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."

208. Shovels.

A shovel manufacturer says he employs boys to clean the handles, by holding them as they run over emery belts. He pays the boys $3 a week. For varnishing the iron part of the shovel he pays 10 cents a dozen, and "yesterday a youth was able to do twenty-one dozen." This branch of work, we think, might be done by strong women.

209. Wire Workers.

I was told at a wire manufactory, New York, that women are never employed to draw wire. If it be true that wire drawers are a very rough, coarse set of men, it is well girls do not work in the establishments; as the work is such, we presume, that all must be employed in the same apartments. The labor of drawing is such that the hands of the men become almost like iron. Mr. S., Philadelphia, employs a woman to weave fine wire. She learned it in her native country, Scotland. She also sews pieces of fine wire cloth together. She receives $5 a week, and seldom works ten hours a day. Most men and women engaged in wire work are English or Irish, who learned the trade in their own country. I was told it requires some years to attain excellence. Weaving requires considerable strength in both upper and lower limbs. Men wire workers are paid from $1.50 to $2.50 a day. Mr. C., New York, employs a number of women weavers and seamers. They are paid $4 a week. Formerly their girls would want a day to go to a picnic, to get ready for a party, or help their mothers at home. The steam would have to be stopped unless they could get hands to fill their places during the time, which was very difficult and often could not be done. For a while their women gave them so much trouble, they had to stop the machinery altogether. It caused him such annoyance that some of the female members of his family learned, and are now employed. He employs women to cover steel for hoop skirts, and pays $3 a week. A few women are employed at wire weaving in Cincinnati. The wiring and making of bird cages seems to me a field of industry open to female hands. They can be made in any place, and the work is light. Wire could be woven in fenders by women, I think. Mr. C., maker of patent rat traps, employed a number of girls to lace the wires. Some he paid by the week, some by the piece. They mostly earned $3 a week. A small girl could learn it in two weeks. I saw a manufacturer of wire stands for cloaks, mantillas, &c. He employs a few ladies to dress them, paying 25 cents apiece. One of his hands is very expeditious and can cover six in a day. Those that know nothing of the work, he employs in making skirts only, and of course make less. February, March, August, September, and October are the busy months. There are only three places in New York where the work is done. A wire maker, in Lowell, writes: "I employed a girl four years ago in wire weaving, that gave unqualified satisfaction. She left, to obtain a college education. I paid by the piece when I employed her, and at the same rates as I paid men. She used to earn $1 a day, and even did so while attending school; but of course worked before and after school—probably seven or eight hours a day. Most of my work is too laborious for women; but some wire workers that make meal sieves, corn parchers, &c., can, and I believe do, employ them to advantage, by reason of the price of labor being much less for women than men. This kind of business is limited. There are not more than one hundred and fifty men and women, probably, working at the business in New England. A maker of sieves, and wire goods in general, writes from Worcester, Massachusetts: "The business is quite healthy compared with needle work. I employ six women, who earn from $4 to $5 per week of ten hours a day. Men earn from $7.50 to $12. Some goods we manufacture will not justify us in paying women higher prices. (The women should not do it. They would then have to employ men and pay better prices, when women could come in and claim equal wages.) Our kind of work they learn in a few weeks. There will be no falling off, in future, of this work. Most girls like the work. Board, $2 per week in families." A wire manufacturer in Belleville, New Jersey, writes: "We employ females in sewing and winding wire. The employment is not unhealthy. We pay from $2.50 to $4.50 per week. Learners receive $2.50 per week. Board, $2 to $2.50. Men in our establishment average $2 per day. I would say that in some branches of our business, women might take the place of men."

Brass Manufacture.

In some branches of the brass manufacture women are not at all employed—in a few others, they are. At a brass bell foundery, we were told the work is not healthy, and is too heavy for women.

210. Candlesticks.

A manufacturer of candlesticks in Vermont "employs from three to four women, because they are better adapted to the work than men. He pays by the piece, from $13 to $15 per month, and employs them the year round. Women are paid as well as men or boys at the same kind of work. It requires from three to five years to learn the business—from one to two years, that part done by women. Women are paid small wages while learning. It is a clean, comfortable business. There are no parts of our work suitable for women in which they are not employed."

211. Hooks and Eyes.

The agent of the Waterbury Hook and Eye Company says: "The hooks and eyes are given out to families to put on cards, for which they are paid by the gross. It pays poorly—probably not more for a child than 50 cents a week. The country and villages around supply plenty of girls for the factories. In good times the hands in the factories are kept employed all the year. We employ three females to pack our finished light work, which is as neat and healthy work as can be in any pleasant factory—pay is $3.50 to $4.50 per week of sixty hours. No males are employed on similar work. Supply and demand regulate prices. Only a short time is required by a competent girl to learn to do our work properly; and pay commences when they commence. Every good qualification which 'flesh is heir to' is needed to make the

right

sort of help. Prospect for employing more females than heretofore is not flattering. Girls are preferable for any light, neat, tasty work. Ours are Americans, and I believe as comfortable and happy as people are likely to be on this sinful globe. I doubt if much of our other work can be done by females. A place nearest to a large market, where good air and water prevail and means of living are reasonable, is the most desirable place to locate a factory, ordinarily. Churches, schools, libraries, lectures, &c., afford ample means and opportunity for mental and moral culture, for those who work ten hours a day, and can board for $2 a week, and are free from any special cares or anxieties." N. S. & Co., North Britain, write: "We employ nine women to make paper boxes, and pack hooks and eyes. They earn from 60 cents to $1 per day of ten hours, but are paid by the piece. The men earn from $1.15 to $3 per day; but their work is different from the women's. The women learn their part in two or three weeks. Industry and self-respect are the most desirable qualities. The prospect for future employment is good. They work all the year. Board, $2 per week."

212. Lamps.

Mr. J. "used to employ girls to cement the glass body on the marble stand, and the top of the body on the metal through which the wick passes. He also employed them in papering to send away. The prospect for workers is poor, because the business is limited. He paid his girls $3.50 a week. No manufactories in the West or South." In 1860 the manufacture of coal-oil lamps formed the principal business of sixteen companies, who employed 2,150 men and 400 women and boys."

213. Pins.

The pins made in the United States are not so high priced as English pins. They have not until lately been so well finished. In pin making in England, the drawing and cutting of the wire, the cutting of the heads from the coils, and the trimming are mostly performed by men; the other operations, by women and children. Sometimes, in trimming the pins, a man, his wife, and child work together. For pickling and trimming the pins the price usually paid is two cents a pound. A skilful and industrious worker can head 20,000 pins per day, for which in England they are paid about 30 cents of our money. Pin heading is very sedentary work, and children seven or eight years of age are often kept at it for twelve or thirteen hours, with merely time for hasty meals. Girls at Sedgley and Warrington begin as early as five years of age to work in the pin factories. It is said that at Wiltenhall they are treated with much cruelty, if at all refractory. In Sedgley more women are employed than men, and receive the same treatment. The secretary of the American Pin Company at Waterbury, Connecticut, writes: "Women are employed in tending machines, and in sticking and packing pins, and packing hooks and eyes, and making paper boxes. The work is not unhealthy. The lowest wages by the week is $3.25 while they are learning; afterward $3.50 and $3.75 per week, ten hours a day. Some work by the piece, and earn from $14 to $21 per month. The supply of woman's labor is equal to the demand, at the prices we pay. We work through the year, generally without stopping, except for the holidays. Our average number is fifty. Girls can do the work as well or better than boys, that could be hired at the same price. Most are Americans. They have their Sundays, holidays, and evenings—also a public library and institute lectures at a very small cost—besides religious privileges afforded by six churches. Board, $1.50 to $2 per week." The Albany Company, at Cohoes, sends the following information: "Women, and girls not younger than twelve years of age, are employed in sticking, folding, wrapping, &c. The same work is done in England and Germany. Wages from $6 to $20 per month, working twelve hours a day. Those having had the most practice can usually do the work faster and better, consequently obtain higher wages. They receive pay while learning. The qualifications most desirable are care, attention, and activity. The business is not likely to increase greatly, as the work is mostly done by machinery and the demand for the article is limited. We are busy at all seasons except in extremely hot or cold weather. The hands work twelve hours—by so doing they obtain higher wages. We have more applicants than we wish. We employ from twelve to fifteen, because they can do the work more readily than men. The work is light, and the condition of the women quite equal to that of women otherwise employed to obtain the necessities of life." The agent of the Howe Manufacturing Company, in Connecticut, reports: "Our work is all done by the piece. The earnings of the workwomen vary according to their skill, diligence, and the number of hours spent at work. Average in April last, $11.09—in four weeks. Highest earnings of one individual $22.09 (equal to $5.54 per week). Small girls earn from $1 to $1.50 per week, and work six or eight hours. Men and women do not perform the same kind of labor in our establishment. Why all persons are not paid equally for equal labor, I do not feel competent to explain. A knowledge of our work is soon acquired. Learners are paid for what they do. A good character and reputation, honesty, fidelity, common mechanical ability, and diligence are desirable qualifications. We generally find the hands we want in our own immediate neighborhood. Our work is considered desirable, and much sought for. In all seasons the hands are equally employed, except dry seasons, when we are short of water to drive our machinery. Our

stock

hands generally stay with us till they get married or lay up so much money that they are able to get along with less labor, or become too old or infirm to work to advantage. Some have stayed with us over twenty years, many over ten years. The number of hours for work is discretionary. We seldom request industrious hands to work more hours than they choose. Our hands sometimes work twelve or fourteen hours, at their pleasure. Small girls, of whom we employ but five or six, seldom work ten hours. The number of women and girls employed in our establishment heretofore has been variable, averaging perhaps thirty. We are using improved machinery, which has already reduced the number, and will reduce it still more. Our work is peculiarly adapted to female labor. Nearly all our hands are American born. In twenty-two years' business, we have seldom, if ever, had an adult woman employed who was unable to sign her name to the pay roll. Our adult women have the churches and lyceum lectures, which I believe they generally attend. Their time for reading, for the most part, will be evenings and Sundays. Small girls can attend our district school free of cost." A manufacturer, in Seymour, Connecticut, writes: "We pay from $3 to $4 per week. We employ no men in sticking and packing, and, if we were not particular as to whom we employ, we could reduce the amount of our monthly pay roll a large per cent. It requires very little practice to learn the part of our business done by women, and in most cases we pay them full wages upon entering the mill. No special qualifications are needed. The kind of business we pursue will always be carried on, but of course can never become very common. No difference in the seasons, and the girls are never thrown out of employment. Under the present regulations they work eleven hours, and the time could not well be shortened, as that would tend to derange the other departments of our business. We have but ten employed at present, but in the course of a few days expect to have about twenty. They are employed because they are peculiarly qualified for the business, and on account of the lower rate of wages as compared with the labor of men. We employ women in all cases when the work is suitable for them. Women as employed by us are superior to men, being more expert and active. The New England States are doubtless the best locality for our business. The females employed by us are all intelligent and of good mental ability."

214. Rings.

The American Brass Ring Co. "employ twenty women at presses, in packing, &c. They are all foreigners. Board, $1.50 per week. The work is not unhealthy. Women are paid fifty cents a day of ten hours. Women are paid $2 a week for four weeks while learning. The prospect of future employment is no better than the business now offers."

215. Scales.

H. T., manufacturer of scales and weights, Philadelphia, Penn., writes: "We employ women in making metallic weights. The work is not unhealthy. They earn from $4 to $6 per week. No comparison in the price of labor. Women can make as much as men, if they are willing. It requires almost a lifetime to learn the business; but the part the women work at requires but a day or two. We pay learners. No extraordinary qualifications are needed. A good prospect for increase of employment. No difference in seasons. They work from four to ten hours. Women cannot be employed at our heaviest work, on account of the great physical strength required." I was told at F. & M.'s, New York, that the beams of the scales could be burnished by women. It is done with steel instruments. I suppose the pans could also be burnished by them. Burnishing the back of the plates could be done by women also, but it is somewhat dirty work. Women would have to work in the room with the men, for while the foreman was employed, he would like to keep an eye on the employees. The work is rather heavy for women, but not more so than some in which they are engaged.

216. Stair Rods.

A manufacturer of plated stair rods told me "he employs a woman to burnish the rods. She can make from $4 to $7 a week, not working more than ten hours a day, being paid from fifty cents to $1 a hundred. It is work hard on the chest, but he thinks not hard on the eyes. He had one lady who did it at home. In large establishments, rods are now burnished by machinery. The polishing of stair rods is very hard work, and requires strong, stout lads." Another stair-rod manufacturer told me "he has employed a boy to tie up stair rods, but would employ a girl and pay the same price, $1 per day."

217. Steel Manufacture.

No women are employed in the conversion of iron into steel in this or any other country. It is rough, heavy work. It requires great physical strength, and is unsuitable for a woman. No women are employed in the manufacture of axes in this country. It is rough, coarse work, and done by stout, strong men. In one of the largest cutlery establishments in the United States they employ six hundred men, but no females; except six, for wrapping up goods. In the finishing of metals there are three branches: turning, filing, and setting up. In turning, jagged particles of metal fly off, and often enter the eyes of the workers, doing them great injury. Goggles of magnetized iron might be used to prevent this. The magnetized wash is used to prevent the filings from getting down the throats of grinders and polishers. For learning the two parts, turning and filing, four years of apprenticeship are served. The turning requires more skill than physical strength. It might be done by women that were willing to serve so long an apprenticeship.

218. Buckles.

G. Brothers, of Waterbury, employ six women in riveting and other light work on bell clasps. They write: "The girls earn from $3 to $5 per week, ten hours a day. The labor of women is paid twenty-five per cent. less than that of males, because they are not able to do as heavy work. It requires about three months to learn the part of males or females. Our branch of trade is not increasing. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons, but the women are not thrown out of employment during the year. They are superior in light work. Board, $2 per week." A manufacturer in Attleboro' writes: "I employ from twelve to fifteen at packing, at light press work, &c. They are paid from four to six cents per hour. Women are not paid higher, because they are not worth more. I pay men from seven to twenty-five cents per hour. The time of learning depends on the ingenuity of the employed. They have steady work most of the time. They are full-blooded Yankees—have a good deal of fun when the boss is out, and work in a pleasant room. The labor is easy, and they are satisfied with the remuneration. (Perhaps because they can do no better!) A healthy climate, convenience to market and to places where the raw material is made, are advantages. All New-England girls have the advantages of a good education in the common branches." A manufacturer in Middletown, Conn., replies: "Girls are employed by me, springing in the tongues of buckles and packing them—also making paper boxes. They earn from forty cents to $1 per day, being paid by the piece. Their employment is not so heavy or laborious as that of males. It takes from six months to one year to earn full wages. Women will probably always be employed in these branches. Good box makers are always in demand. We employ thirty—all Americans. The balance of my work is rather objectionable for women, unless it be foreign or second-class girls. Women are usually more neat than men. Either water or railroad communication is desirable in seeking a locality. Board, about $2 per week. There was never so great a demand for female help in this part of the country as at the present time. They have started a shirt manufactory about nine miles from here, and are in want of girls; but the greatest trouble there is to find boarding places at reasonable rates." The West Haven Co. report "the employment to be very healthy by giving exercise to the limbs. The pay is from seventy-five cents to $1.50 per day—average $1. Some learn the business in two days, some in two weeks. The hands are paid from the first, and are seventeen in number, all Americans. Women are superior in this branch, because they are quicker with their fingers."

219. Edge Tools.

The Humphreysville Edge Tool Manufacturing Co. inform me they do not employ females. For polishing they hire strong, rough boys, that they can get cheap, who stand while at work, and stoop over the articles, which produces a strain on the back and compression of the chest. Many find it so injurious they have to give it up, and the majority of those who do keep at it do not last long. The majority of the metal workers in Birmingham do their work at home. Each member of the family has his particular part to perform. An English writer says: "In various branches of the hardware manufacture, both in Birmingham and Sheffield, women may be seen by hundreds in some places, comfortably secluded from the male workers; in others, working side by side with them at the same mechanical process. They are never given to intoxication, and rarely, if ever, to strikes; and it may be very much the absence of these propensities that has recommended them so largely to the notice of the employer. In London the practice is gaining ground."

220. Electrical Machines.

From the office of Davis & Kidder's magneto-electric machines we receive the following intelligence: "We employ women in covering wire, spools, sewing velvet, papering boxes, &c., &c. They earn from $12 to $24 per month, and are paid by the month. Women are paid nearly one half as much as men—can form no reason why women are not as well paid. It requires about three months for females to learn; they are paid while learning. All it requires is energy. There is no prospect at all for future employment in this branch. We employ our hands through the year; do not deduct from their wages when absent for a week. They work ten hours a day. We employ four, because the work is light and better suited for them than males. All Americans. Those in my employ are well educated. Board in respectable families, $2.50." C. Brothers, of New York, employ two girls for the same kind of work. They pay one $5 a week, ten hours a day—the small girl $3. They have had them but six months, but expect to keep them all the year. Mr. C. thinks the business is so limited that the prospect is poor for learners.

221. Fire Arms.

From the Arms Manufacturing Co., Chicopee, Mass., we receive the following information: "We employ women in burnishing plated ware. The employment is not unhealthy. We pay generally by the piece. Some are paid about eighty cents per day. There is a prospect for steady employment for the few we have, and for no more. They are in no season entirely out of work. Ten hours a day are devoted to work when paid for by the week. All Americans. Easy work and much sought after. Women are inferior in point of strength, superior in cheapness." Sharp's Rifle Co. write: "We employ from ten to thirty women in making cartridges and inspecting primers. We pay about $1 each day, as the business requires good skill and care, and is hazardous. It is generally piece work. Males do the heaviest part of the work, and are paid $1.25 to $1.50 per day. If an individual is skilful, it requires but a short time to learn. Hands are paid while learning. Prospect good of future employment. We have constant work for ten. They are usually employed nine hours. All Americans. They appear very comfortable, and are quite tidy. No other parts of our occupation are suitable for women. Women are superior in forming and folding. $2.50 per week is the price of board."

222. Knives and Forks.

The metals used for knives and forks are iron, steel, and silver, according to use or expense. The dust that arises from the grinding of steel knives, coats the lungs with stone. A German manufacturer of small cutlery told me that in large establishments in some European countries, women put the rivets in the handles of knives, and polish the handles of ivory and pearl. In the grinding of penknives and razors the inclination of the body forward is greater than in any other branch; hence, while less injurious in regard to the amount of dust than the fork and needle branches, they are fraught with greater evil from the position of the body alone. Articles of cutlery are glossed by holding them to a wooden wheel, on which is emery powder. They are polished by holding them to a wheel covered with leather, charged with crocus. Both of these processes are within the range of woman's toil. In a cutlery establishment, I was told the work was too hard for women. The polishing of their cutlery is done by machinery. The Hardware Manufacturing Company, Berlin, Conn., write: "We employ one hundred and forty men, making shelf hardware, and five or six girls to pack it up. They get from fifty to seventy-five cents a day, work ten hours, and all live at home. The work of papering up the goods is light, and requires little skill. The other part of the work about our factory is too severe for women." The Empire Knife Company, Conn., "employ four girls in packing and sharpening. They are paid by the day (ten hours), and earn from $3 to $4 per week. Women receive about the wages of men. It requires from six months to one year to learn. Women are paid while learning. The prospect of future employment is fair. The comparative comfort and remuneration of the work are good. Comfortable board, $3 a week." A company in Northfield, Conn., inform us: "It requires from three to five years to learn the men's part of the work. Some of the women work by the piece, and some by the day, receiving from $3 to $5 per week. The same price would be paid to men. The prospect of future employment is good. They work throughout the year. Women are superior in quickness. A locality should be fixed on where good water power may be had."

223. Needles.

Most of the needles used in Europe and America are manufactured at Redditch, fourteen miles from Birmingham, where there are about a dozen very large factories. The number manufactured in Redditch amounts to about seventy million per week. The process is a very long and painful one. The drilling is done by young women. The constrained posture and rigid gaze of the women on the eyes of the needles as they drill, is distressing. It requires a perfect steadiness of hand. In addition to this, the small channel observed on each side of the eye is made by women with a suitable file. The picking out of defective needles, and laying perfect ones with the heads one way and the points another, is performed by children. Dr. G. C. Holland writes: "We candidly admit that the physical evils produced by needle grinding exceed all that imagination has pictured." The needle grinders in England are said to be ignorant and dissipated. One half can neither read nor write. The dust which is evolved in the process of needle grinding, contains a much larger amount of steel than is produced by any other grinding. Mr. Aiken, inventor of the knitting machine, has the machines and needles both manufactured. He says "he supposes he could teach women to do most of the work on needles, if he would give the time and trouble. He pays $1 per day to hands in the needle room." In the manufacture of Bartlett's sewing-machine needles, but a few small girls are employed, at from $1 to $1.50 per week, for smoothing the eye by running an oiled thread through it. Formerly they employed girls to perforate the eye, but it is now done by machinery. A manufacturer of knitting needles writes us: "The winter season is the best for work, and the Eastern States furnish the best localities for manufactories." A maker of sewing-machine needles told me the tools are rather heavy, files and a lathe being used. They pay a boy of fourteen years $3 a week, and one of eighteen, $5.50. C. employs girls to envelop and label needles. They earn from $3 to $4 a week, and do it at home. It takes a long time to become expert. They are paid from the first, but not much. The business is limited. They could have it done for less in England, but prefer to put labels on for parties in this country, who want to be considered manufacturers. G. & B. employ some girls to label and paper needles they import. They pay two cents and a half for putting the labels on forty papers. The labelling is done in the latter part of winter and early spring.

224. Pens

(

Steel and Quill

). A thousand million steel pens are said to be produced annually at Birmingham, England. We are indebted to some writer in an English paper for a description of the part taken by women in the manufacture of Gillott's pen in Birmingham. The number of women employed in his factory is four hundred. "If not altogether manufactured by woman, she has had, by far, more to do in its manufacture than men. He may have forged and rolled the metal, but she cut it from the sheet, gave it its semi-cylindrical form, stamped it, ground it on a wheel to make it flexible, split it, helped to polish it, and finally packed it in a box, or sewed it upon a card in readiness for the market. And whoever wishes to see her thus employed, may find her seated in an airy and comfortable chamber, with two hundred or three hundred companions similarly engaged—all healthy and merry, and singing at their work, while pens in all stages are clicking and glittering through their fingers at the rate of something like one hundred gross a day, each." An attempt has been made to manufacture steel pens in this country, but, I think, as yet without success. The makers of the Washington medallion pen had some girls to come from England to work for them, but found they could not keep up the factory, because of the prices they had to pay for labor. The duty on steel pens is thirty per cent., yet they can be imported for less than it would cost to make them here. Some one writes to the editor of the

Englishwoman's Journal

as follows: "Madam, I have been told that quill pens made by hand are far superior to those made by machinery, and are therefore used in some of the principal offices of London. Besides which, very many persons are unable to write except with quill pens; rejecting the best and most expensive ones made of any kind of metal. Might not the making of them be a suitable occupation for some young women, who, from lameness or other infirmities, might be unable to follow a more active life?" In New York, some quills are made into pens by machinery, but women, we believe, are not employed.

225. Philosophical Apparatus.

K., in Brooklyn, told me that in the old country it is customary to spend seven years learning to make philosophical apparatus, but in this country boys do not like to be apprenticed so long. The business is not fast enough for Americans. It requires close and constant application. The burnishing is quite hard work. The occupation has a tendency to render one intellectual and scientific. Most young men leave it to become physicians and preachers. Dr. McG., of China, is one of the number. The work is mostly done by lathe, but the polishing by hand. I think women could do it, if they were brought up to it. Instruments are made in Europe, and imported for less than they could be made in the United States. Business is now very slack. K. used to have several apprentices, that he boarded and paid $1 a week during the first year. The next year he increased their wages to $1 a week more, the next year another $1, &c. In small establishments an instrument is carried through all its processes by the same workman. The business is done in the United States on so small a scale as not to afford a sufficient subdivision to furnish any part suitable for women. P. does not know of any women being employed in this country in this trade. He thinks there is much of it they could do, and in process of time it will be done in the United States. In France and England, there are many women who learn with their fathers and husbands, and work with them. Many women are employed in making small compasses, that require a nice adjustment and care in pasting, but a separate room would be necessary, and that he has not. A manufacturer of nautical instruments writes me, he does not know of women being employed in any part of his business in any portion of the world. The brass on philosophical instruments is polished by hand, but a manufacturer told me he would not have even the polishing done by inexperienced hands, as they are very particular with the finishing off of their work.

226. Saws.

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. Scissors.

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. Spectacles.

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. Surgical Instruments.

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. Telescopes.

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. Thermometers.

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. Copper and Zinc Manufacture.

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. Tin Manufacture.

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. Lanterns.

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. Britannia Ware.

Some Britannia is burnished by hand, and some by lathe. Women occasionally do the first kind.

236. Silver.

"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. Burnishers.

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. Thimbles.

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. Silver Plating.

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. Bronze.

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. Gold and Jewelry Manufactures.

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. Gold Assayers.

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. Enamellers.

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. Gold and Silver Leaf.

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. Jewellers' Findings.

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. Pencils.

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. Pens.

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. Watches.

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. Watch Case and Jewelry Polishers.

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. Watch Chains.

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."