In laundry-work, which includes several divisions, wages weekly range
from $7.50 to $10, though ironers of special excellence sometimes make
from $12 to $15 per week. In millinery the wages are from $6 to $7 per
week. In preserving and fruit-canning wages are from $3.50 to $10, the
average worker earning about $5 per week. Mr. Peck states that in
fashion trades the two distinct seasons bring the year's earnings to
about six months. "Learners" in the trades coming under this head
receive $1.50 per week. Saleswomen suffer also from season trade, as it
necessitates reduction of force. The better class of workers receive
from $8 to $15 per week, while heads of departments range from $25 to
$50, or even higher, for exceptional merit. These cases are of the
rarest, however, the wage as an average falling below that of Boston.

But three State reports cover the same dates as these already quoted
(1885 and 1886),--Connecticut, New Jersey, and California, the former
being for 1885. In this, women's wages are given incidentally in general
tables, and must be disentangled to find any average. In artificial
flowers the highest wage is given as $7, and the lowest $3, the average
being $5. In blankets and woollen goods the highest is $12.50 and the
lowest $6, an average of $9 per week. In factory work of all orders,
wages range from $6 to $9.75 per week, the average paid to women and
girls being $7.50 per week. In clothing, including underwear, wages are
from $3 to $15 per week, and the average annual income of women in these
trades is given as $300 per year. In cloakmaking the lowest wage is $3,
the highest $9, and the average $7.50. The average wage for San
Francisco is given as $6.95, and that for the whole State is about $6.
The Connecticut report for 1885 gives simply the yearly wage in various
trades. Reason for this is found in the fact that it was the first, and
could thus deal with the subject only tentatively. Clothing is given as
producing for women a yearly average of $229, and shirts $237. Factory