Library Collections: Document: Full Text

1 Book-Stitcher,
2 Cartridge-makers,
1 Corset-maker,
2 Hair-braiders,
1 Matron in a school for deaf-mutes,
2 Matrons, Assistant, in a school for deaf-mutes,
27 Mill operatives,
5 Seamstresses,
3 Shoe factory operatives,
1 Supervisor of girls in school
for deaf mutes,
2 Tailoresses,
6 Teachers.

A large number of the women are married and have homes of their own. Many others live with their parents, and are useful and efficient members of the household. Of these two classes I have made no note in the above list of occupations.

WAGES.

As a rule the wages reported are not inferior to those earned by others in the same kinds of work, and some are receiving wages above the average.

One shoemaker earns $125.00 per month on an average, others report an average of $60.00 per month, others $40.00 per month, and the lowest reported in that trade is $1.00 a day; the wages of boys little more than half way through their teens.

One weaver earns $53.00 a month, others $40.00, others $30.00 to $35.00.

Carpenters generally report wages of $2.00 a day.

Cabinet-makers earn from $1.25 to $2.25 a day.

One mechanic earns from $75.00 to $80.00 per month.

Clock-makers report wages varying from $1.25 to $3.00 per day for piece-work.

Burnishers report wages varying from $1.25 to $5.00 per day for piece-work.

Teachers receive wages which will not compare unfavorably with the wages paid for teaching the same grades of classes in the profession generally, the highest salary reported being $1800.

The patent lawyer in a competitive examination for the chief examinership in the patent office received the highest mark, but being debarred from that office by his infirmity, he entered upon the practice of patent-law, in which he has gained a lucrative practice.

It will be seen by a glance at the list given above, that there is great variety in the occupations of our former pupils. Comparatively few of them have followed the trades learned here, but all have carried with them the trained hand and eye, the cultivated judgment, and the industrious habits here acquired. In no case have they found these a hindrance to their advancement, but, rather, on the foundations thus laid, they have built their success. There is nothing degrading or belittling in the acquirement of any honest handicraft. The false impression that there was has started many a young man on his way to the alms-house or the jail. Honest industry of any kind is honorable. Voluntary idleness is degrading, whether it be found among the rich or the poor, among the learned or the ignorant.

That the crown prince of Germany is a wood-turner by trade, and his oldest son a skillful photographer, detracts nothing from their royal dignity. That Henry "Wilson was a shoe-maker did not prevent his rise to the vice-presidency of the nation. Andrew Johnson, though a tailor, became President of the United States. Years of honest toil at the anvil were no bar to Dr. Kobert Collyer's gaining an enviable reputation as a pulpit orator. Work at the hatter's bench, while a boy, and serving an apprenticeship at coach-making afterward, dwarfed neither the mind nor heart of Peter Cooper, who by his princely munificence did so much to encourage and elevate the industrial classes in New York, and whose good work still goes on in Cooper Institute. That prince among men, the apostle Paul, who furnished the highest type of Christian manhood, and whose life and teaching have done more than those of any other mere man to elevate the human race, was not ashamed to earn his bread as a tent-maker. Even the Son of God, when veiled in the flesh, did not think it degrading to his humanity to toil at the carpenter's bench.

This age of inventions owes its pre-eminence largely to the practical sagacity of "greasy mechanics." The names of those who, from humble trades have risen to positions of influence and honor, and whose lives have been a power in their day and generation, is legion. "The gospel of work" is a glorious gospel, and its apostles, who are now putting forth every effort to secure a revival of it, deserve earnest encouragement and support.