The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-21

Washington, ID. c., Feb. 20. =
Probably one of the most highly
paid classes of workmen in the
world are employed in an industry
of which the public knows almost
nothing-that of making high grade
jewelry by hand.
The facts about this trade were
brought out at a conference held
by the Jewelry Crafts association
in New York. The leading topic of
discussion among the jewelers.
present was the enormous wages
which their workmen are demand
ing and receiving, and the difficult
ty which they experience in get
ting new men. Think Of work
man asking as high as $3.50 to 5000
week, Yet some of the jewelry
workers and diamond settlers get
that much, while weekly earnings
of 500 or more are not uncommon.
A good workman gets about 50 an
hour, while an exceptional one may
make So. The standard week is ~
hours, and time and half is paid
for overtime. AS there is always a
shortage of competent workmen,
most of the men work overtime
during a great part of the year,
and so pile up their enviable earn
ings.
During the war conditions were
even better for the Workmen and
worse for their employers. Some
of them during that period were
making as high as So an hour and
double time for overtime. The en-
pioyers objected to the demands
for more money and less working
hours and long strike took place.
The result was the establishment
of the open shop principle. This
was not as great a victory for the
as it usually is, because
the shortage of first class work
men enabled them still to success
fully demand very high wages.
These men are interesting, not
so much on account of their spec
tacular earnings as because upon
them depends the survival of an
art which is threatened
with determination, or at least
great injury, as are so many other
arts, by the modern domination of
machinery.
Machine-Made Jewelry Cheaper.
Certain lines of machine-made
jewelry may be beautiful and often
are Some materials can be work
ed very successfully by machinery,
and of course machine-made jewel
~ is much cheaper than that made
by hand, and so within the reach
Of persons who could not otherwise
afford jewelry at all The place of
jewelry is secure
and not to be criticized; but the
fate OF jewelry making as an art is
in the hands of those jewellers and /
their workmen who do fine hand
work. This art is threatened by
The scarcity of workmen. In this
especially, few young men
care to go into trade in which it
-akes 10 to Is years to become fair ,
" proficient. AS result of this, |
he United States has been getting !
many of its high grade jewellers ,
rom Europe. preponderance of |
hem from Germany and France. |
Many of the skilled workmen were !
xilled or disabled in the war. The /
of the new immigration |
aw prevents others from coming |
o this country. Hence the difficult |
les Of the modern manufacturing !
eweler
These makers of hand-wrought !
ewelry truly have behind them a ,
,reat artistic tradition. The max
ng of jewelry has always been rec
'gnized as a high art, and in the
Italian Renna issance it attained its
highest dignity jewelers. in the
Italian cities of that period were
ften scuIptors and painters as
veil, and were often quite as ia
nous for their work in jewelry as
or that in other arts. Botticelli
eads a group of such artists. Ben
enuto Cellini is another celebra-
ed Italian Of the 18th century who
7as a jeweler and goldsmith and