The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-10-07
THE CHINESE At NORTH ADAMS.

correspondent OF the Boston Advertiser
writes from North Adams as follows
1T was not without some minor difficulties
that the company of raw Chinese landed at
Mr.. Simpsons doors last June were trans
formed into the force of competent shoe
makers who now make the bottomers room
of his factory hum like beehive, every team
at work, and not a white man to be seen in
the hall. The obstacles of the want of
a common language aud the hostilites
of the Crispins made the progress at the
outset slow and hating At first only indifer-
ent instructors could be obtained, and with poor
teachers the learners naturally made poor
shoes, and there was the discouraging task of
unlearning to be gone through. But at last
exorbitant prices brought competent shoe
makers to teach the new apprentices; and the
expedient of hanging up perfect shoe for
each team to model from brought about the
desired result, in that the initiative workmen
avoided copying the casual errors and awk-
wardness of their teachers. Then the pro-
gress became steady; and those quail
fed by experience to judge,
say it has been quite worthy to compare
with that of any set of green hands of
any nationality during the same length of
time. In the whole company of seventy-five
there were found three men inclined to take
things easily, and to reflect with equanimity
on the fact that their wages were paid by the
month and not by the job. Ahappy thought
put these men into the same team, where
they could hinder nobody but each other,
and where any disposition to idle over the
work would be at once apparent; and the
'lazy team" now does as much work as any
in the room. With this single exception,
there has been universal ambition to advance
as fast as it was deemed best to have pro-
gress made; and the result has been COM
pletely satisfactory.
''Tbe way in which this progress was regu-
lated is curious, and worth noting for the
benefit of other manufacturers who may, in
the course of human events, find themselves
charged with the task of educating Oriental
workmen. When the room got fairly to
going Mr.. Foreman All Sing, otherwise
Charlie, informed his men that they might
see how much they could do in the week.
The result was recorded, and the next week
they tried it again. There was an advance
in the number but the slightest possible de-
terioration in the quality of the shoes made.
The boys were hurrying too much so the
word was given to hold on, make only the
number of cases already reached, and make
them well. At once the desired improvement
was visible, without any loss of speed. Then
the system of 'stints was resorted to, for
change. Each team was given q certain
number to be done in the day, and
done we'll, the men to have all time saved
for leisure. The emulation thus produced
worked the best results Some smart teams
finished their stint at three o'clock; nearly all
at five, the regular hour of closing being six.
Thus the ambition of the new hands is guided;
what is gained in the quantity of shoes made
is not lost in the quality of the product; and
the progress is both swift and steady. In a
solitary instance there was found little care
lessness, an inclination to get the stint done
early at the cost of little rough workman
ship in the shoe; but All Sings understand
ing of his men and ready wit were again
prompt with a remedy. The careless team
was docked fifty cents or SO on wages. The
Chinamans tender spot was found-a weak
ness not so very unlike that of the average
Yankee that we can afford to sneer at it-and
there has been no more cause for complaint
in the character of the shoes completed by
that team. This week there are no stints
the room is doing all it can; and the result
will be a gain of ten cases on the former max
imum.
Three of the Chinese have been taught
the use of the difficult and intricate pegging
machine. They learned readily and WE'LL
spelling fewer shoes in the process than any
green hands who have learned the tradein the
same shop before them. And what they
know they known tsuperfcially but thorough
ly. They understand their machines as a
Yankee would, and can oil them, put them in
order, and take them to pieces if need be, as
well as they work them.
1.-The number of shoes which the smartest
Chinese team can turn out in a given day is
not yet equal to that which a veteran trio of
shoemakers of Caucasian blood has been able
to finish in the same time. There is no APP
parent reason why the same rate of work
should not be reached eventually; but three
months of practice is too soon to look for it.
Nevertheless the shoemakers even now ac-
complish the same amount of work in q
month which the same number of white
Crispins have done. 1t is the old story of
the hare and the tortoise. The Chinamen
work steadily along from the weeks begin
ming to the weeks end, aud, what is still
more in contrast with the experience of the
employers of white mechanics as they aver
age in our day, the Cinnamon begin
promptly at the weeks beginning
again. The representative smart man
of the Crispin lodge does his ninety
pairs of shoes a day for Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday; lies of to rest Thursday;
works again, perhaps, on Friday; stops in the
middle of the day Saturday, takes his wages,
and proceeds to spend them. He is missing
on the following Monday and Tuesday-per-
haps driving fast horse, perhaps drinking
in the saloon, perhaps visiting his sweetheart
in the next town, perhaps gone to Boston tc
see the sights, possibly reading Eschylus il
his private room or canvassing his district il
support of Mr.. Wendell Phillips-at any rate
absent from his bench at the shop; throwing
the team to which he belongs into confusion
and materially reducing his tally and the ag
gregate production of the factory. Perhap
when he returns to work in the middle of tn,
week his hands are trembling, his eye'
dimmed with Hchylus, his interest more fixeC
on Mr.. Wendell Phillips than on his last, aut
SO the shoe he throws into the heap is no