Читать книгу The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work - Virginia Penny - Страница 65

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Women could not well travel about to obtain information of localities for the making of maps, but nearly all the manual labor connected with the business would be very suitable for them. Lithographing maps is said to be a profitable branch of the art, and opens a field to competent women. Attending the machines for making impressions from the stones might very well be performed by women. "In Philadelphia, map coloring gives employment to about 175 females, some of whom display exquisite taste in this delicate art." There used to be 150 girls in New York painting maps, but there are very few now. Freedley tells of a map-manufacturing establishment in Philadelphia that "turns out 1,200 maps weekly. Connected with it are two lithographic printing offices, having twenty presses, and coloring rooms, in which 35 females are employed." I was told by a lady who had colored maps, that it is trying on the eyes and poorly compensated. A map maker said he was always most busy in the fall, and then employed from 12 to 16 women. In winter he employed about half that number, and they principally married women, who have worked for them several years. Mr. W. pays two of his best and most experienced lady workers a certain sum by the week, and they hire girls and women to work for them. The profits of these forewomen, aside from their own work, amount to $1.50 to $2 a week the year round. Girls receive $1.50 a week while learning. It requires from six months to one year to become proficient. Neatness, a steady hand, knowledge of colors, and fineness of touch, are the principal requisites for a good map colorist. It requires no artistic knowledge. An expeditious and experienced hand can earn $1 a day. There is at present a need of hands in New York, and a surplus in Philadelphia. All seasons are alike in this business, except as monetary affairs are concerned. All Mr. W.'s hands work in the house. They work about nine hours a day all the year, and never take maps home with them, as they are mostly large and heavy maps. Map making is mostly confined to Philadelphia and New York. None are made in the South and West. There is one map publisher reported in Richmond, but he has his maps made in New York. Mr. C. gives his maps to a map mounter, who employs a girl to sew the bindings on with a sewing machine. She is paid at the same rate as any other operator. The paper bindings are of course pasted on. Mr. C. employs one girl to paint the outlines, but all the other painting is done by stencil plates. Map coloring formerly gave employment to many females, but now it is very rare that a map is colored by hand. The stencilling process introduced by the Germans has superseded it, as they are thereby rendered cheaper. Girls used to earn 75 cents to $1 a day for painting maps. If girls would learn stencilling and work on their own responsibility, they might compete with the Germans. The process is very simple and soon learned. At Mr. H.'s, I saw a large room full of Germans stencilling. Men earn $8 or $9 a week, and do it faster and better than girls, as they have more strength. I saw one girl shading, who earned $1 a day. A map manufacturer writes me: "In map coloring I am compelled to employ men to a large extent. A curious fact is, that respectable middle-aged women, who have been coloring for years on piecework, make from $4 to $5 per week; while young men, comparatively unpractised, earn at the same prices, say from $9 to $10." A manufacturer who employs about 80 females, writes: "I employ women in pasting and putting down maps, who receive from $3 to $4 a week, being paid by the week, and working ten hours a day. The difference in prices of male and female labor is about one half. One can learn the business in a few weeks; the only qualifications requisite are sobriety and strength. The prospect for work in this branch is good. There is no difference in the seasons. Some parts of the work can be done more cheaply by women. A supply of hands can always be had. The women do their work less carefully than men." A map publisher in New Hampshire writes: "I employ 28 women and girls in binding, mounting, stitching, and coloring maps, and pay from $3 to $6 per week, working eight hours a day. The engraving is done by men, who receive from $6 to $20 per week. Women's labor can be learned in a few weeks, and is not so hard or difficult as men's. Engravers spend three years learning. I employ women to color, because they have better taste than men. Draughting surveys, engraving, and lithographing have never been attempted by women. New York is preferable as a locality." A gentleman in Boston writes: "We employ from four to eight women in our map-mounting department. They could not be employed in any other branch, which is varnishing and polishing all kinds of hard wood. There are a large number employed in New York, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. Pay varies from $3 to $5 per week—ten hours a day. We employ no men in this branch. There is something new to learn every day. Business is the same all the year. We pay our girls nothing while learning." A lithographer in Boston writes: "I employ women to color maps and pictures, paying by the piece, the workers earning from $3 to $6 per week. The employment is not unhealthy."