News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-09-04
WITH THE TRADES.
BOYS WHO WANT TO LEARN TO BE
GOOD MECHANICS.
How They Must Enter Upon the Work,
with n Few Details of the Work Very
Plainly Stated.
M. Quad in the Detroit Free Press

M. Quad in the Detroit Free Press
says:
In these days the term ''upholsterer"
means great deal. In large factory
he would simply cover chairs and sofas
and lounges. In carpet house he de-
signs and makes lambrequins and cur
tains, and turns his hand 10 almost any
thing artistic in house drapery. An APP
prentice would have to serve three
years, receiving for the first year from
50 to So per week, without board. The
second year he would get from 81 to SIS,
and when his time was out he would be
worth from 81, GOO to 5000 per year to
any carpet house. 1t is an art which
no boy should attempt to learn unless
he has great natural taste that way. The
upholsterer must design much of his
work. He must study for harmony.
He must meet and satisfy all the differ
ent tastes. In designing and making
house decorations he has as much at
stake as the actor before an audience,
The boy with his boot-heels run down
and buttons missing from his clothes
might learn to tack the cover on a chair,
but he would never have the taste to
drape a curtain.
Lithographing is divided into four
separate branches-the artist or de-
slgner, the engraver, the men who trans
Ter and the pressmen. The apprentice
IN the engraving department gets no pay
for the first year and half, as nearly
all his work Is thrown away and he is
under instructions. The apprentice to
the artist must serve for two years with
out pay for the same reason, The nav
would then be about So per week for a
year, and would be steadily increased to
the end of the fifth year. Engravers in
Autograph establishments receive from
S15 to $50 per week; artists receive
from SIS to $50 per week. The transfer
men receive from SIS to S25, and the
pressmen about the same. 1 ask You to
take particular notice of the wide differ
ence between the prices paid to men do
ng the same class of work. The least
pay represents. the man who does toler-
ably well. He can get his work out
after fashion, and is satisfied with
that. He feels that he is hanging to his
Job by his eyelids, as it were, but as
long as his employer will keep him he
is satisfied. The higher pay represents
the man who was born to the work. He
has his soul in his work. He isn't sat
istied with ordinary, but seeks to excel.
He Is bound to lead in his work and TO
make himself indispensable. You will
see this wide difference in every trade,
and 1T stands solemn warming to par
ents against pushing son into trade |
or profession into which he carries no |
The carriage trimmer, as found in our |
ordinary shops, has a snug berth, steady |
work and light and tasty trade. His |
apprentice must serve for three years. |
The pay for the first year is not over 50 |
per week, without board. The second |
year it would be from So to So. so and |
the third year about S. A journeyman
receives from SO to SlS per week. The |
average is about SIS.
Very few apprentices are taken at the |
cigar making business. 1t is as often
that a boy pays to learn the trade, per-
haps for the reason that if he is ever to |
be a good cigarmaker he knows it Mt |
the end of three months. If, at the end |
Ct that period he cannot make fair
hl9h-priced cigar he is given hint that !
he had best learn some other trade.
work by the piece alto
gether. 1t is trade in which the most
active earn the most money. A boy
who is quick of eye and hand will earn a
mans wages after three or four months.
The wages range from 81 to SIS per
week. Probably SO would be fair
average. The trade is mostly in the
hands of immigrants from other coun-
tries.
The apprenticeship to a trunkmaker
is three years. The pay for the first
year is from 81 to So per week, without
board. Journeymen generally work by
the piece, and the wages average S14 per |
week. 1t is tasty employment, always
under cover and pretty steady work,
but the boy who learns the business
should have some natural skill in the
handling of tools. The trunk of to-day
must give the most possible room in the
least possible. space. 1t must be
bureau, Latrack and burglar
proof safe combined. 1t must be able
to hold everything, stand everything
and take whatever comes. Locks and
hinges must be put on in the stoutest man.
her and the maker must battle the bag
gage-smasher and please the ladies at
he same time.