New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1845-08-25
LABOR IN YORK
ITS ciRcUN.TANcEs, CONDITIONS AND REwA
No. y....Thc Map-C oiorers.

"a
IL application vet it il general truth that the
ture Of an employment exerts o very strong iniiu-
ence over the manners and habits and even the ap-
pcarance Of those engaged in il The Map Color
ers. engaged in light, graceful and picturesque
business seem 10 imbibe something of the varegstod
and agreeable character Of the coors which it Is
their task to lay so carefully and delicately upon
the paper. They DO moi work on the average.
more than eight or nine hours n day. and their
wages range from three to five dollars per week.
There Is only fair proportion Of apprentices en-.
gagged in this business, and they get about 81 80
per week The trade is not over stocked with labor.
ers, a. comparatively few who work possesses suf
ficent nicely OF hand and artistic knowledge to
eel at the business.
The number OF girls engaged in coloring Maps in
this City is perhaps two hundred They work by the
piece. generally and are paid from three to ten
cents sheet. according to the quality Of the work
done Ordinary Maps containing four sheets, pay
shilling each for coloring. A common industrious
hand will color five maps in day
some of the work is very fine and requires good
deal Of care and skill Much Of this is performed
by girls who have partially studied Painting and
Drawing and frequently by those who have taught
those branches and find themselves out of employ
ment
The coloring of Lithographic Prints il an employ
ment that comes under the same head as Map-col-
oring. and employs an equal if not greater number
of hands The number Of coarse, common Litho
graphs-such the Black Feet Indians draw with
elder Juice on the dried hides OF bu'alos-is almost
incredible. BARRIERS shops, Groggcrywalls. country
Taverns Peddlers packs the parlors and bed
rooms of sailers Boarding houses, &c. &c. furnish
ornamental use for hundreds of thousands of these
pictures-to describe any one ofwhich accurately
would set ones teeth on edge.
The colorers and stainers of these inimable and
nappreciable works of art usually employed by
the week and receive in the most extensive estab
shments from - so to 90 80 per week. Free
competition. however has supplied the demand
even for these precious pictures Prices of coloring
consequently have been pushed down, until in
some concerns we find that wages are on par with
those OF classes generally far iess favored.
+ In these poorer establishments, if are rightly
informed. I'VE found 1t somewhat difficult to get ac
curate informationl great portion of the work Is
performed by apprentices who get at best very poor
+ y paid aud sometimes not at all. The mountains o.
colored pictures for sale at the cheap print shops
emanate from these concerns and can be afforded
very cheap.
The harvest of the Coorists comes about mid
winter when all the shops, high and low, are pre-
pairing for 81 Valentine Day. Then delicate pink
fingers are IN huge demand. and their lucky propri
etors can have as much work as they choose Bet
ter prices too given at this time for all kinds Of
coorng and the profession Of Paper Coorer rises to
an equal importance with that of the Paper discolor
ers who scribble for the Journals and the Book
makers.
The ma oriy of girls engaged in the business
toleraby and some very well educated, and they
are generally of good character. Most of them re
side with their relatives or friends, and nearly all
have great fondness tor snowy dresses-a taste
which, whether acquired by their high-colored abors
or derived from the instructive inspirations of the
many ofthem strain every nerve to crafty. In
common with many other classes of working w0
men they give themselves much needless anxiety in
trying to reproduce in muslin and calico the gaudy
vnigarisms which the unreiined wealthy Haunt along
Broadway in silk and velvet But, while many Of
them thus waste their earnings in hopeless attempts
to initiate wha, is in itself only contemplate others
learn prudence and forethought from their observa
tons and experiences, and lay aside all they can
spare from the fruits OF their labor. Many OF them
thus accumulate snug little sums of money which at
the proper time serve to establish them in life and
insure them comfortable and happy homes.
These remarks are true, to a greater or less ex-
tent Of all classes of female laborers in the City who
find the love of dress one of the strongest and most
irresistible of the thousand temptations with which
they are beset