HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with one hour for dinner and a quarter of an hour for tea; on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with half an hour for a meal. They never get away at 6 though, not till 6.30 or later, for there are the machines to be cleaned and things to be cleared up.
GENERAL.--Mr. S. sometimes comes round and talks as if he were the kindest of employers. "He'll say, 'Take care of your head, there, dear.' It makes you sick to hear him. If he'd give better wages it would be more to the point."
4. Q., _Job Printing Firm in London. Visit to Works._
WORK.--I went through the works and saw 10 extra young girls sticking on pockets for stamps on to an appeal sheet of ...; one girl feeding a platen machine which was gumming instead of printing; 4 or 5 upstairs in the regular folding room folding....
REGULARITY.--Q. has only 4 or 5 regular hands, and when there is a rush of work, he takes on job hands. "You put up a bill and can easily get 100 if you want them." He dislikes the custom, but does not see how it is to be obviated in the printing trade. "You suddenly have 75,000 circulars to do, and you don't know when the next order will be."
HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with one hour for dinner, ten minutes for lunch and ten minutes for tea. Girls prefer this to half an hour for tea and leaving at 7. On Saturdays the hours are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., no meal time being allowed. The married women, however, rarely come till 9 a.m.
5. L., _Printing, etc., Firm in London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--200 girls are employed at L.'s. Informant does folding now, used to do sewing by machine.
REGULARITY.--The work is regular, "but you never know when the work is coming in. They are always busy with the ... guides at the end of the month, and two or three job hands come in."
HEALTH.--She has always found the occupation healthy.
PROSPECTS.--None; is slow herself. She has worked at L.'s six years, and has never known of anyone becoming a forelady.
DANGERS.--She has never had an accident, and was working on a machine for five years.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8.30 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m., with an hour for dinner (from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.), and half an hour for tea (4 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.) and from 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Sometimes they are let off early if there is no work. But some girls go and lark about in the street, and then the manager scolds the forelady and she will not let the others go. She never takes a holiday except Bank Holidays.