r : ^
OBJECTIVE. Ill
and Fitchburg, Mass., employs a large j
number of women and gills. The work j
consists in each of those engaged drawing 1
rapidly and continuously from a large roll j
of tangled strands, just as received from j j
the “ hatclieling ” machine, one or more j jj
of these strips, and straightening it, placing !:
them on a peg upon the wall, so arranged j
that the strand length can be measured jj
, i
as it hangs; and subsequently counting j
them off into bundles, the latter part being i
performed with great rapidity. There is jj
no aid to the counting except that each '
operative learns, in time, about how many ■'
her right hand will hold; for, as she holds j
the loose bundle of strands in her left, •'
she transfers them, with a swift, sliding l
motion, under the thumb of the right, until . |
the hand is full, thereby in time acquiring j
a general idea of about how many it would 1
usually contain. The allied mental and physical demands of the process itself are 1
closely similar to those of money-counting, !'
but the labor has the additional exhaustive \
(