Since the time of the inquiry, all the girls engaged in tearing have been
relieved and transferred to other positions, and the work of tearing has
been done by men.
Here the sheets are turned back and hemmed by workers who sew tandem, one
girl finishing the broader hem and the other the narrower one, their task
being 620 sheets a day. The girls at the machines formerly earned $7.50,
and now earn with the machine set at the higher rate of speed from $8 to
$11. They stop for 10 minutes in the morning, and clean the machines and
clear away the litter around them. The sewing and stooping are
monotonous, and the work on bonus here is apt to cause nervousness,
because of uncertainty occasioned by frequent breakages in the
machines.[54]
There is a room at one side of the department, where the girls were to
rest when they had completed their tasks. But the present foreman, not
understanding the system, comes to the rest room and hurries them out
again, even after the 620 sheets are finished.[55] One of the girls in
the department, an Italian girl, who used to run far beyond the task at
the machine, had fallen ill under the strain of the work, or at least
left the factory looking extremely ill and saying that she had broken
down and could not remain.
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