Work for Women Part 5

If a woman has a thorough knowledge of short-hand, she can do well, as a teacher of the art, in almost any community. Many persons, even in remote and small places, would learn phonography if the subject were brought to their attention by an instructor. Clergymen, lawyers, doctors, many women of leisure, young women who would study with a view to being amanuenses--all such people could be obtained as pupils.

The teacher could give from fifteen to thirty or forty lessons, at a charge of from fifty cents to a dollar a lesson. A great many learners of this art prefer to have a teacher's help, though phonography can be mastered without such aid.

Teachers of the art of decoration--the ornamentation of China screens, plaques, panels, etc.--and drawing, receive from $400 to $2,000 a year. A course of two or three years' study will fit a properly talented woman to be an art teacher. There is a fair demand for such teachers in the large schools and academies throughout the country.

BRIEF NOTES

ON MARKET GARDENING, POULTRY-RAISING, BEE-KEEPING, HOUSE-KEEPERS, CASHIERS, b.u.t.tON-HOLE MAKING, FLORICULTURE, AUTHORSHIP, TYPE-WRITING, AND WORKING IN BRa.s.s.

It would be impossible, within the limits of this little book, to go into the details of all the employments suitable for women; only the most important and best paying kinds of work have been mentioned in detail. Some brief notes are here given of various occupations in which females are now engaged, and in which they are meeting with more or less success.

=Market Gardening.=--Some women make money by raising vegetables for the city markets. The produce is sometimes sent by rail, but, as a rule, it is brought in by trucks. This industry is not, as many might suppose, confined entirely to foreigners. There are thousands of American-born women throughout the country who are engaged in it, and who are doing well. Mention is made of a woman who, starting with a capital of $25, made a good living in this way, cultivating only an acre of ground. Her husband plowed and prepared the ground, and in her part of the work she had the a.s.sistance of the younger boys and the older girls. During the past year she made more money than her husband did from his farm. A woman could not expect to be successful in this occupation unless she was unusually strong and healthy, and had the taste for agricultural work very largely developed. Those who are born and brought up in the country do the best.

The raising of =poultry= for the large city markets is a lucrative occupation, or rather it can be made so, after a time, if the poultry-raiser gradually increases her stock of fowls. Even if she does not care to do this she can be pretty sure of a fair living.

About $300 would be required to start in this business--$100 for the fowls, and the balance for the erection of appropriate buildings for the animals.

=Bee-keeping.=--There is always a good market for honey, and those who understand the art of raising bees can be sure of making a fair living. Women can do just as well as men, and many ladies are very successful. It would be necessary to start with not less than thirty swarms of bees, at a cost of from $5 to $15 a swarm, or hive. If the business is properly followed, it will increase in a very short time, as the colonies multiply rapidly. There are excellent books showing how this business can be carried on, but the theoretical knowledge gained from them must be supplemented by practical knowledge gained from experience.

=House-keepers.=--The demand for house-keepers is very small; that is to say, there is very little chance for a strange woman to obtain a position of that kind. There are plenty of house-keepers, but when one is wanted she is generally found in the person of a poor relation or struggling friend within the immediate social precinct of the family who desire her services. Such positions, however, when they can be obtained in the large cities, are looked upon as unusually good.

House-keepers are employed by widowers to take entire charge of a house and look after the children, if there are any; by husbands with sick and delicate wives; or by couples who are wealthy enough to engage such service. They are paid from $30 to $100 per month, the salary depending on the duties they are expected to perform, and the wealth of the parties who employ them.

A house-keeper in a large hotel occupies a responsible position. She must possess that rare feminine virtue--the ability to "get along"

with servants. The occupation is very confining, and such workers can very seldom get, at one time, many hours' recess from their work.

Their wages run from $20 to $60 a month and their board; the larger the hotel, the more responsible the position and the greater the pay.

=Cashiers in Hotels.=--It requires a great deal of "influence" to get the position of cashier in a hotel; it is a situation that is very much coveted. As the cashier is employed in the restaurant, it is only in hotels that are conducted on "the European plan" where such services are required. In such hotels the guests pay so much for their room, and get their meals where they please, paying at the time for what they get. As a rule, they patronize the restaurant connected with the hotel. The cashier has to work long hours. For instance: one day she will be on duty from 8 A.M. until 8 P.M. The next day from 7 A.M.

until 10 A.M.; then a recess until 5 P.M., then on duty until 12, midnight. She receives her board and a salary of from $12 to $25 a month. The board is always good. In the best hotels the cashier is allowed to order what she pleases from the regular bill of fare; other hotels have a special bill for the "officers" (as the better cla.s.s of help are called), and from this the selection of food has to be made.

=b.u.t.ton-holes.=--Ladies do not need to be told that the b.u.t.ton-holes in fine dresses are made by hand. This kind of work has become a separate business, although there are some seamstresses who combine the making of b.u.t.ton-holes with their regular sewing. Dress-makers who employ twenty-five or thirty needlewomen usually keep one b.u.t.ton-hole maker, paying her from $9 to $12 a week; very few pay the latter price. Some women who work at this trade prefer to be paid by the piece. In this case they are paid at the rate of two cents and a half per b.u.t.ton-hole. A good worker can make fifty b.u.t.ton-holes in a day, and earn $1.25. It would be a very smart woman who could make eighty, and earn $2 a day. One trouble about working by the piece is that the woman very often has to wait until the work is got ready for her. As she is obliged to attend on several customers during the day she often suffers from this loss of time, sometimes losing a customer through the failure to keep an appointment, or being obliged to do a part of her work at night.

The b.u.t.ton-holes in white vests are done by hand. The pay is one cent a b.u.t.ton-hole, and a woman can make $1 or $1.25 a day. The work is always done during the winter months, there is plenty of it to do, and never any time lost in waiting.

=Florists.=--There are eight or ten ladies in New York and Brooklyn who have charge of floral establishments. Most of them a.s.sist their husbands; some are widows who have inherited the business. There is one lady in Brooklyn who has built up a good business solely through her own efforts. This is a very good occupation for women who love flowers, who have good taste, an eye for color and the necessary executive ability to carry on a business by themselves. Most of the florists in New York and Brooklyn get their plants and flowers at wholesale from nurseries on the outskirts, purchasing such stock as they may require from time to time. Land is so valuable in the city that florists have long since been compelled to give up the cultivation of flowers; besides, the streets in the central and business parts are so built up, both in New York and Brooklyn, that the ground cannot be obtained at any price. Now, they have small stores where they make a display of "samples" of the different varieties of flowers.

The work is hard at times, the florist being obliged to remain up the best part of the night to fill an order, given at the last moment, for funeral or wedding pieces. The decorating of churches, halls, etc., is tiresome work, especially where palms are used, and where it is necessary to climb up and down ladders. The keeping of plants in pots in the store requires a good deal of labor. Many women call and want to see what the florist has got. She has to raise up the pots of plants many times a day, and this is very tiresome to the wrists.

The amount of capital required to start the florist's business is nothing like as much as it was before the large nurseries supplied the florists with what they wanted at wholesale rates. The sum would probably range from $200 to $1000, depending on the location, the style in which the store was fitted up, and the amount of rent that had to be paid. The profits are good, but vary, depending on the cla.s.s of custom the florist obtains; twenty-five per cent. is considered a fair profit.

The lady florist would not, probably, care to devote much time to potted plants. She could keep a few of the more common varieties, which would be sufficient. Most of her business--and the best paying part of her business--would consist in making bouquets, and selling cut flowers. That is more profitable and pleasant than the selling and propagation of plants, and would require much less manual labor.

Florists keep informed about their occupation by carefully reading the catalogues issued by the various large wholesale dealers, in this country, and in Europe, and the interesting and valuable books on Floriculture that are issued from time to time.

To establish a regular greenhouse, and raise plants and flowers for both the wholesale and retail trade, would require at least $5,000. A woman to carry on the business in that way would have to be possessed of a great deal of executive ability, give her whole personal attention to the work, and be able to manage a considerable number of men.

The business is better in the smaller cities than in either New York or Brooklyn. In Schenectady, it may be mentioned by way of ill.u.s.tration that, six years ago, there were no florists; now there are three.

=Authorship.=--Authorship has now become, very largely, a matter-of-fact business conducted on business principles. If any woman has any thing to say that is worth listening to she will have no trouble in securing a publisher to reproduce her thoughts in book form. The idea that publishers strive to crush budding genius has long since been exploded. If they were guilty of doing that very often their occupation would be gone.

The woman who has a ma.n.u.script to offer for publication should first see that it is written plainly on one side of the paper. Then she should select a publisher who issues books of the same general character as the one she has written. Some publishers make a specialty of light summer novels, some of society stories, some of scientific books, and so on. The ma.n.u.script is read by a "reader," who pa.s.ses judgment upon it. If his opinion is favorable the publisher reads the ma.n.u.script and decides whether he will undertake to publish it.

The book may be bought for a certain sum outright. Or, a certain amount may be paid on publication, and an additional sum after the book has attained a stated circulation; or, a royalty of ten per cent.

on what will be the retail price of the book may be given; or, the author may pay for the cost of manufacturing the book, owning the copyright, the plates, and the books printed, and paying the publisher ten per cent. for taking charge of the publication and sale of the book.

Contributions for the daily and the weekly literary papers are paid for at the rate of from $6 to $10 per one thousand words. Many young women are ambitious to write for the story papers. There is but little chance of success in this direction. Nearly all of the story papers have a regular corps of contributors, who often write under several different names, and who are paid a salary, or so much for each "instalment" of a continued story. A publisher, however, will always buy a "sensational" continued story if it is very good, and the fact that the author is unknown will not count against its acceptance. A continued story should contain not less than eight, nor more than thirteen, instalments of about four thousand words each. The pay for such a contribution would be from $10 to $20 an instalment. There is a greater demand for short stories for the story papers, stories containing from two to four thousand words. The price paid for such tales would be $5 or $10.[A]

[Footnote A: The woman who contemplates authorship, or journalistic work, is advised to consult "Authors and Publishers; a Manual of Suggestions for Beginners in Literature." Price, $1.00. Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 27 and 29 West 23d Street, New York. This is not only the latest but the best book on the subject.]

=Type-Writing.=--Young women in the large cities do well working on the type-writer. A girl with a good common-school education, who is naturally bright, and quick with her fingers, can learn in four months' time to work on the type-writer. In eight months she ought to be an expert at the business. Some pupils might be required to practise a year, or a year and a half, before they were thoroughly competent. Forty words a minute is considered a good average rate of speed. Salaries of lady type-writers in law, newspaper, and mercantile offices range from $10 to $20 a week. A woman would have to be a very expert type-writer, or have joined with the knowledge of type-writing some knowledge of short-hand, to earn $20 a week. In railroad offices type-writers are paid $60 a month. Type-writing offices, where type-writing is done for the public by the job, and where this kind of help is employed, pay $10 and $12 a week.

Some women open offices and depend on job work. They receive five cents a folio (one hundred words) for furnishing one copy of a ma.n.u.script, eight cents a folio for two, and ten cents a folio for three copies. Some charge ten cents per page (three hundred words) for furnishing one copy, twelve cents for furnishing two copies, and fifteen cents for furnishing three copies. Several copies of a page can be taken at one time on the type-writer. This is an excellent industry for women. No special talent is required, except that a woman should be a good speller and have a fair knowledge of the rules of punctuation. A new telegraph company that has just been started is, it is said, going to employ lady type-writers in many of its offices to take down the messages as they are received by the operators. This of itself will create a great demand for lady type-writers.

=Wood-Engraving.=--It requires four or five years' study for a woman to become competent in wood-engraving. After three years of hard work she may hope to do some ordinary engraving for which she will receive compensation. In the Cooper Inst.i.tute (New York), where the art is taught to women, the course of instruction covers four years. The pupils work every day from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. the year round, obtaining theoretical instruction from a teacher twice a week.

For engraving a block a trifle larger than this page a woman will receive $50. It will take her from three to five weeks to do the work, depending on the amount of experience she has had in the business.

Some women occupy themselves on "catalogue work," _i. e._, engraving the ill.u.s.trations for mercantile books and agricultural catalogues.

At this branch of work they can make from $20 to $25 a week. There are very few female wood-engravers at present. To women who have the necessary talent, and who can afford to give the requisite amount of time to the study of the art, wood-engraving will furnish a sure means of making a living.

=Working in Bra.s.s.=--This is a new occupation for women that is being taught in one of the technical schools in New York. A few women are successfully doing some work in the business and receiving fair pay. A lady who has a good knowledge of drawing can, it is said, after a course of twelve lessons do marketable work. Pupils who are able to make original designs do the best. A course of twelve lessons in the school alluded to costs $10. The work is by the piece, and is paid for according to the style of the pattern. For small leaves the pay is from 60 to 70 cents each; leaves six inches in length $1 each; a panel 10 6 inches, $4 to $5, according to pattern. Tiles are popular and well paid for. The work is very well suited for a woman, and her earnings ought to run from $10 to $25 a week, depending altogether on her talent. After taking lessons and learning the theoretical part of the business it would be well for a woman to go, for a short time, into some establishment where bra.s.s-work is done. There she would probably get some practical hints that would be of great service.

THE END.