f the apartment. On
damp days the windows have to be shut, making the atmosphere of the
place close and unwholesome. But the rooms are generally large, with
high ceilings. Five hundred girls are employed in the largest
establishment of the kind in New York. The nominal hours of work are
from eight in the morning until six in the evening, though very often,
in the busy season, the girls are required to work at night as late as
half-past seven or eight o'clock.

There are a few women in New York who profess to teach feather
curling; I say "profess," for I have it on good authority that some of
them have no practical knowledge of the business, and aim only at
securing a generous tuition-fee from the pupil. Now and then, however,
a teacher can be found who is able to impart the necessary knowledge.
It has been charged by women that those who learn privately in this
way are not able to secure good positions in any of the feather
curling establishments, the allegation being that the proprietors of
the same have formed a "ring" to exclude such help. From such
investigation as I have made in regard to this matter, I do not
believe that this statement is correct. Doubtless many such pupils,
after working for a short time in such establishments, have been
discharged, but I think the real reason has been that they were not
competent to do the work. And it can readily be imagined that the
facilities for learning a trade like this would be far better in a
large house, where several hundred girls were employed, or even fifty
or seventy-five girls, than they would be in a class of half a dozen
pupils, who had probably between them about as many feathers upon
which to work. It would be much pleasanter to learn the trade from a
teacher; but there are many practical objections against the
feasibility of so doing. If the girl has not worked herself up from
the very foot of the business, and does not have a knowledge of its
preparatory stages, she will be likely to find that if a feather has
been misplaced, or is out of order in any way, she could not put it in
proper shape as well as one who had commenced at the beginning of the
business.

Rather than have any girl or woman hastily decide to learn this
trade, I will, at the risk of repetition, briefly recapitulate: the
earnings are good if you are thoroughly competent; and this may be
said to be true of the future, although there is a prospect, probably
a very strong prospect, that fea