The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-06-03
ODD WAYS OF MAKING A LIVING.
Som Of the Peculiar Means of Livelihood
which Civilization Develops.


There are many odd ways of earning q
livelihood in great city like New York,
and it is surprising to see how many persons
there are who readily adapt themselves TO
new occupations. Type writing, for in
stance, was unknown few years ago, and
now there are thousands who support them
selves by it. 1t has supplied new and
wide field for the employment of women,
and has come into almost universal use for
legal documents. The invention of the
telephone has given employment to thou.
sands in the construction of the apparatus
and the attendance at telephone offices, and
the number thus employed already rivals
the number engaged in telegraphing.
The introduction of electric lighting has
given employment to many persons, as hes
also the comparatively recent use of refined
coal oil all over the world for both lighting
and heating. 1t is only few years since
the invention of the district messenger ser.
vice and the employment of street boot
blacks gave employment to an army OF
boys.
The successful manufacture of PLAYING
cards, which were largely made abroad until
within few years, has recently given en-
pioyment to many American workmen.
The canned goods industry has grown up
since the war, and offers an entirely new
occupation.
Photo-lithography and many other quick
processes of picture printing have furnished
employment to many within few wears.
There is an immense business in readv-made
clothing for women and children that is of
comparatively recent growth.
There are, at rough calculation, about
nifty men in the United States who mako
their living by hardening steel for various
mechanical purposes. There are three or
four who earn living by demagnetizing
watches, and perhaps about as many who
adjust compasses on iron ships. There is
IN odd and somewhat intricate occupation
IN the insurance business known as the nd
justment OF averages, and the number Of
men engaged in it in great city may al
most be counted on ones fingers.
There are many men who earn a living
by tasting various articles of food or iudg-
ing of them by their appearance. There are
experts in handwriting, in chemistry, in
mechanics, and all sorts of things. who
turn up in the courts and make LITIGATION
costly.
Civilization tends to q division of labor.
20 that in every profession there are men
Hhe get reputation for some particular
brunch. Thus there are acknowledged
specialists in law, who have almost n mo-
nopoly of a certain class of cases Some
lawyers know all about patents, and others
oil about admiralty; others all about land
lords and tenants others all about crimi-
nal law, and SO on. In the same way the
doctors take each some portion of the hu-
man body as special study, SO that the old
family doctor, who undertook to doctor all
sorts OF diseases, is comparatively obsolete
in crowded communities.
This division of labor tends TO the estab.
lishment in great cities Of many queer stores,
OF depota of supply for all sorts of odd
things of which the general public knows
little or nothing. There are, for instance.
depots for the supply of peculiar food for
the various nationalities that centre in the
great city. The Cinnamon, the Italians
the Germans, and the Scotchmen all know
where they can go and buy things that are
specially suited only to their own taste.
A craze like roller skating gives employ
ment to many persons. American roller
skates are now known all over the world
There is an American roller skating rink
even in India. The progress of mechanical
inventions, while it throws many persons
out of employment, also furnishes new oc-
equations to many, and does away with the
apprehension that the machine may sup
plant the man.