Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-05-24
Letter from nOstOn.
BosToN. Mny 10. 1878.

the first of May and the end is not yet-and
thanking my lucky stars that it is not my year
to move. A year ago, set up my Lares and
Penates on their present altar and have no
motive nor inclination for removing them.
Now please don't make such mistake with
this sentence as n certain young man of my
acquaintance did once. lie read from let
ter sent to him by the ''obiect of his affection"
in regard to II proposed partnership house
keeping, the description of place in which
to set up their cloves and potatoes Neces-
sary adjuncts certainly, for the future az
rangement, but scarcely classical or taken in
conjunction, romantic No, haven't got to
move, which accounts for my serenity.
Wouldn't you be serene under like circum-
stances? There ARE plenty of places for peo-
pie to move to; you can scarcely pass through
street, no matter how short. in which there
are not from one to dozen houses placarded
ito let" Somebody must be losing money,
l fancy Rents are coming down in all parts
of the city and yet hundreds of desirable
houses are empty. Very many people are
living in the French apartment houses. it is
so much less expensive. l can count dozen
which have been completed in the last year.
each accommodating from eight to twenty
families all of them filled. and as many more
IN process of erection. They are all in pleas
ant parts of the city. have every convenience
that the most elegant house could have; some
of them have a cafe attached where the fami-
lies can take their meals if they do not care
for housekeeping. For families which have
no small children, this is the easiest, the most
comfortable and most economical manner Of
living but if you have little ones, don't try
living in apartments
wonder if you are all as fond of getting
behind the scenes as l am 1 don't mean at
the theatre that of course, everybody longs
to do but in all kinds of business For in.
stance, do you like to invade the work rooms
of your dressmaker or milliner and see the
details of the work, and know the people who
do it: do, heartily, and had a treat the
other day in spending the morning in the
work-rooms of Macullar, Williams n Parker
Id no idea to what a positive science work is
reduced think was most interested in the
room where summer vests are made. This by
the way is n business by itself All the year
through, the girls in this room do nothing
else but work ON these vests. 1t used to be
white vests alone but within n year or two
the fancy for colored vests has crept in. and
this year it has eliminated in the very lowell
est of styles. Not only are the girls turning
out white vests of all descriptions. duck
pique, in MI sorts of fanciful designs OF weav-
ing and stripes, but striped figures some of
them white surface with n hair line of black
separating the woven stripes others again of
pale brown or ecru tint striped in the same
way; then there are plain piques in gray
ecru, buff, cream color, and n pale shade of
green or rather a light stone color shading
on green. All these are very much more
stylish than the white vests, because they are
more novel; and more than that, because they
cannot be reproduced in cheap material as the
plain white duck can be- Still white is by no
means bad style, but it must be in n figured
or striped pique, and not in the plain materi-
nj. There is as much variety in the weaving
of the colored pique as in the white; some of
it is in the tiny diagonals, some in diagonal
stripes of different widths and some ribbed so
| ms to closely resemble corduroy.
In pleasant room lighted by large win
dows facing Washington street about fifty
girls are at work; the whirr of the machines,
the clatter of merry voices and the ripple of
laughter, mingle in pleasant confusion.
Each one of the girls Just such portion
of the work to do, and no other The bun
dies of vests are brought from the cutting
room and the forewoman gives them out the
| basters take them and arrange the pockets
| the machine girls sew them in; the basters
| again take them, turn them, and get them
| ready to stitch the edges and fasten the pock-
ct welts then they are put together and
next passed to the button hole makers from
them they go to girls whose business it is to
examine them thoroughly to see that there
| are no dropped stitches or loose ends of
| thread, and at last they go to the press-men
who prepare them for the counter or the Gus
toners who are waiting for them. A large
| proportion of the fine summer vests worn in
| this country are made at this establishment
and large number are sent yearly to private
| patrons in England and France. Through all
this dull season the firm has retained all its
hands and there has been no complaint of
| lack of work.
Apropos of these vests, | want to say some
thing to the ladies. You don't know what
| pretty vests this buff, ecru, or cream pique
makes to wear with the kilt suits; you know
the cut-away jacket, which is an important
feature of these costumes necessitates vest.
| Generally the vest is made of silk, or the ma
terial, and is sewed TO the jacket. / have dis
covered that it is great deal nicer to have
| jacket and vest separate and to have two or
three different vests. In that way you can
vary your costume very easily and prettily.
| l don't know whether the other half of crea-
| tion will thank us for approprating their ma
| terials, but we can't help that it's pretty and
becoming and quite suited to us and our
needs. Why in the world shant we wear
buff, and brown, and white vests with our
kilt suits, MS well US they with their blue fan-
| mel suits. which seem to be the masculine
wear for summer. Aren't they pretty though
those same blue flannel suits; l wonder if
they are half as comfortable as they look
| They must be, else so many gentlemen would
not wear them. There are two grades of
them made, one from the Niddlesex Yacht
Club cloth, which is finer, better, and n
brighter blue than the lower grade of flannel
which makes the second kind. Still either
are pretty enough and both are equally well
made The pantaloons are rather full and
straight with welt down the side seam
which gives n sort of finish to the garment
The coat is loose, juuuty sack, buttonng
| across the chest with one button and then
slopng away with rounding corners to the
back These coats may or may not be lined ;
when the lining is dispensed with all the
seams on the wrong side are faced with silk
galloon, making very pretty and neat finish
The vests are rather high and without col
lars. The same system is observed in the
work-rooms devoted to these suits as in the
white vest room. | enjoyed seeing the girls
at work, they looked so happy there wasn't
"A adscontented fuce amongst them they seem
ed n superior class Of girls, sclf-respecting
and self-poised. 1t was type Of woman to
be proud of the best class of American sew
ing women; a class that is always found in
the establishments where good work is requir-
ed, good wages paid aud constant employ
ment given, and, above all, where the work
ers are treated rs human beings, and not as
machines Looking at these girls, l could
not help thinking of Dickens, and the admira-
ton and wonder with which the Lowell fac
tory girls inspired him. 1t is a marvel to all
foreigners, and if any visitor desires to see the
working girls at their best let him visit the
gigantic works of Macullar, Williams & Park
en-