The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-07-28
TROY Alrp IT'S COLLARS.
Ln Industry That Employs No Less
Than 2J.OOO Women.


Than $4,000 Women.
A dozen or more operations are needed to
make gentleman's shirt collar, and no
person plays more than one part The cut
ters, who never strike, because they are
well paid, are the most important factors in
the trade They are magical workers. Each
man has his table upon which to spread
layer and layer of linen. When the pile
is as thick as he wants he puts upon it his
little pattern block of wood, whirls sharp,
hin blade of steel as fast as the eye can
follow the movement and leaves beneath
The block the dismembered shapes of a score
Of collars So skillful is he that he can
make the cuttings close enough together to
leave only threads of linen wasted. The
pieces that he cuts out are sent to the fac
in carriages and are taken home by school
girls. One set of workers sew the pieces to-
gether, another set simply turn the collars
inside out after the manner of skinning cells
for these collars are sewed the wrong way
out), another set make the buttonholes, and
hen there are the laundresses, washers,
roners, sorters, stampers and many more
besides. The Observation-Disclosures and the
stitchers all use sewing machines run by
power, and this power is often supplied in
an interesting way. sort of turbine is
attached to an ordinary kitchen faucet so
arranged as to emit thin thread of water,
which, despite its slenderness, furnishes
power to run the machines. Some women
control half dozen, or even O dozen ma
chimes at their homes. The machines are
run by larger turbines and operated by
girls, en- whose industry the speculative
matrons make small percentage of the pro-
fits. Every operator at home, except these
larger ones, owns her machine and motor
and has spent $50 or perhaps 800 to set
herself up in business. The factories used
to supply the thread as well as the linen,
but recently the employers took to making
more than ordinary and legitimate profits
by selling the thread to the women and
specializing in the transaction. They pre-
tended that some women wasted the thread,
but the truth is they were diseased by greed.
They sold small spools until ono firm laid
in a stock of large spools, which they made
their hands buy at three dollars apiece.
This was too much to bestaken from girls
wages in week without her feeling it
severely, and so those in that firms employ
struck. Shopkeepers' wives and daughters,
the women in distant households, the girls
IN the houses of the moulders and puddlers
ilong the river between Troy and Albany,
and, in short, most of the working women
within great radius, make either pin
money or entire livelihood from this indus
try. Steady work brought from $40 to 1913
a week, but, of course, the women who had
household work to attend to and girls who
went to school were satisfied with Just
enough for little ineries and extravagances
The committee of Knights of Labor that
conducted the movements of the girls found
q peculiarly feminine difficulty in maintain
ing perfect harmony. That obstacle is the
caste that exists among the collar-makers.
The most fashionable and costly collars in
the world are made at one factory and the
women who work on these goods look down
with contempt on the others. They are the
queens of the trade, and every humble oper-
ator lives in a constant hope of one day he-
ing skillful enough TO work for that firm.
Next in rank is factory having q crown
for its trademark. Its workmen are secuF9
in the social scale. Lowest of all are those
who work in the majority of the factories,
turning out collars for country crossroads
stores, for the Texas and cowboy trade;
collar without style or quality, retailing ct
ten or twelve cents each. They are the q
oolloi of the kingdom of collars.