The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-11-13

maker friend. when we passed out or one
Of these places. "They are all operators
or pressers. or finishers, or buttonhole
makers and each person has just one
thing TO do on a garment, which Is very
simple and easily learned. Formerly a
tailor needed considerable skill, and his
services were in great demand AS II IS
at present, anybody can sew buttonhole'
or follow the cutters directions on the
sewing-machine, and the clothing maker is
compelled to submit to every eNaction, be-
cause he knows a hundred others are
ready to step into his place. The only
persons who receive good wages in the
New York clothing trade are the cutters,
who. II they are expert, average so TO 30
a week"
was curious to find out what portion
OF the total selling price Of clothing went
to the men who made 1t. IN RUSSIAN
shop in Pell street, right in the heart or
Chinatown, where a boss and six employees
were engaged on sack coats and overcoats,
they gave me a sample schedule Of prices.
! was shown a coat that would retail, per-
haps. at Sl2. to be forced down to SO or
S. if the market was dull. The man VINO
nut this heavy. substantial garment to-
gether received fourteen cents the baster
twelve the finisher ten, the ironer elSht
and a half, and the buttonhole maker
seven. a total of ffty-one and half cents
somewhere near five per cent. Of its mar
ket value. Small wonder that clothing
dealers can sell their stock on occasions
for one-half or one-third Of the price ad-
vertised, and that at handsome profit.
1t can always be said If the industry OF
the Russian Jew that he works himself rs
hard. if not harder than any sweaters
which are set over him. Leave the tene-
nent house shops, which cOvertly defy the
law. and enter one Of the little living
rooms one can step into from every hall
way in Essex and Suffolk streets. Save
the five deepest hours of the night there
is no time in the twenty-four when you
won't find the whole family up ana sew
ing for bread. We unearthed family OF
three-two brothers, with the wife Of one
of them-who inhabited an by 10 court
room. and toiled, the brothers at least,
from to midnight Winter and summer
that room was at furnace temperature
with the roaring fire they kept for heat
ing irons They were pressers OF knee
pants" at seven cents a dozen. Each man,
bv means of this grinding slavery, earned
about So week, and out of that they
paid for that red-hOt stove, eighteen
hours in the twenty-fOur, and the room
rent. which was s. a month. They car
ried the knickerbOcl0ers back and forth'
In a few Years these fellows VIII nave
achieved what they regard as an lnde-
pendence
A pitifm sight in the clothing district
was that Of Sarah Zussman, gentle ana
mild faced young Jewess, with four mites
of children dependent upon her and no
means of keeping the wolf from the door
bur working on those miserable boys
knickerbockers at seven cents dozen.
We saw her in a bare and cherries room
ON the top floor of No. . Suffolk street,
the furniture and everything salable gone
TO the pawnbroheTs and the wan faced
little ones gathered about her ber nus
band. Barnard, lay in the Moses Monte
fore HOspital. an incurabe consumptlVe.
He toiled too. at boys knee pants fcr
the support Of his family till the vitiated
air ana the confinement broke him down
and marked him for the grave 1t seemed
q cruel mockery that the young mother
worked, worked, worked with the strength
of desrair TO clOthe other boys while ner
own children went in rags and tatters.
Louis. the grave eyed baby Of eighteen
months. dropped a broken bread twist OF
Russian rye-hard ratiOns for baby 10
MUNICH on-when we entered and gaZed
with wonder. The harder was empty,
and the woman could do but part Of
her usual work, as within a short time
she was to become a mother. 1t TOOK her
three hours 70 finish a dozen garments.
only the friendship Of their poor neigh
bors. who collected scraps Of bread and
cave them TO the family, keeps them
alive. 80
When a mans total wages are 50 a
week, what can ne eatF The answer 10