The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-02-11


mako ready forms. They might be- as good
compo-ors IA mon II they were rs uniform in
their att 'ndnnce Obviously women cannot be.
We don't expect il. don't think they can stand
the number of hours work that the mon can.
Th'y work eight and nine hours; come at about
ana 20 about .. brn ling thcir lunch. and tax
INK more or less tme for tho ntermssion. Mt
thair choice. Thero arc little rings which they
don't do. which men compositors do, or should
be- able h. dol for instance. thcy don't carry
forms, nor do devils work. nor lock up tho
forms. nor do STONE work.
our girls do nothing but books. mostly re-
prints. and those Of tho palmer kind. I give
ihcm french and Italian 10 -ctup If it IL reprint,
nut only - the best hands. ind never in manu-
script, Thrre II one boob, hero. 81 up almost
entirely 10y ono woman. Their absences are
not striking. They ar rs apt to b. hore ON tho
dav ait.r pay day a. any other. They have no
vices. Their earnings don't average as much
~ the mon cOmpo-tors by - or 50 week. To
make Il safely low estimate Of averages the year
through. could say that our girls each set up
i,uiO ems "a day earning 81 md 50 u week. ana
our men compOsitOrs average sll In no case
ARE they given s'icntiir or Greek works to set
M. Not one-twcnleth Of tho men cnn do that.
A foreman. If he know ono OF his men who can.
u Nv han :. unless h IL iOr'cd To. Whom WIS
an apprentice, tn" lat year was spent in the
pr A. room. Ddi now II is all different. prcss-
men are Not necessarily compositVrs. That old
n, 20 IT irini Is has passed away.
"a S'a TINT there ARE a few men compost,
tors IA tiiS room. There must b'. Th"y dO all
~ deaiis Of COMPOSITIONS WORK which are not
dNu' 10y The girls. All the men in this room can
mako up their matter into pages. great many
men conn ,sitpr- cannot They are mere type
stirk,ls aud that also. is all thai women COM
pu.ll"rs. - Tar as VIZ have used thon. ever
GRAY GREEN.
having hal famous school" of women COM
pO-itOrs several years ago. seemed to be ths
pioneers and iath"riy authorities to 40 to for
How large number Of women compositors
do you employ"
on yes there are two" said another man.
] did not distinguish whether he WIS Gray or
Gray or Green-No ono of Thorn has gonc.
and the other holds copy" for the proof read
err We hive not had woman compassion Tor u
good while. There are lots Of little odd jobs
about a composing room. which all take tlme
and attention, that man will do Tor himself,
Will" the girls want NOR" waiting on.
Enportsr-You mean they need III
Gray or Grcrn-Thcy get ii. whether they
nogd it or not and II she is pretty girl she has
half a dozen men to wait on her These Inst
two W. have employed for sin years only AS
personal accommodation. We did 20 into IL
largely. but il was not success. We had one
woman compositpr VINO came 10 W. when We
took the printing Of tn" Nation. who made s-5
and $50 week right straight along She made
moro than any man cpinpnstOr IN the olilre
But she got married and lrft It. She wis a very
pretty girl II she hndnt been pretty she
wouldn't have made 50 much. although she
fairly earned it,
Earhey don't work ut It with a will. 1t Is trade
that requires years OF application. womnn
experts to get married and man to work nt It
all his life. and thcre'- TIE difference. We had
regular school OF women and boys 1t was u
We got through with IT, We tried It when there
was strike Of the old cOmpOsltOrs for higher
John T. Trow, publisher OF tho New York
City Directory. has memory that stretches
buck half century into the printers busin
H. said: Within tn last fifteen years printers
have Insisted upon such hi-h prices that there
has been no way Of compel nE with their c-iab-
lished rates. except 10y employing boys and wo-
men. Generally in printing ON 'e women get
10 per sent loss STANDARD wages. We are en-
plpying fourteen glrs. We keep our type
in Of
don I. On the average. S'f nearly ns many thou
sand ems in week H. mon rOnpn~itur- They
would Il they should work as many hours. The
girls whom We employ st the type OF the Diroc-
tory matter rs accurately "a, the men. Women
composiiors don't get much beyond sctfi nv type.
distributing IL. and correcting their work.
- The avo'ation OF printer Is demornlized.
There is now, no regular npprenticeship as
aeo snsw a. :. mu as SIX i" now. Whsn w,s
a young man could st IN Syrilc. Coptc. h.
brew. fhnrtnw Crock Algrfrn CHEMISTRY. Ger
unu-nnl matt r.. learn ~ my trade in An
dover n tn midst Of thcolngi al and mission
AIRY manu- ript- | hal amriiion ami funinr--
for printers work. and dedifntoi myself t. the
aranW'nt OF all that printer should hn alb" 10
do. Machinery has hai AN influence in pro-
dnInS u c.Ang" Our Bows Wnm To- -, iWli'
and they shirk apprrnii ships. An old fl-h-
toned. well -iran'd thorough printer il now %
rare mum. Th" present wages cnmoring set j.
hut q rae" Of mrr" type stick'r~.
" The best woman compo~ tor that know Is
married woman and believe she supports
her husband
THE NATION PRESS.
M q Rose street, has ilily hands. anl twelve
lnr- of these are feminine. II H. general OH &C..
"We take new girls at = 50 a WIKI for ihr"a
months then add 10 their wage. and when thry
haze SIT type six months thry ~ M pic'e worA.
and "a that th"y averag" S. % W k. and We
hav" those that aNcrag" . "a week; our -inW,'~t
avera2r sia week. Our -lowe-t men amount 10
best mon make SO week an the yaar rom /.
Suins Twp" Is not ~ unhealthy for girls H. the
sowing machine, II is not more unhealthy than
any indoor employment
For plain, straight work. the women arr as
good q, the men not quit" so fast They would
lr II they took to II as earnestly. But ven in
that case woman would not have the physical
strength 10 keep up the fast r.u. for weeks and
months together. 4 girl ia three months rnn
set typo as fast as boy in u yrar and with ONE
at lye years.
Il give IA man compositor an advertisement
and say, occupy SO much space, do not SAY
MAKE this line ia that typ and Leave 50 mu h
spa" between thos" lines amt $50 much botwrD n
thp-r. man r"mrQsitor mas judgment, und
practice and ill. and thai y girl knows nothing
about In the display and flourish. and variety
of job work, this ability is Indispensable being
".Incvcr knew a woman iobber yct.'
a bright, handsome" Young printer the
q East Ninth street sad; "Tlcre wcrc
girl and siNi"cn men in the oiliirr where use
made MP forms nor set up anything hut the
easy, plain matter. They shaved at their cgiso
Reporter-Didnt they ev,r for the sake ~
earning more, wait on themselves, and do
everything that would make Thorn know the
business completely and bee competent to set
up the fat matter which pays better
Printer They never did. They never got the
chance 10 do II. and they never seemed h. want
g. have the chance 70 do II. There was one girl
Miss Palmer from Nyack, who used tu unlo k
the forms when II came her turn and grt her
own type To- distribute The other girls ALWAYS
laughed a her doing it, She nude the highest
wages there. Tho mon average tl6 "A week She
averaged sl7, and often made s25. and she was
always ut work the day after pay dny she
ddn have any waiting on. She was very in
dependent in her why's. The men liked her
better than they did the others
Thr girls set the type into sticks, and take II
out Of sticks and put Il into galeys. Men take
IL out Of the galleys and mako il into pages in
the chases and lock them up. Then the type is
in the proper shape. aud the whole thing Is
called n form. II stands on stone table. aud Is,
therefore. called stone work. Nino-t"ntl- of
men compositions can make up forms. One
tenth understand IT,
At this moment IN walked
THE REV. DIR, IRENEUs PRIME.
the veteran editor and long time publisher ~
the Mem York Observer. H. took MP the COM
versation with benign smile anu AN ntcll.e ut
air. He said;
There are two objections TO women adopting
IN" occupation Of composltor. First they ought
not To be- employed IN amy 'upAtun requiring
them 10 stand all day and the second is fiat hs-