The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-09-05
Short Talks With the Boys.

| Il muoh hhaht my OWn why Ill lie, w lht
trade would you advise me to learn%'
Advice would do you no good. We
will give you some facts and figures re-
garding good MANY trades, and you
can see what they offer. In present.
ing these figures we are guided by
what is paid in Detroit. They may be
somewhat higher in Chicago or New
York and somewhat lower in other
cities, but, taking tho country over, the
average will be about the same
II you want to become butcher you
must serve three years apprentice
ship. The rule is to board with your
employer, and tho first year you may,
If handy and willing, get $25 or $50
above board. During the first yearyou
will drive cart and do the rough work.
After tho third year you will get all
the way from 81 to $l4 per week.
There is one butcher in Detroit receiv-
ing $50 per week, but there are plenty
working for less than $l4. In most
cases the apprentice sets up for HIM
self aftel his term has expired, and few
butchers travel on the trade.
The apprentice to harness maker
must serve the same time. The best
boy will not get over IS per month the
first year, and the majority only So. 1t
Is all shop work, and used to be con-
sidered good trade, but of late years
| so many state prisons have gone into
the business, and machinery has had
so much to do with it, that harness.
makers are discouraged. In the aver
age shops journeymen can be hired for
so to $40 per week. 1t is doubtful If
the very best men, working on fancy
harness, can make over $l5 per week.
II you would be a shoemaker you
must also serve three years. You
would get what is called "board and
clothes" the first year, which means
board and about $25 in cash. The
second year you would get board and
about $50. and third year board and
800. During this apprenticeship, if
you were the right kind of boy, you
would be allowed to earn considerable
change for yourself by odd jobs Of
cobbling. The wages Of good Journey
men shoemakers are from $l2 to SIS
per week, and good man is never out
of work. There is no lost time, and
weather which is bad for other trades
is good for the shoemaker.
The timers apprentice serves the
same period. The wages given are $50,
$50 and 800 per year, with board, but
if your employer is the right kind of q
man he will allow you to earn u dime
occasionally by mending leak. Many
timers are also plumbers, but in cities
the two trades are kept separately. Any
one of them can, however, work more
or less with other tools. Roofing and
shoet-iron work should 90 with the
trade. The wages of good Journey
man are 81 per day, but more are re-
ceiving $40 per week than above it.
Labor-saving machinery has sadly in
terfcred with the journeyman during
the last six years. The pans, pie-tins,
cups and several other articles he used
to cut by pattern and solder together
are now stamped at u blow without
| seams.
The baker business takes no regular
apprentice. Boys are taken to work,
and are allowed to learn how to bake,
but there is no agreement as to time.
The greater portion of the work can be
learned in a year, but bakers who have
| followed the trade for twenty years
can still learn something new The
wages are from 81 to $12 per week. 1t
is fancy baker who gets the latter
figure.
The apprenticeship to q plumber is
for three years. A boy will get about
$3 per week. without board, the first
year, and IS to Sc the second. A
plumber who is also n steam-fitter can
count on from So to $3.50 per day and
steady work. The wages paid to either
aplumber or gas-fitter will average
So per day.
The apprenticeship to acabinet-mak.
er is for the same term. but, owing to
labor-saving machinery, penal labor
and other causes, it is perhaps the
poorest trade boy can learn. Good
cabinet makers are working for less
than 50 per day, and the very best
hands won't average over $13 per
week. An apprentice would be paid
about 81 per week the first year, but
without board.
In cities of any size painter means
q craftsman who paints buildings. He
does not pretend to NEEDLE with any
thing further, or at least should not.
An apprentice would serve about one
year at say, So per week. After that
no could draw pretty fair wages, but
the average pay is not over 50 per day,
and there is great deal of lost time.
Paper hanging and decorating have
come to be an art. Men with taste and
skill can earn from 81. % to $3.50 per
day. An apprentice would have to
serve at least two years, and would not
be paid over So per week the first year.
What is called locksmith in Detroit
includes dozen other businesses. He
keeps machine shop and novelty
works. know locksmith who is a
fine gun-maker. He can turn out any
sort of pattern wanted. He can mend
clock, put in an electric bell, repair
anything in wood or iron, sharpen raz-
ors, file saws cut screws and bolts and
nuts, run an engine, and, in fact, never
turns job of any sort away. He knows
the science OF steam, calculates friction
to nicely, and can tell you the varia-
tions OF a rifle ball to hair. He is in
deed mechanical genius, but when l
asked him the other day how much
| wages he could nav iournevman az