There are three kinds or stages of
twisting and winding roving on these machines, and at the last, the
"speeders," women are employed.
Up to this point all the workers have been men. These speeders are in the
carding rooms, which are large and high, filled with great belts geared
from above, and machines placed in long lanes, where the operatives stand
and walk at their work. Humidifying pipes pass along the room, with spray
issuing from their vents. The lint fibres are constantly brushed and
wiped up by the workers, but there is still considerable lint in the air.
The heat, the whir of the machines, the heaviness of the atmosphere, and
the lint are at first overpowering to a visitor. While many of the girls
say that they grow accustomed to these conditions, others cannot work
under them, and go away after a few days' or sometimes a few hours'
trial.[56]
The speeders stand at one end of a long row of 160 bobbins and watch for
a break in the parallel lines of 160 threads, and twist the two ends
together when this occurs. The greater number of the speeders used to
earn $6 a week. But two or three women, on piece-work, earned about $9
and did nearly twice as much as the other workers. The speeders had
helpers who used to assist them to thread the back of the machine and to
remove and place the bobbins in front.
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