The Textile Industry in Philadelphia1
- Author:
Elliot Cades, B.S. in Ec.
Assistant in Psychology University of Pennsylvania CONTENTS Part l History of the Textile Industry Part 2 The Importance of the Industry and Its Status in Philadelphia Part 3 Description of Jobs Part 4 Conditions of Work Part 5 Opening for Boys and Girls Part 6 Training Part 7 Advantages and Disadvantages to Boy and Girl Entering this as Compared with Other Trades Part 8 Summary PART 1
HISTORY OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY
Textile manufacture is based upon the simple fact that certain fibers, if twisted or felted together, will maintain a permanent Ullity. Spinning and weaving are the two primary principles of the textile industry. Spinning is the art of drawing out and twisting a number of small fibres into a long thread. Weaving is the art of interlacing spun threads to form a fabric, and is the m?st highly mechanized portion of the industry. All the fibres most suitable for textile manufacture were selected during prehistoric time, the primitive selection of Silk, Wool, Cotton, Flax, Jute, Ramie standing unimpaired and unimproved.
*A study prepared for use in vocational guidance in accordance with the principles suggested in “Vocational Guidance and Job Analysis, the Psychological Viewpoint” by Morris S. Viteles, appearing in this number of The Psychological Clinic.
There are four methods of fabricating the spun material: 1. Weaving, 2. Felting, 3. Knitting, and 4. Netting. Felting, which most nearly rivals weaving as the primitive method of cloth production, applies to wool and hair only. During the course of unknown ages of weaving, four kinds of fabric have been evolved, these are: 1. Cloths, 2. Gauzes, 3. Velvets, and 4. Carpets. From these have come the four great divisions of the weaving industry and the four distinct types of loom.
Paleolithic man had acquired the arts of twisting cords, plaiting and sewing; Neolithic man cultivated flax; during the Later Stone Age mankind selected the principal textile fibres and acquired the arts of spinning and weaving. The Egyptians were famed for the beauty of their woven stuffs. They employed linen for religious purposes, especially for priestly and royal vestments. Wool and cotton were also worn by the Egyptians. The Phoenicians, the Babylonians, Assyrians and Greeks were all famous for their textile manufactures. Rome’s contribution to the civilization of England was the knowledge it brought there about textiles, especially wool. By 1258, the export of wool from England was forbidden, and at about the same time cotton was being used for making candle wicks. The next century Edward III settled seventy families of weavers in England under royal protection, and later passed several laws for the especial protection of the woolen trades. Guilds were formed of London Weavers in 1368, and a Company of Linen Weavers in 1386, etc. The silk, linen, and wool industries of England received considerable impetus, when by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, 800,000 of the artisan population of France were driven from that country.
The latter half of the sixteenth century marked the beginning of a long list of textile machinery inventions which at its most accelerated tempo resulted in the Industrial Revolution. Hand weavers and spinners were thrown out of work, whole populations found the demand for the only kind of handiwork they were capable of doing disappear, and all this because of the endless innovation of new machinery. John Kay’s flying shuttle in 1722 resulted in still further dislocations. The weavers who could work so much more quickly with this invention found they did not have enough yarn to keep them occupied. In turn this situation brought about the invention of more spinning devices. In 1761 the Society of Arts offered a prize for the best of these machines. The result was that James Hargraves invented the Spinning Jenny, and in 1767 Awkwright invented the Roller Spinning Frame, and the Water Frame. Then frame breaking riots broke out?but the inventive genius of this age was bent upon the production of new mechanical devices. Samuel Crompton’s Spinning Wheel of 1779, James Watt’s Steam Engine of 1782, and Cartwright’s Power Loom ?f 1785 marked the climax of the Industrial Revolution. Most of the skilled workers in the United States were English who settled in the New England Section and it was that part of the country which became a center of textile manufacturing. ‘’ In the first mills, New England rum was served to the men at 11 o’clock each morning, a custom practiced until 1827. W^ages were low and the hours long, work continuing from 5 o’clock in the morning until 7 :30 in the evening, or in the summer, from sunrise to sunset.”
It is a far call from conditions such as those to conditions to-day. In the last hundred years most of the improvements upon the fundamental English inventions have come from the United States, which is the most extensive user of up-to-date equipment in large scale production. Comprising many trades, employing millions of workers, served by masses of intricate and power-driven machinery, and utilizing annually thousands of tons of various fibres, both animal and vegetable, textile manufacturing to-day is complex, imposing, almost incomprehensible to the human mind.
PART 2
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INDUSTRY AND ITS STATUS IN PHILADELPHIA
“The Textile industry …. leads all other industries in the number ?f establishments employing more than 250 hands each.” In 1914 it employed 1,498,664 wage earners or 21.3% of the total reported for all manufacturing industries.
“It leads all industries in the number of plants, the product of which has a value of more than $1,000,000. It is second only to the steel and iron industry in the amount of capital represented, which is now conservatively estimated at $4,500,000,000. According to the 1914 census, the value of its products was $3,414,615,000. The estimate is made that in 1920 the value of its products was very close to $7,000,000,000 of which $499,279,939 was exported. Textile plants are scattered from coast to coast and number 12,964. The prosperity and buying power of the managers and workers in the textile 206 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC industry is, therefore, important to the prosperity of American industry as a whole.
The leading textile city of the United States (and of the world) is Philadelphia. In 1919 the value of its production was $378,000,000; the closest figure to it being $184,000,000 produced by New Bedford, Mass.?second leading city. In these figures are included the value of cotton, woolen, worsted, silk, linen, and jute goods, carpets, hosiery and knit goods, hats, cordage, etc. In addressing a group of manufacturers of cotton and woolen products, in March, 1922, Alba B. Johnson, President of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that in Philadelphia there are more than eight hundred textile mills within a radius of fifty miles from City Hall, and that about 20% of the population of the City earns its livelihood directly or indirectly through the operation of textile plants. Philadelphia comprises 119 spinning plants, 278 weaving plants, 306 knitting mills and 114 dye works and finishing plants. Though the number of knitting mills exceeds that of the weaving plants, the latter is by far the most important branch of the industry in terms of capital invested and value of product. The knitting trade comes second. These mills are generally capitalized at a small figure and represent the most competitive and unsystematized branch of the textile industry. The dye works and finishing are, of course, subservient to the spinning, knitting and weaving plants.
PART 3
DESCRIPTION OF JOBS
Under the factory system the textile industry has expanded enormously. From being a hand industry practiced in the homes of the producers, it has become a mechanical industry carried on in power-driven factories. Every factory is divided into departments, each occupied with one or more details of the manufacturing process. The cost of production has been reduced; the variety of natural substances utilized, and the range of goods manufactured has vastly increased. With the expansion specialization is inevitable. Factories are built for the purpose of making only one class of fabric from one kind of raw material?factories for woolens, cotton, silk, linen, and jute. More significant is the fact that many great establishments have been organized and are employed for the purpose of supplying prepared materials to other branches of the textile industry. Wool combing, silk throwing, yarn spinning, bleaching and a host of minor industries are merely parts of the textile manufacturing processes. Even the weaving factory itself, commonly supposed to make a finished commodity, may be nothing more than the raw material of a finishing plant.
It is obviously impossible, in a report of this nature, to do more than cover one phase of an industry having as many ramifications and specialized processes as the textile. I will, therefore, confine my information to a description of the jobs in a particular and typical plant which spins cotton yarn and weaves dress goods material, shirting, sheeting, underwear material and similar fabrics. The jobs described will be found with some variations in every plant in the weaving trade.
The operations in the preparation of cotton fibre foi commercial use are dependent upon the quality of the yarn desired and the ultimate use to which it is put. Coarser and cheaper yarn do not necessarily need the same number of operations or preparatory treatments as the better grade. Thus, the mill receives the baled compressed cotton which has been passed through the Saw Qiu, which freed the seed from the lint. After the ties and bagging are removed the cotton is passed into the Bale Breaker. 1. The Bale Breaker consists primarily of four sets of rollers with fluted and saw-like discs running at accelerated speed. The lumps in the cotton passing through are eliminated by a weighted down top roller, negatively driven by friction against the bottom r?Hs which are positively adjusted by gearing. This machine delivers the cotton in more or less loose formation. The operator must feed the cotton as evenly as possible. He must prevent the rolls from clogging, and he cleans and oils the machine once a week. This is a semi-skilled operation from which the operator is usually Promoted to the Cards.
2. The Opener is connected with the Bale Breaker and both machines constitute the Opening Room. The new Opener is a vertically-shaped device with a churning arrangement running through its center. The cotton blown from the Bale Breaker is sucked up and tossed about freeing it of dirt and opening the fibres. The cotton is delivered in a fluffy mass. The operator must keep the dust trunk clean, and must especially guard against spontaneous combustion. “When necessary he must clean out the machine. This is a semi-skilled job.
3. The Breaker Lapper is the first of three lapping machines. From the Opener the cotton in bulk is placed in a hopper or hold which is fed by the cotton clinging to the spike of a lattice. The cotton is then carried lip by a lifting lattice-apron to a cylinder and then taken off to a beater where it is freed of remaining seed, twig, and extraneous matter and compressed and rolled into a condensed lap of specified width, length, weight and thickness. The operator on this job must be a skilled worker because the lap produced cannot be controlled by any theoretical formula but is determined by the experience of the worker. However, in the following lapping machines there is a better mechanical control of the yarn. The operator must know his machine thoroughly and in order to secure the most economical product must be able to set the grid-bar in relation to the length of the fibre. There is no regular promotion to this job, the time worked at the plant usually being the avenue to Breaker Lapping.
4. Four of the cotton laps are then fed to the Intermediate Lapper and then to the Finisher Lapper or Picker, or directly from the Breaker Lapper to the Finisher Lapper in the case of the lower grade yarns. The Intermediate Lapper and Finisher Lapper do practically the same thing: cleaning, evening and delivering one lap from four feeds. The product of the Finishing Lapper is called a Card Lap. This is designated as weighing a certain number of ounces per yard of a specified width and of a specified number of yards, usually forty-two.
The operators on these machines have practically the same tasks as those on the Breaker Lapper.
5. The Card Lap is now fed to the Carder, being placed upon lap rolls and unwrapped at the same speed as the feed roll. After passing through the Card it is delivered in the form of a ropelike strand without twist known as a Sliver, which has its fibres arranged in semi-parallel order, freed of extraneous matter and even per unit of length. It is delivered off the doffer of the Card in the form of a web and beat off by an oscillating cone, fed through trunk, condensing rolls, coiler head, and coiled into a can. The Boss Carder takes care of all sets of Cards, whether there be ten or a hnudred. He has an assistant or second hand and helpers. The Boss Carder is the only one who can adjust the machinery should anything go wrong; the others look on and thus gather up information and experience. The helpers must see that the machinery does not get clogged up with dust, must watch the Web to see that the cotton gets the proper carding action, and that the “clothing” is well ground. The helper who comes in without experience does menial labor, removing the full cans and bringing in others, and sees to it that the lap always goes in and comes out Properly. Carding is a skilled job and is hard work because something often goes wrong with the machinery. Promotion to Boss Carder depends upon experience and length of service.
The operations described in 2, 3, 4 and 5 are called the cleaning processes, and after these the Sliver is sent through the Combing Room. From this point the proper sequence in processing of the Sliver into a manufactured yarn is a matter of opinion. If the cotton is to be a combed yarn it is preferable to send it through the first Drawing Frame then to the Sliver Lapper, then the Ribbon Lapper, then the Comber, and finally through the second and third Draw Frame.
6. The Draw Frames are used to even, parallel and arrange the fibres in the most suitable manner. It consists of four sets of rollers running at accelerated speeds. Thus its effect is aggiegati?n and attenuation, feeding six Slivers and deliveiing one. The reason for using the first Draw Frame prior to Combing is to Prevent a useless waste which would be caused by that machine if fibres were not arranged.
7- and 8. The Sliver Lapper and the Ribbon Lapper and Comber are only used in the manufacture of combed yarn. Ihis requires cotton of the better grade, strength and staple length. The Sliver Lapper utilizes sixteen cards or first Drawing Slivers ^ed at one time and delivers one as a sliver lap. This is usually to 8% inches wide and of certain weight per yard. The Ribbon Lap takes six sliver laps and delivers one lap of the same weight per yard. Both the Sliver Lapper and the Ribbon Lapper Parallel the fibres and deliver them in the form of a lap. 9. In the Comber the six ribbon laps are passed through combs which pull out the short fibres and produce a sliver of approximately the same fibre length throughout. A second sliver has a greater number of fibres per unit of area than a card sliver due to the parallelzation of fibres of a single length. After the combing operation the sliver is sent through the second and third ^rawing Frames, which resemble the first Drawing Frame. Then the fibre is ready for the Slubber or first Roving Frame.
The attendant in the Combing Room must watch the rolls, see that the ends are being fed, that the proper weight product is coming off and that the next process is being supplied. This does not require close care as the machines are equipped with automatic stops and the operators are therefore semi-skilled. However, the head of the Combing Room must be a skilled worker and a mechanic and able to utilize applied mechanics.
10. All Roving Frames reduce the sliver from a rope-like strand into roving, having a definite number of twists per inch. The Slubber or Roving Frame may have two sliver ends fed and one delivered. On these machines a differential motion is used which allows winding to take place at the same rate of speed when the bobbin is started as when the bobbin is full. From the Slubber to the Spinning Frame there is a gradual reduction of the sliver to a Roving which will be used on the Spinning Frame.
11. Spinning may be done in one of two ways: by a Ring Spinner or a Mule Spinner. The former, instead of having a flyer as in the Roving Frame, has a traveler of a specified weight according to the yarn desired. The spindle and bobbins speed are the same and constant. The building up of the bobbin is controlled by the speed of the ring rail and the distance traversed by it. The operator on a Ring Spinner must see that the proper number of ends are fed, must piece broken ends and keep the machine clean. He must watch the build of the bobbin and see that the yarn is balanced. This is a skilled job requiring distribution of attention over the roller, spinning bands, the spindles and the “bobbins, and involving good judgment. It requires at least two years training to be a spinner and the worker starts as an apprentice around the spinner. The Mule Spinner requires even more skill than the Ring Spinner. This machine is more intricate though the functions are the same as the Ring Spinner only more detailed?involving the regulation of bands and ropes, pulleys, speed and fine adjustments. It takes abdut five years training to become a mule spinner. Spinning is the last operation with “single” yarn, though the Spooling and Twisting machines are usually located in the Spinning Room. 12. The Spooler winds the yarn off the bobbin on to the spool. When full the spool should be weighed, then fed to the twister which feeds two spools of approximately the same weight in order to more perfectly twist the yarn. This twisting can make the final product perfect or spoil it entirely; too much twist making unbalanced yarn, too little twist weakening the final product. The winding of twisted yarn on the bobbin is done in precisely the same way as on the Spinning Frame.
The operator of a Spooling Machine puts on the new spools, beats the skeins straight, puts them on the machine, finds the Proper ends of yarn, and starts them winding on the spools, sets the guides, regulates the tensions and ties all breaks with the weaver s knot. This job requires no experience and is often handled by women. It is very much like reeling and promotions are made from this job to quilling or weaving.
13. The bobbins from the Twister are placed on a reel and the skeins are reeled and the operator on the Reeler puts on the bobbins, running the yarn ends through the proper places ready to reel. He finds the ends and ties up the skeins with leases or water bands and when reeled takes off the skeins and lifts off the empty bobbins. This job is also done by women; the Reeler does not have to keep working all the time but must watch her machine, and to get the best ^production must do her doffing and lacing as lapidh as Possible.
The reeled yarn is then wound and dyed in the Dyeing department; or if it is not dyed at this juncture it is dyed in the piece” that is as a woven fabric. The Dyeing Department is off the main production floor and the competency requirements of its ?Perations differ from the other textile operations. Men are used, pnly as operators in this department and their duties include the immersion of skeins or cloth in vats of dye. The skeins have first been knotted on beams and thus suspended in the vat. After the yarn is dyed it is sent through centrifical driers and then up to be spooled. The proportions and combinations of dyes are determined by the boss of the dye department from designs submitted by the designer.
It is essential for the head of the dye department to be experienced with all the processes of the mill to some extent, but especially to have worked for a long time in the dye department. This is necessary because even after laboratory tests have been made the actually achieved results are not predictable. However, a man trained in a technical school can cut short this long road of apprenticeship by many years.
14. If the yarn is not dyed after twisting it is wound back on spools and set up in a creel, the ends passed through a lease reed, then through a condensing reed and made into a warp. This warp is then beamed, which operation is described in detail in an attached job specification.
15. The beamed warp, having been drawn through harness according to a pattern, is mounted on a loom and woven. The weave desired is determined by harness chains. If more than one color is used in filling, the incidence of each in the design is governed by the arrangement of the box chain.
The weaving operation is very interesting and is the best paying job to the operator in the mill. It is somewhat similar to beaming, requires great skill and energy and is very noisy. There is no regular avenue of promotion to this job and among weavers themselves, a diversity of degrees of skill exists, one measure of skill being the ability to operate a number of different kinds of looms. The duties of this operation are described in greater detail in a job specification.
16. The Designer works in a room off the main production floor and away from all detracting noises. He is a very important individual in the productive process, and the originality of his designs may determine, to a large extent, the salability of the final product. It is absolutely essential that the designer be thoroughly acquainted with all the processes in the plant. He must be able to visualize the finished design which should be no more complicated than the looms used can turn out. The design is first sketched on paper, then traced and cards cut by which the pattern will be controlled in the Weaving Room. Card Cutting is an unskilled operation and the individual who ultimately becomes the Designer spends very little time upon it. It may readily be seen that since the Designer must thoroughly know all the operations it is almost imperative that he receive some technical training if he wants to save a great amount of time. A good many of the younger designers to-day are graduates of such technical schools.
All of the jobs I have described are standard operations in every cotton spinning and weaving mill though great variations occur according to differences in quality of yarn used and customary community practices which is a complex composed of such elements as the quality of labor employed, the amount of capital invested, and the relative modernity or obsolescence of equipment. The effectiveness of the factory lay-out is also an important factor, and thus intermediate between many of the standard operations it is conceivable that minor and preparatory operations may have to be performed in routing the material if the factory construction does not permit a machine to be placed where it naturally belongs in the manufacturing process. Where these gaps occur opportunities are often offered to beginners in the trade, who at the same time they are working these simple processes, may observe both of the standard jobs between which they are placed.
Besides the standard jobs in the fabrication of the yarn and cloth and what I have called the minor jobs, there are such others as Boss Weaver, Loom Fixer, Mender, Inspector, Doffer, Section Hand, and others. Thus, the Loom Fixer is a skilled mechanic who repairs damages in the loom; the Inspector examines bobbins or finished cloth; the Mender pulls out superfluous threads; and the ^offers, who usually travel in crews of from three to eight, remove full spindles and place empty spindles upon the particular kind of Machine at which they are working. Inspectors and Doffers are located in the plant according to department and machine which they are tending.
Detailed descriptions of these jobs and a statement of the Qualifications prerequisite to success in each of them are found in the job specifications and job psychographs included in this article. These are presented for use in vocational guidance in accordance vith the principles suggested by Viteles in Vocational Guidance and Job Analysis, the Psychological Viewpoint, appearing in this number of The Psychological Clinic.
Name of Job: Beamer Department: Beaming Sex Male. Preferred age from 21 to 40 Age limits from 18 to …. Kace and nationality White No. persons on this job about 45
Qualifications :
Educational Physical Mental Special ?one ….Height Med Right or L. handed ….Accuracy 5 Kead X Weight …. Exactness of movem’t X Co-Ordination A, B 4 } rite X Power …. Quickness of movem’t …. Concentration 4 pdd & Sub. X Endurance X Association 4 Actions Eyesight Good Discrimination, V, Space 4 Observation 4 lrThe preliminary work on these job specifications was done by J. T. Shoer, to whom acknowledgment is gratefully made. 214 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC Experience required?some work with Experience desired?preferably as yarn. splitter or counter, etc. Personality?Patience; carefulness. Duties : 1. Run the new warp through the drum and up to the beam, by tying it to the old warp or by tying it to a leader. 2. Put lease rod on the warp by tying the gathered ends of warp to the rod. 3. Lay the warp in the raythe, getting the yarn placed properly according to the pattern card, counting off all the yarn and splits, (spaces in the raythe). 4. Put in the empty beam and tie the warp to the beam. 5. Adjust tension by use of weights. 6. Regulate speed by shifting belts. 7. When warp is finished, count and pick a lease. 8. Take the finished warp out of the frame. a. Get the right tie yarn. b. Get the chain for cut marks. c. Mark off the warp whenever the bell rings. d. Tie up all breaks of yarn, making sure that the yarn is not crossed, ana letting no loose ends run through. e. Oil and clean machine and drums. Form Psychograph Name or Job: Eeamer Department: Beaming 1. Energy 2. Rate of Discharge. 3. Endurance 4. Control 5. Co-Ordination A.. 6. Co-Ordination B.. 7. Initiative 8. Concentration. .. . 9. Distribution 10. Persistence 11. Alertness 12. Association 13. Discrimination V. A. T. Space. Form. 14. Accuracy 15. Memory V A K 16. Understanding… 17. Observation 18. Planfulness 19. Intelligence 20. Intellect 21. Judgment 22. Logical Analysis.. 23. Language Ability. 24. Executive Ability. Remarks THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN PHILADELPHIA 215 Nature and Conditions of Work: PavS 7 to 5:30- Saturday from 7 to 12. Overtime y egmning at …. per …. raised after …. to and after … to …. Piece rate Tempor^y Permanent X Hot pn?avy …. Light X Steamy n?”Se …. Pine X Wet C3, …. Clean X Dusty n mg ^ Sitting …. Routine ^0lsy X Quiet …. Varied X ^ Manual labor …. Illumination good Lif+^m^ ^ Clerical …. Ventilation fair Pnli-11^ -X- Operative X Cement Floor X p X Mechanical …. Wooden Floor …. j S,.ln& …. Counting iX Wet Floor .S …. Tying weaver’s knot. ^r?ni the noise overhead, looms. clUnes used?Beaming machine, drums, and rack or center piece. w ,rriJIE To Learn and Nature of Training: Can do fair work in a few year ?n e&Sy ‘ob he lias lia(i sufficient yarn experience. Usually takes a ^ more to become a good beamer. or f 0M0ti0N from splitting, counting to r?m helping drawers-in Allied Jobs: Splitting and gassing. Advantages: Steady work and clean, and good pay. Disadvantages: All standing; requires exactness and care. emarks: Considered one of the good jobs of the industry. Name of Job: Weaver Department: Weaving Race^^f1” ^>.re^erre<i age from 22 to 30 Age limits from 20 to …. anu nationality White No. persons on this job …. Qualifications : NToneatl?nal Pllysical Mental Special Read v ffei.ght -. Right or L. handed …. Co-Ordination A 5 Write ^ Weight …. Exactness of movem’t X Distribution 5 Add & q i N Power …. Quickness of movem’t X Discrimination V 5 Prar>t^ ? Endurance X Space Discriminations ….Eyesight good tion 5 Form Discrimination 5 ?x . Observation 5 Person0]1’06 rec^u*re^ Experience desired na ity Carefulness; patience; reliability; ^ Duties : U^hook^?^^^n s^u^e anc^ P11^ ^ie yarn through with the shuttle U^and s’lu^^e.”1t? the right box; and when that shuttle is empty, load it put it into the box again, passing the yarn through part or all of tve^vin ^ 3S ma^ accor<^nS *? ^ow ^ar yarn has gone in the 6 t>F breaks yarn, making sure to thread the yarn properly through Take ^ r?^ w*re> heddle and split (of the reed). 5. Make^0 ex*ra ends, winding them on a ball or on the beam. _. e cuts at the proper places, and start the cloth winding on beam again.
Oil and clean machine.
b. Rip imperfect weaves caused by loose ends getting into the sheds and drop wires failing to drop. Then turn back the pattern chain to the right box to make the pattern come out right, and start up again. c. Adjust tension by weights. Nature and Conditions op Work: Hours from 7 to 5:30. Saturday from 7 to 12. Overtime Pay beginning at …. per …. raised after …. to …. and after …. to …. Piece rate Temporary …. Permanent X Hot Heavy …. Light X Steamy Coarse …. Fine X Wet Dirty …. Clean …. Dusty Standing X Sitting …. Routine Noisy very Quiet …. Varied ^ Form Psychograpii Name of Job: Weaver Department: Weaving
Energy.,
Rate of Discharge.
Endurance
Control…’
Co-Ordination A…
Co-Ordination B…
Initiative
Concentration. .. .
Distribution
Persistence
Alertness
Association
13. Discrimination V. . A. . T. . Space.. Form. . 14. Accuracy 15. Memory V A K 16. Understanding… 17. Observation 18. Planfulness 19. Intelligence 20. Intellect 21. Judgment 22. Logical Analysis.. , 23. Language Ability.. 24. Executive Ability. Remarks Walking X Manual labor …. Illumination good Stooping X Clerical Lifting …. Operative Pulling …. Mechanical Pushing …. Counting Ventilation fa*r Cement floor –Wooden floor X Wet floor Jerking …. Great many details to be watched Machines used?Weaving machine and appliances or parts. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN PHILADELPHIA Time to Learn and Nature of Training. Promotion from No plan, to Allied Jobs: Beaming is a bit similar. Advantages: Big pay, interesting work. v noisy. Disadvantages: Requires great skill and ene gj, Remarks:
Name op Job: Qniller Department: Cotton Wimiing Sex Female. Preferred age from 18 to 22 Age ‘in”^s this j0b 15 Race and nationality White American born iso. peisons Qualifications: ? . ,
Educational Physical Mental Distribution 5 …. Height (B) Right or L. 1handed – ” ? 5 Rearl -v ttt ?1,1 F-vnptness of movem t A jrer^ibtt: nead X Weight ….Exactness u x Observation 5 ^ rite X Power …. Quickness o Co-Ordination A 4 ^d & Sub. ….Endurance X Discrimination V. 4 Fractions …. Eyesight good Form Psycho graph ame of Job: Quiller Department: Cotton Winding 1. Energy 2. Rate of Discharge 3. Endurance 4. Control _ 5. Co-Ordination A. 6. Co-Ordination B. 7. Initiative 8. Concentration. . ? 9. Distribution 10. Persistence 11. Alertness 12. Association 13. Discrimination ?. A. T. Space. Form. 14. Accuracy 15. Memory V A K iy. Intelligence 20. Intellect.. 01 Understanding. g ass?. 22 TU(^?ment 23 ^?Sical Analysis 24’ r;anguage Ability. .. ? Executive Ability xx XX Remarks Alertness . ^ Experience desired?any work with Experience required?none ers?nality?patience; carefulness Duties :
Twist in the new warp to the old one.
Set the guides right.
Keep the warp straight and see that the ends are running on properly.
Doff, i. e. take off the bobbins.
5. Put on new bobbins. a. Oil and clean machine. b. Straighten out ends with a big lease. c. Put on new bands whenever needed. d. Take out tangles and twists of the warp. e. Take out tangles of the yarn and smashes against the reeds. f. Watch for double ends; remove and tie over if any occur. g. Make sure that the machine is regulated properly. Nature and Conditions of Work: Hours from 7 to 5:30. Saturday from 7 to 12. Overtime None. Pay beginning at …. per …. raised after …. to …. and after …. to …. Piece rate Temporary …. Permanent X Hot Heavy …. Steamy Coarse …. Fine very Wet Dirty …. Clean X Dusty Standing X Sitting …. Routine Noisy X Quiet …. Varied Walking X Manual labor Stooping X Clerical Lifting …. Operative Pulling X Mechanical Pushing …. Counting Jerking …. tying knots. Machines used?Quilling machine Illumination fair Ventilation fair Cement Floor X Wooden Floor X Wet Floor Time to Learn and Nature of Training: Helper for 2 weeks, twisting in twisting char, etc. can learn in 3 months, may become a fair operator in 6 months.
Promotion from skein winding sometimes to Allied Jobs: Skein winding. Advantages: Good pay, clean work. Disadvantages: Mostly standing work; requires careful, constant application. Remarks: Preferably medium height or over. This quilling is on various colored yarns. Quilling in mercerizing department is all white yarn; and almost always much heavier yarn in mere, dep’t. Name of Job: Spooler Department: Mercerizing Sex Female. Preferred age from 18 to 23. Age limits from 16 to …. Race and nationality White No. persons on this job 24 Qualifications: Educational Physical Mental Special None …. Height …. Right or L. handed …. Control ^ Read …. \ eight …. Exactness of movem’t X Co-Ordination B 4 Write X Power …. Quickness of movem’t X Distribution Add & Sub. X Endurance …. Observation ^ Fractions …. Eyesight good Experience required?none Experience desired?work with yarn Personality?patience; carefulness. /
Duties : Put on new spools. 2. Boat the skeins straight and put them on the machine. 3- Find the proper ends of yarn and start them winding on the spools. 4- Get the guides. 0- Regulate the tension. 7 ^ie swifts evenly according to the lengths of the hanks, rv ‘ e’ take the spools. Oil and clean the machine. b- Tie the weaver’s knot in all breaks. _ nnasihle c. Handle the breaks and tangles as quick y . P ” . rimning as much d. Keep the skeins running straight, and keep the machine running of the time as possible. Form Psyciiograph Name of Job: Spooler Department: Mercerizing i’ ?nergy ? f^ate of Discharge. ? Endurance Control <?’ Co-Ordination A… 7 Co-Ordination B… ? initiative ? Concentration in i?lstrib”tion Persistence :*? Alertness Association Discrimination V A A. T. Space. Form. Accuracy.. Memory V A 17 Fj^erstanding… 10’ Observation 10 ^an^uliiess 2o” intelligence f- Intellect 2?” |ud?ment j/ ^gical Analj’sis.. 94 ^;anguage Ability. ? Executive Ability. Remarks Nature and Conditions of Work: p.,?,US t’rom 7 to 5:30. Saturday from 7 to 12. Overtime None. . egmniiig af- raised after …. to …. and after to 5,leee rate emporary Permanent X Hot Coarse ~ ^?ht 5 wT^ Dj t ? Fine A Wet y,. …. Clean X Dusty tandmg x Sitting …. Routine 1Sy …. Quiet …. Varied
Walking X Manual labor …. Illumination good Stooping X Clerical …. Ventilation good Lifting X Operative X Cement Floor ?Pulling X Mechanical …. Wooden Floor ^ Pushing Counting Wet Floor Jerking …. Tying weaver’s knot Not quite so noisy as right in the coning department but it is near coning. Machines used?Spooling machines Time to Learn and Nature op Training: Can learn in a few weeks by actual practice, as soon as the weaver’s knot is learned. Promotion from to quilling or weavingAllied Jobs : Reeling. Advantages: Steady work and pay and not heavy. Disadvantages: Standing nearly all the time. Remarks:
Name of Job: Coner Department: Coning (Mercerizing) Sex Female. Preferred age from 17 to 22 Age limits from 15 to …. Race and nationality White No. Persons on this job 88 Form Psychograph Name of Job: Coner Department: Coning (Mercerizing) 1. Energy 2. Rate of Discharge. 3. Endurance 4. Control 5. Co-Ordination A.. 6. Co-Ordination B.. 7. Initiative 8. Concentration. .. . 9. Distribution 10. Persistence 11. Alertness 12. Association 13. Discrimination V. A. T. Space. Form. 14. Accuracy 15. Memory V A K 16. Understanding 17. Observation 18. Planfulness 19. Intelligence 20. Intellect 21. Judgment 22. Logical Analysis.. 23. Language Ability. 24. Executive Ability. 1 Remarks
Qualifications : |d”cational Physical Mental Special gg ? ?- Height ….Right or L. handed …. Co-Ordination A 4 \Tpix X Weight ….Exactness of movem’t XObservation 4 a J,! ep X Power ….Quickness of movem’t X ?aa & Sub. …. Endurance O Fract i?ns …. Eyesight good Experience desired?any work with yarn Experience required?None ersonality?Carefulness; patience. Duties : 1- Change the cones. ? Start the yarn winding on the cones. Lay out the bobbins. ^rpy ou^ the empty bobbins. ,a’ up all breaks with weaver’s knot. ? Clean dirty and oily cones. ^|earL and oil the machine. u- Keep track of set vara at the machine, so as not to mix them. . Keep all the cones winding in uniform size if possible, but keep all cones Winding all the time. Important to watch the work all the time. Nature and Conditions of Work: Hours from 7 to 5:30. Saturday from 7 to 12. Overtime None. “ay beginning at …. per …. raised after …. to …. and after …. to …. Piece rate Temporary Permanent X Hot Heavy Li ht X Steamy Umrse pine X Wet !?+irt3’ …; Clean X Dusty standing X Sitting …. Routine ^0lsy X Quiet Varied Walking X Manual labor too ” Lift Stooping X Clerical Illumination good Ventilation good Lifting” ” Operative X Cement Floors Pullincr ? Mechanical …. Wooden Floors X Pushing Counting …. ^et F1? Jerking ” Tying weaver’s knots achines used?Coning machine Time to Learn and Nature of Training: It takes but a short time to earn a^ter the weaver’s knot is learned. ?ii;.,, Promotion from to cone illsPector 5 or t0 ^ ? or weaving departments. Allied Job: Advantages: Steady work and not very heavy. _ , ? ? Disadvantages: Noise of the machines in the room is somewhat trying 011 nerves. Remarks:
PART 4 CONDITIONS OF WORK Spinning and weaving mills require large capital, most of which is invested in machinery. These machines are much more complex, and necessitate a larger cycle of movements from the operator than machine tools. The effect on the type of labor required in the industry has been that only those individuals can be used who are intelligently self-directed. Textile machine-tending is not monotonous, but has a definite routine.
Because most of the mills of the industry operate on a large scale, there is little possibility of a worker rising in the ranks and acquiring sufficient capital with which to become a mill owner. Or if he could acquire the money, there is little possibility that he will have acquired a knowledge of all the manifold phases of manufacturing. Younger mill owners, as a body of men, have been trained in technical schools outside their own mill, though many old-timers have been raised in the business.
All the conditions above mentioned combine to make the mill owner, as a class, distinct from the worker, which is a situation favorable to the formation of strong Manufacturers’ Associations. Such very strong Associations exist in the cotton and wool trade in the textile industry. These Associations have consistently opposed unionization of workers and with much success. Some plants have it as a definite policy not to employ any union labor at all* other plants will employ union men ‘’ as long as they do not stir up trouble,” and a third group resorts to the use of so called “labor spies” to weed out the trouble maker. This has led to ill feeling and sometimes to rioting.
Among the workers themselves there is nothing like unityOver 800,000 are unorganized workers and a Babel of small independent unions have organized the remaining 100,000 workers. Besides the strong opposition of the Manufacturers’ Association there are other important factors which have retarded unionizationThese are the large number of women and adolescent workers employed, the utilization of newly-arrived immigrants, and the attitude of many old members of the craft union who will not organize in trade or industrial unions. Two main union groups exist in the industry. They are the United Textile Workers, who are amalgamated with the A. F. of L. and the so-called Independent Unions, now loosely joined together in an Association known as the Federated Textile Unions of America. Four of these Independent Unions” are located in Philadelphia. These aie The Tapestry Carpet Weavers, a strong union of skilled workers; the Bearners and Twisters, the Turkish Towel Weavers and the Ait Square Weavers Union. In addition, the Amalgamated Brussel Carpet Association has a good organization consisting of skilled Workers.
The most recent points of dispute between the workers and the mill owners in the industry has been over hours of work and rates of pay. The hours of work customary in the average mills vary, few strictly adhere to an eight-hour day. In many mills the hours average between nine and ten. Thus, the discussion is cen tered around the establishment of a forty-eight-liour week as ?Pposed to the fifty-four-hour week, though in a few cases a more ^an fifty-four-hour has been the rule.
An analysis made of the table of wages and employ ment 01 Third Federal Reserve District reveals the fact that since the war the wages received by the various trades grouped under texti e Products has been consistently below the average for all the industries included in the survey. The following table makes this Point graphic.
Weekly Wage for the Month of March Nov. Dec. No. 1923 1923 1023 Employed All Industries* 501 $25.39 $26.45 $27.01 201,646 Textile Products:** 21-63 21,80 Carpets and Rugs 14 28.09 28.02 27.15 4,104 Cotton Goods 17 22.57 23.17 24.39 7,115 Knit Goods 26 20.78 29.75 27.85 5,750 Silk Goods 37 18.73 19.16 19.02 12,922 Worsted & Woolens 24 23.07 21.82 21.77 19,827 In interpreting these figures regularity of employment and Proportion of unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled labor must be considered. In the cotton goods group it can be said that upon ^_^J^hole, the employment is steady, in many jobs there being *A11 Industries includes Metal Products, Food Products, Building MaJ^ls, Boots and Shoes, Leather, Chemical and Paints, Cigar and Tobacco, p rniture, Musical Instruments, Paper and Pulp, Printing and Publishing, t’ oleum Refining, Rubber Tires and Goods.
** The figures for Clothing and Hats, Felt and others, included under the extile group under the table issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philae Phia have been omitted. no seasonal fluctuation at all, though the seasonal irregularity of employment varies from shop to shop with the efficiency of management in proportioning work and manufacturing alternate lines. The majority of the operations in this group require unskilled labor and semi-skilled labor, few highly skilled labor. In the fn’st group the wages received vary between $12 and $16; in the second group, which is the largest, it varies between $17 and $30; and m the third group, between $31 and $75 and includes such jobs as Loom Fixer, Weaver, Designer, and Department Foreman. ^T? figures can be given for a specific job, except to classify it undei one of the three groups, because the duties in each job vary with the amount of specialization, the kind of machinery utilized and the system of pay: day rate, piece rate, the task and bonus system, etc.
PART 5
OPENINGS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS Every boy entering the trade is called a “learner” and he is ususally assigned to some manual task as trucking cones or spindles, or carrying beams; or he may be assigned to one of the few simple machines such as the “Sewing Machine.” This system has some definite advantages. First, the boy by reason of the roaming nature of his duties is given an opportunity to observe operations in a majority of the departments. He can elect to g? into the cloth making or weaving as distinguished from the winding or spinning phase of the trade. Or he may decide to enter the dye house which is non-mechanical and distinct from the machine processes.
The first job of girls may be as menders, though this is beginning at a high level, or as record keepers, but usually it is as members of a doffing crew. Opportunities arise to help out on some machines, and finally the learner becomes an operator. It is true that both boys and girls who once have been transferred to a regular operation tend to remain there. Job specifications have been so little used and other systems of promotion been so little developed that no regular avenues of promotion from job to job, or to other departments exist. Such promotions are generally made only when asked for by the employee and then constitute in the main “transfers,” and not real promotions. Thus, a Quiller may decide that he prefers to work in the Dye House. If the superTHE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN PHILADELPHIA intendent is willing, when a vacancy occurs he will b _ .g ^ The only knowledge upon which this trans er? .i ^ and worker’s “steadiness,” his service recor wi ^ Worker is Perhaps the additional knowledge that a relative in the Dye House and will help him “learn.
PART 6 training TRAINING ^ ^ j^self For the majority of workers train”1^ ^roceSs as a helper and the method is to observe, then to ^voi ~ ^ an^[ finally to and gradually solve all the possibilities o . ^ itself there is take charge of the operation. “Within ie^ ^ -0^ to another usually no progressive training course 10 ^.mate amount of n a different department. Therefore, often depends upon Wages which the individual worker wi , t ent into which he the size and the relative importance of the departme chose to come as a learner. an in a department and Generally, the most experience m jn many mills, oldest in point of service becomes its < ? ^ ^ yovmger however, this type of foreman is ^}?1^.SU^e Philadelphia district graduate of a technical school which m ^ Formal training is known as “The Philadelphia Textile Sc ?f a sort is given to foremen. ^ foremen has been formed In Philadelphia an association o foremen in discussion and has done good work in bringing o&e . personnel orgroups to consider technical theory, s op organized forganization, and labor economics. Some p an ^ securcd the man training courses for their own employees an services of university professors to teac eir progressive For the most part, then, there > no “Workers in the training in the mill, and for the majority process, industry there is no possibility of a con^nU , possibilities in the Therefore, to attract an ambitious boy by textile trade, it is neeessary to make dear that many- ?lto P pay the tuition expenses of the most P?’- * in its Philadelphia Textile Schooh college night courses. But in its day graduates, some high school graduates. training embracing This school gives a three-year ?n?e * paration the study of all textile raw materials and the,r mitial piep for fabrics, including spinning, dying, weaving, and finishing of cotton, woolen, jute, and silk goods, including also a study of the best types of machinery for their production. Naturally, this course is broader than that for ordinary apprenticeship, vigorously affecting the domain of the superintendent, general manager, merchant, and capitalist. The fundamental principle on which its methods are based introduce the atmosphere of the mill, bringing the student face to face with practical problems, on the satisfactory solution of which his success as a worker and later as an executive is sure to depend. Instead of training the student to be a textile engineer, the student’s progress is measured by his ability to do real work, judged by economic as well as technical and artistic standards.
PART 7
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO BOY AND GIRL ENTERING THIS AS COMPARED WITH OTHER TRADES Advantages : 1. The textile industry has a strong stable organization in all its branches except the Knitting and the fabrication of Men’s Clothing. This means for the boy or girl in the industry assurance of regular employment at a standardized task with infrequent lay-offs and interruptions. 2. It offers opportunity for furthest ultimate advancement to those boys and girls who have not attained a high level of intellectual standing as measured by school progress. 3. There are no dangerous operations, conditions of work are good, and there is no industrial disease. 4. The work is mechanical and is better described by the word “routine” than by “monotonous.” 5. The elements of each process are interesting enough to inspire the worker’s interest and fire his imagination. These advantages can be contrasted with the adverse conditions which exist in many industries which are dangerous to life and limb, involve the possibility of industrial disease and which are unorganized and offer irregular employment at monotonous jobs and an unequal wage.
Disadvantages:
1. Mills in the textile industry require extensive capital and there is little possibility of a worker becoming an owner. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN PHILADELPHIA 227 2. There is no regular system of training in the mill and ??r the average worker knowledge must be gathered on the job or by observation while the worker is “learner.” 3. The executive jobs, including that of foreman, are held b> ttien trained outside of the industry and such training cannot be given to all textile workers. Therefore, a comparatively long Period of training is required for the better jobs in the industry. Lack of unionization.
PART 8
SUMMARY
1. Spinning and weaving are the two primary principles of ^e textile industry. The most important fibre spun is cotton and the most important product is cloth. The textile industry has had a long history and an extremely rapid development since t le industrial Revolution which has continued to the present day. 2. In the United States the textile industry leads all others 111 value of its products, and the leading textile city m the United States is Philadelphia.
3. To-day the textile industry is highly mechanized and specialized, and in the cotton branch has developed a number o standard operations a description of which gives some clue to the kind of workers required.
4. Spinning and weaving mills require large capital, and there are few chances of a worker ever becoming a mill ownci. Strong Manufacturers’ Associations exist in both the cotton and wool division of the industry. These have consistently ^ought labor unionization. Heterogeneous racial groups, utilization of women and immigrant labor and the superior attitude of ^raft Unions has prevented any appreciable amount of unionization among the workers. The question of hours of work is unsettled, and there is 110 standardized procedure for arriving at wages or wage rates, iowever, regularity of employment is the general rule. 7. Boys and girls enter the job as learners and are promoted uP?n such factors as satisfaction they give on the job, regularity of attendance and length of service, but there are no regular piomotlon avenues. 8- To the majority of workers, training is upon the job itself.
?rmal training of a sort is given to foremen. An association of foremen exists which brings foremen of a different class together in discussion groups; some plants have organized foremen training courses for their own employees utilizing outside instructors. The executive positions and most highly skilled jobs in the Designing and Dyeing Departments are generally filled by men with long years of experience or by younger graduates of the Philadelphia Textile School or some other technical institute. 9. The advantages to a boy or girl entering a cotton spinning and weaving mill?as opposed to a knitting mill?are regular employment at a regular standardized task, the possibility of forging ahead in spite of deficient schooling, the absence of industrial disease or hazard, and the interesting nature of most of the processes.
10. The disadvantages to a boy or girl are the small possibility of ever becoming an employer, the lack of unity and solidarity among the workers, the absence of a regular system of training and the length of service required usually for the best jobs. 11. A study of the spinning and weaving plant reveals the typical nature of any job in the industry. These facts can be used to an advantage in vocational guidance.
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