Daily Republican., 1883-12-20
Collars aud etlfJ SsirIh

"a ''''''l'"h'''"' Va wv Niii''E' IL
pune thus writes trotn Troy, NoN York :.
" How many collar and cuffs a."
manufactured yearly III thiS city |'
rus question was proppult"d lay TIT
Tribune correspondent 10 the proprietor
OF the largest collar house in Troy.
HIS answer was: That would be a
dliflcull matter to even estimate, bur
you can stale with close accuracy that
hlnt-tehth5 OF all the collars sold in this
country ar" made IN Troy
~ Will thus b" secn--and TIL" tact Is
prod,irtlveot much pride 10 IrOyians-
that Troy not only cuff, but collars
tins aud, III Il comparative degree, other
countries.
Inc growth OF the collar and cuff In.
hns,ry III TINS Guy has been amazing.
lhlrty years ago there we're two at
THESE collar mhnuidrtorith, employing
about t"cntN-hvt hands. IL day there
are one lhldrth cpilar ShOrN, FURNISH
ing employment I" four thousand ie-
males and one thousand males, Tnous-
hndS upon thousands OF doZcns OF col
lars and cuffs are manufactured daily,
ana no less than 3S,OUn,OOO yards Of
thread are consumed weekly. L. Is
computed that TO female operatives alone
at least $4,000 ispald every week,
lhe glrls--iio matter how ancient the
felnlnintS, 1t they are collar and cuif
operatives, they arr invariably called
glrlo-earl al the way from ei to $50
per week. The $50 class contains ou'
one represcntatl 'e, and she IL known
Throughout rroy as " the bos' collar
girl Of Troy. inns fortunate person II
81 years OF age. Her name is Mrs
liaegarts, and she tips the scale at 20
pounds. She has followed the business,
tor years, and month ago, upon her
marriage to Il cigar merchant Of this
city, paid s., 600 in cash for IA residence
Ia a central part Of the town. This and
other money stored away she earned
by hand work upon the pieces OF linen
that "nrlrcle til" ltCks and wrists "i
|clvI.izod humanity. The second dAv
after her marriage she WIS IN lltr a..
customed place AT the shop, and mari.
nloulal affairs do not prevent her trotu
credl'ink to her account $50 every six
days. This woman alone dlaposeS OF
weekly 10000 yards otthrrll.
Female beers OF some Ol he most
aris1o"ra'Ic families of Troy are collar
girls OF course they are not numbered
among The inmates OF the factories,
hut behind closed lnds III rear
rooms OF their sulnptuously furnish
"a houses, thtir slender fingers are busy
III on the same classes Of work per
formed in the crowded shops.
The question VIII naturally
be asked, why should these
ladies Of leisure invite self enforced toll
Of this nature " S'h Listen. There is u
skeleton in some of those mansions
Your correspondent knows OF II gentle
man that society tavors largely lie is y
stock sp"culator. His ventures have been
disastrous, and have slowly bat surely
reduced what three years ago was "a re,
specialize fortune. In IA little apartment
removed from the elegant parlors Of his
home, his wifi can r,timable lady, works
hour after hour upon collars. She earn.
Larry. wage, and hopes by her humble
mite to save her husband from being
obliged to forfeit his stock, which sht
trusts some day will be in the ascend
ancy. Then other ladies are enabled by
their collar work to dress more lavlshly
than the portion al lottcd tor tirs pur-
pose by their husbands would permit
1t way only las, Saturday that il lady,
turning to her companion and Pointing
to a fur lined doInan enveloping the
form Of a bankers wife in advance,
observed: She earned that in two
months turning collars. The wife OF the
proprietor of one Of the f,ctOiit. doing II
prIncely business works on cuffs five
hours out ofrvcry tweuty-tuur. All she
receives for the labor she gives to the
uoor These HON" operatives obtain
and return their work through m"ssen-
gers, or, rather, boys Of The nriGuhOrnDoJ,
whose pocket mo~ey is considerably
increased thereby.
The other side OF the picture is hard
" y, bright. IN. majority OF the thou
sands of girls who report at the shop.
,t : ,'rlurk in fine morning. and often
labor until . at night, are of tue poorer
class, MANY ofthem are the sole SUP,
u,rt of ,a,ulIie,--of widowed mothers,
drink EN- fathers, or feeble children. II,
the intirlnary of this city IL u man who,
seven years ago, was lut PROPRIETOR 81 Il
collar. shop, civ ngcmplol mcut to hire.
hundred persons Drink and ds,ipa-
tion ruinrd him and brought his fam
ily TO want. Hi, only daught,r, who,
in L.r fathers nroIpnrur,t DAVIS wa,
receiving an edlca,ion at the Willard
Female Seminary, is now hard work
inc collar rirI sunportiug, with the air
Of I'm elder brother, her Invalid mother
and two small children.
The minority of the girls are not
,aallv ohlip.d To suend their DAYS III
,IlInr shors. but a common desire to
earn something beiup stronger than il
fIIse nriIr. they wi liuuiy consent t.
~, ma walk ont at s.wi,t, machines.
rha.a ra,r.s.nt.,tiy-s of a more s,uAj-
HI. rla.. If the gentle sex dress elegant.
IL, md in fact wh.n th.v are ON the
si'erts il would not he expected that
thay .h,na and max. their slar, of the
Nina. tanths nf thr emf, and collars
unlI in America Occasionally. how
nv.r thra,Is clinyiny 10 their clothing