In the envelope room, where folding and relief stamping is done, seven to thirteen hands are employed. The median wage is very variable, fluctuating from 9_s._ to 16_s._, and averaging about 12_s._, chiefly time wages. Machine ruling is done by from four to eleven girls. Their median wage was nearly steady at 6_s._ in 1897 and 1898, and rose regularly to 8_s._ in 1899. Nominally these were time wages. The following table shows detailed wages in five selected weeks (learners excluded). +------------------+--------------------------+-------+---------+ | FIRM C. | Typical Weeks. | Busy | Slack | | | | Week. | Week. | | +--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+ | | Nov., | Feb., | Nov., | Dec., | March, | | | 1898. | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. | +------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+ | Binders-- | No. | No. | No. | No. | No. | | Above 20_s._ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 18_s._ to 20_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | | 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 1 | | 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 7 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | | 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | | 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 | | 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | | 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | | 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | +------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+ | Envelope Room-- | | | | | | | 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | | 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | | 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | | 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | +------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+ | Machine Ruling-- | | | | | | | 8_s._ to 9_s._ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | | 7_s._ " 8_s._ | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 6_s._ " 7_s._ | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |