The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-31 00:00:00

occasion was so very novel and national, as well as
pleasant and creditable, that I aria tempted to recall
a few particulars concerning it. Two young and
enterprising Scotchmen, Messrs. Douglass and Sher-
wood, who have made large fortunes within the last
three years in the manufacture of crinoline skiets,
employ an establishment of more than 800 girls in
the fabrication of that article. The establishment

of Messrs. Douglass and Sherwood is just such an
assemblage of females, or gynmceum, as that alluded
to in your felicitous editorial of July 17, but it pre-
sents more than one unusual and exemplary feature
which might be studied with advantage by hundreds
of British employers. The 800 employes of Douglass
and Sherwood are for the most part young American
girls—a small proportion only Irish—of the same
station in life as that of the female workers in your
London millinery establishments. In the marble
palace where they daily assemble they are distributed
in sections at their work, and each section is super-
vised by one of the most staid and matronly of the
young ladies. Work is commenced at eight a in., and
continues until twelve, when a huge gong announces
the dinner hour. A general adjournment then takes
place to the parlour—a spacious and well-furnished
apartment, in which the young ladies enjoy their
meals, sing, romp, dance, and play on pianofortes,
guitars, and accordions, especially provided for them
by their employers. At one o'clock work is rein med
and continues until five, at which early hour the'
labours of the day are over. A well-selected circu-
lating library is placed under the charge of a young
lady engaged for that especial purpose, and each of
the sections is admitted, by turns, to the privileges
of this library. Not content, however, with this
almost unparalleled solicitude and generosity,Messrs.
Douglass and Sherwood lately resolved on treating
their establishment to a pic-nic, and this affair came
off on Saturday last. A huge steamer and two
capacious barges were chartered for the occasion,
and the 800 young ladies, about 1,200 of their male
and female friends and relatives (each girl received
three tickets of admission), with one or two hundred
invited guests and delegations from the press, set out
at an early hour in the morning for an island in the
sound, about 20 miles from New York. Each of the
young ladies had been presented with a dollar by
their employers for the purpose of providing suitable
pic-nic fare, and two bands of music were provided
for the entertainment of the vast company, as
well as for the use of the dancers. As mentioned
already, your correspondent found himself a member
of the merry expedition, and was pleased with the
opportunity of observing a new phase of American
social life. The 800 young ladies were creditable to
their country. It may reasonably be doubted, in-
deed, whether, in as miscellaneous an assembly in
Europe, so much genuine refinement and delicate
beauty would have been presented. Although natu-
rally in anything but affluent circumstances, and de-
prived of the advantages of a complete education,
many of the fair sempstresses would have done
honour to a European drawingroom. All were
decently dressed, and the great majority wore toi-
lettes that would not have disgraced an aristocratic
fete at Chiswick. At least 200 could be called
pretty, at least a score were beautiful, and all but
one or two were modest. Miss C., the Queen
of the pic-nic, was literally besieged by more than a
dozen representatives of the press, the military, and
the public, yet the artless, fair-haired, blue-eyed
Venus is " nothing but a sempstress ! " Dancing
was unremittingly kept up during the three hours'
voyage to the island, and the only difference percep-
tible between the decks of the barges and the floor of
a Fifth Avenue drawingroom was that there was a
trifle more decorum and a vast deal more enjoyment.
Four or five hours were spent upon David's Island,
where all the frolic of a pic-nic was enjoyed, and where
a luxuriant dinner, overflowing with good cheer and
champagne, was provided for the press and the invited
guests. It was a day of perfect and unsophisticated
happiness. When the pic-nic was once more under
weigh, dancing was resumed, and was kept up until
New York was reached once more, as the city clocks
were striking eight. Everything was republican
throughout ; employers and employes dancing to-
gether, and shaking hands with a cordiality that must
have been a sufficient recompense to the benevolent
merchants for their great outlay. The expense of
the pic-nic, I may mention, was in excess of £BOO
(more than $4,000.) The only disagreeable feature
was the presence of one or two hundred " rowdies,"
and "Bowery b'hoys," who could not be excluded,
as they were the beaux or brothers of some of the
poorer class of girls. A strong force of police
kept these imitations of humanity in order, and
only one unpleasant incident—an attempted murder,
which resulted harmlessly—disturbed the occasion.
I have dwelt at some length upon this pic-nic, both
because I think it worthy in itself of mention, and
because I indulge in the hope that the particulars I
have recorded concerning Messrs. Douglass and
Sherwood's treatment of their employes may sei ve
as useful hints to some of your British manufac-
turers. But I fear that stout Mr. Smith, of Man-
chester, and burly Mr. Jones, of Salford, will hold
up their hands, and cast up t'ie yellow of their eyes
in astonishment at the folly of providing recreation
and a dancingroom for " hands ' in the building in
which they work. And the pianofortes ! and the cir-
culating library If not unheard of in English
factories, such a provision is indeed most rare. But,
as the example of these energetic and far-seeing
young Scotchmen has not only already inculcated
the truth that men may employ their hands during
reasonable hours, grant them every indulgence, and
yet prosper in a mast extraordinary manner, but
has also inoculated other manufacturing partnerships
with the idea of beneficence, so I do not despair that
the gynmceums of Great Britain may yet be con-
verted into healthy and wholesome institutions,
where the worker shall be elevated instead of demo-
ralised, educated into ladyhood instead of driven
into prostitution.
The steamer St. Louis brought us, at the close of
last week, some interesting information from Fraser
River. The details were carried out by the Vanderbilt
on Saturday, so I will merely add some information
I have since received. An experienced miner has
recently returned from British Columbia, where he
spent six weeks in wandering through the region of
the upper river in search of gold. Setting out from
Fort Hope, he journeyed some 200 miles northward,
stopping here and there to prospect, but working only
two whole days, in which he secured about $2OO per
diem. He penetrated farther inland than any other
known white man, and returned only when his provi-
sions failed. He " is perfectly satisfied of the extreme
richness of the rivers, and says Fraser River is the
richest he ever knew—is not excelled by the most
famous in California." This favourable account
appears to be worthy of credence, but even this
deponent does not deny that the floods of the Fraser
will prevent digging on the bars during the greater
portion of the year. The consequent forced inaction
of the population will be most prejudicial to the
interests of the new colony, as well as to themselves,
unless, indeed, the attention of the new settlers can
be turned to agriculture in the intervals of gold
seeking. It is, moreover, possible that dry diggings
may be discovered, which will materially alter the
state of the case. At the last dates from British
Columbia the immigrated population was suffering
greatly through lack of food. Flour was selling at
20 guineas per barrel.
It is greatly to be hoped that the friends of the
British Pacific Railway will not allow their energy
to be dulled during the Parliamentary recess, but
will rather prepare for a triumphant campaign in the
next session. The road must be built ; and, if it be
once safely established upon British ground, Mr.
Roebuck may dismiss his fears (idle at best) of the
" overshadowing of the world" by the United States.
The Hon. Wm. H. Seward has long ago prophesied
for Canada the controlling part in the affairs of this
continent, the advent of which the Pacific railroad
will accelerate. This fact is clearly perceived by many
American public men and journalists, and strenuous
—possibly successful—efforts will be used in Decem-
ber to wring from the South, in Congress repre-
sented, its consent to a railway through the State of
Minnesota to the Pacific. This may or may not be
done, but in any case it will be equally incumbent
upon Canada and Great Britain to see that a pathway
' is opened from the great commercial and naval port
in Vancouver's Island to the waters of the Atlantic
at Halifax and St. John.
I received this morning a most interesting letter
from a friend in Wisconsin, a young New Englander,
a person of cultivation and refinement, who, never-
theless, recently deserted the pursuits of commerce
theerce
for the bitter sweets of a farming life p
prairie. Writing from " Sharon, Wisconsin," he
tells me—" Our farm is situated at the edge of Big
Foot, and consists in 120 acres of land, 80 of which
are tillage and 40 pasture. Our stock counts up two
horses, three cows, two steers, two pigs, 34 sheep
—the nucleus of a flock—poultry, &c. The farm is
considered one of the best in leVxatlwwoeretk we
h county;
and our harvest is bountiful. N
p
our wheat, then the oats, next gather in Indian corn
and potatoes, and finally buckwheat, millet, and tur-
nips. You ask me for a sketch of the scenery in my
neighbourhood : I enclose you an ear of wheat.
This, better than any pencil of mine, will convey
to your mind an idea of our surroundings.
If I was at all disappointed in my ex-
pectations of the country around here, it
was because I found none of the anticipated wilder-
ness. Although nearly 2,000 miles west of New
York, we remain partially civilised. I had looked
for a wild country, dotted with log cabins, sparsely
settled in isolated farms, uncleared, unfenced, and
with a population of a decided backwoodish turn of
mind. On the contrary, the country in which Zam
settled is a perfect garden, at least for grain. A,
you know, the western lands are all surveyed and
laid out by Government in rectangular sections.
The lines run due north, south, east, and west, and
the roads genefally follow the same coarse, bduz,