Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-11-28
BAKING SHIRT WAISTS.
TURNED OUT AT THE RATE OF 600
DOZEN A DAY.

well as Everything EisS-0Hc OPSF-
ator For Seams, Another For the
Bands-care in inspecting the
| Workers..
In these days the song of the shirt
| is hummed, as 1t were, by sewing ma
chimes run by electricity and the wo-
men who operate these have no time
to sing or to hum, either; neither do
they give their attention to "seam
and gusset and band,' for this is an
| age of specialties The shirt waist
business has its specialties as well as
everything else, so that one woman
devotes her attention to the seams
while another takes care of the bands.
but the gusset takes care of itself, as
there are none to be seen upon an
up to date woman's shirt waist
In one of the largest shirt waist
factories in this city, the material
is put in the. slot at one end of the
factory and comes out in completed
shirt waists of mos. exquisite make
at the other, and at the rate of GOO
dozen day.
The factory is eight stories in height
and each floor is about 200 feet square.
This unusual width insures plenty Of
light and ventilation and also makes
it possible. to have the machinery
arranged upon single floors so that
a better oversight may be kept of the
work.
From end to end of most of the
floors ruin long lines of sewing ma
chimes, all shining with cleanliness
and all handled by bright laced girls
as clean in their attire as the ma
chimes which they operate. Nor is it
left to them to see TO their attire. An
inspector goes through the long aisles
of machines and looks as carefully
at the clothing of the 1900 girls who
operate them as does a sergeant up
on dress parade eye the uniforms of
| the squad under his command. The
girls may dress as their fancy and
their purses dictate, but what ever
they wear must be spotlessly clean,
| and so must the busy hands which
see to "seam and collar and band.'
Nor does the inspection end here.
The girls must be healthy and rot
come from any house in which an in
fictitious disease exists.
Strange to say, the Jnly employees of
the masculine persua sion in this fac
tory are those who cut the waists.
| This work was once done by ma
chinery. bet that mode of cutting
| rr0.yod md p~uy 10
work is all done by hand. 1t requires
care, skill and endurance, for cut
ting out is not so easy as it sounds,
and the hands must grow hardened 20
the constant friction of the handles
of the scissors.
From the cutters some parts of the
waists go into the hands of the bast-
ers and the other parts to girls at
various machines. ABOUT seven hun
| bred sewing machines take up the
pieces, and with incredible swiftness
fly through the fabi,c One set of
girls sews the plain seams. another
set makes the sleeves, another makes
the stocks, still others fashion cuffs,
| reckbands and the various portions
necessary to the completion of the
garment Then there are machines
for hemstitching and for fancy stitch
ing, and what are known as trim
ming" machines for doing the deli
cate work necessary in applying the
bits of lace and embroidery to waists
in the dainty way in which it Is now
done. Besides these various machines,
there are others, when do not come
under the head of sewing machines,
that glitter with sharp needles, indus
triously putting on buttons and work
ing buttonholes. All these different
styles of machines have their own
skilled operators, and all are ruin by
other than human motive power.
Each girl is, however, mistress of
her own instrument, and with a light
touch can control its movements.
When the shirt waists are made
there are girls whose duty 1t is to
launder the neckbands, the collars
and cuffs or wristbands and stocks.
Then other girls take the waists. light
ly press them and turn them over to
bevy of other girls, who deity fold
the garments. At this stage of the
process of manufacture the waist looks
as though it had never been handled,
SO pretty and sweet and fresh is it;
but this is not to be the last of its
handling. Another group of young
women takes up the creations of swiss
and lawn and lace and embroidery
and linen, and puts them into boxes
ready for. the salesman in the retail
shop.
There is, however, still another pro-
cess to be gone through with before
the waists are pressed and boxed
Each is carefully examined by experts
to see that it is perfect in every part,
otherwise it cannot go out as the pro-
duct of this house.
Besides skilled operators. examin-
ers, cutters, basters, finishers, press
err laundresses and boxers there are
employed women of artistic taste and
ability to design moGels and plan new
and charming ways in which to apply
trimming upon shirt waists. There
women must keep the key of the pre-
| vailing styles, and at the same time
produce variations in novel and ex-
elusive effects that will make the
waists desirable, because few women
care to wear exactly the same kind
of garment worn by others.
After the waists have been APPROX
ed by the lynx-eyed examiners, they
| are placed in long rooms in the show
room, where they are purchaser by
men from the shops-big and little
and are sold in every part of the Unit
ed States and Canada and in our
colonies.
Indians in the Navy.
There are two Iroquois Indians in
Tho T1nitod CfafaS navy They grew