The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's WorkPenny, Virginia
General
The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work
Penny, Virginia
Women -- Employment
Women and children rub salt on the fish
to be cured, with the hand. When cured, women pile them in stacks from
four to five feet high, and as wide. Women are paid, at Newlyn, for this
labor, 3_d._ an hour, and every sixth hour receive a glass of brandy and
a piece of bread. Many are also employed in obtaining oysters and
canning them; and on the return of whaling vessels, numbers of women
assist in preparing the cargoes for market. In New York, fish are mostly
sold by men, who drive about in a little wagon containing fish, and blow
a horn, crying out now and then the kind of fish they have for sale.
=143. Macaroni.= Macaroni is moulded and dried. Girls then pick out the
whole sticks, and put them in boxes. The broken pieces are all thrown
together in a barrel, then ground and moulded over. It is very easy
work, and requires no learning. They are paid from $2 to $3.50 a week,
working ten hours a day. The girls I saw, stood while at work.
=144. Maple Sugar.= The cheapness of sugar made from sugar cane has
almost annihilated the existence of maple sugar, except as a sweetmeat.
The peculiar flavor of maple molasses and sugar makes them much loved by
some people. The trees are tapped early in the spring, when the sap
first rises. After sufficient water is collected, it is put on and
boiled until of the consistence required. It is slow work and pays
poorly, but can be performed by women capable of the heavy labor
involved in carrying, lifting kettles, and stirring.
=145. Market Women.= Mrs. Childs says, in her "History of Women," "On
the seacoast of Borneo fleets of boats may be seen laden with provisions
brought to market by women, who are screened from the sun by huge bamboo
hats. In Egyptian cities, the country girls, closely veiled, are
frequently employed in selling melons, pomegranates, eggs, poultry, &c."
In the southern countries of Europe it is common to see women riding to
market on donkeys, laden with marketing. We learn from "London Labor and
London Poor," that there are 2,000 persons employed in the sale of
greenstuff in the streets of London, as water-cresses, chickweed,
groundsel, turf, and plantain. The cresses are eaten by people; the
other articles are sold for birds. We may divide market women into two
classes--those that raise or have raised the products they sell, and
those that buy to sell again. The articles of the first are generally
genuine and of fair price. Vegetables, poultry, eggs, and butter, with
fruit, both green and dried, are carried to market, and there the market
women, placing them on stalls or retaining them in their wagons, wait
for purchasers. This class mostly supply the markets of towns and
villages. Their articles are usually fresh and wholesome. There are
thirteen markets in New York city where everything is obtained at the
second or third remove from the producer. It is estimated that there are
1,300 huckster women attending the New York markets. The members of some
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