The morning call., 1893-08-24
A LABOR ANOMALY
White Girls Are Employed
by Mongolians.
CHEAPER THAN CHINESE.
One Hundred Young Women Find
Work in a Chinese Canning Fac
tory on Stockton Street.

In some instances the Chinese are CON-
PEELED to resort TO white labor to carry on
their business. and sometimes. too. white
labor is cheaper inasmuch as ii is better
and more easily controlled.
In no place is this state OF affairs more
apparent than in an extensive canning
factory on Stockton street, between Sac
ramento and Clay. The eastern side
of the block where this establishment
! is situated presents an appearance of
business enterprise. 1t is a busy scene.
Cases Of tins, green fruit and canned
fruit line the sidewalks, and wagons are
continually coming and going with
products of the farms and the factory.
Chinese are moving the piles of boxes,
and young white women come to the door
occasionally with an order for the Mon
gollans. which they give in a commanding
tone. From inside comes the rattle of
machinery and the babbIe OF girls
voices.
More than a hundred white girls are at
work there.
The Chinese simply solder tins. carry
boxes about and remove cases and cans.
But the young women do the important
work of the factory, picking. sorting and
pdliDk lluib 1UI plcScI NiHe, ldOClluE
aud packing the cans in wooden boxes.
There are rows of benches where white
girls sit and deftly peel and cut fruits.
Nobody would ever think it was Chinese
factory. but such is the case. The busi-
ness is conducted wholly by company CT
Chinese. Though money is still held
tightly by banks and capitalists, this firm
is working at its fullest capacity and EN-
poying about 100 white girls.
The wages earned vary from 81 to So a
day, and this means something like $1,000
week for five months steady work, of
which the white girls get the benefit
Various reasons are given for white
girls supplanting Chinese. and the Chinese
employers are not over-anXiOuS to talk
concerning them. In reply 10 a question
on this subject yesterday one of the fruit
packing company said as be assumed a
cunning expression:
''We would not employ white girls if
they did Tot please lis better than Chinese.
The girls work is cheaper than the
Chinese. We can employ girls at better
terms. and then they do good work"
What is the average daily pay of the
girls?"
Some make So, but it is nearer 81 a
day. We employ over 100 girls, just the
same as other factories, and pay the same
ms FOntana's, Cuttings, Lusk's and Others
Girls are paid on piecewOrk. If they are
lazy they don't make much. If they work
hard they can make and save money. 1t is
all contract work-so much basket The
only Chinese employed are soldering or
doing the heavy work.
Our draying is done bv W hite men and
we get all our tins from white makers
Wo Hing Kee & Co. had a factory up
stairs, but this year we found we could
buy cheaper from white houses than they
could supply US. Kee & Co. are closed
now. They used to charge So 05 a hun
drrd caus. Now we get the same tins for
81 81 hundred from white makers"
The girls paid no attention To their sur
roundings, they simply kept on at their
work-some in a high basement others up
stairs-as If it was any other factory.
They appeared In no way different from
girls in factories conducted and owned by
white men, nor had they any more severe
masters. 1t was work and work, peel and
pack without cessation. Baskets of fruit
came upon the tables only to be prepared
and followed by more baskets.
Little difference did il make where these
young women earned their scanty bread
Tney sang gayly, chatted while their
nimble fingers moved like the wings
of flying birds, and looked coDtented and
happy.
One of them, well-dressed and neat
young woman with check apron and
check overseeyeS, ordered a Chinese
around as if she owned the place. The
Chinese replied in a tone of banter, but
did as she said
IT'S as good here as on the beach," she
said, comparing the Chinese factory with
big establishment on North Beach Then
she returned TO her task of labelling cans