Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-07-16
MAKING 4 LIVING.
Some of the Peculiar Means of LiveIf-
hood Which Civilization Develops.
New York Sun.

There are many odd ways of max
ing livelihood in great city like
New York, and it is Surprising to see
how many persons there are who
readily adapt themselves to new oc>
equations. Type writing, for instance,
was unknown few years ago, and
now there are thousands who support
themselves by it. It has supplied a
new and wide field for the employ
ment OF women, and has come into
almost universal use for legal docu>
ments. The invention of the tele-
phone has given employment to thous-
ands IN the construction of the APP
paratus and the attendance at
telephone Offices, and the number
thus employed already rival the mum
Der engaged in telegraphing.
The introduction of electric lighting
has given employment to many per-
sons, as has also the comparatively
recent use Of refined coal oil all over
the world, for both lighting and heat
ing. 1t is only few years since the
invention of the district messenger
service, and the employment of street
bootblacks gave employment to an
army of boys
The successful manufacture of play
ing cards, which were largely made
abroad until within a few years, has
given employment to many American
Workmen. The canned goods indus
try has grown up since the war, and
offers an entirely new occupation.
Photo~Ilthography and many other
of off
have furnished employment to many
within a few years. There is an i'm
mense business in ready made cloth
ing for women and children that is of
comparatively recent growth.
There are, at q rough calculation,
about ffty men ia the United States
who make their living by hardening
steel for various mechanical purposes.
There are three or four who earn a
living by demagnetizing watches,
and perhaps about as many who ad
just compasses on iron ships. There
Is an old and somewhat intricate oc>
cupatlon IN the insurance business
known as the adjustment of averages,
and toe mum Der Of men engaged in it
ID great city may almost be counted
on ones &ngers.
There are many men who earn
living by testing the various articles
OF food Or judging Of them by their
appearance. There are experts in
handwriting, in chemistry, ia me
chanics, end in all SORTS of things,
who turn up in the courts and make
litigation costly.
Civilization tends to a division Of
labor, so that in every profession
there are men who get reputation
for some particular branch. Thus
there are acknowledged specialists IN
law, who have almost 81 monopoly of a
certain class of cases. Some LAWYERS
know all about patents, and others all
about admiralty; others all about
landlords and tenants; others all
about criminal law, and SO on. In
the same way the doctors take each
soma portion Of the human body as a
special study, SO that the old family
doctor, who undertook to doctor all
sorts OF diseases, is comparatively OBJ
solete IN crowded communities,
This division of labor leads TO the
establishment in great cities Of many
queer stores, of depots 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 vari-
Gus nationalities that center in the
great city. The Cinnamon, the Ttal-
lans, the Germans and the Scotchmen
all know where they can go and buy
things that are specially suited only
tn their Oyg n 70 S+c
A crsz9 like roller skating gives
employment to many persons. Ameri-
can roller skates are now known all
over the world. There is an Ameri-
cvn roller-skating rink even in India.
The progress of mechanical invent
ions, while it throws many out Of EN-.
ployment, also furnishes new occu-
pations te many, and does away with
the apprehension that the machine
May supplant the man.