The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-22

that fixed the wages for shlrtmaklng; ana
the CITY seamstress. dependent on her labor
for living, had to accept the starvation
prices made by well-to-do women, to whom
the work was merely an incidental feature
of their lives
With the introduction of the sewing ma
chine the shirt industry made great strides
o. F. Winchester, founder of the Winches-
ter Arms Company, was the first to use
sewing machines in shirt factory he estab-
lished in New Haven early in the 'hfties
He first operated fifty machines. Other
manufacturers followed his example, steam
power was su stituted for foot power, and
a complate revolution was effected in the
business.
AT the present time the value of shirts
annually made in this country is about
S46,000,000, representing 100000 dozen
shirts, including white, percale, flannel and
coarse wooden garments OF white shirts
alone the production is about 2,500,0)0
dozen, or 80, O00, 900 shirts. Estimating the
population of the United States at 60,000,-
0Q0, and conceding that one-half of that
number are men and boys, it will be seen
that there is just one white shirt year for
each individual.
The number of people employed in shirt
factories is estimated at 2),000 There is no
means of learaing how many outside and
occasional workers there are " no earn
small wages. The furnishing goods men
dispose Of a comparatively small proportion
of the whole shirt product, the bulk of it
going to the country dry goods dealers
Furnishing stores are confined to cities, and
the goods manufactured for them are of a
much superior quality compared with
those supplied to the ''cross-road"
dealers, and form a special b anch
of the shirtmaking industry. This CITY
is the center of the wholesale trade, and the
annual sales in this city aggregate $23, 000,
000 Most of the factories, however, are in
suburban towns, many of them distant
from New York. In the west, Chicago is
the leading point in shirt-making. Here is
located the largest furnishing house in
America, and connected with it are two
shirt factories, one IN tnis city and one in
South Bend. Ind Chicago, now an impor-
tam distributing point, as most Of the large
eastern concerns are represented there, is
destined to increase in importance as a
shirt-mauufacturing center.
AS the shirt industry grew and expanded
the garment itself became the subject of
much mental exercise, and the result is that
there are now m re than 800 patents on
various devices pertaining to the garment
and covering every pArt of it from neck
band to extremity. Most of these are de-
signed to add to the comfort of tie wearer,
the strength of the shirt, and the income of
the inventor, and are of no particular in
teles5 to the general reader. One of the
most singular of these inventions is a
contrivance to cheat the laundress, called
the "multi-boSom," consisting of one body
and many bosoms, either detachable or
otherwise. A man in Boston built a shirt
with many bosoms SO arranged that when
one was s1iled it could be dropped down be-
low the waist and clean front exposed to
view. 1t is Su gested in the HdberddSher
that this shirt should be accompanied by an
automatic portable laundry, operated by
the lsgs of the wearer, so that the
dropped bosom could be "done up"
while not in use. Another man has
produced a combination shirt made
of flannel with an extra bosom of
linen, which is made to appear on unbut-
toning flap, and a Chicago man has Sc
cured a patent on shirt to which extra
bosOms are attached by buttons. The
notched neckband is patented device aud
consists in cutting V-shaped notches in the
top of the band, thus permitting it to
spread or contract TO fit collars of different
sizes. Another patent was issued recently
on shirt open all the way down the back
aud front-a shirt in two halves and still
another on the open shoulder, viii h has
rot YET become popular. There are also a
number OF patents on sleeve adjusters, most
of which consist of a system Of buttons and
STRAPS to re sulate the ength of the sleeve.
Tue linen for American shirts comes en-
tirely from Ireland. 1t is said that the
United States can never become a COM
petitor in this domain, for the reason that
it cannot grow the proper quality of fax,
and that the extremes of climate prevent
perfect bleaching Ireland is the worlds
best bleaching ground. Nearly all the
muslin used in the trade is manufactured in
the mills of New York and the New Eng
land states, the southern mills supplying
only the heavy fabrics known as cotton
Innings
As to the shirtmalEers, it is claimed that
thu growth of the factory system has vastly
improved the condition Of the women en-
ployed by shortening the hours, Tightening
the labor and increasing the wages. For
merly the industry was almost exclusively
domestic one, and, like all domestic in
dustries, the wages paid were not suffi.
Gle t for subsistence. Forty years ago
a seamstress could earn about SO a
week. To-day the aver ge earnings of
machine operatives on shirts are 50 to so
week, and few exceptionally skilled work
ers make SIS to $18 week. Two classes are
employed-the stitchers and the tinishers
The latter work by hand at their homes
sewing stays ard buttons aid working but
ton holes, and the reduced pay they receive
represents the effect of child labor, volun-
tarY labor for pin money, etc. The above
conditions relate to country factories. In
the cities the conditions do not diff ma
terially. TIE charitable in stitutions of this
city are said TO exert a depressing effect
on wages. The various reformatories, con-
tanning many girls, keep them employed on
needlework, which they take at low prices,
doing some cap grades of shirts as low as
81 10 per dozen. 1t is claimed, upon the
whole, that the factory system has been a
great boon to women, giving employment
to many thousands and enabling them to
live in comfort. The garrett workers, toll
ing for sixteen and eighteen hours a day,
have almost disappeared
One Of the Tnrncoats