Part 30

=184. Cloths.= A manufacturer of gray cloth in Vermont writes: "Women are employed at spinning, carding, burling, and weaving. We have ten, because they are more easily obtained than men. We pay women from $2 to $3.50 per week, and board them. They work twelve hours per day. The work done by men requires more than double the experience of that performed by women. Women can learn in four weeks, men in sixteen. Women are paid half wages while learning. They are busy except in the winter. All board with me." C. & Sons, of T., N. Y., write: "Experienced hands receive $3.75 per week--inexperienced $3--board included. Women are not employed at the same work as men. It requires two years to learn our business--six months for women. We adopt the ten-hour system. There is no difference in seasons as to work, except in case of low water. Our labor yields sufficient to keep them until they find an opportunity to marry. They have a good library--ten periodicals every week. They pay for board from $1.50 to $1.75 per week." A manufacturer in Derby, Conn., writes: "We employ about fifteen women, because they are cheaper and more easily obtained; but many are now using male weavers. They earn from $3 to $6 per week, and are paid both ways. They work eleven hours. To work ten instead of eleven hours, we would lose that amount of the product of those who work by the day. I think there is a demand for such labor all through New England, and I do not know where there is a surplus of such help. We have had but few whose parents were born in America. Women might be employed on shearing machines. They are not, because it is as easy getting boys. Women have less strength and endurance, and are less constant at work, but quicker in motion and less liable to bad habits. Board for females from $2.25 to $2.50 per week." A manufacturing company of satinets and printing cloths, Troy, N. Y., give the following information: "We pay from $2.50 to $6 per week, average $4.50. Men and women get the same wages for the same work. Women learn in from two to four weeks. At best it is but partially learned. Some are paid while learning, and some are not. There is now, and always will be full employment. We furnish steady work all the year. The hands work twelve hours per day. The time could be shortened, but the workers would lose by it. There is a demand for female labor of this kind in Cohoes, N. Y. We have sixty-nine women, and one half are Americans. They are well fed and dress better than any other class of working people. Women are more steady and neater than men. They are all Protestant, and their intelligence is about the average. They pay $1.50 per week for good board." The Monsoon Woollen Co., Mass., say: "We pay fourteen mills per yard for weaving. The women make just the same as the men, and perform the same kind of work. They earn on an average eighty-three cents per day of twelve hours. The work can be done without apprenticeship. The prospect is that our business will be on the increase for years. Our help are employed the year round: three quarters are Americans. They have their evenings after seven o'clock. They pay $2 per week for board." The agent of Shady Lee Mills, R. I., writes: "Women are employed in woollen mills in England, Germany, France, and this country. They are paid in our mill by the piece, and earn $5 per week on an average. Women weavers earn as much as men. It takes a lifetime to learn; some learn better than others. Learners are paid. The business is improving daily. Women work all the year round, unless broken down. They work twelve hours a day. The time could not be shortened. The supply of hands about equals the demand in this manufacture. We employ seventy-five women, because they are better for weavers. Nearly all our work people can read and write. Board $1.75." Mr. H., a manufacturer in Massachusetts, writes: He "pays from $14 to $18 a month, working by the piece. While learning they are paid for what they do. They can earn fair wages after two weeks' experience. They work thirteen hours a day, and are employed through the year. There is no surplus of weavers. He employs twenty-five, because they are better adapted to the work. Women are superior in hand work. Board $6 a month." A satinet manufacturer in Maine, writes: "Our women weave by the cut and earn about $6 per week. A person can get an insight of the business in a few years; but to get a thorough knowledge requires at least the English term of apprenticeship--seven years. Women are paid half price while learning. Summer is the best season, but our women are employed the year round. They work twelve hours--which is the usual time here, and less would be a loss. Women are handier than men, and can be boarded for less. We have churches in the village and a good moral influence. Board $1.50 per week; comforts quite equal to those of their homes." Manufacturers in Pittsfield, Mass., inform us "they have a number of women employed in weaving and sewing, mostly weaving. The employment is considered healthy, and the condition of weavers is entirely comfortable, as this is, of course, for the interest of the employers as well as the employées. The average time of work is thirteen hours. The wages paid them is from $4 per week to $6. They are paid by the yard, and their earnings depend upon their attention, activity, and capability. They are paid $3 a week while learning. Women weavers earn quite as much as men, and can stand the confinement as well, if not better. We have no difficulty in keeping our looms supplied, and frequently have applications which we are obliged to reject. We employ sixty women, nearly one half Americans. In this place they have every advantage for moral and mental culture. Those who have parents or friends working in the establishment usually live with them; and those who have not, live at our boarding house, which is as comfortable and well regulated as any house in the country. The price charged for board is from $1.25 to $1.50 per week." A company in North Berwick, Me., writes: "We pay both ways; when by the week, from $2.50 to $4. Males and females do not perform the same kind of work with us. The time of learning varies with the capacities of the women. Some of our hands have been with us more than ten years. Seasons alike. They work eleven hours. We employ twenty-five women, because it is more economical. Not one of our women will do housework. Our employées are Yankee girls--can all read and write; and, so far as we know, converse intelligently on general subjects. They have their evenings and a portion of each Saturday. Board $1.33 ¹/3 per week." We would add that every cotton and woollen manufacturer from whom we have heard, expresses the opinion that their occupation is healthy. All, we believe, pay some hands by the week and some by the piece, and most pay men and women at the same rate for the same kind of work. It will be observed that the rates paid for labor decrease the farther you go North, but that board is also something less.

=185. Coverlets.= A manufacturer of woollen coverlets in Allentown, Penn., answers inquiries in regard to prices paid, &c., as follows: "I employ eight American girls for spooling wool and cotton yarn in my coverlet manufactory, and pay two cents per pound. They earn from $2 to $2.50 per week. I pay girls the same as boys. The prospect for increase of work is good. There is a surplus of hands here. I prefer girls, as they have more patience than boys."

=186. Dry Goods Refinishers.= A. & Co. employ women when busy to put up dress goods, cravats, ribbons, &c. They pay $3 a week. I was told by a satinet printer and refinisher, that he employs one woman to sew the ends of the cloth together. She does it with a machine, and earns $5 a week, working ten hours a day. The coloring matter rubs off on the hands. S. employs some women, and pays $3 a week. He gives them about eight months' employment. During two months in summer and two in winter, there is not enough doing to employ them. He says some women, like some men, know nothing but how to eat. He finds it difficult to get women of intelligence and judgment to do his work. (I should think he would, for such wages.) The girls fold, label, and pack. There are but three large houses of the kind in New York. At another place we saw a girl who gets $3 a week for such work--ten hours a day.

=187. Flannels.= Flannels differ much in color and quality. Employers are unanimous in pronouncing the work healthy. If the sum paid foreign countries for flannels and blankets were invested in manufactories in our country, it would give employment to many, and tend to encourage home industry. A flannel manufacturer in Stockport, New York, writes: "We employ women at weaving and spooling. Women and girls are paid mostly by the piece, and earn from $3 to $5 per week. No males are employed at the same work as females. It usually takes about a week to learn to weave. We do not pay learners. We will increase the number of women as we increase our product. All seasons are alike as respects employment. Our hands work twelve hours per day. The time could not be shortened without loss to both employer and employed. We have about forty females, and prefer them, as it gives the whole family work. Eight tenths are American. The work is as light and comfortable as any in the mill. There is no other work suitable than that in which they are now engaged. All our women can read and write, and are already quite intelligent, particularly the Americans. We do not employ many under sixteen years of age, and those younger are usually sent to school a part of the year. Board is $6 per month in good, respectable families." A manufacturer in Dover, Maine, replies to a circular asking information: "I employ women as weavers, carders, spoolers, and one as a warper-on to draw the web. Women earn from $2.75 to $5 per week, eleven hours per day. Weavers are paid by the piece. I pay men from 83 cents to $1.50 per day. Women do the lighter and easier work. Some parts are not adapted to women, that is one reason why we pay less, and perhaps custom has something to do with the prices of labor. Women learn their part in from one to six weeks, but it requires some years of experience to be a manufacturer. For some kinds of work we pay from the beginning; for others, after one or two weeks. The prospect is fair; work, constant. In large manufacturing places, there is a demand for labor of this kind. Women are employed because they work cheaper. Women do their kind of work better than men. Our women are Americans, and appear to enjoy life well. They have the early morning and evening, and the Sabbath for themselves. More than one half are church members. Those that have relations living near the factory, board with them, and pay $1.50 per week." A manufacturer in Conway, Massachusetts, writes: "We employ women in weaving, burling, sewing, and numbering flannels. They receive from 50 cents to $1 per day of twelve hours. Women doing the same kind of labor as men receive the same price. It requires from one to four weeks to learn. If our business does not pay better in future than the past, we had better stop. In the more difficult part of our work there is a demand for hands. Men make better work than women. One fourth are American. Board, $1.50, to $1.75." A manufacturer in Morgantown, New York, writes: "The employment is as healthy as any indoor work. The wages average about $5 per week, they being paid by the piece. It takes about four years to learn the business, so as to conduct it in its several branches. I pay their expenses while learning. The best season is the fall. Work lasts ten hours--if obliged to run longer, we pay extra. We think women more to be depended on than men. We have no department suitable for women but what is filled by them. Board, $2 a week--quite good. In the cities board is seldom over $2 per week for workwomen. The rent and price of provisions are too high to keep a boarding house as it should be on such terms. Our wages may be lower in the country, but expenses are much lower also, and consequently the laborer is able to save more money." Manufacturers in Keene, N. H., write: "We pay one half $3, the other, $3.80 per week, twelve hours a day. We pay the same to both sexes when the quantity and quality are the same. A carder will learn in one month, a weaver in three months. The qualities wanted are industry, sobriety, perseverance, constructiveness, and amiability. All seasons alike good. To shorten the time of thirteen hours would be a loss to both parties. All branches are well supplied with workers. Women have more patience, tact, neatness, and are more reliable than men. All our women are well fed, well clothed, well housed, and some possess the luxuries, and even elegancies of life. We have six places of worship, a public library, book stores, and newspapers in abundance. Board, $1.50."

=188. Gloves.= Kid, silk, cotton, and woollen are the kinds of gloves most used. They differ much in quality. Kid and leather are most numerous. The price of labor, the difficulty in obtaining the best kid, and the want of experienced workmen, are such that the finest kid gloves have not been made in the United States. An immense number of kid gloves are annually imported. In Paris, women are paid from sixty cents to $1 a dozen for sewing gloves. The French excel in the manufacture of kid gloves. French workmen are very economical in cutting out the kid. In France 375,000 dozens of skins are cut into gloves every year. Nearly 3,500 female glove sewers are employed in Vienna. Immense quantities of buckskin gloves and mittens are made in Johnstown and Gloversville, New York. "Most American manufactures have been introduced by sending the goods into the country by peddlers, or the manufacturers themselves selling them in that way. This trade was commenced so." The manufacture of buckskin gloves and mittens is mostly confined to small towns and the country. The cutting is done by men. The sewing is given out to those who do the work at home, and receive for their labor from $1 to $6 per week. It requires but a few weeks to learn. A manufacturer of kid and buckskin gloves, in Philadelphia, has all his sewing done by hand. He will not use machines for cutting out and sewing, as it would throw many of his workwomen out of employment. Those who are neat and intelligent obtain a very good livelihood by it. They take the work home, and earn $6 a week or more; beginners only $1.50 or $2. The kid is imported from South America, and not so fine as French kid. A glove manufacturer, New York, who lived in Johnstown eighteen years, told me that "girls can earn at glove sewing from $3 to $6 a week. Those who board in the families of their employers receive less, because of their board. Many gloves are made up by farmers' daughters at home, both by hand and machine. A good sewer would not find it difficult to make gloves. Most of the gloves made in factories are stitched by machines. Singer's and Grover & Baker's are preferred. Handworkers do not receive quite so good wages. Women used to cut out gloves with scissors, but now men cut them by striking with a hammer a tool the shape of a glove. The plan is preferred, because of being cheaper. The knowledge of dressing kid seems to be lost to foreigners in coming over the ocean." A manufacturer in Springfield, Mass., writes: "We employ some women in making buckskin gloves and mittens. Some work by the piece, and some by the week, and earn from $3 to $5. Those who work by the week spend ten hours, sewing. It takes females from two hours to four weeks to learn. Patience, perseverance, and taste are needed by learners. The best season for work is from February to November. They are out of work about two months at times. Most are Americans. They can use a needle better than a man." A glover in Salem writes: "Our women sew by hand, and earn $3 per week. Men spend three years in learning--women six months. The prospect for work is poor, as importation is destroying the business." A manufacturer at Gloversville writes: "Women earn from $3 to $5 a week, ten hours a day. Males get as much again as women. A smart woman will learn in eight months. Prospect of work in the future is good." Manufacturers in Broadalbin, N. Y., write me they employ twelve American women at the shop, and about one hundred out of the shop, finishing up. When paid by the week, they receive from $2 to $4.50, and work ten hours a day. The comparison in prices in male and female labor is about $2 to $1, for the reason that it requires more strength, labor, and skill to perform the man's part. Men spend two or three years in learning--women, six months. Punctuality, sobriety, and a liberal education, together with a steady nerve, will insure success in our business. (Some one else suggests, mechanical talent.) As long as there are feet to wear moccasins, and hands to wear gloves, our kind of business must thrive. Board in neat and commodious houses, $2 for women." A glover in New Hampshire writes: "Women sew by the piece for me; most have families, do their own work, and sew when they can--so I cannot say how much they would earn, if they sewed constantly. A man would have to spend from two to four years qualifying himself to superintend; the part done by women can be learned in from two to six weeks. Summer is the best season, but good workers have constant employment. All are Americans. Any locality is good where water power may be had. Ladies pay for board from $1.50 to $1.70 per week." Another in Perth, N. Y., says: "Some of our workers use sewing machines; others fit and prepare the goods for them. They earn from $3 to $4.75. The male and female labor is different in our establishment. I think the business permanent. Best time for work is from 1st of March to 1st of November. They work all daylight, except at meal times. When a certain amount of work is required in a given time, the women are apt to overwork themselves and slight the work. The wives and daughters of mechanics and farmers do the piecework at their homes. All Americans. Board, from $1.75 to $2." "At Gloversville the men cut, and machines do the sewing. Five pair of mits and two pair of gloves are a heavy days work. Gloves are worth 75 cents per day to cut; and to make from 12½ cents for a light article, to 18 cents for heavy ones."--Woollen Gloves. I was told by a man who employed eight girls to crochet woollen gloves for him, that he pays fifty cents a dozen pairs. He makes over five cents profit on a pair when selling to the wholesale stores; and in retailing, nine cents a pair. He says a right expeditious girl can make one dozen pairs a day. He employs his girls all the year. Most that attempt to learn find their progress so slow that they get discouraged, and give it up. It is best to learn early in life. The Germans excel.

=189. Linseys.= An agent for a manufacturing company of linseys and flannels in Rhode Island, writes: "I employ fifty-eight women in spooling yarn and weaving, and pay from $3 to $5 a week. Our men are paid $1 per day, because they are able to do more. Men run three looms; girls, two. The organs that manufacture vitality in women are not allowed, by lacing strings, to attain more than two thirds their natural size. If nature could have her way with them, especially when young, they would earn more in the weaving shop than men, because they are naturally quicker and smarter. They are paid something while learning, which requires three months. Good female workers have always been scarce since I have been in the business--twenty years. We might employ more, if we could get them. April, May, and June are the most busy seasons. They work twelve hours. To shorten the time two hours would make one sixth difference, which the work people would not be willing to lose. We have more families than single help. Those who board pay from $1.75 to $2.25 per week. The boarding houses have to be helped by us, to enable them to take boarders at these prices." Mr. T., writing from Rhode Island, mentions, in addition to the branches stated above as performed by women, that of warping. He informs us, the work is not more unhealthy than housework, but complains that his women are careless, in bad weather, going to and from the mill. "Wages, when running full time, average from $3.75 to $6 per week. Weavers are paid by the yard, spoolers by the bunch, warpers by the web, and extra hands by the week. Men's wages are from 75 cents to $1.25 per day, but men's board is from 50 to 75 cents per week more. The prospect for work in the future depends upon the state of the country. Spring and summer are the best seasons for work. From March 20th to October 20th, the hands work from seven to seven; from October to March, until 8 P. M. Their wages are according to the number of yards woven; so of course it is to their interest, as well as our own, to run full time. We find male labor scarcer than female. Most of our hands are Americans. Our mills are well ventilated and well warmed. The company have a boarding house under their own supervision, but the women are at liberty to board in private families, and some do. The majority of young ladies in our employ are farmers' daughters, not really compelled to work, but prefer to do it, and in most instances use the means for obtaining an education. Instrumental music is taught in a seminary near the mill, by a young lady, who obtained her education with the means gained by working in this mill. We have from one to three nights every week devoted to literary societies, reading circles, &c., in all of which, the ladies from this and neighboring mills take an active part. Some eight or ten who worked at the mill during the summer are now attending school. Board $2.25 for men; $1.75 for women." The proprietor of the Kenyon mills, R. I., writes: "Probably one half the operatives in mills, in this part of the world, are women. Weavers are paid by the yard, and earn from $3 to $6 per week. Men are generally hired by the day. An intelligent woman will be able to run her loom after two or three weeks' practice. It is common to put learners on looms with experienced weavers for two or three weeks. From 20th March to 20th September, my working time is from sunrise to sunset, the remainder of the year, until eight o'clock in the evening. My weavers prefer to work full time as they are paid by the yard. There is generally a demand for good weavers in this part of the country all the year. Weavers make most money in summer. Large mills are being supplied with foreign help. Very few Americans are willing to work with them. Women are employed in mills on all kinds of work which they can do, and are preferred because they are more steady. Nearly all my mill girls are daughters of farmers in the neighborhood, and have had a fair common school education. Several of my weavers take newspapers or other periodicals, and carry them into the mill to read, when they can do so without interfering with their work. Some take sewing or knitting. Board $1.75 for women; $2.25 for men. If we did not keep comfortable boarding houses, our help would find employment in other places. Any smart, good girls, who want work, need have no hesitation in coming to Rhode Island to look for work in mills."

=190. Woollen Shawls.= The secretary of the Waterloo Woollen Shawl Company writes: "Women are employed by us in weaving, carding, &c. The work is not unhealthy. It is paid for mostly by the piece, and hands earn from $2.50 to $3 per week. Most of them earn as much as males; and some, more. They are employed twelve hours. Skill, industry, and good character are necessary. The prospect of future employment is good. There is no difference in the seasons for work. In weaving there is no surplus. We employ two hundred and fifty women, because they do better work than men. We employ but very few young girls, and they generally work at home under the eyes of parents, and attend school at least four months in the year."

=191. Shoddy.= At flock or shoddy manufactories, girls are employed to separate rags of different qualities and colors, and to cut the seams and buttons off. The rags are placed in machines and cut to pieces, then put in other machines that grind them to flocks. From them satinet is made. Women are paid so much one hundred pounds, and earn from $1.50 to $3 per week. They are busy all the year. It is dirty work, and, I think, unwholesome on account of the dust. Boys attend the machinery for cutting and grinding, and are paid about the same wages as the girls, and probably a little more. Girls could just as well attend the machines. Modern improvements have made wool shoddy susceptible of receiving a fine dye, and it is made into cloth for soldiers' and sailors' uniforms, and for pilot coats; into blanketing, drugget, stair and other carpeting, and into very beautiful table covers. A manufacturer of wool shoddy in Massachusetts writes: "I employ Irish women at $3 per week, of eleven hours a day in winter and twelve in summer. Men receive $6 per week. Women cannot perform their labor. It requires two weeks to learn. They receive small wages the first two or three weeks. The business is probably permanent. The work is hard. Women do best for picking and sorting stock and tending cards. They pay $1.50 a week for Irish fare."

=192. Yarn.= A manufacturer of stocking yarn, in Spring Valley, New York, writes: "Girls are employed in twisting and reeling yarn. The employment is not unhealthy. We pay some by the piece, and some by the week; those by the week receive $2.50. The wages are the same for men and women. To learn the whole business requires from three to five years; that part done by girls, from one to two months. They are paid while learning. The prospect of employment is as good as that of business generally. Our girls work the year round; they work eleven hours. To shorten the time would be a disadvantage to us, and a loss in wages to the hands. Boys would do for us, but are not so easily governed. The work is easy and comfortable." A yarn manufacturer in Stoughton, Mass., writes me: "I pay $2 per week, and furnish board to those that twist and card. The labor of the women is much cleaner and easier than that of the men. Men receive from $1 to $1.75 per day, board included. I charge them $2.50 per week--women $1.75. Much of the men's labor requires strength, knowledge, and skill. It requires two or three months to learn it well. Women work, on an average, eleven hours and a half. I should like the ten-hour system, but cannot adopt it, unless others do the same. The supply of hands is adequate to the demand. Ladies have done some parts of our work, now performed by men, and have received equal wages; but the labor being hard, and women's dress being inconvenient, we have abandoned the plan."

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=193. Silk Manufacture.= The duty on raw silk is so very great that it will not do to import it into the United States for manufacture. We suppose, if a duty in proportion to their value were levied on silk and linen goods, we would no longer be so dependent on other nations for these articles. Or if a reduction were made on the duty of the raw material, capitalists would establish silk manufactures in the United States. Individual failures here are attributed by some to ignorance and want of experience; by others, to the nature of the climate. The support afforded by our Government to the culture of silk has been very fickle--to-day encouraged, to-morrow neglected. The experiments that have been made prove the feasibility of growing the mulberry, and raising the silkworm in this climate. The silk produced was of good quality, and, but for imperfect implements and want of experience, might have done well. The cheapness of labor in older countries affords an advantage that we have not. Most of the raw silk manufactured in the United States comes from China. The women there rear silkworms; they also reel and weave the silk. Not many years back silk winding was done by men in England. "In the silk factories in France, there are two unwholesome processes entirely carried on by women: the first is the drawing of the cocoons, when the hands must be kept constantly in boiling water, and the odor of the putrefying insects constantly fills the lungs; the second is carding the floss, the fine lint of which affects the bronchial tubes. Six out of every eight women employed, die in a few months. Healthy young girls from the mountains soon develop tubercular consumption; and, to complete the dreadful tale, they are kept upon the lowest wages, being paid only twenty cents, where a man would earn sixty." "One silk manufacturer in Valencia, Spain, gives employment to 170 women and young girls." In Lyons, France, many women are employed in the silk manufacture, for particulars of which see Revue des Deux Mondes, Feb. 15th, 1860. Silk weavers mostly work in attics, where they can have the best light to distinguish shades of colors, and where the silk, which moisture would damage, can be kept perfectly dry. In Spitalfields, the silk manufacture is mostly carried on by the workmen at their homes, their families assisting. Each child has his own branch, and the wife hers. It is the same case in the making of lace, artificial flowers, embroidery, straw braiding, &c. The strength of silk is greater than that of cotton, flax, or wool. Machinery is now employed for winding the silk off of cocoons, but formerly it was done by hand. Mrs. O. told us her husband employs a few girls to spool silk, which he dyes for a large dress trimming manufactory next door. The girls earn from $2 to $3 a week. The pasting of patterns of floss silk upon cards was done by men a few years ago in England, but women, after great effort, have succeeded in gaining the work, so much more suitable for them. "A lady in Jefferson county, Ia., has made herself a handsome silk dress from cocoons of her own raising." A manufacturer of silk goods in Paterson, N. J., writes: "We mostly employ girls from twelve to eighteen. The work is not unhealthy. Average pay is $3 per week. To learn, a girl must be about twelve years of age; it takes about two months. Pay begins after two weeks. To learn, one should be smart with her hands, and careful with the material. There is a good prospect ahead for weavers. All seasons are good, except during a panic. They work twelve hours. The time could not be shortened conveniently. If other States worked less time, we could too. We employ a hundred girls and twenty-five boys. Seventy-five per cent. are American. Board, $1.75. Women could be employed more extensively in weaving. Men are employed upon the spinners, women in winding, &c."

=194. Ribbons.= In England, formerly, a woman was not at all engaged in ribbon weaving, as the men thought it an encroachment on their sphere of labor; nor were they even allowed to wind silk preparatory to its use in weaving. Manufacturers of ribbon in West Newton, Massachusetts, write: "We employ from forty to eighty women, and prefer them to men in all departments they are fitted for. They are paid by the week, and earn from $2 to $6, according to the value of their work. It requires from six months to a year to learn the business. Women are paid something while learning. Good character and fair capacity are needed. Our women work eleven hours. If the time was reduced to ten, the loss would be the use of machinery. There is a surplus of hands in New York, by reason of immigration. Women are inferior in mechanical skill, superior in steadiness."

=195. Sewing Silk.= The first factory for spinning silk in this country was established in Northampton, Massachusetts. There are 156 hands in Massachusetts, engaged in the manufacture of sewing silk. Two other factories have been established since then in Paterson, New Jersey; one for the manufacture of the raw silk, and the other the manufacture of sewing silks, fringes, gimps, and tassels. There is a manufactory in Mansfield, Connecticut, and one in Newport, Kentucky. Most of the sewing silk used in this country under the name of Italian silk is made by American manufacturers. An agent for the manufacture of twist in Paterson, New Jersey, told me their best hands do not earn over $3.50 a week and work eleven hours. They try girls, that wish to learn, two weeks, and if they find them fitted for the work, pay $1 a week. There is no danger from the machinery as in cotton factories, nor has it the unhealthy tendency of cotton, as there are no particles flying from the material like the lint that flies from cotton. It does not require an apt person long to learn. The girls stand all the time. They have to watch the machinery, and tie the threads that break. The agent said, in the Eastern States girls are paid better in silk factories, but they are more competent workers. There some earn from sixty to eighty cents per day. The work is neat and clean. Some manufacturers of sewing machine silk and twist write me from Boston: "We employ fifty women winding and twisting silk. They work eleven hours in winter and twelve in summer, and earn from $3 to $6 per week. Some are paid by the piece and some by the week. Men are paid from $1 to $2.50 a day. Integrity and activity are wanted. The prospect for future employment is good. They work at all seasons. One fourth are Americans. No parts of our occupation are suitable for women but those in which they are engaged." A sewing silk manufacturer in Paterson, N. J., writes: "Our women are engaged in winding and doubling the raw silk and finishing, in skeins and on spools, the dyed material. The work is generally considered healthy. Many children, boys and girls, from ten years and upward, are employed--say forty per cent. of the whole force of help; children at $1 per week--women at $3 and $4. They work sixty-nine hours to the week. State rights prevent the shortening of the time. Each State makes its own laws on the subject, and no unanimity exists. Males and females are employed up to a certain age, say fifteen years, indiscriminately; girls always preferred. The time of learning depends upon the quickness of the hand; some learn in two or three days, some again can scarcely learn at all. The rule of the trade is not to pay learners. It depends on circumstances whether we pay. In brisk times we have about sixty (including children)--women about forty--perhaps less. About half are Americans. Crinoline is in the way to prevent women from performing other parts of the labor. Women are cheaper. Men could not be got, and could scarcely do the work, if they could. Yet no particular qualifications are required. The prospect for an increase of this manufacture depends upon congressmen and the tariff. The best seasons are immediately after the New Year's and Fourth of July holidays." In France, some girls are employed to wind the raw silk from cocoons, and some spin it into skeins of silk. In Dublin, many women are employed in the winding and picking of silk used in making poplin. Near Algiers is an orphan asylum, from which a large number of girls have been apprenticed to a gentleman who owns a silk winding mill in the vicinity. The girls work twelve hours a day.

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=196. Lace Makers.= Large numbers of women are employed in lace making in Belgium, France, Ireland, and England. A normal lace school was established in Dublin in 1847. Lace makers are very closely confined, and in busy times many spend from twelve to twenty hours at their work. Lace making requires care, quickness, and dexterity. Rev. Mr. Hanson mentions the fact that, in Liverpool, there are three Roman Catholic institutions aided by the Privy Council for the industrial training of girls: one, attended by forty pupils, is a laundry; another is a lace school, attended by one hundred and sixty-six; the third, attended by twenty-six, trains domestic servants. Lace making is so injurious to the eyes that, at forty, very few can carry it on without spectacles. In England the process of winding is conducted by young women, while boys are mostly employed as lace threaders. Their condition is a wretched one. Women are mostly employed as lace runners or embroiderers. Mending, drawing, pearling, and joining are mostly done by young children. An interesting account of the business is given in Charlotte Elizabeth's story of the "Lace Runners": "It is proved by unquestionable evidence, that in lace making it is customary for children to work at the age of four or five and six years; and instances are found in which a child, only two years old, was set to work by the side of its mother." The present condition of most of the laboring classes in England is far more depressing and exhausting than the slavery that exists among the colored population of the United States. "The powers of production of a machine for making laces are to hand labor nearly as 30,000 to 5." C. says he and his wife are the only makers of hand lace in the United States, and he has been nine years in the business here. He says, making the figures is most difficult; and he showed me one figure he asked but twenty-eight cents for, that he stated it would require a day and a half to make. I wish I had offered to buy it. He employs a number of girls to put the figures on some kind of a foundation for collars, sleeves, and capes. They also transfer, mend lace, and do other such work. He says, making figures does not pay as well as the other parts, and it would not pay for the salt you use on your potatoes. He does not have lace made, except now and then a figure that cannot be obtained, to fill out a piece that is being transferred or altered, and for which the lady is willing to pay a good price. He says laces are made so much cheaper in the old country, that when imported, paying even a duty of twenty or twenty-five per cent., they are sold as cheap as those he makes. He says he pays his girls nearly twice as much as they are paid in Europe. His report I thought contradictory, and supposed he feared competition. I was told by an English woman, who had been accustomed to making lace from six years of age until the last ten, that it takes seven or eight years to learn lace making in all its parts. She says there are twenty-one processes gone through with in making every kind but pillow lace, in which there are but five processes. When she was a child, none but common laces were made in France, and the making of their finest laces they learned from the English, who went over to France.

=197. Lace Menders.= I called on M. W., a lace mender. "In New York, she has received from one store, Mme. G.'s, from $20 to $25 a week for work. She thinks in a few years very little work will be ordered from the stores; it will be done by those who make a business of it. The stores derive a handsome profit. She did a piece for one store for $3, that she knows the lady paid $5 for having done; and another piece at $3, that the lady paid $10 for--the storekeeper having such profits for nothing but merely sending it to the lace transferrer. She makes a comfortable living, but works at night as well as through the day. It has injured her eyes and made her nervous. She has had two little girls learning to mend, alter, and transfer lace; one received her board and clothing for her work for three years. One girl, that spent two years with her, is now obtaining a livelihood by her work. She thinks if a bright, steady girl of thirteen should spend two years at it, and then have friends to start her in business, she would be well able to support herself. Lace mending is a separate branch from lace making. In England, if a person can obtain the names of one or two wealthy families, it will at once establish them in business. In doing up lace, little girls can put the pins in the edges to keep it in place until dried. C. and Mme. G., she says, pay her as her customers would, but she prefers establishing herself, and does not so well like store work. Her customers recommend her to their friends, and so she will gradually become known. Lace mending is a nice, clean, respectable business, and can be done at home."

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=198. Hair Cloth Manufacture.= "There is some competition in the sale of foreign and domestic hair cloth. The American is of a better quality, and on that ground only are manufacturers able to compete with foreigners, the duty on hair cloth being low. When the hair has been separated from the short hair used for curling, it goes into the more delicate fingers of the hair drawers, who sort it into lengths, each length corresponding to the width of the cloth to be woven. We have seldom seen any mechanical operation requiring more dexterity or constant attention than this. The girls engaged in this work make from $3 to $3.50, and sometimes $4 a week. The weaving is done by hand looms, each worked by two girls--one to handle the hook (answering the purpose of a shuttle), and the other to serve the hair. The prices paid for weaving vary from twenty to thirty-two cents per yard. The average, including plain and figured cloth, is twenty-four cents. A fair average day's work is four or five yards. But this requires two hands, you must remember; so that perhaps a fair estimate of the wages of hair cloth weavers would be from fifty to sixty-two and a half cents per day. The labor is severe, and we should think it impossible, without injury to the health, for young women to work at it more than two thirds of the time." At a hair-cloth manufactory in New York, I was told they employ one hundred girls. The proprietor says they have work all the year. He never knew a woman at the business that could not find employment. The first month they do not receive anything for their work, but after that can earn from $3 to $5 per week. It is paid for by the yard. The more practice a worker has, the better she succeeds. I think it must be dirty work. Another manufacturer told me it does not require long to learn to weave hair cloth, but some time to do it well. He pays $5 per week, but their time is not limited to ten hours. The girls, I saw, were pale and filthy. He thinks the business is likely to extend, and, consequently, the prospect of employment to women in that field of labor is good. He keeps his girls all the year. The Providence Hair Cloth Co. write: "Women are employed in weaving our hair cloth. Every hair has to be put in separately by the fingers of the girl. The only disadvantage to the health of the girl is the close application in sitting so long. We pay our girls thirteen cents per yard for weaving. It requires about two weeks or one month before a girl becomes sufficiently accustomed to the work to weave on full speed. We pay them while learning. No qualifications needed, only general neatness and upright moral character. All seasons are alike. We work only ten hours. Thirty girls have each one loom with which to work; one girl mends the cloth, and three shave and trim the same--making thirty-four in all. One half are American. Women are in all respects superior to men in weaving--same as in cotton looms."

METAL MANUFACTURES.

=199. Iron.= "The great heat to be endured and the severe muscular power required, preclude women from the manufacture of iron goods. They are not directly employed, and to a small extent indirectly. We think when women have to perform what is unquestionably man's work, it lowers the standard of female character instead of elevating, and nothing is more disagreeable than to be constantly employed at labor uncongenial to one's nature." From the United States census we learn that in 1850 there were engaged in the manufacture of pig iron 20,298 males, 150 females; in the manufacture of casting iron, 23,541 males, 48 females; in the manufacture of wrought iron, 16,110 males, 138 females. We do not know exactly how these women were employed. The work in rolling mills is very severe and the heat intense. The men have their limbs cased in tin sheaths above their knees. The vast capital required to develop the mineral resources of a country, and the comparative newness of our country, have hitherto prevented more than a partial development of its resources. Many women are employed in dressing and sorting ore in Great Britain.

=200. Files.= The notches in files are made by a chisel acted on by a hammer held in the hand. The edge thrown up in making the notch assists the workman in putting the chisel in the right place, and keeping it there while he cuts the next notch. "It is peculiar that hitherto no machine has been constituted, capable of producing files which rival those cut by the human hand." From a manufacturer in Massachusetts, we learn that "he employs from four to six girls in cutting fine work files, cleaning, and wrapping up, &c. They are largely employed in England. The work is considered healthy. They receive from $3 to $4.50 per week of ten hours a day. Men and women are paid equal wages for the same kind of work. It requires from six months to two years to learn. The prospect for a small number in each factory is good. There is work every day in the year. It is quite a new business in this country. Women are neater and more particular with their work than men. They could do some other parts that are suitable for them, but they would soil their hands too much." A file manufacturer writes me: "Women are paid by the piece in cutlery--in other departments by the day; when by the piece, they receive as much as men; when by the day, one half. It would require three or four years to learn. Most women cannot cut any but small files as well as men, as they have not sufficient muscular power in the hands and fingers. Women are taught in Sheffield, England, by their fathers and brothers, and have what they earn. Good eyesight and stout nerves are the requisites for a learner. No prospect of employment in our business at present. The best localities for manufactures are where files are wanted, in New England and the middle States."

=201. Guns.= One manufacturer writes: "I hardly know whether the work could be done by women. It is difficult to learn and hard to practise." A gunsmith told me, guns could be polished by women. They are polished by hand. A manufacturer of guns writes: "I have no women employed in my factory. It is not common for them to work at this business in America, although many of them are employed by gun makers in foreign countries."

=202. Hinges.= A manufacturer of hinges writes: "We employ no women in our manufactory. There are portions of the work that might be done by females as well as male labor. Still we have not adopted the plan." A manufacturer writes from New Britain, Connecticut: "We employ women in packing goods, and making brass hinges, and pay from thirty-eight to sixty-five cents per day of ten hours. We formerly paid women $1.50 per day. We now get the same amount done by girls for sixty-five cents. We employ them because the work is light, and we can get it done at that price. The part done by women requires one month to learn. The prospect for this work in future is good. Spring and fall are the best seasons, but our hands are employed the year round. Other parts of the work could be done by women if they were willing, but the work is dirty. They are superior to men in the same branch, as they handle the work quicker, and are, as a general thing, more steady and reliable. The housework here is mostly done by Irish girls, while American girls prefer working in shops, even at less wages. There are many other branches of our work that might be done by females, for which we pay men $1 and $1.25 per day; but the work is rather dirty, and few here would do it, as they can have cleaner work, and we have never sought that kind of help on that account."

=203. Locks.= "The Newark Lock Company" employ eight American girls in packing hardware. They are paid by the week, from $3 to $5, and average half the pay of men, who do more laborious work. Women spend six or eight months learning. Activity and neatness are desirable qualities. Women excel in both qualities. We expect to double our business in a year or two. The women work ten hours per day, and have steady employment. Two thirds of all the locks used in the United States are made in the five large lock manufactories of Connecticut. The best locality is near the great emporium, and on tide water, to save freight. Board $2.50." The secretary of the Eagle Lock Company writes: "We employ from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men, and only twenty girls. Our work is not suitable for females, except to pack our locks in paper ready for market. They work by the piece, and can earn from $10 to $25 per month, according to how they employ themselves. They are mostly daughters of men employed by us, and board at home. They are all Yankee girls. We only work ten hours, unless business is driving." "Hardware manufacturers in Cromwell, Connecticut, pay eight women from 50 to 62½ cents per day for packing. They work ten hours a day. The work can be learned in one month. The prospect of work in future is good. Board $1.62 per week." Manufacturers in N. Britain write: "We pay by the day from 50 to 60 cents, ten hours' work. Women are not generally better paid than they now are, because they compete with each other so much in the light, easy, and clean branches of labor, and meet competition in light work from boys. Their time of learning is from six months to a year, and half never learn. They are paid while learning. An eye for putting up work true to the square, and quick fingers, are the most essential qualifications. The business is constantly increasing. Work is the same, or nearly so, at all seasons. Girls employed by us have every personal comfort and convenience that is possible, and are paid as much as men for the same labor. Most of our work is more or less greasy and dirty from iron and brass filings. Girls usually have less natural mechanical intelligence, we think. It may be, however, that the want is from their inexperience in mechanical branches. Our impressions are that New England is the place for manufacturing small wares, requiring great activity and industry. Our workers have the use of a public library and lectures free. Board, $7 to $8 per month--thirty to thirty-one days." A manufacturer of trunk castors, in Massachusetts, writes me that he once employed girls to paint castors, and put them in packages for the dealers.

=204. Nails.= Making wrought nails is too hard work for women. A manufacturing company of nails, in Boston, write me there are no women employed in the nail factories of New England. The work is exceedingly heavy. Another manufacturing company write, they have never known of women being employed in making nails in any country. But we know that in France, women are employed in turning the wheel in making nails, and at Sedgley, E., and the neighboring villages, the number of girls employed in nail making considerably exceeds that of the boys. In England, the part done by girls is attending machinery that splits iron into the proper widths for nails.

=205. Rivets.= A manufacturer writes: "We believe no manufacturer employs women in our particular branch of industry. The business requires great strength and exposure to furnaces." The writer suggests that in iron moulding, perhaps a new career might be opened for women. "Innumerable small castings are now being made, such as buckles, eyes, rings, &c., for harness making. As this work is exceedingly light, requiring skilful manipulation, it might be within the scope of women to undertake this branch of industry." The casting is dangerous. The mixture of gases in the hot metal sometimes produces a blowing--that is, the metal is thrown into the air, falling oftentimes on the workers, penetrating their clothes and burning them. A woman's clothes would be unsuitable for this work. The moulding is very light, easy work, and we think as suitable for women as most mechanical labor.

=206. Screws.= The processes in making screws are forging, turning up, nicking, worming, and tipping. The cutting and polishing of screws, in Birmingham, are chiefly done by women. The machinery used requires care and delicacy.

=207. Skates.= Skate manufacturers in Maine write: "We employ from ten to twelve ladies to stitch skate leathers, for about two months in the year, November and December. They are paid by the piece, and average 50 cents a day. All are Americans. Board, $1.50 per week. In the New England States, more American women are employed than foreigners, particularly in country towns."