Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-07-13
ANNAPOLIS Md WEDNESDAY EVENING" JULY 1s. 1892
GIRLS AT MEMS WORK
YOUNG WOMEN IN PITTs6URG MAKE
IRON BOLTS AND NUTS

Girls. Who Are Very skillfal-They Are
| Neat and InteIiigent-Their Pay.
There are probably thousand women
h Pittsburg who work in iron mills
making bolts, nuts. hinges and barbed
| wire. 1t seems almost incredible. that
girls should be employed In an occupa-
| ton which is associated only with Drawn
and muscle, but such is the case. Al
the first sight of the bolt works one can.
not believe that anything bright or in
teresting could live inside. At the call
of the $50 a. m. whistle girls are seen
coming from all directions toward the
factory. They are generally dressed
| tidy and well, and with their lunch bas-
kets on their arms are not unlike any
working girl one may see.
The first thing they do after entering
the building Is to change their street
dress for one to work in, tie up their
hair, roll up their sleeves, and, putting
on coffeesack apron, are ready to be-
| gin the days labor. At z o'clock the
last whistle blows. the wheels groan and
screech as If they We're weary to resume
another days work, but in little while
they begin to move with more rapidity
and the noise amounts TO something ter
rife. A sulphur smoke arises, and as n
embraces everything in dim color, it
needs but the dull red burning of the
oil, the horrible noises and the occa-
sional sound of human voice halloing
a command to stamp the scene ON ones
memory as a study from sheol.
The bolts and nuts, as they are called,
are fashioned by the brawny men on the
first floor. In crude state they are
sent to other departments, when the FIN
ishing touches are applied by feminine
The bolts are dumped into different
bins, according to size and length, and
each girl has one special kind to work
on. The first work ON the bolt is to
"point" it-that is, to make round
end so that it will enter the machine
which cuts the thread ON it. The point
ing machine has an immovable socket
at one side and steam revolving knives
facing it.
The operator, who is known as a
pointer" places the head of the bolt
in the socket, presses her foot on a
pedal, and the sharp steel knives are
forced against the iron. Little bits of
the iron fly, and in an instant she re-
moves her foot and the pointed bolt
falls down slide into an iron deposit
box on the floor.
While the one hand and foot has been
accomplishing this, the other foot sup
ports the girl, goose style, and the other
hand has got bolt ready to be placed
into the socket the moment it is empty
Thus for days, weeks and years the
pointer" handles one bolt after an
other for a living, being paid by the
thousand. Expert workers have pointed
1o, 900 bolts in a day.
When the bolts are pointed they are
taken to the cutting quarters. These
machines are large, with deep sinks
filed with thick black OIL The bolts
are placed in slides and pushed by the
worker up into sharp steel dies. In an
instant the thread Is cut ON them. The
work is rather dangerous, and care
must be exercised to keep the operators
fingers from going into the open dies and
having their ends cut off instead Of the
iron. The oil in which the girl is COM
PEELED to work in order to keep the belts
from getting hot and thereby breaking
has very offensive odor and gradually
smears the worker from the root of her
frizzly bangs down to her runover heels
Girls of any age, from sixteen to fifty,
work In this department. Their pay by
the thousand averages from fifty cents
to one dollar day.
Little girls from six years up to twelve
put the nuts on the bolts and pack them.
The "nutting on" is also accomplished
by machine power. The worker puts a
nut on plate; then, after catching the
head of bolt in the jaws above, she
presses her foot on the pedal, when,
prestol the work is done. AT long tables,
built of substantial wood, are rows of
young girls, interspersed with scatter
ing of women whom life cast forth in
their old age. They pile the bolts, row
after row, alternate heads, then wrap
them In strong paper.
The girls always come to the factory
clad neatly and we'll Dressing rooms
are provided for them, and soap and
towels. At noon the girls are given
three-Quarters of an hour. They lay
aside their aprons, wash their hands and
devour their wee lunches with energy
worthy Of better cause Formerly the
girls would hurry their dinners and de-
vote the rest of their time to dancing.
The orchestra was not the largest, nor
did it rival the Mexican band In melody,
but 1t answered the purpose of furnish
ing time for the shabby shoed girls. It
consisted Of one girl and mouth organ.
The men were not permitted to come
into the girls side of the shop, but they
would stand at respectful distance, as
though longing to join the merry dam
GERS. It seems rather strange, but the
girls never mingle with the men in the
same factory. They are good and hon
est, and generally intelligent.
The girls were very happy, and every
thing moved as smoothly as steel ON ice,
until forewoman was introduced to
take the place of foreman. Imme-
diately she put stop TO all singing
during the day and all dancing at noon.
There was decided stir among the
girls at these new rules, but they were
forced to submit. Since then they spend
the noon hour reading and doing fancy
work Most Of the girls are experts
with the needle and those who read
would surprise 3 scholar with their quo
tations. There are more handsome girls