The evening times., 1898-08-04
ABLE-BoDIED WOMEN.
In Japan They Do Mems Worl
Along the Wharves.


(From the St. Louis Globe -DemocIat.)
The charmed traveller in Japan goes TO
Nagasaki to find disenchantment There
he sees the fair Japanese maiden labor
as a coal passer and at 'longshore work.
1t makes one of the strangest sights OF
the queer Orient, with its teeming mil
lions of peculiar people, to see fifty or 4
hundred women At work with an equal
number of men coaling a ship in the
pretty harbor of that city. 1t is said that
at one time the work was done almost
exclusively by women. but that latterly
the girls and women have been gradually
giving way to their coolie brothers or
sons. Many continue at the work, how
ever. and it will probably be years before
the custom disappears. The coaling al
Nagasaki is done from lighters. and a Sc
ries of elevated and inclined platforms
that resemble a stepladder are affixed to
the side of the vessel. They reach from
the deck of the lighter to the main deck
of the steamer or ship. The coal is han
died In small baskets that will hold from
thirty to forty pounds. The coolies form
in line on the ladder-like scaffold, and
the baskets are quickly passed from one
TO another. The best home illustration of
the process is to be found in the old
American bucket brigade working on a
roof fire. The coal Dassers work very
quickly. and one gang of mixed coolies.
working from several lighters. has been
known to give a ship 4H tons in an hour
In the distribution of the work among
q gang of coolies the woman is shown no
favors. At the bottom Of the line the
first lift becomes larger as the coal re-
cedes in the lighter, and at the top OF
the line the lift over the rail is hard and
the woman could be favored by placing
her in the center. On the contrary how
ever, she is seen more often at the ends.
The work is very hard. and there is the
added discontinue of the flying coal
dust but both men and women seem very
happy. They laugh and ji5e as they hur-
riedly pass the seemingly endless line
of laden baskets. The women do not
bear the marks that the American or
European 'sweat-shop'' leaves upon its
victims. They all seem to have health
and its accompanying color. Some of the
women and particularly the older ones.
show biceps and shoulders that would
make some of our men shamefaced.
Among the younger girls are many that
would be called pretty by the admrer of
japanese beauty. They all wear the ma
tive costume. and nearly al protect their
hards with rough gloves or bindings of
cloth. The evidence of a desire to pre-
serve the color of their hands is the only
indication of sex in the busy crowd.
The women are not paid as well as the
men. although they do as much work
Why the discrimination is made Is not
apparent from the amount of work done
or the treatment of the laborer. Latterly
it has been the practice to undertake
the work by piece or contract and to
make a division Of the gross earnings
among the coolies engaged, on a basis
previously arranged by themselves.
Wages vary. but 25 cents per day would
be deemed very good compensation, and
the majority probably work for much
less. They are allowed extra compensa-
tion when they work at night