The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-01-30
OUR SAlLMAKERS ARE FEW.
,uERE ARE OSLT Isg or THEN IN
NEW YORK cry
o-e. There were More, bat sten-- re. Hurt
~. Trnds-TheS Are Hopefui, ssd Proud
.sTbs,r Work snd OF American nueh.

ali loft you're Just in the right place for IL.
80 along south street But II It's only TO see
hnr the thing Is done. as you say-a sort OF
,urlo.ty like-then | tell you candid It's not
Worth the tramp up stairs. sailmaking's a
S..d duck in this port. sir"
10 man should be a better Judge Of tho fact
,h,n the CHEEKY. tarred-rope. copper. stem ed
u,ter OF sails who gave this bit Of lnforma
ron 10 SrS reporter. for It was no other than
lain Hogan himself whom his fellow crafts
NON know MS one OF the best and most expe-
,,snosd sailmakers that New York has known
=, this last quarter OF the present century. OF
IA ~ Washington street. sir: a patriotic num-
"a, you'll OF serve. and patriotic name" Mr.
posan stood az lie spoke. in the doorway lead
,re TO the Sailmakers' Union. at South and
Roosevelt streets.
But visited a sail loit n few days ago" the
,.porter suggested. where business was GER
,,inlv good. Fifteen or twenty men we're at
york and there seemed to be plenty to do"
THAT may be. too" Mr.. Hogan replied.
"Then. again. you might go TO that same loft
to-day and find nobody ut work at all. You
sac the work goes by fits and starts and gem
,r.ly we have moro ilts than there are starts.
Whsn n shipmaster wants new set OF sails
has always in hurry for them. particularly
IT'S n yacht they're for Why. bless you, it's
plste set OF sails in two or three DAYS That
takes a lot OF men. and no master sailmaker
keeps q lot OF men nowadays. We all work by
The dav whom there's anything to do We be-
long to the union, and when the boss needs
men he sends right down here for us. aud we
keep at work till that Jobs finished.
Perhaps should not say" Mr.. Hogan con-
tinued that the business Is dead. In such
port as this there must always be some work
for .ailmakers: but it's not the business It was
sight or ten years ago. Can l tell you what's
the cause OF this OF course can tell YOU II
you'd sit down there on that coil OF chain ca be
and think about II for ten minutes, you could
reason out the cause Of It for Yourself No. it's
not the hard times that's the cause OF Il: when
. ship needs new sails she riust have 'em.
whether the times are hard or soft. It's steam
that does it. In the FIRST place. How many
American sailing ships have we now, along
side OF what we had a few years ago? Very
few. because we build steamships instead.
Most OF tho sailing ships nowadays como from
down East round Maine way mostly, and they
get their sails down East. because they're
cheaper there.
That's another big reason why our business
has fallen of. We can't compete with TIE
Maine sailmakers on account OF rents and
wages. Rents and wages are both higher here
than they are in Maine. so 1t costs more to buy
q set OF sails here. You know a sailmaker
needs good big space to spread out his stuff
in. and good big space In New York costs
money. The size Of the lofts here along South
street is generally lSx60 feet. and that Is not
nearly large enough. because we have to keep
Abig sail huddled up In a heap instead Of hav-
Ing 1t spread out so that we can see what we
are doing. Most OF the sailmaking firms Keep |
two such lofts. one right under the roof and the
N n ~ hNNt N aEaa nal
quarters for them all. One OF these lofts. 1Sx
20 feet rents for $500 q year; SO you see the |
men can ront a whole big building for the |
same money: There is not loft to be had In |
, tan, city without g9inE into parts where the
big AZ a sailmaker ought to have.
Then the wages l think you'll be sur
,amakers there are IN this city. the greatest
port OF the country There are Just l20 Of us.
u. union allows three apprentices to shop.
boys see that the saiimaking trade Is declin-
ns so they learn other trades. About eight
hen We agreed to lot them down to So for a
lay Of nine hours. hoping to bring more bust
0 keeping wages down to a fair point as the
nployers are When wages are high the en-
'oyer does not lose the difference. because he
bat makes less work for him and US too.
rom 1870 TIL the end Of the war. rent OF a sail
ents, as well as wages. had to come down.
Sails are made In New York prin eipaliy for
Iaehts and Nova Scotia sailinR vessels-that is,
'essels owned here and plying between here
md Nova Scotia: occasionally we get orders
rom merchant ships. catboats and other craft.
hough the international yacht races made
work for us last summer.
of. at il5? That Is one OF The higSest IN tbs
'ty. being 3Sx1O feet. But even that is not
Arge enough. Indeed. there is not loft in
lll LEM 9Th ana breadth In. Let me show YOU |
That IS the loft the ligiant's sails were made
800 square feet. The floor area OF this G tie.
pest loft is 1850 feet. Maybe YOU wonder that
SHOULD know lust the size, of the different
important when YOU come to lay out big sail. |
", hat was a sight. that set OF sails Tor the
most expensive duck canvas ever male. and
,nek cost nye times as much as any other
.s n sails sE T heard e. Hip make them
T 4 she did on the other side. We sallmakars
then We make the = ills for winninl: yacht !
1 ne OF the nrst ships ever helped make the
ans msr LOT was the famous Black Warrior an
nsl steamer Great Britain by two days in u
ace ace from London TO Melbourne. Australia.
~ ~ vessel was owned by Wilson Son OF
4 We DO not make as many sails In New
ORR as We might, it is acknowledged by most
~ e!ullcei shlpnwners that We make the
ss' IN the world. The material used for sails
y AtAeFleal 10 much superior 10 tho material
issl anywhere else As general thing Eng
~ vessels Gse h0mp duck canvas. whereas
ie a.MaIs use cotton duck. Cotton duck holds
~ WIND and the sails set Hat. where the Eng
~ sShlls alter tho starch washes out Of them,
as IKE tagging stur They often have 10 ,
S S11 h3se with them to wet the sails to help
a 'II hnld the wind. The yacht America csr-
ahlS could not have outsRiled all the swiitsst | d
srnIs OF Great Britain II Il had not been for ,
y! Wen made American sails.
thng 80 sails when first used are very stiT |
~ hold ~ 10 thu wind well but after they | 4
I've I've been used short time they become
.nnst useless. NothiAg 10 rs good for sails
JJuI American cotton canvas. for the longer
- ssed the tighter II gets. IL was the | |
InuaaiiIiclns' you know. who invented the
~ ,tonsai yard ships This is one OF the
,tAarest OF rigs, requiring so few men TO work S
nv ne modern american naval vessel carries '
M IYy WAT are called military fnasts. vessel
hh.'Wp tons carries three NJ these masts as 1
H. H. salps ~ the White Squadron do every O
80 We very latest In machinery but no sails
\, rs the sailmaking business ever going 10 !
~, ioNt ~ New York 2 think il is. Perhaps y
~ r. NY inns. nor even In yours young man; u
\ ,hlhS that some time or other II Is SURE y
-, ne a great business again. Ii has been y
'tttssu natural causes, as l might say and u
.ti,hA Pat natural causes will build ii up a
ma T. me modern steamship is a machine =
~ COMMANDER laughs al the wind This
~ very well while the machinery holds bur <
III WHE