=281. Pocket Books.= One man told me he employs a woman to make portemonaies, paying $5 a week. On Broadway a firm employs four or five women, paying from $3 to $6 a week. It requires but two or three months to learn the business. The women sew with a machine, paste morocco on, and varnish some parts. C. pays his girls from $3.50 to $4 a week. At another place one of the firm told me their girls earn $3, $4, and $5 a week. It is piece work, and requires but three or four weeks to learn. A smart girl can earn $2 the first week. The busy seasons are spring and fall. They find it difficult to get enough good hands in those seasons. The business is mostly confined to New York and Philadelphia. A manufacturer in New York told me, about two hundred women are employed in making pocket books, &c., in that city. He pays $4.50 a week, but they have a certain quantity to do in that time. It requires but a short time to learn to do the stitching only (which he has done by hand), but about a year to learn to do all parts. He pays $2 a week while they are learning, and then he increases at the rate of twenty-five cents a week after a few months, and at the end of the year some are earning $3; some $3.25. Neatness in cutting and fitting the parts together is desirable. He keeps his hands employed all the year. There is a scarcity of good hands, but an abundance of indifferent ones. A manufacturer in Maine writes: "We employ from eight to twelve American girls. They are paid by the piece, and earn from $12 to $16 per month. Boys earn about the same as girls. They are paid while learning, if the work is well done. It requires about a year to become proficient."
=282. Saddle Seats.= In Philadelphia, I was told at a large saddle store that they employ women to stitch saddles, paying from fifty cents apiece for common ones to $1.25 for those of a better quality. At a large saddle and harness manufactory in New York, I was told they employ women to stitch by the machine and by hand. They are paid by the day, as there is a variety of work, and their girls are not confined to exclusive branches. In prosperous times their hands are employed most of the year. Spring and fall are the best seasons for work. There are small factories in most of the Southern and Western cities. The hand sewers earn but $3 and $5 a week; a few operators can make $6. At S. & M.'s they employ about twenty women in the different branches, and, when business is good, have work all the year. It does not require long to learn. They are paid by the week, from $3 to $4. Prospect dull. This kind of work is mostly done in Newark.