Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-04-15

middle, spreads II AT the ends, ptstes down
these ends, and, when he has row com
plete, covers the pasted part with slips OF
paper so numbered as that each number
stands opposite its own shade of color. A
pattern. book is as good as IA rainbow for the
pocket. This looks like womans work
but there are no women here. The men
will not allow it, Women cannot be kept
out Of the ribbon weaving but ~ the dye
house they must not set foot, though the
work, or the chef part of 1t, is far from la
borious, aud requires good eye aud tact,
more than qualities less feminine We
found many apprentices in the works, re-
ceNing nearly half the amount Of wages of
their qualified elders The men earn from
ten shlIlings to thirty shlIIiugs a week, ac-
cording to their qualifications. Nearly
half Of the whole number earn aboui fifteen
shlilngs a week at the present time
And, now, We are impatient To follow
these pretty silk bundles to the factory, and
see the weaving. 1t Is strange to see, on
our way to so thoroughly modern an estab-
lshment such tokens Of antiquity, or re-
minders Of antiquity, as we have to pass
We pass under ST. Mlchaeps church, and
lool, up, amazed, to the beauty and loll-
ness of It's tower and spire --the spra Ia
perins of at a height Of three hundred aud
twenty feet The crumbliug nature OF the
the stone gives q richness aud beauty to the
ediice, which we would hardly part with
for such clear outlines as those of Tie re-
stored Trinity Church, close at hand. And
then, at the angle of the market place,
there Is Tom, peepmg past the corner
looking out OF his window, through bis
speci1cles, with steathy AR, which, how
ever ridiculous makes one thrill, as with "a
whid Of the breeze which stirred The Lady
Godya's hair, Oh that memorable day, SO
long ago. 1t is strange, after this, TO see
the factory chimney, straight, tall and hand
some. ia It's way, with its iuIaying of COLOR
ed bricks, towering before us to about iha
neigh, of hundred aud thirty feet No
place has proved itself more unwilling than
C1veniry 10 admit such innovations. 30
place has made a more desperate resistance
to the introduction of steam power No
place has more perseyesingy struggled for
protection, with groans, menaces and sup
phcauons. Up to a late period, the Cow
entry weavers believed themselves safe from
the lnroads of steam power A Maccles-
field manufacturer SAID, only twenty years
ago. beiote Committee of The House Of
Commons, that be despaired of ever apply
ing power-looms TO silk. This was because
SO much time was employed in handling
and trimming the silk, that the steam pow
er must be largely wasted. So thought the
weavers, IN the days when the silk was aig-
en- out IN hanks OF bobbins, and woven al
home. or when the work was done by hand
IN, I... 4
loom-shop. The day was at hand, hoWcy-
er. when that should be done OF which The
Macclesheld gentleman despaired. A small
factory was Sc; up in Coventry, by way o
experiment, IN the use of stesm-powcr, in
1881 It was burned down during quar-
rel about WaEes-nubudy knows how or by
whom The wessers declared 1t was not
their doing but their enenuY TO steam
power was strong enough to restrain The
EMPLOYERS from the use of II. Ii was moi
ti every body saw that Coventry was los.
ing MS manufacture parting with ID to pla-
ces which made ribbons by steam-that the
manufacturers felt themselves able to do
what must be done, It they were 10 save
their trade The state of thugs now is
very significant. About seventy houses IN
Coventry make ribbons and cummings
: (iringes and the like.) OF these four make
lrIngrs and trimmings, aud no ribbons and
SIX or eight make both. Say that iillJ eight
houses make ribbons alone II Is believed
that three louiths q. the ribbons are made
by no more than twenty houses OF these IF
ty-eight There are now thirty steam-pow-
er loom factories in Coventry, producing
about seven thousand pieces of ribbons in
l. oh
three thousand persons. 1t seems not to be
ascertaIned how large proportion of the
population are employed 10 the ribbon man.
uiacture; but the increase Is great siuce
the wear 1898, when the number was about
eight thousand without reckoning the ont
lavmg places which would add about three
thousand to the number The total popula
ton of the CITY was found last March, to
amount to nearly thirty seven thousand -
So, If we reckon the numbers employed ia
conneNlon with the throwing mill and dye
houses, we shall see what an ascendencl
the ribbon manufacture has in Coventry
Al the factory we are entering, the pre-
paratory processes are gong forward a
the top aud the bottom of the building
Ia the yard is the boiler fire. which sets tho
engine To work aud, from the same yard
we enter shops, where the machinery i
made aud repaired. The ponderous worl
of the men at the forge and anyils contrasts
curiously with the dellcacv of the faorit
which is to be produced by the agency o
these masses of IRON and steel. Passing W
step-ladder, we find ourselves IN lon.
room, where turner's are at work, making
the wooden apparatus required, piercing
the " compass boards" for threads To pas
through and displaying to us many ingeul
Gus forms of polished wood. While th'
apparatus it thus preparing below, the ma
,erial of the manufacture Is getting arrang
!, ed, four stories overhead. There, under
skylight, women and girls are winding th'
, silk from the hanks, upon the spools, 70
The shupIles. Here We see, again III
clouded silk, which is TO make plaid rib
bons, aud the bright hues which delighte
our eyes at the dyeing house. This is cas-
work-many of the women sitting at thel
reels; aud the air is pure aud cool. Tn
I great shaft from the engine, passing tbroug
the midst of the building, carries oil tn
dust, and affords excellent ventilation
Besides this, the whole edlfce is crown
( ed by an observatory, with windows al
/ round; aud no complete ceilings shut o
the air between this chamber aud the room
Of h.i In elaar az