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110 DUBLIN FACTORIES.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4 The The Social Following Science Extra...
work respectable -roonis woman where acts irls as are overseer employed , a plan would which "be , if attended adopted in with all !
g , Incalcnable benefit , both in the moral training of the young women and as affording a healthy stimulus to their exertions to improve
themselvesso as to be able to fill such situations . The manager of this factory , is anxious to promote the welfare of the operatives ,
but finds that any improvement they gain is counteracted by the / state of their dwellings and the habits they have acquired there ..
A considerable number of women of a similar class to those just mentioned are employed in paper mills , of whicli there are several _,
near Dublin . The paper trade in its higher branches of cutting , stamping , edging , and making up of the paper into the numerous
forms required for business purposes , affords a very suitable occupresents pation to a youn striking g women contrast . The to that appear of the ance great of the proportion girls so emp engaged loyed
in other manufacturing operations , these being tidy , intelligentlookingand generallknowing how to read and write .
An emp , loyment which y remains to be noticed is that of the needlewoman . In this department the sewing-machine reigns supreme ,
and its busy whirr will soon be heard in every street . The females who are counted bhundreds in other trades may in this be reckoned
hy thousands , and y , on account of the present dulness in the majority of manufacturing employments , fresh recruits of every age and
grade , —from the tradesman ' s daughter , anxious to earn a few shillings for the purchase of dressto tlie reduced gentlewoman , striving
, to eke out a meagre existence , —are now pressing into this , the woman ' s great resource .
The exercise of a judicious and benevolent oversight is here most especially needed . In each of the larger manufactories there are
from fifty to two hundred women employed , who earn from 2 s . to 6 s . per week by working from nine a . m . till se _^ en p . m ., with an
hour's interval . The preparing , finishing , & c , of the work for each machine occupies two , three , or _Hve girls , according to the
nature of the garment and the dexterity of the machine-worker , who can earn from 7 s . to 155 . per week . " This young lady , " said
one overseer , " could keep a dozen going . " One , two , or three cutters-out are also employed in every work-room , as well as an
overseer , whose business it is to keep the workers from idling . In a few houses irls are taught to sew and use the machine , and for
this instruction g they pay in either time or money . One of the workmasters said that he could find employment for double the
number of hands but for the difficulty of managing the sewers , many of whom do not know how to hold a needle when they come
to the factory , and often leave in disgust after a few days to seek some easier and more remunerative employment . Very many are
quite satisfied with earning a few shillings a week , and will not exert themselves to obtain more wages . In most establishments
trained hands only are engaged , as employers cannot afford to give
110 Dublin Factories.
110 DUBLIN FACTORIES .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1861, page 110, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101861/page/38/
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