Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-10-27
From the N. Y. Times.
THE HARD TIMES.

From the N. Y. Times.
THE HARD TIMES.
TIE CoorrR-
No class of mechanics is destined to feel
the hard times this winter more severely
than the journeymen coopcrs Their labor
is lucrative in ordinary times they can
earn sufficient 10 keep themselves and their
families comfortable and stow away besd :,
y doctors fee and enough to support them
for awhile when Illness or hard times compel
them temporarily to desi-' from labor. But
the worst OF It Is. the eoopcrs--so their en-
poycrs inform Us. ARE "A GEE eral rule the
most inpros ideIt of men With them it is
easy come, easy GO ~ far as money is
concerned They can earn, it they are in
dustrious, they work entirely hy the piece.
from 81 80 to 81 per day. but a great many
Of them, instead of working every lay in
the week, only spend sufficient time indus
triously to earn enough to support their i'm
mediate necessities. and their pockets with
spending money. aud then 20 on what is
technically termed "a bust" for the rest of
the week. II is questionable whether both
the employers and the employed in the ne
chanical trades would not get along much
better III every respect il the hitter were
hired for stated periods instead of being en-
gagged to work 10y the job. With the coop
ers. however, contracts are often taken by
the employers On very short notice at
other tunes they have very little work 10
give. and 50 1t becomes necessary for them
to emf 10y or discharge their men acco,
ding to the work which they have for
them.
The number of employers at Waydell 4
Co.'S esiab ishment. Nos &c Dover street
| and 1873 Monroe street is more Irregular
Sometimes they have as many AS 20. last
Summer they had . hands, and now they
Lave only 1 or 5
At III. b. Il ]. J Robinson's 7 lace of bust
ness. No Is. Monroe street about half loz.
en- hands were employed last summer only
> are at work there now
Gaynor d Mcmahon. No 66l Water street
had - men at work before the commence
mcnt If the financial difficulties they are
only employed there now The rest were
discharged on account of TIE hard times
and nothing else said the foreman, who
gave lis the information.
II. NJ Blarns h Co, No 81 Old slip and
No $50 Water street, had about 90 men at
work before the panic; all but have been
discharged.
John Keys, No lol Suffolk St has gener-
ally 80 men at work. They were all at
work yesterday, new job having Just GENE
in
John Higgins, cooper No l57 Suffolk ST.
had at ont 10 hands at work during the sum
mcr he has Z now
Henry Hays. No los Suffolk st. has sus-
pended work for the present. and discharged
all his hands temporarily. lie generally
has ~ men at work in his shop he has on
~ one, boy there now. all his Winter work
is done. and he has large stock on hand.
Under these circumstances he was compel
led to discharge his men
BRApHs AND Boards.
The BARRIERS feel the crisis" They com.
plain of an unwanted economy of cents on
the part Of their Customers. One half of
their patrons, who shaved regularly every
morning. now give their chins the benefit of |
two days growth, while hirsute appen- |
dage to the countcnance is assiduously cul- |
tivated 10y hundreds. who have hitherto
scorned the idea of whisksrs, a moustache
or even "A mild goa,ee And if shaving fall |
labors under the general depression, hair |
dressing and har. cutting seem on the verge |
Of stagnation. Pcple give no parties, and |
therefore 20 TO none. Ladies are learning
to curl their own ringlets, and accomplish
themselves in the art of preserving and
Identifying those luxuriant tresses which
We have high authority for calling "a glory
to every one Of them, while the men. tho
il is TO he trusted that no panicky times
will lead to habits of personal neglect or IN
cleanliness, seem less careful of their heads
than month ago. The hair cutters scis
sors are less busy; The sharp snip, snip is
less trequetly heard in their saloons As
for wigs. il the anic continues long enough
the trade will be suspended. for bald men
will own up, cast inside their diapida,ed
pretenees, and admit that they are not SO
young they Were twenty years agc. The
falling of in bears grease, hair invigorator.
and such things, which. when the pocket is
full Of money. q nan is easily seluced into
purchasing, Is wonderful The most..presis-
tent dandy cannot he baought to regard n
bottle taken from hair dresser's shelves with
ordinary complaeenev.
The exception to this depression in the
BARRIERS line are Cristadoro's, Phalon's. and
similar establishments, CONNECTED with the
large hotels. Their customers are mostly
guests staying at the hotels, and their bust,
ness is much the same as usual in the male
line. but considerably reduced in the fe.
male. Fashionable City ladies were also
their patrons. ond as fashion is now at
discount, they have much less TO do with
her votaries than is usual at this season.
A HUME CRAFT.-To show how nicely
men emulate their economies at the pres
ent time. one Of our reporters, who had
some leisure on his hands, spent an hour
with the boot blacks those mischievously
little urchins. who infest the park and the
doors of the hotels, and earnestly reau. st
You to get your boots BACKED. In the
paimy bright summer days, many Of them
earned from one dollar to twelve shillines n
day, tb'ack Your boots, Sir; only six
cents aud when fortune was particularly
propituous, especially when a California
steamer arrived, some Of them have reach. |
ed as high as two dollars. and an odd six.
pence over. But, tenpora nu.anfnr. thu
boot-blacks suffer with the merchant.
Our reporter missed many Of "the old IA.
miliar facea" The boy who had poli.he |
his boots for two months past, had gone in |
with the Banks,-brushes, blackine. foot. |
rest and all were departed, so that his |
place knew him DO more. And it vas 90 |
with many otherA The profits would not |
sustain them, and they had gone into liqui
dauon' " those who remained, mot more