New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-29
THE WEAVER.
LIFE AMONG THE IOouc

|
AT the top tmy professlonl' said the ttrat -.
ing woman as she npped with her picker A. The 80
that had appeared on the smooth siken surface trs
her; should POPE So after working in tbls ~
factory for half 1 lifetime was put 10 mInd,.e ~"
loom when wSs that small had 10 be bu,,.1
OF sight when tie inspectors came around loo,,.
after unlawful clhhlabor, and hero am SIN a..
have a child OF ny own Zig enough to wash our ...
and cook BIT OF dinner / thought when 49,.
ried. that had left the factory behind me bu, 49,.
old mans work Amt steady. and there's four moA
TO feed at home. and don't understand no kpd !,
work. except weaving. II comes hard though :.
my time OF life. 10 be at that door yOnder summs, :.
winter rain shine, when the o'clock whlstIs blow,
| I'm the morning or else DO locked ont. Long hou,,
| Yes, long as the law allows and twenty minu,.
longer. Hero stand. botherlng with this warp FINN
O'Clock till L. and then from twenty minutes n
| till g. II was 10 stop long enough TO 90 to TIM,
sink yonder and wash my hands. I'd be fined doII,,
The boss has TO be strict on account OF the oafer
You that girl across the alley She is looking
mad as a wet hen, and wonder. for the last tina
the superintendent came round. he caught her rad
ing The Fireside Companion and fined her dollar
for It, Another was caught doing ID
her hair that had fell down, and she fined too
Wo come here 10 work. you had better believe that
Benches 10 sit on when We are tiredl Not much,
There IS only one factory boss in New-York City who
Is enough 10 nave DtnCnts dl ms iDDs,
he is Jew. Crowded for room2 should say
was. The girl that stands back TO back with ne
she Is gone of TO speak to the loom fxer, well
that girl has on a ragged calico skirt and an apron
that looks as II she had been wlpng the stove with
it. but for all that my lady needs wear hustle "
big as a bushel. and it takes up much room hat
| cannot move without tanning against It.
How much do earn week. Well that depends
on the loom and the goods. We are not paid By
,ba hut hv tha ctte We take them ri
cut is sixty yards. and there are four cuts to
warp. When the warp Is out the weaver goes home,
and waits, sometimes two days. sometimes week
for a new warp 10 be put in. For satin we
paid seven cents yard for the best jacquard silk
fourteen cents. frstrate weaver can do her twelve
yards day II the loom is in good running odH
but there's where the trouble comes In; one thing
or another will get out OF gear about loom. and
that keeps one back The loom-fxers can't be every
where at once, If they wanted to be, and some Of
EN- don't want TO do anything more than they can
help. They'd rather loaf around and talk and laugh
with the girls There's many a weaver here that
don't earn five dollars a week. good many Of
ZEN, earns about six, and some few may go high
as ten. II they smart enough 10 earn more
than that prices would be cut down right away.
How do like my company? Well, don't say
nothing against the weavers In this alley They'll
all lie like fury but they good respectable girls.
and If there nobody here but them could leave
my apron, or my shoudershawl, or even my shoes
under my loom at night. and expect 10 find EN- hers
in the morning; but with them thieving dyils at
the far end Of the IL amt safe 10 leave nothing
around that they lay hands on. They would
steal the eyes out Of your head If they could do 10
without being caught No. II amt strange that such
girls should be employed IN respectable factory 10
is the respectable factory that helps TO make 'em
what they arc Lots Of them girls don't live VII
their own foEs-in fact, they amt got no folks Of
their own TO i've with-and what one Oh thsui couii
pay her board and dress decent on four dollars
week. The folks they live with are poor ike them
selves and can't afford TO keep ON Tor nothing.
I'm the blood and they can't help IL. There was
girl here yesterday drunk that she couldn't DO
Stroke of work all day long; She was PAID for her
the evening before, aud that was what aided her.
intendent took not 10 see her as she STOOD Jerking
her loom this way and that way all day long. She
Is sleeping off her drunk to-day, and tomorrow she
will be here without penny IN her pocket, ana the
girls will all be pokng fun at her for thar seems 70
be the way with women they an awful lot harder
on one another than men arc
Swear? Ny. yes Some Of em cant open Their
mouths without swearwords coming out IN tell yoa
lust how 1t is You know that one rotten apple will
in time rot a basketful. Well. there may be wh0ls
lot of respectable young girls. none OF EN-
teen. working together and behaving Just as well
as you could ask: then another sort Of girl. oher
than the rest, will come in and IL she socfabke In
her manners, and sort O. stylish in her dress them
young will do just what she does and end
such creatures out? THERE'S no taken 70 keep
anybody out that can mind a loom. The girls amt
even known by name in the Office bur are called by
the numbers their looms. and the only notice the
boss takes of when he comes down is 10 shove
aside II we happen to get in his way he passes
along the alley. He has made fortune Ont OF his
looms but the weavers. unless they steam engines.
have all they can do 10 keep soul and body together