«Труд женщин: Энциклопедия женской работы»

226. Пилы. A saw maker says, in England women are employed in lacquering the handles and polishing the blades of saws. An Englishman, who did a very extensive business in New York, employed girls in the same way, but he failed in business, and none have been employed since. W. pays boys for such work $2.50 a week. Another informant writes me that in England women are employed in the saw manufactories.

227. Ножницы. In France, women are employed in the manufacture of cutlery. The blades of scissors are polished by women on lathes supplied with emery powder and oil, and subsequently on lathes supplied with crocus.

228. Очки. S. says there are women in England and France who make spectacle frames for them. He employs a woman to grind the glasses of spectacles. She can earn $15 a week, and has earned $23 a week by taking work home with her to do at night. On Nassau street, I saw a French lady who grinds glasses for spectacles on a lathe. She works from nine to five o'clock, and earns about $9 a week. There is not the danger some might apprehend of glass flying into the eyes while at work. Yet it requires great care and skill. I called at a manufactory of silver-plated spectacles and saw the whole process. Several parts are done by women. One was shaping the frames for the eyes, another setting them up, another preparing them to solder, another soldering, and three others were scouring. The soldering must be uncomfortable in warm weather. The employment, I suppose, is not more unhealthy than any other of a mechanical nature. One girl told me she earned seventy-five cents per day. They are paid by the quantity. She said the rest could earn as much, if they were industrious. One considerably older, at another branch, said she could earn $4 a week. It would not require more than a few weeks, I think, to learn any branch pursued by women—to learn all the parts performed by women, would require six months or more, even for an apt and skilful pupil. A spectacle maker, J., said a smart person could learn to make silver spectacles in a year, but it would require something longer to learn to make gold ones, as gold is a more difficult metal to melt and work than silver. An apprentice is not paid the first year, because of the metal he wastes. To learn it, one should at first look on and see how the work is done. A manufacturer of spectacles writes: "Women might make and repair spectacles. The heavier parts of the business require foot lathes to be worked, where skirts would be out of place, but the most could be done by hand in making spectacles." (We have seen several women at foot lathes, polishing watch cases—so the use of foot lathes need not be an objection with women.) A spectacle importer writes: "We use a great many spectacle glasses, and in their manufacture in England females are generally employed. In France and Germany the women do the same kind of work." P., in Meriden, Conn., writes: "We employ women in making spectacles. The work is not more unhealthy than any other labor in shops. Most are paid by the piece—those who work by the week usually receive $4, and work ten hours a day. They receive about three fourths the price of male labor, because they perform the lighter work. They earn their board in one week—get good wages in eight. They usually do about the same amount of work through the year. We employ about fifty, because they are more active on light work, and can be had for less wages. Most are Americans. Girls prefer this to housework, and make better wages. The nearer New York, the lower are freights; the farther from New York, the more permanent our help. Good sense and religious principle prevail among them. Those who board pay $2.25 per week." A manufacturer in Brooklyn, of fine gilt, silver, plated, and German silver spectacles, writes: "The employment is healthy. Young girls earn $2 per week, older ones from $3 to $6. They are generally paid by the piece. Girls and boys earn about the same wages, but those who have spent years to acquire the trade are entitled to better prices. A smart girl or boy will learn in the course of six months to do a specific part. Wages are usually paid from the time they commence. A fair share of common sense and willingness to labor are the principal requisites. As long as people grow old, and need spectacles, they will be manufactured. Our work continues about the same through the season. They work ten hours a day. In burnishing, the demand is pretty good. We employ ten women, because they can do the parts of work required better than boys or men. Half are American. We find women rather more ready and apt than men. It is advantageous to be in or near the great markets. Board, $2." I was told by an English maker of spectacle frames, that most spectacles are made in France and Germany. Men and women are paid in England 37½ cents a dozen for grinding the best quality of glasses. The makers of frames should know how to make figures, to put them on the frames. Women would be most likely to find employment as grinders of glasses in New York, and no doubt a small number could get work of that kind. Gold and silver frames are polished on a lathe with leather and rouge. Common frames are burnished with agate and steel. It is done more quickly, and is cheaper than polishing. Most spectacle frames of a common quality are made in the country, because it can be done by water power, and more cheaply.

229. Хирургические инструменты. T., manufacturer, told me that some steel surgical instruments are burnished by hand. He thinks there is not enough in that line of business to do, to justify women in learning. He said the polishing of surgical instruments could be done by women. It requires judgment and experience, but is simple, requiring the worker merely to hold the instrument on lathes and turn every few seconds; but burnishing requires more strength. I was told that perhaps women are employed in polishing silver surgical instruments.

230. Телескопы. G., an optician, says much of the light work in making telescopes might be done by women. They could French-polish the wooden frames, lacquer the brass work, and grind the glasses, if properly instructed. He thinks making microscopes is more suitable for them.

231. Термометры. The construction of the thermometer is quite simple. Women, if taught, could put the parts together, and mark the scales. I have been told that some girls are employed in Rochester, New York, in marking the scales. The same remarks will apply to the barometer.

232. Производство изделий из меди и цинка. So far as we can learn, no women are employed in copper and zinc mines, or in the making of copperas. Twenty-five women are employed in packing copper powder flasks, by the Waterbury Manufacturing Company, and making percussion caps. One fourth of them are American. They earn from $3 to $4 per week, and the work is reported not unhealthy. The women are paid about one half as much as men. It does not require long to learn, and learners are paid something during their apprenticeship. Ten hours are devoted to work. All seasons are alike. The agent says the women do better for light work than men, but require more watching.

233. Производство жестяных изделий. A youth, that was working in a tin shop for a widow, whose husband had been a tinner, told me that a female relative of his, who lived about one hundred years ago in Ireland, could do all the various parts of work as well as a man. She learned the trade regularly. Women are paid nearly as well as men for such labor in the old countries, but cannot work so fast. He says, even now in Europe a few women learn the trade of a tinner. It requires four years to learn it thoroughly in all its branches, because there is such a variety. One or two branches may be learned perfectly in a short time; so may several be learned indifferently in the same period; just as a violinist may know how to play a few tunes very well, but cannot play any others; or may know how to play a great many indifferently, but none perfectly. In England, where women are employed in tin shops to solder, they receive for this work their board and thirty-seven cents a day.

234. Фонари. I visited a large tin establishment in Brooklyn, and saw the girls at work; some soldering the corners of the lanterns, some assorting the pieces, some putting glass in the sides, some fastening conductors' lamps in the framework, with plaster of Paris, and some enveloping them to send away. There is nothing unhealthy in the work. The smoke of the charcoal stoves used in soldering is carried off by pipes. Girls putting glass in the tin frames, sometimes get their fingers cut. The girls all wear aprons. The plaster of Paris part of the work is very dirty. The girls earn from $2.50 to $4.50. They are all employed at first in papering, as it is termed—that is, putting the articles in papers ready to be packed; and receive, for a few weeks, $2.50 a week, then more, according to ability and industry. Some are paid by the week and some by the piece; they work ten hours. Girls prefer mechanical labor to domestic service, because they have the evenings to themselves. It requires but a few weeks for a girl of ordinary abilities to learn the part she is to perform. The proprietor said he could have a hundred times as many girls as he has, if he had employment for them. But few American women will work in factories with men. Most women are neater with their work than men. At a lantern manufactory in New York, I was told they employ eight or ten girls to cement the metal parts on the glass, to varnish, to wash and wipe and paper them. They are paid $3.50 a week.

235. Изделия из британии (сплав олова). Some Britannia is burnished by hand, and some by lathe. Women occasionally do the first kind.

236. Серебро. "The artisan who forms certain articles of gold and silver is called, indifferently, a goldsmith or silversmith. The former denomination is most commonly employed in England, and the latter in the United States." A manufacturer of silver ware in Providence, Rhode Island, writes: "We do not employ women, and for the same reason that females are not employed in machine shops." Chinese women do filagree work. A lady told me she had seen it done in a factory near Paris, by women.

237. Полировщики. At M.'s, Philadelphia, they employ from thirty to fifty women on plated ware; would employ more if they had room for them to work. They spend three months learning, and receive no wages during that time. They then earn from $3 to $6 per week, according to skill and industry. They work by the piece. Another set of women are employed in scouring the ware. It is wet, dirty work, and the women receive somewhat higher wages. The burnishers work in a light, comfortable room. The scourers work in a cellar. The business of burnishing is not hard on the eyes; nor would it be on the chest, M. thinks, if the burnishers sat upright, which they could do if they chose. We were told by some one else, that the demand for laborers in that field is very limited in Philadelphia. I was told by a silversmith in New York, that a good burnisher can earn from $5 to $7 a week, and he thought it took about a year to learn to become a good worker. Burnishing is a laborious and perfectly mechanical process. With some, the stooping posture is found trying to the breast, and constantly poring over the bright surface is injurious to the eyes. The business is poorly paid, and a silversmith can employ but a very small number of burnishers, but manufacturers of plated ware employ more. F. employs two girls for burnishing silver ware, who can earn from $5 to $9 per week. It is piece work, and does not require long to learn. C. L. pays burnishers from $3 to $6 a week. At a manufactory of silver service for Roman Catholic churches, I was told they are most busy just before Christmas and Easter. They pay by the week, because it is less trouble, and to them cheapest, as many of the articles they make are small. They pay from $2 to $5 a week. Y., in New York, who employs a number in burnishing silver ware, told me he pays learners nothing for a month, then by the piece. A good burnisher could earn from $5 to $7 a week. The prices are better than are generally paid to women for mechanical work. A lady burnisher told me she likes the work because it can be done at home. She thinks the work not injurious to the eyes. To learners she pays nothing for two months, then $1 a week, and so increases as the learner advances. At the end of a year, the learner is considered proficient. Silver platers mostly employ their operatives in factories. Silver ware requires more taste and neatness than plated ware, and pays better. It is like vest making. One that can make good ones, gets a good compensation; but those who slight their work are paid proportionately. A good burnisher can earn $6 and upward. Mrs. —— thinks after a while there will be manufactories of plated ware in the South and West. I saw a man making silver and brass faucets. The burnishing is first done with steel, then with agate. It requires some strength, but a woman of muscular force could do it. The majority of burnishers work upon plated ware, as less silver is used since plated ware has been brought to its present state of perfection. M. pays by the piece. A woman receives from $4 to $7 per week, according to competency and industry. It requires from two to four months to learn. The large cities, or places where the goods are manufactured, are the best for burnishers. The work soils clothes, so girls generally change their dresses or wear large aprons. Spring and fall are busy seasons. Hollow ware is generally burnished by men, as it requires more strength. At H.'s, I saw a few women scouring the ware with sand, and nineteen burnishing. They earn from $3 to $6 a week. A man in B., that does hand plating, employs girls to burnish, and pays them by the piece. They can earn from 75 cents to $1.50 per day; they work at home. In New York there are some ladies who teach burnishing, and at some establishments a premium is paid for learning. In some large factories, girls are paid by the week from $3 to $5. C. pays by the piece, and from the first, but a girl cannot earn more than $1 a week for two or three months. It requires from four to six months to become a burnisher. The prospect for learners is good, because girls will get married, and so leave vacancies. The business is increasing. Good burnishers earn from $4 to $12 a week. He employed a girl to stay in his office and burnish, paying her according to what she did, from $1 to $1.25 a day. Women, he remarked, receive the same price for burnishing that men do. (He may pay them so, but I know all do not.) About the holidays are the most busy times. There are not two months in the year a good burnisher cannot get employment. Merchants are slack longer than manufacturers. C. is a practical plater, and not so much at the mercy of his employés as those that are not. His burnishers begin on knives and forks, as they are most simple. A burnisher told me it is not customary to pay a learner during the first two months. Most burnishers wear a shield. He thinks it is not bad on the eyes unless done at night. A northern light is best for judging of the work, just as a northern light is best for seeing the imperfections of a painting. About four months of the year, January, February, July, and August, burnishers find it difficult to get work, except in very large establishments, where they are kept busy all the time. A man working at coach lamps told me girls used to be employed in the factory to burnish plates, and received $3 per week. The Porter Britannia and Plate Co., Conn., "employ women in burnishing, washing and packing. They earn from $3 to $5 per week. Men and women have the same price for their work, but men earn from 50 to 75 per cent. more, because they accomplish more. Men and women spend three months learning. Women could not endure more than ten hours such work. The supply rather exceeds the demand generally. On many accounts, women are preferable. They are superior in care and nicety of execution. The labor is too exhausting for tropical climates. There are some parts of the occupation suitable for women in which they are not now employed." Information from three other establishments corresponds with that given. Silversmiths in New Orleans write me, February, 1861: "Women are much employed in Europe as well as in this country, burnishing silver ware. It is not in the least unhealthy. Most are paid by the piece, and here some receive as high as $50 a month. For silver burnishing, women are paid the same as men. The time of learning depends greatly upon capacity—usually about six months. There is a very slight prospect, at present, of employment. The best season for work is winter; there is none in the summer. In the higher branches of such work, women acquire superior skill."

238. Наперстки. P. was kind enough to make an entire silver thimble, that I might see the process. The whole of the work could be done by women, but no women in any country are employed at it, so far as he knows. I was told by one or two other thimble makers, that no women are ever employed in that branch of business. It is usual for a boy to serve an apprenticeship of four years. While doing some parts of the labor the workers sit, and while doing other parts they stand. The polishing is done on a lathe, and there is not enough of it to furnish work for a separate person, except in very large establishments, and even then it is so connected with the other processes that it could not be well divided. There are not so many thimbles sold now as formerly, because of the sewing machines that are used. There are not more than from eight to twelve thimble makers in the United States. There are none South or West of Philadelphia.

239. Серебрение. Women cannot well do the close or hand plating. It is done by soldering and ironing. Door plates are made in this way. Electro-plating is done with a battery. The business includes a variety of work, and requires some knowledge of chemicals, but could be learned by an intelligent person in a short time. The Americans are noted for excellence in this department. H. knew a lady plater in Connecticut, and a very good one she was. I have been told women are employed in silvering metals in France.

240. Бронза. Some statuettes are made of the finer metals, gold and silver, while busts are made of other simple metals, as copper, iron, zinc, lead, &c. They are generally made, however, of the mixed metals. It requires some years' experience to make bronze statuettes. Women are employed in France, in ornamental bronze work. Mlle. de Faveau has succeeded in having a bronze statue of St. Michael cast entirely whole, instead of in portions. It is the resuscitation of a lost art.

241. Производство золотых изделий и ювелирных украшений. Those that manufacture jewelry in the United States form a small body. The articles sold by different houses vary as much in price and quality as any other kind of goods. Jewellers often have connected with their business persons who work in ivory, jet, hair, and such materials. "Felicie de Faveau, as a worker in jewels, bronze, gold, and silver, as a designer of monuments and mediæval furniture, stands without approach." Much common jewelry is made in Rhode Island, and women are employed to some extent in its manufacture. The New England Jewelry Company in Providence employ women to solder, and pay $4 a week, ten hours a day. It does not take long to learn. They have work usually all the year. In the Eastern manufactories, women suffer some from dust, on account of their working in the same rooms where the men are employed at the machinery. In the manufacture of jewelry, the fumes of charcoal are usually permitted to fill the workshop; and the fusion of saltpetre, alum, and salt, used in dry coloring, induces general nervousness and pain in the head and chest. This has been to some extent remedied, by having pipes that carry off the fumes partially, or it may be, in whole. There are many departments in the jewelry line that might be successfully filled by women: the sale of jewelry is one. It requires several years for one to become well acquainted with the jewelry business, and that is longer than many women are willing to spend in fitting themselves for business. Mr. B. said: "One to set jewels should be able to mount them. But few people make setting a separate business. When he learned, a woman was not at all employed by jewellers in this country. He pays some of his workers $10 a week, ten hours a day." A jewelry manufacturer in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, writes: "Women are employed in the manufacture of jewelry—also in casing and packing the same for market. The work is not more injurious than weaving or sewing. They are paid about the same as men. Some pay by the piece, some by the hour. Women are not paid as well as men, because they cannot do all parts. The time of learning depends upon their ingenuity. Some may learn in one week, others in four. They are paid while learning. Women are employed in the lighter branches because they are quicker. The advantage of a locality is in having natural water power, in a community where there is plenty of capital, and the capitalists are willing to invest in the business." Some manufacturing jewellers told me "they pay from $3 to $8 per week to their women. They work ten hours a day. The time of learning is six months, but, as in every thing else, much depends on the capacity, aptitude, and particular genius of the learner. More women could be employed in this business, if properly qualified. All their women are Germans. New York is the best place for selling jewelry, but other places are as good for manufacturing."

242. Пробирщики золота. Assaying by acids and other reagents could be done by women. Tests are now imported, but most assayers prefer to make their own tests. Assaying requires patience, a knowledge of metals, and endurance of heat. It also requires instruction and considerable experience. Some assayers move from place to place wherever new mines are discovered, and reap the benefit of their skill and knowledge. A gold refiner informs me "that his business is mostly heavy fire work, requiring the most able men. None of it is sufficiently light for females." I find, however, that women are reported in the census of Great Britain as gold and silver refiners, cutters, and workers.

243. Эмалировщики. The experience, taste, delicacy of touch, and fineness of finish required, make the art of enamelling one very suitable for women. The richness of coloring and exquisite workmanship render some specimens very beautiful. Simple metals are mostly used as a base. I saw a man enamelling jewelry, who told me he employs small girls to enamel, paying from $2 to $3 a week. It requires but two weeks to learn. I saw some jewelry that had been enamelled in Germany by women. In France, women are employed as enamellers, at from 8 to 16 cents a day. "Gold of the standard quality is the best metal to enamel on, as it imparts something of its own glow to the ground, and assists materially the richness and delicacy of the coloring, particularly in the flesh tints. Copper gives a cold greenish hue to the enamel ground, but it is more commonly used than gold on account of its cheapness. For large enamels it is necessary to use copper, as they require a heat which would melt plates of gold." A highly polished enamel is passed through the fire a number of times in the process of painting; otherwise it would be impossible to imitate any great delicacy of tint—as the colors are considerably changed by burning. "As the plates are every time subjected to a high red heat, it is obvious that enamels must be the most durable of all kinds of paintings." At an enamel factory for lining metal vessels with a porcelain coating, I saw a woman who has been employed for four years to mix enamel in the consistency of buckwheat dough, and pour it into vessels to form an enamel lining. The articles are then baked in a furnace that the enamel may harden. She stands while employed. She goes at half past seven in the morning, has half an hour at noon, and returns and works until four, for which she is paid $4 a week. She has a sister-in-law in Williamsburg that does the same kind of work. It is not at all unhealthy.

244. Сусальное золото и серебро. The iron hammers used for beating gold leaf are very heavy. For the first beating, hammers weighing twelve pounds are used; for the second beating, hammers weighing six or eight pounds. Strong women could perform the second beating of gold leaf, but I do not know that they ever do—I think never in the United States. Lads serving as apprentices receive $1.50 a week for six weeks, then $2 a week for a time, and then more, according to ability and industry. A goldbeater told me a youth could get a pretty good insight into the business in a year or two, but the usual time of apprenticeship is either three or four years. Goldbeaters earn from $1.50 to $2 a day. We visited several gold-leaf manufactories, and found more uniformity in the time of learning and the prices paid than in any other branch of business. It requires from two to twelve weeks to learn to book gold leaf, depending on the abilities of the learner and the requirements of the establishment. Six weeks is the length of time usually given. It can be learned in two days, but requires practice to become expert. The girls are not paid while learning, as the materials are costly, and the quantity wasted comes to as much or more than the learner's services are worth. The standard price for laying gold leaf is one cent and a half a book. Bookers can earn from $2.50 to $5 a week, according to skill and expedition. The tools of a worker are very simple. I think, most of the women employed in the gold leaf factories of New York are Americans. Gold leaf is so light that even a breath of air will move it. In some factories, the booking is done in a room with the doors and windows closed—consequently the room is very warm in summer. The seasons of the year do not affect this business like most others. The demand for gold leaf regulates the supply. Where business is not systematically conducted, the beaters will sometimes not have the leaf ready to book, and so the girls must lose their time waiting; and in some cases the men's work is retarded by the absence of the bookers. All the manufacturers I talked with thought the prospect good of employment to learners. K. & Co. take learners in the spring, but will not take them unless they can insure them work when the six weeks of learning have expired. Neatness is required. No talking is allowed in the work room, as merely a drop of water falling from the lips might spoil from $3 to $4 worth of leaf. The leaf is weighed when given to the booker and when returned, so there is no opening for dishonesty. W. employs his hands all the year. The girls always sit while at work. Lightness and delicacy of hand are required. The prospect of employment is tolerable, but most prefer to retain those they teach, as there is much difference in the style and expedition. In some shops great care is taken with learners, and they acquire proportionate proficiency. We think this a very neat and genteel employment. It requires honest workers with nimble fingers. There are but very few manufactories South and West.

245. Ювелирная фурнитура. D. & Co. manufacture tags for all kinds of goods. They employ girls and women in the country to string their tags, because they can do it in their spare moments, and consequently work cheaply. It pretty much takes the place of knitting, and a person could not earn more than twenty-five cents a day at it. They so employ thirty or forty persons. They also engage a number in box making. It requires care and neatness to make small boxes for jewelry. Workers are paid by the piece, and can earn from twenty-five cents to $1.25 a day, but those who earn the latter amount work from five in the morning until ten at night. This work is mostly done in families. D. & Co. are very strict in their regulations, and particular in the kind of work people they employ.

246. Карандаши. In Williamsburg, Mass., two women are employed in making gold and silver pencil cases. H., of New York, employs one girl for engine turning—an ornamental dotted work common on pencil and watch cases. He employs her by the week, and pays $3. She works ten hours a day. It requires but a few days for one of ordinary intelligence to learn. It is sedentary, but not unhealthy. He has employed nine women: they cannot do the work as well as men, but cheaper. He would employ boys, but they are so fond of changing their employment, and so anxious to engage in one that will advance them, that it is difficult to keep them at that work. It is very clean work. There is no prospect of future employment, as one woman can keep up with twelve other workers, and so very few are needed. Women have to work in the same room with the men, on account of the foreman having to regulate the machinery if it gets out of order.

247. Перья. I saw a gold-pen manufacturer in Brooklyn. He will take ten or twelve learners shortly, and pay them from the commencement. He must have honest girls, for a dishonest girl will take $5 or $10 worth of gold at a time, frequently without its being missed. He will have a separate apartment for his girls. The best hands can earn from $5 to $6 a week, working ten hours a day. It requires only about a month to learn, but practice greatly improves and expedites work. He thought the prospect rather poor for learners. The part done by men could be done by women, but it is dirty work. That done by women is rather neat work. W., of Brooklyn, employs a number of girls in watch-case polishing and in finishing off pens. The majority are Americans. Some are paid by the piece, and some by the week. They work ten hours a day, and have employment all the year. Some girls learn the art in a short time, and some never. Some girls are paid while learning as much as $2.50 a week. W. thinks the prospect good of employment in that branch. He wanted several girls more. From the nimbleness of their fingers they can do their work better than men. More gold pens are made in this country than steel ones. A jeweller said learners should be paid from the first, and you may know he is not much of a man who would be willing to receive a woman's work for nothing. On Nassau street, N. Y., I saw a manufacturer who employs girls for stoning, frosting, and polishing pens. They are paid by the quantity, and can earn from $3 to $5 a week. They stand at a lathe while polishing. The only trouble is that their dress is likely to catch on the wheel. That might be remedied by wearing Turkish costume without hoops. It requires care and some judgment to do the frosting. They are paid something while learning, and in two or three months receive full wages. When business is good, the factory is going all the year. To make a good finisher requires that the individual have some mechanical talent and be a good penman. Some never succeed. In stoning and frosting, girls sit. The finishers are men, and the stooping required sometimes produces consumption. So many gold pen cases are not used now as formerly—probably not more than one tenth as many. Gutta percha has become a substitute. N. employed women seven or eight years ago in polishing, stoning, and pointing pens, and paid $5 a week of ten hours a day. Manufacturers in Williamsburg, Mass., write: "We employ women to make gold pens, pen holders, and jewelry, and pay from $3 to $4 per week—some by the piece and some by the week. It requires from one to three years to learn, according to the part they do. They are paid small wages while learning. We wish honesty and ingenuity in our workers. The business is permanent. Work is given at all seasons of the year. The hands work eleven and a quarter hours per day. We employ from ten to twelve women, because they can do the work equally as well as men, at about one third the price. Half are Americans. No other parts of the occupation are suitable for women than those in which we employ them. Help once settled in the country, if married, are likely to be permanent—in cities, vice versa, changing about. Our workmen have a fine reading room. Board, $1.50 for women, $2.50 for men."

248. Часы. A watch is said to consist of 992 pieces. We have seen it stated that two hundred persons are employed in the entire process of making a watch, and that, with the exception of the watch finishers (who put the parts together), not one of the workmen could perform any but his own specific part. In Switzerland, families, for generation after generation, devote themselves to making particular parts of watches. Women have proved their ability to execute the most delicate parts. Twenty thousand Swiss women earn a comfortable livelihood by watch making. They make the movements, but men mostly put them together. I think a few women work as finishers. We quote from the Englishwoman's Review: "Geneva has always refused to employ women, and has now totally lost the watch trade. None of the Geneva watches, so called, come from that part of Switzerland, but are manufactured elsewhere, and principally in the canton of Neufchatel, where women have been employed from the first." Mr. Bennett, of London, "states facts relative to the mental culture of both sexes, which is deemed requisite in Switzerland to prepare the intellect, the eye, and the hand for watch manufacture, and he refers to the salubrious dwellings of the operatives." A traveller states: "We see women at the head of some of the heaviest manufactories of Switzerland and France, particularly in the watch and jewelry line." In England, women have been until lately excluded from watch making by men, but some are now employed in one establishment in London and in several of the provincial towns. "There is a manufactory at Christchurch, England, where five hundred women are employed in making the interior chains for chronometers. They are preferred to men, on account of their being naturally more dexterous with their fingers, and therefore being found to require less training." From the November number of the Knickerbocker we quote: "All imported watches are made by hand, the American watches being the only ones made by machinery in a single establishment by connected and uniform processes. The Waltham watches have fewer parts and are more easily kept in order than any others; and are warranted for ten years by the manufacturers. They have over one hundred artisans employed, more than half of whom are women." The manufactory occupies a space more than half an acre in extent. Hand labor is cheaper in Europe than this country, but American watches are cheaper, because made by machinery. Making the cases is a distinct branch from the interior work, and furnishes employment to some women. Cleaning watches would form a pretty and suitable employment for women. I was told of some Swiss women living in Camden, New Jersey, that make the inside work of watches very prettily and very accurately. A manufacturer of chronometers in Boston writes: "We employ women in cutting the teeth of watch and chronometer wheels, polishing, &c. They are generally employed by the week or year, and work nine or ten hours a day. Women might be employed in large establishments in merely cleaning or polishing the parts of watches repaired, without putting them together; and they might learn to do it in a short time, a few months perhaps. We pay our women for such work from $4 to $6 a week, according to their capacity. The qualifications needed are delicacy of touch, patience, and great carefulness. The employment will be very limited. Work is steady the year round. The principal objection to employing women is that they are very apt to marry just as they become skilful enough to be reliable; therefore, what does not require long apprenticeship or a great expense to learn, is most desirable for them. A good degree of intelligence is indispensable. The more, of course, the better." We would add to the requisites for a watchmaker, patience and ingenuity. The secretary of the American Watch Company at Waltham writes: "Women are employed at our factory. The employment is entirely healthy. We pay from $4 to $7 per week for intelligent girls, and women's average pay is $5. About half are paid by the piece. Men earn about double the wages of women, because, first, they do more difficult work, are more ingenious, more thoughtful and contriving, more reliant on themselves in matters of mechanics, are stronger, and therefore worth more, though not perhaps double, as an average; second, because it is the custom to pay women less than men for the same labor. Women and girls are paid from $2.50 to $4 per week during the first four months, while they are learning the particular part of our business we set them at. The requisites are a good common-school education, general intelligence, and quickness; light, small hands are best. The business is new to the country. We work every working day in the year, without detriment to the health of women, who seem to endure their labor as well as men. We work ten hours a day. There is little demand for labor in the watch-making business generally in this country, but we think women could be taught successfully the art of watch making, so as to be able at least to earn a living as watch repairers. We employ seventy-five women out of two hundred hands, and because there are many parts of our work they can do equally well with men; but it is generally light and simple work, for which no high degree of mechanical skill is requisite. Nine tenths are American born. Our hands are all made perfectly comfortable in their labor. We employ female labor, where we can, as being cheaper; but we find women do not reach the posts where a high degree of skill is needed, as of course they do not those for which their strength is insufficient. They have abundant facilities for mental culture in the evenings. About half live with parents or relatives; the rest board, and pay from $2 to $3 a week, according to quality."

249. Полировщики часовых корпусов и ювелирных изделий. Quite a number of women are employed in polishing watch cases, and a few in polishing jewelry. It requires some time to learn to do the finest work, and some can never learn. The polishing of good gold is done by hand and the lathe—common jewelry, by the lathe alone. A good polisher can earn $1 a day of ten hours' work. C. & Co. employ girls, because they do not have to pay them so high, and they do it as well. B. & H., who have a factory in Jersey City, employ a number of lady polishers. The rouge renders it dirty work, but not unhealthy. Very good hands can earn $7 or $8 a week. They employ four sisters, French girls, who have bought a farm for their parents. They have generally paid $23 a week to the four sisters. The prospect for learners is good. They generally pay by the week, and have their hands work ten hours a day. They take learners, and pay something from the first. It requires two years' practice to become very good polishers. They prefer to make an agreement with the learner to retain her some time, as the material is costly, and considerable is wasted by a learner. In good times they have work steadily all the year. Polishers can either sit or stand while at work. Burnishing and polishing are different. Burnishing is done with steel, polishing with buffs. Plated ware is burnished, silver and gold are polished. S. thinks several girls might, in busy times, find employment in polishing jewelry. He often advertises for workers, but receives few answers. It requires two or three years to learn, and four or five to become perfect workers. In Germany and France, girls have polished jewelry for many years. In the Southern and Western U. States, there are no manufactories of any extent. They have not the machinery for such work. What little is made and repaired is done in the jeweller's shop, or above his store. F. & P. employ small girls about thirteen years old to polish, paying $1.50 per week, while learning. It requires about a year for young girls to become expert. We were told women are the best polishers of jewelry. A maker of gold buttons, who has employed girls to polish, paid $2 a week to small girls, and $3 to older and more experienced hands. The girls are also employed in putting them up. Care is needed in polishing, that the work be evenly done. A watch-case polisher told me a woman cannot earn more than $2 or $3 a week at polishing. (It may be all he pays.) Mrs. C. is teaching a girl to polish watch cases. She boards her, and pays her $30 the first year, and furnishes her with a certain number of dresses. A good polisher may earn from $6 to $8 a week. She told me a lady in Philadelphia, that she taught, is making $27 a week. C. has most of his polishing done by a lady. He pays boys he takes as apprentices, $2.25 a week, from the first. He says a good lady polisher can earn $1 a day. He pays his men from $10 to $15 a week, because they do more, and do it better than women. In good seasons there is so much polishing to do that experienced hands are very much hurried. The work is not confined to seasons. It does not require long to learn to polish. Such work is mostly done in New York, but considerable is done in the small towns around. At S.'s we saw a girl polishing, who told us she received $1 a day. She says there a girl spends six months learning. For three months she receives nothing, after that $3 a week. At B.'s, the lathes are moved by steam, but have treadles also, that the work may not cease when the engine or machinery is out of order. Less and less watch work is done by hand in the United States every year, owing no doubt to the large number imported and the increased use of machinery. The work in the business has fallen to European rates. A good polisher has been earning $6 or $7 a week, but very few can do so now, and the prospect of employment is poor for a learner. Some years ago he employed a lady at $15 a week, for fitting movements to the case. The sister of a watch-case maker and importer, in Brooklyn, told me that she worked at the business some years ago, and received seventy-five cents apiece for polishing watch cases—now but fifty cents is paid. The lady often polished four cases in a day of ten hours, and so earned $3. In the European countries, some years back, a man was paid $1 for making a watch case; in the United States, $5. Prices have fallen greatly in the United States for this kind of work, because the duty on imported goods is so low. She says the work is not very clean, because the oil and rouge get on your clothes and person. Everybody should wear working clothes, if their labor is such as to soil them. The motion of the foot in moving the lathe tries the back greatly. When the polishing is done by steam, it is not so. As men and women are paid by the piece, women receive as good wages. A smart person can learn to polish in a few days, but to learn it thoroughly would require three months. Women are paid in this country while learning, but in Europe they are not. In prosperous times, work is good all the year. In summer, work is done for the North; in winter, for the South. A locality in or near a large city is preferable. Prices vary in different establishments. Usually, where the best quality of work is done, the best prices are paid the work people—where cheaper work is done, lower wages are paid. The usual price paid to girls as polishers, when they are employed by the week, is $6—a better remuneration for mechanical labor than most women receive.

250. Часовые цепочки. In Birmingham, several hundred women are employed in making chains, and we suppose fifty or more in this country. The gold wire is prepared and drawn out by men, as it requires too much strength for women. All the work after that is performed by women. The wire is cut into pieces of the right length, then bent into the proper form by means of a die worked by a hand press; each link is then soldered together by means of a jet of gas, a blowpipe, and a tiny piece of solder, when it is finished by polishing. D. & S., Philadelphia, employ three girls in soldering. The wages of the girls vary from $3.50 to $8 a week. They work ten hours a day. It is not an unhealthy business, D. and S. think, and can be learned in two months. M. F. & Co., New York, employ girls in soldering and polishing chains. Those that solder earn from $3 to $8 a week. Some of the girls are paid by the week, and some by the inch. It can be pretty well learned in three months. After two or three weeks they are able to earn about $2 a week. To those girls who instruct learners they give the profits of the learners. Polishing is not clean work, but the women can generally earn more at it. They earn from $3 to $9 a week. They work ten hours a day, when paid by the week, in summer; but in winter, not so long. The building is never lighted. The women have a separate apartment to work in, and change their clothes on entering and leaving the work room; and the polishers tie up their heads, to prevent their hair being covered with rouge. The girls wear the same clothes every day while at work, that they may not carry away any gold. The proprietors sell their waste scraps for $8,000 a year. They require boys to spend five years learning the business, taking them at the age of 16, and retaining them until 21. Men that learn a trade expect to follow it until death. M. thinks women will not spend long learning a trade, for nearly all women look forward to something else than working all their lives at a trade. The heat and fumes of gas used in chain making are said to render the occupation unhealthy, but an extensive manufacturer assured me that the fumes are not inhaled, as the flame is blown from the worker, and that it is not more unhealthy than any other sedentary occupation. I would have thought the minuteness of the particles composing some chains would be trying on the eyes, but the girls said not. The chain makers sit while at work. In summer they cannot sit near an open window, lest any of the gold be blown away. Chain making looked to be very nice, delicate work, requiring care, judgment, and some skill. The Europeans have not got to using steam in any part of the process, and are astonished at the superiority of the American chains. There are no manufactories West or South. I was told at Tiffany's, the making of some kinds of chains can be learned in two or three years, while other kinds require five years. S., at Tiffany's, told me he was the first person that introduced women into the manufacture of jewelry in New York. The hands at chain making receive $1.50 a week at first—as they become more skilful, they receive more. The average payment is $5 a week. They have one woman who has been at the business six years, and earns $8 a week. Another manufacturer told me chain making is not unhealthy. It requires a year to learn to do polishing well, and during that time a learner can earn only from $1.75 to $2 a week. While polishing at a lathe, workers stand. Men do most polishing now. They do it by machinery propelled by steam, and one man can accomplish as much in a day as a woman by a treadle lathe can do in two weeks. Manufacturers in Providence write me, "their girls, from six to fifteen in number, work at home, and are paid by the piece. They earn $1 a day of ten hours on an average. They do not employ men in that department of the business. It requires men five years to learn the business—females to solder, thirty days. Good eyesight is necessary. The business will probably increase with growth of country and increase of wealth. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. They are all American." Some manufacturer in New York writes: "The work is not more unhealthy than any other so sedentary. It is generally paid for by the piece, the workers earning from $2 to $8 per week. The men average from $10 to $12. Men spend seven years learning—girls, one. Quickness of motion, perseverance, and attention are desirable qualities. The prospect for work in future is moderate. The busy seasons are spring and fall. In July, August, January, and February, the women are employed. We have from thirty to forty females, because the work is light."

251. Часовые камни. I called on a Swiss lady who sets jewels in watches. She supports her family by it, but complains of a scarcity of work, because watchmakers can import their jewels at four shillings a dozen from Switzerland, and set them themselves.

РАЗЛИЧНЫЕ РАБОТЫ.

252. Индейские товары. Any one that has ever visited Niagara, knows something of the immense quantity of Indian goods offered for sale. Moccasins and reticules (made of buckskin, and ornamented with beads), pincushions, baskets, &c. (made of birch-wood, and ornamented with figures and flowers of party-colored porcupine quills), can be had. Fans of feathers and a thousand little fancy articles may be bought in a dozen different shapes at Niagara. The Indians make most of them, but quite a number are made by fairer hands. The duty on goods purchased in Her Majesty's realm, and brought into the States, is ten per cent. So, if a person is careful of his purse, or disposed to encourage home manufactures, he had as well purchase on the American side. On most of the steamboats and cars of the Western waters, while in port or at the depot, genuine Indian women may be seen, with (we suppose) genuine Indian articles for sale.

253. Чернильницы. Manufacturers of inkstands in Connecticut write: "We employ from twelve to fifteen American women in painting, varnishing, and bronzing inkstands, and pay from fifty to sixty cents per day of ten hours. Females do not perform the same kind of labor that the males do. The wages of women are less, because there is a surplus in consequence of there being so little diversity in female employment. The occupation is learned in from one to two years. That part done by females may be learned in one month. They are paid while learning. Some mechanical ingenuity is required. The business will depend on general commercial prosperity. Summer and fall are the most busy seasons. No cessation of employment during the year. The other parts of the work are too laborious for women. Our location is preferable, as we have water power and are convenient to market. Board, $1.75 per week."

254. Литокония. , or artificial stone, is being used as a substitute for terra cotta, papier-maché, &c. It is composed of mineral substances, and is insoluble in water. It is used for making photograph frames, busts, and statuary, and for architectural purposes. It is made in Roxbury, Mass. The proprietor and inventor writes: "I employ fourteen women in manufacturing and finishing lithoconia photograph frames. Their wages average $5 a week, ten hours a day. Some are paid by the piece, and some by the day. Men earn from $1 to $2 per day. Women learn in from one to four weeks. Cultivation of the eye and finger, and great neatness are desirable in a learner. Girls accustomed to drawing or fine needle work answer well. The prospect of more work is good. My women work the year round. Women, I think, are more reliable than men; that is, if told to do a work in a certain way, they will do it. Men are more apt to experiment in a new business. Women might be employed in gilding the frames. We have twelve men in New York doing that for us now. My girls pay from $1.75 to $2 per week for board. I hear no complaint of their houses; but, judging from my Scotch experience, the accommodations in Scotland are far superior in an intellectual point of view; but so far as pies and doughnuts go, American boarding houses have the advantage."

255. Мастера по мрамору. The rough parts of marble working are wet, dirty, and laborious, but not the finishing. Constant standing on the feet, and having the hands wet much of the time, would not do for very delicate females. A marble worker writes: "Sawing marble is heavy and wet work, and performed in the night as well as the day. I do not see that women could be employed at it to any advantage." Theodore Parker mentioned seeing a woman, in a marble yard in Paris, sawing marble. I have been told that in Italy whole families engage in chiselling the beautiful marble ornaments brought to this country. As a stone cutter, Charlotte Rebecca Schild, of Hanau, worked in Paris. Miss McD. told me that she got situations for two girls with a marble cutter in Hollidaysburg to do the fine part of marble chiselling.

256. Минеральные дверные ручки. Manufacturers of mineral door knobs write: "We have women to make mineral door knobs, and to pack locks. They are paid by the piece, and average $5 per week. They work from nine to ten hours a day. It requires six months to learn. The prospect for further employment is small. Seasons make no difference in the work. We find men better adapted to the work. Our business affords little or no opportunity for the employment of women to advantage. We have about two hundred women in busy seasons. When men and women are employed in the same department, they talk too much."

257. Ножи для бумаги. We read in "Women Artists" of a Dutch lady, "Joanna Koertin Block, who produced from paper very beautiful cuttings. All that the engraver accomplishes with the burin, she was able to do with the scissors. Country scenes, marine views, animals, flowers, with portraits of perfect resemblance, she executed in a marvellous manner." "Mrs. Dards opened a new exhibition with flower paintings in the richest colors. They were exact imitations of nature, done with fish bones."

258. Отделочники изделий из папье-маше. Papier-maché is made of paper ground into a pulp, and bleached if necessary. It is moulded into various forms. It has been cast into figures of life size. It is made into mouldings for the ornamental parts of bronzes. It is lighter, more lasting, and less brittle than plaster. It can be colored or gilt. Another article of the same name is made by gluing and pressing together, very powerfully, sheets of prepared paper until they acquire the thickness of pasteboard. They must be shaped while moist into the articles desired. When dry, they will be very hard and firm. They must be covered with japan, or other varnish, and may be beautifully painted with flowers, birds, landscapes, &c. Workboxes, portfolios, waiters, miniature cases, clock faces, and many other beautiful articles may be made of it. The varnishing, painting, and inlaying is done by women in the factories of England. Papier-maché manufacturers in Boston write: "We employ women in pressing and painting. The work is healthy. We pay $4 per week of ten hours a day. Men and women do not perform the same kind of work. We pay learners $2.50 the first month, $3 the second, $3.50 the third, and $4 afterward. The prospect of future employment is good. We find women have not a mechanical eye. Board, $2 per week."

259. Трубки. Meerschaum means "foam of the sea." The pipes are made from earth found in the island of Samos. They are light, porous, and not easily broken. Some pipes are sold as genuine that are made from the clay left after forming and cutting the real pipes, but are of an inferior quality. A manufacturer of meerschaum pipes told me he employs a woman to polish the pipes. It is done by hand. She is paid $1.25 a dozen, and can do two or three dozen a day, but they have not enough of work to give her more than a dozen a week. A maker of white clay pipes told me: "The clay is brought from England. Nimbleness of fingers is most that is required for success. There is not much of that kind of work done now in our country, because pipes are imported from Germany for what the labor costs here. They are retailed at one penny apiece. Women used to make them here, and do now in European countries. They can do all parts of the work. Putting them in the furnace and baking them is warm work, but not more so than any other baking. The work is paid for according to the number of pipes made. A woman can earn about fifty cents a day for moulding, yet a man can earn $5 a day, because he can mould faster, and also attend the furnace." Besides, the man owns the tools and furnace, which do not cost a great deal, and I suppose would last a lifetime. We have seen it stated that white clay smoking pipes are made in Philadelphia by one person, who recently sent to England to procure additional assistance.