What has been said of feeders under letterpress printing is generally true of feeders in the lithographic branch. The only difference seems to be one of social position. Girls employed in feeding lithographic machines are "higher,"[97] "less filthy in talk," etc. They form the intermediate class, of which the girls in the bookbinding and warehouse departments are at the top. In one shop where all three classes are employed, the manager remarked that these caste distinctions were "clean cut," and obvious to the most casual observer. [Footnote 97: They are supposed to be lower in London, Manchester, etc.--[Ed.]] (C.) _Letterpress Printing. Type-setting._ The employment of women as compositors is a "vexed question." In two shops only are they so employed in Glasgow, and both are on the black list of the local trade union. Inasmuch as the conditions which obtain in these shops differ in important respects, they are here described separately. Firm No. 1 introduced women as compositors some nine or ten years ago, when a dispute with the union ensued. It now employs about a dozen women at the cases. Girls are taken on at any age after fourteen. In three months' time they are able to set up type in "solid dig," _i.e._, newspaper or book matter, consisting of solid uniform paragraphs. Three girls who have spent about eight years with this firm are declared to be "good at displaying," and "more competent than the ordinary journeyman." Beginners get 6_s._ a week during the first year, and in the third year are put on piecework rates. There are no indentures. Capable women compositors may earn 24_s._ a week, while their average earnings may be put at 22_s._ a week, and they never sink below a pound. Young workers make an average of 18_s._ a week or thereabouts. The normal week is one of fifty-one hours, made up as follows:-- 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on four days. 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. A compositor sometimes acts as "clicker," _i.e._, checks the amount of piecework, but this is usually done by a clerk. No married women are employed. Overtime is paid time and a half, and women are fined a penny for being late. Firm No. 2 employed at one time about two dozen girls in the composing-rooms. They were engaged solely on solid newspaper work, and never in the higher branches of the trade, such as "displaying." Seats were provided for them. They worked a forty-eight hour week for a "stab" wage of 15_s._ or 16_s._, and had three weeks' holiday, off and on, for which they were paid. Further, they were never turned away in slack time. But the experiment was not altogether a success, and by to-day the two dozen have dwindled down to two, who set for newspapers and get 16_s._ a week. The reasons assigned for the gradual reversion to the employment of men are as follows:-- (_a_) Irregularity of the women's attendance at work. (_b_) Their shorter hours.