The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-12
A japanese Factory.

In his report to the foreign Office on
the subject of In Japan
Byron Brenan says: 1t is perhaps In a
match factory that the advantages Of
cheap can best be seen. Osaka
and Kobe are the centers of this indus
try, which employs some 1900 per-
sons. Nearly the whole process Is done
by hand. and the cost of making ma
chimes chiefly resolves itself into a ques-
ton or wages. A large factory at
Osaka employees 1900 hands, principally
young girls. 1t is only In such parts Of
the process as require physical strength
that men are employed or where the
duties to be performed are essentially
mems work, such as soldering tin cases,
wheeling trucks. stoking furnaces. etc.
In this factory the splints are imported
ready cut from the northern island Of
the empire. Before being dipped In the
chemical preparation they are placed
in the frames by women. who become
marvelously expert at their work.
The woman takes a number Of splints
between her fingers and practice soon
teaches her how many are required.
With a rapid pass OF the fingers she
spreads the splints along a thin piece
of wood an inch wide and a foot long,
into which have been scored so shallow
grooves at regular intervals. BY deft
one pass of the fingers
leaves about IS grooves duly filled and
with lightning rapidity the five empty
grooves receive their little stick: then
another strip of wood Is superposed and
Keeps the lower one i'm position. Thu
process is repeated So times and then
the frame is full. Thus 2, $50 splints
go to each frame A very practiced
hand Will fill so frames in a day of 10
hours, and thus earn liz cents. but in
this establishment there were but few
who could fill more than 40 frames a
day. As In every other department
where the nature OF the occupation al
lows il. this work is paid by the piece
at the rate of 3hs cents for 10 frames.
The women work on the floor. each i'm
her little penlike compartment. rallied
off by bamboo poles. The japanese wo-
mans attitude at work. i'm which she
will remain for hours. is to kneel and
sit back on her feet. which are turned
toes inward under her. Each worker
has her box with a supply of spllnts.
and a number Of frames at hand. and
an overseer comes round periodically
to count and remove the full frames.
In one room were working some hun
dred young girls n women, some of
them mothers. with their babes
strapped on their backs. or crawling
round clinging to the mother and inno-
Gently impeding her in her work.
After the splints in the frames have
received the chemical treatment and
passed through the drying rooms-all
this being the work of men-the
matches again come into the hands of
women, and in the box-filling and box
labelling rooms the visitor is again
amazed at the celebrity of human fin
fiers. In the box-filling room young
girls and women are again sitting on
the floor in rows. and the small babies
reappear either on the mothers back
or at her side. A rapid worker will fill
400 dozen boxes per day; Will unerring
Judgment the delicate fingers pick up
the exact quantity ofImatches and with
a shake or two lay them evenly in the
box: then. instead of replacing the orig
inal cover on to the full case, the wo-
man pushes the latter into a new cover.
and i'm doing so pushes out an empty
case. which in its turn as soon as filled
displaces another This work
is rewarded at the rate of 51s cents per
100 dozen. and a very quick worker may
earn % cents.
In the box-labeling room II Is again
women's work. Each woman has in
front of her a board on which are laid
a pot OF paste and a small pile of labels
face downward. At her side are the
unadorned match boxes. A small guam
tity of paste is spread on the board.
and then almost more fapluiy IMAM the
eve can follow the fiat brush is dabbed
to the paste, swept across the top
most label to which il adheres, the label
il slapped on to the o and a rub of
the finger secures II in its place. The
best woman can label 5000 boxes a
day, and while l was noticing one girl
my watch told me that she was doing
more than one a second, but she was
the show worker of the room and on
her mettle, and such rapidity could not
be kept up for long. This work is paid
/ cent per 1000 boxes.