The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-06
FACTORY GIRLS.
Those in Worcester
Make Excellent
Wages.
LEAD THE SALES LADIES.
They Begin at So and
Reach Over $40
a Week.
LEAD THE SALES LADIES.

1t is a well-established fact that
through ignorance or false pride, many
women in this city are kept from good
paying positions.
Today many young women of the city
are working for less than 81 week
in dry goods stores when they could be
earning much more pay in manufacture
ing establishments.
One of the largest industries in this
city of it's kind is the underwear factory
of William H, Burns Company, 50 Park
street, opposite Salem square. In this
particular factory, between 500 and coo
girls are employed getting into shape
thousands of articles of women's under
wear. The Spy man visited the plant
recently and found the girls busily at
work. In the cutting room 144 thick
nesses of cloth were cut at one time
by men, and were then passed to the
girls to put together, gathered, stitched
and bound according to the style of the
article in which they were to be used.
There are so kinds Of corset covers
made, 100 styles Of night robes and be-
tween 90 and 80 patterns Of skirts be-
sides many other garments. Singular
ly enough, man is employed as de-
signer and has full charge of cutting
out all the 700 different styles of gar
ments manufactured.
In making the night robe several
girls are employed First, 1t is cut
then goes to the girl who gathers II
where the yoke goes on. The work is
done by steam power, regulated
by foot pressure. After this. ii
goes to the seamer, who sews
up the seams, gathers the ruff
fies and sews on the embroidery or
lace. Another girl then sews on braid
over the raw edges of the; trimming.
The finisher puts in the sleeves and
hens the robe around the bottom, and
then 1t is passed to the buttonhole girl
who puts the garment in a machine
which cuts and sews the buttonhole
the required size. The garment next
goes to the girl who Sews on the but
tons. The button is placed in a little
slot in the machine and with the speed
OF lightning the button is seWed and
the cord fastened.
After this the robe goes to the exam
iners, who see that all of require
ments are up to the standard and then
the thread ends are trimmed. If, for
any reason, the robe is found unsatis-
factory, the girl who is to blame is in
formed that her work has been re-
Jeeted by the examiners, and then the
article is remodelled and again return
ed to the examiners for inspection. II
is then pressed by girls, with hot fat
irons, folded in tissue paper and sent
back to be marked and placed in paper
boxes and sent to the shipping room
The average girl in a dry goods
store is paid from 81 to Sc a week. After
she has been there for several years
she is paid from IS to SIS per week, and
is on duty from 7.30 o. clock in the morn
Ing until 6 o'clock in the evening, and
curing the holidays and Saturday even
ings much later On such occasions she
is on her feet from the time she goes
to work in the morning until she quits
work in the evening. This will be ac-
cepted as fairly conservative descrip-
ton of the case of the average girl who
is employed in large department
store
In the workshops the ordinary girl
can earn from SO to So a week on a sew
Ing machine, and after a course of a
few years she can earn even $1S or $40
a week. Some of these girls are natur-
ally quick, and after applying them
selves steadily and conscientiously to
their work for even year, can earn
large wages.
In these factories the time of labor is
limited by the state law to 81 hours of
LABOR week. The law requires that
they must be kept clean, we'll ventilated
and also state how many persons shall
be placed within a given space. There
is state board Of inspectors who visit
these shops often, and If everything is
not up to the standard the proprietor is
brought to terms.
AT the Burns workshop the corse.
cover is also manufactured, but requires
much less labor than that of the robe.
The operatives occupy two floors Of the
building, and adj Of the work Is done by
machinery. Elevated platforms run the
entire length Of these departments The
| employees are seated at benches, about
10 girls at a bench The average days
work is about six dozen corset covers
| and will give salary of about 81 a
day. A new employee when put to work
is given plain seam stitching with a
salary of SO or 81 a week. The girl is
taken in on trial, and If in the course
| of few weeks she is found capable of
earning Sc q week, she is kept, and if
| not she Is discharged and another girl
given her place In this department
there are also two inspecting rooms,
| and here nearly go girls are employed,
who do nothing but look after the work
and keep track Of the work of each in
| dividual \
| tory at 70 Winter street there are
nearly 125 girls employed. In one of the
rooms about 100 girls sat at machines
stitching the, uppers of shoes The
| girls are paid according to the work
that they do and many Of them earn
| $14 week. When girl is taken into
! the shop she is given trial and if in
| the course of a week she proves inca
able of doing the work she is discharg-
| ri hoc a
FEW years she earns nearly So a day.
In some of the other departments of the
building the girls are employed polish
ing the shoes and putting them in boxes
| ready for the shipping room. These
girls are also paid according to the
amount of the work they do.
At the shops Of the Partisan Wrapper
Company, rs Winter street, $50 girls
| have steady employment the wear
around. Each one of the girls is given
certain quantity of cloth and is ex-
pected TO be able to turn it into the
wrapper without wasting 1t. Every
wrapper is passed the entire length Of
| the room and is accompanied with a
small book In which each employee
registers her work. After all of the
work is completed it is turned over to
the inspecting board consisting of five
women who make a careful examina-
ton and If the work is found to be
| correct 1t is sent to the shipping room.
If mistake is discovered the work Is
returned to the employee at fault and
she Is made to correct her error. If
she is unable to do so she Is discharg-
ed. For faulty work the firm stands
| the loss and gives the person who
turns out poor work chance to do n
over again.
High grade new $50 bicycles for less