Part 64

=506. Shoe-Peg Makers.= A shoe-peg manufacturing association, in New Hampshire, furnish me a report of the work they have done by women, as follows: "Women are employed only to feed the machine with prepared blocks, and sorting pegs after they are split. The work is light, and well adapted to the physical capacity of girls and women. They can do the work just as well as young men and boys, and perhaps a little quicker. Wages are perhaps two thirds as much as that of men in the same branches. Two hundred women would do all the work, in their several departments, in the business, for the whole of North and South America. We employ sixteen in our mill, at $3.50 per week, including board, which is called about $1.75. Men are not employed in the same branches. A part could be learned in one month--nearly half of it would require from six to twelve months. Girls are paid $3 a week, while learning. Nothing needed but ready and quick application. They work eleven hours. Each hour less would be more than a private loss. All are Americans."

=507. Shroud Makers.= There is something repulsive in death--the shroud--the cap--the coffin--the sunken eyes--the still hands and ghastly face. Death is fearful, even in its mildest forms. And yet how we yearn for rest--how we long for quiet! How we pant for that glorious freedom from anxiety and care, that awaits the just in heaven! The change of the chrysalis to the butterfly, of the seed to the plant, of the earth beneath our feet, and the heavens above--the very consciousness within us, all proclaim unmistakably the truth that the spirit will not die--that it is immortal. There are duties connected with the house of mourning that afflicted friends and relatives have not the heart to perform. These, therefore, devolve upon persons interested in the dead, or hired attendants. Closing the eyes, washing the body, making the shroud and putting it on, are in some cases performed by the hired nurse, but generally making the shroud is done by the undertaker's wife. Some undertakers keep shrouds in their shops ready for sale. In large cities, an undertaker's wife is in many cases sent for by the nurse, to assist in laying out the dead, and receives, as a compensation, from $3 to $5. The wife of an undertaker told me that she lines the coffins for her husband. They buy their caps already made, of an old lady who brings them around. Mr. ----, an undertaker, is always willing to dress the remains of any but those who have died of small pox. He charges $3 to wash and dress a corpse, $5 with shaving. An undertaker told me he knew women could be employed in plaiting the folds of silk in coffins, and making coffin pillows. The wholesale trade send away large quantities of shrouds and caps, and so have many made up. A man in Newark, who devotes himself exclusively to making shrouds, employs several women. In England, some undertakers employ women to make up mourning suits.

=508. Sign Painters.= Sign painting requires a long, steady, and regular apprenticeship. It requires also a correct eye and a steady hand. In large cities, sign and ornamental painting can be made a distinct branch of painting; but in a town or village it is combined with carriage or house painting, as one individual seldom has enough sign and ornamental painting to keep him constantly occupied. It is not more necessary for a painter to know how to mix the paints, and use judgment and taste in the selection of colors, than to form letters according to geometrical proportions. A painter must measure, more by the eye than a rule, the size and arrangement of letters in a given space. Good painters receive $3, $4, and $5 a day for their work, but generally are paid by the piece. When paid by the week, and they work regularly, they receive from $12 to $15 a week. Mrs. K., New York, says in Dublin there are many families that devote themselves to sign painting, but she knows of none in this country except her own. She employs a man to grind paints, put up signs, &c.,--also to paint out-of-door signs, that is, such as must be painted on the building. Her two daughters paint all the signs that are to be put up. Some of the large signs above stores in New York have been painted by them. They are paid as good prices as men. She thinks an individual should commence early to learn. Her daughters received their instruction and advice from their father. In that way they acquired maturity of judgment and nicety of hand. Judgment needs to be exercised in regard to size and space, and artistic taste in ornamenting. A sign painter told me that superior workers can earn from $3 to $15 a day, if they have sufficient employment. Many house and other painters, in cities, profess to paint signs, but in reality have it done. Germans do much of it in New York, because they do it cheaply, but many of them do not execute their work well. It is customary to have an apprentice three years, and pay the usual terms, $2.50 a week, the first year. A boy, during the first year, mostly grinds paints, goes errands, &c. Spring is the most busy season. Painting in oils is not neat work. A sign and carriage painter writes me: "The work is unhealthy on account of the poisonous vapors and dust. It requires two or three years to learn, and one must have a great deal of practice. A common education, natural taste, and a correct eye are the qualifications needed. Many parts of it are very easy and pleasant. Some parts might be done by women." The business pays best in large towns and cities. An ornamental painter writes me: "Women are employed in sign painting in England, France, Germany, and Belgium. The time required to learn would depend on the taste or genius of the individual. The qualifications requisite are those of an artist in a less degree." B., an emblematic sign painter, thinks the employment very suitable for females, but supposes there are better openings in other cities than New York. It requires two or three years to learn all the different branches well. During the first year a learner could not support herself, but after that could, if she had a taste for it, was industrious, and received enough orders to keep her busy.

=509. Snuff Packers.= At a snuff factory, I saw two women putting up snuff. The women color the bladders for holding snuff, in tobacco water, pack, cap, label, varnish, and wrap them. They are weighed after being packed, and women are paid at the rate of one cent a pound. Women always stand in packing. They can earn from $5 to $6 a week, and have work all the year. The woman with whom we conversed was a sensible American, who told us her health had failed greatly during the nine years she had worked in snuff. While working in the snuff, women wear caps, but are so covered with it that they might be mistaken for bags of snuff. Of course, a great deal is inhaled. Both the women I saw complained of difficulty in breathing, particularly when they lie down at night. One said, when suffering great oppression she would vomit, and throw up snuff as fresh in taste and smell as before it was inhaled. For packing snuff in jars, they are paid by the week, $4.50, and, for putting it in bottles still less. Men are mostly employed in packing snuff.

=510. Stencil Makers.= A stencil-plate maker told me that cutting the plates could be done by women, but it would require a strong, stout woman to hammer the plates after they are cool. In learning, a boy receives $2 a week. There are very few stencil cutters in the South and West. People send North for their plates, or get them cut by travelling peddlers, who are not allowed now in the South. The price of stencil plates has fallen very greatly. Such as would have sold for $5 a few years ago, can now be had for fifty cents. I saw a lady who cut stencil plates. She wanted an agent to sell her plates and ink.

=511. Street Sweepers.= The girls seen in New York sweeping the crossings in winter, are not paid by the city, but receive, now and then, from a passer by, a penny for their labor. If enough of strong men were employed by the city, and properly paid, it would serve to diminish the $13,000,000 annually spent in New York for preventable sickness, where thirty-one die every day more than in Philadelphia, while its natural advantages are greater. In Paris, women are employed as street sweepers.

=512. Tip Gilders.= Most hats and caps are made in New York city. There are six establishments in the city devoted to tip gilding, and morocco cutting and rolling, and four girls, on an average, in each. The girls put the sizing and gold leaf on, and, when the impression is made, brush the loose gold leaf off. A man in the business told me he sometimes finds it difficult to get a good hand, and always prefers to teach a girl. He pays from $2 to $6 a week. The men cut the morocco for linings, and girls roll down the edge by running it through a small machine.

=513. Tobacco Strippers.= In tobacco factories, women are generally employed to strip the leaves from the stems. Smoking tobacco is cut in machines, and put in papers of different sizes. But little chewing tobacco is prepared in the Southern and Western States, though some factories have commenced it in the West during the last few years. Some leaf tobacco is put up in the South by slaves. In the West it is difficult to get hands, but in New York there is a surplus, though they are the very dregs of society. A. told me the women he employs are mostly Irish, and of low origin. They are generally old women, not fit for much else, and they are quite as poorly paid as in any other branch of labor. The part done by women is not unhealthy, though some of the parts done by men in close rooms are thought to be unhealthy. H. pays by the pound for stripping, and the girls earn from $2 to $4 a week. They sit while at work. In packing they stand, because they can do more. He employs his hands all the year. For packing tobacco in papers and boxes the girls are paid by the paper, and earn about the same as the strippers. The work is dirty, and the hands change their clothes when they come and go. It requires some time to acquire expertness. H. considers tobacco very healthy, if not taken inwardly to excess. He says tobacco workers never have fevers. (?) I went through G.'s factory. I never saw females engaged in such degrading work, and so uncomfortably situated, in all my life. It is far worse than rag picking. A tier of bunks (two on a side), in dark, narrow rooms, the centre filled with hogsheads of tobacco, a hatchway, and machinery made up the furniture of the place. The air was so close and strong, that I was almost stifled during the short time I spent there. The floor was covered with filth and waste tobacco. In the lower bunks, in one room, it was with difficulty I could discover the features of the old women and neglected children, at work. A forewoman had the superintendence, who assisted the workers in weighing the tobacco, and keeping an account of the amount given each. They were mostly Irish. It is very filthy, disagreeable work. Their tobacco strippers are paid fifty cents one hundred pounds. They strip from twenty to fifty pounds a day, earning from $1 to $3 a week. The majority have no homes, but hire lodgings at thirty-seven cents a week, and buy something to eat. They work from seven to half past five or six, having half an hour at noon. At C.'s, the rooms were not so dark, cramped, and uncomfortable as at G.'s. They employ seventy-five women and children. The forewoman told me that a smart hand, working in good leaf, and having constant employment, can earn from $3 to $5 a week. They are paid two cents for three pounds. The packers, if active and skilful, can earn more. At a place on Greenwich street, they pay thirty-five cents per hundred pounds for stripping, and a woman may earn from $1 to $4 a week at it. At packing they can earn from $3 to $6. At L.'s, they employ one hundred and twenty-five girls and women. At packing their girls can earn from $4.25 to $9 a week, working only in daylight. Strippers can earn from $1.50 to $3.50, and are mostly old widow women with children. The foreman thinks it most healthy for packers to stand, as they are thereby saved from stooping. He tries to get the best class of girls he can, but he finds it impossible to secure the services of American girls. I am glad American girls object to working in the filthy weed. The girls at L.'s have employment all the year. M. pays forty cents per hundred pounds for stripping. His strippers earn from thirty to forty cents a day. Some packers are able to earn $1 a day. They have work all the year. Tobacconists in Albany write: "We employ women in papering tobacco, and pay by the dozen, the hands earning from $3 to $5 per week. They work ten hours a day, the year through." A tobacconist in Hartford "pays his women by the week, $3.50, for stripping tobacco. They work ten hours a day. It requires but a few weeks to learn the work done by women." B----'s, of Boston, write: "We always have employment for women, in stripping and papering tobacco, and other light work. They are employed, also, in making cigars. By some physicians the work is considered healthy. We pay by the week, from $3 to $5, working ten hours a day. The men who make cigars are mostly foreigners, thoroughly acquainted with their business, a kind of work which requires a regular apprenticeship to learn. The women never give their time to learn, and we cannot afford to teach them, on account of the low price of goods made in Germany, shipped here by millions. Hence, the men, in their part of the business, earn from $6 to $15 per week. Learners receive their board. It would be much better if a tariff, excluding cheap cigars, were passed. The comfort and remuneration are as good as any branch of female industry. Board, $2 to $3."

=514. Toy Makers.= The thousand and one inventions for amusing children have given exercise to a variety of talents. Any particular style of toy follows the fashion of the world--it passes away, and another takes its place. Pewter toys are made in New York, tin toys in Philadelphia and Connecticut. The reason more toys are not made in this country is the high price of labor and living. Children's drums are made both in the city and country. N. & Co., manufacturers of military and toy drums in Massachusetts, write: "We employ one woman only in our factory, who makes the straps for drums. She works by the piece, and earns $1 a day, boarding herself." A manufacturer of pewter toys, in New York, employs ten or twelve boys. He pays $1.75 per week, of ten hours a day. He could use girls just as well, but prefers boys. I called at a manufactory of tin ware. The proprietor makes tin toys, and employs some women to paint them. The work has to be done on the premises, as the articles have to be subjected to heat after they are painted. The girls work ten hours a day, and are paid $3 a week. H., New York, makes small boats and vessels. They range in price from 37 cents to $30. The highest priced are perfect in all their parts. He pays a woman $80 a year for stitching by machine the edges of the sails. B., manufacturer of mechanical toys, employs twenty girls in soldering and painting. The painting is done by stencils. It requires but a short time to learn. Good hands earn from $2.50 to $4 per week. There are two departments in the manufacture of dolls--making and painting. D. employs women out of the house to make bodies for dolls--muslin stuffed with wadding. G., New York, pays his girls about $4 per week for dressing dolls. At a large store in New York, I was told they employ a number of girls for dressing dolls, paying from $3 to $4 per week. They pay by the piece, according to the size, and style of dress. In busy seasons, the girls are allowed to take some dolls home and dress them in the evening. Doll dressing requires taste, expertness, ingenuity, and economy in cutting the materials. Their room is superintended by a lady. At a store for the sale of fancy goods, on inquiring about the canton-flannel rabbits, mice, &c., I was told they give them to a school girl in Brooklyn to make. She makes them out of school hours, and earns $1.50 per week. They are sewed by a machine, because it can be done faster. The treasurer of a firm manufacturing Yankee notions, in Providence, writes they have six women employed in labelling and packing light goods, who earn from $3 to $6 per week, of ten hours a day. It requires about four weeks to learn to do the work. There is no difference in seasons. What work women do at all they do as well as men. Some places are better than others for this style of manufacture.

=515. Varnishers and Varnish Makers.= In France, women are employed as varnishers of furniture. At some varnish factories, women are employed to separate the good from the imperfect gum, and I think are paid the usual price of woman's work, 50 cents a day. Women might make spirit varnish. Copal varnish has to be boiled, and is liable to take fire. As it requires much strength to stir it, women could not very well make it. The varnishing of pianos could be done by women. A manufacturer of musical instruments told me a solution, one constituent of which is pulverized marble, has been made for varnishing, that is very substantial. A knife can be broken against it, after it has become hardened on furniture. It will probably be used very extensively.

=516. Water Carriers.= "Everywhere on the banks of the Nile, the poorer sort of women may be seen bringing up water from the river, in pitchers, on their heads or shoulders." There are from one hundred to one hundred and fifty water carriers in London, but they are mostly or all men.

EMPLOYMENTS FOR THE AFFLICTED.

=517. Blind Women.= Many blind persons are employed as follows: Attendants in blind institutions, authors, basket makers, bead workers, broom makers, brush makers, carpet and rug weavers, chair seaters, flower and fruit venders, governesses, hair and moss pickers, hucksters, knitters, match sellers, mattress makers, milk sellers, music teachers, netters, newspaper and book agents, paper-box makers, seamstresses, stationers, straw braiders, teachers, umbrella sewers, washerwomen, willow workers. We think they usually engage in their work with pleasure and profit. Fortunately the tools employed in the occupations of the blind do not cost much. So if the blind have a thorough knowledge of some pursuit, and means to keep them until they are established and able to secure constant work, they may feel sure of a comfortable livelihood. Their occupations are of a kind to furnish them with most constant employment in a city. Though the compensation for each article is small, yet, when one's time is fully occupied, the aggregate is considerable.

=518. Deaf Mutes.= Deaf mutes can engage in most branches of book making, fancy work, sewing, shoe making, teach drawing, and teach those afflicted like themselves.

=519. The Lame.= The lame can braid straw, color photographs, copy, cut labels, edit papers, embroider, engrave, make mats, make pens, model, paint, sew--indeed, do almost anything. Lameness is no excuse for idleness. What do lame men do? None of them, that have any self-respect, beg or sit idle because they are lame.

UNUSUAL EMPLOYMENTS.

=520. United States.= Last summer, a lady ascended alone in a balloon, from Palace Garden, N. Y. She went up once in a balloon filled with hot air. She received part of the profits derived from the admittance fees, and the keeper of the garden the other portion, neither of which were very large. Several women have gone up with their husbands. We take the following items from the summary of the San Francisco _Alta California_, of December 5th: "At the recent election, two women were elected to fill office in Placer County--one as justice of the peace, and the other as constable. Each received one vote in the precinct, and there was no opposition." It is seldom that a lady's exertions are called forth as were those of Mrs. Patton, wife of the captain of the ship _Neptune's Car_. Yet, it goes to confirm what we have stated in some other place, that any valuable information acquired will always come in use. We will quote the extract as we saw it in a newspaper, copied from a San Francisco letter: "Fifty days ago, Captain Patton was attacked with the brain fever, and for the last twenty-five days has been blind. Previous to his illness, he had put the first mate off duty on account of his incompetency. After the captain's illness, the second mate took charge of the ship, but he did not understand navigation. The first mate wrote Mrs. Patton a letter, reminding her of the dangers of the coast, and of the great responsibility she had assumed, and offered to take charge of the ship; but she stood by the decision of her husband and declined the offer. She worked up the reckoning every day, and brought the ship safely into port. During all this time she acted as nurse to the captain. She studied medicine to learn how to treat his case, and shaved his head, and by competent care and watchfulness kept him alive. She said that for fifty nights she had not undressed herself. Few women could have done so much and done it so well. She was at once navigator, nurse, and physician, and protector of the property intrusted to her husband." The Geneva _Courier_ notices the appearance in that village "of a strong-armed, strong-backed, and, of course, strong-minded woman, in charge of a canal boat, of which she is owner and captain. She is of German origin, and manages her craft with great ability." In New York, I saw a woman driving a bread wagon, one rolling a wheelbarrow, and another drawing a similar wagon filled with ashes. A few women are employed in charcoal burning in New Jersey.