Another flight of stairs and the fifth floor is reached. This is the straw hat pressing department, occupied entirely by men. Here are the more weighty evidences of labor and work. Heavy and powerful hydraulic presses are used in shaping the ordinary kinds of straw hats, and the necessary metal moulds that form the "dies" for these machines represent tons of zinc. Also in this room is row after row of benches, equipped for that special branch of "hand-finish," which has so greatly assisted in the reputation of the straw hats sent from this establishment. These benches each accommodate six workmen, are supplied with a labor-saving appliance of great merit, the invention of one of the firm's employees and at present in use only in this factory, which is, that by means of rubber tubes a combination of gas and air is carried into the pressing irons, by which heat is regulated to any required degree. The advantage of this may be realized when it is known that heretofore these press-irons were heated by "slugs" or pieces of iron or steel, which, drawn from the furnaces of anthracite coal fires, were encased in the hollow irons. By this new invention a remarkable saving is made, by the abandonment of the furnace, in the coal necessarily used, also in the not insignificant matter of time consumed by the presser in the constant replenishing of "slugs." Its work is acceptable to the workman and desirable for securing an improvement to the goods. [Illustration: STRAW HAT FINISHING DEPARTMENT.] The next, the sixth floor, has a department of both the straw and felt hat branches of the business. The finishing department of felt hats is a large room 150 by an average of 25 feet, closely studded on three sides with large windows, which at this height throw upon the workmen an unobstructed flood of light, affording unusual advantages for the most thorough perfection in the finish of these goods. This room has capacity for one hundred finishers, allowing generous space for each, giving the convenience and comfort that but few factories afford their work-people. Adjoining is the department of bleaching and dyeing of straw plaits. This department is supplied with all the modern conveniences for securing the best results. Large wooden vats receive the straw plaits for a thorough cleansing before it is ready for manufacture. Bleaching tubs are near at hand, and large copper vats with all the required steam attachments for dyeing the many desired colors are here conveniently arranged.