=51. Engravers and Chasers of Gold and Silver.= I was told by a lady in Philadelphia, that had been engaged with her husband for some years in chasing the backs of gold watches, and had laid by quite a snug little fortune, that from $5 to $6 is paid for engraving a watch case. It requires many years to render one a competent gold or silver chaser--I think about five years. A general engraver told me he thought women could very well engrave jewelry, silver, and card plates. The superior taste of women could be exercised to advantage. He thinks a woman of good abilities could obtain sufficient practice to earn good wages at the expiration of six months. It is a very confining business, but one that pays well. It requires more skill in drawing than beauty of penmanship, though the last is a desirable item. A good engraver calculates to earn $1 an hour. The kinds most suitable for a lady are so clean that she need not have her clothes soiled by her work. Mr. C. knew a lady once in New York who was a beautiful engraver. She learned the business with her father. A watchmaker can soon learn to engrave, because he uses similar tools, and knows how to handle them. A person that can engrave watches could easily engrave coarser work. Engravers, when employed by the week, earn from $12 to $25; and $15 a week is a fair average of an engraver's wages. An engraver cannot well work more than nine hours a day. Ornamental engraving is done in some jewelry manufactories by women. Engraving is done with gravers, but chasing is executed with punches and a small hammer. Engraving is more on the surface than chasing. An article chased is indented on the inner side, one engraved is not. It requires some time to excel in chasing and engraving. There are two kinds of watch engraving--that of landscape and that of borders. I was told by an Englishman that some silver-plate chasing is done in England by women. A jeweler writes: "We occasionally employ women in engraving--on brass, and we do not find any difficulty. In this branch of business, we believe, they are more suitable than men." Mr. S., who engraves on gold, silver, and other bright metals, told me that a long time back all the engraving in his branch was done in England by women. It is light work. The designing is like a lawyer's work--hard on the brain. Most engravers in this country do their own designing. His father was the first engraver in New York. He takes apprentices for five years, not paying anything the first year, the second, $2 a week and clothing, and increases according to the attainments of the learner. There are two kinds of engraving in his branch: the line engraving can be done with one tool, the other kind requires several. He can obtain foreigners who can do both kinds (usually called mongrel engraving), and who would be glad to get work. Chasing and polishing are about as good mechanical pursuits as a woman can follow. Some silver chasing is done by filling the article with