Saturdays, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Work is plentiful all the year round. No dangerous machinery is used, and there is no special trade disease. The girls remain on till they get married. They are drawn from the "better sort" of working-class families, and some were reported as coming to the factory on cycles. They have no trade organisation, and there do not seem to have been any attempts on the part of the girls to supplant men in the allied processes. No machinery has yet been devised capable of doing the work of the girls.
(H.) Paper-box Making.
Girls come from school and begin by dabbling about the shop and running messages. Presently they become "spreaders," and in two or three years' time "coverers," the highest position open to them. The cutting of the paper and cardboard is done by machines, which men operate. The material thus prepared to the required sizes is passed on to the girls to be glued up into boxes. The girls use no machinery, and stand to their work at benches. At the height of summer, and despite the gluey atmosphere of the workrooms, the girls have the usual reluctance to open windows. Wages start at 3s. or 3s. 6d. Spreaders are paid from 5s. 6d., to 7s. 6d.; coverers, 10s. and 11s. Hours vary from shop to shop. Some begin at 8 and finish at 6.30 (Saturdays, 12.30), with a meal hour at 1 o'clock. Others allow an hour and a quarter for dinner, so as to enable girls to get home. The week is then arranged as follows:
7 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 3.15 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(I.) Pattern-book Making.
This trade consists in making pattern-books for travellers, and is usually found in close alliance with box-making. Girls get 4s. to start, and rise to 13s. a week. The hours in one factory visited were found to be as follows:—
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 2 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. without a break.