=251. Watch Jewels.= I called on a Swiss lady who sets jewels in watches. She supports her family by it, but complains of a scarcity of work, because watchmakers can import their jewels at four shillings a dozen from Switzerland, and set them themselves.
=252. Indian Goods.= Any one that has ever visited Niagara, knows something of the immense quantity of Indian goods offered for sale. Moccasins and reticules (made of buckskin, and ornamented with beads), pincushions, baskets, &c. (made of birch-wood, and ornamented with figures and flowers of party-colored porcupine quills), can be had. Fans of feathers and a thousand little fancy articles may be bought in a dozen different shapes at Niagara. The Indians make most of them, but quite a number are made by fairer hands. The duty on goods purchased in Her Majesty's realm, and brought into the States, is ten per cent. So, if a person is careful of his purse, or disposed to encourage home manufactures, he had as well purchase on the American side. On most of the steamboats and cars of the Western waters, while in port or at the depot, genuine Indian women may be seen, with (we suppose) genuine Indian articles for sale.
=253. Inkstands.= Manufacturers of inkstands in Connecticut write: "We employ from twelve to fifteen American women in painting, varnishing, and bronzing inkstands, and pay from fifty to sixty cents per day of ten hours. Females do not perform the same kind of labor that the males do. The wages of women are less, because there is a surplus in consequence of there being so little diversity in female employment. The occupation is learned in from one to two years. That part done by females may be learned in one month. They are paid while learning. Some mechanical ingenuity is required. The business will depend on general commercial prosperity. Summer and fall are the most busy seasons. No cessation of employment during the year. The other parts of the work are too laborious for women. Our location is preferable, as we have water power and are convenient to market. Board, $1.75 per week."
=254. Lithoconia=, or artificial stone, is being used as a substitute for terra cotta, papier-maché, &c. It is composed of mineral substances, and is insoluble in water. It is used for making photograph frames, busts, and statuary, and for architectural purposes. It is made in Roxbury, Mass. The proprietor and inventor writes: "I employ fourteen women in manufacturing and finishing lithoconia photograph frames. Their wages average $5 a week, ten hours a day. Some are paid by the piece, and some by the day. Men earn from $1 to $2 per day. Women learn in from one to four weeks. Cultivation of the eye and finger, and great neatness are desirable in a learner. Girls accustomed to drawing or fine needle work answer well. The prospect of more work is good. My women work the year round. Women, I think, are more reliable than men; that is, if told to do a work in a certain way, they will do it. Men are more apt to experiment in a new business. Women might be employed in gilding the frames. We have twelve men in New York doing that for us now. My girls pay from $1.75 to $2 per week for board. I hear no complaint of their houses; but, judging from my Scotch experience, the accommodations in Scotland are far superior in an intellectual point of view; but so far as pies and doughnuts go, American boarding houses have the advantage."