=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.