introduction of such orders, and delivered an address in favor of it.

The Bishop of Exeter recommended the establishment of such orders in England, and an institution for deaconesses has been opened in London. =11. Dentists.= Some time ago, in New York, a few ladies prepared themselves for the practice of dentistry. We believe only one really practised, and she but a short time. We find her name in a New York directory as a dentist. It would be more agreeable to most ladies to have their teeth cleaned and plugged by a lady. They would not feel the same hesitancy in going alone at any time to a dentist of their own sex. Extracting teeth would require more nerve and strength than most ladies possess. Yet, if a woman has nerves sufficiently firm, and ability to control her sympathies, she may succeed. There are dental schools in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. A professor in the dental school at Philadelphia writes: "I would suggest that if any ladies desire to become efficient practitioners in some branches of dentistry, it would be better for them to apply to a reputable practitioner, and with time and attention become thoroughly familiar with those branches. In doing so they will prove to the world their capability, and the rest in time will follow. Dentistry has been humorously called a 'woman's profession.'" "There is nothing even in the surgical part of dentistry, to which she is not adapted. In this profession she will have a fair opportunity to foil her enemies and accusers; and her children's _teeth_ would not be set on edge without the possibility of instant relief. There is no mystery in the dental structure, which the turnkey, in her magic hand, could not _unlock_; and no terrible pain in tooth extraction, which her mystic power could not exceedingly mitigate." Most profit arising to dentists is from making and inserting artificial teeth. It is a lucrative business, when properly understood, and one which affords constant employment. =12. Editresses.= The most powerful instrument for disseminating general knowledge in the United States is the newspaper press. It does a great deal for promoting a love of letters; and the cheapness of the papers is such as to render them accessible to almost every one. The literature of the day penetrates the most remote corner of our country. Obscure, indeed, is the place that knows not the printer's power. Even in California, more than a year ago, there were published 81 newspapers. In New York city alone were published 154 newspapers, and 114 magazines. But this is not strange when we remember that no less than eighty languages are spoken there. A newspaper states that there are printed in Austria 10 newspapers, 14 in Africa, 24 in Spain, 20 in Portugal, 30 in Asia, 65 in Belgium, 85 in Denmark, 90 in Russia and Poland, 320 in other German States, 500 in Great Britain, and 1,800 in the United States. Taking merely newspaper and magazine literature into consideration, does not our republic offer inducements to intellectual culture? Does she not reward talent and encourage industry? Yes. Her general diffusion of knowledge and the learned men of her press give a positive reply. The dignity of man should be elevated, his affections purified, and his pursuits ennobled by the mighty influence of the press. Editors should live as ministers to the welfare of humanity. The aspiring character of our people and their thirst for knowledge will long make a heavy demand on the talent and taste of those who wield the editor's pen. There are several publications in the United States conducted exclusively by ladies; some in which the assistant editors are ladies; and a small number devoted to the interests of women alone. Several ladies have entered the editorial corps within the last few years. The Harpers, in their Magazine, state there are about six hundred literary and miscellaneous periodicals published in this country. If all the labor, as type setting, binding, &c., was done by women, what a fortunate thing it would be for many of the poor! I have been told that when an article is sent to a newspaper, and is known to have come from the brain and the pen of a woman, ten to one, her compensation will be smaller for it, and in many cases it will be rejected. There are a few exceptions. Fanny Fern, for instance, receives, we have seen it stated, at the rate of $100 a column from Mr. Bonner for a contribution to the _Ledger_. The sum total he will pay her for the amount he has engaged will be $6,000. Mrs. B. receives $600 for editing a monthly paper. Some time back contributors to the _Independent_ were paid $3 a column, and to the New York _Observer_ at the same rate. Mr. L. told me that a man is paid $20 a week for making out an index for the New York _Tribune_, which could be done by any lady with a cultivated and well disciplined mind. The man that was employed not long since had been a wood engraver, and had received no special training for his duties in the _Tribune_ office. The papers to be sent away are directed by machinery, which a lady could attend. Some one writes me the qualifications for his business are strength of mind and body. We think there is generally a heavy draft on either one or the other in every occupation successfully pursued, and in some on both. Émile Girardin was a French editress that died recently. Mrs. Johnson, of Edinburgh, was for years editress of the Inverness _Courier_, which was published in her husband's name. Miss Parkes conducts the _Englishwoman's Journal_. Mrs. Swisshelm edited the Pittsburg _Visitor_ with much vigor and ability. Mrs. Virginia L. French has charge of the literary department of a paper issued in Nashville, Tenn. Miss McDowell might have succeeded with the _Woman's Advocate_, if her noble efforts had been appreciated as they deserved. =13. Government Officers.= "Many Government offices could be creditably filled by intelligent and experienced women. Miss Wallace and Miss Thomas were employed as computers on the Coast Survey at Washington in 1854, with salaries each of $480, with perquisites making it $600. A man to do the same work would probably receive twice as much." "Mrs. Miller, at one time, was engaged in making observations of the weather--the thermometer, barometer, direction of winds, quantity of rain, &c., in which she was assisted by another person appointed by a society of which both sexes were members." Computations of this kind could be made at home. Mr. Blodgett, who had charge of the Smithsonian Institute in 1854, wrote: "The discussion of observations in physical science, meteorological observations particularly, has never been undertaken in a general manner until attempted in this department of the Smithsonian Institute, and I have found that accuracy and despatch require well-trained minds of great endurance. Only the best minds can successfully undertake scientific calculations and computations; and these must possess a sort of half masculine strength and endurance." Yet we would not offer this as a discouragement. If it has been done, it can be done again. "During Mr. Fillmore's administration, two women wrote for the Treasury Department at Washington, at salaries of twelve and fifteen hundred a year." Several ladies are employed in different parts of the United States for copying by registers of deeds; but the majority are relatives of the registers. In some towns of the East, however, other ladies than relatives are employed, who receive $1 per day for their services. Miss Olive Rose has performed the duties of the register of deeds, at Thomaston, Maine. She writes: "I was officially notified of the election, required to give bonds, &c. I am unable to state the exact amount of salary, as it is regulated by whatever business is done in the office. Perhaps it may average between $300 and $400 yearly." The Duchess of Leuchtenberg was elected to preside over the Imperial Academy of Science, in Russia, a few years ago. An acquaintance told me that in the warehouses at the London docks, silks, shawls, and such goods are exposed for sale, and many ladies go down in their carriages and purchase. If any female is suspected of concealing on her person goods that she has appropriated in the warehouse, the watchmen who guard the place remark they would like to detain her for a few minutes, and convey her to a room, where a woman is in attendance to search her. The present collector of customs at Philadelphia writes: "The only instance of employment of women in connection with the custom house here has been, while Liverpool steamers were coming to this port, some years ago, when one or two were employed to search female emigrants, to prevent smuggling on their persons. The employment was only for a day or two at a time, and is now discontinued." Some time ago it was feared that large quantities of precious stones and laces were concealed on the persons of some women, and so smuggled into New York. Consequently "two American female searchers were inaugurated in the revenue service as aids. They each receive $500 per annum, and are paid by the month. Men receive $1,095 (or $3 per day) for similar services. The qualifications needed are intelligence, tact, and integrity. They spend but one or two hours on the arrival of each steamer or passenger received from abroad." I think, in European countries, female police, who examine the persons and passports of women, receive the same salaries as men. =14. Lawyers.= We cannot question the right of woman to plead at the bar, but we doubt whether it would be for her good. She might study law, to discipline her mind and to store it with useful information. She might profitably spend, in that way, time which would otherwise be devoted to music, painting, or the languages. But the noisy scenes now witnessed in a court room are scarcely compatible with the reserve, quietude, and gentleness that characterize a woman of refinement. Theodore Parker said: "As yet, I believe, no woman acts as a lawyer; but I see no reason why the profession of law might not be followed by women as well as men. He must be rather an uncommon lawyer who thinks no feminine head could compete with him. Most lawyers that I have known are rather mechanics at law than attorneys or scholars at law; and, in the mechanical part, woman could do as well as man--could be as good a conveyancer, could follow precedents as carefully, and copy forms as nicely. I think her presence would mend the manners of the court--of the bench, not less than of the bar." A lady lawyer would not be without a precedent, for we read from a note in "Women Artists:" "Christina Pisani wrote a work which was published in Paris, 1498. It gives an account of the learned and famous Novella, the daughter of a professor of the law in the university of Bologna. She devoted herself to the same studies, and was distinguished for her scholarship. She conducted her father's cases; and, having as much beauty as learning, was wont to appear in court veiled." We suppose this is the same young lady of whom we read elsewhere: "At twenty-six she took the degree of doctor of laws, and began publicly to expound the laws of Justinian. At thirty she was elevated to a professor's chair, and taught the law to a crowd of scholars from all nations. Others of her sex have since filled professors' chairs in Bologna." While we would not encourage women to act publicly as counsellors at law, we would claim for them the privilege of acting as attorneys. Writing out deeds, mortgages, wills, and indentures, would be a pleasant occupation for such women as are qualified and fond of sedentary life. We know that the hearts of most women would prompt them to relieve the poor and oppressed: but might they not do it in some other way as efficiently as by pleading at the bar? If the weak seek their aid, let them bestow the benefit of their legal lore. If the helpless seek their protection, let them bring their information and counsel to bear upon the case, but not by public speaking. By personal effort, or by applying to the good of the other sex, they may accomplish much. If a woman involve herself in the intricacies of law, may she not lose those tender traits that endear her to the other sex, and in time discard those graces that render her gentle and lovely at home? The profession of the law is one suited to the inclinations, nature, and taste of but very few women. But if a lady will practise law, she will need great clearness of mind, a good insight into the motives of others, fearlessness in expressing her convictions of right, and ability in refraining from saying more than she should. =15. Lecturers.= Lecturing is addressing people through the sense of hearing; writing is addressing them through the sense of sight. An individual can address a larger number by the latter plan than the former. Many people that would not devote the time, trouble, and expense to investigate books, will give their twenty-five cents to hear a lecture on a given subject. Rev. Mr. Higginson says: "We forget that wonderful people, the Spanish Arabs, among whom women were public lecturers and secretaries of kings, while Christian Europe was sunk in darkness." "In Italy, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, it was not esteemed unfeminine for women to give lectures in public to crowded and admiring audiences. They were freely admitted members of learned societies, and were consulted by men of preëminent scientific attainments, as their equals in scholarship." Theodore Parker felt the importance of public lecturing, and expressed gratification that women were occupying the field so successfully. In the Female Medical College of Philadelphia, great attention is given to the study of physiology; and several graduates from that institution have lectured upon this subject, one or two of them with great success. It is thought best that a lecturer upon physiology should be a physician, all the branches of medical science being so intimately connected, that the separation of one from the whole is like the dismemberment of the human body, producing almost the same effect upon the severed member. "The field for competent female lecturers on physiological subjects is as broad as the nation, and promises a rich harvest for as many as can possibly be engaged in it, for the next half century." Dr. Gregory, of the New England Female Medical College, writes: "Some of the graduates of this college have lectured to ladies more or less on physiology, hygiene, &c., and with good success. One in particular has given courses of lectures, illustrated with the apparatus of the college, to the young ladies in our four State Normal Schools, with great satisfaction to the principals and pupils. One of our graduates is resident physician, and teacher and superintendent of health in the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where there are almost three hundred pupils." Other female seminaries throughout the country ought to be thus supplied. Among those who lecture on physiology are Mrs. Fowler, Mrs. Jones, and Mrs. Johnson. In cities, a number of ladies might deliver lectures in private schools, academies, and colleges, on physiology and hygiene. Quite a number of ladies have delivered temperance lectures, and some were employed at one time by the State Temperance Society of New York. Lecturers of note receive from $50 to $500 for a single lecture, beside having their travelling expenses paid. When lecturing on their own responsibility, the entire proceeds are theirs, save expenses for room, gas, and (in winter) fuel. Lectures are most generally given before societies, that pay the lecturer a specified sum. Lucy Stone was paid $263 for her lectures in Bangor, Maine. Miss Dwight lectured on art, a few years ago, charging at first ten dollars for a series of six lectures, but afterward she reduced the price to five dollars. =16. Librarians.= There is a Woman's Library in New York. The object is to furnish women--particularly working women, who are not able to subscribe to other libraries--with a quiet and comfortable place to read in, during their leisure moments. A lady in Darby, Pennsylvania, attends a town library that was established in 1785. It has always been kept in the house of her family, and she has had no occasion to employ assistance outside of her family. In the Mercantile Library of New York, two ladies have charge of the reading room. One receives $200, and the other $250 a year. Lady librarians receive from one third to one half as much as men. The librarian says they are not physically so capable, and otherwise not so well qualified. They could always do the lighter work of a library. They are employed all the year, and spend about eight hours in the reading room. The secretary of the Apprentice's Library in Philadelphia writes: "Both our principal librarians are ladies, and we have two assistants of the same sex. The principals receive $308, and the assistants $90 each, per annum. The girls' library, in which one of the principals and the two assistants are employed, is open five afternoons in the week, from three to four hours each afternoon and evening. It is only lately we have employed a lady for a librarian for the boys' department, and we find the change to be a happy one. The boys are more respectful, more easily managed, and kept in better order than formerly, and the number of readers has increased." The gentleman who has charge of the public library in Boston writes: "We employ eleven American ladies, who do all the work of a library in its various branches, under the direction of the superintendent, and subject to revision by him or an able male assistant. Some cover and collate books, some go from place to place to get books, and some are occupied entirely with writing and copying catalogues, shelf lists, records, &c. The ladies are paid $7 per week. Some spend eight and some ten hours in the library. Much of the labor performed by males is the same as that performed by females; but in every instance, save one, paid for at higher rates. Why, I cannot say. The office of superintendent requires learning and experience. In Boston, the rate of wages for men is higher than for females. Ladies are paid pretty well here, in comparison with what they are paid for work elsewhere. Teachers are paid higher than in other places. A competent person soon learns the duties of a library, but experience adds to her value. Ladies are employed in preference to men because they are competent, because it is a good field for female labor, because they have a good influence on those who transact business with the library, and, I doubt not, because their work can be had at less rates than men's. Our schools are graded, and in schools of a given grade there are divisions. Of course a graduate from the highest division of the highest grade, other things being equal (that is talent, &c.), is the person for us. A qualified lady is as good for work as a qualified man. The work of a librarian cultivates the mind. All advantages, aside from education, depend upon the taste of the lady employed. If fond of reading and ambitious to excel, she can, by faithful application out of library hours, succeed. Three dollars is the lowest price for which a lady can be comfortably boarded in Boston." "In the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, a lady is permanently employed as librarian. She receives a salary of $500 per annum, and is employed six hours a day. The qualifications needed for the post are reading, writing, some knowledge of French, German, &c." =17. Magazine Contributors.= Some of our periodical literature is futile and unsatisfying. It is light and trivial in its nature. It may delight a few hours, but then follows the reaction--a dull and heavy sinking of the heart--a sluggish dreariness--a neglect of duty--a disdain for the actual realities of life. The prose of most magazines is only love dreams--the poetry froth. Such light nutriment is unfit for the souls of women--such ethereal diet can never satisfy the cravings of an immortal mind. But some improvement has taken place in part of our magazine literature, and a few of our reviews equal those of any country. Subjects are as numerous as the objects around us, and suited to all moods and diversities of mind. To the contributor, I would say: Your writing will be likely to find readers--whether it be grave or gay--sad or sprightly--witty or jovial; whether one making a draught on the imagination or the judgment; whether one displaying your own attainments, or calling to aid the opinions and acquirements of others; in short, one of thought, fancy, or facts. Your friends may like your ideas draped in poetry, or the more substantial dress of prose. One is like gold, the other like iron. One serves for ornament, the other for use. The true poet is a gifted person; a heaven-born talent does he or she possess. If you have good descriptive talents, you can write stories, laying the scenes in far-away countries that are not much known, and yet eliciting some interest. And as to the subjects of a moral caste, their name is legion. Magazine writing furnishes a palatable way of drawing attention to individual foibles, or furnishing a satire on the inconsistencies and exactions of society in general. If you attempt to write natural stories, let your scenes and events be such as occur in every-day life. It has been suggested that a good publication, like the _Atlantic Monthly_, conducted entirely by women, would do great good, but we fear it would not be supported. I was told, however, by the gentleman who has charge of _Harper's Magazine_, that two thirds of the articles are contributed by women, and they receive better prices than men would. The _Saturday Press_ says that _Harper's Magazine_ pays its writers $7.50 to $10 per page; the _Atlantic Monthly_, from $6 to 10; the _Knickerbocker_, $3, which is equal to $5 for _Harper_ and $6 for the _Atlantic_; the _North American Review_, $1.50 per page. The prices mentioned are said by one supposed to know, to be exaggerated, and made the exception, not the rule. Mr. H. C. Carey, in an article styled "Rewards of Authorship," writes: "I have now before me a statement from a single publisher, in which he says that to Messrs. Willis, Longfellow, Bryant, and Allston, his price was uniformly $50 for a poetical article, long or short--and his readers know that they were generally very short; in one case only fourteen lines. To numerous others, it was from $25 to $40. In one case he has paid $25 per page for prose. To Mr. Cooper he paid $1,800 for a novel, and $1,000 for a series of naval biographies, the author retaining the copyright for separate publication; and in such cases, if the work be good, its appearance in the magazine acts as the best of advertisements. To Mr. James, he paid $1,200 for a novel, leaving him also the copyright. For a single number of his journal, he has paid to authors $1,500." =18. Missionaries.= Miss Rice, a missionary in Constantinople, has a large school for girls. Some of her scholars live in Constantinople, but most of them are from abroad--different parts of Turkey and Western Asia. "In England, Scotland, Ireland, and Germany, females organize societies of their own, and send out teachers and readers of their own sex. Ladies in England have had a society there twenty-five years, expressly for sending out and sustaining single ladies to work for heathen women, and they have already themselves sent two hundred into the field, at a cost of many thousands of pounds. If any of the lady missionaries sent out by the ladies' society in England desire to leave the work within five years, they shall be at liberty to do so, but shall refund to that society the cost of sending them out." Mrs. Ellen B. Mason, a missionary of Burmah, is now in New York, endeavoring to obtain female missionaries to return with her. A lady (Mrs. Bigelow) was employed among the city missionaries in Boston, at a salary of $350. From the last reports of the American Board of Foreign Missions, the Old School Presbyterian, the Protestant Episcopal, the Methodist, and Dutch Reformed, we find 451 lady missionaries were supported by their Boards at the time of making out the reports. The American Board had in charge 185 among foreign nations, and among the Indians 41 = 226. Of those sent out by this Board, 26 are unmarried. The Old School Presbyterian has 78 among the Indians (33 unmarried), and among heathen 53 (3 of the number single) = 131. The Baptist Foreign Missions number 34 (none unmarried). The American Baptist Union require every lady and gentleman that go out as missionaries from their Board to marry before they go. The Dutch Reformed have 11 among foreign nations. The Protestant Episcopal have 26 foreign missionaries (all married). The Methodist 17 (2 unmarried). In a manual for the use of missionaries and missionary candidates in connection with the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, we find the laborers needed for the foreign field are: 1st, ordained ministers of the gospel; 2d, physicians; 3d, school teachers; 4th, printers; 5th, farmers and mechanics; 6th, unmarried female teachers. In referring to all the other classes but the first mentioned, it reads: "Though not called to preach the gospel, their Christian profession requires from them the same devotedness to the cause of Christ, according to the circumstances in which the providence of God has placed them, that is required from the ministers of the gospel. The application should be in writing, and the candidate should state briefly his age, education, employment, the length of time he has been a professor of religion, his motive and reasons for desiring to be a missionary, the field he prefers, and the state of his health. For a female this information may be given through a third person. No person will be appointed to the service of the Board until the executive committee have obtained as thorough a knowledge as possible of his or her character. For this purpose a personal acquaintance is very desirable. In all cases, written testimonials, full and explicit, must be forwarded." The treasurer of the Presbyterian Board said the salary depends on place and qualifications. The Treasurer of the Dutch Reformed Missions said a single lady receives from $300 to $400, according to her qualifications. Piety and a good common education are all that is necessary. They learn the language after arriving at their place of destination. None go without a certificate from a physician, saying they are free from organic disease. If their health fails so that they cannot recover, their passage home is paid, and they are supported for one year after. The minister connected with the Methodist Board said the salary depends on the places, and no particular preparation is requisite. They have many more applicants than they have places for. =19. Medical Missionaries.= An association in Philadelphia educates a limited number of ladies to go out as medical missionaries. Any information in regard to this association may be obtained from Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, 1418 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. The enterprise opens to such missionaries a wide field of usefulness, that cannot be reached in any other way. A number are now wanting in foreign countries. Rev. Mr. Dwight, writing from Constantinople in 1852, very highly commends the plan of giving to some female missionaries a medical education. He refers to the secluded lives of the females in oriental nations, to their ignorance, and the superstitious reverence felt by the people for those acquainted with diseases and their remedies. He thinks that in Constantinople, among all ranks of people, and even among the Mohammedans, a female physician would find constant practice, and gain an access to the female portion of the community that missionaries cannot. And, if pious, in the capacity of physician, she could do much to promote their spiritual welfare. A knowledge of the Turkish language would be indispensable; and some acquaintance with French and Italian, Dr. Dwight recommends. And it was thought by some of the missionaries in India, before the rebellion occurred, that medical missionary ladies could accomplish much good there, especially at Calcutta. Missionaries in various other countries have also given it as their opinion that a great deal of good might be done in heathen countries by medical ladies. =20. Physicians.= It is only within the last few years that women have received any preparation for the practice of medicine in our country. But it is now advancing in a way that is very gratifying to the friends of the cause, and is beginning to be appreciated by the people. Many of the most learned and talented men in the profession approve of women devoting themselves to the practice of medicine on their own sex and children. The mildness and amiability of woman, her modesty, her delicacy and refinement, all tend to make her acceptable at the bedside. Her quick insight into the ailments of others and her promptness in offering a remedy enhance her value. Some think the modesty and delicacy that should characterize a physician are lost to a lady in acquiring a knowledge of the profession. We would think not any more than by a gentleman. Why should the result be different? And surely a woman wants in her physician, whether male or female, a person of pure thoughts and feelings. Some say women have not firmness and nerve enough to perform surgical operations--that if they have, it is only animal force. What is it but animal force that gives the superiority to men (if they are superior)? Some say that such a profession may call woman among an objectionable class of people. "The fact that the practice of medicine draws its support from the miseries and sufferings of the world is no objection to its respectability. What profession is there that does not draw its support from some suffering, necessity, or disability?--unless it be that of the mountebank." Another objection urged is, that women lose their delicacy by the study and practice of anatomy under a male physician. This offensive feature is removed in the Female Medical College of Philadelphia, where that post has been filled by a woman for six or seven years. It is filled, writes one of the professors, to the full satisfaction, I believe, alike of the class and the faculty. In 1758, Anna Manzolini was professor of anatomy in Bologna. We believe, if a lady acquires a knowledge of medicine, it should be a thorough one. Undoubtedly too much strong medicine has been used in the United States, and that will account to some extent for the bad health of American women. Night practice and the inclemencies of the weather are the greatest difficulties a woman must contend with in the practice of medicine. If a lady has means, she can command a conveyance of her own. As to practising at night, she can have some one to accompany her, if in the city. If in a town, village, or the country, she will be likely to know who the people are, and have a conveyance sent for her. If a woman acquires a thorough knowledge of medicine, she can better promote the well-being and preserve the health of herself and children. No lady should undertake the practice of medicine unless she feels competent in every way to do so. If she does, let her enter with her soul into it, and keep constantly in view her object to relieve the suffering and bring health to the diseased. The practice of medicine is more renumerative than teaching. Mrs. Hale, who strongly advocates the practice of medicine by ladies, says: "Teachers grow out of fashion as they grow old; physicians, on the contrary, gain credit and reputation from length of practice." There is one department of medicine that we think belongs to women, and women alone. It is midwifery. In the feudal times many ladies of rank and wealth prescribed and measured out medicines for their tenants, and many women practised midwifery. It is proved by Dr. Saul Gregory, of Boston, founder of the New England Female Medical College, that the practice of male physicians in the department of midwifery is not only injurious, but destructive of human life. He writes: "I have within the past six months made an effort to ascertain the number of lady graduates, having written to the different schools where they have graduated. From the number certainly ascertained, with the addition of a probable number of others, I should say that there are at least two hundred graduated female physicians in the United States. The number from this (the New England Female Medical College) is thirty-four. The field is broad enough, of course, for many thousands; and to women of good natural abilities and suitable acquirements there is a prospect of success in all of the cities and large villages of the country. They will more readily find professional employment now and henceforward than they have during the past ten years, inasmuch as the idea of female medical practice has become more familiar to the public mind, and the custom is becoming gradually established. The tuition in medical colleges generally is from $60 to $80 a term. Board is from $2 to $4, according to circumstances. About $30 worth of medical books are needed. This college has a scholarship fund, affording free tuition to a large number of students from any part of the world." Dr. Gregory expresses our views in regard to more unoccupied women entering the profession of medicine, so much better than we could do, that we will transcribe what he says on the subject: "Man, the lord of creation, has the world before him, and can choose his profession or pursuit--war, politics, agriculture, commerce, mechanic arts, mercantile affairs (not excepting ribbon and tape), and a thousand vocations and diversions. There are said to be 40,000 physicians in the United States. 20,000 of these ought to give place to this number of women, and turn their attention to pursuits better adapted to their strong muscles and strong minds. In addition to providing for the self support of 20,000 or more women, this change would relieve that number of men, and secure to the country the benefit of their mental and manual industry--quite an item in our political economy and national wealth. Of course, this very desirable change cannot be brought about so suddenly as to create any great disturbance in the established order of things, even if the enterprise is carried forward with all possible vigor; so that physicians now in the field need not be greatly alarmed in prospect of female competition." We think, all diseases peculiar to women, or surgical operations on women requiring any exposure of person, should be treated and performed by women alone. Many a woman suffers for months, or years, and often a lifetime, because of that instinctive delicacy that makes her rather suffer than be treated by a male physician. Those that prepare themselves as physicians should be ladies of honor, education, and refinement. In most families, after the minister of the gospel, the physician holds the next highest place in the esteem of the members. Other subjects than those of medicine are often discussed, and the advice of a physician sought on matters of vital importance to those interested. The free, unembarrassed entrance of a physician into the sanctum of home, gives an opportunity of learning much that should be sacredly preserved in their own hearts. A lady physician needs firmness and dignity in the maintenance of her rights and opinions. When a woman is weak both in body and mind, timid and fearful, how much better can one of her own sex soothe her! It may be the nurse has not time, in a charitable, or even in a pay institution. But if her physician is a woman, well acquainted with her profession, and possessing discernment, sympathy, and some knowledge of the human heart, how readily may she read the inner as well as the outer wants of her patient! She will treat her gently and tenderly; and if the patient be a mother, the physician will see her family now and then, to relieve her patient's anxiety. If she is poor, she will speak to some of her rich patients, or acquaintances, to see that she is furnished with suitable employment when she is well. And so she will interest herself about those matters most male physicians would never think of, or, if they did, would consider beneath their attention. "In Paris, for a long period, women have studied medicine with the best physicians, who used them as supplements, to attend the poor and do some of the hospital practice." Two lady physicians became quite distinguished in Paris, and a hospital was in the entire charge of one. The statistics and professional reports of these ladies are now accepted by the best physicians in all countries. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell has lately established a hospital in New York city, where ladies studying medicine can have the benefits arising from the observation and experience acquired in a hospital. This has long been considered almost essential in the education of male students. In the same city is a preparatory school of medicine conducted by professors connected with the medical schools of the city. They give separate instruction to a class of ladies, who are admitted to the clinical teachings of two of the largest dispensaries in the city. These dispensaries furnish upwards of 60,000 cases of disease annually. In 1850, a charter was granted to the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. A college was commenced in Boston about the same time. Both of these schools are for females exclusively, and each has graduated about fifty pupils. In the Pennsylvania Medical University both sexes are received. In some branches the presence of mixed classes is embarrassing to both professors and pupils, and that free communication desirable for acquiring and imparting information is partially checked. This difficulty is done away in some female colleges by employing competent lady professors. In Europe, women are not permitted to receive instruction with the male students, but in hospital practice they have excellent opportunities of gaining information as nurses and physicians. I know of no pursuit that offers a more inviting field for educated women than the practice of medicine. The ability of woman to study and practice medicine has been satisfactorily demonstrated. Some ladies have graduated at both the allopathic and homoeopathic schools in Cleveland. The allopathic school in that place was the first to admit ladies. Different motives actuate ladies in the study of medicine. The wives of some manufacturers, planters, and others, who reside where medical advice is not easily obtained, study medicine that they may prescribe for their husbands' employées. Some study medicine that they may have something to rely upon in case other resources should fail them. Some teachers have studied that they may instruct their pupils in the laws of hygiene and remedies for disease. Quite a number of lady physicians are employed in female boarding schools. The benefit resulting from having the advice of a physician at any hour of the day or night is very great, and must relieve the superintendents of schools and absent parents from much anxiety. Some ladies prefer giving advice at their residences. A lady that devotes herself to a speciality should endeavor to keep posted in all the branches of her profession, so far as she can without neglecting to acquire all the information possible in her speciality. "In the United States there are 40,564 physicians, 191 surgeons, 5,132 apothecaries, 456 chemists, 923 dentists, 59 oculists, 59 patent medicine makers. There are 35 medical colleges, 230 professors, and about 5,000 students." Dr. Ann Preston, of the Pennsylvania Female Medical College, writes me: "Of those in practice who graduated with us, quite a number have found it very remunerative, and the prospect for others to secure practice is most encouraging, if they only possess the requisite qualifications. The desire to employ ladies as physicians is constantly extending, and my faith in the triumphant and extensive vindication of the movement deepens from year to year. There are openings in perhaps nearly all the cities and villages of our land--certainly in Eastern Pennsylvania; but in choosing a physician, people must have confidence in the sound judgment, good character, and professional ability of those they employ. A woman settling among strangers is more liable to suspicion than a man; and in such a case it takes _time_, and a long continuance in well doing, to become established in a lucrative practice. It also requires _means_; and unless these are abundant, it is much better for the lady physician to settle where she is already known and respected, and where, among her friends, she can live at small expense. Still, in one or two cases, our students have gone _successfully_ among strangers, earning enough to bear their expenses during the first two years. The cost of fitting a lady of moderate abilities for the practice of medicine varies. The whole cost of two or more courses of lectures and graduation is $175. Board here is from $3 to $5 a week for students, everything included. The needful text books would cost from $20 to $25; then travelling expenses, clothes, &c. I have known ladies commence with only one or two hundred dollars in advance, teach school during the summers, and graduate in three or four years. Sometimes these have come as beneficiaries. Still it is much more comfortable to have six or seven hundred to depend upon during the course of study. The time also varies, but we think no person should graduate who has not studied two years and upward. A large proportion of our graduates have studied medicine three years, and several have spent the next year in the hospital in New York. We are about opening a hospital here, which, in case of some, will obviate this necessity. I believe ladies in practice here generally make the charges common among men physicians; and several of them realize a handsome competence, and are gladdened by seeing, year by year, that prejudice is passing away, and that medicine is proving a fitting and glorious sphere for the exercise of woman's best powers." There are several regularly educated female physicians engaged in the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, some in New York, and some in Boston, with a few in other cities of the North, South, and West, and here and there scattered through towns, villages, and the country. There is an opening for one or two well-qualified physicians in New Orleans that can speak the Italian and Spanish languages. Many physicians find it an advantage to have a knowledge of the French and German languages, on account of the large foreign population in our country. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell writes: "It is very difficult by letter to answer your question about medical education. It is almost impossible for a lady to get a _good_ medical education without going to Europe. Philadelphia or Boston would give a woman the _legal right_ to practise medicine, and that is the chief value of what is given, for the exclusively theoretical instruction of those colleges could be as well obtained by reading and private tuition. New York can furnish much valuable practical instruction, but not the legal right. Between the two places, a student who will spend four years may become a respectable young physician, without going to Europe; but fully that period of time is necessary to pick up scattered knowledge, &c. A lady should be able to command $2,000 during the four years. She is otherwise very much crippled in her studies. There is a real necessity for women physicians; therefore, in course of time they will be created; but the imperfect efforts and most inadequate preparation of those who now study, rather retard the movement, and the creation of practice is a very slow thing." I called on Mrs. ----, M. D. She goes out at night when called--sometimes alone, sometimes takes her female student. She thinks there must be openings South and West, and that the prospect for lady physicians is very good. She supposes the cost of a medical education would be about $1,500. I called on Mrs. ----, M. D., who practises medicine, and often lectures on diseases and their remedies. She walks to see her patients, or rides in stages, but the majority come to her dwelling in office hours. She never goes out at night except where she is acquainted. She has a small number of students. She has a speciality, but does not confine herself to it. She attends several families by the year, charging, I think, $200 a year. She thinks many intelligent ladies might, if they would qualify themselves thoroughly, succeed in establishing themselves as physicians. =21. Preachers.= A friend once said "the professions of ministers and lawyers ought to accord. One is the interpreter of the divine law, the other of human law. A preacher is a lawyer for heaven." The promptings and workings of the human heart must be well understood by a minister. One in this holy office should not connive at the faults of her congregation, or give herself up to the acquirement of popular applause. We think one half the good accomplished in a church is done by the ladies of the church, particularly single women. And we know well that ministers are aware of this, and readily enlist the ladies of their congregations in good works. In old times, Angela de Foligno was celebrated as a teacher of theology. "In Spain, Isabella of Rosena converted Jews by her eloquent preaching, and commented upon the learned Scotus before cardinals and archbishops." In modern times, two or three ladies have studied theology, and preached with success. Mrs. Blackwell and Mrs. Jenkins are both said to be ladies of literary merit and genuine piety. Their mild, amiable, and lady-like deportment make them beloved by all who are sufficiently acquainted with to appreciate them. Some one writes: "It seems to me that woman, by her peculiar constitution, is better qualified to teach religion than by any merely intellectual discipline." Women are more susceptible to religious impressions than men. Two thirds of the communicants of our churches are of that sex. The Quakers, Shakers, and Methodists, we think, are the only denominations in which women speak in religious meetings. The founder of the Shakers was a woman--Ann Lee--who established her faith in 1776. =22. Proof Readers.= The reading of proof has become a regular branch of business. Many of the large houses in cities where publishing is done, employ persons expressly for this purpose. We think proof reading opens a charming prospect to the employment of cultivated women. Girls could just as well be trained to read manuscripts aloud, for proof readers to correct their first sheets by, as boys. A proprietor of one of the largest publishing houses in this country kindly furnished us a reply to the question, what are the duties of a proof reader, and are ladies ever so employed? Hoping it will not be considered a breach of courtesy to use the reply, we give it in the words of the writer: "Proof reading consists in the reading of proofs, marking the errors, and making the work typographically correct. A good proof reader ought to be a practical printer, as there are a thousand minute details which one can hardly learn except by daily experience at the composing case and imposing stone. In addition to this he should have more or less knowledge of various languages, ancient and modern, and be well informed in history, art, and science. Proof reading is considered the best situation in a printing office; and the most intelligent printers usually gain and hold these situations. We know of no case in which this duty is performed by a woman; the cases must be rare indeed in which one has had an opportunity to qualify her for performing its duties. Moreover, it is a position the duties of which must be performed in the printing office." It is true that proof reading must be done in the printing establishment; but separate rooms, we believe, are always provided for proof readers. So ladies need not be frightened by supposing they must do their reading in the composition room. One of the firm of the Boston Stereotype Foundry writes: "We employ but three young ladies to read proof, and pay from $3 to $5 per week. They are Americans, and work nine hours. At one time we employed women in the type-setting department, who received two thirds of the price paid to men. Women are paid less than men because they are _women_, and because plenty can be found. Women possessing a good English education can learn in two months--if apt, become expert. They commence at $3, and finally get $5. The prospect of employment is good for a few. Occasionally there is a dull time, which affords opportunity for a little sewing, &c. Unless very dull, the occupant retains her position and wages. Good workmen consider women an innovation. To sum up the whole matter in a few words, women (barring the heavy work) can perform the labor appertaining to proof reading and type setting as well as men." A lady told me that one of her daughters assists her father with his newspaper. She reads the proof, looks up articles he wants, helps select matter for the paper, and translates French stories for his paper. Her services are worth to him from $500 to $600 a year. On visiting the Bible House, I learned that a lady is there employed as proof reader. She corrects both in English and German. Four or five male proof readers are employed, but she is the only lady. She gets $5 or $6 a week. The principal proof reader gets $12 a week. "Accuracy, quickness of eye, thorough knowledge of orthography, grammar, and punctuation, with a knowledge of languages, and a vast deal of learning and general intelligence, are necessary for a proof reader. An intuitive perception, arising from this cultivation, enables one to detect errors immediately, often without knowing how and why." =23. Publishers.= We find in the census report of Great Britain, 923 women reported as booksellers and publishers. What the number of publishers alone is we cannot tell, nor do we know whether any of them conduct the business on their own responsibility, or whether they are widows, and have men to conduct the business for them. We know of two large publishing houses in New York that pay 10 cents on the dollar to an author for the manuscript of any book they see proper to publish; that is, for a book they will sell at retail for $1, and at wholesale for 60 cents, the author receives 10 cents, which gives the publisher 50 cents for getting up the book and running the risk of selling it. If the author incurs the expenses of getting the book up, they may allow 15 cents. They will pay no larger a percentage for any subsequent edition than for the first. But they will not undertake a book unless they think they can make money out of it. The same book might be printed and stereotype plates cast at 85 cents a volume. The author could then sell it for 65 cents a copy to the book merchants, and they would sell it at 90 cents a volume. After the first edition of one thousand, the author could probably get it printed at 40 cents on the volume less. If the book takes, the merchant may allow the author twelve to fifteen per cent. Some publishers purchase the copyrights of books they think may succeed, paying a specified sum, as agreed on with the author. Publishers calculate to have two out of every three books fail that are brought into market. Some publishers sell for authors on commission. The authors get up their own books, and the publisher sells, receiving forty per cent. from the retail price. He sells to the trade at a discount of from twenty-five to thirty-three per cent., according to amount and distance. The average discount would be thirty per cent. This leaves the publisher ten per cent. to transact all the business, advertise, &c. From the first edition the publisher will not be likely to derive any profit; but if the book takes, the publisher will make a handsome profit from the subsequent editions. =24. Readers to the Working Classes.= In China, at almost every store where cups of tea are sold, a number of men make it a business to read to those that come in to buy or drink tea. A gratuity is bestowed by such as feel disposed. The working classes that are not able to read and buy books, are thereby enabled to have the benefit of those that can. Now we do not see why the same principle may not be carried out in this country. Shakspearian readings, it is true, have been popular and fashionable for a few years. We have seen it stated that "seven of Fanny Kemble Butler's recent Shakspearian readings in New York city netted the fine sum of $6,000." Beside, lectures have been delivered and poems recited, mostly of the readers' composition. Now might not competent ladies make it useful to the working classes of their own sex, or even both sexes, to spend an evening, occasionally, in reading to them? Charging a small entrance fee, if there is a good attendance, would support the reader, and enlighten the audience. It would be better if the poor, hard-working classes had more elevating and refining amusements. We know of none better calculated to improve while it entertains than reading. Might it not be done in saloons?--properly qualified men in the gentlemen's department, and properly qualified women in the ladies' department. In our large cities, where time is so precious, many a lady, we doubt not, would give an additional sixpence to have a book she carries with her or the papers of the day read aloud while she eats her lunch. The only difficulty is, the prices paid would scarcely justify one sufficiently qualified for the undertaking. =25. Reporters.= This is rather a new arena for the exercise of female talent. A reporter must be a close observer of matters and things in general that pertain to individual or public affairs. A verbal or written account is furnished to the publication in which the reporter is interested. A reporter attends public assemblies of any kind, and writes down or stenographizes the proceedings of said assembly. In a city, places of amusement, lectures, political and church meetings, form subjects of interest to a newspaper reporter. Noting the proceedings of legislative and other legal assemblies forms the most regular and reliable employment. In London, there are seven publications that employ from ten to eighteen reporters each, during the meetings of Parliament. Two from each paper are always in attendance--one in the gallery of the House of Lords, and another in the gallery of the House of Commons. A reporter seldom remains more than two or three hours. His place is taken by another, while he writes out his notes and prepares them for the press. The reporters are well remunerated, and give very faithful reports. In the United States, the subscription price of even the very best papers, and their comparatively limited circulation, will not justify so great an expense for the reporter's department. Yet most good papers have one or two reporters. Not long since, a lady stenographer received $1,000 damages from a railroad company, for an accident that occurred on the car, which unfitted her for her calling, as it deprived her of the forefinger on her right hand. A lady reporter, in Boston, writes me: "The art of reporting needs constant drilling, like music, dancing, &c. Few women have the education and nerve for professional reporting." A lady teacher of phonography writes: "A person of common capacity could learn phonography in from four to six months, studying three hours per day; but to practise for reporting is quite another thing: that depends upon the unremitting industry of a person. I know of but two ladies whose business is reporting. It is hard work, but pays well." This lady also states that her terms of tuition are seventy-five cents per lesson of one hour. "Phonographers generally receive from ten to twenty dollars an hour; and it takes about five or six hours to write out what may be spoken in an hour, if done by one person. With an amanuensis, it takes about four hours of writing to one of speaking." Several ladies are acting in Ohio and Michigan as phonographic reporters. Mr. James T. Brady, in a public speech in New York, said: "Without disparagement to his friends who were here engaged in catching the extemporized words of the speaker, he really would be happy to see the day when women, who had the capacity, should be engaged in making reports." "Among the American Indians, the women, being present at councils, preserve in their memories the report of what passes, and repeat it to their children. They have traditions of treaties a hundred years back, which, when compared with our writings, are always exact." A telegraphic reporter told me a first-class reporter can earn from twenty-five to thirty dollars for three or four hours' labor. It requires a knowledge of stenography, of which there are several teachers in New York, and which can be learned in a short time. Some reporters are paid by the week; and some by the page of foolscap, which is considered, I think, as counting eighty words. Mr. B., a reporter of New York, had a sister in Washington with him, ten years ago, who attended the sittings of Congress, and took notes, and wrote them out fully. Her brother then revised and sent them to the press. Another lady attempted it for the _Tribune_, but was ridiculed, and very foolishly gave it up. I was told that Mrs. W., wife of a reporter for the _Tribune_, took notes of Dr. Chapin's sermon on Thanksgiving day, and made a report for the _Tribune_, with which the readers of the paper were well satisfied. The reply of Mr. Webster to Mr. Hayne was saved by Mrs. Gales, the wife of one of the Congressional reporters, by writing out her husband's short-hand notes, which he for the lack of time found it impossible to do. Otherwise that remarkable speech of an eminent orator would have been lost. Mr. L. remarked to me: "A reporter in New York has to move and write with railroad speed. Everything needs to be done with a rush; and so dense are crowds, that a woman would have to lay aside hoops to make her way." =26. Reviewers.= A reviewer of new books should be a rapid reader and of quick understanding. A reviewer should also be a person of judgment. The vast number of books now published might afford employment, and a good compensation, we suppose, to those so engaged. But too often publishers use a moneyed influence in giving a false reputation to their publications. Frequently the editors of magazines and newspapers are their own reviewers. We heartily wish that reviewers would endeavor to check the circulation of some of the light literature of the day. We refer not so much to that which is vapid--unsubstantial--wanting stamina--as that which is impure--immoral. Much is of a kind to open the floodgates of vice and crime. Stories cast in the old-fashioned mould of hair-breadth escapes, marvellous incidents, and impossible events, are less popular than formerly. No doubt much reading is done as a recreation--to forget one's self--to banish care--to unbend from severe study: let such reading at least be pure and chaste. Books undoubtedly exercise a great influence over the disposition, taste, and character; and reviewers have it much in their power to direct the general taste for books. They can do much toward forming a high and correct literary tone in society. The number of those who devote themselves to the review of new books in England is small--in the United States, still smaller. How they are paid I am unable to learn. =27. Teachers.= Teaching, in its various branches, would form a large volume; but we will endeavor to take as general, yet comprehensive, a view of the subject as our limits will permit. The instruction of youth has ever been an honorable and useful calling: in an enlightened and refined community an institution of the first class always stands high. The influence of a teacher over her pupils is almost unbounded. Pupils watch the looks and actions of their teachers with a closeness of observation surprising to those unaccustomed to children. A teacher should strive to be consistent, for any palpable inconsistency will greatly lessen the respect of scholars. There are many systems of teaching; many plans; many theories. Much may be learned from visiting schools, and selecting, for one's own use, such improvements as suggest themselves. But the most valuable assistant in teaching is a thorough and extensive knowledge of mental and moral philosophy. They bear directly on the subject. They will prove the best guides, if penetration and judgment, patience and perseverance are used in the application. There are laws governing mind just as there are laws governing matter. Learn the opinions and wishes of parents as far as possible, but always act independently. Never permit yourself to be trammelled by them. The European method of giving instruction is by lectures. The plan is used in the professional schools of our country, and to some extent in our colleges, but in our seminaries, academies, and high schools the method is seldom practised. The inability of a hearer to apply to a lecturer, in case the subject is not understood, or the meaning of the lecturer not rightly apprehended, renders the method as a general thing objectionable to the young and inexperienced. Where students are instructed by lectures, a thorough examination on the lectures should be made the day after, and an explanation given if any parts are not rightly understood. One difficulty with a lecturer to the young is likely to be in gaining their entire attention, and presenting ideas to them in a clear, forcible manner. In the majority of girls' schools no oral instruction is given. Recitations are heard from text books, and frequently the pupils are unable to understand what they, parrot-like, recite in class. We think a combination of the two plans mentioned is best; that is, for the teacher to deliver lectures on some subjects, and hear recitations from text books on others. The more oral instruction given by a competent instructor the better. A teacher needs ability to command order, to promote discipline, and work systematically. A teacher should endeavor to produce harmony and a proper balance among the mental faculties, while they are being expanded. No unnatural and undue prominence should be given to any one of the faculties. Too many exercise the memory only. Those studies that will be most serviceable to a pupil should be pursued. Religious principles, common sense, good health, and a uniformly cheerful disposition are necessary to make a good teacher. A teacher should well understand the springs of human action. Add to these, ability to discriminate, perfect command of temper, unwearied perseverance, patience that never flags, and tact for imparting knowledge, and you have the desiderata for a most excellent teacher. If there is any office in life that calls for the exercise of every virtue, it is that of a teacher. It is the most responsible office in life except that of parent. Teaching is a vocation peculiarly fitted to women, and will ever be open to women of superior talents and extensive attainments. In worth and dignity it is inferior to none of the professions of men. It is finally taking its place among the learned professions. Female education has been too superficial. A more thorough and extensive course is needed in most of our schools. Woman must be taught to think for herself, and to act for herself. She needs to depend more on her own abilities--requires more self-reliance. Miss Beecher maintains that there is no defect in temper, habits, manners, or in any intellectual and moral development, which cannot be remedied. There are said to be more than 2,000,000 of children in our land out of school, and requiring 100,000 teachers to supply them. We would not give the impression that if 100,000 ladies were to prepare themselves to teach, they would find 100,000 places awaiting them. No; we believe the supply now fully meets the demand; and we are sorry to see the impression being so often given by editors and others, that teachers are needed and in demand; because we think many ladies of limited means are thereby induced to spend what little they have in preparing themselves to be teachers; and when they are qualified, ten chances to one, if they get a school, it is only for three months out of the twelve, and that not regularly. A precarious subsistence is obtained, and, to those without homes, certainly a most unreliable one. We love to see ladies educated, and would gladly see them all qualified to teach; but we do not like to see inducements thrown out to qualify themselves, under the impression that there are hundreds of places vacant only because they cannot obtain teachers. There is no employment more uncertain than that of a teacher. Many causes tend to produce this. Among them are dissatisfaction on the part of teacher or people, low wages, the fluctuating condition of country schools at different seasons of the year, a large mass of people not knowing the advantages of an education, and the want of endowed institutions of learning. If a lady has sufficient capital to establish herself permanently as a teacher, she will be far more likely to succeed. As new places are settled and population advances there will no doubt be openings, but they will require teachers willing to endure the hardships and privations incident to a new country. Some lady teachers might get employment if they would go to the country, but the variety and excitement of the city they are not willing to relinquish. An active life is happiest, and none, if well filled, affords more constant employment than that of a teacher. Evening schools are established in most of our large cities, for the accommodation of those that labor through the day. In New York these schools are in session two hours, and a teacher receives one dollar an evening. Some lady teachers are employed in schools for the blind and for the deaf and dumb. In Germany, teachers are treated with a degree of respect and delicacy that should serve as a model to other countries. The acquisition of knowledge has long been too mechanical an operation. Girls are expected to receive as undoubted truths all they meet with in their school books. They are not taught to pause and consider if statements are grounded on certain or uncertain premises. They are not taught to exercise their own thoughts and judgment. School agencies in the large cities of the North are establishing branches in the South and West. Where there is no established organization of this kind, families and neighborhoods are often at a loss how to obtain a governess or teacher, while a teacher is equally at a loss to know of such situations as she desires. There is considerable difference in the character and qualifications of the teachers sent out by the different agencies of New York. Connected with these agencies might be a means of communication for obtaining amanuenses, copyists, and translators. Few parents are willing to intrust their children to those who are not trained for their business. The establishment of schools for the preparation of teachers is one of the great inventions of the age. There is one in almost every State. There was, and probably still is, an educational association, that centres in New York city, which has for its object the _free_ instruction of a limited number of young ladies desirous of preparing themselves for teachers. One of the institutions is in Dubuque, Iowa; the other in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The principal of the Normal School, New York, receives $600 a year, and he does not hear a single recitation. He spends five hours in the room every Saturday, which, for all the year of 48 weeks, equals 240 hours--nearly $3 an hour, merely for the light of his countenance. The number of governesses in England is very large. Their duties are more severe and their remuneration less than in any other country. In the United States, governesses receive higher salaries in the Southern than the Northern States, and are treated more like members of the family. The salaries of teachers are also higher, but it costs more to live in the South. One way in which so many men get situations as teachers to the exclusion of females, "may be attributed, in a degree, to favoritism of Odd Fellows' and other social and political bonds." As time advances, more attention will be given by the ladies to special branches of education. There will be professors of mathematics, languages, &c., just as there are in male institutions. Each one will cultivate most highly a knowledge of that science to which her talents and wishes incline. In the public schools of New York, there are thirty-nine gentlemen conducting the male departments, who receive a salary of $1,500 per year; while, of the lady principals of the female departments, there are only ten getting a salary of $800, the highest salary paid a lady in the public schools of New York. There are said to be 1,183 female teachers in New York city. In Louisville, Ky., the gentleman principals of the grammar schools receive a salary of $1,000 a year, the lady principals $650. In the male and female high schools, the principals receive $1,600 a year. The lady preceptress in the female high school has a salary of $900. The lady who teaches mathematics in the Female Presbyterian College of Louisville receives a salary of $900. In Chicago, the maximum salary of female teachers is $400 a year. In the Cleveland Female Seminary, in 1854, the lady teacher of rhetoric and English literature received a salary of $500 and board; of English branches, $500 and board; of history, $500 and board; of mathematics, $500 and board. We have seen it stated that female teachers are growing scarce in Maine, because the wages are so low. "At the New York Central College for students of both sexes, there is one female professor in the faculty, and she receives the same salary as the other members, and has the same voice." It is a manual labor school, where the same justice is not exercised in regard to the pupils, as the "male students get eight cents per hour for labor, females but four cents an hour." In the twelfth ward of New York city, the subject of paying lady teachers the same salaries as those of the other sex was agitated last winter: the result I did not hear. Higher prices are paid to lady teachers in Boston than any other city of the United States, except the cities of California, where ladies conducting the same branches as gentlemen receive as good salaries. The majority of teachers in San Francisco are ladies. In the United States there are 150,000 teachers in the public schools, and 4,000,000 scholars. "There is one scholar for every five free persons; in Great Britain there is one scholar to every eight persons; in France, one to every ten persons." According to an estimate made by Rev. T. W. Higginson, there are in fourteen of the United States, in all schools, both public and private, 152,339 male teachers, and 162,687 female teachers. In the New England States, according to his estimate, there are 45,619 male teachers, and 87,645 female teachers. In the Western States, settled mostly by New Englanders, we find the proportion of lady teachers greatest. We hope the number of lady teachers may increase in the different States in proportion to the increase of the population. In Brooklyn, L. I., there is a female seminary endowed by Mrs. Packer, which usually, we believe, has an attendance of between 300 and 400 pupils. "Matthew Vassar, Esq., of Poughkeepsie, it is said, has devoted a sum which will soon amount to $400,000 to the endowment of a college for girls in that city. He hopes to make it a rival of Yale, Brown, and Harvard. It is not to be free, but the tuition rates will be very low. In the plan provision is made for a library, cabinets, apparatus, galleries of art, botanical gardens, and the like. If well carried out, this institution may be a lasting monument to the wisdom and benevolence of Mr. Vassar." =28. Teachers of Bookkeeping.= In the catalogue of Comer's Commercial College, Boston, we find the following statement: "As an inducement to ladies to prepare themselves for mercantile employments, a discount of twenty per cent. from the terms for gentlemen is made, although the course of instruction is precisely the same." Twelve free scholarships have been founded in the institution for deserving cases of either sex. With all large commercial schools is now connected a separate department for ladies; and efforts are made by the principals to obtain situations for their pupils as they leave school. A letter from Misses McIntire and Kidder, Boston, states: "We have been engaged in preparing ladies for bookkeepers, saleswomen, &c., for the past ten years. It was at first difficult for ladies to obtain such situations; but as those who did succeed gave entire satisfaction, others were induced to give them a trial; and now they are very generally employed in our retail stores, at prices varying from four to eight dollars per week, and a few at a still higher salary. The time required for a person who has received a common English education, is from six weeks to three months. The terms for the complete course in bookkeeping, which embraces improvement in writing, with rapid methods of calculating interest and averaging accounts, are $14; and for bookkeeping only, $12; and three months' time is allowed. The chances for obtaining employment are very favorable, as more situations are opened to them every year. Each student is instructed separately and assistance rendered in obtaining employment. Bookkeepers are usually employed ten hours a day. The employment is not so unhealthy as needlework. Women are superior to men in faithfulness in the performance of duties." The principal of a mercantile college in Brooklyn says he thinks "many ladies might obtain employment as bookkeepers, if they would only properly qualify themselves for the duties. He had six or seven lady pupils that are now employed as bookkeepers in New York. Their compensation depends on their abilities and the amount of labor they have to perform. They are not so well paid as male bookkeepers. Much depends on the kind of friends a lady has to secure her a place. It is the same case with a young man. If he acquires a reputation for integrity and faithfulness, he may get even as much as $2,500; while one more obscure and unknown may be as competent, but not able to command more than one third as much. So, one may have to work but a few hours; another, from eight in the morning until twelve at night. Some have a great deal to do in some seasons, and but little in others; while some are kept nearly equally busy all the year." This gentleman charges $10 for instruction. Mr. D., who teaches writing, bookkeeping, and arithmetic, in New York, gives private instruction to ladies at his rooms. They are comfortably fitted up. He charges for bookkeeping, practical course of twenty lessons, $15; unlimited course, $25;--arithmetic, commercial course of twenty lessons, $10; of sixty lessons, $20. His charges for all branches required to prepare pupils practically for business are, for one month, two or three hours per day, $15; three months, $30; for twenty lessons in writing, public room, $10; private room, $15. Mr. B., of the firm of B. S. & Co., says a person of good abilities could learn bookkeeping in one month, by spending most of the day at it. His price for ladies is $25. It entitles them to an attendance at one of their branch schools, of which there are eight in the Northern and Western cities. They endeavor to secure places for those who learn bookkeeping with them. They also assist their pupils to open books when they have obtained situations. Millinery establishments, trimming and fancy stores, &c., are the kind that mostly employ women as bookkeepers. Many wives of business men learn bookkeeping, that they may keep their husbands' books. =29. Teachers of Gymnastics and Dancing.= Dancing, calisthenics, and gymnastics furnish excellent exercise for young people, and in many boarding and day schools for young ladies gymnastics are now taught. A lady teacher of calisthenics and gymnastics told me that in winter a fire is kept in the dressing room, and in very cold weather the practising room is warmed a little. Gymnastics are performed with apparatus. Calisthenics are arm exercises. The terms of this teacher are $6 for one month, $15 for three months, and $20 for six months' tuition. In New York and Philadelphia there are schools where instruction is given to girls as well as boys in gymnastic exercises. At one gymnasium in New York the terms are $16 a year for tuition, $10 for six months, and $7 for three months. At a ladies' gymnasium in Brooklyn, I was told by the instructress that her prices for tuition are $4 a quarter in summer, giving three lessons a week. A physician prescribes the kind and amount of exercise necessary. =30. Teachers of Drawing and Painting.= There is scarcely any branch of mechanical labor in which a knowledge of drawing is not an advantage. Correct drawing is essential to the success of an artist; but coloring is something very difficult and desirable, particularly the coloring of the flesh. It is indispensable to the portrait painter. A lady artist of some note told me that artists do not ground themselves in drawing as they should; that drawing tells almost the whole story of a picture: coloring only gives beauty and adds strength. She thinks there are many openings in the South and West for first-class teachers of drawing and painting. Miss G. received a salary of $800, as teacher of painting in the School of Arts in Baltimore. It is folly for any one to devote herself to art as a career, unless she has some genius and a fondness for it. Mrs. H., of Boston, the wife of the sculptor, has supported her family by painting and giving instruction in the art. Teachers in oil painting are well compensated, if they have pupils enough to occupy all their time. Prices vary in cities from fifty cents a lesson of one hour to two dollars. Art classes have been formed, both in New York and Philadelphia. Some artists receive pupils, but the time required for instruction renders it objectionable to most. Miss G. charges $15 a quarter of twenty-four lessons, two hours each. In ordinary times, she gives but one hour's instruction at a lesson. Miss J. charges $10 dollars for instruction in oriental painting. Mrs. C. was profitably engaged, in Providence, in teaching drawing and taking crayon portraits. One lady, who taught for several years with success, charged fifty cents a lesson, the pupils attending at her room. Those working in crayon in the New York school draw almost entirely from casts; those in the Philadelphia school, from plates. There is now a life school in New York, where instruction is given at $20 per quarter of eleven weeks--two lessons a week. For instruction in drawing from plates, $12 per quarter of eleven weeks. In some of our public schools, drawing is taught free of expense to the scholars. =31. Teachers of Fancy Work.= The accomplishments of women are useful in their times and places. Music and drawing are elegant accomplishments, the earliest as well as the most universal pastimes known. Those teachers of accomplishments that have acquired a reputation can command in a city a high price. At Madame D.'s, crochet work and embroidery are taught at 25 cents a lesson of one hour. Misses H., Philadelphia, give five lessons in leather work for $6, and charge, for giving instruction in wax fruit and flowers, paper and rice paper flowers, &c., $1 a lesson; in embroidery in silk, gold bullion, &c., $15 for twenty lessons--the same for hair flowers and bead work; for the arrangement of shells with mosses and grasses, $1 a lesson. Madame N., who teaches crochet work and fancy knitting, charges 50 cents an hour. One stitch can be learned by a quick person in an hour. She thinks there is plenty of that kind of work to supply all and even more hands than are so occupied. She employs a number, and pays by the piece. They work at home, and can earn from $3 to $4 a week. =32. Teachers of Horsemanship.= The prices of the riding school, New York, attended by the most aristocratic classes, are: 16 lessons, $20; 10 lessons, $15; 5 lessons, $8; single lessons, $2; road lesson, one pupil, $5; two or more pupils, each $3. For exercise riding, single ride, one hour, $1.50; single ride, half hour, $1. After taking 16 or more lessons, the prices are somewhat reduced. At another riding school in New York, the terms are: 20 lessons for gentlemen, $25; 20 lessons for ladies, $20; 10 lessons for gentlemen, $15; 10 lessons for ladies, $12; single lessons, $2. The rules are very good, and laid down in the circulars. At another riding school in New York the prices are: $20 for 20 lessons, $12 for 10 lessons, $7 for 5 lessons; single lessons, $1.50; road lessons, one person, $5; road lessons, three or more, each $3; 20 exercise rides for $15; evening rides for $1; road rides, 10 for $8; single, $1; road ride to a lady, $2.50. The regulations are very good. The expenses for keeping up a riding school are considerable; so it may not prove as profitable as the prices would seem to indicate. =33. Teachers of Infant Schools.= Teaching is interesting to those that love children. But I would say, let not those without patience and tenderness, or those whose feelings can in an hour change from the boiling to the freezing point, attempt to teach young children. In ordinary schools, young children are liable to be either cramped or stunted. If children must be placed at school early, let it be where they can exercise their little bodies frequently, and not be confined in school long at a time. To accomplish this, we think the infant school the most efficient. Lord Brougham gives it as his opinion that a child learns more the first eighteen months of its life than at any other period; and that it settles, in fact, at this early age, its mental capacity and future well-being. Mr. Babbington fixes the period of the first nine years as the seedtime of life. Some object to infant schools, on the ground that they divert the mind, and unfit it for continued and concentrated thought in after life. But we cannot think so, unless the course is pursued an unreasonable length of time. The first two years of a child's schooling may be passed profitably in an infant school; at any rate, if the child enters as early as six years of age. Indeed, we think the variety embodied in the infant-school system is one of its most pleasing and useful features. The minds of children cannot rest long on any one subject, any more than their bodies can retain the same posture long at a time. It stagnates thought, prevents boldness of spirit, and stunts the growth of a young child to sit quiet hour after hour. Some mothers send their children early to school to have them out of their way. Such children could be more pleasantly and more efficiently taught in an infant school than in any other. Yet, we are rather inclined to the opinion that a child should be taught the alphabet at home. Gentle but firm treatment is necessary for children, who need much sympathy and affection; and it therefore requires the greatest patience on the part of a teacher, in order to conduct an infant school successfully. Infant schools are scarce in the United States; but still they exist in some parts of New England. There was an infant school in Troy, some time ago (and perhaps it is still in existence), in connection with one of the public schools. The infant-school system has been partially adopted in some of the public schools of our Western cities; and the same system applied to Sabbath schools has been extensively and happily carried into effect, both in the South and West. There are several infant Sabbath schools, of which we know, numbering considerably over one hundred children. These schools are usually conducted by ladies. The exercises are varied, as in day schools, and consist generally of chanting responses, catechism, memorizing from cards, telling Bible stories, lecturing, explaining pictures, singing, &c. This order of exercises, sustained in a lively manner, cannot fail to interest children, and make the school room for them a happy and longed-for place. Nature itself points out the course to be pursued in the education of a child: first, physical training; second, moral training; and third, mental training. Mind and body are so closely united that an injury to one is resented by the other. One is placed as a protector to the other, and will not permit injury to its companion with impunity. =34. Teachers of Languages.= A knowledge of Latin is desirable for ladies that expect to devote much time to books. The study of it is fine discipline for the mind. The German and French are studied by many ladies: the French more for the purposes of light literature and conversation; the German by those that wish to dive into metaphysics. These languages are, both, useful to ladies engaged in stores: the French mostly in New York city and in the South; the German more at the North and West. In Italy, at different times from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, learned women occupied chairs in the universities, as professors of music, drawing, philosophy, mathematics, and the languages, both ancient and modern. The author of "Women and Work" says: "Women should teach languages and oratory. Aspasia taught rhetoric to Socrates. The voice of woman is more penetrating, distinct, delicate, and correct in delivering sounds than that of man, fitting her to teach both languages and oratory better." The prices paid for private instruction in the languages are higher than when received in a class, and run from 25 cents an hour to $1. A language is best taught by a native of the country in which said language is spoken. =35. Teachers of Music.= Vocal music is taught in most of our schools, and is required to be taught in the public schools of Germany and Prussia. In Germany, instrumental music is also taught free of charge. It is not uncommon to see a German mechanic performing on the piano. Instrumental music is probably the most expensive accomplishment attending the education of a young lady. Music is more generally cultivated in the United States than any other accomplishment. It is better appreciated by the mass, and, consequently, becomes more ingrafted in the national element. In a few years our musicians will probably equal the most celebrated of Europe. A skilful musician need never suffer in America. If competent to give instruction in music, there will be opportunities to do so in our cities. Most seminaries require one teacher of music, and often two or more. =36. Teachers of Navigation.= "One of the best and most popular teachers of navigation and nautical mathematics and astronomy in England is a lady, Mrs. Janet Taylor. Her classes are celebrated, and numerously attended by men who have been at sea as well as by youths preparing for the merchant service." Not long since, she received a gold medal and a premium of £50 annually from the British Government. =37. Teachers of Swimming.= There is a swimming school in Paris, containing as pupils ladies of all stations in life. Swimming schools for both sexes have been established in New York. In the one for ladies and girls instruction is given by one of their own sex, and a charge made of 25 cents a lesson. From the New York _Observer_ we copy an article: "A few years ago, a gentleman well known in the philanthropic world established a school in New Jersey, not far from New York, with the intention of making physical training a prominent part of his educational system. He began with his own children and a few others. The school has gradually grown until it numbers eighty pupils, both boys and girls. Every pupil at this school is a gymnast; every one can row a boat; and every one, down to the smallest girl, can swim. The boys and girls are formed into separate boat clubs, seven to each club, rowing six oars, with the seventh for coxswain. So they row races whenever the weather permits, and they do not mind a little rough weather. Every day, too, during the warm season, they all have a swim. The boys swim by themselves; and the girls, in suitable bathing dresses, go elsewhere, with a teacher. One year of such training and exercises will lay up stamina for a lifetime." A school has been commenced in New York for teaching swimming out of the water, by machinery. The prices are 25 cents a lesson in a class, and $1 a lesson for private instruction. =38. Translators.= Translations published in the United States are mostly made in England. Some languages are susceptible of a much more correct and graceful translation than others. It requires study to get the exact meaning of some authors, and taste and genius to convey that meaning. A literal interpretation will not always convey the meaning of an author as well as a looser translation getting more the spirit of the original. A person should have general information on the subject to be treated. A translator of history must be a good historian. It requires time to establish a reputation as a translator, but even a translator's career must have a beginning. Dr. G., who has charge of the editorial department of one of the most extensively circulated magazines in the United States, says translations from French and German are not so well liked in magazines as original matter, and anything to be translated for his magazine he does as a recreation from more serious duties. Owing to the international copyright law of England and France, a French author will send his manuscript over to England and have it rendered, securing the right to the translation. The translation often makes its appearance very nearly as soon as the original. Most of the valuable works in French have been translated. Mr. W. told me, however, that there are some scientific French works that might be rendered into English, and some on mechanics; but it would require some one acquainted with the subject, on account of the technical terms. Dr. G. thinks the chances a thousand against one that an individual could find constant employment translating. He has frequent applications from translators for work in that line. So we have reason to think translating is a very precarious occupation. The best way is to find some French book that will be popular in America, and translate it, and offer it to a publisher. Some translators look over catalogues of foreign books and examine such as they think will be likely to please. They take it to the publisher, who, if he thinks it will be available, gives the individual the task, if they can settle on satisfactory terms. A lady, who translates considerably, told me that she receives $5 a page for a finished translation from the French for magazines. Books are generally done for so much, according to the contract of the parties. The price charged for verbal translation would doubtless depend on the amount of time consumed; but for a written translation, the charge would be made by the page or volume. In most of the Government departments translators are employed, and their salaries are no doubt good. Interpreters are also employed in some of the courts, but they usually unite their occupation with that of copyist. In some private establishments interpreters are employed. Where there is sufficient business to occupy all the time of a lady, she would doubtless find her services as an interpreter lucrative. ARTISTIC PURSUITS, AND EMPLOYMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE FINE ARTS. =39. Actresses.= The circumstances under which a play-actor's life are seen are calculated to please the young and susceptible. They put a false estimate on the pleasures it affords. They are apt to forget that the moments in which performers appear on the stage all sparkling as the diamond sands and crystal pebbles of a brook, are the principal, perhaps the only bright ones of their lives. Many a sad spirit, many a broken heart is concealed under the glittering tinsel. We are not among those who denounce the theatre as a school of vice and infamy--nor could we conscientiously laud it as a school of virtue. We think the influence and effects depend very greatly upon the character of the plays; much, too, depends upon the individuals of the audience. There is no amusement that may not suffer in the abuse. Late hours, intoxicating drinks, and bad companions, in many cases form the curse of regular theatre-goers; and for these the plays (perhaps harmless in themselves) are charged with being demoralizing. Good plays have an intellectual fascination. We think the drama might be made more a school of instruction and innocent pastime--less a school of evil tendencies. In China and Japan, the female parts in theatrical performances are never executed by women. No women ever appeared on the stage of the Greeks or Romans. Even the female characters in Shakspeare were not represented by women in his time. The first lady that appeared on the stage took the parts of Juliet and Ophelia in 1660. The publicity attending the life of an actress makes it repulsive to many, and the egotism that the profession engenders is an objectionable feature. That there are good and virtuous people connected with the theatre we cannot for a moment question; but some of the men are worthless and dissipated, and many of the girls and women engage in it because they see no other way of earning their bread. Many a ballet girl has danced to support an infirm mother or orphan brothers and sisters. The roving life of an actress and want of home influences are not conducive to the growth of domestic virtues. Yet some actresses have married advantageously in Europe, and been respected in social life, not less for their virtues than their talents. The craving of admiration incident to the calling is apt to make an actress vain. Her fondness for excitement, and her consciousness of importance in the eyes of those who patronize her, furnish additional fuel to the fire. If she makes a failure, she may die of chagrin. Mr. B., a dramatic agent, thinks there is always a supply as soon as there is a demand for dramatic performers. They cannot enter and leave the profession, like any other. They must be actively engaged in it all the time, or leave it. Their talents must be carefully considered, and they placed in the company that requires them, and in such places as suit their talents. If a play in which they excel is to be performed in a distant city, they accompany the troupe to which they belong. A company consists of a combination of various talents. The number employed is not fluctuating, but they change their localities often; that is, go from city to city and town to town, shifting their place as seems best. They are compensated according to talent and proficiency--from $3 a week to $150. They are usually paid according to the contract made with them. I think the voice of actors when off the stage is peculiar. It is deep and hollow, as if trained to be thrown to a distance. By the drama two of the senses which afford most pleasure are entertained--the eye and the ear. Madame Celeste made $50,000 clear in this country; Essler, $70,000. The play, "Our American Cousin," is said to have cleared $40,000 in New York. Mr. P., a dramatic agent, told me that actresses are paid according to their position and talent. A ballet girl is paid from $3 to $6 a week, if by the season. Wallack pays $5 or $6. Utility people are paid from $6 to $10. Prices depend very much on who and what the people are, and the class of theatre by which they are employed. Those of the better class are paid from $25 to $60 a night. When they are not required they are not paid anything. In Europe, some of the theatres are open during the summer. In New York a paper has lately been commenced, devoted almost exclusively to the drama. "Our great star actors, Mr. Forrest or Miss Cushman, command their hundreds of dollars a night. The handsome Brignoli or the ponderous Amodio will not dispense their silver notes short of fabulous thousands of golden dollars per month. Those who try the life of an actor speedily discover that, of all hard-working men, few render more constant, wearing, unceasing labor for their money, than those who conscientiously do their duty in a theatre. Multitudinous and constantly varying requirements are made of an actor who has achieved a leading position. He _must_ be a linguist, an elocutionist, a fencer, a dancer, a boxer, a painter (for the proper coloring or 'making up' of his own face and figure is no small part of his art), a soldier (so far as a knowledge of military drill and the manual exercise is concerned); and he should be a singer, and a bit of an author. In a theatre where a drama unfamiliar to the company is produced every night, or in case of a new 'star,' who plays his own pieces, a day's work of an actor may be set down as follows: To learn by heart a part not exceeding six 'lengths' (a length is forty-two lines), attend rehearsal from ten to one or two, and act at night in one or two pieces. That is, six lengths new study, rehearsal, and playing at night, is what may be required of an actor for a day's work, without giving occasion for grumbling at the managers. There are many actors who, upon an urgent occasion, will study from ten to fifteen lengths in a day, besides attending to their other duties. This, however, is never required except in case of sudden sickness of another performer, or some similar extraordinary event. In provincial theatres the actors are worked much harder than in New York, and paid much less. The starring system universally prevails, which necessitates a constant succession of new plays, most of which have to be studied from night to night, as a play is not often acted two nights in succession in small cities. But when a piece has a successful 'run,' the actors have no new study for several weeks. Actors are usually engaged for certain lines of business; that is, each one engages to perform only such style of characters as he is best qualified to personate. The remuneration of actors comes next into consideration, and the scale has a wide range, from $3 a week up to $200 a night. This last sum was for years the demand of Mr. Edwin Forrest. Other stars are generally content with certain 'sharing terms;' that is, the gross receipts, after a certain specific amount has been deducted for the expenses of the theatre, are equally divided between the star and the manager. Thus, for example, if the expenses of the house are $300 per night, and the receipts $400, the lucky star and the fortunate manager pocket $50 each per night. This is the fairest basis on which to conduct the starring system, because, by this plan, the salaries of all the stock company are assured _first_, and the profit of the star depends on his own power of attracting the public to the theatre. In New York the salaries paid to stock actors are higher, on the average, than those in any other city in the United States. The managers ignore, to a great extent, the technical 'lines of business,' and engage the best artists that can be had, and then have plays especially written, in which each of their leading actors shall have a part suited to his peculiar powers. While this plan secures to the New York public the finest acting that can be seen in the country, it also entails upon the managers a salary list of dimensions that would swamp a provincial theatre in a single week. The leading actors, as Messrs. Lester, Blake, and Walcot, at Wallack's Theatre; Messrs. Jefferson, Jordan, and Pearson, at the Winter Garden; Messrs. Mark Smith and Vincent, at Laura Keene's Theatre, receive from $50 to $100 per week. Salaries for women are about half, or perhaps two thirds of what are paid to men holding corresponding positions. General utility men, supernumeraries, and ballet girls receive from $3 to $10 per week. When an unusual number of 'ladies of the ballet,' or supernumeraries of the other sex are required, on some extra occasion, they are specially engaged, at 50 cents a night, or sometimes for even less money. The salaries on the east side of the city, at the Bowery Theatre, are lower than on Broadway, the principal actors seldom receiving more than $35 or $40 per week, and the others are in proportion. In smaller cities, as Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, &c., the highest sum paid to a performer seldom exceeds $25 per week. Actors who have achieved a position which warrants them in demanding it, stipulate for a 'benefit' in addition to their salaries. On these occasions, a third or a half of the gross receipts of the evening is paid over to the performer, according as his agreement is for a 'third clear' or a 'half clear' benefit." =40. Aquaria Makers.= One of the most innocent and pleasing amusements that has attracted attention for some time is the making of aquaria. The cases are formed of plate glass, square, oblong, circular, or any shape to please the fancy of the owner. The glass is tightly sealed when joined. The aquaria are of two kinds: one is formed of salt water, and contains marine plants and animals; the other contains fresh water, and such plants and animals as are found in rivers and smaller streams. They form a beautiful addition to a garden, conservatory, or drawing room. Rocks form the foundation, and the soil on them furnishes subsistence to the plants. Zoophytes, mollusca, and fish form the inhabitants of the aquarium. Insects also find a place in this miniature "ocean or river garden." The size for parlors is from one foot to three in length. The largest aquaria in this country are now on exhibition at Barnum's Museum, New York. "They comprise over one thousand specimens of living animals and vegetation. In these tanks the water is seldom changed, the natural operations of the plants and animals keeping it always pure." They are made to order in New York, and we think might afford a pleasant pastime to some, and pecuniary profit to others. A work giving directions for making them has been published in New York. The author is a Mr. Butler, who has got up the mammoth aquaria in Barnum's Museum. There are two establishments in New York where they may be ordered, and specimens seen. "Before we leave the margin of the sea, we must just glance at the smaller occupations pursued there by women. The most considerable of these was once the gathering and burning of kelp; but chemical science has nearly put an end to that. There is still a great deal of raking and collecting going on. In some countries half the fields are manured with small fish and the offal of larger, and sea weeds and sand. Then there is the gathering of jet and amber, and various pebbles, and the polishing and working of them. The present rage for studies of marine creatures must afford employment to many women who have the shrewdness to avail themselves of it." =41. Architects.= We scarcely know to what extent this branch of business can come within the province of woman. Yet it is as practicable, perhaps, as some we mention. Civil architecture is the only one open to women. In this art we are as a people little more than novices; yet great improvements are going on. In a century's time, perhaps, the art in this country will have obtained the perfection of ancient nations. Properzia di Rossi, born in Bologna, 1490, is said to have furnished some admirable plans in architecture. The author of "Women Artists" mentions as designers in architecture, Madame Steenwyck, of the Dutch school, and Esther Juvenal, of Nuremberg. She also gives the name of a lady who was a practical architect in Rome, in the seventeenth century--Plautilla Brizio--who has left monuments of her excellence in that species of art. The villa Giraldi, near Rome, is the joint work of this lady and her brother. "The wife of Erwin von Steinbach materially assisted her husband in the erection of the famous Strasbourg cathedral; and within its walls a sculptured stone represents the husband and wife as consulting together on the plan." The most varied and general information is desirable for a first-class architect. A knowledge of drawing and the first principles of geometry are the most important requisites. Some architects select the materials for the building, which of course requires a knowledge of the different kinds and conditions of wood, their fitness for various parts of a building; also, the qualities of iron, stone, brick, and whatever goes toward making up the building. An architect should also select the most suitable site for the erection of the intended structure, which would be decided, to some extent, by the way in which it was to be used. He also should be able to judge the nature of the soil, and the way in which a want of fitness may be remedied. Then he must see that the foundation is securely laid; and, as the building progresses, that the workmen carry out the details of the plan which he furnishes. Much of this work seems unsuitable for women; but the making and executing of plans could be very well done by them. It would give exercise to their taste and inventive talents. Men employed in architectural drawing earn from $1.25 to $3 a day of ten hours. Miss H. told me of a wealthy lady in New York who is quite an architect by nature. Mrs. D. told me of a young lady of her acquaintance who is gifted with talents that would make a superior architect. She has planned several houses for her father, who has sold them at an advance of from $3,000 to $4,000, on account of the convenient arrangement of the rooms and their tasteful decoration. She displays exquisite taste in the selection and arrangement of furniture. She is withal economical in her expenditures. She is a close calculator of the cost of materials, and a great economist of space. =42. Cameo Cutters.= There are two kinds of cameo cutting--one with a lapidary's wheel, of hard stones, as the onyx and the sardonyx. The shell cameos are cut with small steel chisels, from the white portion of the shell, leaving the chocolate color for the background. The figures are in relief. The stone is prepared by the lapidary, and the artist arranges his design according to the capabilities of the stone. He makes a drawing in paper on an enlarged scale, and a model in wax of the exact size, and the latter is carefully compared with the stone, and such alterations made as the markings on the stone seem to require. The outline is then sketched on the surface, and cut with tools prepared for that purpose. After it has been properly cut, it is smoothed and polished. In Mrs. Lee's "Sculpture and Sculptors" we find an account of those that have engaged in cameo cutting in the United States. Mrs. Dubois, of New York, cut several cameo likenesses of her friends, and so well did she succeed that she went to Italy to acquire proficiency in the art; but the artist to whom she applied said he could teach her nothing--she had only to study the antique. John C. King, a sculptor of Boston, has also engaged in the art of cutting cameos; and Peter Stephenson, of Boston, had cut in 1853 between 600 and 700 cameo likenesses. He writes me: "Cameo cutting might be done by girls, especially the finishing process--polishing. When in Italy, some years ago, I employed girls to polish my cameos, and paid from 12 to 50 cents apiece. I think they earned about $1 a day. The employment is not unhealthy, but confining." Margaret Foley, formerly a member of the New England school of design, resided in Lowell, and cut cameos at $35 apiece. She was kept busy in filling orders. The Misses Withers, of Charleston, S. C., are said to cut cameo likenesses with beauty and skill. I saw Mr. L. a Frenchman, in New York, copying a likeness from a daguerreotype. He also copies from life. He learned the business in Paris. He charges $15 for those large enough for a breastpin, and which it requires him about three days to make; smaller ones are lower in price. He imports the stones, and furnishes without extra charge to those for whom he works. A good intaglio worker can make cameos, but a cameo worker cannot make intaglios. Some men can never learn the business. It would form a beautiful pastime and a profitable and refined occupation for a lady, if sufficient work could be obtained. =43. Copperplate Engravers.= In a hasty reading of "Women Artists," we find mention made of a number of ladies occupied at various times, in different European countries, as copperplate engravers: in the sixteenth century, one in Holland, and one in Italy; in the seventeenth century, Germany produced seven, France one, Spain one, and Italy three; in the eighteenth century, Italy two, France one, and Denmark one. It may have been that some escaped my notice. Mr. S. told me he knew a family of copperplate engravers; but the daughters are now married. I saw a lady who engraves on copper; she had an office in New York. She was willing to instruct a lady on these terms: after the pupil had acquired about six months' practice, she would allow her half for all the work she did in six months more; then she could be at liberty to work for herself. She thinks a year sufficient time to acquire a good knowledge and practice of card engraving. She had spent a year at it irregularly, having no instructor, but asking advice and assistance now and then. In that way she did not obtain the custom she would have done by being known to others. The patience and careful attention to details requisite, and the sedentary nature of engraving, render it a more suitable occupation for women than men. To make a good card engraver, an educated eye, a steady hand, and ability to form letters gracefully, are the principal requisites. A card engraver told me he knew a lady who assisted her husband in his work, that of copperplate engraving. As the people of the United States become wealthy, and cultivate a taste for the fine arts, engravers will be more patronized. There is a collection of old and choice copperplate engravings in the possession of Mr. Plassman, who has a school of art in New York; there is also such a collection at the Historical rooms in the same city. =44. Daguerreans.= The process consists in concentrating the light of the sun on a metal plate, so prepared by chemicals as to retain the impression of an image that falls upon it. The shadow catcher has become almost interwoven with the every-day realities of life. Prof. Draper speaks of daguerreotyping as introducing a beautiful work, in which "the fair sex may engage without compromising a single delicate quality of woman's nature." Some artists, not content with moving in the ordinary way from place to place, have cars built that roll on wheels and are drawn by horses. The daguerrean sleeps in his little home, and, on the road, far away from a good tavern, can even do his own cooking, or have it done, in his car. The business has also been carried on by men in small boats, floating down rivers and stopping at villages and farm houses. It requires taste and judgment both to make an operator and to color. Colorers of photographs could, if skilful and constantly employed, earn $30 a week in large cities. An operator, if busy, works from 9 to 5 o'clock in winter. A wonderful improvement has taken place in the daguerrean art since its discovery. A lady daguerrean and photographer writes me: "Ladies are employed in the business as operators, and to superintend; also to repaint and retouch photographs. With care in the use of chemicals, I do not consider it particularly unhealthy; less so, I think, than sewing by hand or machine. No person will do well for himself, herself, or patrons, who commences business without a good knowledge of it. The time of learning will depend upon the individual's knowledge of the sciences bearing on photography, and their talent for the business. It would vary from two weeks to three months. The labor of the learner is usually given while learning, and from $25 to $100 besides. Spring and fall are the best seasons, summer the poorest; but there is no time during the year in which there is not something to do. I operate and superintend in my own establishment, and hire a boy only, who does chores. The principal discomforts of the business are the heat to which we are exposed in summer (being usually and necessarily near the roof), the smell of chemicals (which do not unpleasantly affect any one), and the soiling of clothing, which is more unavoidable with women. The amount of business, and consequently the location, decide the profits of the business. As the business is attended with considerable expense, it is necessary, in order to make it pay, to seek a good location. It is profitable when a person is well established in a desirable location. I think ladies and children usually prefer a lady artist. Upon the whole, I think the business quite as suitable for women as men. There is generally more or less spare time, but a woman is most apt to occupy such time with fancy work or reading." A daguerrean writes: "Women are sometimes employed in the reception room to receive ladies--occasionally, in the operating room. They receive from $3 to $8, according to capacity and address. Men generally command better prices, because they can sometimes perform labor out of a woman's sphere, such as unpacking goods, carrying packages, and other jobs, not suitable for women. I think the business as healthy as any indoor business. It requires from six to twelve months to learn the duties of the operating room; for the reception room, from one to three weeks. Industry, patience, perseverance, shrewdness, and suavity of manners, are the necessary qualifications. Prospect for employment poor, as prices are reduced to almost nothing. All seasons are nearly alike. November and June are dull. Our women work in summer from seven A. M. to six P. M. The work averages about eight hours per day the year through. Men are superior in patience (?) and force of character. Women are easily discouraged, and liable to be petulant. In many instances, there is much running up and down stairs, which is harder on women than men. And there is too much standing for a woman's health." =45. Schools of Design.= Schools of design were established 444 B. C., for the purpose of improvement in making statuary. The arts declined when Europe was overrun by barbarous tribes, but in the eleventh century began to recover, and in 1350 several painters, sculptors, and architects formed an academy of design at Florence. In Paris there are seven schools of design for males, and two for females, supported by the city. There are seventy schools of design in Great Britain, and there is an annual exhibition of their work in London, where premiums are awarded. It is about twenty years since the schools were commenced in England. In 1854 nearly I,500 students had been educated in the School of Arts in Edinburgh. There are schools of design in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston. The object of these schools is to give a knowledge of some industrial branches of the fine arts. "The greater part of the higher order of designs are practically unavailable, for want of knowledge, on the part of the designer, of the conditions of the particular manufacture in question. The economic possibility and aptitude are not studied; and hence, the manufacturers say, an enormous waste of thought, skill, and industry. This want supplied, a field of industry practically boundless would be opened to female artists, as well as artisans; and it would be an enlightened policy to look to this while the whole world seems to be opening its ports to our productions." Mrs. Alice B. Havens writes of the school of design in Philadelphia: "When novelty and jealousy shall have ceased to excite envy and suspicion among those who would keep our sex from honest independence, a wide sphere of employment will be opened by this and similar institutions to educate intelligent women; for surely, if English manufacturers are not content to be under the control of foreign influence, our own countrymen can never be." The largest class of wood engravers is in the school of New York; the largest for designing on wall paper, in Philadelphia. More time has been devoted to instruction in drawing in the New York than the Philadelphia school. Without some practice in drawing, nothing can be accomplished in either wood engraving or designing. Designing, in some of its branches, is taught in all of the schools. Designs for paper hangings, calicoes, and wood engraving receive most attention. Designs for carpets, silks, ribbons, furniture, lace, plated ware, silver, jewelry, &c., have received but little, if any attention--those for casts and moulds, no more. If women of taste and cultivation attain superiority in designing, we doubt not they will reap a very fair harvest for their work. Lithography, wood engraving, drawing and painting, are also taught in schools of design. There are now in the school of design, New York, between 200 and 300 pupils: some are wood engravers, some designers, and some painters. "The earnings of the pupils in the classes of drawing and engraving are as varied as their skill and experience, but are about the same as those of men who have been at those branches of art the same length of time. Engravers and designers are generally qualified to work on orders the second year of their practice. With industry and the use of their _whole time_ during school hours, pupils may expect an increase of about a $100 a year for several years. The income from the branches of art taught in the school must always be proportioned to the talent, experience, habits of application, and rapidity of hand shown by the artist. The engravers in the school who best understand drawing have the best work, and even the highest wages. The pupils have the entire benefit of their earnings." "At Lyons, France, the manufacture of divers stuffs absorbs the hands of thousands of men and women; but the men, only, enjoy the privilege of inventing combinations of forms and colors destined to inveigle the eyes of fashionable caprice." In the school of design, Philadelphia, a charge of $9 per quarter is made to amateur pupils for instruction, and a charge of $4 per quarter to professional pupils. In the school of design, New York, a charge of $4 per quarter is made to pupils who acquire instruction as an accomplishment: to those fitting for a profession, no charge is made. A lady teacher in the New England school of design had a salary of $400. We will copy an article placed at our disposal on the artistic employments of women in America. It was written by a former principal of the school of design in Boston: "The artistic employments of women in this country may be divided into three classes: 1st, those devoted to the fine arts; 2d, those engaged in designing and the business departments of the arts; 3d, teachers of drawing, painting, &c.--1. Under this head comparatively few will be found; the number, however, is fast increasing, and as avenues of sale for their works are found, I doubt not that there will be a marked improvement both in the quality of their work and in the amount paid for their labor. Most who pursue this department are confined to portrait painting or crayon portraits. I have seen beautiful portraits in colored crayons executed by ladies. I regret to say a comparatively small price was given, varying from $10 to $25, while works executed by men not a whit superior in any respect would command from $25 to $50, and even more.--2. _Designing, and the Business Department of the Art._ This admits of several divisions, and first we will take designing for textile materials. When women are engaged in the mills, their labor is very poorly paid for, compared with the payment made to the other sex. I know of about twenty women who are so engaged. The prices paid for their labor varies from $1 to $2 per day--men receiving from $800 to $1,200 and even $1,500 per annum. The difference here, however, is not so great, when the time given by the two to the necessary study is compared. Many of the male designers serve an apprenticeship varying from three to seven years before they are supposed to be fitted to take the situation of designer in a mill, and even this does not include the preliminary instruction in the school. Women, on the contrary, after a year or little more of study, enter the mill on equal terms with the prepared designer, his pay at the commencement of his engagement usually being from $1 to $1.50 per day. The employment of women at all in this department is almost a new thing, and is not yet countenanced to any great extent. Time, however, will remove all difficulties in the way, and, by steady perseverance I think woman will be able to show herself superior to man in this branch, because it is more in her own domain than in that of man. When the designs of women are presented to manufacturers and found acceptable, they will command a price equal to the designs of men. This I speak from experience, having disposed of designs for silver ware, printed coach linings, coach lace, paper for walls, calicoes, delaines, and muslins, and other articles of like nature. These have commanded the same price as the designs of men, but it is difficult at times to find a market for them. I remember presenting some designs to a manufacturer, about two years since, which were very much praised; but when I stated they were made by ladies, at first it was said to be impossible, and then they sunk in value, were wrong in the mechanical detail, were not adapted to the purpose for which they were intended; but, unfortunately for the truth of the latter statement, they were disposed of to another manufacturer in the same street, who had formed rather a different idea of the powers of women as compared with men. A second branch of business art is drawing for mechanical purposes and patent inventions. There are in this city many ladies who earn quite a handsome income by drawing for the patent office, patent agents, &c., the drawings chiefly linear mechanical ones, the remuneration varying according to ability. Some are paid by the piece, and others by the day. The day laborers earn from $1 to $2, and in two instances $2.25 and $2.50 per day. The price of work varies according to size, intricacy, finish, &c., the rate being nearly that which men receive, in some instances the same. This requires mechanical knowledge which is not very often possessed by women, but is a branch of study that would be found both pleasant and profitable, especially if they were prepared for it by an elementary course in the public schools. It is not a branch that admits of much display, and is therefore almost entirely neglected, or taught in such a way as to be utterly futile for all practical purposes. A third branch is architectural drawing. I know of but one instance of a woman pursuing this branch, which is both delightful, useful, and very profitable. Perhaps there is not any department of the fine arts to which woman might more successfully devote herself than to this. Such a devotion of woman's power would tend to abolish the gross deformities we so often see paraded before our eyes in the streets, in the form of buildings presenting every possible incongruity of shape and every perversion of the beauty of form. This requires much study, but would eventually repay for all the time and trouble that would be bestowed upon it. A fourth is wood and other engraving. This commands as high a price as men's labor, when brought into the market; but when women are employed in engraving establishments, the grossest injustice is shown them in the inequality of the payments made. A woman will receive, in the same place, for the same amount of labor, a sum not exceeding half of that paid to the men in the same employment. In England this department stands on a perfect equality as regards sex. The quality of the work being the test of price, it is the same to men as to women, if the quality is the same.--3. _Teachers of Drawing and Painting._ This is always most profitable when pursued independently of the schools. When it is so pursued, the rate of payment varies from $5 to $25 per quarter, for each pupil, excepting in the case of very small children, when the prices may be a trifle lower, but the same would be the case with men as with women. In most academies the service of teaching in this department is given by preference to women, and at the same price. When they are engaged simply as assistants, then a gross inequality begins. A man would be paid say $200 or $300 per annum for one half day a week--a woman $100 or $150 at most. The reason for this lies deeper than I can divine, but in other instances when a lower price is paid, it is generally the fault of the individual employed. There should, if possible (and I conceive it to be so), be a fixed rate for teaching a certain number of pupils, and so much more additional for every one added: this would give a general rate for all to make their demands upon. If more branches, or extended time, or any other demand was made upon the individual teaching, then they would have some standard whereby to regulate the extra charges. There is only one feature which requires to be somewhat changed, and that is a tendency to superficiality. Women oftentimes commence to teach before they themselves have taken more than the most elementary steps for their own improvement. Time will, however, regulate this deficiency; and as the resources of improvement open to all, those who devote themselves to the honorable employment of teaching will take all proper steps to fit themselves for the office.--There is no department of the fine arts--painting, sculpture, architecture, or manufacturing design--in which woman may not run an equal race with man, if she takes the same trouble and care to fit herself for it, and, when fitted, is faithful to her own interests and her profession. This will never be accomplished by schools of design as at present instituted, for they lose their character and become designing shops. This must be laid aside, and culture, with a general or specific object, be alone attended to for the time necessary to learn properly and thoroughly what they are about to practise. Men and women both, now expect to learn the art of designing fully in the course of six or twelve months. This can only be done to a limited extent, depending on the powers of the pupil, the mode of instruction, and the capacity of the teacher to win and to guide those committed to his or her care. If the profession is entered upon with unfitness and want of knowledge, then the prices of labor will be necessarily reduced to a low scale; if with fitness, and a certainty of our own capacity, we can demand 'a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.' The interests of this nation demand the production of native designs, and whenever her children are fully fitted to produce them, are competent to put their designs side by side with those of other nations and challenge a comparison, every other obstacle will dwindle into a shadow, and every difficulty that now stands in the way of woman's _natural_ place, in art at least, will be finally removed--to which end 'may God speed the plough.'" =46. Miscellaneous Designers.= Designing is a peculiar, and more a natural than a cultivated talent. A few years ago, Miss M. drew on stone for the New England Glass Company. She received $10 a page, which she could generally do in four days, working only four hours per day. Two men had at different times done the work for the company, one receiving less, and the other more than she. Misses L. and R. drew and designed in the carpet factory at Lowell. They received $1.25 per day. A young lady who designed at the Pacific Mills, in Lawrence, was said to receive $3 per day. Miss S., who had given but eighteen months' practice to drawing, designed for ground and painted glass, and received $6 per week. Designs for toys, dissected pictures, games, puzzles, &c., are an appropriate filling up of spare moments for a designer. I was told by an English seller of embroideries, that, in England, designing and making patterns for embroideries is a distinct business. He has been at it many years, and does not feel himself perfect yet. It is not made a distinct branch in this country yet, because there is not enough of it done. Here a few primary patterns can be arranged and rearranged so as to answer all the demands of trade. A great deal of money is expended on monuments, but there is a want of variety in the designs. A wide field is here opened to operators in this department. Some designers in Boston write me: "Only a few ladies are employed in our business, for there are not many who are willing to devote the time necessary to become proficient. Some are employed in Europe. The employment is not more unhealthy than sewing. Women are paid according to their proficiency, and earn from $3 to $15 per week. Women receive the same compensation as men, if they do the work as well and as fast, but they ordinarily cannot do either. They are not paid until they have spent two or three years learning. A combination of artistic and mechanical talent is required. The prospect for employment is good. There is not much variation in the seasons for work. Ten hours is the average time required. There are now as many in the business as can find lucrative or constant employment. It requires not less than five years, generally more, to be a fair general workman in this business. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are about the only places where there is a demand for designers. A first-class education and cultivated taste are absolutely necessary to success." =47. Designers for Calico Prints.= This employment is well adapted to women. It requires taste and ingenuity. Its labors are light, but rather confining. A person of lively fancy and nice powers of discrimination succeeds best. The gay, rich, dark colors of winter clothing are not suitable for summer; nor are the light, delicate ones of summer suitable for winter clothing. This inviting field of labor, now that it is unbarred to woman, we hope will be well improved. Let her enter, and she will find sufficient to "reward a careful gleaner with a valuable sheaf or two." We do not speak of inventing and preparing designs for calico prints particularly, but of the general field for designers. Some proprietors engage a designer (here and there a lady) to stay at their establishments, and devote all their time to the preparing of designs--paying a fixed salary for the month, year, or any time specified. Some adopt the same plan in wall-paper establishments. The price generally paid for a design pattern for calicoes is from $1 to $3. =48. Designers for Wall Paper.= One of the most important branches of designing is that of preparing patterns for wall paper, fire screens, &c. In the report of the Philadelphia School of Design it is stated that one of the ladies of that school received $60 for a design some time ago. They seldom bring that much, and all designs prepared will not sell. The usual price for a good hall design is from $12 to $20; and of paper for a room, from $12 to $16. We fear it will be long before the beautiful designs of the French are equalled by Americans. Their taste must be more highly cultivated before such is the case. Mr. C., of New York, employs a designer (Frenchman), paying him $1,000 a year, who receives in another manufactory a salary of $3,000 a year. N. C. & Co. get some of their patterns from the school of design in Paris, because the French have more taste in designing, or, rather, that taste has been more cultivated. Brande gives the merits of designing as follows: "Every work of design is to be considered either in relation to the art that produced it, to the nature of its adaptation to the end sought, or to the nature of the end it is destined to serve; thus its beauty is dependent on the wisdom or excellence displayed in the design, in the fitness or propriety of the adaptation, and upon the utility of the end." =49. Draughtswomen.= There are several kinds of draughting, or drawing on stone: architectural, mechanical, letter, figure, and landscape. Very few women have undertaken draughting in any of its branches. But we do not see why it should be confined to men. We suppose the minds of some women are as well adapted to the business as those of some men. Our ideas of the fitness of women for architectural drawing are given under the article Architects. =50. Employés in the United States Mint.= A very interesting description of the employment of ladies in the United States Mint at Philadelphia will be found in _Godey's Lady's Book_, of August, 1852. Col. Snowden, Director of the Mint, writes to me as follows: "Women are employed to adjust the weight of the blanks or planchets, preparatory to the coinage--each piece for the gold coinage being separately weighed and adjusted. So also are the larger coins of silver; namely, the dollar and the half dollar. They are also employed in feeding the coining presses. There are about fifty women at present employed. This force is amply sufficient for our present operations, and for any additional amount of work that the mint may be called on to perform. The employments in which they are engaged are healthy and pleasant. Some years ago the women received seventy-five cents a day in the adjusting room, and eighty-five cents for those employed in the coining room. Since that time I have increased their per diem compensation to $1.10 in both departments. They are paid monthly. Men employed in labor of a similar character secure about $2.20 per day. A day's work is about ten hours; ordinarily the women do not work more than seven or eight hours; sometimes more, sometimes less, but never beyond ten hours. There are no other occupations in the mint, than where they are now employed, suitable for women. I am greatly in favor of employing women, and I have extended the employment of them as far as it is practicable. For adjusting the weight of coins, and attending or feeding the coining presses, I consider women as not inferior to men, except that they cannot endure work for as great a number of hours." The adjusting room is kept very close, as even the breath of a person may affect the gold dust. The windows are kept closed on that account all the year. Visitors are not permitted to enter this room. I have been told that the adjusters wear chamois dresses, which they change before leaving the mint. They are required to wash their hands and clean their nails before leaving the premises, lest gold dust should be in them. A great many applications are made for situations in the mint. None but a thoroughly honest person should occupy so responsible a place." =51. Engravers and Chasers of Gold and Silver.= I was told by a lady in Philadelphia, that had been engaged with her husband for some years in chasing the backs of gold watches, and had laid by quite a snug little fortune, that from $5 to $6 is paid for engraving a watch case. It requires many years to render one a competent gold or silver chaser--I think about five years. A general engraver told me he thought women could very well engrave jewelry, silver, and card plates. The superior taste of women could be exercised to advantage. He thinks a woman of good abilities could obtain sufficient practice to earn good wages at the expiration of six months. It is a very confining business, but one that pays well. It requires more skill in drawing than beauty of penmanship, though the last is a desirable item. A good engraver calculates to earn $1 an hour. The kinds most suitable for a lady are so clean that she need not have her clothes soiled by her work. Mr. C. knew a lady once in New York who was a beautiful engraver. She learned the business with her father. A watchmaker can soon learn to engrave, because he uses similar tools, and knows how to handle them. A person that can engrave watches could easily engrave coarser work. Engravers, when employed by the week, earn from $12 to $25; and $15 a week is a fair average of an engraver's wages. An engraver cannot well work more than nine hours a day. Ornamental engraving is done in some jewelry manufactories by women. Engraving is done with gravers, but chasing is executed with punches and a small hammer. Engraving is more on the surface than chasing. An article chased is indented on the inner side, one engraved is not. It requires some time to excel in chasing and engraving. There are two kinds of watch engraving--that of landscape and that of borders. I was told by an Englishman that some silver-plate chasing is done in England by women. A jeweler writes: "We occasionally employ women in engraving--on brass, and we do not find any difficulty. In this branch of business, we believe, they are more suitable than men." Mr. S., who engraves on gold, silver, and other bright metals, told me that a long time back all the engraving in his branch was done in England by women. It is light work. The designing is like a lawyer's work--hard on the brain. Most engravers in this country do their own designing. His father was the first engraver in New York. He takes apprentices for five years, not paying anything the first year, the second, $2 a week and clothing, and increases according to the attainments of the learner. There are two kinds of engraving in his branch: the line engraving can be done with one tool, the other kind requires several. He can obtain foreigners who can do both kinds (usually called mongrel engraving), and who would be glad to get work. Chasing and polishing are about as good mechanical pursuits as a woman can follow. Some silver chasing is done by filling the article with sand, and striking with proper tools; some is pressed with heavy machinery. Soft chasing is done on metals, but the chasing of plated ware requires some strength in the wrists, and is done before being plated. The patterns are placed before the workers. It requires a long time and application to acquire proficiency. More women could find employment as chasers, if they would apply themselves long and closely enough. A chaser, who employs eight girls in Providence in making and chasing jewelry, writes: "They earn from $4 to $5 per week, but men from $15 to $18. Women cannot do their work as well as men. Men spend from two to three years learning, women from one to two months. Spring and fall are the best seasons. The prospect of employment for women in this branch is good. There are other parts of the jewelry business in which women could be employed, and I think they will be. I prefer to employ women, because they are cheaper." A jewelry engraver writes: "In some branches of our style of engraving, women are employed in France and Germany. The occupation is sedentary. The average rate of workmen is $12. I think women could command the same prices as men. It requires about one year to learn. There are but few first-class engravers. A bold and steady hand, a ready and quick ingenuity, which would qualify a person to be a good draughtsman and designer, are the qualifications most needed for an engraver. About fifteen years ago there was no demand for engraving, but it is now on the increase, and considered a necessary finish to jewelry. About the Christmas holidays are the best seasons for work. Ten hours a day are required. In the Western and Southern States are openings--in large cities a surplus. I think, women are peculiarly adapted to engraving, but they would be likely to marry, and then we would have our trouble to repeat in teaching new learners." =52. Equestrians and Gymnasts.= In equestrian entertainments, much depends on the accessories. Without music, artificial light, and paintings, they would be rather tame. The principal requisites for a circus rider I take to be agility, grace, and fearlessness. Size and form have not so much to do in making a successful rider and gymnast as one would suppose. The athletic exercises require vigor and firmness of muscle. One should be trained from the earliest childhood. Children usually begin as early as three years old. In former times, these children were, many of them, picked up in the streets, and there is no doubt that these human waifs had a hard time of it; but now many of the professionals bring up their own children to the business. All the performers, in addition to their several "star" or "single" acts in the ring, are required to appear in any capacity assigned them in the scenic pieces and spectacles, and to attend the rehearsals of the same; also, to appear and remain on the stage in proper dresses, for the purpose of filling the scene, and giving a gay and animated appearance to the stage. Mr. Nixon's establishment, New York, being the most complete in the country, and being thoroughly systematized in every department, will serve as the best source from which to derive information concerning the routine duties required, and the weekly moneys paid there to circus performers. "The principal performers in Mr. Nixon's company are paid as follows: Ella Zoyara, equestrian, in addition to first-class passage from England and back for self and two servants, medical attendance for self and servants, carriage and horses whenever required, and a benefit every two weeks, receives per week $500; Mr. William Cooke, equestrian, manager, passages for self and wife from England and return, and per week, $500; James Robinson, equestrian, for self and three horses, $305; the Hanlon brothers, six persons, gymnasts, per week $300; Mr. Charlton, stilt walker, passage, &c., $125; Mr. Duverey, contortionist, passage, &c., $125; Mlle. Heloise, equestrienne, $100; Mlle. Clementine, equestrienne, $100; M. and Mad. Du Boch, equestrians, $100; Master Barclay, equestrian, ten years old, $75; Mr. Whitby, ringmaster and equestrian, $100; Mr. S. Stikney, equestrian and general performer, $100; Mr. J. Pentland, clown, $100; Mr. Ellingham, ringmaster and general performer, $40; Mr. Armstrong, equestrian and general performer, $40; W. Kincaid, do., $40; W. Pastor, do., $30; W. Bertine, do., $30; Brennan, do., $25; Niel, do., $25; F. Sylvester, do., $20; A. Sylvester, do., $20; W. Ward, slack rope and clown, $30; Prof. Yates, ballet master, $25; Mr. Stark, general performer, $25; S. Ruggles, $20; Davenport, $20; Foster, $20; Peterson, $20; four lady equestrians, per week, each $20; and twenty ballet girls and twenty supernumeraries." We extract from an English paper the following statement: "In Paris, no less than 15,000 persons were admitted yesterday, although the prices were doubled for the occasion, to witness the performance on the tight rope of a woman--Madame Blanche Saqui--who is entering her eighty-fifth year." =53. Etchers and Stamp Cutters.= In England, in the seventeenth century, Anna and Susannah Lister were regarded as having much skill in the noble art of etching. They illustrated a work on natural history written by their father. A century later, the Countess Lavinia Spencer and a Miss Hartley became noted for their skill in etching. Rosa Elizabeth Schwindel, of Leipsic, worked at the business of a stamp cutter in the beginning of the eighteenth century; and two Frenchwomen during the same century--M. A. de St. Urbin and E. Lesueur. =54. Herbarium Makers.= Herbariums are collections of dried plants. They are formed by gluing to sheets of paper the flowers and leaves of plants, after they have been pressed and dried. To botanists, they are useful; and a choice collection is a frail, but pretty ornament, for a centre table. The largest public herbaria are at Berlin, Paris, and London. It is supposed that some of them may contain as many as 60,000 species. There is not much of beauty or interest in such a collection, but for scientific purposes they may be valuable. It is not unusual to see them made of the plants and weeds of the sea; and a very pretty collection do they make, if got up with taste. A book has been lately printed containing plates, with explanations for making them into pictures and other fanciful arrangements. The making of herbariums of both earth and marine plants, would furnish a pleasant pastime to ladies of leisure, and a source of revenue, perhaps, to those who might wish to make it a matter of profit. =55. Lapidaries.= A skilful manipulation is necessary to the business of a lapidary. If woman has sufficient firmness of nerve to perform the duties of surgeon, we see not why she would not have for the cutting of precious stones. It is a business conducted on a limited scale and by few persons in this country. Mr. R., of New York, told me that a lady in Birmingham, England, had a large establishment, and employed women and girls to work for her. He knew of no lady that worked at the business in the United States, except one that used to be in an establishment on Broadway. The employment, he thinks, is not unhealthy. After a lady has learned, she would probably earn from $4 to $5 a week, working for others. He received $12 a week when working as a journeyman. He spent seven years as an apprentice in England, but he learned the manufacture of jewelry in connection. The prospect of employment depends much on the condition of the money market, but there is reason to think the business will increase as the country grows older. All seasons of the year are alike. Money matters only make a change. He says there are many books written on the precious stones and the art of cutting and polishing them. He mentioned a book by a lady of London on the subject. Mr. H., an importer and manufacturer of cornelian and other fancy goods, told me that grinding precious stones is very hard work. Men lie across wooden benches to apply the agate, cornelian, or whatever it may be, to the grindstone. There are eight grindstones, weighing twenty tons each, on one axle. The polishing is done by boys, who sit at small wooden wheels, some of which are covered with leather. Sometimes women do this work. As this method of grinding stones is done by water power, it is done more cheaply than by steam. In Germany, a man who works at precious stones or makes up jewelry at home, has his wife and daughters to assist him, and hires a peasant girl to do his housework. The women and girls make the fastenings for earrings, and file and polish the rings. He pays seventy cents a gross in Germany for them. He says, in the country and villages of northern Germany daughters are considered treasures, for they remain at home, and by their handiwork maintain themselves; but in the south of Germany, where there are no manufactures, girls are a burden on their parents. B., of Philadelphia, used to employ girls to set up jet, garnet, and turquoise for grinding; but those stones are now out of fashion, and so girls are not employed. He says an old lady, whose daughter is connected with the Home Mission, wished them to give instruction to her daughter in cutting stones, that she might, as a pastime, cut those brought by members of the family from the seashore and watering places. He thought it likely she would also teach the art in the Mission School. Cutting facets he thought pretty work for women. They can either sit or stand at the tables. There is nothing unhealthy in the grinding, as the stones are kept wet all the time. But the dust used in nipping glass and stones is injurious to the lungs. When a man has been nipping all day, his nostrils are nearly closed. The amount of work depends on fashion. There are seven establishments in Providence, and the work is done by steam. Some stones cannot be cut by steam machinery, as the wheel must every few seconds be graduated in motion. In hard times, the jewelry business and employments connected therewith are dull, as people dispense with superfluities. Southerners buy most jewelry, but now they do not indulge in such purchases. =56. Landscape Gardeners.= Mrs. R. often goes and looks at gardens, directs how to lay them out, and what to buy for them. She then orders the plants of others, and sells on commission, having them arranged according to her own taste, influenced by that of the purchaser. Her purchases are made of a German, living some distance from town, who can raise them cheaper than she could in the city. Her compensation, of course, varies greatly. A landscape gardener writes: "What a lady could do as landscape gardener at the West, I do not know. I am rather inclined to doubt her success at the East. It would require too much time and space to enter here into the details of what are required to constitute a landscape gardener: First, one must have a decided love for it, and a willingness to sacrifice much to the pleasure of the occupation. Nor can I say a great deal in favor of the profits. I have never been able to make a living by the profession, although I have often thought if I had gone to New York, or farther West, the case might have been different. In pages 381 and 382 of 'Country Life,' and in many other parts of the book, you will see what I consider essential to the making up and preparation of a landscape gardener, and better expressed than I can condense into a letter." Mr. C., of Massachusetts, writes: "I have never known a lady to undertake the profession of landscape gardening; and much of the labor which I find it necessary to perform, would be impossible for a lady. Still, there is much in which female taste would find abundant field for exertion, if the labor could be so divided as to make it profitable. My first work on any estate is to make an accurate topographical survey of the ground, and draw a plan of it in its natural state, and then proceed to make my designs for its arrangement; and when that is done, if required, I undertake the superintendence of the work at the ground. A lady would have to employ a surveyor, in the first place, and would labor under many disadvantages in directing the operations upon grounds; and, to judge from my own experience, the business could not be made profitable under such circumstances. Loudon's 'Encyclopædia of Gardening' will give the best directions I know of for the necessary operations of designing and executing plans, and Downing's work, with Sargent's appendix, comprises enough suggestions, on matters of taste, for the use of any person who is possessed of innate natural taste, without which I would advise no one to attempt to be a landscape gardener." =57. Lithographers.= The impression for chalk drawings is made by delicate manipulations with crayon pencils; for ink drawings, with steel pens and camel-hair brushes. It requires one skilled in the use of her pencil, for every stroke of the pencil or pen on the stone remains, and cannot be erased. Consequently, any defect on the stone is conveyed to every copy of the paper. In answer to a letter of inquiry, respecting the time necessary for preparation, the writer says: "A person who draws well upon paper would, I should think, with six months' practice on stone, become proficient. The process differs little from crayon drawing on paper; and the progress of pupils depends entirely on their previous attainments in drawing. The different kinds of lithography are black, chromo, and gold illuminated; also, lithography combined, or uncombined, with embossing. In a report of a British school of design, it is stated that the chromo-lithographic class for females "exhibit the commencement of a series of useful labors." An immense number of cheap lithographs are colored by women; such as are hung in taverns, country houses, sailors' homes, servants' rooms, &c. At Mr. C.'s establishment, I was told that in France the females are quite as successful as the male artists in lithography. He says lithographs require to be more highly colored than the colors we see in nature. Mr. C. thinks of sending to France for lithographers, as he cannot get enough in New York well qualified. A correct eye, skilful manipulation, and an appreciation of art are required to make one skilful in lithography. Germans excel, because they have so much patience. An American would become nervous at the slow work that they prosecute with the greatest pleasure. At Mr. C.'s they have a forewoman, who superintends the girls, who are paid by the quantity and kind of work they do. He finds that small girls are usually the best workers. Their fingers are more nimble, and they enter into it with more zeal. He thinks it best for them to commence at ten or twelve years of age. Prospect good for employment in that branch. The coloring of all the finest pictures is done by men. It requires some time to become sufficiently expert to earn much. Their girls earn from $3 to $7 a week. The work requires care, and is wearisome, because of sitting long and steadily. Mrs. P., Brooklyn, an English lady, learned to draw when eight years old, and studied lithography with a distinguished artist of London, who executed entirely with his left hand, having lost three fingers on his right when he was a child. She has spent twenty-two years in lithographing--seventeen of them in this country. She is probably the only lady professionally engaged in this business in the United States. She has earned almost constantly, I was told, from $12 to $30 a week. Lithographing is very lucrative to a skilful artist. The remuneration is better than women often receive for their handiwork. We believe some women could find employment in it, if they were prepared. Mrs. P. excels in architectural drawing. She thinks one must have the talent of an artist, and great practice with the pencil, to succeed. She has given instruction to several youths, but never to one of her own sex. One must be articled, and pass through a regular course of advancement, to follow it advantageously. To an apprentice, after two or three years' practice, a small premium is paid. She had one youth to learn of her, who, after four years' time, received $7 a week from her for his work. She thinks there will be employment to a few well qualified. She has always been kept busy. The employment is not more unhealthy than any other of a sedentary kind. Mr. M. says they have no difficulty in finding enough of crayon lithographers, but that there is more lithographic engraving done than crayon lithographing. It is done on stone with instruments, very much as engraving is done on copper. We have read "that an improved method of transferring copies of delicate copper and steel plate engravings to the surface of lithographic stone has been invented. One copy taken from the steel or copper plate, after being transferred to the stone, is capable of producing 3,000 prints." "Lithography, engraving, and especially engraving on wood, would gain in quality by passing from men's hands to the hands of women." "Lithographic works are produced which rival the finest engravings, and even surpass them, in the expression of certain subjects." The first lithography executed in the United States was in Boston, 1826. W. & S. used to employ girls to color lithographs, but found it did not pay. They paid from $4 to $5 a week to women, who did the common part of the work. Men did the finer parts, and earned from $12 to $25 a week; but only those who are expert, have artistic taste, and understand the business, can earn so much. French lithographs are prepared and the coloring done so much cheaper in Europe, they have ceased to have it done in New York. B., lithographer, Philadelphia, employs many ladies--about twenty--in the house. Some associate in companies, and take their work to the house of one of their number; but the greater part are educated women, who do not wish it known that they earn money by their labor: these carry the plates to their own homes (and even have them sent to the fashionable places of resort in summer), so that many a fair damsel trips along Chestnut street with a roll of something, which seems to be music, but is, in fact, work. The coarse handed take no part in this employment. Very few have ever attained the highest degree of proficiency in it. The most delicate work is done by men. Americans have most aptness for coloring, although the Germans excel in drawing on stone. Women seldom attempt the latter art. It requires long practice for girls to excel in coloring. Many grades of skill are required to color lithographs, and there is much difficulty in making all the copies exactly like the first. Some need a treatment so nearly approaching the artistic, that scarcely any one who has the skill can be found to give his labor for the price, which is necessarily limited. We gained no information as to the amount of wages paid to the colorists, but, judging from the price of a very beautiful specimen (29 cents), it must be sadly inadequate. The scientific societies are the main support of this business. The Government, indeed, gives very extensive orders, but there is always so much competition to obtain them, that the profit is small. Audubon was the greatest encourager of this branch of industry. This employment is very desirable in every respect for educated women; and although machinery for printing in colors is fast encroaching on it, yet it will long offer a field for female enterprise. Our informant employs from 100 to 300 hands, according to the prosperity of the times. A commercial crisis affects this as well as all other trades. One of the firm of the best lithographic establishment in New York, told me they pay their men for drawing on stone from $25 to $30 a week. The time required to learn lithography, he thought, would depend much on natural talent. A good knowledge of drawing is necessary. He thought men would soon get over the opposition of women entering the business; but they did not like the restraint of working where women are. They would soon become accustomed to it; and if they were women of the right kind, it might be a very beneficial restraint. But, as to that, women could do the work at home. Many Germans, well acquainted with the art, are engaged in crayoning. When they first come to this country, they work for lower wages than Americans, but after a while learn their value, and ask as much as any one else. On account of the low wages for which foreigners can usually be had, but few Americans have prepared themselves for this occupation. But when work is plenty, and the individual industrious and skilful, he can earn good wages. Seven eighths of the work done for this country is executed in New York. The agent of a lithographic company writes: "Drawing on stone could be done by women as well as men; and would open to them a very genteel and remunerative branch of business. The drawing is now done mostly by Germans and Frenchmen; but ladies who have a taste for drawing could soon learn this art. The usual price for such artists now is from $12 to $35 per week." Prof. P., of New York, gives instruction in lithography, charging $12 per quarter of eleven weeks--two lessons per week. Special arrangements are made with pupils who intend to devote themselves to the profession as artists or teachers. A gentleman remarked to me that Mr. S., a certain distinguished lithographer of this city (New York), would make an excellent teacher in that art. His forte is heads. A few strokes from his pencil always give a beautiful finish to a piece of work. =58. Map Makers.= 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." =59. Medallists.= "Beatrice Hamerani worked at medallions, and in 1700 elaborated a large medallion of Pope Innocent XII., highly praised by Goethe." "Toward the end of the seventeenth century we hear of Madame Ravemann, who executed a beautiful medal, an exquisite specimen of cutting." In the school of design in New York, we saw two very creditable medallions, executed by one of the members of the school. =60. Modellers.= An ornamental designer and modeller writes me: "In England I attended my lady pupils at their own residences, except one to whom I gave instruction at my residence. One was the daughter of the Lord Mayor of the city, another the daughter-in-law of the Earl of H. Very few ladies learn any of the higher branches of art, except those that do so for recreation. A person that has some skill in drawing would, without the slightest doubt, soon acquire a knowledge of this beautiful art. Some persons have a natural gift for modelling, while others would not learn it with all the cultivation arising from education and good society. Probably the best source of employment in New York would be to design and model for the silversmiths--such as Ball & Black, Tiffany, &c. One of the most fertile departments in Europe to lady modellers is not carried on to any extent in this country--the making of fine pottery. The fingers, of course, must be soiled in modelling; but such an inconvenience is trifling compared with the pleasure of forming fruit, flowers, and foliage, or modelling the medallions of friends." The modelling of gas fixtures might afford employment to a small number of qualified women. We know of one establishment in Philadelphia where part of the designing for fixtures, lamps, and chandeliers, is done by a lady, and all the copying done for illustrated catalogues of those which are finished. She receives $6 a week, and goes about 9 o'clock A. M. and remains until 4 P. M. Mr P., at his school of art in New York, has a very large collection of casts. He gives instruction to boys and young men in modelling and drawing, charging 25 cents a lesson of 3 hours in the day or 2 in the evening. They are instructed in classes. Some of his casts are gigantic. In one of his rooms is a beautiful, but small model, in wax, for $300, representing a hunting scene. We have been told that some ladies in Germany model wax patterns for the ornamental work on china. Few tools are used by a modeller--the only ones are for the sharp and delicate parts that cannot be formed by the fingers. As clay does not shrink uniformly in drying it is moulded before drying in plaster of Paris, and a cast of the same material taken from that, which serves as a model for the workman. Some artists model in wax. Women might be employed in modelling ornamental and scroll work for brass founderies, &c., and get good wages. =61. Modellers of Wax Figures.= Catharine Questier, who lived in Amsterdam about 200 years ago, besides possessing many other accomplishments, was a modeller in wax. Joanna Sabina Preu, who lived in Germany not long after, was noted in the same way. A daughter of a Danish king also modelled in wax. "Professor Anna Manzalius, an Italian lady, modelled excellent portraits in the beginning of the eighteenth century." In England, in the early part of the eighteenth century, Mrs. Samore modelled figures and historical groups in wax. Mrs. Patience Wright, born in Bordentown, New Jersey, 1725, made a great many likenesses in wax. Some were full length and some were busts. They were mostly of the statesmen that were conspicuous in the American colonies at that time--yet some were of Englishmen, as she resided in London, after she became a widow, and supported her family by her handiwork. Her daughter, Mrs. Platt, modelled in wax in New York in 1787. I saw a maker of wax figures who said he had supported his family by his work, and thought a few others might make a living at it. One must be able to draw a model before undertaking wax figures. It requires good perceptive powers, ability to distinguish colors, and a peculiar taste. One must be able to work from life, and it is well to know how to do so from pictures. Mr. G., interested in Barnum's museum, told me that it was impossible to get such wax figures made in this country as they want. He spoke of the miserable imitations that are made, and thought a person well qualified would be patronized. Most of the groups in Barnum's museum were made by Mrs. Pelby, of Boston. Mr. Barnum wrote to Mr. Tussaud, whose mother made those so famous in London (and who is living now), to know if he would instruct some one to send to America; but he is not willing to give any one instruction. He employs persons to make the different parts; one set of workers make the bodies, another the heads, another the feet, &c. The world-famed group of his mother, Madame Tussaud, was first opened in Paris about 1770. After being exhibited in the large towns of Great Britain, it was taken to London, where it still remains. The figures are so life-like that now and then one is mistaken for a living person, while a person is as often mistaken in the group for one of the figures. More than forty persons are kept in charge of the exhibition. =62. Mineral Labellers and Arrangers.= A lady could not easily make collections of minerals, but she might find it an absorbing occupation to arrange and label them. Few ladies in our country have given any study to mineralogy, and very few would be competent to form cabinets. Yet, for those that are, we doubt not employment of that kind could be found. The individual wealth of our country has not been sufficient to enable many to make extensive collections. The most that exist are connected with universities and other institutions of learning. They have been collected at different times--in fact, mostly formed by single specimens, added now and then. Individual collections have been formed in the same way. Individuals add to the cabinets of their friends, as they have it in their power. The most extensive collections in the United States are at the Patent Office, Washington, and in the National Academy of Science, Philadelphia. Mr. H., a mineralogist from Berlin, says: "In Berne, Switzerland, a man and his wife are mineralogists. On the husband's death the wife will continue the business." It must require many years' study and an extensive knowledge of chemistry to become a superior mineralogist. I would think considerable time and capital were requisite for a mineralogist to establish himself. Mr. H. makes exchanges of minerals for others, receiving, I suppose, a commission for doing so. A geologist writes me: "No women are employed in my business. It requires one half of a lifetime to become fitted for the duties of a geologist. A knowledge of engineering, and most of the natural sciences, is needed. Draughting in the office is the only part suitable for women." =63. Musicians.= Madame Romeau says: "Few women have been engaged in musical compositions, and they have rarely undertaken important works. In painting and literature one is pre-occupied only with the work of the author. In music, it requires the coöperation of two persons--the composer, and the performer. Books and paintings act upon us without any intermediate objects, while the piece of the composer, to be understood, needs the flow of harmony noted on the paper in hieroglyphic signs, and must escape under the fingers from the instrument. It is necessary to animate the inert matter--to make it yield to the wish of the performer and reproduce the inspirations of the composer. Few women compose songs. A musician leads a different life from an artist, who lives in her studio and has few expenses. A musician must face the crowd, and hear its dissatisfaction, and smile at its applause. A cantatrice, or songstress, often travels from town to town like an actress." Some persons think none of the arts can be purely religious except music. "Mozart in music, and Raphael in colors, have taught us the spiritual ministry of the senses." A comparatively small quantity of music has been composed in the United States. The study of a lifetime is bestowed by very few on music. Some American ladies have gone to Europe to perfect their musical taste, and a few have acquired distinction. With musicians, as with vocalists--those who, in this country, have reaped the greatest profits in the shortest time were foreigners. Some were pianists, some flutists, some violinists--some one thing, and some another. The composition of music for soirées, fancy balls, masquerades, tableaux vivants, private theatricals, operas, dramas, musical farces, ballets, &c., might occupy all the spare time of musicians capable of composing. There is a circulating library in London of 42,000 volumes. There is, also, one in New York and one in Brooklyn. Subscribers to the one in Brooklyn pay in advance for one year $12, with the privilege of selecting from the catalogue $6 worth of music at the termination of the subscription; for six months, $6; for three months, $3; for a single piece worth less than $1, 6 cents per week; less than $2, 9 cents per week. Mr. G. thinks a lady can never become a good violinist, because it requires great strength in the right arm. The muscles of violinists are as rigid as a blacksmith's. I have heard that occasionally a pianist acquires such strength in his hands that he could almost prostrate you with one of his fingers. A gentleman told me, ladies could not become superior organists; that they cannot have sufficient power developed. It requires much strength of hands and feet. He remarked, the organist, at the church he attended, was a lady, but made no comments on her qualifications. I have known two lady organists, who were considered superior performers, and received as good salaries as gentlemen would have done. One received $500 for playing twice on Sabbath. On week days she gave instruction. I was told that she supported her whole family for years by her musical talents, and laid by money with which she purchased a comfortable dwelling in a city in New York State. The salaries of organists are small considering the amount of talent and practice required; but most organists teach music, or stand in music stores, or act as agents for manufacturers of musical instruments. "In the summer of 1860, among the Marblehead band of female shoe strikers in the procession at Lynn, Mass., was Miss Margaret Hammond, fifteen years old, who beat the drum in martial style the whole line of march." "In Ohio they have a lady drummer, who has received a diploma for her skill. Her name is Minerva Patterson, a daughter of Major Elisha Patterson, a wealthy farmer of Jersey, Licking Co." The French papers have given some insight to the prices paid great musicians, Malibran received in London, for every performance at Drury Lane, $750; Lablache, for singing twice, $750, and for a single lesson to Queen Victoria, $200. At a soirée in London Grisi received $1,200. Paganini charged $400 a lesson. "Herz and Thalberg each made about $60,000 in this country." There is a female musical society in London which gives concerts for benevolent objects. =64. Music Engravers and Folders.= Mr. L. engraves and prints music, and employs two ladies to fold it. There are but few music engravers. The smaller the number of persons in any one kind of business the higher the prices they can command. A lady in New Orleans engraves, whose husband is a music printer. It would require but two or three years to learn it. Some ingenuity, a knowledge of the value of notes in music, and judgment in the arrangement of them are necessary to make an engraver. In New Orleans, eight months are usually considered a year, I believe, in business arrangements. At a music engraver's the young man told me that he never heard of a woman engraving music in this country, but he knows that some do in Paris. The work they turn out, he added, is not good; it will not wear, because women have not sufficient strength in the wrist to engrave as deeply as a man. A person who engraves plates for music can earn from $3 to $5 a day. German work is considered the best, because the quality of the ink used is better. Music engraving is divided into two distinct branches--one is lettering and engraving the title page--the other is engraving the notes. No steam machinery has ever been invented for printing music, because the ink must all be put on the way the work is done. Music is one of the first things dispensed with in hard times. =65. Opera Performers.= The first opera of modern times was performed about the close of the fifteenth century. At the first introduction of the opera into France and England, it was much ridiculed by wits and critics. Voltaire, however, and others, came to its rescue, and with what success may be known, when it is acknowledged to be one of the favorite amusements of the fashionable world. The want of adaptedness of the opera to the English language has to a great extent excluded successful efforts at translation. Yet some operas have of late years been performed in English. "In Paris, the Italian opera is patronized by the Government, as a school of vocal music; and the managers are careful to maintain a complete and skilful company." In an opera, the music is the most important part, while at the theatre the music is subordinate to the play. The orchestra in some parts of the opera accompanies, and, in others, seems to respond to the sentiments of the piece. The operatic performance is not so warm, so impassioned, so abandoned, as that of the theatre. The trilling and sudden starting, so common in operas, is rather too artificial to please the unsophisticated. A conversational style is seldom used, but the words are expressed in a recitative style that is graceful and effective. In Germany, however, dialogue has been introduced. Good imitative powers are essential to success. The noble talent of music has been desecrated, in some operas, by the impure thoughts and language expressed. In the United States probably not more than thirty, out of the entire audience of several hundred, sufficiently understand the Italian, to follow the play without considerable effort; but it is so much of a pantomimic character that much is gained by the sense of sight. Much of the zest and interest are lost to those who are indifferent to the accessories. On this account, we suppose it can never become a favorite amusement with the generality of people. The French papers give some curious statements in regard to the salaries paid to great musical artists. We learn that Hummel left a fortune of $75,000, and twenty-six diamond rings, thirty-four snuff boxes, and one hundred and fourteen watches, which had been presented to him at various times. In modern days musicians are quite as extravagantly paid. Alboni and Mario get $400 every night they sing; Tamberlik, every time he sings a certain high note, demands $500; Madame Gazzaniga was paid $500 a night recently in Philadelphia; Lagrange, at Rio Janeiro, is now receiving a princely salary; and Piccolomini cost her manager over $5,000 a month; and these prices are said to be moderate, compared with those often paid in Europe to distinguished musical artists. At the opera house in Paris, for the present season, Mr. Colzado, the manager, pays as follows: to Tamberlik, for seventeen representations, $8,000; Alboni, $2,200 for seven representations; Mario, $15,000 for a season of five months; Grisi, $5,000 for two months; Madame Perer, $14,000 for the season; the Grazioni brothers, $15,400; Corsi, a baritone, $4,000; Galvani, $3,600; Nantin Didere, $4,000; Tecehini, $3,600; Mlle. de Ruda, $3,400. The chorus and orchestra cost for the season $17,600. "Parodi, the American prima donna, receives no less than $30,000 per annum, a larger salary than that paid to the President of the United States." "Miss Hensler, the American prima donna, has been engaged by the manager of La Scala for fifteen months, at the rate of $170 a month." "Sophie Curveth receives $2,500 a month, for eight representations; for every representation beyond eight in the month, $300 more." =66. Painters.= "Less prejudice exists against artists than teachers in France. They have privileges that teachers have not. Painting is considered the most desirable profession by parents for their daughters. The girl begins early in life to fit herself for her profession. The work is less severe than that of an author. Painting does not require such close application of mind, nor is it necessary to spend so much time in solitude, nor are the expense and anxiety so great as that of authorship. Gratuitous schools of art exist in Paris, where instruction is given principally in perspective. Most students prosecute the art in studios, paying from $4 to $6 a month. Most of them spend the whole day in the studios, from eight in the morning until six in the evening. The artist that instructs them visits the scholars only two or three times a week. The studio is a sort of mutual school, where pupils teach each other; they are of all ages. All conditions of society are represented. Three kinds of painting are done by them--face or portrait, landscape, and flowers. Most of the girls of the higher classes prefer landscape. Female artists compete with men, and wear their hair short. Few women like the physical fatigue of a painter's life. There is not the same play for coquetry in artists, as in singers or actors. It requires great perseverance for a female artist to acquire firmness of execution; she does not possess it to the same extent as man. Some artists are willing merely to copy paintings, paint portraits, and give lessons. The school of landscape painting is one well fitted for young and original talent. Women succeed in painting portraits; also, in painting flowers and fruit; very few have tried historical paintings." Painting is certainly a profitable employment for a lady artist of superior ability, if she can have enough to do. Miss F., New York, established a life school for lady artists. One subject is used at a time; the classes are limited--two classes--eight or ten pupils in each. Those that need instruction will pay $12 for twenty-two lessons; those without instruction, $6. There will be two sittings a week, of from three to four hours. A person of sensitive, nervous type, susceptible to every impression of a pleasant kind, is most likely to succeed as an artist. Mr. R. Peale told me that many ladies in Europe paint portraits. He considered it a higher style than landscape, or still life. He thinks painting itself not injurious to the health. The turpentine used is sanitary, and the white lead is deleterious only when taken into the lungs. What is inhaled in breathing can do no harm. Mr. Peale thought that the principal reason of artists being so poor in health, is because of their long and close confinement indoors. In painting the first coats are often applied by an assistant, employed by the artist; and in some cases, by the students of the artists. Miss Merrifield, of England, has written a work on the art of painting. A number of ladies in England, and in the United States, are winning a reputation as artists. The prospect to lady artists in the United States is very encouraging. Ladies are allowed the privilege, on proper application, to copy paintings in the Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, the Düsseldorf, and the Bryant galleries, New York. According to the census of 1850, there were 2,093 male artists; but there are said to be not more than 600 or 700 superior artists in the United States. The patronage the best receive is such as to keep them well employed. A meagre support and a long life of labor are necessary to establish a reputation as an artist, even to one that has talent. But the way in which most of our first-class artists live, that are prudent and steady in their habits, and possess any business qualifications, contradicts the opinion, quite common, that an artist's life must always be one of self denial and poverty. We think artists fare as well as most people, and we do think it a life very inviting to the young ladies of our country. Those that have the time, the means, and the talents, will find it an absorbing, a fascinating employment. Women succeed best in painting pictures of their own sex, and of children. The more tender and delicate organizations are best suited to their talents. Most of our artists live in the metropolis, New York; the Western country is too new and crude. There are materials enough, but not much appreciation of talent. Besides there is less wealth, and another thing is, that artists must keep themselves where mention will now and then be made of their pictures, to bring them into notice, and where the most ready sale will be found for them. During the last few years a taste has been developed in St. Louis, that promises some golden fruit. A gallery of paintings has lately been opened there. Why is it that a talent for painting and poetry is so often combined? Is it that the quiet, contemplative state that produces poetical inspirations also favors the visible expression of beautiful thoughts? A poet painter is more frequently to be seen than a poet musician. One, I suppose, of a quick, lively disposition, and very impressible, might be more likely to possess musical talent than one of a quiet, thoughtful nature. But genius is not fettered by temperament. There is a society of female artists in London; the first public exhibition of their paintings took place in June, 1857. It is managed by a committee of eight ladies, and bound by twenty-three articles. A portrait painter writes: "The artist requires a high, well-developed anterior brain, a healthy body; and a brain and body well regulated and balanced; a love of the beautiful that inspires the character with patience and indomitable perseverance, and a contempt for applause; for 'art is long,' and, unless one is willing to 'scorn delights and live laborious days,' he can never meet with real success. If women can attain to excellence as artists, they can command the same remuneration as men receive. Art knows no sex." A professional artist remarked to me: "Amateur painters never attain excellency, because it requires not only talent, but constant application." I think if there is anything that should have its full value, it is a painting, because of the patience and perseverance necessary for an artist to excel, and the long and costly preparation requisite. It commands, too, a certain style of talent that many do not possess. In addition to this, those who can afford to buy paintings are those who can afford to pay a good price. =67. Animals.= We know of no artist in this country whose talents have been devoted to the painting of animals, and of but one lady, in any country, that has distinguished herself in that line--the far famed Rosa Bonheur. =68. Banners.= We saw an ornamental sign painter decorating a large flag. Stars are painted on the silk, and then sized and gilt. The flag was stretched on a frame like a piece of tapestry, but upright like an easel. Mr. M. had never known of any women being employed in the trade. He decorated banners for processions, political campaigns, &c. This is evidently a field for female industry. =69. Crayon and Pastel.= Crayon drawing seems to have been much in vogue in Italy in the seventeenth century; and we read of an Italian lady, as far back as 1700, devoting her time to pastel painting. The soft, light, dreamy effect given by the use of pastels, peculiarly fit the style for the portraits of ladies and children. Mrs. Dassel, of New York, was noted for her excellency in the use of pastels. Mrs. Hildreth, of Boston, is very successful in her crayon portraits. She charges from $30 to $40 a head. Mrs. M. A. Johnson, of Massachusetts, has spent some years working in crayon. "Her indefatigable patience in the execution of details, the fidelity of her likenesses, and the delicate perfection of finish in her pictures, are remarkable." Miss Clark received $20, and over, for crayon portraits in Boston, a few years ago. Before Miss Stebbins, of New York, became a sculptor, she drew crayon portraits, charging $50 per head. Her execution was said to be clear and forcible. =70. Flowers and Fruit.= During the latter part of the eighteenth and the first half of the present century, a number of lady artists have distinguished themselves in flower painting. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a few devoted themselves to it in Holland, Germany, Denmark, and France. For a few years past some American ladies have turned their attention to flower painting with marked success. A number in England have also obtained distinction. =71. Fresco.= The wife of an artist told me her husband knew of a fresco painter in England, whose daughter would assist him when he was hurried. But the lady thought working with men was objectionable. I heard of a young lady in New York, who assisted her father, by filling up the outlines, as he drew them on side walls. Mrs. Ellet states that Angelica Kauffman assisted her father in the interior decoration of a church, in Schwarzenberg. She painted, in fresco, the figures of the Twelve Apostles. Her success in an undertaking so difficult excited considerable attention. Mrs. N., wife of a fresco painter, thought the work unfit for women, because they would be compelled to work with men, and stand on platforms to work on ceilings; consequently are liable to exposure of person. They might paint the side walls, and let men paint the ceilings. =72. Historical.= But few ladies have devoted themselves to historical painting. The most lived during the latter part of the last century, and the commencement of the present. Catarina Vieira painted several church pictures, after the designs of her brother. =73. Landscape.= In the past century Holland gave to the world the largest number of female landscape painters. America and England bear away the palm for the present century. American scenery opens as wide a scope for the talent of the landscape painter as any on the globe. Mrs. ----, one of the first landscape painters of our country, thinks landscape requires more care and talent than portrait painting, but the latter pays best. She says there are some ladies in Boston, who are very good landscape painters. She thinks it would be very difficult for a young artist to become established in New York, without influential connections, and the means to keep her until she does become established; but would be more likely to succeed in cities in the South and West. She thinks there are good openings in Baltimore, for artists of every kind. She says art is much more encouraged in the United States during the last few years, and a good artist need not fear starving. The artists of New York have three receptions during the year. The object is to make known their paintings, with a view to selling. At the last annual sale of pictures for the New York Artists' Fund, $2,000 were received. Some artists copy a landscape exactly as they see it; some select the most beautiful parts of different landscapes, and combine them; and a few draw entirely from imagination. Good painters of scenes for theatres, I have been told, often receive from $25 to $40 per week. =74. Marine.= Some very good marine views have been executed in this country, but none by ladies. =75. Miniature Painters.= "We may run back as far as the twelfth century, and find a few miniature painters among the fair sex. Margaretta von Eyck devoted most of her time to painting miniatures, in the fifteenth century. In the seventeenth century, an Italian lady of Palermo distinguished herself as a painter in oils. Mrs. Wright, an English miniature painter, died in 1802; and Maria Conway was a noted miniature painter, living in London, who died in 1821. In the seventeenth century, Maria Rieger was employed to paint miniatures in the aristocratic circles of Germany. In the same century, a Swiss lady, Anna Wossar, began at the early age of thirteen to win a name in the same branch of painting. In the same century, almost every country in Europe gave birth to one." Mad. Goldbeck, of English birth; Mrs. Hill, of Boston; Miss C. Denning, of Plattsburg; Miss Anne Hall and Miss O'Hara, in New York, are the principal miniature painters in the United States. It was reported that Miss H. occasionally received as high as $500 for a miniature. Mrs. Hill received from $75 to $100 for a miniature. The popularity of photographs has caused many portrait and miniature painters to devote themselves to that branch of art. Some artists succeed in giving an ideal, _spirituel_ beauty, truly astonishing. I think it is more observable in miniatures on ivory than any other style. Mr. W. writes: "In the department of miniature painting women find profitable employment and are ofttimes very expert at the work. I know a lady in Washington who paints very beautiful miniatures, for which she receives from $10 to $15. This is very nearly the same rate paid to men. Woman's delicate sense of touch and facility of expression make it a branch for which she is especially fitted." =76. Panoramas=, we suppose, have pretty well paid their way, particularly the first that were exhibited; but we know not that any lady has ever engaged in this branch of painting. Mr. D., a scenic and panoramic artist, says the "decorative workshops" of Paris are 250 feet long, and 50 feet wide. The cloth for panoramas is laid on the floor, and the paint then applied, as it would run if hung up. There are galleries around the walls, some distance above, from which the artist may judge of the effect of his painting. Many dioramas are used, and might be colored by ladies. Panoramas have not been so common since Banvard painted his. Painting them does not always pay for the trouble and expense. It requires a certain order of talent for painting panoramas, and probably as high an order as any other. =77. Portrait.= "Lala, though not a native of Rome, exercised her profession in that city during the youth of Marcus Varo, painting portraits of women. Her pictures were better paid for than those of any other painter of her time. Portrait and character drawing have ever exercised the talents of the first-class artists." Mary Beale was a celebrated portrait painter, who lived in the reign of Charles II.; and Anna Killigrew painted the portraits of James II. and his queen. An artist told me that it requires the most intense mental application to bring out a variety in the expression of the countenances of some sitters, and difficult to seize the most happy expression. An ambrotype copy should be kept for the colorist to look at occasionally, while progressing with his work. He thinks seven hours a day enough for an artist, when his mind is exercised with his work. After so long an application, he might turn his attention advantageously to some style of painting more mechanical in its nature, that will be an occupation to his body and a relief to his mind. A portrait painter writes me in answer to some questions: "The artist's labor cannot well be intrusted to another. In France there are female portrait painters, who are said to execute such works with more delicacy and profit than men. The employment is not unhealthy, unless the laborer confines herself too long in a poorly ventilated room. Women are paid by the piece, when employed by artists. I would say, in general terms, why women are not better paid is owing, doubtless, to a very foolish idea that, in all respects, they are not so reliable. Perhaps a remnant of a more barbarous period has something to do with it. In inferior conditions of society women are always looked upon as inferior creatures. Women have done great things in art. See the career of Rosa Bonheur, Angelica Kauffman, Miss Sharp, of London, and, in our own country, Mrs. L. M. Spencer and Miss Hosmer." Some people are gifted with a love for, and success in, one style, and some in another. Our nation, composed as it is of representatives from all lands, will give fair play to the best powers of the portrait painter. Miss G. thinks a lady of talent, by close application, with an extensive respectable connection, can establish herself in New York as an artist, and earn a livelihood by the products of her pencil. She charges as much for a crayon portrait as for one in oil. She succeeds best in crayons. $60 is her price for a large portrait; $10 or $15 more, with hands. "Mademoiselle Rosée, born in Leyden, in 1632, deserves a place among eminent artists for the singularity of her talents. Instead of using colors, with oil or gum, she used silk for the delicate shading. It can hardly be understood how she managed to apply the fibres, and to imitate the flesh tints, blending and mellowing them so admirably. She thus painted portraits, as well as landscapes and architecture." =78. Water Colors.= Much improvement has taken place in this style of painting during the last few years. Fanny Corbeaux is mentioned as a superior English painter in water colors, of the present century. =79. Painters of Dial Plates.= This is rather an artistic employment, but poorly paid. All the clock faces used in the East are said to be painted by women. Men would not do it for the prices that are paid. In Boston is a large factory where a number of girls are employed in painting hard dial plates--that is, enamelled. I saw a Swiss lady in New York who paints silver-faced dial plates. She and a gentleman in Hoboken (she told me) are the only persons in this country who paint that style. The drying of hard dial plates she thought to be bad on the health, because of the great heat to which a person is exposed in placing the enamel in the furnace, and attending to it while there. Mixing the enamel could be done by women. When learning to paint dial plates in Switzerland, she paid $3 a week for instruction and board, but for a sleeping room separately. =80. Picture Restorers.= E. says he has been thirty years engaged in restoring paintings and engravings. He thinks it is more of a natural gift than anything else. He has made money by it. His sons, who have been ten years employed as draughtsmen, cannot succeed, with all the instruction he has given them. To succeed requires the talents and experience of an artist. He never adds paint when any is left, but merely restores it. If it is gone, he supplies it. B. says, restoring paintings is a work of all time. The prospect of a lady succeeding is poor. She cannot use the heavy iron (twenty-five pounds) necessary for ironing the lining on the picture. (But that part is merely mechanical work, and can be done by a man.) The greatest aim with most restorers is to imitate the old masters. Mrs. C., whose husband is a picture liner, says there is a great wear and tear of mind in that business. A restorer may injure a picture, and have it thrown upon his hands, and have to pay ten times its value. Restoring is the most difficult, lining the most laborious. She never heard of any one being taught. I should think a restorer would find it desirable, if not essential, to visit the galleries of Europe, and study the works of the old masters. The business requires considerable artistic taste and knowledge, but, in our large cities, may after a while present a field for qualified women. =81. Piano Tuners.= I think a piano tuner might form a class of ladies, and give instruction in the art. $1 is the usual price for tuning a piano in the city. One should have an acute sense of hearing, to succeed; and he should commence early to cultivate that sense. It is very necessary to know how to make a nice discrimination of sounds. Practice in that is best gained in a piano factory. Some could learn the principles in half a day. More depends on practice, and a native talent for it, than anything else. At Mr. W.'s is a very superior tuner, and he has been at it but a few months. It requires strength of wrist, and a rather long arm. The change of posture and strain on the back is considerable. There is not one good tuner in fifty. Mr. W. thinks a lady might be a tuner. He says it is not necessary that a person should know how to play on an instrument, but it is better. A tuner in his factory receives $3 a day. Regulating is done by the touch, tuning by the ear. If a lady could obtain the tuning of the pianos of her friends, they might speak to others, and in that way she might succeed in obtaining sufficient custom to make a very comfortable support. It might also bring out any musical talent the individual possesses. While piano tuners are learning, if they practise long at a time, they often experience a confusion of sounds, and are not able to distinguish correctly. I was told by another manufacturer, it is not at all necessary to be a player to make a good tuner, as the two are entirely distinct. There is a great difference in the abilities of tuners. There is much difference naturally in the sense of hearing in different individuals: there is much from training, there is much from the aptness of a pupil, and in the application. When they take a boy as an apprentice, they keep him at first to sweep the room, and go errands, and give him instruction, probably an hour at a time, in tuning. Longer time would confuse a learner. They have had a tuner for three years, that they can now send to tune pianos for concerts; but, a year ago, they could not. Two piano tuners (women) are mentioned in the census of Great Britain. Mr. W. had two or three ladies to learn piano tuning in his factory. They were music teachers, living in villages and the country, who could not engage a tuner oftener than once in two or three months, when the tuner would come around. He thinks ladies could not make very good tuners, because it requires great strength in the hand or wrist, and complete control of the key; for if the key is turned ever so slightly more than it should be, the wire will break. A manufacturer of musical instruments writes: "I think women could be placed in a situation profitable to themselves and the community by learning to tune pianos and melodeons, which I believe they have the skill and capacity to do. They would also find it profitable, in some places, to instruct juvenile classes of both sexes in sacred music." =82. Plaster Statuary.= The few women in this country who work in plaster of Paris, are, as far as we know, natives of other countries. There is an old Italian woman in Baltimore who makes and sells works in plaster. Casts are sometimes taken by women, but rarely. Casts of living persons are taken by having the individual breathe through iron tubes placed in the nostrils. Casts are also taken from reliefs, statues, and models. They require less care than the first mentioned. Fruit is imitated in this material, and colored exactly like the original. I saw a case that had been prepared by a lady for the rooms of the American Institute, New York. The librarian thought several collections might be disposed of to agricultural societies and farmers. It would pay well, and take but little time to learn. It would require a nice discernment of colors and shades, and neat, careful workmanship. In Brooklyn, I was told by a boy, that did not look to be more than 14 or 15 years of age, that he had been working in plaster of Paris for three years. His was the architectural branch. The first year he received $1.50 per week; next year, $2; and the next, $3. He thinks a woman could do any of the work. The moulds for some parts are made of wax and rosin; some of sulphur, and some of plaster of Paris. The moulds are tied together, and the liquid plaster poured in. It hardens in half an hour. Mr. W., a plaster of Paris worker, says the whole of the work could be done by women. Modelling requires practice in drawing, and a knowledge of geometrical figures. Inventive talent finds a ready field for exercise. A good moulder is paid $2.50 a day. The study of architectural ornaments and books much facilitates the advancement of the art. Modelling and casting are distinct branches. Most employers pay boys thirty-seven cents a day for casting; but to learn modelling, it is customary for the learner to pay a premium. Another maker of house ornaments said modelling could be learned in six months, and when a person has learned, he can earn from $3 to $5 a day of ten hours. One must know how to draw in order to model. Another proprietor told me he had thought of employing girls to break off the edges of architectural ornaments. They now have boys, and pay from $3 to $9 per week. Modellers can earn $2, $2.50, and $3 per day. He paid $2.50 a day, for a year, to one man. At a large store for the sale of plaster of Paris articles in New York, the proprietor, a gentlemanly Italian, said he would be willing to give instruction to a class of ladies in modelling, moulding, casting, and polishing. He would charge $2 for two hours' instruction, and thinks, after a lesson every day for three months, and some practice in the intervals, his pupils would have no difficulty in prosecuting the work alone. It soils the clothes very much. His daughter learned it, but prefers embroidery. One of the Pisani brothers told me that in Italy and Paris women work at the business. Much ornamental work is executed in alabaster, spar, composition, and plaster of Paris. None of them are unfit for women. A more desirable occupation, with the exception of its want of cleanliness, a woman could not engage in, than plaster of Paris modelling. An Italian plaster image maker in Boston writes me: "We employ about 60 women. Women are employed at this business in Florence, Rome, and Milan. I get about $10 per day, and pay women $3 per day, working ten hours. I pay both by the piece and by the day. As a general thing, we pay men better than women. It requires some genius and a lifetime to learn the business. The prospects for employment are good in Boston, and there is a pretty lively demand for hands. All the women I employ are Italians. Women are decidedly superior workers. The business can be carried on in any part of the United States. Women might be employed in taking casts from the dead, if they have sufficient nerve. I have a peculiar fancy for this branch of the work, and do not consider it unhealthy." =83. Painters of Plates for Books.= Hundreds of thousands of plates are annually colored in London, and some in this country. The neatness and patience of women fit them admirably for this work. It is an agreeable, but at present not a very constant or profitable employment. The coloring of lithographs in printing has done away with much hand coloring. The painting of stereoscopic plates has given employment to some ladies, and does not require much skill or taste. The gentleman who prepared stereoscopic plates for the Messrs. A., employed several ladies, to whom he paid on an average from $9 to $10 a week, working by the piece. Botanical plates are mostly colored by hand. The gentleman who prepares the fashion plates of the _Ladies' American Magazine_ employs women, paying from $4 to $7 a week, according to application and rapidity of execution. They work from eight till dark, in winter, and by the week, not the piece. It requires but a few weeks to learn. He has stereoscopic views also painted by women. They receive rather better prices, as it requires some artistic taste and more care. The universal complaint among employers is, that their best workwomen will get married and leave them. If women were better paid, employers would not be so likely to lose them. A few years ago, we saw a newspaper statement to this effect: When maps were colored by hand in New York, girls were paid from three cents to ten cents a sheet, and they earned from $3 to $5 a week. A few years back, it was estimated that there were two hundred female paint colorers at the top of the profession, who made excellent wages by coloring costly engravings. The colorers of plates in _Leslie's Magazine_ pay by the hundred or thousand. The first year, a learner is paid but little. If she succeeds right well in that time, she is then paid according to the quality and quantity of her work, earning from $3 to $5 per week. They must work in the shop, so the superintendent can see if it is properly done, or reject and have altered such plates as are not. All seasons are alike. A manufacturer of children's toy books told me he employed girls for coloring, paying by the piece. They earned each from $3 to $3.50 a week. They used stencil plates. He generally kept them employed all the year round, but the occupation is full. A German print colorer told me he employed thirty girls till the panic, paying by the piece from $3 to $3.50 a week. Stencil plates of varnished paper were used. He paid his workers from the first, and they could either sit or stand while at work. Another paint colorer told me his girls earned from $4 to $4.50 a week, for coloring the finest prints, working only in daylight. A manufacturer of valentines and children's toy books told me his girls painted valentines in winter, and toy books in summer. He pays two of his girls by the week $7 each, and none of the rest less than $4 a week. They work from nine to ten hours a day. The use of stencils by Germans has reduced the price of such work. He could get girls to do book coloring for $2 a week, but prefers to retain his old hands constantly. Most colorers of prints work at home. A getter up of gentlemen's fashion plates told me he pays ten cents for coloring a large sheet containing several figures, and the worker finding her own materials. No one could earn the salt of her bread at such rates. Another print colorer told me it requires from two to six weeks to learn, according to the ability of the learner. Sometimes he has Government work that must be done hurriedly. They have least work from New Year to March. Some print colorers pay by the week; $5 is a good price. I saw an engraving on the wall representing an English barnyard, for which the proprietor was paid $3 for coloring, while he pays the lady who does it, $2.25. Some ladies, he says, can earn from $10 to $12 a week. =84. Photographists and Colorists.= Mr. F. says they would employ good lady artists, if they could get them; but ladies do not succeed so well, because they do not have such an efficient course of training--do not go through the same gradations in a preparation for the work. They mostly employ men that are foreigners to color. A colorist of photographic views for stereoscopes says he pays a lady to color for him $6 a gross. English ladies color best. The firm with which he is connected cannot get their coloring done in New York, so have most of it done in London; and as work is cheaper, it costs them no more with the addition of transportation. At one photographic establishment in Philadelphia, the proprietor told us that several artists now devote their time to the coloring of photographs. He pays one lady at the rate of $12 a week. She is employed on the low-priced pictures, such as are sold for $5, exclusive of frame. The portraits range from $75 up. The lady painter is daughter of an English artist. She works all the hours of daylight, when required--sometimes only six hours. B. has at different times encouraged and employed female artists; has never met with any one who excelled, but does not doubt they might do so if properly trained. He had a lady partner in daguerreotyping and photographing. She was very poor when she commenced, but, while engaged in it, supported herself and children, and educated them, and left $3,000. He told me of two ladies making a handsome support by coloring photographs. His best pictures are painted by gentlemen artists. He thinks the taking of photographs not so suitable for women, because it is dirty work; that is, the nitrate of silver that gets on the fingers stains them like indelible ink--a small difficulty, I think, in the way of a woman that has a living to make. There are several ladies in Philadelphia who make their living by painting photographs. Some ladies have quitted the profession of teaching to become photographers. Ladies are sometimes employed in photographic galleries, to wait upon company, agree upon prices, deliver the work, and receive pay. For such services they are paid from $3 to $5 per week, according to the amount of business done. Photographers work from eight to ten hours. Some think the business unhealthy, because of the gases that arise from the combination of chemicals. Women that have had practice in drawing and painting can give a pretty and delicate touch in the coloring of photographs. L., photographist, employs two ladies to color photographs in water colors. He teaches it for $10. A good colorist, with constant employment, can earn from $10 to $15 a week. He thinks there are openings in the South. Some prefer water coloring to oil, because you can see the pictures in any light. Oils are better for large pictures that you see at a distance. Painting in water colors does not pay the artist so well as painting in oils. Misses E., New York, are busy all the time. They execute different styles of painting, but have lately found it more profitable to color photographs. They each earn from $12 to $15 per week coloring photographs, when busy. Their work is all brought to the house. They have had several offers to go South, and better prices than they receive in New York. Miss E., with whom I talked, thought if any ladies would learn thoroughly, and could not obtain painting to do, they could easily obtain situations as teachers of painting. I saw the wife of an artist who gives instruction in drawing and painting. She told me her husband is very conscientious and will not recommend any one to spend their time and money learning to draw and paint, if he finds they have not talent of that kind. Some people think they possess genius, and can excel in painting, even if they commence when thirty or more years of age; but it is best for an artist to commence early in life. The talent of some is developed in a shorter time than others. One may learn in three months what another could not in six. Her husband can advance an American pupil as far in two years as he did his German pupils in four. He thinks the Americans are more apt, and acquire more rapidly. She thought a lady would not find any difficulty in obtaining constant employment as a painter. Miss J., Philadelphia, has as much to do at coloring photographs as she wishes. It takes her about a day to color a small one, for which she receives $1. For those pictures on which there is more work, the prices are higher. The painting of ivorytypes is more expensive. An ivorytype the size of a $1 photograph would cost $10. Most photographers send their coloring out of the establishment to be done, and pay by the piece. In several States, women have been successfully engaged as daguerreans and photograph colorers. Some have travelled through the country, stopping in various towns to carry on their business. Some knowledge of chemistry is necessary for a photographer. One photographer writes: "Women are employed in every country where there are first-class galleries. It is unhealthy in the operating rooms, on account of the acids and poisons. We pay $4 a week to ladies to attend the show case and wait upon customers. We pay men $6 and $7, because they can do more by one third of the same kind of work than a woman. Any part of the business can be performed by a woman. We pay girls $4 from the commencement. They spend eight or ten hours at the gallery, but are not employed all the time. They are as comfortable as in their own parlors receiving visitors. Ladies prefer one of their own sex in the reception room. There is always demand for superior work in our line; consequently, a prospect of employment so long as the world stands. In Syracuse, fall and winter are the most busy seasons." Mr. A. says the occupation of portrait and miniature painters is gone since the discovery of the photographer's art. He thinks ladies are as capable of arriving at great excellence as men in painting, if they will only apply themselves as closely. Their knowledge of colors probably makes them excel in that respect. He teaches photographic coloring, charging $1 a lesson of one hour. A mechanical execution in coloring is gained in a short time, but a good photographist ought to be an experienced artist. Mr. R. told me his girls are engaged in painting and mounting. He pays one $7 a week, and the other $5. An individual that is bright, intelligent, and capable of rapid tuition, could learn in six months. They spend from eight to six o'clock in the gallery. They have but a few minutes recess at noon, as that is the most busy time. He prefers women for some parts of the work. Men are more powerful artists, give a better expression; women are more careful, and give a finer finish. I talked with a photographic colorist, who gives instruction to a few ladies in coloring, and employs four. He thinks women are generally better judges of colors than men, but some women never learn the shades. (I think, unless it arises from some physical defect, it is because they are not taught to distinguish colors when children. It is difficult to teach a person the careful use of any of the senses if they are neglected in childhood.) The work requires some artistic taste. A knowledge of drawing and colors, and a good education, are essential to success. A young lady in the business should be social in her nature, and of pleasing address. I would think an artist of any kind would need the talent of drawing to the surface the soul of his or her sitter, for much of the beauty of a picture depends upon expression. Mr. G. thinks water colors neater for ladies than oil. The employment is now in its infancy. The taste for photographs is increasing. There are now one hundred engaged in the business where fifteen years ago there was but one. Photographists are usually employed from nine to six, or from eight to five. The remuneration is good when constant employment can be had. The best locality is a growing place. The business would grow up with the place. The prices paid enable ladies to obtain boarding in houses that possess the comforts, and even the luxuries of life. Summer is the dullest season, but much depends on weather. French women generally succeed well in coloring. Some English ladies, also, do well. Mr. G. gives a lady colorer $12 a week. Mr. B., a photographist, writes: "Women are employed in my branch of art in England. I would like to find competent assistance, but have been unable to do so. The work is not unhealthy, but it is very trying to the eyes. I should think that in many respects the work would be well adapted to females, but think, from trials that I have made, that the mathematical precision of the work is a feature unfavorable to the feminine mind. Were I to find such assistance as I would be satisfied with, I would pay according to capacity and work. Thorough artistic education and natural talents are essential. In point of taste, as regards color and elegance, I think women might be superior; as regards precision and firmness of minute work, I am uncertain. It would require considerable time and patience to learn the art." One of the proprietors of a photographic establishment in Philadelphia writes: "I employ from two to four ladies in painting photographic pictures, and pay by the week from $3 to $6. They work eight hours a day. I pay men about twice as much, because the men, being longer at the business, work better and quicker. It requires several years' practice to gain a moderate acquaintance with this branch. It is our opinion, that women are well adapted for most branches of photographing, and for some they would be superior to men, provided always, that they bring to the work a certain degree of education, and some natural talent. We suppose the reason they are not more employed in this and similar pursuits, is, that young women of a certain degree of education, are seldom eager for any sort of employment. Besides, in this business, it requires years of earnest application to master it, and before this is accomplished, many marry. The employer feels little security in retaining a woman at the business after going through years of instruction, because in many, or most cases, they marry, and must attend to their domestic duties. With a man the reverse takes place. He becomes a better and more steady worker after marriage." "We have a great improvement in photography by its combination with lithography. By the process adopted, the object to be represented is photographed at once on the stone, and thus the intermediate operations are avoided." In times of excitement, like the present, when soldiers are going from their homes, there is much for the artists to do. =85. Preparers of Scientific Plates.= Mrs. B. has supported herself for some time by making drawings of fossils for works on geology. She is now doing one for a work on Niagara. It requires a great deal of care. It is very trying to the eyes as the engraver imitates every line made by the pencil, and a magnifying glass is of course much used for presenting enlarged views of the smallest fossils. I think she is paid by the piece or set, for the work. Of course this pursuit must be limited. =86. Seal Engravers.= Seal engraving is cutting in a precious stone, letters or a device. The cutting is done by means of a lathe and sharp cutting tools. Diamond dust and oil are used. The lathe is moved by treadles. The finer the work, the smaller the tools. Taste, good eyesight, and a knowledge of form are necessary. No pattern is used. The hand and eye must serve as guides. It would be a very pretty occupation for women, but would require time, patience, and practice. Seal engravers in New York earn from $10 to $12 per week, but the occupation there is filled. Mrs. Ellet, in her "Women Artists," mentions a Prussian and a German lady as being noted for their skill in cutting precious stones. A seal engraver told me he does not pay apprentices the first year, but the second year $2, and from that up, according to the abilities of the worker. It requires from four to seven years to learn all the branches thoroughly. Another engraver told me the business is not worth learning now that gum mucilage has done away with sealing wax, and consequently the use of seals. The designs for seals are usually taken from a heraldry book; always when for a coat of arms. Such seals are in greater demand in Europe. Seal engravers in this country do not have constant employment. They cut fancy seals when not otherwise occupied. The work can be done at night by a good light. =87. Sculptors.= Properzia di Rossi, Maria Domenica, Anna Maria Schurmann, Maria von Steinbach, Anne Seymour Damer, Falicie de Faveau, and in our own country and time Miss Lander, Harriet Hosmer, and Miss Stebbins, are among those who have proved the ability of woman to succeed in sculpture. Sculptors, it should be understood, seldom, if ever, labor with the chisel. They prepare models, which are made in a composition of clay or wax, and then superintend the imitation of these in marble. Sculpture is the chastest imitation of nature and the highest expression of the form and spirit of beauty known to art; and while woman is possessed of the finest sensibility and most exquisite perceptions, there can certainly be no reason why she should not succeed in it. Mr. Lagrange, in urging the establishment of Government schools of design in France, says: "Painting, engraving, and sculpture, encouraged as music and dancing are, promise equal success; they provide a more assured support in its being better acquired, and a more substantial renown, and especially a calmer and chaster existence. Painter, engraver, or sculptor, it is her _works_ alone that claim the public eye. Her person is sacred; no one dares to lift the veil that conceals her countenance; no one presumes to call upon her to courtesy to feeble applause. A young girl, chaste and pure, she may watch by the lonely hearthside; a wife, she may not see her smiles and caresses in dispute as the seal of a purchased rite; a mother, she may educate her children under a name they will never be tempted to despise. Exhibitions, open to everybody, will afford the public an opportunity to measure her talent or genius; critics will confine their attacks to her works; and praise, if she deserves it, will reach her eyes and ears in terms that she will be able to listen to or peruse without the accompaniment of a blush." Mrs. Wilson, wife of a physician living in Cincinnati, has executed busts of her husband and children that are said to be excellent likenesses. Mrs. Dubois, of New York, has sculptured in marble several specimens. Misses Lander and Stebbins, and Miss Hosmer, we believe, find their art lucrative. Sculptors should attend anatomical dissections; should learn the structure of the human frame, and the appearance of the muscles under the various conditions to which circumstances may subject them. Indeed the study of anatomy is essential to success. In sculpture, we closely imitate the parent, nature. The most superior specimens of statuary are said to be modelled after nature, as seen in the unlaced, unpinched, unaltered original--just as nature's own hand has chiselled. In sculpture, modelling is the inventive part of the work, and requires taste and genius; copying is a merely mechanical operation. A pursuit of this kind, if followed from the love of it, becomes a soul-engrossing study. Means or friends to rely upon, for at least two years, during the time of study, will be necessary in most cases; for if the artist is to support herself while she studies, only the highest earnestness can sustain her; but then those that are not in earnest should not undertake this art--for "it is better to pursue a frivolous trade in a serious manner, than a sublime art frivolously." Without very decided talent it will be some time before a sculptor comes sufficiently into notice to sustain herself entirely by the filling of orders. "Sculpture has become almost a fashion in Paris; but a woman finds it difficult to devote herself to studies pertaining to the art. Though greater in number than painters, they have accomplished scarcely any remarkable works." Many women who might not undertake sculpture, might learn to work in marble for sculptors. A marble worker in its various branches, writes me: "I think women might be very well employed in the lighter parts of finishing. I suppose they are not so employed, because there has not yet been any organized and extended effort made to introduce them into this line of business. I am not sure, but think it likely, women are employed to a limited extent in _chiselling_ marble in Italy and France. Miss Hosmer has done more than mould for others to copy. She has herself handled the mallet and chisel. The employment in general is healthy; but lettering, and indeed fine chiselling of any sort, requiring the eye to be brought near to the work, raises a dust, which is breathed into the lungs--though the injury is not very apparent till the lapse of years reveals it. The qualifications desirable are a good judgment, and eye for form, and a certain slight of hand. The prospect for marble workers is good in all departments." On the other hand, another writes: "Sculpture is too laborious for women, and if women practise the art, they hire all the work done." In Rome, two thousand women serve as models to painters and sculptors. =88. Steel and other Engravers.= Steel and copper engraving require a very good knowledge of drawing, and careful manipulation. A great advantage has been gained by substituting steel for copper plates. One beauty of steel engraving is that it can be done at home. Men like easy employments, and so have appropriated this one. An engraver must learn to convey the feelings of an artist. Lithography has seriously interfered with steel engraving, and photography has to some extent. There are very few journeymen engravers. Most go into business for themselves. Some women are employed in engraving copper cylinders for calico prints. Line and stipple are the most expensive engraving. Mezzotint is cheaper. Boys practise on copper, and do not work on anything valuable until they are able to engrave well. One reason that engravers do not like to take apprentices is, that they cannot do any thing under two or three years, of any value to their employer, but expect to be paid from the first. Besides, an engraver seldom has enough of such engraving as a learner can do to keep him constantly employed. Those who receive apprentices in New York take them for five years, and pay something from the first; but very few men in New York, in any branch of work, are willing to take apprentices. Much of the success of a learner depends on his inclination, taste, and individual exertion; and when he possesses these, they render him valuable to his master--so it proves a matter of mutual interest. All engraving is mechanical to a certain extent, but requires some artistic taste. In "Women Artists" we find the names of some ladies distinguished as engravers in Italy, France, Germany, and England, in the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Jane Taylor and her sisters paid their share of the family expenses by engraving. Miss Caroline Watson was an engraver of portraits to the queen in the reign of George III. Angelica Kauffman and Elizabeth Blackwell both engraved on steel. We read: "In London, recently, one accomplished female engraver has turned her steel plates into a pleasant country house, which she means to furnish with the proceeds of her delicate painting on glass." In Paris, during the last thirty years, quite a number of ladies have earned a livelihood by steel engraving, and several are now employed there in card engraving, and engraving fashion plates. There are some engravers in the South and West, but there are openings for more. A card, seal, medal, and door-plate engraver writes: "The usual number of hours for engravers are from eight to ten. The business may be learned in from one to two years, to be of use; but to learn thoroughly requires three or four years. The business generally pays well by jobs, and I see no reason why females may not engrave as successfully as males with the same application." =89. Bank Note Engravers.= "Steel engraving was first practised in England by the calico printers; but it was first employed for bank notes and for common designs by Jacob Perkins, of Newburyport, Mass." The American Bank Note Company, New York, employ about sixty girls, forty-seven of whom are engaged in printing or making impressions; the others in drying, assorting, and laying together the sheets to be placed under a hydraulic press. It requires but a few weeks to learn the part done by girls. Some are paid $3 and some $3.50 per week. They are mostly American girls. A lady told me that she heard a girl, who had been employed to cut up bank notes (done with scissors), say she often earned $9 a week. The company pay a boy $3 a week from commencement until through his apprenticeship, which is usually four or five years. Here a man can earn $100 a week, if a first-class bank note engraver; but in England not more than $10 or $12. There, however, paper money is but little used; a £5 note being the smallest in value. Bank note engraving is both mechanical and artistic. At the office of the National Bank Note Company, a gentleman showed me the various processes. He had often thought ladies would do well to learn bank note engraving. I saw two or three gentlemen engraving. The process is simple, but requires a good deal of patience and practice. Their girls are employed to place the sheet for an impression under a roller, and, after the impression is made, remove it. Some receive $3, and some $3.50 a week. It is dirty work, on account of the oil and ink used. Their girls wash every evening the blankets used on the cylinders. Bank-note engravers of the first order receive a salary of $4,000. Some receive from $2,000 to $3,000 per annum. Bank note engravers work but eight hours a day. Mr. M. thinks there would not be much difficulty, if a lady wanted to learn bank note engraving, from the prejudices of men, for some of them are not only just but generous. One of the gentlemen engraving knew several ladies in England that were bank note engravers. =90. Card Engravers.= I was told by a card engraver that it was not usual to pay a learner anything. He gives his apprentice only his board the first year. A card engraver may draw letters well, and not be able to write well, and _vice versa_. One should be steady and patient to draw and form letters, and possess some natural taste, to succeed. It requires also much practice. A card engraver can earn $5 a day, if he is industrious, and has sufficient work. A journeyman is paid in proportion to his abilities, from $5 to $25 per week. Some card engravers earn $2,000 a year, clear of all expenses. The older a city, the more engraving is done. In Europe, first-class merchants never use type cards, but engraved ones. =91. Door Plate Engravers.= I was told by a door plate engraver that a skilful person, who would apply himself closely, could learn the business, so that, at the end of one year, he could make a living. For door plate engraving, it is necessary to form letters well. The size of the letters for a given space must be divided by the eye. It requires great care, as one badly formed letter would spoil the whole plate. Engraving of any kind fatigues the back from stooping, and the eyes from straining. In door plate engraving the eyes suffer least fatigue. Of course less strength is necessary for plate engraving if the tools are of a good quality and in proper order. =92. Map Engravers.= Map engraving is divided into two kinds: the lettering and plain work. The last can be learned in six months by a person of taste and talent. The most that is needed is practice. A knowledge of drawing is not necessary for this branch. There is not much map engraving done in this country, because of the expense. Most is done in New York and Philadelphia. The best map engraving done in Paris is executed by ladies. There are also some ladies employed in map engraving in London, and card engraving is there quite common for ladies. =93. Picture and Heraldry Engravers.= Engraving pictures pays well--a man often earning $10 a day. A superior landscape engraver calculates to earn $2,500 a year. Mr. R. historical engraver, does the engraving for the _Cosmopolitan Art Journal_. He says: "In England, better prices are paid for historical engraving than here. Those who do the work receive less, but the employer has a greater profit than in the United States. More time is allowed the engraver in England to execute a piece of work." Mr. R. pays his hands from $7 to $10 a week, and the best historical engraver never gets in this country over $30 a week. In England the work hours of an engraver are nine; here seven. He says the art is dying out both here and in England. It is a something in which we can always be improving. Seven years was formerly the length of apprenticeship in England, and there an apprentice was paid nothing while learning; on the contrary, the parent usually pays a premium of £100. When an apprentice has finished, he will earn £1 a week, and continue to receive more according to his skill and ability. Some people send pictures from the United States to England to be engraved, saying they cannot do such work in this country as in England; while, if they would pay the same price, and allow the engravers as much time, it could be done just as well. Such an engraving as you would pay $150 for here, in England you would pay $200 for. In England it is customary for an engraver to confine himself to one style; for instance, in "Falstaff Mustering his Recruits," one engraver would do the wall, another the figures, and another the drapery. Mr. R. was paid only $2,000 for engraving "Falstaff Mustering his Recruits," and it took three men two years. The business is not unhealthy, and not injurious to the eyesight, although a glass must be used constantly. Mr. J., historical engraver, used to have persons employed that did the different parts of a picture, and he paid them each from $15 to $25 a week. He thinks, of those who learn metal engraving in Europe, not more than fifty per cent. pursue it as a vocation, and not above four per cent. attain perfection. Some engraving, both picture and letter, is done by etching, but the best and most expensive with a graver. Mr. J. M. Sartain writes in answer to a circular: "I have no females in my employment, because I work alone. To direct others or alter what they do wrong, takes longer than doing the whole work myself. Neither do I know of females being employed by others in my branch of business. But if I were willing to be troubled with the teaching of any one at all, I should choose a female. This is from my experience of the males I taught in times past. Women have the requisites more than men--patience, neatness, delicacy; and the occupation is as suitable for them as any other they are accustomed to adopt. An unmarried daughter of mine is about to learn from me, with a view to follow it as a profession. The chance of employment is however very limited, for the reason that the cost of printing plates separately necessitates, in an extensive class of pictorial embellishments, the use of woodcuts. This wood engraving is equally suited for females, and to a limited extent they are thus employed. The field in that branch is a wide one already, with a constantly increasing demand. In my own branch of engraving, the kind of skill required is that of _drawing_. The mere mechanical skill required in _any_ kind of engraving is easily attained; but the art of _drawing_ is the great thing, and positively demands aptitude and taste--at all events, quite close application and earnestness. _Skill in drawing_ is a key that admits to a wider range of arts than I can readily enumerate, and successful and profitable employment in any engraving depends on _that_. I am chairman of the committee on instruction of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and in that capacity do all I can (as do also the other directors) to encourage female talent. We have seven or eight ladies among our students, and they _certainly_ are fully equal to the males in capacity for acquiring art. Some model, others only draw. The whole of our academy studies are gratuitous. For whatever branch of the fine arts is to be followed, the first requisite is _drawing_, and the next is _drawing_, and the third and last is _drawing_." Mr. B., heraldic chaser, says there are several processes in making heraldry plates, sketching, engraving, embossing, chasing, and burnishing. He used to employ girls to burnish. The making of patterns for heraldry is never taught in this country to women, as it would cause the labor of men so employed to depreciate. He pays a man from $15 to $20 a week for chasing. He charges $1 for finding the coat of arms of an individual or family. =94. Telegraph Operators.= A new source of employment has been opened by the invention of the electric telegraph. Most of the telegraphing in England is done by women, and in the United States a number of ladies are employed as operators. To a quick and intelligent mind it requires but a short time to learn. An English paper says: "Here women do the business better than men, because of the more undivided attention they pay to their duties; but considerable inconvenience is found to result from their ignorance of business terms, which causes them to make mistakes in the messages sent. However, a short course of previous instruction easily overcomes this impediment." We have been told that, in one telegraph office in London, several hundred women are employed. I hope the application of steam to the operations of the electric telegraph may not interfere with the entrance of women into the occupation. In New Lisbon, Ohio, a young woman was employed, a few years ago, as principal operator in a telegraph office, with the same salary received by the man who preceded her in that office. "I was told by her," writes my informant, "that several women were qualifying themselves, in Cleveland, for the same occupation." The ex-superintendent of a line writes: "I have long been persuaded that ultimately a large proportion of the telegraphists, employed exclusively for writing, would be females, both because of their usually reliable habits, their ability to abstract and concentrate thought upon their engagements, their greater patience and industry, and the economy of their wages. In offices where there is a large amount of business, and, consequently, much intercommunication with customers, I have supposed the arrangement would be to have a clerk to receive and deliver communications, and the corps of operators and writers, composed exclusively of females, in an adjoining or upper room, apart from public inspection. And to this arrangement, I think, there is at this time very little to oppose, except the antagonism naturally felt by male operators, who see in it a loss of employment to themselves, and a want of proper facilities for teaching and obtaining a complement, in number, of female telegraphists. Any female proficient in orthography, with an inclination to useful employment, would make a good telegraphist, and might readily command, under a system above indicated, a salary of from $300 to $500, and be profitable to her employers beyond the ordinary male telegraphists employed under the present arrangement of office. It is in operating by the Morse system that ladies are mostly or entirely employed. The Morse is the easiest. They telegraph in small towns, where there is not much to do, and the compensation is small." The Electric Telegraph Company in London suggests that women should be employed in preference to men, as working more rapidly. All the lady telegraphists we have heard of gave satisfaction to all parties concerned. To Mr. A., connected with the New York and Boston telegraph line, I am indebted for the following information: "Women are employed in operating the Morse instrument. They are paid from $6 to $25 per month, and are paid by the month. For the class of offices in which females are employed, about the same wages are paid both sexes. It requires from three to six weeks to learn, and nothing is paid while learning. The qualifications needed are a fair knowledge of orthography, arithmetic, geography, and ordinary mechanical ability. We may want a few operatives, say six annually. The employment is constant, and about ten hours a day are devoted to work. We employ about fifty women, and they only at small offices. Nearly all are American. The employment is comfortable. There are no parts of our occupation suitable for women in which they are not engaged. They are generally more attentive and trustworthy than men. The price they pay for board depends on the locality, say from $1.50 to $2 per week." =95. Vocalists.= This is an important and profitable employment--one that has secured to many a poor foreigner visiting this country a snug little fortune. We have only to cite the cases of Jenny Lind, Garcia, Sontag, Parodi, and Catherine Hays. It was stated in the New York _Tribune_ of December, 1853, that Catherine Hays had sent $50,000 to purchase an estate in Ireland. American talent is in some cases very highly cultivated; but we fear the Scripture verse applies to the substantial encouragement of native vocalists amongst us: "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house." Too much money and attention, we think, are lavished upon foreign vocalists, while home talent is depreciated. An American singer must often go to other countries and acquire a name, before she is received with eclat in her own. It may be that other countries have the same failing, but, we think, not to the same extent. Let us love American talent, and encourage it before every other. Adelaide Patti, Miss Hinckley, and Miss Kellogg are at present the most noted singers of American birth. Mr. C. told me, that in New York, lady singers receive from $100 to $400 per annum for singing in churches. One lady choir-singer of whom we knew, received $500 a year, singing twice on Sabbath. Not more than from twelve to fifteen lady singers in New York receive over $350. One lady in a fashionable church receives $1,000; but she is a widow, and somewhat favored. Another lady, leading the choir in a Broadway church, receives a salary of $1,000, I have been told. =96. Wax Work.= I called on two Italians that make wax fruit; their baskets vary in price from twenty-five cents to $2. It would take a day and a half to make a $2 basket. The Italian that could speak some English told me that when he goes out to work, he charges $2.50 a day; but to give lessons, he would charge $2 a day. He thought an individual might learn in eight, ten, twelve, or fifteen lessons, according to abilities and taste. Miss W., teacher of wax flowers, charges $1 a lesson, and thinks eight or ten lessons sufficient. She thinks in country places there would be openings for teachers. I think, where there are large seminaries, a teacher would do better. She says there is an opening in Troy. If a person has enough to do, it pays well. She makes by hand; they are more natural than those made by moulds. =97. Wood Engravers.= Much and long-continued toil is requisite for success in wood engraving. A great deal depends, also, on the talent of the individual. Wood engraving is a business adapted to women, as it requires mostly patience and application, and but little physical strength. Mechanical skill is the most that is requisite, yet, as in everything else, it bespeaks the soul and taste of the originator. "Women's nimble fingers, accustomed to wield the needle, lend themselves quite easily to minute operations in the use of small instruments and the almost imperceptible shades of manipulation that wood engraving exacts." As more publishing is done in our country, of course there will be a greater demand for wood engravers. A great many newspapers now contain a large number of woodcuts, as _Harper's Weekly_, _Frank Leslie's Illustrated News_, &c. Wood engraving has been called into use for Government reports and scientific works, aside from its extensive demands for periodical literature. A lady engaged in the business writes of a class in wood engraving: "The pupils vary so much in ability, application, perseverance, and in the number of hours devoted to it, that it is impossible to judge what any one may do who has not made a trial. My own experience is that the practice of wood engraving brings a sure return for all the outlay of time and trouble spent in acquiring the art. It would hardly be safe to rely entirely upon the proceeds of the second year; the third may make up for it. The best wood engraving is done in England and the United States. In classes of wood engraving in the schools of design in England, the students are required to produce the drawing as well as to engrave it." "For a quarter of a century past, many hundreds of young women, we are assured, have supported themselves by wood engraving, for which there is now a demand which no jealousy in the stronger sex can intercept. The effort to exclude women was made in this, as in other branches of art; but the interests of publishers and the public were more than a match for it." "In 1839, Charlotte Nesbit, Marianne Williams, Mary Byfield, Mary and Elizabeth Clint, held honorable positions among English wood engravers." Miss F., at Elmira, New York, carries on business for herself in wood engraving. She learned it at the Cooper Institute, four years ago. The pupils of that institute canvassed for work, some two and two, but she went alone, and principally in the lower part of the city. They visited publishers mostly--she went to manufacturers. She got an order for $500 worth of engraving at a gas-fixture manufactory. I have heard that ladies in the school of design, New York, receive the same price for wood engraving that men would receive. N. Orr, the wood engraver, thinks the prospect very good for a woman to earn a livelihood at it. He knows a lady who has not only supported herself but partially supported her parents by her work. For wood engraving, women usually receive as good prices as men. The business is increasing. There are none West, except a few in Cincinnati, and I believe a still smaller number in St. Louis and Chicago. A person that has any talent for it can earn a living at it in less than two years' practice. A knowledge of drawing is not essential, as the drawing is usually put on the wood by the designer. Mr. Orr takes apprentices, but pays nothing the first year. They are bound to him for five or six years. Some engravers require a premium. I have been told that designing requires a very different and much higher order of talent than wood engraving. One designer can do enough in a day to keep a man busy a week. New York is the principal city for wood engraving. I think most men, while engraving, stand; but all the ladies that I have seen at work sat. "A wood-engraving office in Cleveland employed three girls in 1845, at wages varying from $3 to $7 per week, according to the experience of each in the business, being the same that men receive in the same office." MERCANTILE PURSUITS. =98. Merchants.= Occasionally we hear such complaints as these: "Women who keep stores of their own ask higher for their goods than men, and saleswomen are less obliging than male clerks." Women, as a general thing, do not understand their business as well as men, and that is the reason they are not so well liked. Those inclined to be bold, may become pert; and those in poor health, peevish. "If women were more employed in stores," said Mr. P., "there would probably be less shopping, but as many goods sold. Young girls that go shopping to whisper in the ears of clerks, would then find something else to do." Woman has a power of adaptedness that fits her admirably for the vocation of a merchant. A friend remarked to me that Mr. Stewart, of New York, she thought, would employ women in his store, if a large number of fashionable and influential ladies would petition him to do so. If the retail merchants of our large cities and towns would combine and employ only saleswomen, how greatly would they promote the welfare of the nation! Young men would no longer waste their health, strength, and talents selling gloves, tape, and dress goods, but would cultivate the soil, or find openings as traders, speculators, mechanics, and manufacturers, in cities, towns, and villages of our Western country. They might do something more creditable to their physical powers, while they gave their half-starved sisters a chance to earn an honest livelihood. If ladies would patronize those stores only in which there were saleswomen, and influence their friends to do so, employers who now engage the service of salesmen would soon learn what was to their interest, and make a change. Promptness and regularity are desirable qualifications in a shopkeeper. The business brings those engaged into intercourse with all classes of people. Mrs. Dall makes this statement: "It is a singular fact that there are a great many more women in England in business for themselves than employed as tenders or clerks; while in America, the fact, at the present day, is directly the reverse." A lady who has lived in New York all her life said, if the merchants of the city would employ women, they could find twenty thousand to-morrow, ready and willing to enter their stores. In Paris large stores are owned and conducted by women, and even the importing and exporting of goods is in the hands of some. The tact and address of French women admirably fit them for shopkeepers. Many of the smaller fancy and variety stores in our cities are owned by women, that have by long-continued industry earned a competency. Lady merchants can to some extent control the taste of the community where they are; for such articles as they purchase and keep on hand will be likely to find sale. The taste of the best keepers of dry-goods and fancy stores, millinery establishments, and embroidery shops will be displayed in the dress of their patrons. To merchandize extensively, requires much experience and knowledge of business; but to those that are qualified it presents an extensive opening for enterprise. Barter, or the exchange of one kind of goods for another, is very common in the villages and towns of our country. The Gothscheer (Austrian) women often follow the trade of peddlers, and are absent from their homes many months, travelling about the country with staff in hand and a pack at their back. "Advertising and politeness are the main levers to get customers. Advertising will draw them; ability to fill their orders will satisfy them; and politeness will induce them to buy." Quick perceptive powers and judgment are also essential to the success of merchants. It is very desirable to have a good location for a store. A lady keeping a small dry-goods store told me she sells $100 worth of goods a week on an average. She has been nine years in the business, and constantly gaining trade. She likes rainy Saturday evenings, as she then sells most. She said one must use judgment in the amount of profit to be made on various articles. A person must regulate her prices by others. On some goods she can make but five per cent., and on some others fifty. Many of the fortunes in Boston are said to have been founded by women engaged in trade. And the ladies on Nantucket Island during the Revolutionary war conducted the business of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. A lady wrote, some years back, of some stores in one of our large cities: "The proprietors say they give from twenty-five to fifty per cent. more to the males than to the females of equal talent and capacity, but can give no reason why they should do it, except that it is the custom, and some parts of the business require more physical strength, as some articles are too heavy to be handled by women." Yet why not, we would ask, place women in the lighter departments, and pay them exactly what would be paid a man for the same work? The average wages of females in Philadelphia are $4.50 per week, though some get as high as $7 or $8, but very few above $6. In a few of the stores of New York and Philadelphia the business is conducted entirely by ladies. There is a school of commerce for women at Perth, France. We read an account some time ago of a colored woman on the Island of Hayti, who is a wholesale dealer in provisions, and worth from $15,000 to $20,000, that she has made by her own industry and business tact. She can neither read nor write, but trusts entirely to her memory. She sells on credit to retail dealers, and to girls whom she has trained. The merchants have such unlimited confidence in her, that they will trust her to any amount. Nearly all the commercial business of Hayti is done by women. =99. Bookkeepers.= The employment of female accountants is gradually extending in our cities. In female institutions of learning, and in benevolent institutions, lady bookkeepers might be very well employed. Indeed, we think, they would find no difficulty in obtaining situations. We know that many merchants would employ them, if they were properly qualified. We know of some that now occupy lucrative situations in fancy dry goods and millinery stores. We have no doubt but the books of most mercantile men would be more accurately kept, if their wives and daughters had charge of them. In all European countries women keep the books of the majority of retail stores. The books of nine tenths of the retail stores in Paris are kept by women. They are fenced in, and separated from the saleswomen by a framework of glass. A number of women are employed as accountants at hotels in Europe. There is a large school for instruction in bookkeeping in Paris, where the pupils are practically trained. An exchange of articles of a trivial nature, and a cheap coin of some kind, are used as a medium of circulation. At one of the largest wholesale warehouses in Boston, the head corresponding clerk is a young woman, who writes a beautiful, rapid hand, and fulfils the duties of the situation to the complete satisfaction of her liberal employer. A practical knowledge of arithmetic is necessary for bookkeeping and selling goods--two of the most inviting openings now presented to women of ordinary intelligence. The lady who keeps the books of T----'s skirt factory, New York, receives a salary of $400. Mr. M. prefers lady bookkeepers, because they are more particular in keeping accounts, and they are more patient in their calculations. They are, as a general thing, more honest and conscientious. Women are just as capable of becoming good financiers as men. Industry, honesty, and promptness, with the ability to write a plain, correct business letter, ability to calculate rapidly and correctly, with a knowledge of bookkeeping, certainly should insure a situation to a lady, where there is a vacancy. It is well, however, for those who have qualified themselves for bookkeeping, to obtain a certificate: it is a passport that will aid them in securing a place. The salaries of bookkeepers in New York run from $250 to $2,500. At a large store, where saleswomen were employed, I was told they find lady bookkeepers more accurate in their accounts, and not so likely to appropriate money that don't belong to them. Where a gentleman bookkeeper receives $15, a lady usually receives but $8. I know of one lady in Cleveland, assistant cashier, who received a salary of $300. An accountant in Boston replies to a circular sent him: "I think the employment as favorable to bodily health as any sedentary occupation; but in my particular line of business it is rather trying to the head, as it often requires close application and intense thought. Those who employ women here as clerks, undoubtedly pay them by the day, week, month, or year, where they have permanent situations; but for transient work, by the piece. Women can always be hired cheaper than men, as it costs them less to live. I am fifty years old, and have been figuring ever since I was sixteen; still, I learn something new about accounts every day. A woman would have to serve a long apprenticeship in accounts and on books, before she could do much in adjusting accounts. For a first-class bookkeeper, practical experience in accounts and bookkeeping of business of all kinds are necessary qualifications. I always prefer the early part of the day for work. My business is as good at one season of the year as another. I attend to business as it suits my pleasure--sometimes four or five hours, and sometimes twelve or fifteen, according to the nature and importance of the task, and depending oftentimes upon the length of it, and the time when it is wanted. As a general thing, men and women everywhere in the United States keep as far apart in business affairs as possible--it is the custom. The counting house, office, and place of business are not suitable for a female. I would state that I charge for making out accounts and adjusting books, as a general rule here in Boston, $10 per day, and sometimes more--never less. I have had all prices, from $10 to $50 per day, for one, two, and three months in succession. Sometimes I take a job by contract, say for $500, or some other specific sum, as may be agreed upon, according to the nature and value of the service rendered." =100. Book Merchants.= In many of the new towns springing up in the West, there are openings for booksellers. Many colleges and seminaries are being built up, thereby offering a still better market for the sale of school books. It would be well for those going into the business to ascertain, before doing so, what books are used in the literary institutions of the place. Some booksellers are so mean as to sell old-fashioned, out-of-date school books to country merchants, thereby clearing their own stock, and imposing their unsalable goods on others. No doubt, many established book merchants would be willing to trust, to such as they have confidence in, a stock of books to be sold on commission. When a sufficient sum is acquired, the individual can purchase a stock of her own. Many dry-goods merchants keep a few books, but when there is a sufficient sale of books, a store, if expenses are only cleared for a while, may gradually become a revenue of profit, and is likely to prove a permanent business, where discretion and industry are used. In London and Paris, women sell stationery, almanacs, memorandum books, diaries, and pocket books, on the streets. Public auctions of books are held frequently in cities and towns. Agents do much to extend a circulation of books. In large cities, merchants confine their stock of books to two or three kinds--as those of medicine, law, theology, or school books; but, as a general thing, miscellaneous books are kept. The trade sales which occur in Boston once, and in Philadelphia and New York twice a year, are only attended by booksellers. These sales last but a few days. The prices at which books sell at these auctions are considered a pretty fair criterion of their future worth. Miss H. told me of a Miss P., niece of Horace Mann, now living in Concord, N. H., who kept a bookstore in Boston, and imported books to fill orders, but was crushed by other book importers, because she was a woman. In many towns and cities, women keep small stores for the sale of stationery, magazines, newspapers, &c. "In large stationery stores, women might be employed to stamp initials on paper," with small hand presses made for the purpose. =101. China Merchants.= This business is peculiarly appropriate to women. Who so well able to handle china as careful women? Who so well able to judge what will look well on a table? It comes so entirely within their province, that the mind readily suggests the appropriateness. In Paris, most, if not all the china stores are kept by women. A lady china-dealer, on one of the avenues, told me that she sells considerable at night to working women, who cannot spare the time to go shopping in the day; also, to ladies living in cross streets near, who go out walking in the evenings with their husbands, and call to buy articles in her line. It does not require as many attendants in a china as in any other kind of store. A girl is more careful and steady, and can dust china better than a boy; but a boy answers best to take china home. She sells most about the holidays. It takes time to learn the business well. In an Eastern city, two ladies stood in their father's store, and so learned the business. They married brothers, and each opened china stores, which they attended, while their husbands engaged in other business. They are both widows now, but have raised and educated their children. A son and son-in-law of one conduct the business. They employ saleswomen, paying from $5 to $8 a week. They are now in search of two intelligent young women, from fifteen to eighteen years of age, to grow up to the business. They require a little more readiness in arithmetic, tact, and general business qualifications than they can easily meet with. From their experience they judge the employment to be healthy. A lady in a large china store on Broadway, New York, receives $5 a week. A lady in another store told me that lifting crockery causes quite a strain on the back, and should be done by men. A person gets very dusty who attends china. It requires lifting and dusting, and now and then must be washed--always when first taken out of the crate. Mrs. L. and her husband are English, and have been brought up to the business. She sells most about Christmas. She is on her feet all the time. To learn the names of all the articles sold in a large store, and their prices, and to exercise care in handling, requires patience. A china merchant writes: "Women are generally paid less than men. There is a difference of from $10 to $40 per month in favor of men, because (with few exceptions) women are not so well qualified to do business as men. It would take from six to eight months to learn to sell china. A clear head, common sense, and activity are the qualifications needed. Women are not more likely to be thrown out of employment than men, if as well qualified." A lady told me, the china is a slow business and seldom pays more than twenty-five per cent., but is a sure business for the cheaper kind of goods. The profit is not so much as for fancy articles of ladies' wear; but less is lost from the change of style. China merchants, she thought, seldom employ women; why, she could not tell. Mr. H., who employs a girl, paid her $1.50 a week and board the first year, then raised her wages to $7 a month. He thinks if more girls would qualify themselves for china stores they would be likely to find employment. A girl should commence young, but should know how to read and write, on account of taking orders. He thinks it best to get homely girls, rather advanced in age, to attend store, because the young and handsome ones will get married. He prefers girls, because they are more quiet and steady. Small articles of china he sends the girl home with; heavy articles he takes himself. A lady, whose ware was partly out of doors and partly in the house, said she had dusted it at least a dozen times through the day, and then it was covered with dust. Her breakage is considerable. She sells most about Christmas. Another china dealer told me, she sells most in spring, when people go to housekeeping. E. L., in the Five Points, sells most in summer, because her patrons are poor people, and in summer the men have most work, and their expenses are lighter--consequently the women have more money. Her stand is a good one, but she does not much more than make a living. The business requires some experience in buying and selling. Ladies sometimes come into the store to purchase articles they would not like to ask a man for. A girl keeping a china stand told me she sells most in spring and fall. She pays $3 a month for ground rent, but owns the shelter. She locks it at night, and it is perfectly secure, for her lock is different from all others. It does not take long to learn to sell common ware. She expects to sell all winter at her stand, and has to be on her feet all the time. She sells on an average from $2 to $3 worth a day. =102. Clothiers.= In London there are shops confined to the sale of nautical clothes, and some to the sale of theatrical attire. B.'s sewers (New York) earn from $2 to $10 per week--piece work, of course. Most of it is done by machine. Meritorious girls need never be out of work, said Mr. B.; yet he can always get plenty of hands. He has much of his work done in New Jersey. Some men make a business of taking it from establishments, and hire women all through the country to do it. There are two kinds of tailoring--custom and slop work. The last is subdivided into the cheap slop work and that of the best quality, and there are two kinds of establishments for this common work--that which is not better done perhaps than the other, but for which a better price is paid and received, and done by houses of standing and reputation. The other is done by extortionists, Jews and Germans, and patronized by their own class. As tailoring is done now, it does not require a regular apprenticeship as in bygone years, particularly for those who work by machine. I met a girl on the steps, seeking for work, who told me she makes $4 a week as operator, when she can get steady work. One of the proprietors of L. & B.'s clothing establishment told me some of their workmen earn from $8 to $10 a week, working by the piece. Much of their work is for California. They employ hands most of the year, as they work both for the home and foreign market. The great trouble is that the majority of tailoresses are inefficient. Some are widows, striving to support their children. Some have dissipated husbands, and are subject to constant interruption. Some have not the time to properly learn the trade, and, consequently, such workers cannot have that labor which pays best, however much they need it. The character of work done by applicants is judged of by turning to the book of their former employer, and seeing what prices were paid. In hard times, like these, employers try to retain those that are dependent on their labor for their bread. The foreman said, in good times, there is work enough for all the tailoresses in New York. They pay good operators $5 a week--a day of ten hours. All the summer work is done by machines. The pressing and basting is done by men. The foreman of the S. Brothers' establishment says the best place for tailoresses is in the West, where there are openings, and they can make money. The only trouble is, the poor have not money to go West. All their work is done by machines, and all given out. They do not give work more than six months in the year, and that barely keeps the girls while they are at work. P. & C. have their machines worked by hot condensed air. The operators receive from $4.50 to $6. Basters are only small girls, and earn from $2 to $3 a week. B. & Co., clothiers, give work out, and, of course, pay by the piece. Their most busy times are from October to March, and from April to September. They do Southern work. Some of the workers only earn $2.50 if they are slow, even if they are industrious and constantly at work. Some of their best hands can earn $6 a week, but are likely to be at least two months out of employment. The prospect for tailoresses is poor. I have heard that some good hands are wanted in Chicago. A great deal of clothing is sold there to people from the surrounding country and towns. B. does not require any deposit, but a girl must show her book from her other employers. They have thousands of applications for work. The reason more clothing is not made up out of the city is the difficulty in procuring such tailors' trimmings as they need just at the time they are wanted. Most clothing establishments keep a list of those that do not return work taken out, and send them to each other. On persons applying to the foremen, he turns to his book to see if the names are among the delinquents. He thinks girls in service are more certain of making a living, for they are paid from $1 to $2 a week for their work, and have their board, which would be from $1 to $3 a week, and a competent servant need not be out of employment; while slop work is very uncertain, and everything that is made goes for board and clothes. Many of these shop girls sleep half a dozen in a garret, on straw beds, without sufficient covering. Many might go to the country and the West and get employment, but they have not the means; and, if they had the means to go, might not have enough to come back, if they found it necessary. F. D. & Co., clothiers. Their girls earn from $3 to $6 per week, paid by the piece, and done at home. They give most of their work to men who have machines and employ operatives. The prospect for this kind of work is poor. Not more than two thirds of the hands in the city, in this department of labor, will be retained. When business is good they are able to keep their hands employed all the year, except for a few weeks when changing from thin to thick work, and _vice versa_. They sometimes give a girl work to do as a sample. A woman told me of three girls occupying the room above her, that have a sewing machine. Two baste and finish off, and one operates. They work day and night, and one she knows is even now earning $8 a week. They make flannel shirts, receiving 75 cents a dozen, without putting in the sleeves, working the button holes, or putting on the buttons. I saw a girl that receives 87 cents a dozen for making flannel shirts. We have seen it stated that a persons possessed of machines, who make up large quantities of clothing at very low prices, are enabled, by the speed at which they can work the machines, to produce sufficient to remunerate all the parties employed, at an average of $4 a week." One clothier in Albany, New York, pays $3 a week to his hands working eleven hours a a day. He furnishes work steadily through the fall, and pays men better wages, because they can do more work. The proprietor of a mammoth establishment in New York, D., writes: "We employ women in making pants, vests, shirts, and summer coats, both by the week and by the piece. When the sewers take work out, it is by the piece; but when the work is done in the shop, it is paid for by the week. The wages by the week range from $3 to $7. Women thoroughly educated in the trade can make about $6 per week, men about $9--their work is heavier. The number of branches in this trade, and the time of preparation for each, varies. We never receive learners. As the articles are of general use, good hands usually find employment. The work is brisk from November till March 1st, and from May till September 1st. The time of work could be shortened, but at the expense of the laborers' wages. In a city like ours, there is always a full supply of hands. About two thirds of our women are American. Women could not be employed to sell clothing to men." This firm employed, in February, 1860, five hundred hands in the shop, and eight hundred outside. In B. Brothers' establishment, "indoor work is paid by the week. An agent pays for the outdoor work by the piece. Those in the house average $5 per week. Men do heavier work and receive $7. Women make vests and pantaloons; men, coats. They work in the same room. The men do the pressing." (I expect it is a rule that they shall not speak to each other, for not one word did I hear any of them speak in the half hour I spent in the room.) "It requires about six months to learn the business. They do not take learners. An ability to sew well, and neatness with the work, are necessary. They sell most when the country is in a peaceful and prosperous condition. They sell most clothing to Western customers about the 1st of January, and to city retail stores about the 1st of February. They work ten hours a day. There is a surplus of hands in New York. They employ seventy in the house, and between 2,000 and 3,000 outside. The number of Americans is about 20 per cent." Great injustice is done by women in the country, in comfortable circumstances, who do the work at a very low price, merely to obtain pocket money. An English tailor in New York hires girls for making pants and coats. He pays one $4, one $3.50, and another $3, and they work from 7 A. M. to 7 P. M. There is no difference in the prices paid, except when the man's work is heavier. Spring and fall are the best seasons for work. Men can press better, because they have more strength; but women can stitch as well, if they have the experience. He kept one operator at $6 a week in busy times, and $3 in slack times, and another at $5 the year round. Some of the poor tailors in New York rent a room, occupy a spot themselves, and rent out the rest of the room to others at the same kind of work, charging fifty cents for seat room for a man and a girl to assist him; thirty-seven cents for a man alone. It is not easy to get good hand tailoresses, for most are employed on machines. One firm, that employ about five hundred hands, write they pay from $3 to $5 per week of ten hours a day, and that it requires two years to learn the trade. S. & D., manufacturers and venders of boys' clothing, write: "Their work is done by the piece, so much a garment, and wages run from $2 to $6 a week, of ten hours a day--of course, depending on the skill and hours of the worker. The relative wages between men and women are, as sewers, say for men, one third more; that is, as four for the women and six for the men. The business of a tailoress is numbered among the regular trades for women, and requires somewhat more than the average trade time, say one year. They excel as vest makers--a branch almost exclusively confined to them. There is no uniform usage in regard to pay. The requisites are good eyesight, average strength, and if taste be superadded, the better. Winter is the best season for those who work for wholesale venders. Women are most apt to be out of employment in summer. The demand is, at present, less than the supply. There is a surplus of vest makers, and a deficiency, if anywhere, in children's suit making. It is an occupation less suited to women than trades that require more nicety of touch and eye, such as designing or wood engraving. The majority of tailoresses in New York city are German and Irish." A firm engaged in the merchant tailoring and ready-made clothing business write: "The occupation is unhealthy, because the workers are constantly sitting. They earn from $2 to $4.50 per week, ten hours a day. We pay men better, because they are stronger and more capable, and have more experience. Men receive from $9 to $12. It requires four years for men to learn the business, and two years for women to learn it so as to earn $4 per week. The qualifications needed are common sense, good taste, and strong eyes. From March to January is the busy season; but good hands have work all the year." B. O. & S. "give their work out. Their trade is Southern. Their spring work begins 1st October, and continues until the last of March; and fall work begins in May, and lasts until September. They do not require a deposit, but a recommendation from the last employer, and give some work to applicants to do as a sample. Some is done by hand, some by machinery, Wages run from $3 up. Much of their work is done by Germans, whose wives assist them. It is sometimes difficult for them to get good hands. The foreman dismissed the Jews he found at work when he went there, for he thinks they are not reliable. Some get work out, but intrust it to others to do, and so it is poorly done. The foreman said many women spend a day or two out of every week running from shop to shop to get work. He has never lost anything by girls not returning goods. If they should keep them, they would soon be known at the different establishments, and have no place to go for work." In Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Ohio, during the year ending June 1st, 1860, 36,155 males and 52,515 females were employed in making clothing. =103. Curiosity Dealers.= In large cities, a few persons may find employment in this way. To the business of selling coins, medals, buckles, old-time jewelry, &c., is usually added the sale of shells and foreign birds. The same persons might engage in the sale of stuffed birds and animals, marine plants, minerals, and other such articles as are suitable for placing in a museum. Many women on the streets of London sell coins, medals, &c. =104. Druggists and Druggists' Clerks.= Some knowledge of medicines and their nature is requisite to an attendant in a drug store. The business is light, and, to some, a pleasant one. In a large drug store, one of the clerks might be a young man, to attend to night prescriptions. The day business could easily be carried on by ladies, if they were qualified. Many articles sold by druggists require a chemical or mechanical combination. Schools for giving instruction in the art of preparing medicines are established in New York and Philadelphia. If enough ladies would unite to form a class, we have no doubt that separate instruction would be given them by the professors of pharmacy. We hope these schools will tend to prevent abuses in the prosecution of the drug business, as those persons will be most patronized who are known as graduates of these schools. Dyestuffs, paint, hair oils, &c., are sold by most druggists, besides the materials directly used in their business. The apothecary's business is more confined to the mixing and putting up of medicines, as prescribed by physicians. Girls that put up drugs are paid by the package, and earn from $2 to $5 per week. Most country physicians prepare and sell their own medicines. Censors in Great Britain visit the stores of druggists, and are required by law to destroy any medicines they consider not fit for use. In France the regulations are equally strict. In some parts of France and Germany, sisters of charity are employed to compound medicines, and some to administer them. Mrs. Jameson, in her "Communion of Labor," describes her visits to several hospitals in Europe, in charge of sisters of charity, where some of their number were employed to fill prescriptions, both homoeopathic and allopathic. I find that in most Roman Catholic institutions in this country, some sisters are set apart to perform the duties of druggists. In 1776, when Howard visited Lyons, he found "there were sisters who made up, as well as administered, all the medicines prescribed, for which purpose there were a laboratory and apothecary's shop, the neatest and most elegantly fitted up that can be conceived." Lord Brougham, in a speech at York, about two years ago, after eulogizing the Protestant sisters of charity as nurses, said: "They are the persons who make up, who distribute, who administer all the medicines; they are, as I can answer from my own knowledge practically in the matter, as well acquainted with the chemical preparations as the professional men themselves." In the preparation of fine chemicals in laboratories, women are sometimes employed. A druggist told me that a person in his business need never be idle. When not otherwise employed, he can be making tinctures, compounds, &c. It requires four or five years to become a competent druggist. The business is one on which hang the lives of its patrons. Some druggists put up their goods very neatly, and make them look beautiful; but often sacrifice, to do so, their medicinal properties. The standard of druggists is higher in Philadelphia than New York. In Philadelphia, many young men receive nothing for their services, while learning; but in New York, boys over fifteen are generally paid $100 the first year, and more afterward. Many of the best druggists will not make or sell patent medicines. In some new parts of the Western country, druggists unite their calling with something else; and are often but a poor excuse for druggists, deriving their profits mostly from nostrums. One in the business needs a retentive memory. In the census of Great Britain, three hundred and ten females are returned as druggists. Dr. Brandreth has his pills made at Sing Sing. He employs twelve females, and pays an average of $5 per week to each one. The widow of a deceased druggist and chemist told me that the receipts left by her husband she could easily dispose of for a thousand dollars. We have seen it stated that the average hours per day of a drug clerk are thirteen, and his wages $9. The neatness of women, their delicacy and attention to details, qualify them admirably for the drug business. At the Woman's Infirmary, New York, the apothecary's department is entirely in the hands of ladies. At St. Luke's, a lady of education and refinement (a sister of the Order of the Holy Communion) gives her services to the measuring out and dispensing of medicines. At Smith's homoeopathic pharmacy, the lady in attendance told me nearly the whole in their department of business is in the hands of females. They employ men, to press the plants and make tinctures; but the distilling of water and alcohol, the pulverizing, triturating and diluting, cleaning vials, corking, labelling, and stamping, are done by women. It requires neatness, exactness, and quickness, to succeed in putting up medicines. The girls, while at work, wear clothes that will not suffer from their labor, which is not the cleanest in the world. The proprietor of the establishment wrote me: "We employ six ladies, and prefer them to men, as their work is neater. We pay them from $3 to $6 per week, and they work from nine to ten hours. There is no difference in the seasons, as regards our employment. We pay women from the first; and they may learn the part done by them in from three to six months. As their work is essentially different from men's, we cannot make a comparison in the prices paid." At another homoeopathic pharmacy, I was told they employ a few girls to wash bottles, to put on labels, and place them in the boxes. They are paid from $3 to $3.50 a week. At a wholesale drug store, one of the proprietors told me they "employ a number of women, and pay by the piece, the workers earning from $3.50 to $6 per week. Different kinds of work have different prices. They pay from the first. Those who put up perfumery earn most. The greater part of the duties in a drug store can be performed by well qualified ladies as efficiently as by men." So few ladies are employed in that way, that they might feel timid about assuming the responsibilities of a drug store in a city. Yet, after they had spent two or three years in a store of others, where they were properly instructed, why need they feel any more responsibility in a drug store of their own? I was told that no drug broker and no retail druggist employs women. When employed, it is by those in the wholesale business. I called on a German widow keeping a retail drug store, but who employed a young man to attend the store. She regrets that she did not learn to compound of her husband. She can sell simple medicines, and buys all her own medicines. She had heard of one lady druggist, in Switzerland, that performed all the duties of a druggist, and one in Germany; but it is not common to see women in the business there. H. & R., druggists, employ women to put up patent medicines, and pay $4 or $5 per week. Mr. M., maker of patent medicines, employs some girls all the time. When busy, they pay from $6 to $8 a week, but at other times $3. It requires some experience to put up pills. The pills are mixed, rolled, and cut by men, as it is heavy work when done extensively. Their girls get $2.50 the first week of their work, and their wages are increased in proportion to their skill and abilities. Messrs. K. & K., wholesale druggists, employ a woman to put up Seidlitz powders, furnishing all the materials, and paying by the quantity. They pay her about $250 a year, but suppose she is assisted by some of her sisters at home. Mr. H. employs a woman to put up Seidlitz powders, paid for by the gross. A smart woman can earn from $1.25 to $1.50 a day. A measure is used, containing the right quantity for filling the papers. A house that makes extract of ginger, in Philadelphia, formerly employed women to put it up; but they now employ men and boys in preference, because of the work they can do at intervals, that women cannot do. I called at Mrs. S.'s drug store. The youth that stood behind the counter said drug stores kept by ladies, or where they are employed to dispense, would not be patronized by physicians. He said, if any trouble should occur, from want of knowledge or skill in putting up medicines, and the case was brought into court, the man that employed female dispensers would be punished. Many persons, he says, come to druggists for medical and surgical advice, that could not, and would not think of consulting a lady, even if she were competent to give advice. It would be as unsuitable as for women to shave men, as they do in Germany. I sent for the lady, though the clerk urged that she had a sick child, and could not leave it. I told her the object of my call. She very kindly talked with me, and gave me information, of which I will give a synopsis. She boarded for several years after she was married, and as she had nothing to occupy her time, she spent much of it in the drug store with her husband. Seven years ago he died, and she, by the advice of friends, continued the store. She has employed a young man only part of the time. She says it involves great responsibility, but she is, and feels just as responsible as a man, and would be held so in court; but is not any more liable to indictment, or prosecution, than a man. It is something that requires exactness. It will not do to trust entirely to the memory. She generally refers to the book for directions. A youth of good abilities can, in from six months to one year, put up prescriptions, and a boy, when taken into a drug store, is paid from $1.50 to $2 a week for six months. A druggist of New York writes: "There is but one college of pharmacy in the city of New York, where instruction would be given equally to ladies, if they desired it; although, as yet, none have ever presented themselves. Ladies have never been employed, to my knowledge, as druggists' clerks in this city, or elsewhere in the United States, nor, as I am of opinion, in Europe. In one instance, it was attempted in Philadelphia a few years since, by a leading druggist, with a view of economy, I believe; and although he professed to have engaged the ladies merely as saleswomen in the fancy goods department, they nevertheless were allowed to dispense medicines. It so happened that one of these made a mistake, in giving the wrong medicine, which resulted in the death of the patient, a lady of wealth and wide acquaintance, and the consequence was the ruin and destruction of the whole business of the druggist. This put an end to the experiment in Philadelphia." (This we extremely regret, but know that such accidents have occurred from the incompetency and carelessness of some young men and boys, with less disastrous results to the proprietor.) "The business," the writer adds, "is, in some respects, quite unsuited to females. It requires much real manual labor, its hours are long, and its constant, close confinement wears upon the strongest constitutions. I have myself lost my health at it, and I know of numerous others who have done the same." A lady physician writes: "I do not know whether women are anywhere employed as druggists' clerks. They are not either in France or England, where special education and license are required. I am not aware of any druggist here who would take a pupil, but I have no doubt one could be found." =105. Keepers of Fancy Stores.= A fancy store pays well when a good connection is established, but it takes time for that. Business is moving up street in New York, and of course fancy stores with it. Some unite millinery with the sale of fancy goods. The prices paid to those who stand in such stores, vary greatly. They are given under the head of Saleswomen. =106. Gentlemen's Furnishing Stores.= A great many women are employed in this business, and many more might be. The making of gentlemen's robes furnishes in itself quite a business in cities; also the making of cravats, collars, hemming handkerchiefs, and odd work to be done. Mrs. M. told me she has a girl that assists in the house, and stays in the store when not so occupied, and receives for her services $6 a month and her board. Madame P. pays $3 to each of her operators (ten hours a day), and to one superior operator $4. She pays $3.50 a week to a button-hole maker. That is made a separate branch of sewing. Fourteen is the usual number of button holes in a shirt, and some employers pay one cent apiece; some, one and a half; and for large ones, in which studs or sleeve buttons are worn, two cents apiece. Some men are very particular about the make and fit of their shirts. Madame P. gets $2.50 a dozen for shirts from a store down street, and $4.50 for shirts from a store up street. Ordered work pays best. Her great trouble is that she does not get constant employment. For awhile she sunk in her business from $4 to $5 a week. Mr. P. says, whenever business is dull in New York city, it is, of course, wherever work is done to supply the city. He takes learners in busy times. Mr. D., who employs 2,000 hands in his factory at New Haven, has discharged them all; also Mr. H., who employs 1,000; and Messrs. M. & H., who employ as many. He thinks, when business revives, there will be work enough for all in this line, and even more. Shirts are such an essential part of a man's wardrobe, that as long as men exist, shirts must be made. With the many improvements in sewing machines, Mr. P. has shirts, when cut out, given to the operator, and turned from the machine complete, with the exception of buttons and button holes. No basters are employed. All the felling is done by a feller, and all the hemming by a hemmer. He furnishes his operators with machines. He employs men to cut, because they do it faster than women. They cut with a knife twenty-four thicknesses of cloth. All factories furnish machines and needles. Troy is the great place for making shirt collars. The girls are paid by the piece in these factories, and the employers will not permit them to work more than eight hours a day, as they do not wish them to lose their health. A girl is not retained in these collar factories that cannot earn $7 a week--eight hours a day. The machines are moved by steam. =107. Furniture Sellers.= A French woman that keeps a new furniture store told me that her husband does most of the work, employing some men to help him. She only attends store in his absence. The lifting, repairing, and varnishing, she thought could not be done by women. Called in the store of a woman--a German Jew. Her husband is away most of the time. She has furniture made to fill orders, and, of course, employs several men to make the furniture. I think she sells on credit. I think women are better adapted to the keeping of house-furnishing than of house-furniture stores. I was told in a furniture store by a saleswoman, that she takes entire charge of the store, cuts and gives out damask for making furniture, orders the men, and keeps the books; for which she has a comfortable home with her employer, a widow lady, and $5 a week. She says it requires one to be amiable and obliging, to possess health and energy, and to be a good judge of human nature, to succeed in business; but thinks good conduct and sobriety will insure success in almost anything. The spring she finds best for selling furniture. Small profits and quick sales is her motto. She never credits. She regulates her prices according to circumstances, allowing herself what she considers a fair profit, and yet doing justice to the buyer. She goes into the store at seven in the morning, and remains until ten at night. Only a strong, well-built woman, can move furniture. A lady that keeps a furniture store told me she sold a great deal before the holidays, but will not sell much again until spring. On making inquiry of a lady that keeps a furniture store, about the business, she uttered these practical remarks: "Never credit in the furniture business, or your money and furniture are both gone. You may succeed, if you have an honest, reliable man to attend to the business for you. It is a money-paying business. You should have a man that can attend auction, and buy furniture, and repair and varnish it. Besides, you need a carman, to lift and move furniture in the store, and carry it home." We would state that a woman can just as well attend the sales of house furniture in New York, at residences, as men, and a carman can at any time be hired to move furniture. =108. Grocers.= The retail grocery business is one that many women can and do carry on. It is very common to see the wives of grocers in their stores. The store is generally connected with or beneath their dwelling--so that it is very convenient for the man, and the woman is saved from exposure to the weather, passing back and forth from the dwelling to the store. The business is light and generally profitable. Much depends upon selecting a stand. A good stand is not likely to be idle long. The fall, I was told, was a bad season for a retail grocery in New York. Many small groceries in New York are owned by men, whose wives attend the stores while they are at work. I saw a nice little grocer, whose husband is a tailor, and who works at his trade in a room back of the grocery. This seemed to be reversing the general order of things. The husbands of some grocer women keep stalls in the markets, and furnish the groceries of their wives with vegetables. I called in a neat grocery store and bought some apples. The lady in attendance says she never sells liquor, but all the groceries around there do. She goes to market at four in the morning to buy potatoes and apples for her grocery. The baker leaves her bread, and she goes every evening to a baker's and buys cakes. Bundles of kindling wood are sent her from the wood yard, and the milkman leaves her milk. She goes to Washington market for her meat, and to Vesey street for her tea. So she manages. She said, not a cent in the store had been gained dishonestly. A grocer woman told me that peddlers interfere seriously with her business. Besides, the baker next door had gone to selling milk and butter, from which she has always derived most profit. She has least sale after families have laid in their groceries in the fall. Rich people and those in moderate circumstances generally purchase their groceries in large quantities, it being more convenient and economical to do so; hence we find but few groceries in the best portions of a city. Of course a grocer woman must be much on her feet. Most groceries are open until ten o'clock at night. Mrs. A. says it is impossible for grocer women to make more than a living now, paying $6 and $7 a week for rent, and sometimes not clearing more than $3 a week. She opens at five in the morning, and closes at nine at night. She makes most in summer, because then she does not have to burn fuel, and can do with less candle light. What lifting is necessary, her son does when he comes to see her. There are too many small groceries in New York for any to thrive. I have been told that in the majority (even when attended by women) liquor is sold. What a crime, to make ferocious beasts of those who are stupid enough to buy ardent spirits! =109. Junk Dealers.= Junkmen go about New York with small wagons, across which is a rod. Over the rod are strung several cowbells of different sizes, and from it fly a number of various-colored strips. Junkmen are not the same as the rag gatherers, or dealers, but a blending of the two, as they buy on a very small scale, and sell again. Part of their rags they sell to shoddy manufacturers. A. B., a female junk-dealer, keeps a shop, where she buys and sells old metals and rags. The first she sells to a man who comes to the door and buys them; the others she sells at a store where rags are bought for making paper. She has no system in buying and selling--buying at the lowest prices she can, and selling at the highest. Another woman told me she buys white rags at three and a half cents per pound, and sells at four. She pays so much a pound for old metals, and sells at an advance. Other articles, as bottles, glass, bones, cold victuals, and grease, are disposed of by junkwomen. The damaged cotton picked up by old women is sold to junk dealers. =110. Music Sellers.= Mr. W. does not know of any ladies engaged in selling sheet music, but thinks there may be some in small towns. He thinks it would be a very suitable employment for them. I called in a music store, B--, where a lady was in attendance, and, in the course of conversation, learned she was the wife of the proprietor. According to her report, "it is an arduous business, and one that requires brains and musical talent. People will seldom purchase a piece of music until they hear it, and she must try the pianos before a person will purchase or hire. The business requires great patience. She and her husband keep their store open until ten o'clock at night. They do not sell so much when the weather is bad, nor in summer, when the people are out of the city. A lady so employed must be able to keep accounts, and, when she sells, must require good security, if she does not sell for cash. She must also be able to distinguish bad from good money." She says, "keepers of music stores will not employ women, however great their capabilities," but no reason could I obtain for it. I think it is something, where an opening offers, that would pay a woman well. I called at another music store in the same city, kept by a lady. She said: "She and her sister would not keep a music store, if they had not brothers in the business, for she did not consider it any more appropriate for a lady to keep pianos to sell than to keep a cabinet wareroom. The pianos sometimes need to be repaired and tuned, and no one can attend to that without knowing how a piano is constructed. (?) The mere selling of sheet music, she thought, might do well enough, but selling books would be better. She says it would not do well for a woman to tune pianos, as it requires considerable practice to make one competent." Why might not women acquire that practice? Her selfishness and fear of competition were very evident. It is desirable for a music seller to understand Italian, French, and German, as many of the songs used in our country are in those languages. Many pieces of music have two or three titles. It requires some time to learn to rightly perform the duties of a music seller. The selling of sheet music and the selling of pianos are separate branches, and a person in one may be totally ignorant of the other. The wholesale and retail departments are entirely distinct in large establishments. Clerks that attend in the piano department are expected to be able to play. A lady is now employed in a large piano store in New York to try the instruments for purchasers. A lady in New York stays in the store when her brother, Mr. D., is absent. He paid a boy $1.50 a week for some months while learning, then more. A person of ability could learn the business in six months' time, or less. Music is always arranged alphabetically on the shelves. A boy should be kept to climb the ladder. An extensive music seller in Boston writes: "In our direct employ is only one female--a cashier. Repeated losses of money, and cash continually over or above, induced us four years ago to adopt the plan of employing a female to receive the proceeds of sales. It has saved us a great deal of money, and lessened the temptation to the young men in the store. We would gladly employ more women, but the height of our shelves, and the unsuitableness of female apparel, prevent." Another music seller writes me: "Women are employed in our business, in Germany and France, and are there paid at the same rate as men. We do not employ ladies in our store, because those of their own sex will not buy from them." =111. Sellers of Artists' Materials.= The sale of paintings, engravings, and artists' materials, form of themselves a branch of business in large cities. I know of such a store in Philadelphia, kept by a lady. It must be a light and pleasant employment. In London there are seventy-nine print sellers. =112. Sellers of Seeds, Roots, and Herbs.= In agricultural and horticultural communities, there is always a demand for roots and seeds. A large number of seeds are raised and put in papers for sale by the Shakers. In stores for the sale of roots and seeds, growing plants in jars might be offered for sale, and evergreens, with their roots in dirt, enveloped by linen or sacking. Orders might be given, and filled, for forest and fruit trees. Bouquets, also, might be kept for sale. A man in New York hires a room about Christmas, and devotes himself exclusively to the sale of evergreens for Christmas trees. As field seeds are usually sold by the measure, and not put up in papers, women have no employment in that line. The proprietor of an agricultural warehouse and seed store writes: "Our seed and grain are put up by men and boys in the winter months. It is work that might be done by women." A lady botanic druggist told me, "there are families in the West that make a comfortable support by gathering herbs; but even the smallest children assist." Those plants that bear flowers she has gathered when they begin to bloom. Those engaged in gathering commence early in life, and gather those growing in their yards and the fields of the neighborhood. Another seller of botanic medicine says there are spring and fall herbs, and, of course, they must be gathered in their seasons. She has a man and his wife gathering herbs, who support their family of five children by it, and two girls of another family, who earn a livelihood by it. Ladies in the occupation of root, seed, and flower selling, would do well to keep garden tools for sale. =113. Sellers of Small Wares.= In England, the word "haberdasher" is applied to those who engage in the sale of cord, tape, pins, and such articles. In America there is no synonymous word--so we use the expression heading this article, which we have seen occasionally employed in the same way. The number of women in this business is legion. With many it is a suitable and successful employment. Those whose means will not permit them to engage in any more extensive business--who have a room well located in town, and not too much competition--can, with a small capital, commence a safe and light business. It requires but little effort, and, with enough customers, will well repay time and capital. Many a poor woman, unable to purchase the articles required, has obtained them to sell on commission, and, by industry and economy, earned sufficient, in the course of time, to purchase a stock of her own. I called on a lady that keeps a variety store. She sells gloves, handkerchiefs, suspenders, and such articles to gentlemen, and tape, buttons, &c., to ladies. She would rather sell to gentlemen. She has been keeping store thirty-five years. Her store is near the river, and she sells much to people coming from the ferry and off the boats. She thinks in the South and West there would be many good openings for such stores. Spring and fall, and during the holidays, are her best times for selling. I called in a small store: I was told by the lady that she did not much more than make a living. She depends much on her friends and acquaintances for custom. As they increase in number, which they do from year to year, her custom increases. She finds herself very closely confined at home by the business. She does not regulate her profits entirely by the value of the articles, for cheap goods sell best where she is, and she puts on a large profit. =114. Sellers of Snuff, Tobacco, and Cigars.= A lady, keeping a cigar store, said she makes only one third profit on her sales. Most people make one half, which, she says, is the usual profit on all goods. Snuff gives her the headache, when dealing it out, but she thinks she may get accustomed to it. She sells most from six o'clock in the morning until nine or ten; and then again in the evening. To know what manufactures of tobacco, snuff, and cigars are most popular, is important. Having acquaintances assists much, and they are the first patrons to one commencing business. A cigar store generally pays well in large cities, and, if well located, is sure to succeed. Fall and winter are the best seasons for selling cigars; in very warm weather no one cares to smoke. =115. Saleswomen.= Women are quite as capable by nature to sell dry goods as men, but are not trained so thoroughly, nor from so early an age. Suavity of manner and perfect control of temper are very desirable qualifications for a clerk. Care, judgment, and taste are requisite for success. A flow of speech and ability to show goods to advantage are also desirable. Some people urge that if females are employed as attendants in stores, they will be exposed to dangerous and demoralizing influences, and something is said about the corruption of female shopkeepers in Paris, by way of warning. Now, it so happens that the corruption spoken of does not exist among the store attendants in Paris, but among sempstresses. Saleswomen and bookkeepers there enjoy as a class a good reputation, but the same cannot be said of sempstresses. Sempstresses, we know from the rates paid them, and the accounts of travellers, cannot make enough to support themselves; but shopkeepers can. "One fifth of all the female criminals in Paris are sempstresses," says Madame Mallet. Some employers complain that women are too sociably inclined, too much disposed to chat, where several are employed in the same establishment. It may be true; but are they more so than men of the same age? The languid appearance of saleswomen, we think, arises from their being on their feet so constantly. It is injurious to a woman; and employers should allow them to be seated, when not waiting on customers. The number of skirts they must wear, and the weight of hoop skirts, does much to bring this about. The kind of ladies that saleswomen mostly see in first-class stores is calculated to improve and refine their manners, and give them a command of language. Besides, it renders them more particular in their attire. They want to dress and look well. Those acquainted with the art, say there are at least a hundred ways of putting up new goods. Some Jews hire a girl to stay in their store, and require her to sew, make hoop skirts, &c., when not waiting on customers. In the United States, women are employed in a variety of stores: dry goods, lace, and fancy stores are the most common. In Philadelphia they attend in nearly all the largest stores--Levy's, Sharpless's, and Evans's; besides, several hundred earn a subsistence as saleswomen in smaller stores. Close observation and much experience are needed to fulfil the duties, but the natural quickness of most women gives them a tact seldom equalled by men. The variety afforded by the occupation is pleasing, and the labors are light. The handling of gloves, tape, ribbon, &c., is undoubtedly best suited to the finer and smaller hands of women. The reason there are so many young men performing the duties of clerks and salesmen, is, that they are lazy, and do not want to perform hard work. Another reason is that the majority want to dress well and make a good appearance, but have no capital. The price paid for a girl to attend store would depend on the size, location, and kind of store, how much they sell, and the abilities of the girl. Lady clerks usually receive from $3 to $8 per week. The best seldom receive more than $6; while men receive from $6 to $12. The ladies are obliged to dress well, and to do so must retrench in other expenses, living in crowded attics or damp cellars, or on unwholesome food. Mr. M., Philadelphia, pays his girls from $3 to $6 per week, it depending altogether on their qualifications. In Bangor and Belfast, Maine, most of those who attend stores are women. They have also been much employed in Buffalo, New York, during the last few years. It is a regulation of some of the stores in New York and Philadelphia, that a salesman or woman shall not sit down to rest; and in some, if they do, they are fined. If there is nothing to do, they must take down the boxes and pull out the articles, then arrange them carefully in the boxes, as if they were closely occupied, to give the impression that much business is transacted in the establishment. In fancy stores on the avenues, New York, girls get from $2.50 to $4 a week. The stores are mostly open from 7 A. M. to 10 P. M. In some localities, most goods are sold in the evening. At a small dry-goods store, where I called to make a purchase, the lady told me she used to employ a girl, paying her $3 a week, without board. She was in the store from 7 A. M. till 9.30 P. M. A girl in a store on Sixth avenue told me, she and her companions get from $2 to $5 a week. They are there at eight in the morning, and remain until ten at night, and on Saturday until eleven or twelve. They are not allowed to sit down. A girl in a lace and embroidery store on Sixth avenue, New York, told me that girls get in such stores from $3.50 to $10, but they must make up laces when not waiting on customers. Some receive a percentage. Women are not paid as well as men, even in such stores. Time of learning depends on the individual. They are seldom paid anything for a few weeks. They have most to do in spring and fall; are in the store from 8 A. M. to 9 or 10 P. M. A lady told me she used to get $7 a week in a fancy store. At M.'s dry-goods store, New York, the superintendent told me they do not pay learners for one month. They have girls who have been in the store but a few weeks, that can do as well as those who have been in it for years. Some again are stupid, and they will not retain such. When girls are qualified, they pay from $1 to $10 a week. They prefer having ladies in the store, thinking they know best a lady's wants. They often have occasion to change--some get broken down and go away, some get tired, some get discouraged, some cannot be on their feet so long, some cannot please customers, some are not satisfactory to employers, &c.; so, many changes take place. The ladies all looked to be Americans. They are allowed to sit when there is nothing to do, and no customers in; which, I suspect, is rarely, if ever the case. I have been told the openings for saleswomen are better farther East than in New York. A lady told me she used to get $1 a day in R.'s store on Broadway, and the other saleswomen got the same price. Then she was on her feet nearly all the time. She was there at eight and staid till seven: all were expected to take their dinner and eat in the store. Mrs. H. told me she knew a lady that stood in a store on Chestnut street, Philadelphia, who received a salary of $800 a year. When girls first go into a store, they usually get $1 a week during the season (three months), then $1.50, and so increase. A pretty good knowledge of store keeping is acquired by a smart person in six months, and now ladies are relieved in large stores from the responsibility of making change. Many of the ladies in New York stores are Irish. American ladies are more engaged in making artificial flowers, bookfolding, &c. I was told rather a novel feature in the life of shop girls, viz.: that many board from home, for the sake of having company; and in addition to this, men, earning good wages, but of disreputable character, will often board in low houses, and ingratiate themselves into the favor of the girls, until they work the ruin of one or more. Mr. D. employs five ladies, and pays them from $3 to $5. He prefers ladies. When he takes beginners, he pays $1.50 a week, and better wages as they become more capable. He has paid $8, and even $9 a week. The ladies are in the store from eight to half past eight. He allows them to sit when no customers are in and there is nothing doing. A lady with whom I talked, and who had stood in a store on Catherine street, New York, finds the occupation very injurious, because of having to be on her feet so constantly, and its lasting from 7 A. M. until 9 P. M. In some stores they are obliged to remain until eleven, and even twelve, in busy seasons. On Grand and Catherine streets, New York, they keep open very late. She says, when the weather is dull, and there are but few customers, employers are apt to be cross and vent their bad feelings on the girls. And in those stores the girls cannot sit down to take a stitch for themselves; but, when there are no customers to wait on, they must make up undersleeves, capes, and caps for the store. She now keeps a millinery and fancy store, and pays her girls $5 a week, and the girls are in the store from seven to nine. They make up bonnets, when not waiting on customers, and so have a change of posture without a loss of time. She has a friend in a Broadway store, that receives $1 a day. A saleswoman should know how to make out accounts. Ability to speak the French and German languages is a most valuable acquisition to a saleswoman in our cities. One discouraging feature in the history of saleswomen is, that their wages are not advanced like those of men. In Detroit, Michigan, girls receive from $3 to $5 for standing in a store. "In Cleveland, in 1854, there was one dry-goods store where four lady clerks were employed at salaries from $200 to $350 per annum. In one shoe store a lady received a salary of $250; and one, in another shoe, store, $200. In a millinery and fancy dry-goods store, kept by ladies, fifteen girls were employed at from $4 to $6 per week. In another, kept by a gentleman, ten girls were employed at from $4 to $6 per week." In the same city, gentlemen clerks usually receive from $250 to $600 per annum. At a store on Grand street, New York, where a number of saleswomen are employed, the owner told me he takes girls in the spring and fall. He tries them for one month, and such as he finds he can make anything of he retains. He then pays them something, and increases their wages in proportion to their advancement. Some never rise above $3; but those who are ambitious and desirous to excel and make proportionate effort, he will pay higher. He has paid as high as $12 a week. A merchant keeping a large trimming store on Canal street, pays his women from $1.50 to $8 per week, and they are in the store from seven in the morning till dark. To wait in a store requires experience; and a lady, in getting a situation, should endeavor to do so through the influence of a merchant. It is very desirable to have a good location for a store. Mr. M. pays his saleswomen from $2 to $6, according to their qualifications. At a confectionery the woman told me she gives $6 a month and board and washing; but as she does not keep open on Sunday, the girl would have to go home Saturday night and stay till Monday. She would be kept busy all the time, from seven in the morning till eleven at night, waiting on customers, cleaning tables, washing plates, sweeping floors, &c. On most of the avenues in New York, merchants do not sell as much, nor receive such a profit, as on Broadway, and employ women because they can get them cheaper. In a small variety store, a lady told me she had paid $4 a week and board to one who had never stood in a store; but the lady was a friend. She remarked: "If a person has the inclination, a memory, and common sense, she can soon learn. Few are willing to take learners. American ladies are not ambitious enough to keep store. For one month in summer and one in winter there is little doing." A lady confectioner says: "It requires a very honest person to be in a confectionery, because small sums are being constantly received and no note taken of them. Girls are paid according to their capabilities from $2 to $5, and are in the store from 7 A. M. to 9, 10, 11, and even 12 P. M., in busy seasons, which are about the holidays. It requires some weeks to know the prices, where to place the articles, and how to make them appear to advantage." A merchant, who employs saleswomen, told me he thought women have a better sense of propriety and are more particular than men, but they lack judgment and promptness. He thinks women do very well as far as they go, but there is a boundary line in ability, beyond which women cannot pass. The gentleman referred to was indebted to his mother, who had kept the store he then owned, for his education and position in business. Mr. P., seller of ladies' trimmings, employs from twenty to twenty-five saleswomen, who knit and embroider for the store when not waiting on customers. A lady who waited in the store told me they change their position frequently, seldom sitting more than ten minutes at a time. Women are paid from $4 to $10 per week, and are in the store from half past 8 A. M. to half past 6 P. M. They pay from $2.50 to $3.50 for board. The business can be learned in from three to six months. While learning, they receive enough to pay their board. Industry and ambition are necessary for success. The prosperity of the business in the future depends on the fashion and the amount of money in circulation. Winter is the best season for the sale of goods. The women are mostly German; they succeed best in knitting, because they are brought up to it. There are openings in the business, West and South. A saleswoman told me her business is hard on the back, because of the standing, reaching up, and bending. She is paid $6 per week, her store companions $3, spending eleven hours in the store. A person of business qualifications requires only practice to make a saleswoman. She has often heard ladies complain of having to purchase small or fancy articles of men. She thought heavy dress goods could be better handled by men. She says dissatisfaction is likely to arise when an employer boards his work hands. Mrs. D., who keeps a fancy store, told me that fifteen or twenty years ago, it was a rare thing to see a saleswoman in a store in New York. She says nearly all of her saleswomen have relations dependent on them for support, and if they are thrown out of employment for a week it is a serious matter. She pays $5 a week to experienced saleswomen, and gives something to learners; all stay in the store ten hours. She thinks honesty, truthfulness, intelligence, good address, and a knowledge of human nature are the best qualifications. Spring and fall she finds the best seasons for selling goods, and thinks the occupation for a lady next best to teaching. A merchant in New Haven writes: "We employ from two to five women (all American) as clerks, paying from $3 to $6 per week. To learners we pay $2 per week. The employment of women is on the increase. My clerks are employed through the year, and work from ten to eleven hours per day. We employ women to save expense, and because we believe them most honest." A firm in Providence, who sell gloves, hosiery, &c., write: "We employ ten saleswomen on an average, and pay from $2 to $7 per week, ten hours a day. We pay $2 per week to learners. To learn thoroughly requires about six months' practice. We consider the prospect good of the occupation being opened to more women. One third of our hands we send off in summer and winter. We find women neater and more steady than men, but not so energetic." The proprietor of a large establishment in Philadelphia writes: "About thirty women are employed by us in selling dry goods. Their health generally improves by their active occupation, the proper ventilation of our warehouse, and the regular habits to which they become accustomed. Wages are from $1 to $10 per week; they are paid less than men because their time of work is shorter, their expenses are less, and their channels of usefulness more circumscribed. A lifetime is needed to learn the business thoroughly, although in five years much may be learned. Women are paid while learning. Quickness of intellect and of body, good temper, and pleasant manners are very essential. Women well instructed are generally permanent in an establishment. Our most busy seasons are from February to June, and September to December. In no season are saleswomen thrown out of employment. In winter they spend eight and a half hours in the store; in summer, nine hours. Seventy-five per cent. are of American parents. The work is fatiguing at times, but not wearing on the system. Another part of our occupation, in which women might be employed, if properly instructed, is bookkeeping. Women are deficient in generalizing, excellent in concentrativeness. Many of our saleswomen have been teachers, and some return to it. They have their evenings as their own from 6 P. M.; they have good moral boarding places, and a public library open gratuitously. About one half live with parents; the remainder board at from $2 to $2.50 per week, perhaps two persons occupying the same room." In Paris, France, young women in stores receive for their services their lodging, washing, and board, with from $40 to $80 per annum. =116. Street Sellers.= The number of women alone, in London, according to Mr. Mayhew's estimate, engaged in street sales, wives, widows, and single persons, is from 25,000 to 30,000. Girls and women form a large proportion of the street sellers, and earn from sixty-two cents to $1 a week. The comparative newness of our country, the smaller size of the cities, and the greater demand for manual labor have presented fewer calls for street sellers. We hope the time may never come when our streets will be thronged, as those of London are, with street venders, for we consider it not by any means an index of general prosperity. More especially do we hope the scanty pittance obtained by their labor, and the consequent privation and suffering, may never be the portion of any of our population willing to work for a support. All the wants of a great city can be supplied by the London street sellers. They are patronized mostly by those in the middle and lower walks of life. All the varieties imaginable are represented in their sale of articles. Both dressed and undressed food can be obtained of them. Home and foreign fruits and vegetables of all kinds have each their separate sales. Of the eatables and drinkables offered by them for sale, the solids consist of hot eels, pickled whelks, oysters, sheep's trotters, pea soup, fried fish, ham sandwiches, hot green peas, kidney puddings, boiled meat puddings, beef, mutton, kidney and eel pies, and baked potatoes. In each of these provisions the street poor find a midday or midnight meal. The pastry and confectionery which tempt the street eaters are tarts of rhubarb, currant, gooseberry, cherry, apple, damson, cranberry, and (so called) mince pies; plum dough and plum cake; lard, currant, almond, and many other kinds of cakes, as well as of tarts; gingerbread nuts and heart cakes; Chelsea buns, muffins, and crumpets; sweet stuff includes the second kind, of rocks, sticks, lozenges, candies, and hard cakes; the medicinal confectionery, of cough drops and horehound; and, lastly, the more novel and aristocratic luxury of street ices and strawberry cream, at two cents a glass (in Greenwich Park). The drinkables are tea, coffee, and cocoa; ginger beer, lemonade, Persian sherbet, and some highly colored beverages which have no specific name, but are introduced to the public as cooling drinks; hot elder cordial or wine; peppermint water; curds and whey; water; ice milk, and milk (just from the cow), in the parks. In addition to this information, most of which is derived from Mr. Mayhew's "London Labor and London Poor," we will devote the remainder of the article to information from the same author; and would do so in his words, were it not that we would like to condense as much as possible. For the substance, we acknowledge, therefore, our indebtedness to Mr. Mayhew. In the suburbs of London, some people spend their time collecting snails, worms, grasshoppers, caterpillars, toads, snakes, and lizards, which they sell in the city as food for birds. Some, in collecting frogs, which they sell to French families, at hotels and at hospitals. Some devote their time to the sale of coffee, beer, and baked potatoes. Some engage in the sale of coke, some of salt, and some of sand. Nor is literature forgotten by the street sellers. "There are," says Mr. M., "five houses in London that publish street literature, and six authors and poets that prepare such literature in prose or rhyme." Some streetsellers devote themselves to the hawking of dog collars, and some to the sale of rat poisons. Some collect the nests of wild birds and the eggs, and sell them. Some sell whips; and some, walking sticks; but these last articles, we believe, are sold only by men. In London, some women sell refuse fruits; some, water-colored pictures and cheap engravings; some, coins commemorating public events. Some engage in the sale of children's watches. Some sell implements belonging to a trade; for instance, tailors' implements. Some sell washerwomen's clothes lines, pegs, and props; or kitchen utensils, as tin ware, vegetable nets, kettle holders, &c. Some of the street sellers are blind, with having taxed their eyes too greatly in sewing for slop shops. Some women are co-workers with the men in the sale of crockery and glass ware. They go in pairs (generally husband and wife); some with a large basket between them, others with separate baskets. Some sell spar ornaments, and some, china ornaments; some, lace, and some, millinery; some, thread, tape, needles, &c. Quite a number sell women's second-hand apparel. Some sell umbrellas; some, men's suspenders, belts, and trouser straps. Others again will sell embroidery, stockings, gaiters, shoe laces, blacking, pipes, quack medicines, snuff, tobacco boxes, and cigar cases; and in winter some are seen carrying even kindling wood to sell. Some women sell dolls, spectacles, wash leather, china cement, razor paste, matches, or japanned ware. Some women carry sponge in baskets; they either sell it for money or exchange it for old clothes. A few sell musical instruments. Some offer guide books, play bills, newspapers, stationery, and jewelry. Rabbits, squirrels, parrots, and other kinds of birds are sold by them; and some dispose of dead game. Seeds, flowers, roots, and, about Christmas, evergreens, are sold in large numbers. In shops, some try to resell slops from kitchens, old glass, metal, or worn clothes, &c.; some, exhausted tea leaves, which they dispose of to those that dye and redye them to sell again.--We give this chapter, because it comprises all and many more than the sellers on our streets. The few engaged in street sales in our cities are mostly confined to old women, who sit at the corners, with stands on which rest store articles, tin ware, sweetmeats, and fruits, or a small lot of fancy articles. There are several stands of second-hand books and newspapers, or shelves of candy, kept by men, but the variety in the business is quite limited, compared with the cities of Europe. Mr. Mayhew thinks the majority of street sellers in London have been servants and mechanics that could not get employment. Some street sellers go on foot through the country during the summer, to sell at fairs and races. Many others get employment from the farmers in gathering vegetables and fruits for market, weeding gardens, picking hops, and assisting in haymaking and harvesting. In Paris, some women carry bread to sell, in baskets strapped to their backs. In New York, I saw two women with baskets of vegetables and fruit to sell. I spoke to one, who told me she earns sometimes as much as $1 a day, and sometimes but a few cents. In winter, it is not unusual to see girls with baskets of dried thyme, parsley, and sage, who sell it for culinary purposes. I talked with a woman who carried tin ware in a basket. She often does not earn fifty cents a day, and will be walking all day, not even going home at noon. She buys by the dozen, and so gets the articles a little cheaper. I inquired of a girl selling radishes how many she usually disposed of in a day. She takes them around only in the afternoon, and sometimes sells to the amount of $1.25. =117. Toy Merchants.= This is a business better suited to the natural nurses of children than to men. A handsome profit is derived from the sale of toys. The busy seasons with toy merchants and confectioners are about Christmas and New Year. Toys might be more extensively made in our country, thereby giving employment to many now without it. Women mostly stand in toy shops in New York. Even so small an item as the eyes of children's dolls produces a circulation of several thousand pounds in England. Several establishments in London are devoted exclusively to the manufacture of dolls. =118. Wall Paper Dealers.= Selling wall paper is a light, pretty business. In cities it affords a remunerative return; in towns and villages it is sold mostly by dry-goods merchants and druggists. The only objection I see to it is, that a step ladder must be used to get the paper down from the higher shelves; but a small boy might be used for that, and also for carrying paper home to purchasers. =119. Worn Clothes and Second-hand Furniture.= Mr. Mayhew tells us that in London thirty persons are engaged in the exclusive sale of second-hand boots and shoes. He mentions one man that, in 1855, was thought to take over £100 ($500) a day. Boots and shoes, too far gone to be repaired, are sold to Prussian-blue manufacturers--so nothing is lost. In Philadelphia, near Penn Square, may be seen ranged, on an open space, a large quantity of second-hand clothes, shoes, dresses, &c., for sale. The business, in this country, of buying and selling again worn clothes is mostly in the hands of the Jews--perhaps altogether. In all countries it is more or less a favorite business with them. The time is past when the Jew was prohibited in other countries from holding real estate; yet the Jews in all countries, so far as I know, generally retain their property in money, or invest it in something movable. Old clothes in our country are generally given in exchange for new china, glass ware, &c.; yet a number in the large cities pay money. In London all kinds of articles are given for them, and then they are taken to the old-clothes exchanges, where they are disposed of for money, principally to shopkeepers who deal in the sale of worn clothes. Some of these articles are made over, some made smaller, some turned, some changed in form; in fact, the greatest ingenuity is exercised to employ to advantage the articles used. Second-hand articles are not so much sold in this country as in older countries, where money is more difficult to get, and poverty greater. Boys' cloth caps and roundabouts, and women's shoes, are made of old coats and pants, so worn in parts as to be unsalable. Coats are also made of cloaks, bonnets of aprons, &c. Men's and women's apparel of all sorts is bought and sold by them. Old umbrellas and parasols are bought, repaired, and sold. Silk dresses, if unfit to be sold, are used for making children's hoods, facing coats, &c. The scraps are used for making quilts. Old woollen dresses, whose waists are much worn, are used for making wadded skirts. Tailors' and dress-makers' trimmings are sometimes purchased for a small sum, and used in making up girls' hoods, boys' caps, &c. In London, most of women's second-hand apparel is (as it should be) sold by women. It is customary for buyers to cry down every article offered them for sale or barter, but those they offer for sale are magnified into ten times their value. Many of the men who go through the streets of our cities buying old clothes or giving china ware in exchange for them, take them home and their wives repair them. I called at a second-hand variety store in Brooklyn. The woman says most people engaged in the business are foreigners. The business is not unhealthy. Clothes brought in are washed and done over, and their domestics are always healthy. Their business is very dull. Ten years ago it was quite brisk, but many stores of the kind have been opened in Brooklyn lately. She and her daughter go and look at any articles for sale; and if they think the person honest and the price suits, they will buy; so that, if any one should come and claim the clothes as being stolen, they could immediately take a policeman to the place where they got them. If articles are bought, they examine and put a price on them, and get the address of the individual. If they find they are not stolen, they then purchase. The poorest season for the business is midwinter. They keep their store open till ten o'clock at night. I was told at another store they sell most clothes in the evening to laborers' wives. In a store in New York, the lady says she buys her clothes of Jews that go about exchanging china for old clothes. It is very necessary that a good locality be fixed on, near a river or bay, on a thoroughfare, or in a neighborhood where many poor people live. One woman told me she employs two girls and three men to make over and do up worn clothes for her store. She pays her girls, each, thirty-one cents a day, and they work twelve hours. She sells most in the evening. At one place I was told that Mondays and Saturdays are their busiest days for selling. They sell most to the French, Irish, and negroes. Germans do not like to buy second-hand clothes. She regretted that in her present store she had not glass cases to keep the dust off her clothes. Her purchasing is mostly done among the rich, she says, and so it brings her a good class of customers. The keeper of a second-hand furniture store told me that she goes to auction herself and purchases. It is two or three years before the business pays. She will go to a dwelling and look at furniture before purchasing. It requires a man to do the lifting. She has old furniture repaired, chairs reseated, &c., before she attempts to sell them. =120. Variety Shops.= Variety shops, for the sale of coal, wood, kindling, candles, matches, and water, are frequently seen in the poor districts of cities. They are a great convenience to those whose means will not admit of their buying in large quantities. It costs them more to buy it in that way, yet the keeping of shops affords a subsistence to those who do. EMPLOYMENTS PERTAINING TO GRAIN, BIRDS, FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND VEGETABLES. =121. Agriculturists.= With industry and enterprise, what may not woman accomplish! We have heard of women in Western New York, Ohio, and Michigan, that not only carry on farms, but do the outdoor work, as tilling, reaping, &c. It is said that in countries where the physical labor of women in the open air is as great as that of men, their constitutions become as stout and capable of endurance. Agriculture is an employment safe and profitable, and capable of almost any extension in this country. There is a great difference usually between the theory and practice of farming. Many agricultural works and periodicals are published that abound in practical instruction. In grazing countries stock is raised, and the labor of the people is given to making butter and cheese. A variety of soil and difference of altitude produce different crops in the same latitude. In the United States the raising of hops is becoming a branch of national industry, and some women are employed to pick them. In England and France large numbers of women are employed to pick hops. In England, 52,000 acres of land are devoted to their cultivation. There is danger, in picking hops, of getting wet and taking cold, which acts upon the system very much the same as the ill effects of calomel. But if proper care is used, the work is not unhealthy. There is a people's college in New York State, where females are received as pupils as well as males. No doubt a horticultural department will be formed. We think it would be well if more women would devote themselves to agricultural and horticultural employments. Weeding gardens and attending dairies or poultry yards would each furnish work for more women than are now employed, and save women from running to the cities, which are already crowded to excess with applicants for work. Headley, in his "Adirondack Mountains," says: "Twenty miles from any settlement on Brown's Tract in Adirondack, Arnold and his family of thirteen children--twelve girls and a boy--live by their trafficking, by sporting, and cultivating the field. The agricultural part, however, is performed chiefly by females, who plough, sow, and rake equal to any farmer. Two of the girls threshed alone, with common flails, five hundred bushels of oats in one winter, while their father and mother were away trapping for marten. They frequently ride without bridle or even halter, guiding the horse by a motion or stroke of the hand. They are modest and retiring in their manners, and wild and timid as fawns among strangers." "On the west side of the Scioto, just below Columbus, there is planted a field of six hundred acres of bottom land. Twenty-five German girls follow the ploughs, and do the hoeing, for which they receive 62½ cents per day." There are two sisters in Ohio who manage a farm of three hundred acres; and two other sisters, near Media, Pennsylvania, that conduct as large a farm. =122. Bee Dealers.= A new species of bee, that builds in trees instead of hives, is about to be introduced by Government from Paraguay. In keeping bees there is no expense. The hives can easily be made at home, or purchased for a comparative trifle. Their food they seek themselves. "The bee mistresses gain a living by selling honey in many rural districts of England." Most of the honey used in the United States is collected in the South. That to be carried to the North is put in hogsheads. Merchants who buy it have small glass jars filled, which are sold in markets and groceries. =123. Bird Importers and Raisers.= There are establishments in most of the large cities of the United States for the sale of birds. The proprietors import and raise them. Most imported birds are from Germany. They are caught by the peasants living among the mountains, and sold for a trivial sum in small wooden cages. The favorite pet bird has long been the canary. In the South the mocking bird is common, and often seen caged. But few of our most beautiful birds bear domestication. Their wild, free nature unfits them for it. In Germany there is a class of men who make it a separate business to train birds to sing. The bullfinch is the kind most commonly taught--perhaps the only kind. They teach in bird classes of from four to seven members each. It is done by withholding food from them in the dark and playing on a bird organ or a flute. A gentleman told me, he thought few, if any, ladies could be repaid in making a business of bird raising; indeed, he had known several undertake it, but fail. He says, people like German birds best, because they learn earlier to sing; and, you know, a purchaser always wants to hear a bird sing before he buys it. At a bird importer's I priced birds. He asked for a male canary, $3; for a female, $1; an African parrot, $8; green parrot, $5; goldfinch, $3; and thrush, $2. Mrs. L., a German, who raises canaries, told me she could not support herself by raising birds, but she knows several men that do. She says the American birds are the longest lived--the imported die in about two years after reaching this country. Foreign birds are generally devoid of strength, and their limbs are apt to turn backward as they rest on the roosts. I suppose that arises from their being shut up in small cages during the long journey across the ocean, and many of them, being caught birds, cannot bear the confinement and cramped position. Another bird dealer attributed the fact of imported being less healthy than American birds, to their taking cold in crossing the ocean. American birds that are not mated may live fifteen or sixteen years. The breed, form, color, sex, and ability to sing determine their price. It is difficult to tell the age of canaries from their appearance. So one is liable to be imposed upon by unprincipled dealers, who prefer to sell old birds, particularly of the feminine gender. Birds are subject to a variety of diseases. Birds are cheapest in the fall, as it requires more to keep them in winter than summer, and many do not wish to be at that expense. Mrs. L. sells most in February, March, and April, the breeding season. Prices vary from $2 to $7. It does not take long to learn to raise birds, another bird raiser told me, when you know just how to feed them, and the proper temperature for them. She sells most in winter. =124. Bird and Animal Preservers.= I notice in the census of Great Britain three women returned as animal preservers; and I know there are some in Germany, three of whom are in Strasbourg. Bird stuffing is a trade in which but few can find employment. It would therefore be necessary to have something else to rely on in case that should fail. It is thought by some to be unhealthy, on account of the arsenic used--particularly to young people. The senior of a firm I called on had been engaged in it fifteen years without detriment to his health. Females mostly prepare the branches of trees, or other fanciful stands, on which the birds are placed. The frames are usually of wood or pasteboard, covered with moss. I called at Mr. B.'s, and saw a young man who works with him. He thinks the work is not unhealthy. It is an art in which there is always room for improvement. Mr. B., who has been at it thirty years, says he is always learning something new in regard to it, or making some discovery in the art. The eyes are manufactured in New York. To one practising the art a good eye for form is necessary, and an ability to imitate nature closely. The spring of the year is the best season; but all seasons answer. The only danger in summer is from insects. A bird stuffer told me he would teach the art to one or two persons for $50; but he thinks the prospect for employment poor. It is difficult to get birds to learn on in winter; but in summer plenty can be had. He has had acquaintances commence in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago. The first two could not make a living. He knows of two young ladies that have learned it merely as a pastime. I called on a French lady, Mrs. L., who stuffs birds and animals. She taught the art to a barber, who made a great deal of money by it. He paid $150 for his instruction, spending every other day at it for two months. A Cuban, who owns seven hundred slaves, paid her the same amount. He wished to learn, that he might preserve birds he could obtain while travelling in various countries. She has received several letters from Boston requesting her to come there and stuff birds for a museum that is being commenced. She was the personation of health, but she complained that she suffered with rheumatism. She trembled much--she thought from rheumatism. May it not be that it is the result of arsenic that she has got into a pimple, or where the skin was broken? The work, of course, requires a firm hand. She showed me a parrot, done, she said, in one hour, for which she was to receive $3. A German book is written on the subject that contains directions. The information can be obtained in English from a little work called "Art Recreations." The ingredients are often sold in drug stores already mixed. It can be done at all seasons. Mrs. L. thinks one could become proficient in two months' constant practice. A gentleman went to California, and made a large collection of birds; stuffed them, and sent them to various European countries. In the four years he was at it he made $60,000. She sent six hundred to a museum in Paris a short time ago. She thinks St. Louis may present an opening. Mrs. L. knows a man who has been employed in stuffing birds and animals in the museum of Strasbourg from the age of fifteen to seventy-seven, and is a very corpulent man, being nearly as broad as he is long. That she gave as an indication of its healthfulness; but it may be that he is bloated from the arsenic, as it has that effect. She says even poor people will pay to have a pet bird stuffed, when they have not a dime to buy bread. =125. Florists.= The rearing of flowers has ever been a charming pastime to many of our sex. When the pleasure can be combined with profit, it is well. The cultivation of flowers is a taste whose beneficial results are not sufficiently appreciated. When the cares and troubles of life begin to press upon men and women, they are apt to neglect the cultivation of flowers, when it might absorb some of the cares that burden their hearts. Vines, roses, and ornamental fruit trees cost but a small sum, and yet how much they add to the beauty and comfort of a place! Most of the choice roses of our country are from cuttings imported from France. They are brought over in jars. Many, of course, die on the voyage. The variety is very great. The selling of roots, plants, and bouquets is quite remunerative in some places. Much depends on the knowledge and skill of the florist, the location of his gardens, and the fondness of the people in the community for flowers. It is a delightful business for a lady, if she has men to do the planting, digging, and other hard work. In Paris, there is a market devoted to the sale of flowers. In most of the markets of our large cities, are exposed for sale pot plants and bouquets, also shrubs and evergreens. A florist told me that he employs two women in winter to make up bouquets and wreaths for ladies going to evening and dinner parties, concerts, and other places of amusement. It requires taste and ingenuity. He pays each $5 per week. They can make up wreaths to look like artificial flowers. A woman on Long Island makes a living by raising flowers that are sold in New York. I was told that some lady has established a horticultural school on Long Island. Florists in and near cemeteries are apt to find sale for flowers and plants. Hence it is common to observe gardens and hot houses so located. I rode out to a florist's near Brooklyn. He says the business is not so good as it was, because the Germans in Hoboken raise flowers and sell bouquets for sixpence that he could not sell for twenty-five cents. The man does not send bouquets to the city, as it does not pay. Their profits are mostly derived from the sale of choice fruit trees raised at Flushing. They sell bouquets at their hot houses from a shilling up to $5. They derive most profit from flowers in winter. A florist's occupation is healthy, and affords much pleasure to one fond of flowers. Yet it requires close attention to business. In England it was formerly customary to serve a seven-years' apprenticeship at the business, but three or four years will answer very well, if an individual gives undivided attention to his business, and is with a superior florist. A knowledge of botany is necessary to a florist. It requires considerable taste to make up a bouquet, and therefore is very appropriate to women. A knowledge of colors and their artistic arrangement is essential; also a natural taste for flowers, and some patience. Making bouquets, wreaths, &c., is slow work. The stems of flowers for bouquets are cut very short, as most of the nutriment of the stem is lost to the succeeding ones by cutting long ones. Artificial stems are added to the natural ones, and are usually made of broom straw or ravelled matting. Mrs. F., the wife of a florist, says the wives of most florists assist their husbands in making up bouquets, wreaths, and baskets. She thinks, if a florist had enough to do to employ a lady, he would pay her $3 or $4 a week. She has often thought a small volume might be written on the flower business in New York. She says no one has an idea of the amount of money expended for flowers. Mr. D. used to send out $1,000 worth of flowers on New Year's morning. It is a very irregular employment. Some days she sells a great many for balls, parties, and funerals. One might learn to make bouquets, if they have taste and judgment, by a few months' practice. The flowers that are sold at different seasons vary greatly, and the value of them depends much on their age. Mrs. F. has sold a few baskets of flowers at $50 apiece. She sells many flowers for Roman Catholic churches about Easter. Mrs. R. says florists prefer to have men, because they can work in the garden or green house when not cutting or putting up flowers. The Germans have run the business down in New York. A florist named _Flower_ writes: "We employ from two to four women tying buds, hoeing, weeding, &c.; in winter they help about grafting. They are paid fifty cents a day, of ten hours. Women so employed are German born. The employment is healthy. Men get seventy-five cents a day, as they can do more work; but the principal reason for employing women is, that we can hire them cheaper and like them better for light work. Women could do all parts of our business, if they had a fair chance with men, and would improve the chance. One year would give a general knowledge, but five would be better. A good, sound constitution, and industrious habits, are the best qualifications. Women that want such work can find plenty of it; but outdoor work is too hard for American women." Another florist writes: "In Europe, where women are sometimes employed in fruit or vegetable gardens, their wages are usually about half a man's. Women (chiefly Germans) are employed in this country by farmers to pick fruit, vegetables, &c., by the quantity. At light work, done by contract, women, I believe, can make as much as men. Several years would be necessary to learn the business; some branches of it might be learned in a few weeks. The requisite most needed for women to work in green houses, is a change of fashion. Their dress unfits them altogether for moving about in crowded plant houses. Were their dress similar to the men's, I see no reason why they would not be equally useful in other departments as well as this. If that should ever happen, they would, in my opinion, be worth as much as men; for the work is mostly light, and ladies, having a natural taste for flowers, would soon learn it. If you have gone through green houses, you cannot but know the difficulty of doing so without breaking everything. Men, at this kind of work, are not fully employed in winter." A lady florist writes: "I sometimes think my nervous excitability is to some extent caused by an excess of electricity, derived from the earth or flowers with which I work." =126. Flower Girls.= Flowers are the mementoes of an earthly paradise. They are said to be "the alphabet of angels, whereby they write mysterious things"--the mysteries of God's love and goodness. Earth would be a wilderness without them. Girls sell flowers most profitably at opera houses, theatres, and other places of amusement. They buy of those who devote themselves to the raising of flowers, and arrange them into bouquets. A number dispose of flowers on Broadway; and, summer before last, I observed a French woman at the Atlantic ferry selling bouquets to people waiting for the boat. A florist told me he disposes of flowers to girls who make up bouquets and sell them. One of them pays $500 rent for her room. It yields a handsome profit when a person has a good stand. He would like a stand at the opera house, but a great many others are looking forward to it. Some pay for the privilege, others obtain it by being known to the managers. I was told by a man who supplies bouquets that he pays to florists from $8 to $10 a day for flowers, and then makes up his own bouquets. I have been told that at some hotels in Germany, girls pass around the table at dinner, and give bouquets. Such recipients as feel disposed, pay a small sum. =127. Fruit Growers.= If American women would only turn their attention to the cultivation of fruits and flowers for market, instead of giving it up to ignorant foreigners, how much better it would be! A few hundred dollars would make a very handsome beginning; and those who do not have so much at their disposal, could get their friends to advance it. At Shrewsbury and Lebanon, much fruit is put up by the Shakers, and sent to New York for sale. Women might have orchards, raise fruit, and send it to market. Mrs. D. owns a farm, and does not disdain to graft fruit trees, superintend their planting, gather fruit, send it to market, &c.; and she realizes a handsome profit. The grafting and budding of fruit trees might be done very well by women, and also the budding of ornamental shrubs. "Miss S. B. Anthony," says the Binghampton _Republican_, "resides at Rochester, and supports herself by raising raspberries from land given to her by her father." I have been told that on one acre of land near New York city a thousand dollars' worth of strawberries can be grown. In New Jersey and Delaware, women are employed to gather berries for market. If a lady is within a few miles of town, and has facilities for raising and sending fruit to market, she will not be likely to fail in meeting with ready sale. Berries bring a good price in the markets of a city. In Cincinnati, from May 21st to June 1st, 1847, 5,463 bushels of strawberries were sold, and near St. Louis is a gentleman that has some hundreds of acres of strawberries in cultivation to assist in supplying the St. Louis market. The drying of fruit affords employment, and generally well remunerates time so given, if carried on extensively. =128. Fruit Venders.= Flowers are formed to please the eye and indulge the fancy; but fruits are a healthy and important article of food. Some women sell fruit in market; some, at stalls in the street; some, in fruit shops or groceries; and some, from baskets, going from house to house. Most dispose of small fruit, such as berries--some wild and some cultivated. The ferries in large cities are very good stands for sellers of fruits and sweetmeats. Places of amusement and the entrance to cemeteries, are also. I talked to one apple woman, who says her business is a slavish one. Her stand was at the Atlantic ferry, New York. When she goes to her dinner, she gets the gate keeper to mind her stand. She earns, on an average, $1 a day. She rises, gets her breakfast, and starts to market by five o'clock. She remains at her stand until nine o'clock at night. She sells the greatest quantity of fruit in the spring and fall, when people are most apt to be making money, and so permit a little self-indulgence. She sells least in winter. I saw a woman on the street selling fruit and flowers. When she is out all day, she can generally earn from fifty cents to $1. Another fruit seller told me that she makes a good living. She has been at her stand eight years. She sells most fresh fruit in summer; and in winter, about the holidays, most dry fruit and nuts. In the coldest weather she remains in her basement, heated by a stove, where she stores her fruit at night. Her grapes are brought in on the cars, put up in pasteboard boxes. Her location is excellent, for the working class of people pass in the evening, returning from work, or in their promenades. I talked with an old woman at an apple stand, who told me she often sells $1 worth of articles in a day, but seldom makes a profit of more than half. She sells most fruit in summer, but most cigars, candy, and nuts in winter. She says there is a stand on every block, in that part of New York. Hers is a good location, because so many men pass. In wet weather, she does not sell much. She is shielded in winter, by sitting in a hall near, where she can keep an eye on her stand. She lives near, and while she goes home to dinner, her husband sells for her. An apple woman, in New York, told us, she has kept her stand in Washington park for seven years. She remains at it all the year. If any other fruit vender should trespass on her bounds, a policeman would soon send him or her off. Another old woman, keeping a fruit stand, told me she makes a comfortable living at it in summer; but in winter she stays in a confectionery store, and gets $10 a month and her board. At another fruit stand, on asking the old lady how she got on, she burst into tears, and replied, very poorly, scarcely made enough to keep her alive. A professional honor exists among fruit women, and a desire to sustain each other in their rights. A wholesale fruit dealer writes me that it takes from two to four years to learn the business, when carried on extensively. =129. Gardeners.= The strength and energy of people, in northern climates, have led them to excel in the rearing of fruit--not in imparting a more delicious flavor, but in the quantity, the fulness, and the size of the fruit. In the balmy air and under the sunny sky of the South, vegetation develops more rapidly and more luxuriantly. He who adds to the list of beautiful and fragrant flowers, or improves some variety of fruit, enlarging, or rendering it more luscious, will be remembered as a benefactor. Gardening is a pleasant and healthy occupation to those that love outdoor life. A woman can no more be healthful and beautiful without exercise in the open air, than a plant can when deprived of air and light. We learn, from Mr. Howitt's "Rural Life in England," that "there are on the outskirts of Nottingham, upward of five thousand gardens, each less than the tenth of an acre. The bulk of these are occupied by the working classes. These gardens are let at from half a penny to three halfpence per yard." German women are often employed, near cities, to weed gardens, gather vegetables, and other such work. "In Hereford, England, there are no fewer than six annual harvests, in each of which children are largely employed: 1, bark peeling; 2, hay; 3, corn, 4, hops; 5, potatoes; 6, apples; 7, acorns. Add to these, bird keeping in autumn and spring, potato setting and hop tying, and the incidental duties of baby nursing and errand going." =130. Makers of Cordial and Syrups.= Women who live in the country, and have small fruit, would find it pay well to make cordials, berry vinegars, &c. There are some establishments where it is made, and women are employed to gather the fruit. The people of the Southern States have depended on the North for these articles, but we presume a change will be wrought. The abundant growth of small fruit in the South will enable the South before long to meet the demand. We think there will be many openings of this kind, in the South and West, for many years to come. Some manufacturers of ginger wine, bitters, syrups, cordials, and grape wines, write: "In reply to your circular we say--We do not employ any women in our business, although we indirectly furnish employment for several hundred, during the various fruit seasons, in gathering most kinds of fruit, which we use in our business. Many of these fruits are wild, which we buy at a specified price. The gatherers control their own time, and their earnings will vary from fifty cents to $1 each, per day. It would probably require the labor of about six hundred for six months of each year, in gathering the amount of fruit which we use. But as we do not directly employ them, or know anything about the general business of those thus employed, we are unable to give further particulars." =131. Root, Bark, and Seed Gatherers.= When the grass is bowed by the sparkling dew, and the hills shrouded in mist, plants exhale most freely their sweet odors. They are then gathered and sold to manufacturers, who prepare from them oils, essences, and perfumeries. An old Quaker lady on Tenth street, Philadelphia, keeping an herb store, told me that she purchases her herbs mostly of men, but some women do bring them to sell. It requires a knowledge of botany to gather them, and the stage of the moon must be observed. Digging roots, and gathering plants, at all seasons, is a hard business. At another herb store, I learned that the prices paid gatherers depend much on the kind of herb, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the season when it is gathered. A woman may earn $1 a week, or she may earn as much as $10. The roots and herbs are bought by weight. Many are purchased fresh in market, but some of the gatherers dry them. They are sent from different parts of the Union to the cities and towns. One told me that she would rather purchase herbs and seed put up by women, for they are neater and more careful with their work. She sells most in spring and fall. An Indian doctress told me barks must be gathered in the spring and fall, when they are full of sap; and roots, when the leaves are faded or dead. She sometimes makes $20 worth of syrup in a day. She says the business requires some knowledge of plants, experience in the times of gathering, amount of drying, &c. =132. Seed Envelopers and Herb Packers.= In a seed store in Philadelphia, we found, they employ women in January and February, at $2.50 a week, to put seeds up in paper bags, seal them, and paste labels on. They go at eight in the morning, and remain until dark. At a large drug store in Philadelphia, we were told they employ nine women. They have seven distinct branches for the women, and separate apartments for each branch, consisting of weighing and putting up powders, sorting herbs and roots, putting up liquids, &c., &c. The women earn from $3 to $5 a week, and spend nine hours, from eight to six, having an hour at noon. In busy seasons they remain till eight or nine, and receive additional wages. There is nothing unhealthy in the business. They are paid $3 a week from the time they are taken to learn, and deduction made for absence. A seller of botanic medicines in Boston writes me: "He employs women in putting medicines in small packages for the retail trade, bottling the same, and labelling. He pays $5 a week to his women, and $3 a week while learning, the time for which is six months. Common sense, neatness, and integrity are the qualifications needed. The girls work from nine to ten hours. He will not employ any but American women. He pays men $8 or $9, because they can take them off, and put them upon work that girls cannot do. Women would be paid better if they were stronger, and did not need so much waiting upon in the way of lifting and arranging their work. Rainy days they want to stay at home, or, if they come, it takes half a day for them to dry their clothes. Men they can depend on in all weather. Women might keep their books, if their crinoline was not too extensive: that alone would bar them from the counting room. Women are inferior only in physical disabilities. Girls are good for nothing until after sixteen years of age; and nine in ten will get married as soon as they are fairly initiated in work--hence the time spent by women in acquiring a business education is to a certain extent lost--lost to their employers, but of assistance to them in the education of their children." Mr. P., botanic druggist says: "There are but three establishments in New York, for this business, and twelve women would be quite enough for them. They put up herbs in packages. One day's practice is enough for a smart person. The women are paid from $3 to $5 a week." At the United States Botanic Depot they employ one girl, and pay her $4 a week. She only works in daylight. Mr. J. L. employs two girls to put up botanic medicines. He has men to cork the bottles. They work ten months in the year. Nothing is done in December and January. They pay $4 a week, of ten hours a day. In Louisville, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, few women are employed in this way. Some seedsmen and florists near Boston employ four ladies in enveloping seed. One of the ladies writes: "We presume more ladies are employed in Europe to put up seed than in this country. The employment is not unhealthy. We are paid 6 cents an hour, and work by the hour. To learn the part the women do, requires about two hours. Judgment is most needed. Employment of this kind is increasing, there is a demand for female labor in the seed department." A seedsman, in Rochester, writes: "We employ six women in making paper bags, paying 25 cents per hundred. Boys are employed at about the same wages. We have work from July to January. The girls take their work home. We use some boys, because their work benefits their families equally as much." =133. Sellers of Pets.= In Paris there are stores for the sale of dogs and cats. In London, the sale of dogs is mostly on the streets, or at the residence of the raiser. The aristocracy of England maintain 500,000 dogs and a large number of cats; consequently food must be provided for them. The sale of birds is common. Gold and silver fish, white rabbits, Guinea pigs, squirrels, tortoises, fawns, lambs, and goats, are sometimes sold in seed and flower stores. Flowers and birds are the favorite pets of ladies in the United States. Everything of this nature is sold to some extent in the markets and on the streets of our cities, but generally at the houses of those who devote themselves to the business. =134. Wine Manufacturers and Grape Growers.= Many persons are becoming interested in the culture of the grape; and some are spending time and money in experimenting. Longworth of Cincinnati has realized a fortune from his operations. Belle Britain says: "In Longworth's cellars are 700,000 bottles of wine. Mr. L. informed her (?) that we have in this country at least 5,000 varieties of the grape, and his vineyards yield from 600 to 700 gallons to the acre." The color of wine depends on the color of the grapes from which it is made. In several of the States, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Alabama, vineyards are flourishing, and many new ones are being planted out. The variety of soil and surface in our country is such that there is every probability of success. As yet, only two kinds have been much grown. No doubt a large number of women will, in the course of a few years, be employed in the cultivation of the vine and the manufacture of wine. One can soon learn, with a few instructions in each season, the proper culture of the vine. A great deal of the work in the vineyards of France and Switzerland is done by women. Women do better that men, because their fingers are smaller and more nimble. The want of intelligent culture has been the greatest barrier in the introduction of graperies into our country; but such is the number of foreigners now among us that have a practical knowledge of the business, we need fear no want of workmen. Many, too, have not been willing to invest capital in an uncertain enterprise. Wine manufacturers in Orange county, N. Y., write: "We have not employed women to any great extent in our business. There are some branches of the business in which women might be suitably and profitably employed, where those branches are extensively carried on. The bottling process, including cleaning of bottles, filling, putting on foil, labels, &c., could be done by women as well as men. Women could pick the grapes, and cull out the green and poor berries, and prepare them for the press. They are employed for this purpose in Europe. The reasons why we have not employed women in these branches are, we bottle not more than one sixth of our wine; we manufacture principally for church communion and medicinal purposes, and the principal demand for those purposes is by the gallon--consequently we send it out mostly in casks. (Some wine growers bottle all.) The men, whom we necessarily employ by the year or month in the cultivation of the ground, vines, &c., are of course employed in the season of the vintage, bottling, &c.; and in hurried times, such as the time of picking the grapes, we get such additional help as is easiest obtained, generally boys and girls, with sometimes women. Women are in such demand here for household labor, that, unless sought for at the proper time, March and the 1st of April, and hired for the year, it would be almost impossible to obtain them. The wages generally paid are from $5 to $7 per month, mostly $5 and $6." Another grape grower writes, in answer to a circular: "I do not employ female help in my business, except for a few weeks during the time of tying up the vines and in gathering the fruit, for which I pay 50 cents per day, without board. Women might be employed to quite an extent in this business, which is increasing in the country to a wonderful degree." RAISERS, MAKERS, PREPARERS, AND DISPOSERS OF ARTICLES OF FOOD. =135. Bread Bakers.= Nearly all the bakeries in New York are attended by women. I could not learn of any women being employed in bread bakeries to mix or bake, but they are in Germany and France. In France the bakehouse girls enter ovens heated often to 300°, and, it is stated, sometimes to even 400°. Bakerooms are usually of such great heat as to be injurious to the health of any but the strongest and stoutest. Some establishments have day and night bakers. The night bakers are up all night, and must have their bread ready by 5.30 A. M. The day bakers go in at 7, and turn out a batch of bread at 11 A. M. Bakers spend on an average seventeen hours at their work, and this no doubt accounts partly for the absence of women from the occupation in this country: seventeen hours out of the twenty-four are too many for any woman to be on her feet. In this country the bakers are robust, hearty-looking men, and mostly Germans. Their average wages are $6 a week. Some bakers have a scaly eruption produced by frequent contact of the skin with flour. Inhaling the flour in mixing bread I have heard is unhealthy. Some women might object to working in the same room with men, and baking is certainly very warm work in summer. In most European cities the price of bread is regulated by the Government. The cost of materials and the state of the market regulate the price. A fine is the penalty for a violation of the law. In this country, bakers regulate the price of bread by the kind and quality. No law is enforced specifying prices. Some years ago an attempt was made in New York to have bread sold by the weight, but the bakers all opposed it. They might have been tempted to put something heavy in the flour. In large cities some establishments are devoted to one branch only of the business. Baker's bread is more used in free than in slave States. In Northern cities some families prepare their bread, cakes, pies, and meats, and send them to bakeries, where for a small sum they are cooked. It saves a vast amount of labor. Some bakers use potatoes in making up wheat bread. I never knew of rice being used by bakers in this country, but know it is by some bakers in Paris. The modes of baking bread, and the kinds of bread used, vary not only in different, but in the same countries. "Some bakers give the impression their bread is made by women," said a lady in a bakery, to us, "but it is not. A woman could not make up two or three barrels of flour in a day. Men are just as neat bakers as women could be." At three bakeries I was told by the employers that they pay their girls who attend the shop $7 a month, and board them, but do not have their washing done. From several girls that stood in bakeries I learned that they received from $6 to $10 a month, and their board. Only one of the number got her washing done without extra expense. The girls were expected to keep the counters, waiters, jars, and floors clean. They must be in the bakery by 5 o'clock A. M., and stay until 10 P. M. Some women require the girls to sew when not waiting on customers, and some require them to sweep and keep the room clean, and some even to wash the shop windows. Girls that stand in bakeries receive no better compensation than house girls. A foreman of the baking department, generally receives $8 a week, and his boarding. Girls are usually paid from the time they enter. A knowledge of reading, writing, and figures is considered sufficient. I was told by one lady in a shop that girls attending bakeries usually receive from $8 to $10 a month, with board, and some, also, get their washing done. They are not required to keep the books for those terms, and the bakeries are few in number where female employees keep the books. I was told by an Irish woman that in Ireland there are few or no women attending bakeries and groceries. At one bakery a girl told me she finds it very bad to be on her feet all the time. She could not stay constantly in a bakery for one year at a time, she gets so weak from excitement and fatigue. She says most Germans keep their bakeries open on the Sabbath; but the Americans have too much respect for the day to do so. On Saturday night, bakeries are often open until 12 o'clock, and sometimes later. =136. Brewers.= I wrote to a lady, whose name I saw in a directory as a brewer. She replies: "You wish to know if I work at brewing, personally. I do not at present, but have done so, and worked hard the man's part; but my means are such now that I can do without. I have men employed, and a clerk, &c., &c. I am a widow, and superintend my business, and understand all that is connected with it. I suppose it is not necessary to dwell longer on the subject, as I am out of the working part now. I am sixty-two years of age." =137. Candy Manufacturers.= "There are three hundred confectionery manufacturers and retail dealers in New York city. Twelve establishments are devoted exclusively to the manufacture of candies. In some, as many as a hundred hands are employed in busy times. During the busy season, there are engaged in the manufacturing houses about five thousand persons of both sexes, though a very much larger number, probably some thousands, are indirectly supported by it, the paper-box makers being generally busily employed, and many children gaining a livelihood by hawking candies through the streets. The city of New York is the headquarters of the confectionery trade, supplying as much as all the rest of the Union together, and distributing the results of its industry to all parts of the United States, as well as to Canada, most of the West India Islands, Mexico, Chili, and many other places. It is estimated that fully $1,000,000 worth of confectionery is made annually in this city; and by that term we mean preparations of sugar, chocolate, jujube paste, &c., but exclude many articles such as ice creams, jellies, blancmanges, pastry, and other delicacies, which would sum up this amount to perhaps double. Two of the principal houses manufacture daily between them four thousand pounds of candies, at prices varying from 14 cents to 50 cents per pound, the average being about 20 cents." The coloring matter of foreign candies is generally showy, and of a poisonous nature. That of American manufacture is not of such brilliant and permanent colors, but more regard is paid to health in the selection of coloring matter. At confectioners' in London, classes of young ladies are taken and taught the art of making confectionery. Some candies are made by stretching over a hook, some must be shaken in a pan over a charcoal fire, and rolled on tables with marble tops. I was told at S. & P.'s (a wholesale house) that they are most busy from August 1st to 20th of December, and from March to June. They take learners for a week, to see if they are fit for the business, and if they are, reward them for their time. It takes but a short time to learn the part done by girls. They pay experienced girls from $3 to $6 a week. The girls work ten hours a day, and if longer, they are paid extra. Lately they have kept their girls until ten o'clock at night. It requires taste and invention to envelop fancy confectionery, but is not very reliable for constant employment. S. & P. employ ninety girls in busy times. At another place I was told they will not take Southern orders, for the Southerners will not buy, and have not the money to pay, if they would. The fancy candies go through three or four processes, and so the girls must work in the same room as the men who paint them. The girls sit while at work. R. pays by the month, and keeps his girls all the year. He says labor is more poorly compensated in New York, in proportion to the rates of living, than in any city in the Union. He thinks some girls should go from the cities into country places, and enter into service. H. says a person of any intelligence can learn in two or three months to paint candies. He used to employ girls to put gilding on, paying $2 a week--ten hours a day; but if a girl can paint well, she can earn $4 or $5 a week. He knows several German girls in the city that do. The candy flowers, he says, are made by hand, the fruit moulded. A lady confectioner told me that a woman who ornaments fancy candies is poorly paid, and it is dirty, sugary kind of work. Yet she acknowledged that candies must be kept on a clean table and handled by clean hands--otherwise they would not look well, and consequently not sell readily. The wives of German manufacturers do most of that kind of work. A confectioner told me, candy is never made in this country by women, but it is in England. He said the dust of the powdered sugar and the gases of the coal render it unhealthy. In large establishments most candy is made by steam. The making of candy he thought even too laborious for men. The teeth of candy manufacturers are often decayed from the frequent tasting of heated sugar. One candy manufacturer writes me: "We employ six girls in making candy, and do not think the business unhealthy. Wages range from $1.25 to $4.50 per week--ten hours a day. Men's wages are from $4.50 to $9. It requires from three to five years for men to learn. Women's part is learned in one year. The prospect of employment is good for a limited number. Fall is the best season, but they are always employed except during part of the winter. In some branches of the work women excel." At a manufactory of gum drops and candy rings, I saw a boy who receives $3 a week for making the rings, and a girl who receives $2.75 for picking gum drops, _i. e._, loosening the sugar in which they are incrusted while being made. They work from 7 A. M. to 6 P. M. =138. Cheesemakers.= A great deal of cheese is made in Central and Northern New York, and some in Ohio, Vermont, and West Massachusetts. Making cheese is a chemical operation, and requires experience. It is made in all civilized countries. I talked with an old gentleman who had been in the cheese business nearly all his life. He said a farmer's wife is the best help in cheese making. In making cheese, seven eighths of the work is done by women. A man usually places the cheese in the press, and removes it when it is dried sufficiently. The occupation is healthy. Women are paid from $1.75 to $2 a week and their board. Some people employ men, because they can go to work on the farm when not making cheese. The business can be learned in from six weeks to two months. When learning, girls give their work for instruction, but have their board. Neatness, good health, judgment, and common education, are desirable for a cheese maker. An individual must be able to reckon the pounds, weigh the salt, and regulate the temperature of the milk and curd by the thermometer. The first advice given by a lady who taught to make cheese was, "Keep your vessels clean." The prospect of employment in this branch of work is good, for it is difficult to obtain good cheesemakers. The best seasons are from the 1st of March to the last of November. The number of hours given by a girl to her work depends on the contract made--generally eight hours--sometimes ten. In most places cheesemakers have more leisure than house girls, but some employers expect them to do housework when not employed about the cheese. Some farmers hire girls who devote themselves exclusively to cheese making during the season for it. Some have the afternoon after the cheese is put in the press, and the jars, &c., are cleaned, until time to milk in the evening. The morning milking is usually done before breakfast, and the cheese made after breakfast. It requires until about two o'clock to get through. When cheese is put in a press, nothing further is necessary until it is ready to be removed. It remains in the press twenty-four hours. Most farmers have their cheese made on Sunday morning as on other days. The girls have Sunday afternoon or evening, according to contract. Some farmers do not make their cheese on Sunday, but retain the milk until Monday morning, and make it into butter. Women are best adapted to the work, and employed mostly because they can be got cheaper. The majority are Irish women. They are usually put on a footing by their employers, and eat at the same table. So little spinning and weaving are done now in the country, that the female members of farmers' families generally do the milking, unless the farmers have grown too wealthy and proud to have their wives and daughters so employed. Some dairymen make, with the aid of their families, all the cheese they use and sell. Milk should be drawn from a cow as rapidly as possible and while the cow is eating. One milker should be employed for every ten cows. Milk is very sensitive. Dairymen will make more by having the cream remain on the milk than by taking the cream off for churning, at the rate butter sells this winter (1861). Where the cream is used, an inexperienced hand would find it more troublesome to make cheese. Twenty-three million pounds of cheese were exported last year from the United States. American cheese is, in England, taking the place of English cheese. A German cheesemonger told me he makes the Limburg cheese--a preparation which has been known about eight years in this country. He was putting up some to send to New Orleans. It was very soft, and I thought the smell very offensive. He gets American cheese of a Yankee girl, to whom he pays $80 a year. She uses the milk of sixty cows. She works at it but eight months. During four months of the year but very little cheese is ever made. The arrangements of some cheesemakers for preparing the article are very complete. =139. Coffee and Chocolate Packers.= B. S. & W., Philadelphia, employ women in packing parcels of essence of coffee, spices, vermicelli, &c. They make paper cases, pour the article in through a funnel and ram it down, then label and pack the cases in boxes, which are nailed up ready for delivery. One or two persons obtain a livelihood by cutting the labels to paste on the boxes. They are paid fifteen cents a thousand for this work, and are able to support themselves by it. The women are paid by the piece, and earn from $2 to $6 per week. The work rooms are airy and comfortable. Females were formerly more employed than at present to put up coffee; but as coffee is now ground every day at most factories, and as it is considered best when just ground, less is put up than formerly. Messrs. L. & B., New York, employ girls to put the articles in papers, pasting labels on and sealing them. They work by the piece, and earn from $3 to $7 a week. The odor might be disagreeable to some, but persons get accustomed to it, and it is quite as healthy as most work. There are not over one hundred and fifty women so employed in the State of New York, yet such packing is generally done by women. It is customary to pay by the package. The girls change their dresses on coming to the workroom of L. & B. They do not work with the men, but with some boys who fill boxes with the same articles. L. & B.'s girls have employment all the year. They never have any difficulty in getting hands. I saw a man who makes up essence of coffee. A lady was assisting him to put it in papers. At another factory I was told they pay by the week, from $1.50 to $4, according to the industry, quickness, and practice of the worker. It is not unhealthy work. They give employment ten months of the year, but at present have little to do. It requires but a few weeks to become expert. In some establishments girls stand or sit, as they please, while at work; in others they are all required to assume constantly whichever posture the foreman directs. At W. & Son's two small girls are employed, who each receive $2.50 a week. There is one factory in Cincinnati, one in St. Louis, and one in Chicago. =140. Cracker Bakers.= At M.'s the young man said fancy crackers could be made by women. In making soda, oyster, and some other crackers, the dough is kneaded by machinery. In some establishments the dough is rolled out and conveyed to the oven by machinery. In a cracker bakery I was told the women might be employed in packing and selling crackers. It would not require all the time of one woman to pack for a large bakery. A cracker baker writes us: "We employ no women, and do not see that they could work to advantage in our business." Women could do all the work now done by men in this line, but I suppose considerable opposition would be experienced, except by ladies who have sufficient capital to carry on business for themselves. =141. Fancy Confectionery.= Most confectioners sell, in addition to their fancy candies, imported fruits; and a few keep cakes. Some also keep fruits preserved in brandy or their own juice; and some keep in addition pickles, oysters, sardines, &c. Some confectioners merely make sweetmeats--some sell them, and some both make and sell. In cities, confectioners usually furnish the refreshments for both public and private entertainments. A manufacturer of confectioneries in New York told me that in busy times he employs fifteen girls; but at that time (January, 1861) only half as many, for they have no Southern orders--the people in the South are doing without candies. The part done by girls requires no special training. He pays girls for their labor from the first. They pack, pick gums, envelop in fancy papers, fill boxes, &c. He pays $3 a week for those that have some experience, and keeps them ten hours a day. He gives the making and painting of fancy candies out to those that have families, and who do it at home. W., of Philadelphia, pays his girls, eight in number, $1.50 a week for the first two or three weeks, then from $3 to $4. Making common candy is said to be too hard for women. They assist in the finishing of fine candies, as rolling and covering chocolate nuts. They put the fancy candies in French envelopes, and cut the silvered or gilt paper that gives the finish. They can sit or stand as they please while at work, but while enveloping mostly sit. They work ten hours. It is rather a light business. M. employs fifty women in putting up and packing candies. He pays them, from the time they begin, $2 a week. They learn in two or three months. He pays then from $4 to $5 a week. A lady told me she was paid in one establishment $6 a month and board. A girl in a confectionery told me the prices usually paid girls are $7 or $8 a month, with board and washing, and the girl is expected to keep the accounts. A lady in another store said summer is the poorest season for confectioneries, as people do not like to eat candies, because it makes them thirsty; but in those confectioneries where soda water and lager beer are kept, there is more or less custom during the summer. They keep open till ten o'clock at night, and all day Sunday. Sunday is their most profitable day. She knows a girl that is paid $5 a month in the Bowery, with her board, or $7 without. To be kind and obliging, and have the faculty of pleasing the little folks, are the best qualifications for the business. Prices paid depend on the responsibility of the employed. Some that keep the books receive $5 a week without board, most others receive $1.50 or $1.75 per week and board. Judgment must be used in the selection of a stand. A lady who keeps a small confectionery and fruit store in Williamsburg, says she does not make much on cakes and bread, only half a cent on a loaf of bread. She says it is best not to trust any one for pay--that children often come and say they want so and so, their mother says she will pay on Saturday; but Saturday comes, and no pay; and if they go for the money, the parents will say, "Come again," and put it off from time to time, until they become discouraged, and give it up altogether. M--s, French confectionery and chocolate cream manufacturers, take learners at the proper season, which commences in August. They employ some girls to paint fancy candies. H. says one must commence at the very first step, and gradually advance--that to learn the business requires a long time. He pays four girls $5 or $6 a month each, and gives them their board, for selling confectioneries and waiting in his saloon. At S----'s confectionery I was told that the small fine candies are made by steam. They are made in pans, which are shaken back and forth over fires, the gas of which is very injurious, and cannot be carried off by flues. Their girls make so much noise, laughing and talking with the men, and waste so much time, that they are required to work on the first floor, the same as the store. They are paid from $1.50 to $2 a week. They are paid by the week, because they do their work better than if paid by the quantity; besides, it is less troublesome. They are paid for overwork (regular hours being ten), and some earn as much in that way as by regular wages. The girls pick gums, separate gum drops, put candy in boxes, &c. C. employs girls to paint, put up candies, and attend store, and pays $1.50 and $2 a week. Most of the painting is done by French and German men, who are paid from $10 to $12 a week. It requires a long time to acquire taste and experience; one, in fact, can be always improving. C. thinks girls are not likely to find constant employment in the kind of work he gives to females. A French confectioner told me he had employed a woman to make chocolate cream, paying $3 a week for ten hours a day, and could employ her all the year, as the demand for chocolate cream is very great. S. employed one girl to sell candy, paying $5 a week. She was at the store at 7.30 A. M., and remained till 6 P. M. in winter and 8 P. M. in summer. She did not keep the books, but washed the jars and case, and swept back of the counter, and dusted several times a day. Talked with a girl who stood in a confectionery store on Broadway. She knew a girl on Chatham street who received $12 a month and her board. She herself received $9 a month and her board, but not her washing. The proprietor told her she must sew for his family, when not waiting on customers. It seems that it is not an uncommon requisition. They have but few customers until about 11 o'clock, and he expected her to accomplish more sewing than a sempstress who gives all her time to it. The young lady is in the store by 7 o'clock in the morning, and remains until 11 o'clock at night. Any one wishing to commence a confectionery can learn from the wholesale dealer of whom she purchases how to regulate the prices of sweetmeats. Mrs. W. wants a girl to wait in her saloon, will give $8 a month, with her board and washing. She would be required to sew, when not waiting on customers, and would have to wash the jars and cases, keep the counter clean, and dust and arrange the articles in the window every morning. She would have to be in the store at seven, and remain until twelve (seventeen hours). In large confectioneries girls stand while picking gums used in making gum drops. They are mostly made in summer. There is now (December) a great demand for girls, as there always is about the holidays. Those now at work are kept three hours over time--from seven to ten--and paid extra. The chemicals used in making some confectioneries are unhealthy, but women have nothing to do with that, except in painting candy toys. A confectioner in Boston, who employs four American girls in attending store and making goods, writes: "We consider the occupation very healthy, never having had a case of sickness with girls while working at this business. Some are paid $3 and $4 per week, working ten hours a day; others by the quantity, averaging $1 per day. Male labor is paid for, according to the knowledge of the business, from $6 to $15. Girls could not do the work, and the work that women do it would not pay to have done by male labor. It requires a long time and a great deal of practice to learn the whole business, but that part done by women is learned in a few weeks. They are paid something while learning. Honesty, industry, and a good education are the most desirable qualifications. Spring and fall are our most busy seasons. In midwinter we do not have many at work. Retail stores require most help in summer. New York requires most hands, especially women; but the demands are now very small, the trouble at the South being the main cause. They are not strong enough to do some parts of the work. The large towns are best for our business." A lady in a fancy confectionery on Broadway told me she receives $8 a month and her board, and is paid by the month. She thinks many diseases are brought on women by having to stand so much, as they do in confectioneries, bakeries, and dry-good stores. Women that have stood in any kind of a store before, and have business qualifications, are paid while learning. There is never any difficulty about obtaining qualified hands. She finds the work very laborious, and complained of having to be in the confectionery and saloon from seven in the morning until twelve at night. In some saloons the attendants are up until 1 o'clock (eighteen hours!), and are on their feet most of the time. A confectioner in Concord, N. H., writes: "We employ from five to ten girls (because we find it most profitable) for helping make, rolling up, and packing lozenges and pipe candy. Also for standing in the confectionery. The work is very healthy. We pay about sixty-seven cents per day, and they work from six to ten hours. No man employed, except one who takes charge. There is a prospect for employment so long as children cry for lozenges. The girls are American, and work at all seasons. They are as well paid, according to the cost of living, as mechanics in this place. Women are superior to men in rolling up and packing lozenges. They pay for board $1.75 per week." =142. Fish Women.= In the United States, where every one has a right to fish in the rivers and lakes, there is a fair opening for those in this line of business. But it is only in the spring and fall that fish are much eaten. They are not considered healthy in the warm weather of summer. A pound of fish is said to be in nutritive power equal to eight pounds of potatoes. In the United States, according to the census report of 1850, there were engaged in fisheries 20,704 males and 429 females. The fishwomen of Philadelphia have long engaged in the selling of shad, and are to be seen in great numbers on the streets of the city, and even when not seen are likely to be heard crying fish. At one time they had a large market devoted exclusively to the sale of fish, but it became a nuisance, and the city authorities had it torn down; yet the women, possessed of strong local association, were not to be so routed. They are still seen sitting before their tables of fish in the neighborhood of where the market stood. Much money has been realized by the fishwomen, some of whom are said to own property of considerable value. What a lesson to patient industry! "From the time of Louis XIV. to the present, fish have been sold in Paris exclusively by women. They are now remarkable for the urbanity of their language and propriety of their conduct, having risen high in the scale of respectability during the last half century." "On the coasts of the department of Somme there are certain fish, the shrimps and 'vers marius,' which are exclusively reserved to the young girls and widows." On the coast of Great Britain thousands of women are employed in the herring, cod, mackerel, lobster, turbot, and pilchard fisheries. Women and children rub salt on the fish to be cured, with the hand. When cured, women pile them in stacks from four to five feet high, and as wide. Women are paid, at Newlyn, for this labor, 3_d._ an hour, and every sixth hour receive a glass of brandy and a piece of bread. Many are also employed in obtaining oysters and canning them; and on the return of whaling vessels, numbers of women assist in preparing the cargoes for market. In New York, fish are mostly sold by men, who drive about in a little wagon containing fish, and blow a horn, crying out now and then the kind of fish they have for sale. =143. Macaroni.= Macaroni is moulded and dried. Girls then pick out the whole sticks, and put them in boxes. The broken pieces are all thrown together in a barrel, then ground and moulded over. It is very easy work, and requires no learning. They are paid from $2 to $3.50 a week, working ten hours a day. The girls I saw, stood while at work. =144. Maple Sugar.= The cheapness of sugar made from sugar cane has almost annihilated the existence of maple sugar, except as a sweetmeat. The peculiar flavor of maple molasses and sugar makes them much loved by some people. The trees are tapped early in the spring, when the sap first rises. After sufficient water is collected, it is put on and boiled until of the consistence required. It is slow work and pays poorly, but can be performed by women capable of the heavy labor involved in carrying, lifting kettles, and stirring. =145. Market Women.= Mrs. Childs says, in her "History of Women," "On the seacoast of Borneo fleets of boats may be seen laden with provisions brought to market by women, who are screened from the sun by huge bamboo hats. In Egyptian cities, the country girls, closely veiled, are frequently employed in selling melons, pomegranates, eggs, poultry, &c." In the southern countries of Europe it is common to see women riding to market on donkeys, laden with marketing. We learn from "London Labor and London Poor," that there are 2,000 persons employed in the sale of greenstuff in the streets of London, as water-cresses, chickweed, groundsel, turf, and plantain. The cresses are eaten by people; the other articles are sold for birds. We may divide market women into two classes--those that raise or have raised the products they sell, and those that buy to sell again. The articles of the first are generally genuine and of fair price. Vegetables, poultry, eggs, and butter, with fruit, both green and dried, are carried to market, and there the market women, placing them on stalls or retaining them in their wagons, wait for purchasers. This class mostly supply the markets of towns and villages. Their articles are usually fresh and wholesome. There are thirteen markets in New York city where everything is obtained at the second or third remove from the producer. It is estimated that there are 1,300 huckster women attending the New York markets. The members of some families are engaged in the sale of different articles: one will sell eggs; another, vegetables; another, poultry, &c. It is said that better meat and vegetables are brought to Philadelphia than to New York markets. In New York there is a larger population requiring articles of a cheap kind. We think market women, considering their habits and modes of living, probably do as well in a pecuniary way as any other class of women. Their wants are few, their habits simple, and their occupation--though an exposed one--healthy. The variety of seeing new faces, and chatting with those similarly employed, yield more comfort and content than most women's work. They take in but a few pennies at a time, yet have their regular customers, and, in prosperous seasons, many besides. I will give an extract from my diary of a visit made to several of the New York markets: "I saw some women selling fruit; some, vegetables; and some, tripe and sausage. I judge, from the appearance of most dealers, it is not unhealthy. Most of the women were far advanced in life, particularly those who sold vegetables. They all complain that they do not sell so much since the commencement of the hard times. How is it? Do people buy less, and so eat less? or is less wasted in their kitchens? or are some unable to buy meat and vegetables at all? Here I would state the remark of a druggist: that, as times are hard, people do not indulge in so much rich food, nor in a surplus of it; consequently there is less sickness, and so little medicine sold that the druggists are discouraged. This druggist has since sold out, and moved to the country. Most of the market women looked to be Irish. One strong Irish woman told me that American women cannot bear the exposure in cold weather, and rent their stalls through the winter to men. They make their appearance in March with the flowers and early fruit. Butter is sold exclusively by men in Washington market, New York, and is more profitable than anything else. There is considerable difference in the class of custom in the different markets in New York; but the poor are usually more in number than the rich--so the markets frequented by them may receive as great a profit as where a smaller number of better customers attend. Some women regulate their sales to have a percentage, but many sell for what they can get, without regard to the amount of profit. I find those selling vegetables, buy of farmers who come early, and leave a supply for each seller in case she is not there. Any vegetables they may have left are locked up in boxes, or barrels, or covered over and left on the bench. The gates of the market house are closed and locked up at one o'clock every day except Saturday, with the exception of Washington and Fulton markets, which are open all day, and the first mentioned all night. Watchmen are about the markets at all hours of the day and night, and in some markets an extra fee is paid by the sellers to secure attention to their stalls. At two o'clock in the morning, Washington market is fully lighted, and the farmers begin to arrive to sell to grocers. The grocers usually buy from four to five in summer, and from four to six in winter. Boarding-house keepers mostly buy from seven to nine o'clock. Families buy during any of these hours, or later. All the markets are open by half past three. Fulton market is rather warmer than the others because of the stoves and ranges used for making coffee, cooking oysters, &c. Ladies do not come to market so much in winter as in spring and summer. I think the vocation of market selling must be very healthy, when the venders are comfortably clad, and have stoves, as many of them do. Market women live to a great age. Vegetables injured by frost or long keeping are sold at a lower price. As a general thing, less is sold in market during January and February, than any other months. In spring time the market presents the most inviting appearance, for the stalls are then freshly painted, and flowers and fruit exhibited to advantage on them. Mrs. B. told me that a woman who sold flowers in Fulton market had made a fortune at it. Some of these sellers let other women have flowers and fruit to take over the city to sell, and reap a profit in that way. One old lady told me she always made 12½ cents profit on her goods, they being pocket-knives, combs, &c. The stalls are sold or rented. One woman told me she paid 12½ cents a day for her stall; another, 9 cents; and this must be paid for even on days when they are absent from market. Another woman told me that she got a permit for the use of a stall in Washington market when it was first built, and not long since she sold it for $1,500, and the owner pays a tax of $2 a week besides. She paid $200 for the stall at which she stood in Fulton market, and pays a rent of 75 cents a week. She makes a living by selling smoked salt fish. The processes through which produce must pass from the producer to reach the consumer, might be avoided by permitting farmers to remain longer in the city, and furnishing them with a place for their teams and produce; but now they must all leave by ten o'clock, and can scarcely feel that they have a place to put anything down while they are in the city. In England are women who shell peas and beans at so much a quart. I have seen books, spectacles, canes, pocket-books, caps, shoes, hose, china, and even old clothes for sale on the streets, and around or in the market-houses of Philadelphia and New York. =146. Meat Sellers.= In markets and in meat shops of the United States, women may occasionally be seen selling meat. They are generally the wives or the daughters of butchers. They no doubt assist in cleaning tripe, and making sausage and souse. On the streets of London are nearly one thousand sellers of dogs' and cats' meat. Most of them are men. This meat is the flesh of old worn out horses, which are bought, killed, cut up, boiled, and sold by those who make it a business. Mrs. M. told me of a woman that sells meat in the New York market. She has made a fortune by it. She stands in market, and sells, and orders her hired men to cut it up as desired. Mr. W. told me that women are employed at the pork houses in Louisville, in putting up hogs' feet, to send to New Orleans. Less meat is sold in summer than winter. I have been told that curing meat is too heavy work for women, on account of the lifting. Besides, they would get wet from the brine used; but some German and English women do pickle meat, and some even buy and sell stock. The late census of Great Britain reports twenty-six thousand butcheresses. =147. Milk Dealers.= Kindness to animals always indicates something good in the heart. Life, in its every form, should be precious to us. Cows yield much less milk, and of an inferior quality, on the eastern than western continent. In Canada and some countries of Europe, the milk of goats is sold, and considerably used. In some parts of Rome it is customary for dairymen to drive their cows in every morning, and around to the houses of their customers, when the milkman draws from the cow into the vessel the desired quantity. In Belgium it is not uncommon to see milkmaids following their little wagons, containing vessels of milk, and drawn by dogs. Mayhew stated, in 1852, that in St. James's Park, London, eight cows were kept in summer to supply warm milk to purchasers; four in winter, and the number of street women engaged in the sale of curds, was one hundred. A lady called with me in a milk depot. The man has his milk brought in on the cars. Milkmen pay their women from $6 to $7 a month. They begin to milk about five in the morning, and the same hour in the afternoon, so that it may cool before being placed in the cans. Those hired to milk do house work or kitchen work in the intervals. When milking is done in the afternoon, the men that work on the farm, and the proprietor himself, assist. In some places where butter is made for market, the churning is done by horses and dogs. A milk dealer told me he sold to those who wished to sell again at cost price, four cents a quart; to other customers his price is six cents. At one depot, Williamsburg, the dealer was counting over an immense pile of pennies. His milk comes from New Jersey, seventy miles from New York. He crosses two rivers every night at twelve o'clock, to receive his milk at the Jersey depot. He sells at six cents a quart. To those who buy to sell again, his price is five cents a quart. He told me a separate freight agent is employed on some trains to take charge of the milk sent on the cars. Milk does not often sour while being brought in. Cream is brought in cans placed in large tubs of ice. He pays for freight, forty cents a can. Cream usually sells at twenty-five cents per quart. He sells twice as much milk in summer as in winter--he supposes, because it sours so easily. At shops, milk is usually sold at five cents; when delivered, at six cents. Milk is less rich in winter than summer. A milkman told me that in dairies in and near the city, men mostly milk. He mentioned one quite near a distillery. Women that take milk about in buckets to sell, have a cow of their own, and feed her on swill from the distillery, and slops from kitchens. The milk they sell is not healthy. Some of them buy a little good milk and mix with theirs. If a dairy woman's time is not entirely occupied with her business, she might in some places find it profitable to have an ice house, and send ice around with the same horse, wagon, and driver used for the sale of milk. Borden's condensed milk is boiled at a temperature of 112°, I think, and prepared in Connecticut. The American Solidified Milk Company, in New York, employ some girls in rolling, packing, and labelling. The superintendent writes: "The employment is healthy. Women receive from $7 to $8 per month, and their board. They spend twelve hours per day, including meal times, in the establishment. An intelligent person may learn in a week. There is a prospect of more being employed. All the girls we employ are Americans, except one. It is a very comfortable occupation. I find little difference between male and female labor. When I have hired men or youths, I have found them to be more habitually attentive, and less irritable; but women are usually neater. The women all board at a house, subject to the control of the Company. The price is $2.25 per week, washing included, and is paid for by the Company. The character of the house is unexceptionable, and the table is much better provided than that of most farmers living here." =148. Mince Meat and Apple Butter.= The preparation of mince meat might be performed by women. And it might be sold by them in stores where poultry, eggs, and butter are disposed of, or in clean, well-kept groceries. With a machine for cutting the meat, and another for paring the apples, it could be easily accomplished. Apple butter is an article that meets with ready sale in market. People that are very particular about their food only buy of those they know to be cleanly in their cooking. Stewing apple butter is laborious work. If a farmer has a cider press and an apple parer, much labor is saved in preparing the materials. In some places, apple butter is kept for sale in groceries, and in establishments for the sale of the products of the dairy. The apples that are partly decayed, and those picked off the ground, furnish an abundance from large orchards. And from orchards not accessible to market where defective fruit can be sold, there will be no want of a supply. It is sold by the pint or quart, or put up in jars holding more. =149. Mustard Packers.= Most of the mustard in this country has been imported, but some planters are now turning their time and attention to it. Mustard is cultivated to some extent for the oil pressed from its seed. Some factories exist in the United States. I have heard of a man in New York that used to be engaged extensively in grinding mustard with vinegar, and employed women to put it in jars, paying $3 a week. In some dry mustard factories women are employed to put the mustard in papers. A manufacturer of mustard writes: "Women are employed at some large establishments. The business is severe on persons with weak lungs, as a large quantity of steam or dust arises from packing. The work is paid for by the quantity, not the day. Women of good judgment would soon become mistresses of their work--in six months they would become good workwomen. They would probably spoil as much as their wages were worth for the first few days. When cholera and yellow fever are about, is the best time for the sale of mustard. Ten hours is the usual time for work, but in busy seasons the hands work longer." =150. Oyster Sellers.= I called on a woman who makes a living for herself and five little children by selling oysters. She sells most about tea time, and on until twelve o'clock. She thinks oysters are wholesome all the year. Physicians recommend them for their patients, and many can eat them when they cannot eat anything else. Of course a real oyster saloon can only be kept in places where fresh oysters can be had. Oysters are rather hard for a woman to open. In summer nothing is done. The room, vender, and oysters should be clean, to draw decent customers. It pays well; but too often, in small concerns, the profits are derived from the sale of liquor. At a little oyster shop the woman told me she barely made a living. She keeps boys to open the oysters. She supplies families with fresh oysters, and when she receives an order, prepares them for families and sends them to the house. =151. Pie Bakers.= "Many of the young Swabian girls of thirteen or fourteen years old are sent to Stuttgart to acquire music, or other branches of education, among which, household duties are generally included. A matron, who keeps a large establishment there, gives the instruction, which they voluntarily seek. They may often be seen returning from the bakeries, with a tray full of cakes and pies of their own making; and sometimes young gentlemen, for the sake of fun, stop them to buy samples of their cookery." The foundation of Miss Leslie's culinary knowledge was laid at a school of cookery in Philadelphia. In England, women make pastry for confectioneries. At the W. pie bakery I was told they employ women to prepare the fruit. They used to employ them to roll the dough; but they are not such fast workers as men. One man remarked, the shoulders ache from rolling by the time evening comes. The women are paid fifty cents a day, and board themselves. One woman boards with them, and receives $1.50 a week, with her board. M. & Co. pay their women five cents an hour, for preparing the fruit and making pies. They sell most to retail stores and hotels--consequently sell most in the spring and fall, when the largest number of strangers are in the city. They keep three wagons running part of the time, which start at six in summer, and, in busy seasons, sometimes do not get in to remain till twelve at night. When it rains or snows they do not sell so much, as those who sell at stands on the street are not out. The drivers come back several times during the day for pies, when very busy, and they mention how many are ordered. So the manager knows how many to have baked. They always sell most on Saturday, and I think sell least on Wednesdays and Thursdays. When the women work over ten hours, they are paid extra at the same rate, five cents an hour. C. and wife pay their best woman $9 a month with board and washing. It is her duty to roll out pastry, put the fruit in, and put the covers on. They employ some girls for $6 a month, to wash dishes, cook fruit, chop apples, pick dried fruit, &c. The work requires more strength than skill. There are only four large pie bakeries in New York. Madame L., who sells French pastry and confectionery, says very few women are employed in Paris, in making pastry, except for families. It requires too much strength and too long labor, to do so for a saloon. The saloons are usually open until twelve o'clock at night. At a bread bakery an attendant told me she prepares the fruit for pies, but the bakers prepare the crust, make and bake them. She says their men do that in the morning, when not otherwise employed, and it would not pay to have a woman for that purpose alone. Mrs. H. employs fifteen women. She pays $3.50 a month, with board and lodging, to those that slice apples and carry pies to and from the oven. Men place them in the oven and take them out. She pays $6.50 to those that roll out pastry and wash dishes, &c. She has three thousand pies made sometimes in one day. It requires more care to bake pies than bread. At another pie bakery, the lady told me she has the fruit prepared for pies in her kitchen and taken to the bakehouse, where they are made up by men, to save the women from working where the men are. She pays a woman for preparing fruit $5 a month and her board. In a pie bakery in New York, one of the attendants said in the old country women learn to bake pies and cakes for confectioners. They pay £30 for instruction, and spend two years' apprenticeship. They learn the whole process, including the stewing of fruit and preparing mince meat. In this country that is followed as a separate branch, and mostly done by women for bakers. She said in the bakery where she stood, girls were required, not only to wait on customers, but wash the counters, shelves, and windows of the store. The other attendant told me she found the smell of the pastry, and being so constantly on her feet, very injurious. They each receive $8 a month, and their board and washing. To succeed, a person should be quick in her motions and calculations, and a good judge of money. They are in the shop fifteen hours. In some bakeries the girls spend eighteen hours in the shop. The time could be shortened, if all the establishments of the kind would unite and make regulations to that effect; but it could not be done by one or two stores on account of the competition in the business. Such a store would lose its patronage. The majority of girls board with the bakers' families, on account of rising early to be in store. Summer is the poorest season on Broadway, as most of their customers are out of the city at that season; but in localities where the working classes are supplied, the summer is the best season, as most of them do not go to the expense of making up a fire to bake their bread and pastry. =152. Picklers of Oysters.= An oysterwoman told me that girls and women are employed at most places where oysters are put in cans to send away. They are paid by the gallon for opening the shells; and near New Haven, some girls make $4 a day. On the Great South Bay, they do not earn so much, as the oysters are smaller and rougher. It requires considerable practice to become expert, but not much physical strength. The business is considered healthy, and women are paid at the same rate as men. Miss B. told me that at Fair Haven some women are paid for opening oysters two and a half cents a quart. =153. Poulterers.= Much attention has been paid in this country, during the last ten years, to the breeding and feeding of poultry. All that read this will remember the hen fever that spread through our country a few years ago. Chinese chickens sold at from $40 to $100 a pair; and the usual price of one egg for a time was $5. The saving of feathers off poultry will be found profitable, for they bring a high price and ready sale. Poultry are best disposed of in large quantities at hotels, steamboats, and restaurants. Houses for poultry should be warm and tightly made. When there is a variety of poultry, each kind should be separately lodged. Plenty of space, water accessible, gravel, living plants and loose soil are the principal things to render poultry comfortable. The worms and insects obtained from the loose soil furnish them animal food, and sand or gravel is necessary to promote digestion. It is best not to draw poultry when preparing it for market, as it keeps longer when the air is excluded. In winter some farmers let their poultry freeze, and pack them in boxes of dry straw, and send them to market. They will keep so for two or three months. I was told of an old lady, back of New Albany, Ia., that has made several thousand dollars by the sale of poultry. The egg trade is a very extensive one. It requires a knowledge of the state of the market, and promptness in supplying its demand at the right time. Several establishments in Cincinnati entered largely into the business some years ago, and, we suppose, still continue it. Eggs are often shipped from Cincinnati to New Orleans and New York. "In France and England 6,000,000 eggs are used annually in preparing leather for gloves." In New York the poultry sold in market is mostly purchased from the wholesale commission merchants, who have stands in some parts of the market, or stores near the market. Poultry is there sold by the pound: chickens, 9 and 10 cents, and turkeys from 10 to 12 cents. It requires experience to learn the quality of poultry, but those in the business can judge of it by seeing the poultry when alive. The best time for selling is through the fall up to February. Some market women sell poultry in winter, and flowers in summer. Those who engage in raising poultry, could unite with it the raising of rabbits, pigeons, &c. About a hundred persons (mostly women) are employed in a henery near Paris, where thousands of chickens are annually hatched out by keeping eggs in rooms, heated by steam to a uniform temperature. =154. Restaurant Keepers.= In London and Paris, young and pretty women are employed in the best class of tobacco stores and in restaurants. This should not be so on account of the number, and often the character, of the men that resort to these shops. Indeed, we think it best not to employ them in any stores that men only frequent. Besides, the unseasonable hours that restaurants are kept open, make it objectionable for women. They are often not closed until midnight or after. In Great Britain girls and women are frequently employed as bar maids at inns. =155. Sealed Provisions, Pickles, and Sauces.= The plan is now almost universally adopted in the United States, of putting up fruit and vegetables in cans from which the air is excluded. It is one of the greatest inventions of the age for housekeepers. It saves labor and expense; and if well put up, the fruit and vegetables are as fresh and taste as natural as we have them in the growing season. Quite a number of large houses are engaged in the business in New York, and a few in Philadelphia. E. Philadelphia employs women to put pickles and preserved fruit in jars, sealing and labelling them. They can earn from $2.50 to $3 a week. They sit while at work. The season begins in July, and is over in October. K. & Co., New York, employ about a hundred females during the fruit season. The occupation consists in preparing the articles to be preserved; that is, peeling, seeding, washing, &c., labelling bottles, and painting cans. Those they employ are mostly Irish, and not capable of any very elevated position of labor. The fruit season lasts six months, after which only about thirty remain the rest of the year. The hours of labor are ten, and the compensation from $2.50 to $3 per week. In another establishment they employ only small girls, to whom they pay $2 per week, and occasionally $2.50. Mrs. Dall suggests that farmers' daughters put up candied fruits like those imported from France, which bear a good price and yield a handsome profit. Some women engage in making pickles on their own responsibility. Owners of gardens not convenient to market would find it profitable to put up fruits and vegetables, and to make pickles and sauces. The spices they would have to purchase; but if they had an orchard, they could make good vinegar. They could either sell the articles in the nearest large city, or pay a commission for the sale of them. Mr. D., in one of the New York markets, employs women for putting pickles in jars--gives $8 a month and board. The number of hours they are employed depends on the quantity of work they have on hand. B., New York, employs for six months from six to eight women; for four months, some twenty-five; and the remaining two months, from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five. B. has always had his work done in the city, but contemplates having it done hereafter in the country, as the articles will then be on the ground, and save the trouble of transportation. They send South. He thinks the South must for a long time be dependent on the North for pickles. They even furnish some of the pickle houses in Baltimore. They fear they will lose much because they have now no demand for pickles from the South, and they are likely to spoil by keeping. They are most busy in summer and fall. They keep some steady hands all the year. They find it difficult to get good hands, and pay learners from the first. Many girls go from New York in the summer, to the country, to put up pickles, gather berries, and weed gardens; and it pays them pretty well. B. pays his women fifty cents a day of ten hours. It is not unhealthy, and requires but a little time to learn. In this, as in most other mechanical work, practice makes perfect; consequently, experienced hands receive the preference. At most places men attend to fruit while it is being cooked. The preserving is mostly done in large kettles, around which pass pipes containing steam, encased by larger vessels. Lifting the kettles would be too heavy for women, when they contain, as in some cases, thirty-five gallons of fruit. And the steam used would require some one that knew a little of such matters, yet a smart woman could soon learn. M. & M. have their work done in the house, paying from $2.25 to $4. They can always get hands. W. & P. have their pickles, preserves, and sauces put up in the country. Their girls get from $3 to $6 a week. They employ two hundred girls, and take most of them from the city in the busy season from June to October. G. pays $3 a week. Any one that can use their hands can do it, and become expert in two or three months. Another pickler pays $2 per week. His wife does most of the work. Mrs. M. lives near Washington market. She employs some women to preserve, and some to put up pickles. Most of her preserves are put up by an old lady who does it at her own home. She pays her women from $2.50 to $4 a week. It requires long experience to become proficient. Nearly all the work is done in her house, and of course is done only in the summer. Her custom is mostly confined to the city. If she is preserving a very large quantity of fruit, she has a man to stir it. He spends most of his time taking purchased articles home. She uses only the best articles. She can always get enough hands. An extensive pickle manufacturer writes: "I employ women in packing pickles and all goods of the kind into glass--labelling, corking, making jellies, jams, &c., packing, labelling catsups, bottling syrups, &c. Women are so employed wherever these goods are manufactured. The employment is _healthy_--so much so that I have known invalids gain their health. I pay $3 per week--men $6 to $10; all work ten hours a day. Women can learn in from three to twelve months. Some learners receive $2, and some $2.50 per week. Quickness, neatness, and skill are required. Summer and fall are the busy seasons. The females are mostly young Irish, born in the United States. Women are superior in handiness, inferior in strength." A gentleman in the business writes from Newburyport: "I employ usually from eight to ten women. I pay eight cents per hour, and they work from four to seven hours. The men's work is worth more than women's, and entirely different from it. The prospect for this kind of work is good. There is no work in winter or early spring. Seaports are the best localities for the business. My women pay from $1.50 to $1.75 for respectable board." =156. Sugar Makers.= When the part of the sugar cane to be pressed, is cut, it is tied in bundles and drawn to the mill in wagons. It is deposited in heaps outside, and negro girls carry the bundles on their heads to the mill door. After the cane has been subjected to pressure by cylinders, to obtain the juice, it falls through an opening in the mill walls, and is carried off by negro women and spread in the sun, to dry for fuel. The work in sugar mills is very warm and heavy. The work in sugar refineries is very laborious, and requires the workers to be subjected to great heat. Several refiners have informed me that the business does not admit of the employment of women in any department. The business is said to be very trying on the constitution, and produces an unhealthy increase of flesh. It is said to be good for consumptives on account of the great nutriment in sugar. A sugar refiner died not long ago, whose salary received from the company amounted, I was told, to $25,000 per annum. I have thought there is one part of the work a woman might do--it is enveloping the sugar in paper cases. At a sugar refinery a man told us, some women are employed to make bags for containing char, _i. e._, burnt bones, and earn several dollars a week. The sewing is done by hand; making the bags requires but a short time, though it is heavy work. Most refiners buy theirs at bag factories, or have their men to make them. =157. Tea Packers.= A boy fitting himself to be a tea broker told me, the business is best in the spring, fall, and winter. The quality of tea is principally decided by smelling--which is done before it is moistened, by blowing on it with the breath and then putting it to the nostrils. Boiling water is then poured on it, and tasted. The boy said, it is a paying business. It is not healthy on account of the dust inhaled. It does not take more than a year to learn to judge of the quality of kinds of tea. Boys learning the business do not live long. They are paid $2, and $2.50 a week. In busy seasons, they sometimes work as late as nine o'clock. There are not many tea packers in the city, and one told me, most of them cannot make a living. We called on Mr. N., a teapacker, who charges for putting tea out of the large boxes, in which it is imported, into canisters and packages, according to the way in which it is put up; whether in paper covers, or canisters of lead or tin. The facing or labelling varies some. He says, packing could be done by girls. He employs men and boys, paying the boys from $2 to $4 a week. There are only two tea packing establishments in New York, and not more than one in any other large city. It is not at all unhealthy. Packing is done most in spring and fall. Mr. N. thinks it would be best to have the girls work in separate apartments from the men. He complains of the want of promptness in girls. A tea packer of Boston writes: "I employ from six to ten girls to cover and line boxes, &c. They are American, of Irish descent. There is nothing in the business, that the girls do, that can be considered unhealthy. Wages run from $2.50 to $3 per week. It does not take a long time to learn, and full wages are paid while learning. I employ my help the year round, though less hours are used for a day's work during the winter. Ten is the number of working hours during the summer, spring, and autumn; and eight, during the winter months." In London, a number of men and women, principally women, buy exhausted tea leaves of the female servants and sell them at establishments, where they are dried, and a fresh green color given them by a copper preparation. They are sold for new tea. The quantity so renewed is thought to amount to 78,000 lbs. annually. The Chinese women assist in gathering tea leaves and drying them, but men do the packing. =158. Vermicelli.= Vermicelli is moulded by passing through a machine and being laid on frames until the next day to partially dry. Then girls cut it in short pieces, and twist it. The twisting requires a little art acquired by practice. They receive from $2 to $3.50 a week. It is cruel for females to be kept on their feet all day while at work, when they might sit. At a factory I saw a French lady, the wife of the proprietor, cutting and twisting vermicelli. A young Frenchman was at work, who told us he was paid 75 cents a day; but women, he said, would not be paid as much, because he had to attend to the machinery. The lady sat, as girls in factories should do if they wish. =159. Vinegar.= A plant is now grown from which vinegar is made. "In addition to the consumption of vinegar in culinary uses and the preparation of preserved food, it is indispensable in several branches of manufacture, as in the dressing of morocco leather, and in dye and print works." The labor of making vinegar is too hard and heavy for women. The handling of barrels, changing of liquids, and constant exposure to heat and cold, without cessation of labor, are too great for the female frame to sustain. The workers often pass from a temperature varying from 92° to 105°, to one of extreme coldness." A Boston vinegar manufacturer, writes: "Women are never employed in making vinegar in large quantities. They are not adapted to the occupation. It does not agree with some constitutions. It requires but a short time to learn the business. The prospect for future employment is poor." Some women make vinegar from parings of fruit, tea leaves, &c., for family use. =160. Yeast.= A manufacturer of yeast powders writes: "There is but a small part of the work that women can do. It requires the strong, muscular arm of a man to do most of it." We know women are sometimes employed for putting up the powders, and are paid by the number of packages. TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. =161. Cotton Manufacturers.= Only so far back as 1789, doubts were entertained whether cotton could be cultivated in the United States, while now the amount of calicoes annually produced in the United States is supposed to equal twenty millions of yards. "The number of females employed in the various factories of Lowell, in which textile fabrics are produced, will exceed 12,000. Those engaged in weaving can earn, upon an average, from $2.50 to $4 per week. Those who labor as spinners and spoolers make only from seventy-five cents to $2, but they are generally very young." In the cotton mill at Cannelton, Ind., there were "in 1854, about 200 females. They worked by the job, and their pay was the same as would be given to men for the same work. They earned from $1 to $5.50 per week." We believe, in the majority of factories, the plan of paying some hands by the piece, and some by the week, is adopted. B., manufacturer, told me quite a number of his weavers earn from $5 to $6 a week, being paid by the piece. It requires two or three months to get in the way of weaving well. His hands are busy all the year. His factory is in New Jersey, twenty-five miles from New York. The laws of New Jersey prohibit the employment of operatives more than twelve hours out of the twenty-four, but some evade it. The law, also, forbids the employment of children under ten years of age. The smaller children are engaged in spinning, and not so well paid. It requires but a short time to learn to attend the spinning machinery. There is generally a full supply of weavers to be had, because it pays well. Manufacturers usually have their work done in the country, because living, and consequently labor, are cheaper there. A cotton manufacturer in Rhode Island, who employs about 100 operatives, writes: "I pay both by the piece and the week. When by the week, from $4 to $5. When by the piece, the women are paid at the same rate as the men, but the men are able to make from fifty cents to $1 per week more. It requires from three to six months, to learn. Girls are paid while learning, if they grow up with us. They are employed through the year, and work sixty-nine hours per week, twelve hours per day for five days, nine hours on Saturday. All classes of laborers must work during mill hours. Women keep the rooms and machinery neater than men. About seven eighths of the women employed in our mill are Americans; one half would be the nearer proportion in mills generally in this section, three fourths in some instances. There are other parts that women might be employed in, but the custom has not been introduced in our section, on account of their dress. They pay from $1.50 to $1.75 for board, and are all in private families." The Lawrence Manufacturing Company, at Lowell, write: "Women are employed in carding, spinning, dressing, and weaving. The employment is not unhealthy, and they earn from $1 to $4 a week, clear of board, according to capability and skill--average, say, $2 per week. They work eleven hours a day; men average about eighty cents a day clear of board; their work is altogether too hard for women. The women learn in from one to three months. They are paid, usually, $1 a week, besides their board, while learning. The qualifications needed are respectable character and ordinary capacity. They are employed all the year round. The scarcity of hands is greater in the departments requiring most skill; there is an abundance of inferior sort. We employ 1,300 women; perhaps one third are Americans. They are employed in all branches where it is expedient. The Americans are well informed; the Irish, improving, though low in the scale of intelligence. They have churches, evening schools, and lectures. Work stops at 6.30 and 7 o'clock. They live in boarding houses under our care, well regulated, respectable and comfortable, and pay $1.25 per week." At the New York mills, "361 adult and 99 minor females are employed in the manufacture of fine shirtings and cottonades. Wages of adults are $3.99, and minors, $2.12½ per week. Price of board, $1.50. They work 12 hours per day." The Naunkeag Steam Cotton Company, Mass., "employ 400, and pay by the week, from $2.50 to $3. Those that do piecework, earn on an average, $3.50 per week; six months will enable intelligent hands to earn three fourths pay. Their board is paid for two weeks, while learning, then they receive what they earn. Desirable hands find steady work; they are employed all the year; they work eleven hours a day. We prefer women, because neater and more reliable. They have more time for improvement than is made available. Board, $1.50 to $1.75. Good boarding houses are provided." At Kingston, Rhode Island, a man employing nine girls, pays by the yard, and the girls earn from $4 to $6 per week. Men receive the same wages as women. They work from sun up to sun down, except at meal times. If other mills ran but ten hours, they would. They have work all the year. Hands are rather scarce in that State. All are American. They prefer it to general housework. Women are the best in mills for light work. Female operatives pay $1.50 for board, lodging, and washing. The Jackson Manufacturing Company of New Haven writes: "Women are employed in the various branches belonging to a cotton mill. Average wages of our females are $2.30, and board money $1.25, making $3.55 per week received by them. Some females in our employ earn eighty cents per day; average price of male labor, about eighty-four cents per day. Women are paid less, because they cannot do such work as is done by men. In regard to the time required to learn to do the work in the different departments, much depends upon the dispositions of the learners. Six months would ordinarily be sufficient time to render one competent. Women are usually allowed their board while learning. A good character and good health are needed. There is much changing among help during the spring and summer months, say for four months in the year; but we almost invariably keep our supply good. Our working hours are eleven and a quarter per day. With the exception of our weaving department, but little work is done on Saturday afternoons aside from cleaning, so that our working hours will not average over ten and a half per day. By giving a suitable notice to the overseer, it is so arranged that the help can be absent from their work one day of a month. The largest proportion of American help is found in the weaving and dressing departments. We have in our employ 140 men, 310 females, about one half American. We have good boarding houses, carefully watched, and kept clean in all respects. Our American help are quite intelligent, also some of the foreign. Some of our help attend school during the winter months. Board $1.25 per week--the keeper of the house not paying rent. The houses will each accommodate about twenty persons comfortably." Another manufacturing company pay from $2 to $4 per week, mostly by the piece. The work can be learned in three or four months. Their hands are paid small wages while learning. They have constant employment. They usually work twelve hours per day; three fourths American. From a manufacturer in Gilford, New Hampshire, we learn he employs forty women, who work by the piece, and whose average pay is $3 per week. They work eleven hours. Females are paid the same as men for the same kind of work. Some parts of the business can be learned in one day, others ten, and some hands will learn in one day what others would not in ten. Work at all seasons; spring and fall most busy. It pays better than housework. Board of males, $2.50; females, $1.25 to $1.50. A manufacturer in New York writes: "I employ about twenty women in weaving, twenty-five in spinning, spooling and other branches; boys and girls from fifteen to twenty each, and ten men. Women average about $2.50 per week. Women are paid the same price as men. Weavers earn about $3.50 per week. My mill runs twelve hours per day, the year round. Women are mostly American. The girls have an hour for each meal." A medical man has stated, that the health of operatives is promoted by occupying rooms with large windows on each side of the room, so that the sunlight will penetrate the apartments during the entire day. And those rooms with white walls are more healthy and better for the eyes than those with colored walls. =162. Batting.= A manufacturer of cotton batting writes: "Women are employed in our factory to tend machinery. They are employed in Europe. It is only unhealthy from being indoor work. We pay, per week, for best hands, $2 and board. They work twelve hours. I think there is a surplus of hands at this time. The work is light and does not require an expenditure of strength. The work is as comfortable as any can be. All parts will not answer for women. Board $1.42. Men are paid $1 more than women, but perform a different part of the work. Learners usually command wages after two weeks. The summer is the most profitable time to manufacture." =163. Calicoes.= Calico takes its name from Calicot, a town in Malabar, where the art has been practised with great success from time immemorial. Calico printing is the art of producing figured patterns upon cotton. They are transferred to its surface by blocks, or engraved by copper cylinders, by which the colors are directly printed, or by which a substance having an affinity for both the stuff and coloring matter is employed, which is called a mordant. "In England, calico printing employs a vast number of children of both sexes, who have to mix and grind the colors for the adult workpeople, and are commonly called turners. The usual hours of labor are twelve, including meal time; but as the children generally work the same time as the adults, it is by no means uncommon in all districts for children of five and six years old to be kept at work fourteen and even sixteen hours consecutively. They begin to work generally about their eighth year, as in Birmingham and Sheffield, but often earlier." Calico is printed mostly in Lowell, Philadelphia, Saco, Dover, and some other towns. A manufacturing company of lawns and calicoes in Providence, R. I., write: "We employ fifty women in stitching, folding, and tracing pantograph designs. The employment is healthy. We pay from fifty cents to sixty-seven cents per day of ten hours. We have one woman who does a man's work at folding, and is paid a man's wages--$1 per day. The time to learn the business is according to natural ability; very soon with ordinary capacity, say, two weeks. Cool weather is the best for work, but the women are not thrown out of employment at any season. We have more applicants than we can accommodate. The light, clean work, is best for women; the rough and heavy for men. We adopt female labor as far as practicable. Ordinary board is from $2 to $2.50 per week." =164. Canton Flannels.= A manufacturer of Canton flannels in Holden, Mass., writes: "We employ from twenty to twenty-five women in spinning, spooling, drawing, and speeder tending, warping and weaving. We like them because they are neater, and more reliable, and the work is better adapted to females. They earn from fifty cents to $1 per day of twelve hours. Women are paid the same as men, except the overseers, who get from $1.25 to $1.67 per day. It requires from one week to four to learn the business. We sometimes pay their board while learning, if they are attentive to work. It is as reliable as any business. There is no difference in seasons; we work the year round. The time could not be shortened. In weaving there is no surplus of hands. I would say, that with the present prospects for business, it would be well for many of the females in want of employment to learn to weave. They can make from $4 to $6 a week, but mostly average $4.75. It is healthy work. The labor is not hard, but confining; and the girls are generally happy and contented. Three fourths of ours are Americans." =165. Carpet Chains.= We were told that in the manufacture of carpet chain, "women are employed in spooling. We saw women employed in weaving various kinds of binding for carpets, webbing for girths, reins, and harness. The hours of labor are nominally ten, which, indeed, seems reasonable, in Philadelphia; but in the suburbs, and some parts of New England, both men and women work fifteen hours. Our informant uses no artificial light on the premises, and when the daylight fails, his workpeople leave off labor. The wages are the usual fifty cents a day. Steady hands are kept in work the year round; but unskilful workwomen are dismissed after fair trial. Men earn double what women earn, though they do not produce double the work, nor do it any better. When machinery is used, women frequently require assistance from a workman." =166. Cord.= C., of Philadelphia, manufacturer of black and white cord, employs about thirty women in spooling, twisting, balling, and making into skeins. He keeps his hands all the year. He did not permit us to see them, saying they object to being seen by strangers, on the ground that they are "en deshabille." We can bear witness to the probability of this statement, for almost all the women we have seen at work are very untidily clad, and dirty; indeed, in the present total disregard of cleanliness in the workrooms, if they wore better clothes, they would spoil more than they can afford. Ought not employers and workwomen to consider this subject, since it undoubtedly degrades a female, even in her own estimation, as in that of others, to be habitually in what is mildly qualified "deshabille?" The spoolers receive the highest wages, viz., $5 per week; the other hands from $2 to $5. The _fine_ cord is made farther East, as it can there be produced cheaper; the _coarser_ can be made in Philadelphia, at a lower rate. Mr. J., of New York, employs six women, two of them earn $7 each--the others less. It is paid for by the quantity. Prospect for work, good. There are but five factories in New York city, but they do seven eighths of the city business. In Philadelphia most is made. It takes but two or three months to learn. They give employment all the year, and learners receive something from the first. =167. Dyers and Bleachers.= Dyeing may be divided into seven branches: 1, calico and cotton; 2, fur; 3, fustian; 4, leather; 5, linen; 6, silk; 7, wool and woollen. Silk and wool are of animal origin, and require different treatment in dyeing from substances of a vegetable nature, such as cotton and flax. All the various colors and shades of dyed goods were originally derived from the combination of the four simple colors--blue, red, yellow, and black. Cotton is more easily dyed than linen, and the colors are brighter. Much of what is said under "Print Works" will apply to this subject. They are so similar, a distinction is scarcely necessary. In large manufacturing cities, dyers usually confine themselves to one kind of goods, as wool or silk, and some to certain colors. Dye houses, in other than manufacturing cities and towns, are mostly for the coloring of goods that are worn, or new goods that have been damaged. A great deal of dyeing is done in our large cities. Frequently, persons going into mourning have articles of dress dyed. Steam has taken the place mostly of hard labor. When goods have been well dyed, a casual observer could not detect it. Permanency of color is a desirable item in dyeing. Some women make a living by keeping a little shop, where they receive goods to be colored, and have the work done at dye houses, making, of course, a profit. There is generally a dye house connected with every large factory of woollen goods. A girl who was employed in a dye house says the work is far from being neat. The work of most of the girls is light. It is to put letters or figures on the articles sent, and when dyed, fold and tie them up, and place the numbers on. In the dye house where she was, one girl received $3.50--the others, each, $3 per week. They worked ten hours a day. One girl was employed in finishing the goods--that is, running them over a heated cylinder to smooth and dry them. She says the floors of dye houses are so wet that women would find it not only filthy, but injurious. Mr. Y. says women are not employed in the mechanical department of his dye and print establishment--that the business requires the workers to stand in liquids, and the atmosphere is very damp. A woman would be liable to suffer from exposure of that kind. A girl employed at another place to mark goods, told me she received $3 per week. Was told at C.'s dye house that he employs four girls, paying $3, and $3.50 a week. They put numbers on goods, and do other work of that kind. They work ten hours. A cotton goods bleacher and dyer told me the work was too wet and dirty for women. Most of the winding of cotton for dyeing is done by machinery. By steam power one person could do ten times as much as by a wheel. At one place they paid thirty-five cents for basting together two pieces of cloth eight yards long to be bleached; and a woman could earn from seventy-five cents to $3 per day; but the work could not last long. We called at a dyer and bleacher's. He said: "Very few women are employed in dyeing in this country, but in the old country they are. He has seen them at it in Scotland, and there it is rather better paid than most women's work. They are also employed in bleaching, both by chemicals and exposure to the sun. It is not unhealthy, although in a dye house a person must be wet from the knees down. By wearing thick boots, and leggings of India rubber, they would not be likely to suffer. Occasionally, dyers get some of the chemicals they use into sores on their hands and feet, which may injure them some, but not seriously. He says the work must be done in a certain time, and so they cannot be particular about keeping their feet dry. He pays old women for hanking cotton 37½ cents a score, and so they may earn $2.25 a week." There are mechanical modes of printing textile fabrics. In the Staten Island Dye and Print Works, "there are a good many women and children employed. The latter are principally confined to the printing department, each of the sixty printers engaged there being allowed a child for the purpose of adjusting or distributing the color evenly, previous to the application of the block. The rate of wages paid in this establishment is, we understand, as follows: the printers and block makers are paid by the piece, and when in full work can earn from $60 to $70 a month; the dyers and other workmen receive from 37½ cents to $1.25 a day; the women $6 to $12 a month, and the children from $6 to $8." A dyer writes: "Women are sometimes employed in the finishing department, and are mostly paid by the day. Spring and fall are the busy seasons." One in Walpole, Mass., writes: "I think more than an ordinary degree of intelligence is required for the business, because of the thought and observation necessary." A dyer in Buffalo, N. Y., writes: "I employ two, and sometimes three women. Women are employed in basting work together, and in finishing it after it is dyed. In some places they have charge of the office, and receive and deliver goods. For a healthy person it is not injurious. In finishing, the individual is on his or her feet all the time. I pay from $1.75 to $5 per week, and hands work from ten to sixteen hours. The time could not be shortened, owing to the nature of the business, and the loss during the winter. The comfort and remuneration of the part done by women is very good. Women of equal intelligence with men do better, as it is of female apparel the business mostly consists. In winter they have considerable unoccupied time they could devote to mental improvement." The proprietor of the Chelsea Dye House writes: "We employ about seventy-five women to wash, iron, and finish dyed goods. About one eighth are Americans. It is not unhealthy, to my knowledge, or in my experience. Average pay is $3.50 per week. Those that work by the piece can earn from $3.50 to $6 per week of eleven hours per day. Women are paid all which the business they do will afford. It requires a woman of fair capacity a few weeks to learn. Work is constant for good hands. Work is nearly uniform through the seasons. Large cities are the best localities for business. They pay about $1.75 per week for board in private families of their own standing." A member of a firm at Astoria, L. I., writes: "We employ from seventy-five to one hundred women in washing and dyeing yarns and cloth. We know them to be so employed in Berlin, Prussia. The employment is not unhealthy. We pay by the week from $4 to $5. They work ten hours. We pay men $7 per week for the same work that the females are employed at, because they do more. It requires about four years to learn fully that portion of work done by females. They are paid $2 per week while learning. A good public school education is needed, and temperate, steady habits. The prospects for females are good--eventually they will supersede the men in one branch of the business. The spring and fall seasons are the best. The winter is not so good. About two months in the summer our works are partially stopped. There is a surplus of dyers in Lowell, Mass. We employ women in preference to men, because we believe them to be more intelligent than men--especially emigrants. About two thirds are Americans. They have evening schools, lectures, and church services. Those that board pay about $1.50 per week." =168. Factory Operatives.= The larger number of operatives in our manufactures are females. They are of all ages. They do not remain so permanently in our factories as in those of older countries. They make skilful and active workers. The factory operatives of this country are more favorably situated than those of most countries. Most of them have wholesome food and comfortable homes, or boarding houses. They are not confined in factories from early childhood until they lie down to take their last, long sleep; consequently, they are not stunted and deformed, and prematurely old. The activity and variety attending life in the city are likely to produce great restlessness, and insatiable thirst for excitement. This must be checked, or its results may be ruinous. Vent of the feelings is harmless; wholesome amusements, recreation so far as is possible in the quiet of the country, reading good books, and social intercourse with the virtuous and worthy, will form a good substitute for this artificial excitement. So greatly is the manufacture of materials into cloth, and cloth into goods, facilitated by machinery, that wool taken from the sheep's back to-day, can be worn as clothing to-morrow. The number of factories has greatly increased since the