house are proportionately diminished. Good boarding houses for workwomen are scarce in all large cities, particularly New York. Most keepers of boarding houses prefer men, because they are less about the house. I have been told that it is very difficult for work girls to get board in well kept houses. I think several respectable boarding houses should be established in large cities by wealthy and influential ladies, or religious societies, for working women. In New York are some houses where none but merchants' clerks board. Why might not one or more be established for shop girls? A list, as given by employers, of the prices paid by work girls for their board, I will annex at the close of this work; but I would add that comfortable rooms and wholesome food cannot be furnished _in cities_ at these prices, and afford a reasonable profit to the keepers of the houses. And I would further say, the prices paid women for their labor does not enable them to pay higher rates for their board.

=439. Makers of Artificial Eyes.= The science of supplying defects in the physique is such that an artificial man can almost be manufactured. Artificial teeth, hair, eyes, ears, noses, chins, palates, arms, hands, and legs, are some of the missing parts of the frame that can be supplied. In the census report of Great Britain for 1850, we find four women under the head of artificial limb and eye makers. G., of New York, knows two or three ladies in Paris, and one in London, that are engaged in making the whites of glass eyes. G. may be able to give employment to a lady in making the white of the eyes, in a few months. It is done by blowing the glass, and requires but a short time to learn. He says he would pay a woman well for the work. I called at D.'s, a manufacturer of glass eyes, and saw D.'s son, a youth about eighteen years of age. He says there are but two other makers of glass eyes in the United States, and only two or three in London. D. spent fourteen years in London and Dublin, manufacturing eyes at the infirmaries, and giving them away. He did it to get in practice. He prefers to insert the eyes himself. They move as a natural eye does, and certainly were very natural in color. He sells them at from $10 to $20. Some physicians furnish their patients with them, charging $60 or $70 for one, and so making a handsome profit. When a person that does not understand the form of the glass eye and the anatomy of the human eye inserts one, the inside of the eye is liable to become inflamed, and proud flesh is formed. D. spent a fortune experimenting. It requires an extensive knowledge of chemicals, and the effect produced on them by heat. A small furnace is used for burning the colors, in the glass. Some people would give thousands of dollars to know the chemicals used, and their proportions. The young man says his father has never even imparted to him the information. Some people that wear glass eyes take them out at night. D. judges of the shape and size required by merely looking at the remaining eye of the individual. We think a competent person in this business might establish himself at the South. I called on an Englishman who has been at the business twenty years in New York. He is over sixty years of age, and has been in the business fifty years; learned it with his father in London. He had a number of certificates on his walls. He says a woman would go into a decline directly, if exposed to the heat of a furnace in baking eyes. It is necessary to stay in the oven while the change is taking place in the chemicals. In summer it is intolerable. His son would not continue the business on that account. He says the French eyes are made of glass, covered with porcelain, and break easily; the white is made by being blown. The English are not blown, and are made entirely of porcelain. He says they will not break unless very cold water is applied in bathing the eyes (a common fashion in the United States). He has had eyes worn for a year without being taken out. He takes the dimensions of the eye by fitting in different sized ones. If an eye is too small, it will slip out, fall, and break. It requires long experience to become proficient in making glass eyes; but it is a beautiful art, and not inappropriate to competent women.

=440. Artificial Limbs.= We had thought, perhaps, a few women could be employed in this vocation, and accordingly addressed a circular to a gentleman so occupied. He thinks no women are engaged in this business in the United States or any other country; but says they could be, and the reason they are not is, there is not enough of the kind of work connected with it, that could be done by women, to employ them. "It requires some men one year to learn, some five years, and some never can learn. It depends on natural ability and skill. The qualifications required are skill, judgment, sobriety, morality, pleasing address, dignity, imitation, industry, love of the beautiful, and anatomy. The prospect of work is good; superior workmen will succeed. The best seasons for work are from September 1st to July 1st. There is a demand for the work in California. Large seaport towns are not good localities--patients generally charity cases. Inland cities surrounded by a populous country, the best localities--patients better able to pay."

=441. Artificial Teeth.= It is said that 3,000,000 artificial teeth are made in the United States annually. The materials are all found in the United States. Each tooth passes through ten different processes. I called at J. & W.'s, Philadelphia. They employ sixty-two girls, all American. They pay a learner, after two or three weeks' practice, according to the quality and quantity of her work. Their girls earn from $1.50 to $7 per week; average $4.50. They have but one hand earning $7. They would be glad to get more such at the same price, for it is difficult to get good hands. They have to turn away a great many applicants. The prospect is good to learners. They keep their hands all the year. The business has advanced rapidly during the last few years, and is likely to continue increasing. There are constant improvements in the business. Consequently a hand may be always improving. They will not receive a girl without reference, or credentials of moral character. They do not want any but intelligent girls, for the hand is guided by the mind. There are three or four processes carried on in different rooms. They work at the establishment, and never carry work home, unless a mother or sister is sick and requires their attention. It is a light, genteel business; and one well adapted to women of some education and intelligence. A lady in the cars told me she knew a lady who received $7 a week for making teeth in Baltimore. She came to Philadelphia, but could not get as good wages; so she returned to Baltimore. The New York Teeth Manufacturing Company pay from $3 to $5 a week. Learners are paid $2.50 a week, from the first, for six months; and then, if competent, paid more. The work is not unhealthy. Men average $10, but their branch is different; the work is heavier. It requires about two months to learn, in one department. Neither men nor women are often taught more than one branch. All seasons are alike, and they are never out of work. The supply of hands is greater than the demand everywhere. Small hands, nimble fingers, and good eyesight are important to a worker. In the establishment of R., New York, four processes in the making of artificial teeth are performed by women. Some branches require a longer time to learn than others. It takes six months to learn any one perfectly. R. pays $3 a week to his learners, and $5 a week to experienced workers. Careful manipulation is the most that is needed. Judging from the increase in the last five years, the prospect for employment is excellent; yet the openings in New York are limited. Women are the best workers, but some prefer men. The only manufacturers are in New York, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Bridgeport. It is desirable to have careful workers. B. had a girl ruin $500 worth of teeth for him. The parts performed by women are cleaning the moulds, setting the pins, filling the moulds with the tooth materials, and trimming, and putting on the pink color answering the place of gums; also placing them on slides preparatory to baking and carding.

=442. Nurses for the Sick.= Attention to this subject has been awakened during the last few years, by the heroic conduct of Miss Florence Nightingale and the ladies who went with her to the Crimea to wait on the sick and wounded. When the people of England proposed making some testimonial of regard to Florence Nightingale, she proposed that, with the means expended in doing so, they should establish an institution for the training of nurses. We would not fail to notice a fact that reflects much credit on Miss Anne M. Andrews, of Syracuse, N. Y. While the yellow fever raged in Norfolk, Va., she left her home and went alone to Norfolk, devoting her time and services to the sick of all conditions. She received the medal that is usually awarded to a physician on such occasions, and the citizens talked of placing a statue in a conspicuous part of their city, as a memorial of her goodness and their indebtedness. In Berlin, Vienna, Turin, and Halle, hospitals have been established for the education of nurses. In Germany, there has been one for many years. A number of good ladies connected with that institution are now in Pittsburg, where they form an order of deaconesses. Some take care of the sick, and some have charge of an orphan asylum. St. Luke's Hospital, New York, is under Episcopal supervision, and connected with it is an order of Protestant deaconesses, who attend the sick. Most of the hospitals in this country have been established by the Roman Catholic Church, and are under its guidance. We think Protestant hospitals for the sick are greatly needed, especially in the Western and Southern cities--Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. It may be that some exist in those cities; but, if so, we think they must be quite limited in extent. Asylums for sick children are established in some of our largest cities. A number exist in Europe. A nurse should have a kind, sympathizing nature, good health, strong nerves, great powers of endurance, ability to sit up all night, and bear exposure to extremes of temperature. In addition, she needs a good memory, that she may give the right medicine at the proper time. If she has not, she should commit to paper such orders, and consult them frequently. A long and thorough training is needed by an attendant on the sick. Great self-control is necessary, for many persons are very impatient in sickness. A bright, cheerful spirit should be cultivated. A sweet voice is pleasant in a nurse, because a sick person is sensitively alive to the smallest matters. It requires a woman of education, consideration, and delicacy of feeling, to be an acceptable nurse to people of refinement; and such a one must become attached to those she serves, if treated kindly. To make a kind and sympathizing nurse, one must have waited, in sickness, upon those she loved dearly. A nurse should use the precaution of wearing camphor, or something of that nature, on her person, particularly where there is contagious fever. The room should be large and well ventilated, and preventives used to keep the infectious air from spreading. A better class of women are employed to wait on the sick than formerly. The infirmary for women, established by Dr. Blackwell, in New York, is designed partly as a school for nurses. There is also an institution in Philadelphia for training them. Nurses earn from $4 to $10 a week. Some wait only on male patients, some only on ladies; some attend incurables, but the most serve in general sickness. Mrs. B. gets $7 and sometimes $8 a week and her board for monthly nursing. She knows some that get $10 a week. She stays in the room with the lady and her infant, and takes care of and waits on them. When food is to be prepared, the child's clothes washed, or anything of that kind done, she rings a bell and gives orders to a servant. Mrs. B., another ladies' nurse, charges from $8 to $10 a week, according to the amount of rest she loses at night. She told me that most good physicians keep a list of the best nurses. A nurse is expected to be able to make all the nice dishes required by her patient. In most small places, she is not expected to have the assistance of any one else, unless the sickness is very protracted, or the patient is delirious. In some places, a nurse is expected to close the eyes of the dying, and wash them after death, and perform any other service of that nature. But it is not uncommon for an undertaker's wife to be sent for to perform these duties, and take a measure for a shroud. For these services she is paid from $3 to $5. A nurse runs the risk of contracting a contagious disease; but, if the system is in a good condition, there is not much danger. As long as people are sick, which will be as long as there are any, nurses will be employed. Of course, there is most to do in sickly seasons. I called on Mrs. P., who charges $5 a week for her services. She does all that is required for the patient, except give medical advice. She would rather wait on men than women, as they are sure either to pay better wages or make presents. As she has had children of her own, and raised them all, she feels competent to take care of children in sickness. It is well for a woman to have a home to go to, when relieved from the labor and anxiety of nursing.

=443. Steamboat and Railroad News Venders.= Boys and men are much more frequently engaged in the sale of newspapers, than women and girls. They are more disposed to sell edibles. We have seen some little girls selling papers on the streets of New York and Philadelphia; but we do not remember ever to have seen women selling papers at railroad depots or on steamboats, though many are seen with baskets of sweetmeats. Many, perhaps, cannot read, and do not wish to sell papers with whose contents they are unacquainted. Others may think they will be less likely to make any profit by their sale. Some women sell papers at stands on the streets of New York, and about the hotel doors. I saw a newspaper boy with an armful of _Ledgers_. He had sixty that he had bought at three and a half cents apiece, and was selling at four cents apiece. A girl that sells newspapers at the door of a hotel on Broadway, told me that she and her mother take turns about in being at the stand, and the profits of their joint sales are from 50 cents to $1 a day. She has several Sunday customers, to whose houses she takes ordered papers.