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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
ROYAL MEEKER, Commissioner

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES\
(W H O L E 1 Q Q
BUREAU OF LAB O R S T A T IS T IC S / * * * { NUMBER l i / i J
VOCATIONAL

EDUCATION

SERIES:

No .

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUR
VEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

MADE BY THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE
PROMOTION OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION

DECEMBER, 1916

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1917

ADDITIONAL COPIES
OF THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PROCURED FROM
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON, L>. 0.
AT

66 CKNTS PKTt COPY

CONTENTS.
Page.

Chapter I.—Why the survey?.................................................................................
11-17
Organization....................................................................................................
12-14
Separate problems studied............................................................................
14,15
The aims..........................................................................................................
15
Method.............................................................................................................
15-17
Chapter n .—To what extent is there a need for vocational education in
Minneapolis?.......................................................................................................
19-25
27-95
Chapter m .—To what extent are the public schools meeting the need?...........
Enforcement of compulsory attendance and child labor laws...................
27,28
Changes in welfare laws advocated..............................................................
28-31
Elimination.....................................................................................................
32,33
Retardation.....................................................................................................
33-35
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..........
36,37
37-52
Manual training in Minneapolis public schools..........................................
Elementary schools.................................................................................
38-41
High schools.............................................................................................
41-51
Recommendations...................................................................................
51,52
Home economics in the grades and high schools........................................
52-61
Domestic science and domestic art in the grades................................
52-55
Home economic courses in the high school..........................................
55-59
Summary of survey's activities, andconclusionsand recommendations 59-61
Girls, Vocational High School................................................................
61-67
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommenda
tions.......................................................................................................
65-67
Commercial education in the public schools...............................................
67-82
Regular high schools...............................................................................
67-79
Recommendations...................................................................................
80-82
Minneapolis public evening classes..............................................................
83-95
Summary of surv ey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
92-95
Chapter IV. —To what extent are other agencies meeting the need for voca
tional education?................................................................................................ 97-117
General extension division of the University of Minnesota......................
97-99
Conclusions and recommendations........................................................
99
William Hood Dun woody Industrial Institute........................................... 99-103
Conclusions and recommendations........................................................ 102,103
Y. M. C. A. evening industrial and commercial classes............................ 103,104
Private commercial schools........................................................................... 105-111
Denominational schools................................................................................. I ll, 112
Correspondence schools.................................................................................. 112-117
A study of correspondence school students.......................................... 113-115
Conclusions..............................................................................................
115
A chart of vocational education in Minneapolis......................................... 116,117
Conclusions.............................................................................................. 116,117
Chapter V.—To what extent is apprenticeship meeting the need?..................... 119-138
Condition of apprenticeship in Minneapolis................................................119-133
Relation of the school to apprenticeship training.......................................133-137
Summary of survey study, and conclusions................................................. 137,138

Page.

Chapter VI.—What vocational education is needed lor the building trades?.. 139-183
Contractors.......................................................................................................
140
Summary of survey study, and conclusions..........................................
140
Bricklayers and masons................................................................................. 140-145
The laborer............................................................................................... 141,142
The mortar mixer....................................................................................
142
The apprentice........................................................................................ 142,143
The journeyman...................................................................................... 143,144
The foreman.............................................................................................
144
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommendations 144,145
Carpenters........................................................................................................ 145,150
The laborer...............................................................................................
146
The apprentice........................................................................................ 146,147
The journeyman...................................................................................... 147,148
The foreman.............................................................................................148,149
Summary of survey's activities, and conclusions and recommendations 149,150
Electric wiring men....................................................................................... 150-153
The apprentice........................................................................................
151
The second-class journeyman................................................................
152
The first-class journeyman.....................................................................
152
The foreman.............................................................................................152,153
Summaryof survey ?s activities, and conclusions and recommendations
153
Hoisting engineers.......................................................................................... 153,154
Conclusions............................................................... ...............................
154
Lathers.............................................................................................................154-157
The apprentice........................................................................................
155
The journeyman...................................................................................... 155,156
The foreman.............................................................................................156,157
Conclusions...............................................................................................
157
Painters and decorators..................................................................................157-162
The apprentice........................................................................................ 158-160
The house painter....................................................................................
160
The wood finisher.................................................................................... 160,161
The paper hanger.....................................................................................
161
The interior decorator............................................................................. 161,162
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations...
162
Plasterers......................................................................................................... 163-166
The tender................................................................................................ 163,164
The apprentice......................................................................................... 164,165
The journeyman plasterer.......................................................................
165
The foreman............................................................................................. 165,166
Summary of survey’s acti vities.and conclusions and recommendations
166
Plumbers and gas fitters................................................................................. 166-170
The laborer...............................................................................................
168
The apprentice........................................................................................ 168,169
The junior plumber.................................................................................
169
The journeyman...................................................................................... 169,170
Summary of survey's activities, and conclusions and recommendations
170
Sheet-metal workers........................................................................................ 171-173
The helper................................................................................................
172
The journeyman...................................................................................... 172,173
The foreman.............................................................................................
173
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommendations
173

CONTENTS.

Chapter VI.—What vocational education is needed for the building trades?—
Concluded.
Page.
Stationary engineers................................ ...................................................... 173-175
S ummary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations___
175
Steam fitters..................................................................................................... 175-179
The laborer...............................................................................................
176
The helper................................................................................................ 176,177
The journeyman....................................................................................... 177,178
The construction foreman.......................................................................
178
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommenda
tions....................................................................................................... 178,179
Stonecutters.................................................................................................... 179-181
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommenda
tions....................................................................................................... 180,181
Structural-iron workers................................................................................... 181-183
The bucker...............................................................................................
183
The riveter...............................................................................................
183
The derrick man......................................................................................
183
Conclusion and recommendation...........................................................
183
Chapter VII.—What vocational education is needed for the electrical worker? 185-207
Telephone industry......................................................................................... 185-190
Plant department.................................................................................... 186-188
Engineering department......................................................................... 188,189
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommenda
tions....................................................................................................... 189,190
Electric railway industry.......... . ................................................................... 190-195
Mechanical department................................................ .........................
191
Maintenance-of-way department............................................................'
192
Power department................................................................................... 192,193
Transportation department— ..............................................................
193
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations.. 194,195
Production of electric heat, power, and light.............................................. 195-199
Manufacturing department..................................................................... 196-199
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
199
Manufacture of electrical apparatus.............................................................. 199-202
I nstallation of switchboard 'apparatus........................................................... 202-204
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
204
The armature winder...................................................................................... 204-206
Overhead and underground construction..................................................... 206,207
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
207
Chapter v m .—What vocational education is needed for the metal trades?___ 209-241
The machine shop........................................................................................... 210-218
The railroad shop..................................................................................... 210-214
The roundhouse machinist..............................................................
212
The back-shop floor machinist........................................................
212
The machine operator......................................................................
213
The tool-room machinist.................................................................. 213,214
The contract shop.................................................................................... 214-217
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations.. 217,218
The boiler shop............................................................................................... 218-224
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations.. 223,224
Automobile industry........................................................................... '......... 224-228
Service department................................................................................. 225-227
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions................................. 227,228

CONTENTS.

Chapter VID.—What vocational education is needed for the metal trades?—
Concluded.
Sheet-metal industry;....................................................................................
Sheet-metal department.........................................................................
Welding department...............................................................................
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
The foundry.....................................................................................................
Molding.....................................................................................................
Casting......................................................................................................
Cleaning....................................................................................................
Summary of survey study, and conclusions and recommendations..
Chapter DC.—What vocational education is needed for the wood trades?........
Lumberyard...................................................................................................
Machine department......................................................................................
Cabinet department........................................................................................
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommendations.
Chapter X.—What vocational education is needed for the printing trades?...
Book and job composing room.......................................................................
Newspaper composing room...........................................................................
Pressroom of book and job houses................................................................
Newspaper pressroom....................................................................................
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions.......................................
Chapter XI.—What vocational education is needed for the flour mill?...........
Flour and grist mill products........................................................................
Supply and demand for trained workers.....................................................
Wheat storage department.............................................................................
Sweeper....................................................................................................
Loading department......................................................................................
Oiler..........................................................................................................
Elevator man...........................................................................................
Loader foreman........................................................................................
Elevator foreman.....................................................................................
Wheat cleaning department..........................................................................
Grinding and bolting department.................................................................
Testing department....................................................•...................................
Maintenance and repair department............................................................
Carpenters and general laborers, including plasterers........................
Machinists, plumbers, and steamfitters.................................................
Power department..........................................................................................
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions.......................................
Chapter XII.—What vocational education is needed for the baking business?.
The large bakery.............................................................................................
The small bakery............................................................................................
The special cake shops...................................................................................
The cracker factory........................................................................................
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions.......................................
Chapter X m .—What vocational education is needed for the laundries?.........
Buildings.........................................................................................................
Physical conditions........... •...........................................................................
Hours................................................................................................................
Organization....................................................................................................
Listing, marking, and sorting department............................................
Machine and hand washing department...............................................
Starching department.............................................................................
Ironing department—mangling..............................................................

Page.
228-234
230,231
231,232
232-234
234-241
234-237
237-239
239,240
240,241
243-249
244
244-246
246,247
247-249
251-277
255-264
264-270
270-274
274-276
276,277
279-292
280,281
281-283
283.284
284
284-286
284
285
285
285,286
286
286-288
288-290
290,291
290,291
291
291
291,292
293-299
294-297
297
298
298
298,299
301-321
303,304
304,305
305,306
306-318
306,307
307-309
309,310
310-312

CONTEXTS.

Chapter X m .—What vocational education is needed for the laundries?—
Concluded.
Organization—Concluded.
Pago.
Machine ironing....................................................................................... 312-314
Hand ironing............................................................................................ 314-316
Mending department...............................................................................
316
Foreman and special worker.................................................................. 316,317
Delivery department............................................................................... 317,318
Selection and promotion of workers.............................................................. 318,319
Summary of survey study, and conclusions................................................ 320,321
Chapter XIV.— What vocational education is needed for the garment trades?. 323-346
Occupations common to all garment-making industries............................. 325-330
Cutting..................................................................................................... 325,326
Buttonhole making................................................................................. 326,327
Button sewing..........................................................................................
327
Examining................................................................................................ 327,328
Pressing.....................................................................................................
328
Packing..................................................................................................... 328,329
Superintendent or manager....................................................................
329
Foreman or forewoman............................................................................ 329,330
Shirt-making industry................................................................................... 330-333
Workingmen’s clothing.................................................................................. 333-335
Overalls, pants, and jackets................................................................... 333,334
Mackinaws............................................................................................... 334,335
Fur-lined duck coats...............................................................................
335
Women’s wear................................................................................................ 335,336
Corsets............................................................................................................. 336-338
Caps....................................................... ........... ...............................
338,339
Cravats.............................................................................................................
339
Bags.................................................................................................................. 339-341
Selection and promotion of workers.............................................................. 341-344
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions....................................... 344-346
Chapter XV.—What vocational education is needed for dressmaking and
millinery?............................................................................................................ 347-366
Dressmaking.................................................................................................... 347-360
Occupations in the dressmaking trade.................................................. 352-357
Summary of survey's activities, conclusions, and recommendations.. 357-360
Millinery.......................................................................................................... 360-366
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions and recommenda
tions....................................................................................................... 365.366
Chapter XVI.—What vocational education is needed for the knitting m ill?... 367-389
Knitting department...................................................................................... 371-373
Washing, bleaching, and fleecing department............................................. 373-376
Washing.................................................................................................... 373,374
Bleaching..................................................................................................
374
Fleecing.................................................................................................... 374-376
Cutting department....................................................................................... 376-383
Folding and boxing department.................................................................... 383-387
Summary of survey’s activities, conclusions, and recommendations........ 387-389
Chapter XVII.—What vocational education is needed for salesmanship in the
department stores?.............................................................................................. 391-429
Merchandising division.................................................................................. 397-399
Department occupations................................................................................ 399-404
Merchandising occupations in specific departments................................... 404-417
Selection, training and promotion of workers.............................................. 418-427
Summary of survey’s activities, conclusions, and recommendations........ 428,429

CONTEXTS.

Chapter X Vm .—What vocational education is needed for noncommissioned
officers of industry?........................................................................................... 431-438
Summary of survey’s activities, and conclusions................................. .
436-438
Chapter XIX.—What art education is needed in industry?............................... 439-467
Art-glass manufacturing................................................................................. 439-441
Architecture..................................................................................................... 4 4 1 -4 4 4
Commercial advertising.................................................................................. 444,445
Interior decorating.......................................................................................... 445-448
Jewelry manufacturing................................................................................... 448,449
Lithographing.................................................................................................. 449-452
Ornamental plastering.................................................................................... 452,453
Photographing................................................................................................. 453,454
Photo-engraving.............................................................................................. 454-456
Printing............................................................................................................ 456,457
Window trimming........................................................................................... 457,458
Woodworking..................................................................................................
458
Conclusions and recommendations............................................................... 458-467
Chapter XX.—What should the city do for training in home gardening and
elementary agriculture?...................................................................................... 469^488
The Garden Club movement......................................................................... 471-475
Plans for the future of the garden club................................................. 474,475
Gardening projects in the elementary schools of Minneapolis...................
475
Gardening projects and elementary agriculture in the Central High
School..................................... '.................................................................... 476,477
Advantages and disadvantages of school, vacant-lot, and home gardening. 477,478
Conclusions......................................................................................................
479
How educational forces are cooperating to introduce gardening into pub
lic elementary schools...................................... : ........................................ 480-482
How instruction in gardening will be given in elementary schools......... 483-485
Opportunities for agricultural education afforded by city and State
school systems.............................................................................................. 485-488
Chapter XXI.—What vocational education is needed for office work?.............. 489-505
Summary of findings from field study of office workers.............................. 496-501
Training for advancement and for positions of responsibility in com
mercial work......................................................... ..................................... 501-504
Conclusions...................................................................................................... 504,505
Chapter XXII.—What vocational education is needed for home workers?___ 507-522
A study of homes having paid employees.................................................... 508-514
A study of the home in comfortable circumstances but employing no
paid worker for full time................... ....................................................... 515-517
A study of the dependent home....................................................................517-519
Summary of study, and conclusions and recommendations..................... 519-522
Chapter X X m .—What arrangements can be made for cooperation between the
schools and the trades and industries?........................................................... 523-530
Examples of trade understandings made by the survey............................ 525-530
Chapter XXIV.—The public schools and vocational direction.......................... 531-534
Organization activities of the department of attendance and vocational
guidance, board of education..................................................................... 531-534
Origin of the guidance department....................................................... 533,534
Chapter XXV.—A final word................................................................................. 535-538
Appendix A.—Organization of the survey.......................................................... 539-545
Appendix B.—Plan and method of the survey.................................................. 546-566
Appendix C.—Outlines of courses of study worked out by the survey with
the trades and approved by them.................................................................... 567-580
Appendix D.—Suggestions for courses of study for prevocational classes------ 581,582

BULLETIN OF THE

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
WHOLE NO. 199.

WASHINGTON.

DECEMBER, 1916.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS,
MINN.
MADE BY THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOB THE
PROMOTION OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.

PREFACE.
This bulletin is a revised edition of the report of the Minneapolis
Survey for Vocational Education. The demand for this report was
so great that the original edition was soon exhausted. The survey
committee desired the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to
reprint the report as a bulletin of the bureau. After consultation, it
was decided that it would be best to revise the text thoroughly, cut
ting out needless repetition and condensing the matter as much as
possible. The revisions made in the bureau were submitted to Prof.
C. R. Richards, chairman of the survey committee, and Mr. C. A.
Prosser, director of the survey. They have approved these revisions
and have made additional changes, so that the report as it now
stands is the finished result of the survey.
The Minneapolis survey followed the general* plan of the voca
tional education survey of Richmond, Ya. While both these sur
veys were made primarily for the purposes of analyzing the local
industries and the local systems of education and of ascertaining
what kind of instruction is needed and the best way of imparting
that instruction, they are also of nation-wide interest and significance.
The facts disclosed in the studies of the industries of Richmond and
Minneapolis are in general the facts peculiar to those same industries
throughout the country. The methods suggested for dealing with
the local school and industrial conditions in these two cities will be
helpful to communities everywhere. It is to give the findings of
these two city surveys wider publicity that they have been published
as bulletins of this bureau.
It will be noted that this bulletin is No. 1 in a new series en
titled “ Vocational Education.-’ Although vocational education ap
pears for the first time among the titles of the different series of
bulletins issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this signifies no
9

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

new departure in the activities of the bureau. By consulting the
list of publications on vocational education, which is given on the
inside of the front cover of this bulletin, it will be seen that as long
ago as 1892 the Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau, entitled “ In
dustrial Education,” was devoted to this subject. All told, 3
annual reports and 10 bulletins devoted wholly or in part to
vocational education have been issued by this bureau. Nor does
.this list comprise all the material on this subject that has been pub
lished by the bureau. For a complete list the reader is referred
to Bulletin 174, Subject Index of the Publications of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, up to May 1,1915, under the titles “ Industrial Edu
cation ” and “ Vocational Education.” From this list of publications
it will be seen that one of the most important activities of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics has been the gathering and compiling of informa
tion regarding vocational education. This activity is in keeping with
the intent and purpose of the law creating the bureau, which charges
the commissioner with the duty of collecting information upon
the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the hours of labor, and
the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of pro
moting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity.”
One of the most important means of promoting the material, social,
intellectual, and moral well-being of laboring men and women is a
proper educational system. A thorough knowledge of industrial
processes and industrial conditions is necessary for the intelligent
analysis of any system of industrial training designed to fit youth for
places in industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been able
to make intelligent studies of industrial education because it is
obliged to know the occupations in industry, the conditions in the
labor market, and the attitude of the laboring people toward train
ing for vocations. Industrial education, whether carried on in school,
in shop, or in factory, is a matter with which the Bureau of Labor
Statistics must keep in touch because of the effects of such educa
tion upon the wages and the welfare of the workers.
The great and increasing importance of vocational education
makes it advisable to devote a special series of bulletins to that
subject. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics is concerned but
little with vocational education outside the field of industrial train
ing, it was thought best to use the title “ Vocational Education ” to
designate the new series, because several reports dealing with the
broader aspects of vocational education have already been pub
lished by the bureau, and this bulletin is much too broad in scope
to be labeled a study in industrial education.

otal

eeker,

Commissioner of Labor Statistics.

CHAPTER I.
WHY THE SURVEY? 1
Minneapolis has long been interested in vocational education.
Seven years ago the Schoolmasters’ Club made a report on the sub
ject. Special committees from the board of education have visited
various places to learn what other cities and States were doing. In
1912 the Minneapolis Teachers’ Club issued a report with recom
mendations as to the need for vocational education, which created
much favorable sentiment and furnished helpful data for this report.
Two years ago the board of education created a special committee
on vocational education made up in about equal numbers of educa
tors, business men, employers and employees engaged in industry,
representatives of women’s clubs, and social workers. This commit
tee with a few additions has served also as the local committee for
the direction of this survey and report.
The public schools of the city already have made commendable
progress in the establishment of vocational courses. Their work
has been supplemented in various ways by the University of Min
nesota, the William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute, and nu
merous other agencies of a semipublic or private character.
Various recent events and conditions led to the present survey. Ten
years ago Minnesota raised the .age to 16 years in its compulsory
education law; but, on account of numerous exceptions allowed by
the law, many children went to work under 16. Successive legisla
tures removed these exceptions until practically all children must
now attend school until 16 years old, unless they have completed the
work of the elementary school. This, with the increasing emphasis
on enforcement of the law, has forced into the schools many pupils
demanding vocational instruction.
The enactment by the 1913 legislature of a law, now before the
courts, providing for a commission to determine the minimum wage
for girls and women has brought a demand for increased efficiency
that only adequate training can supply.
By the will of the late Mr. William Hood Dunwoody a trust fund of
over $3,000,000, which has been increased since the beginning of the
survey to about $5,000,000 by the will of his wife, Mrs. Kate L. Dun1 AH statements in this report, unless otherwise specifically designated, are made as of
Sept. 1, 1915, the date when the field work o f the survey closed.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOK STATISTICS.

woody, was created to give free instruction in industrial and mechani
cal aits to the youth of Minneapolis and Minnesota.
Before undertaking to put into effect the provisions of the will,
the trustees of the fund desired more information as to the kind of
vocational education most needed and advice as to the best ways by
which the school could cooperate with other educational agencies
and institutions of the city and State.
Because of this large fund dedicated to the promotion of indus
trial education, the survey has been, and the resulting recommenda
tions are, different from what would have obtained in a city
where the work was entirely dependent upon public taxation and
where there was an absence of the willingness and eagerness of all
agencies to cooperate so strongly manifested* in Minneapolis.
The rapid growth of the city has called for the expenditure in
the past of practically all the available funds for general education.
Since the city could not afford costly experiments, the board of
education wisely had postponed action until more funds were avail
able and further developments had been made in vocational educa
tion generally. Mr. Dunwoody’s gift furnished the necessary funds
to meet a part at least of the expense for industrial education and
made necessary a study which should define the activities of the pub
lic schools and of the Dunwoody Institute.
As the time was ripe for action, the superintendent of schools
with the board of education and the trustees of the Dunwoody In
stitute enlisted the cooperation of other local agencies in bringing
the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education to
Minneapolis to make this survey and hold its annual convention.
ORGANIZATION.

The executive committee of the National Society, on April 1,1915,
made a written agreement with the Minneapolis authorities covering
all the arrangements for the survey and convention. This agree
ment, given in full in Appendix B, provided that, in return for the
financial support of the survey and of the convention, the society
should conduct in advance a study of the city of Minneapolis for
purposes of industrial education, which study should terminate in
a report with recommendations; and that the latter should be sub
mitted to the ninth annual convention of the society to be held in
Minneapolis in January, 1916. The executive committee appointed
a general survey committee and adopted a plan for the survey, given
in Appendix B.
The general survey committee, in immediate charge of the survey,
consisted of six members, four of whom were members of the National
Society and two residents of Minneapolis, one the superintendent of
schools and the other the chairman of the local survey committee.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M INN .

This committee took the month of April to plan the survey. All the
arrangements made have been carried out substantially as planned
and as approved by the executive committee.
A director was appointed, the study was outlined, schedules to be
used by field workers were drawn up, and those for industrial estab
lishments tested in a factory near New York City. The detailed plans
of the director were submitted and finally approved.
A local survey committee of 18 residents of Minneapolis was ap
pointed by the general survey committee to assist in the work; their
names appear in Appendix A. The plans for the study were ap
proved by the local committee also. During the survey meetings were
held and reports made as to progress and difficultiea Not the least
valuable of the many contributions of this committee were the cordial
support and the aid given by the committee as a whole and by indi
vidual members in bringing about a favorable attitude on the part
of many different interests in the city.
The field work began May 1,1915, and was completed about Sep
tember 1, 1915. The general survey committee had a joint confer
ence with the local survey committee November 5 and 6, at which the
findings of the various studies were carefully considered and tenta
tive recommendations formulated. A month later (Dec. 3-10, 1915)
the general survey committee met in New York City and completed
its recommendations based on the survey as they appear in the vari
ous chapters. The report went to press December 20. It was dis
tributed to citizens of Minneapolis and to members of the National
Society about January. 1, 1916, and submitted to the ninth annual
convention of the society in Minneapolis January 20 to 22, 1916,
inclusive.
Hany different agencies cooperated in making the survey. The
expenses, about $8,000, were met by the board of education, the Wil
liam Hood Dunwoody Institute, the University of Minnesota, and
the Woman’s Club. In various ways service worth at least $8,000 was
contributed without cost. The board of education assigned to the
work a considerable part of the time of three employees of its attend
ance and vocational guidance department and of the director of its
manual training work.
The trustees of the Dunwoody Institute gave the paid services of
the principal and teachers for six weeks during the summer and also
supplied some clerical work. The University of Minnesota furnished
a specialist in home economics from its agricultural extension divi
sion, and a dozen students from the home-economics department vol
unteered their services. The university also supplied summer stu
dents from the classes in economics to assist as volunteers in the study
of commercial education, which was almost entirely financed by the
research fund of the%Graduate School of the university.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

The Minneapolis Public Library catalogued the collection of books
gathered for the survey and did considerable typewriting. Just
previous to this survey the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Asso
ciation had finished a study of the industries of the city, from which
valuable data were obtained, and officers and employees of the asso
ciation gave freely of their time and advice.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industries not only helped
with information already gathered, but made for the survey as well
as for its own reports special studies described later. The total
value of this service exceeded $1,000.
Everywhere the survey met with the hearty support of business
jmen, social workers, workingmen, and educators. No one who was
asked refused to serve on any of the numerous advisory committees.
Special acknowledgment is due to employers and employees who met
frequently and willingly with the staff of the survey and furnished
valuable information as to conditions in each trade and kind of
training needed.
It has been impossible to give credit in detail to all those who
contributed to the work. A statement of the personnel of all the
forces will be found in Appendix A.
SEPA RA TE PROBLEMS STUDIED.

The survey consisted of a series of separate studies of different
problems, each organized under a special committee or person.
Where a special committee had charge the actual study was made
under the direction of one responsible person.
A special committee on commercial education, whose membership is
given in Appendix A, had entire charge of the study of that subject.
Its work was organized under a member of the staff of the survey
employed by the research fund of the Graduate School of the uni
versity to make the study for the department of economics. This
investigation was carried on in close cooperation with other studies.
The report on findings for commercial education appears in the sec
tion of Chapter III on commercial courses in the public schools, in
the section of Chapter IV on the private commercial schools, and in
Chapter X X I on what vocational education is needed for office work;
the recommendations of the committee on commercial education ap
pear at the close of the findings on the commercial courses in the
public schools in Chapter III.
The study of vocational education for home workers, presented in
Chapter X X II, was in charge of a special committee of representative
women from a wide variety of interested organizations. The work
was organized under a specialist in home economics from the univer
sity agricultural extension division and a corps of volunteer workers.
The names of the committee and staff are given in Appendix A.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, MTXN.

The findings on manual training were submitted to a special commit
tee made up of western men of experience and prominence in the
work, whose names are given in Appendix A. The committee met
in Chicago in September, 1915, and after careful consideration ap
proved the findings and made the recommendations shown in Chap
ter III (see p. 51).
The investigations of correspondence schools and of apprenticeship were
made at the request of the survey by the Minnesota Department of
Labor, whose staff organization is given in Appendix A. The study
of correspondence schools appears in Chapter IV (see p. 112), and
of apprenticeship in Chapter V.
All the other studies were made directly under the general survey
committee, represented by the director of the survey. A staff was
organized which included every person having charge of any study
and those in charge of special studies under special committees. The
general office force helped with all the studies, but the field workers
for each constituted separate groups under the direction of some
member of the staff, which during the first four months of the survey
held weekly meetings with the director.
THE AIMS.

The aims of the survey have been: (1) To get the facts about the
schools and vocations of Minneapolis necessary in any intelligent
planning of a program of vocational education; (2) to make recom
mendations as to a program for such education in Minneapolis
which, after consideration of the facts, the best judgment of these
vocations and of the general and local survey committees approved;
(3) to obtain the cooperation of every interested agency in carrying
out a comprehensive program of vocational training; (4) to make the
survey and its recommendations the subject of much of the discus
sion at the annual convention of the National Society in Minneapolis,
so that the convention may be of the largest possible benefit to the
city; (5) to make a type study for vocational education which may
be of benefit to other cities.
METHOD.

The ways in which information was gathered are explained fully
in Appendix B. Only a brief reference to some of the main features
of the method used is here given.
Duplication of effort and needless expense were avoided by gathering
carefully at the outset all available data. All pertinent facts from
these data have been used. The scope of the investigation was
determined by a study of the United States Census reports on
occupations for 1910. Maps of the city for separate industries pre

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

pared by the Civic and Commerce Association’s survey for 1914
proved most helpful to field workers. Many of the tables, charts,
graphs, and other statistical material used were supplied by the asso
ciation survey. The vocational education survey made by the Min
neapolis Teachers’ Club in 1912 supplied significant facts as to school
and industrial conditions. The State department of labor furnished
much valuable statistical material and information as to names of
employers, location of plants, products made, numbers employed,
hours of labor, and conditions of work.
Individual schedules were used to some extent, though probably
less than in most studies of a similar character. On the whole, most
of the studies can not be said to represent a statistical investigation,
as personal visits and continued conferences furnished most of the
data. The figures employed supplement rather than furnish the
basic information for most of the chapters.
Individual schedules for workingmen were used by the State
department of labor in the study of correspondence schools.
Schedules to be filled out by employers and by unions furnished
some information for the chapter on apprenticeship. In the chap
ters on commercial education and the home worker the individual
schedule was relied on more than in any other studies. Blanks were
used to get information from all private as well as public schools
upon which a report is made. In the investigation of the need of
art education in industry, a preliminary questionnaire was sent to
employers to get facts and opinions as a basis for further inquiry by
field workers.
Personal observation and interviews were the means most largely
employed in investigating the 36 specific industries and occupations
considered. Field workers visited typical plants, gathering facts
and opinions bearing upon 26 different points carefully drafted in
advance by the general survey committee. This chart is explained
more fully in Appendix B. Each worker prepared a tentative report
on the industry or occupation studied, which, after having been
edited by the office, was submitted for correction to a conference of
representatives of the industry. These findings as they appear repre
sent statements approved by the industry or occupation.
Conferences with representative employers and employees furnished
not only data as to conditions and needs of each trade, but also
the opinions and attitudes of both employers and employees as to the
best way to meet the demand for better training. Additional and
detailed facts about the trades were obtained through stenographic
interviews with journeymen.
At the first conference for each trade the information concerning
it gathered by the Richmond survey was compared with conditions
in Minneapolis and points of similarity and difference noted.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

In succeeding conferences the conditions of apprenticeship were
investigated and its shortcomings determined. Feasible plans for
meeting these shortcomings were proposed and discussed. Courses
of study were formulated, based upon the needs of the trade. Finally
tentative trade understandings, agreeable to all the representatives
at the conferences, whereby these courses might be best given, were
written and submitted to organizations of employers and employees
for adoption.
All the facts and recommendations resulting from these inter
views and conferences have been submitted to representatives of both
employers and employees before being published in this report.
Therefore in the form in which they appear these statements about
the trades have been confirmed and approved by the trades.
Information concerning the public and private schools was obtained
through personal interviews with teachers and officials as well as
through use of the questionnaire. Findings concerning each school
have been referred to responsible school officers for correction and
approval. Thus all statements in regard to schools and industries
have been checked carefully by those having vital concern in and
most knowledge of each. They therefore constitute a most accurate
representation of the local situation.
42805°—Bull. 190—17----- 2

CHAPTER IL
TO WHAT EXTENT IS THERE A NEED FOR VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION IN MINNEAPOLIS?
This report recognizes at the outset the necessity of general edu
cation as a preparation for all work. This is what is meant by the
saying that education will help a man even to dig a ditch better.
“ It is clearly recognized not only that a stronger vocational ele
ment is needed in general education but that no vocational school
is worthy the name which fails to give a considerable amount of
general education along with special preparation for a vocation.”
The survey is concerned, however, only with education which fits
directly for the successful pursuit of some useful occupation. At
least five different kinds of vocational education are commonly recog
nized : That which fits directly for such pursuits as law, medicine,
engineering, or dentistry, is professional education; that which pre
pares for seagoing is nautical education; that which trains for tillage
of the soil, care and marketing of crops, animal husbandry, forestry,
and other related subjects is agricultural education; that which fits for
business and commercial pursuits is commercial education; that which
prepares for efficient wage earning in the trades and industries is
industrial education.
Professional education at public expense already has been gener
ously provided for in Minnesota. Obviously there is no need for
nautical training. The city of Minneapolis is interested directly in
agricultural education in so far as facilities for training in home
gardening and elementary agriculture are concerned. Hence the
report gives a brief chapter to the subject. In accord with the
report of the Commission on National Aid to Vocational Education
the survey is of the opinion “ that preparation for the varied duties of
the home should be regarded as a legitimate and integral part of the
education of every girl; that it should be given both in elementary
and high schools; and that it should be considered a necessary part
of a girl’s general preparation for life, no matter what her particular
calling might be.”
Because of the deep interest in this phase of practical education
a study on the “ Extension training of workers already engaged
in the home” made by a specialist in home economics of the Agri
cultural Extension Division of the University of Minnesota, has

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

been incorporated. Certain facts regarding the home-economics
work of the public schools are also given.
Believing this an opportune time for a study of commercial educa
tion in connection with the survey, the authorities of the University
of Minnesota volunteered to undertake, through the research depart
ment, an investigation of the subject. A chapter is given to this.
Thirteen chapters deal specifically with industrial education.
Minneapolis has the same general need for vocational training as all
other parts of the country. Perhaps no stronger reasons for a widen
ing program of vocational education for the whole country have
been stated than those given by the Commission on National Aid
to Vocational Education (1915). The two great assets of a nation
which enter into the production of wealth are natural resources and
human labor. The conservation and full utilization of these depend
upon vocational training. Vocational training is required to con
serve and develop natural resources, prevent waste of human labor,
supplement apprenticeship, increase wage-earning power, meet the
increasing demand for trained workmen, and offset increased cost
of living. It is therefore a wise business investment. To provide
it for all our workers is a patriotic duty, since already our commer
cial supremacy abroad and our prosperity at home are at stake.
The social and educational need for practical education is equally
urgent. We should have it to democratize the education of the
country by recognizing different interests and abilities, giving equal
opportunity to all to prepare for their life work, and extending edu
cation through part-time, continuation, and evening instruction.
We need vocational education for its indirect but positive effect on
the aims and methods of general education: (1) By developing a
better teaching process by which children who do not respond to
book instruction alone may be reached and educated through learn
ing by doing; and (2) by making utility take its place in dignity by
the side of culture and connecting education with life by making it
more purposeful and useful.
Higher standards of living, which make for increased efficiency,
are a direct result of better education. Out of the industrial and
social unrest comes a demand for a more practical education that
shall furnish opportunity for creative expression, save the worker
from the narrowing influence of specialized tasks, fit him to progress
in industry, and enable him to rise to ranks of leadership and
responsibility.
In many lines Minneapolis presents a large field for industrial
and commercial education. According to the United States Census
for 1909 the value of the annual per capita output of employees
in its manufacturing lines exceeds that of any other city in the

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

country, if not in the world, being $4,880. This is also true as to
the per capita output for its wage earners, which is $6,140. Minne
apolis stands second among all the large cities of the country in the
value added to the raw product by manufacture for each wage
earner, $2,110.
The industrial census taken by the Civic and Commerce Association
shows that in 1914 there were 1,431 manufacturing establishments
having a total of 41,052 employees. Of these, 6,764 were salaried
employees and firm members and 34,288 wage earners, 28,205 males
and 6,083 females. One hundred and twenty-three lines of indus
tries were represented, of which six employed more than half
(20,805) of all the persons engaged in manufacture.
These were, in the order of product value, ,flour and grist mills,
lumber and timber, foundry and machine shops, printing, car con
struction and repair, and baking; and, in the order of number of
employees, foundry and machine shops, flour and grist mills, lumber
and timber, printing, car construction and repair, and baking. These
six lines covered 577 establishments. Their combined output had a
value of $111,811,000, the total value of all manufactured products
having been $165,405,000.
The rapid growth of manufacturing in Minneapolis has created a
corresponding demand for more workers, as shown by the accom
panying table. The figures for 1909 were taken from the United
States Census of Manufactures for 1909; those for 1914 were gath
ered by the Civic and Commerce Association.
T a ble 1 .— NUMBER OF MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS IN MINNEAPOLIS AND

OF PERSONS EMPLOYED THEREIN, 1909 AND 1914, BY INDUSTRIES.
Number of estab
lishments.

Number of em
ployees.

Industry.
1909
Foundry and machine shops.
Flour find grist mills.............
Lumber and timber.
Car construction and repair.............................
Bread and bakery products.............................
Clothing............................................................
Furniture and refrigerators..............................
Malt liquors......................................................
Copper, tin, and sheet metal............................
Cooperage and wooden goods...........................
Leather goods...................................................
Confectionery...................................................
Paper goods................. ....................................
Artificial stone.................................................
Patent medicines and druggists’ preparations.
Marble and stone.............................................
Tobacco manufactures.....................................
Fur goods.........................................................
Electrical machinery........................................
Carriages and wagons.......................................
Photo-engraving...............................................
Brick and tile...................................................
Jewelry.............................................................
All other industries..........................................
Total.

1914

95
13
34
216
3
100
17
23
4
47
16
14
12
5
28
52
10
45
17
8
23
5
9
8
298

102
22
41
253
6
153
20
21
4
75
17
29
19
6
41
62
17
52
17
13
23
10
8
13
407

1,102

1,431

i In original report total is given as 41,052.

1909
3,254
3,594
5,262
3,160
2,683
1,156
924
90S
428
472
584
331
452
105
226
583
318
414
195
149
264
139
148
104
8,070

1914
5,124
4,264
3,363
3,313
2,923
1,818
1,047
977
714
689
579
522
446
427
371
356
355
348
294
276
258
214
129
120

11,285

140,212

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

The field of vocational education is perhaps best shown by the
number of workers employed in different lines. According to the
United States Census on Occupations, 1910, the following are the
occupational groups in descending order of number of workers:
T able S .— PERSONS ENGAGED IN SPECIFIED OCCUPATION GROUPS IN CITY OF

MINNEAPOLIS.
[Source: Thirteenth United States Census, 1910, Vol. IV, pp. 166-180.]
Total
employees.

Occupational group.
Manufacturing and mechanical industries...
Trade and commerce.....................................
Domestic and personal service......................
Transportation..............................................
Clerical occupations.......................................
Professional service........................................
Public service not elsewhere specified...........
Agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry
Extraction of minerals..................................

53,250
25,259
19,423
17,202
14,868
8,648
2,586
1,978

Total...................................................

143,482

268

The following table gives the distribution as to skilled and semi
skilled employees and laborers by sex in the manufacturing and
mechanical industries:
T able 3 .— NUMBER OF SKILLED AND SEMISKILLED EMPLOYEES AND LABORERS IN

SPECIFIED MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRIES OF MINNEAPOLIS#
BY SEX.
Skilled employees.

Semiskilled em
ployees.

Laborers.

Industry.

Total.
Male.

Female.

Building trades..........................
Metal industries........................
Clothing.....................................
Supervisors and technicians___
Lumber and furniture...............
Food ftnd grain..........................
Chemical
drug....................
Printing find engraving.............
Textile.......................................
Boots and shoes and leather—
Clay, glass, and stone.
Tobacco...................................
Liquor and beverage.................
Jewelry......................................
All other industries...................

9,379
5,324
1,236
5,310
1,272
1,031
2,405
1,184
2
307
150

2
2
4,792
175
15
57
6
62

150
701

Total................................

28,451

Male.

Female.

1,743
144

52
134

4
20

i,379
851
76
294
185
440
283
244
203
16
1,110

42
477
45
266
684
121
4
99
8
1
764

5,137

6,968

2,697

Male.

Female.

5,494
839
3

61
7

1,347
613
272
9
48
18
278
4
126

10
17
3
2
13
4
1
2

821 |
1

41
1|

9,872 1

125 |

14,936
7,967
6,309
5,485
4,065
3,046
2,807
1,817
932
892
716
349
338
171

3,420

53,260

Outside of flour mills and car construction and repair work of the
street railway company, the problem of vocational education is to
provide training for a wide variety of small but growing industries,
each employing a comparatively few workers.
The average number employed in the 102 foundries and machine
shops is 50; in flour and grist mills, 194; in lumber and timber, 82;
in printing, 13; in bread and baking, 12.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

The street railway company, which employs 2,923 persons in car
construction and repairing, and one of the knitting mills are the
only concerns employing more than 1,600 persons each, and there are
only nine manufacturing concerns employing more than 500 each.
The average number of employees in all the manufacturing establish
ments in the city is 28.
All these establishments provide occupations calling for different
kinds of training and experience. Small establishments call for
broader practical training of the average worker than large ones
having greater division of labor and specialization of tasks. In the
specialized industry there is a need for preparing workers for new
positions, and in both a need of training for advancement. The
progress of Minneapolis, as in all other large cities, will depend more
and more upon the development of its human resources, to keep step
with the rising demands of the natural resources and the rapidly in
creasing population of the Northwest.
Both employers and employees agree that there is a very great need
for vocational education in all the manufacturing industries covered
by this survey. Like agreement was found in the building trades,
in which, according to the United States Census report for 1910,
14,936 workers were employed, of whom 9,381 were in skilled occupa
tions; in trade and commerce and in clerical occupations in which,
because of the position of Minneapolis as a distributing point, a com
paratively large number of persons (40,127) were employed; in
transportation, in which 17,202 were employed; and in domestic and
personal service, not including housewives and daughters in families,
in which 19,423 were employed.
The extraordinary growth of Minneapolis has been due largely to
its geographical position and the rich natural resources of that part
of the country. According to the United States census its popula
tion grew from 301,408 in 1910 to 343,466 in 1914, an increase of 13.9
per cent. At the same rate for ten years the population would be
406,303.
A large gap exists between the number of workers now being,
trained and the number needing training. For example, the study
of apprenticeship made by the survey shows only 634 apprentices in
manufacturing and mechanical industries, which in 1910 employed
53,250 persons. Even in these cases no technical instruction is given,
and in very few instances does the shop experience give an apprentice
the proper training.
Thus far the public schools have not devoted their attention to the
industrial worker. With the exception of the trade courses in the
Girls’ Vocational High School, recently established, and a few even
ing classes carried on by various agencies, the whole field of trade
and technical training is yet to be developed. There are agencies

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

enough for giving commercial training for the ordinary office
worker, but too many are private schools and require large tuition
fees.
The large attendance upon these private schools shows a need for
additional facilities for commercial training by the public schools.
The fact that last year over 7,000 students were enrolled in private
vocational courses, including correspondence courses, and paid over
$300,000 in tuition, is evidence of the demand for this instruction.
The needs of the workers in the skilled trades were felt so definitely
that representatives from the trades in conference were able to sug
gest readily definite courses to meet them. These courses, having
been approved by the respective trades, are included in the special
reports for each trade. They represent concretely the ideas of the
trades as to training required.
The enforcement of the minimum wage law of 1915, if the law is
held constitutional, will bring immediate necessity for special train
ing for inefficient and low-paid workers. This law empowers a
State commission, after investigation, to determine the m in im u m
wages for “ women and minors of ordinary ability and also the
minimum wages sufficient for living wages for learners and ap
prentices in any occupation where in the opinion of the commission
the wages paid to one-sixth or more of the women or minors em
ployed therein are less than living wages.”
This survey is not concerned with the advisability of this law, but
these facts seem to stand out: Employers feel that, if wages are
to be increased by law, the increase should be accompanied by both
provisions and requirements for the better training of the low-grade
worker; and that, if the courts should sustain the law, steps should
be taken in this direction at once.
Minneapolis has no need for compulsory schooling for the em
ployed child under sixteen. In a number of States, notably Wiscon
sin, where children who have not completed the elementary school
may go to work when 14 years old, laws have been passed requiring
them to attend school part of their working time, usually four to
eight hours a week, to get further training which will fit them for
better citizenship and industrial intelligence. Minnesota, on the
other hand, has chosen to withdraw these children from industry by
requiring them to attend the regular schools until they are 16 or
have completed the elementary school work or its equivalent. Both
States through their laws have recognized that it is the duty of the
schools to prepare the wage-earning child for life and for industry.
They differ not in aim but in method.
The enforcement of the compulsory school attendance law, more fully
described later, requiring all children to remain in school until 16

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

unless sooner graduated from the eighth grade retains in the Minne
apolis schools hundreds of boys and girls who in most States would
go to work at 14. On the theory that two additional years in school
are necessary to prepare children for life and for work, the State
has deprived them and their families of two years of wage earning.
Parents and children may justly demand that the State guarantee
them a training which will fit them to be not only intelligent citi
zens but intelligent and successful wage earners.
Of those who reach the second grade about 4 out of 5 never finish
high school, 1 of 2 never attend high school, almost 3 out of 10 never
complete the elementary school. The immensity of the problem is
indicated by the fact that while 4,956 students were enrolled in the
third grade in 1905-6, only 1,111 were enrolled in this same class in
its senior year in high school in 1914-15; in other words, that 3,845
students had dropped out.
A clear pathway for merit of every kind, in every citizen of the
community, might well be the fundamental ideal of organized society.
The way should be open for the fullest expression of all the wit,
energy, genius, dexterity, skill, taste, technique, and art of every
man, woman, and child of every city and town and country place.
When the pathways for merit are wide open for all, the city of
Minneapolis will profit a hundredfold from its most precious asset
of human resources and democracy will find not only its best ex
pression but its fullest fruition. Not until a system of vocational
education has given the mechanic and the artisan, the designer and
the decorator, a chance, through training, to develop their peculiar
interests and abilities, can it be said that the city has opened for
them a clear pathway for merit.

CHAPTER m .
TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS MEETING
THE NEED?
The Minneapolis public schools have contributed largely to voca
tional efficiency by the excellent general education they furnish.
General intelligence is fundamental to industrial intelligence and
skill. By requiring practically all children to remain in school until
16 years old, Minnesota has insured for most of the children of Min
neapolis the necessary basic preparation for labor as well as for
citizenship.
ENFORCEMENT OF COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE AND CHILD LABOR LAWS.

Enforcement of the compulsory attendance and child labor laws is
a large service to the future social and economic life of the city. Few
children under 16 leave school to go to work. The present State law
requires them to attend a public, parochial, or private school either
until they are 16 or have finished the eighth grade. An employment
certificate is required of all under 16 who have finished the eighth
grade.
For the school year of 1907-8 the compulsory school age in Min
nesota was 8 to 16 years, but pupils between these ages could leave
school for any of the following reasons: (1) HI health, (2) taught
at home or elsewhere in common branches, (3) already acquired
such branches, (4) engaged in some useful occupation, (5) no public
school within reasonable distance, (6) poverty. Employment certifi
cates were in addition granted to those able to read or write and
familiar with arithmetic through fractions, who had been instructed
the previous year in reading, spelling, writing, grammar, and geog
raphy, and whom poverty compelled to leave school.
By successive changes made by the legislature practically all
children over 8 years and under 16 must attend school. The only
legal excuses for nonattendance are ill health, distance from school,
religious holidays, and completion of the eighth grade, while em
ployment certificates can be issued legally only to eighth-grade
graduates. The improvement brought about by changes in and
better enforcement of the law is best shown by the return on employ
ment certificates for the last eight years. In 1907-8, 312 certificates
were issued to nongraduates and 101 to eighth-grade graduates, a
total of 413. Notwithstanding the rapid growth of the city, only 351
certificates were issued in the last school year, of which 285 were to
graduates and only 66 to nongraduates.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

In the former year, 3 out of every 4 of the certificates were granted
to those who had not finished the elementary school, in the latter
only 2 out of every 11.
In 1914-15 applications for certificates for 250 nongraduates were
received. In 191 cases the reason alleged was “ financial necessity,”
and in 59 “ for the good of the child.” After careful investigation 68
certificates were issued, 39 on the ground of “ financial necessity ” and
27 where progress had ceased and no suitable school was available.
These certificates were all issued before March 8, and since that
time no certificates have been issued except to eighth-grade graduates.
In September, 1915, out of 91 applications for certificates for
nongraduates, 78 alleged financial necessity. No certificates were
granted, but 54 applicants were referred to social agencies for aid.
Since the State has required all such to stay in school until 16 years
old, many persons think some means should be provided in the
form of scholarships rather than poor relief to keep the pupils in
school.
In all, 186 nongraduates under 16 were reported in June as hav
ing left school to go to work in the last school year. Of these,
65 received working certificates and 121 are not accounted for. A
considerable number undoubtedly were 15 years old in September
(the time when the school age is taken), became 16 in the course of
the year, and were legally entitled to leave school. Twelve 14-yearold, twelve 13-year-old, and four 12-year-old children were reported
by the principals as leaving school for work. Who these were and
why they were permitted to leave school the reports do not state.
Investigation has shown that there may have been some clerical
errors. No figures are available showing that any left parochial
schools in a similar way.
The attendance department of the public schools plans to prevent
this laxity (1) by requiring that no pupil’s name be dropped until
the case has been investigated and withdrawal approved by the
attendance department, (2) by educating teachers as to the require
ments of the compulsory education law, and (3) by enlisting the
cooperation of parochial schools in reporting promptly the names
of children leaving. With the exceptions noted. Minneapolis is on a
straight eighth-grade, 16-year-old basis, so far as compulsory edu
cation is concerned.
CHANGES IN WELFARE LAWS ADVOCATED.

Certain changes in the Minnesota child welfare laws are advocated by
citizens of Minneapolis as follows:
1. A provision defining school absence so as to make possible in
the future accurate records of attendance in the several districts.
The New Jersey law, whose plan is now being carried out in the

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

Minneapolis schools by a rule of the superintendent in the absence
of any legal provision, has been suggested. It reads: “ A pupil is
absent when not in attendance at a session of school while a member
of the school. A pupil is either absent or present every day the school
is in session after entering the school until the date the pupil officially
leaves the school for the school year.”
2. Licensing of all children between the ages of 12 and 16 years
engaged in peddling, bootblacking and selling papers.
8. Requiring all children over 16 and under 18 years of age
not in school or at work to obtain a “ home permit ” from the school
authorities.
4. State aid in the form of scholarships or mothers’ pensions
to enable parents, under proper safeguards, to keep their children
in school as long as the law requires. “ Minnesota has the most rigid
age and grade standards, but makes inadequate provision for main
taining them.”
5. Provision giving the authorities more discretion in issuing em
ployment certificates to children under 16 who have not completed the
eighth grade. “ Such discretion might well be exercised jointly by
the official usually issuing the employment certificate and the local
factory inspector.”
6. A complete statement in the law of the evidence required from
parents or guardians when birth dates of children must be estab
lished. The following is required now: Transcript of birth record; if
not possible, authorized physician’s certificate; if not possible, birth
and baptismal certificate; if not possible, passport and immigration
record, other official or religious record; if not possible, record of
first schools attended in the State, with affidavit of parent.
7. Legislation permitting compulsory commitment of feeble-minded
children to an institution. “ Unless the feeble-minded child is guilty
of some delinquency, it is possible to commit him to an institution at
the present time only by a strained interpretation of the powers of
discretion lodged in the judge of the juvenile court.”
8. Provision for part-time schooling for children over 14 and
under 16 years old. The following bill introduced into the 1914r-15
session of the legislature shows the ideas of school people who be
lieve in greater elasticity in issuing employment certificates:
((In case the board of education of any school district in cities
of the State of Minnesota having over 50,000 inhabitants and not
governed under a charter adopted pursuant to chapter 36, article
4, of the State constitution, shall provide and maintain part-time
courses of study for children over 14 years of age, in which the
plan of administration of attendance and curriculum of said courses
of study shall in the judgment of the State superintendent of edu
cation provide for a substantially equal division of the time of

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

pupils between employment in a useful occupation requiring special
training therefor and not otherwise forbidden by law, and formal
study in the school for a period of not less than 50 hours in any
one month of subjects related to such occupations, nothing in exist
ing laws relating to the issuance of employment certificates shall be
construed to prevent the issuance of an employment certificate for
any child attending said school.”
The spools are beginning to meet the problems of vocational guidance
and placement by the recent establishment of a department of school
attendance and vocational guidance which has cooperated closely
with this survey and report. The information concerning trades
and occupations gathered will be immediately available for its work.
Much of it will be published in separate pamphlets for distribution
among the youth of the city.
Because of the enforcement of attendance laws and child labor
laws the number of children dropping out of the upper grammar
grades has been steadily decreasing in the last 10 years, as is shown
by the following table:
T able

4.-SCHOOL ENROLLMENT IN PT7BLTC SCHOOLS, BY YEARS.

[In the ungraded rooms for special students, most of whom were over age and backward, 440 were enrolled
in 1914-15. These are not included in the distribution in the table.]

Grade.
Kindergarten..
First gradei...
Second grade..
Third grade. •.
Fourth grade..
Fifth grade—
Sixth grade—
Seventh grade.
Eighth grade..
Ninth grade...
Tenth grade...
Eleventh grade
Twelfth grade..

1905-6 1906-7 1907-8 1908-9 1909-101910-11 1911-121912-13 1913-14 1914-15 Aver
age.
617
9,237
5,194
4,956
5,077
4,513
4,073
3,245
2,544
1,474
1,244
729
701

705
8,950
5,033
5,314
4,988
4,680
4,346
3,611
2,586
1,642
1,409
815
604

765
8,919
4,723
4,950
5 083
4,819
4,403
3,840
3,070
1,892
1 359
858
654

694
8,402
5,078
4,576
5,056
4,859
4,450
3,886
3,332
2,326
1,359
976
650

568
7,496
5,375
4,820
4,832
4,920
4,373
3,902
3,407

7,498
4,936
5,262
4,887
4,698
4,740
4,102
3 454
2,222 2,313
1,479 1,490
956 1,087
794
848

1,002

7,444
4,887
4,823
5,086
4,803
4,590
4,257
3,730
2,315
1,554
1,096
1,137

1,847
7,576
4,986
4,884
4,806
5,030
4,579
4,260
3,630
2,640
1,715
1,152

1,939
7,731
5,191
5,004
4,674
4,780
4,815
4,387
3 699
2,805
1,777
1 254
998

2.568
8,171
5,416
4,870
4,983
4,602
4,574
4,526
3,890
3,010
1,919
1,339

1,111

1.170.7
8.142.4
5.081.7
4.945.9
4.947.2
4,770.0
4.494.3
4,001.6
3.334.2
2.263.9
1.530.5
1.026.2
842.2

» Figures for first grade throughout includes beginners admitted in January.

The number of graduates from the high schools for the several
years was as follows: 1908-9, 741; 1909-10, 762; 1910-11, 819; 191112, 849; 1912-13, 907; 1913-14, 971; 1914-15, 1,088.
The discrepancy between the number enrolled in the twelfth
grade in 1908-9, 650, and the number graduating from high schools
in that year, 741, is not accounted for by the statistical department.
The table shows that the enrollment in the first six grades has re
mained fairly constant, and that the various school attendance laws
have retained in the seventh and eighth grades many pupils over 14
who without this legislation would have left school to go to work.
The best evidence of this is furnished by comparing the general

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

average for the seventh and eighth grades for all the years with
their enrollment in 1914-15. The enrollment in the first six grades
remained practically the same since 1905, while in the seventh grade
it rose from 3,245 to 4,526 in 1914, an increase of 39 per cent, and in
the eighth grade from 2,544 to 3,800, an increase of 53 per cent.
Notwithstanding this gratifying improvement in the number who
remain longer in school, there is still much elimination in the
eighth grade and in the high school. The average enrollment as
given in the foregoing table shows decreases in enrollment begin
ning with the ninth grade, as follows: From eighth to ninth, 32 out
of every 100; from ninth to tenth, 32; from tenth to eleventh, 33;
from eleventh to twelfth, 18; and from eighth to twelfth, 75 out of
every 100 enrolled in the eighth grade.
Considering only the 1914-15 grades, the falling off per 100 in
each grade as compared with the preceding grade is 14 in the eighth,
23 in the ninth, 36 in the tenth, 30 in the eleventh, and 17 in the
twelfth; while the twelfth as compared with the eighth showed a
falling off of 71 out of every 100. Comparing the 1,111 enrolled
in the fourth year of high school in 1914-15 with the number in this
same class in the eighth grade (1910-11), one finds a loss of 68 out
of every 100 enrolled in the eighth grade.
While the proportion of pupils who enter the second grade and
reach the eighth grade and enter high school is increasing rapidly,
that of eighth-grade pupils who complete high school has remained
practically constant during the last seven years. Using as a baas the
enrollment of each graduating class in the eighth grade, one finds that
beginning with the graduating class of 1909-10, consecutive graduat
ing classes had remaining out o f every 100 enrolled in the eighth
year the following, respectively, 31, 33, 37, 28, 29, 32; and, there
fore, lost out of every 100 for these years, 69, 67, 63, 72, 71, 68.
It is fair to say that the present child labor laws of Minnesota
do not permit children under 16 to work in factories and shops.
Furthermore, the attitude of some employers is against engaging
boys and girls under 16. The result is that some high school pupils,
especially in the first and second year, drop out on reaching the age
of 16 to find the employment they could not get before.
It would seem, however, from the figures given, that the present
high school courses are holding a somewhat fixed proportion of the
youth who finish the eighth grade, and to increase this proportion
new courses must be provided which appeal to the interest and meet
the vocational needs of the pupils who now leave before completing
the high school. A treatment of the facilities thus far provided for
giving these courses will be found later in this chapter.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
ELIMINATION.

The survey has made no extensive study of elimination in the
Minneapolis schools other than to ascertain such facts as have direct
relation to vocational education. Neither has it attempted to make
extensive comparisons with conditions in other cities. It has been
impossible within the limits of this'report to give any comparative
treatment of the complicated statistics available, based, as they are,
on varying standards and methods. All comparisons show, however,
that in holding its children in school from the first to the twelfth
grade inclusive, Minneapolis ranks among the highest of all the
cities of the country.
The object in discussing elimination here is not to make compari
sons favorable or otherwise between Minneapolis and other cities,
but to point out that Minneapolis has the same problem as they, even
if in lessened degree—the problem of the children who go to work
without completing the school course and with no adequate voca
tional preparation.
The causes of withdrawal were reported by the teachers of Minne
apolis for all pupils leaving school in 1914-15. Of 2,572 pupils over
14 years who left the schools in that year 1,372 were enrolled in the
grades and 1,200 in the high school. These figures do not include
withdrawals in summer vacation. The following shows the reasons
assigned by the teachers for these withdrawals:
T a b l e 5.—CAUSES OF WITHDRAWAL OF PUPILS FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Elemen
tary.

Cause of withdrawal.

316
146
10
40
75
25
12
26
34
9
<>29
50

Left the city.........................................
To attend private school......................
Death...................................................
Economic pressure...............................
Illness of pupil......................................
Illness in family....................................
Physical defects....................................
Incapacity (mental).............................
Indifference..........................................
Failing promotion................................
Wont to work.......................... ........ .
Unexplained..........................
i

1,372 j
1

High.
173
79
5
28
240
56
5
25
131
37
331 |
90 1
1,200

Total.
489
225
15
68
315
81
17
51
165
46
960
140
2,572

Assuming that practically all who left the schools for the last
eight reasons above went to work, 1,843 pupils, or 72 per cent of the
total number leaving, should be included in the “ go-to-work ” group.
Between the total enrollment of grades 5 to 11 inclusive, in 191314. and grades 6 to 12 inclusive, in 1914-15, there is a difference of
3,148 pupils. This represents those who dropped out in the school
year 1913-14 and the summer of 1914 but does not include those
who left the twelfth grade before graduation. This calculation dis
regards the number entering and leaving the public schools in 1914

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

15. Consequently, the estimate of 3,148 pupils in grades 5 to 12
inclusive, appearing to have withdrawn between September 1, 1913,
and September 1,1914, is rough rather than accurate.
Assuming that the causes of withdrawal were in the same ratio
as those given in the foregoing table for 1914-15, 72 per cent of the
pupils withdrawing from September 1, 1913, to September 1, 1914,
would constitute the go-to-work group, 2,266 in number. This, for
reasons already given, is a low estimate of the number over 14 years
old who leave the schools to go to work each calendar year, but is twice
as large as the number enrolled in the senior class of the high schools
for 1914-15, and is larger than the average enrollment of junior and
senior classes for the last seven years.
These withdrawing pupils should have had preparation for wage
earning before leaving school. Some idea of the problem may be
gained from the fact that if for two years before their withdrawal
special consideration were given to the vocational interests of this
group who annually go to work, it would involve during any year
the question of providing facilities for nearly 4,532 children, disre
garding the fact that many of the 225 children who withdraw every
year to attend private schools also would remain for vocational in
struction. The failure to provide vocational education for this goto-work group has been an even greater loss to general education,
because they have been deprived of the experience and training
which would be most educative to them from any standpoint.
No direct comparison is possible between the estimate of the go-towork group and the number granted employment certificates, as the
former includes all over 14 years old and the latter only those from
14 to 16. Furthermore, the withdrawal figures are based on reports
from schools in June, 1915, and the employment certificate figures on
daily records of the attendance department. The age in one case is
that on September 1,1914. and in the other on the day of issuing the
certificate. Under the new system of reporting withdrawals to the
attendance department as they occur, it will be possible to get exact
figures.
RETARDATION.

The evil results of retaliation are too many to be enumerated.
While some over-age children are behind grade because of late en
trance to the schools, an overwhelming majority have repeated one
or more grades. In his book. “ Laggards In Our Schools,” Dr.
Ayres gives the number of repeaters in the Minneapolis schools for
1907 as 8,465. At that time Minneapolis stood forty-second among
the 55 cities on the list in this showing.
Retardation is one of the chief causes of elimination. Pupils who
are behind grade feel humiliated by being grouped with younger
42805°—Bull. 199—17-----3

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

pupils and discouraged by repeated failure in academic studies, and
leave school to become wage earners where they may associate with
persons their own age, find expression for their interests and apti
tudes, and meet with some success as measured by a pay check.
It is the purpose of this report not to give remedies for elimina
tion and retardation but rather to show their relation to vocational
education. Training in the subjects which underlie all education is
fundamental to vocational education. It is doubtful whether pupils
who have not reached the seventh grade can profit much by specific
training for a vocation, and the training for many vocations re
quires a complete elementary education. Certainly any degree of
advancement lies open only to the person with such fundamental
preparation. The effect of retardation is that thousands of children
reach the age when they require vocational training with insufficient
general education to profit by it. The certainty that the usual child
will leave school at the earliest opportunity places the grave respon
sibility upon the school not only of giving him vocational training
before he leaves, but also of preparing him to receive it.
Accurate figures showing age and grade of all elementary and high
school pupils were gathered at the dose of 1914-15, and constitute
one of the most reliable reports on the subject yet made. Of 51,449
in both elementary and high schools, 13,386, or 25.9 per cent—not
including 440 pupils in special classes, most of whom were retarded—
were over age for their grades from one to eight years.
While this number is large, Minneapolis in this respect compares
favorably with the rest of the country. In a report of Dr. Ayres
on “ The Identification of the Misfit Child” figures for 29 cities
show that on the average 37 of every 100 children were over age.
Minneapolis is not given in this list, but if given would have stood
third from the top. Only Quincy, Mass., and Springfield, 111.,
made better showings, the former having 19 and the latter 24 per
cent over age. These figures can not be regarded as measuring a
change in Minneapolis, since the former study related tc repeaters
and the latter to over-age' pupils.
The number of over-age pupils will doubtless show an increase in
1915-16 because of the more rigid enforcement of the law and the
retention in school of pupils over 14 and under 16, to whom em
ployment certificates have been granted formerly. In 1913-14 there
were 103 such pupils. In 1914-15 65 nongraduates of the elemen
tary school obtained working certificates previous to March 8, when
the practice was discontinued. Of 4,918 14 and 15 year old chil
dren in the elementary schools in 1914-15, 3,610, or almost 3 out of
4, are one year or more behind grade. Of these over-age children,
2,522 are boys and 2,396 girls.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

These boys and girls over 14 and under 16 years old who are
behind grade are distributed among all the grades from first to
eighth inclusive, and a few are in special classes. The law requires
them to attend school; practically none will go to high school; most
will go to work as soon as the law permits; and, since the State
exacts school attendance on the theory that they need larger prepara*
tion for life, the grave responsibility rests upon the school to teach
them not only the three It’s, but how to earn a livelihood.
Practical activities in industrial arts properly taught in the ele
mentary school will tend to prevent retardation by appeal to the
“ motor-minded ” child, through action rather than abstraction,
while to this type the industrial school supplies training in general
education more successfully than the regular school. Except for
a few special ungraded classes for misfit and foreign boys and men,
having a total enrollment of 378, of whom only 60 were under 16
and 206 were 21 or over, no special provision has been made for
over-age boys. Except for classes for misfit girls having a total
enrollment of 62, of whom 41 were under 16, and the Girls’ Voca
tional High School recently established, to which girls who have
reached the seventh grade are admitted, no provision has been
made for over-age girls.
No common standards or system of promotion is used in advancing
pupils from one grade to another in the elementary schools or from
one subject to another in the high schools. Each teacher determines
what shall be done in each case. No common understanding for
judging the work of pupils and their fitness for promotion exists
as between the same grades in one or in different buildings. While
some freedom and flexibility in the teacher’s work should be pre
served, practically all the school people with whom the survey came
in contact believe the time ripe for a thorough study of the question
of promotion in order to deal with it in a more systematic way,
which, while applying common standards and requirements, will
leave large opportunity for the exercise of the teacher’s judgment.
Vocational education is not primarily for the retarded child. It is
most effective with the normal, capable adolescent and adult. The
Minneapolis schools now offer instruction in manual training and
domestic science and art from the sixth grade through high school,
and four-year commercial courses in each high school. The Girls’
Vocational High School, established in December, 1914, offers twoyear courses in dressmaking, millinery, cooking, salesmanship, and
stenography. Evening classes cover a variety of subjects in in
dustrial, commercial, and household arts courses. This work is
treated elsewhere.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEATJ OF LABOB STATISTICS.

SUMMARY OF STUDY MADE BY THE SURVEY, AND CON
CLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COM
MITTEE.
(1) There is need of a careful consideration of the present unsatis
factory and contradictory condition of some of the Minnesota laws
relating to children so that a codification of these laws may be made
at the next session of the legislature.
(2) 'A provision defining school absence should be enacted into law
so that there may be hereafter uniform and accurate measurement of
attendance conditions in all the school districts of the State.
(3) The committee recognizes that much idleness, deplorable from
a social as well as an economic standpoint, exists in Minneapolis, as
it exists elsewhere, among the youths who, as soon as they have passed
beyond the age of compulsory attendance, leave school to become
either casual workers or idlers; and it recognizes that the time will
come when such young people will be required, as a necessary measure
of social and economic well-being, to go either to work or to school.
What is needed now, however, is rather to perfect present legal and
school facilities for conserving all the children of the city and State
up to the level of 16 years of age.
(4) All children between 12 and 16 years old who are engaged in
peddling, bootblacking, and selling papers should be required by law
to procure a license to do so. Inasmuch as these children are still
under the control of the public schools, this license should be issued
by the school authorities.
(5) Provision in the compulsory attendance law is needed that
will give the school authorities the power to exercise discretion in
issuing employment certificates, permitting some children in excep
tional cases to go to work before completing the eighth grade as the
law now requires. While the committee favors the general provision
of the present law requiring all children who have not been gradu
ated from the eighth grade to remain in school until 16 years old, it
believes that, where common sense demands, there should be an
opportunity to place the child in school or in industry as circum
stances require and the welfare of the child dictates.
(6) There is great need of legislation permitting the compulsory
commitment of feeble-minded children to an institution so that de
fectives who are not delinquent may be committed when it is deemed
advisable by the courts without the strained interpretation of the
powers of discretion lodged at present in the judge of the juvenile
court.
(7) In order to enforce the present compulsory attendance law in
some cases, there is need of a more complete statement in the law
of the evidence required from parents to establish the birth dates of
children.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M12CN.

(8) While the Minneapolis high schools rank among the very best
in the number of youths whom they attract and hold, the statistics
show that the proportion of the boys and girls who have finished the
eighth grade and entered the high schools has remained almost con
stant for the last five years. If this proportion is to be increased, new
courses must be provided which appeal to the interest and meet the
vocational needs of the kind of pupils who either never attend the
high school or leave before completing the four years.
(9) Since the State has exacted school attendance of the retarded
and backward children over 14 and under 16 years old on the theory
that they need longer preparation for the duties of life, the grave
responsibility rests upon the school of giving them the preparation
not only in the three R’s, but in the things which will enable them
to earn a livelihood.
(10) While the record of the Minneapolis school as regards both
elimination and retardation is among the best in the country, there
is need here as well as elsewhere for a larger number of special classes
or schools to handle misfit and over-age boys and girls, which will
make practical training in the activities of the shop or home a large
feature of their efforts not only to interest and to teach, but also to
prepare for useful work the “ motor-minded ” child.
M A N U A L TRA IN IN G IN M INNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

This section as presented is approved by a special committee on
manual training of prominent western men connected with such work.
The work of the manual training classes in the Minneapolis schools
is in many respects of a high order. Few cities provide as good an
equipment or teachers of as much preparation and experience.
Measured by the usual standards for manual training of the same
kind, the work would rank among the highest. With constant
appreciation of the excellence of this work this report has attempted
to evaluate it in teims of vocational preparation. Without question,
the work in the manual training shops is a valuable and, for many
boys, an essential part of general education. The question under
consideration in this chapter is to what extent the manual training
work is meeting the need for prevocational education and for voca
tional education.
The manual training department of the Minneapolis schools includes
all the boys of the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and offers a
four years’ course in each of the high schools. The subjects taught
in the course, with their time allotments, are as follows:
Sixth grade, woodwork, 1 hour a week.
Seventh grade, woodwork, 2 hours a week; drawing. 1 hour a week.
Eighth grade, woodwork, 2 hours a week; drawing, 1 hour a week.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

First year high school, two periods a day, woodwork and drawing.
Second year high school, two periods a day, turning, pattern mak
ing, and drawing.
Third year high school, two periods a day, forging and drawing.
Fourth year high school, two periods a day, machine-shop work
and drawing.
Thus woodwork is given in five successive years from the sixth
grade through the second year of high school.
All the teaching of manual training is done by special teachers,
under the supervisor. Fifty-eight special teachers are employed, 26
in the high schools and 32 in the elementary schools. The cost of
the instruction in 1914-15 was $82,500.
It is the policy of the school authorities to furnish all necessary
tools and equipment and all material for the required work. For
special work or projects for his own use, the boy furnishes the mate
rial. The total amount expended for material in the year was
$17,500. Thirty-two elementary schools and each of the five high
schools are equipped with manual training shops, and 16 elementary
schools and all the high schools have drawing rooms.- The cost of
equipment, exclusive of rooms, lighting, and heating, is approxi
mately: Elementary schools. $17,600; high schools, $118,700; total,
$136,300.
MANUAL TRAINING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

Thirty-two schools have shops fitted with benches and tools for a
course of handwork in wood. A few buildings are equipped to carry
on the work in the regular schoolroom with a few tools on the pupil’s
desk. Sixteen schools have separate rooms with tables and other
equipment for mechanical drawing. The cost of standard equipment
for one building is $550, making the total cost in elementary schools
$17,600, exclusive of rooms and lighting and heating facilities.
All the 32 manual training teachers in the elementary schools are
high school graduates; 12 attended college two years or more; 17
attended normal or teacher training schools two years or more; 1 has
had one year, 3 two years, and 5 three years or more of practical shop
experience. These teachers were paid $39,400 in salaries, an average
of $1,231.25.
Considerable repair and construction work for the schools is
done by the elementary manual training classes. They have made
library tables, bookcases, and filing cabinets for the offices, daven
ports, costumers, and screens for the rest rooms, cabinets for the
phonograph records, and large seats for the halls.
The general aim of this elementary manual training work as stated
in the course of study is “ to promote honesty, industry, and health,
to cultivate self-reliance, to develop general efficiency and skill, and

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

to help the boy to discover the place for which he is best adapted in the
vocational world.”
If the last aim is to be realized, the present course which affords
a very brief experience in handwork in wood only must be enlarged
to include representative industries and occupations, such as metal,
printing, electricity, clay, and building materials. The school au
thorities have fully recognized the need for enlarging the elementary
work, but it has been delayed from time to time, largely because
of- the continued discussion during the last seven years of a pro
posed intermediate school wherein such courses in prevocational
education were to be given.
No adequate training in manual work for the boys who can not go to
high school has been provided. The high schools, in a pamphlet to
prospective students, state that “ it is the intention of the city to
give all its young people an equal chance in getting an education
which will start them in some useful calling.” While Minneapolis
has been making rapid and commendable progress in this direction,
much remains to be done.
A little less than half of the boys of the city never enter the high
schools. Last year, of boys over one year behind grade there were
in the sixth grade 415 from 14 to 17 years old, inclusive; in the
seventh, 427 from 15 to 17; and in the eighth, 257 from 16
to 17. There are more boys over 14 who are over one year behind
grade than there are boys in either the third or fourth years of
all the high schools. These boys behind grade from one to four
years will go to work without finishing the eighth grade, and prac
tically none ever will attend the high school.
All the manual training thus far open to this group is one hour
a week for woodworking and drawing in the sixth grade and three
hours in the seventh and eighth grades. This elementary experience
in woodworking alone neither furnishes a basis for choosing an occu
pation nor gives any marketable skill in woodworking. Since these
pupils will not be admitted even to the manual training courses of
the high schools without fulfilling all the requirements of the ele
mentary school, they are denied “ an equal chance of getting an
education which will start them in some useful calling.”
This group ought to be taken care of if the schools are to supply “ an
equal opportunity for all.” A number of these boys who have com
pleted at least the seventh grade may get training for the trades
hereafter at the Dunwoody Institute, whose work is designed to sup
plement that of the public schools for the industrial and mechanical
arts. A large part of this group will not be qualified to attend the
institute and adequate provision for them should be made in the
public schools.

BULLETIN OF THE BVKEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

To this end, manual training in the elementary school should aim
to provide a wide variety of experiences in different industries so
as to give the boy a basis on which to choose an occupation. Prevocational training should present a course of study that will appeal
to boys who have lost interest in regular school work, and who legally
can not leave school to go to work.
The coarse of study must be a varied one if it is to help boys to
discover their aptitudes and choose their life work. What is needed
is not a course in woodworking or in metal work, but organized
training in practical arts which will include a variety of experiences
fundamental to the life of the community. Woodwork, metal work,
printing and bookbinding, clay modeling, concrete and electrical
work, are among industries which give experience in certain funda
mental processes most valuable to boys without respect to their
occupation later. A plan for such work should consist of a series
of jobs, projects or enterprises which will give the boy an under
standing of the more important industries.
Instead of three hours a week, shopwork should be given at least
1£ hours a day and the school day lengthened if necessary.
For the interests and capacities of the boys, shop experience must
be as rejl and the work as nearly a sample of the process of the
industry as conditions permit. Not only must instructors possess a
general acquaintance and knowledge of the industries represented,
but they should have ability to make intelligent study of the methods
and processes of the industries.
If at any time the public schools of Minneapolis should provide
for intermediate, or junior, high schools covering the last two years
of the elementary and the first year of the present high school period,
the prevocational work herein proposed could best be given in such
schools. A suggestive course of study in such an event will be found
in Appendix E.
The abandonment in 1914 of the Thomas Arnold School for delin
quents, retarded and dissatisfied boys has thrown back upon the
•elementary schools a group of boys who demand special treatment,
including training for some useful work. The large number over 15
who have not reached the seventh grade shows the need of special
classes, or of establishing some school to do the work formerly done
by the Thomas Arnold.
Last year there were in the sixth grade 351 girls from 14 to 17
years old, inclusive, in the seventh 341 girls from 15 to 17, and in
the eighth 210 girls from 16 to 17, a total of 902. These constituted
a group nearly as large as the total number of girls in the
third and fourth years of all the high schools. The report of the
vocational survey of Minneapolis made in 1913 recommended not

VOCATIONAL EDCCATfOX Sl'ltVFA' OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

only that the Thomas Arnold School be enlarged to include all boys
who had reached the age of 15 and had not yet reached the seventh
grade, but that a similar school be organized for girls.
Special classes have been established for over-age and discontented boys
in various elementary schools. These were intended to take the place
of the Thomas Arnold School and are, in the absence of a special
school for the purpose, a necessity. They have not so far been prevocational, as the shopwork is confined to woodwork and is the same
as the manual training work of the elementary school, with the
addition of two or three hours a week. The classroom work not
only is of the same kind as other classroom work in the same build
ing but is taught in the same way. The only difference between these
and the regular classes is that these are ungraded and for boys only.
There is no correlation of work which makes the interest and
experience of the boy in the shop a means of teaching him in his
other studies. These boys need the kind of prevocational education
previously described. While their distribution among different
schools has the advantage of making them a part of the regular
school population rather than a group segregated because of their
deficiencies, there is danger that their special interests may be for
gotten and that proper teachers, courses, and facilities will not be
provided.
The establishment of intermediate schools for the seventh, eighth,
and ninth grades, with their more intensive prevocational training,
would provide centers in which pupils of the special classes would
be associated with pupils of their own age and should receive more
careful and thorough preparation for wage earning.
MANUAL TRAINING IN HIGH SCHOOLS.

Manual training is one of the seven courses offered in the high
schools, which include general, commercial, manual training, home
economics, arts, Latin, and modern language courses. The work is
given in five high schools, each with woodworking, turning and pat
tern making, forge, and machine shops, while one high school also
has a molding shop.
Two years of manual training and drawing are offered in the
general, and four years in the manual training course. The manual
training work and drawing of the general course is the same as that
of the first two years of the manual training course. The pupils
following the manual training course receive two periods of 45
minutes each every day of instruction in either shopwork or draw
ing during the entire four years.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

The shop and drawing work of the manual training course is as
follows:
First year—
First semester: Mechanical drawing and wood joinery.
Second semester: Mechanical draw ing and cabinet work.
Second year—
First semester: Mechanical drawing.
Second semester: Turning and pattern making.
Third year—
First semester: Machine or architectural drawing.
Second semester: Forge work.
Fourth year—
First semester: Machine shop or carpentry.
Second semester: Advanced machine or architectural drawing.
During the first year the shopwork and drawing are given on alter
nate days, during che other years in alternate semesters.
The following equipment of one high school department indicates the
extent of the shop equipment of Minneapolis high schools:
Woodwork shop: 2-i cabinet benches, 1 planer, 1 joiner, 1 band saw,
1 mortiser, assembling room with dry kiln, recitation room for lecture
purposes and finishing room for staining and varnishing.
Wood turning and pattern shop: 20 cabinet benches, 20 motor-head
lathes, 1 large wood lathe for large work, trimmer, band sawT, jointer
and all necessary hand tools.
Forge shop: 10 double forges and other equipment for 20 pupils,
1 demonstration forge, tempering furnace, power hammer, drill press,
power cutter, and small grinder. This shop has raised seats for lec
ture purposes.
Machine shop: 8 engine lathes, 1 miller, 1 planer, 1 shaper, 2 drill
presses, 1 wet grinder. 2 speed lathes, with tool room and small tools.
The equipment for all the high schools represents an expenditure
approximately as follows:
Woodwork, turn Injr. an<l pattern making__________________$45,475
Forgo shops_____________________________________________ 16.264
Machine shops----------------------------------------------------------------- 50,593
Molding equipment_______________________________________
2,190
Draw ing------------------------------------------------------------------------4,150
Total______________________________________________ 118,072

These shops are idle much of the time.1 Four high schools use the
wood shops and pattern-making shops for day class instruction, six
periods, or 4£ hours a day, a total of 855 hours a year, or 107 eight1Iu the last school year nine possible school days were observed as holidays. Con
sidering these nine days and other time lost in opening and closing school it is evident
that the school shops were not in use more than 38 weeks. The foregoing calculations,
therefore, arc based upon a school year o f 100 days.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

hour working-clays. One uses its wood shop 3 hours a (lav, or 570
hours a year, or 71 eight-hour working days; one its forge shop 3
hours a day, or 570 hours a year; three the forge shop 1£ hours a day,
or 285 hours a year; one its machine shop 4£ hours a day, or 855 hours
a year; two the machine shop 3 hours a day, or 570 hours a year; two
the machine shop 1£ hours a day, or 285 hours a year; in one the
molding room is used only a small fraction of the time as supple
mentary to the work of the pattern shop, and when the molding shop
is in use the pattern shop is idle. These shops, however, are in partial
use by some students from one to two hours each afternoon after
school.
Each manual training student receives only 19 weeks of shopwork a
year. Allowing 1-J hours a day, not considering the time in passing
between classes and in washing and cleaning up, the student has 142£
hours or 18 eight-hour working-days of joinery and cabinetmaking,
18 working days of wood turning and pattern making, the same time
in forging and in machine-shop work He also receives 570 hours or
71 eight-hour working-days of mechanical drawing during the entire
course.
The number of boys in the manual training classes in the five
joinery shops was 321 in the past year; in the five pattern-making
shops, 247; in the five forge shops, 97; in the five machine shops, 93;
or an average in each joinery shop of 64; in each pattern-making
shop, 49; in each forge shop, 19; in each machine shop, 19.
About two out of every three manual training teachers have had
practical shop experience. Four women teach mechanical drawing,
each a university graduate with practical drafting-room experience.
Of the 22 men teaching in the high schools, all have had high school
education, two summer schooling and experience in commercial shops,
three training in normal- or teacher training schools, two years or
more, with no practical experience; 14 are from normal or teacher
training schools; six have had both normal school and college train
ing, five college and no normal school training, eight normal school
but no college training; one has had one year, three two years, six
three years or more, and three five years or more of practical shop
experience. Several have been teaching manual training in the Min
neapolis schools 15 or 16 years.
The teacher of manual training is not required to have had any
commercial shop experience, but the rules and regulations recently
adopted by the board of education require him to be a graduate of
a four-year high school. He will be eligible if, in addition, he has
had a four-year collegiate course of the grade furnished by the Uni
versity of Minnesota and has made “ a special and adequate study of
the subject to be taught,” either some shop subject or drawing.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

No provision has been made requiring teachers with merely school
experience in manual training to obtain actual shop experience after
they enter the service. The practical mechanic is eligible to ap
pointment if he has had two years of training beyond a four-year
high school course and also four years of experience in a trade.
Most of the shopwork consists of exercises and projects involving
fundamental principles, processes, and operations. The exercises
usually result in articles taken home by the student, or less frequently
utilized by the school. Sewing tables, kindergarten benches, tables,
and picture frames have been made for the schools in quantities.
Forging classes have made metal work for clothes hangers, hat racks,
and racks of other kinds. Machine-shop classes have made vises
for school benches, and one school made 225 governor gears for an
automobile concern. The value of the work done for the schools,
including a small amount by the classes of the elementary schools,
was estimated to be $2,611.45 for the last school year.
As a role the teaching is very well done, considering the small amount
of time allowed in a scheme of recitation filled with college pre
paratory courses in a short school day. The pupil gets a general
knowledge of industrial processes, but does not get adequate practice
or experience, in the judgment of the Minneapolis trades and in
dustries, to prepare him for advantageous entrance into the skilled
industries. In fact, most boys who are taking the work do not ex
pect to go into the trades as apprentices or journeymen, and the
instruction is not given with this in view.
The work of the shops and drawing rooms is closely correlated. Most
of the tilings made are first planned in the drawing rooms. In
the first year the student makes the drawings of the furniture which
he builds in the shop. He continues to do this for all articles which
he takes home. The things made for the school are constructed
from plans furnished by the drawing room, which he helps to devise.
There is, however, no correlation between the shop and drawing
room work and the other subjects of the courses.
The total cost of the manual training in the high schools for 1914-15,
exclusive of charges for light, heat, janitor service, interest on capi
tal invested, and depreciation of equipment, was $46,315. Of this,
$40,200 was for salaries of instructors, $1,300 for half the salary of
the supervisor of manual training, who gave about half of his time
to the high schools, and $4,815 for materials used.1
As compared with other studies, the per capita cost for manual
training is high. For the two semesters the average number in
1 The cost of oil materials used in the high school was $0,158.45. Tho departments did
such work as manufacturing furniture and making repairs for the school, whose value was
$1,343.00. This amount deducted from the total cost of materials used leaves $4,814.79
as the amount o f the not cost.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

the shop classes was 758 and in the drawing classes 793. Each
pupil had one semester of shopwork and one of mechanical draw
ing. The per capita cost for instruction in both for one year was
$25.91. For instruction, supervision, and materials it was $29.86,
of which over half was for shopwork alone. Fifteen teachers taught
shopwork and 11 mechanical drawing. Each manual training and
drawing class requires two periods, each instructor teaching three
classes a day, or a total of 570 recitations in 38 weeks. As the aver
age salary of the teachers is $1,546 a year, the cost of instruction for
one recitation in shopwork or drawing is $2.71. The cost of instruc
tion for one pupil for one two-period recitation in shopwork was
$0,161 and in mechanical drawing, $0,111. This is about the same as
in other large cities.
It is difficult to evaluate the manual training work of the high schools.
In so far as it meets the needs of general education for those who
desire elementary experience in tools and processes, the work com
pares favorably with that of other cities. This report is concerned
with the question as to what extent this manual training is a factor
in a program of vocational education for Minneapolis.
The four years of mechanical drawing furnish excellent prepara
tion for entering drafting rooms of industries and for other occupa
tions requiring such training. The number of high school gradu
ates who after four years of drawing for one period a day go into
it as a business is, however, very small. Last year nine entered
offices as architectural or mechanical draftsmen.
In evaluating the shop courses as a factor in vocational training for
the industries of the city five questions at least, which are treated
in the following paragraphs, must be considered:
Do the high schools attempt to train boys for the industries? The
prospectus of the high schools issued to students states that “ it is the
intention of this city to give all its young people an equal chance in
getting an education which will start them in some useful calling,”
and that “ each course of study leads to something beyond, either a
calling in life or further study in a higher school, college, or pro
fessional school.” The manual training course “ gives boys who
desire to become skilled workmen an opportunity to find the life work
for which they are fitted by the presentation of the elements of several
industries. While no trade is taught, the boys are led to acquire indus
trial intelligence and general mechanical skill. With this as a founda
tion one may at once enter upon wage earning with prospect of
speedy advancement in Ms chosen trade. If subjects have been wisely
chosen, those taking this course are eligible for entrance to college.”
The principals of the high schools declared this to mean that the
purpose was to give a regular high school education which might
lead to college, and at the same time experience in industrial pro

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

cesses which Mould help in making an intelligent choice of an occu
pation. The controlling aim of the manual training work was de
clared to be general and cultural and not vocational education.
Do boys take the manual training to get preparation for the industries?
In all 1,276 high school pupils answered the question, “ Why are
you taking this course? ” Out of every 100, 23 said, “ For general
training ” ; 29, “ Intend to use it in my vocation,” without naming
any specific vocation; 25, “ Preparation for the university” ; 10,
“ Because I like it ” ; 6, “ Because it comes in the course ” ; 3, “ Be
cause it steadies the hand and makes one accurate ” ; and 3, “ Because
it is useful about the house.”
While 369 students declared they were taking the instruction as
preparation for a vocation, only 186 were registered for the fourth
year work for 1914-15, and only 149 were reported as graduating
from the manual training course for one year, showing that most
students who elect manual training for vocational purposes either
leave high school before completing the course or abandon it for
other courses before being graduated, the former being much the
more frequent case.
This abandonment of the manual training course is due, partly at
least, to the fact that a number take the fourth year of the general
course in order to meet the entrance requirements of the university
without being required to take one extra study as they would have
to do if graduated from the manual training courses.
Do boys completing the work enter the industries? Out of 149 gradu
ates from the manual training course in the last school year 72
declared their intention of going to college and 77 to work. Of the
77 going to work, only 14 intended to enter occupations for which
the course was in any way preparatory. Of these 14, 9 went into
drafting-rooms, 3 became machinists, 1 an engineer and 1 a farmer.
Except that there came from manual training courses about twothirds of the 49 graduates of all courses who announced their inten
tion to attend the engineering school of the university, the students
of this course go into about the same kind of occupations and take
about the same kind of college work as graduates of the general
course of the high schools. Except for its influence on the 14 grad
uates noted, the course is no more directly vocational than the
general course.
Does the manual training give adequate preparation for the industries?
With the exception of the drafting room where he receives in the
four years 71 eight-hour working-days of mechanical drawing, the
student gets during the high school career the equivalent of only
18 working-days in each shop subject, or 3 weeks of instruction in
each of the 4 lines.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEV OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

The boy does get from the manual-training work experience of un
questionable value. Beyond this, he acquires some amateurish skill
in a few lines of industry. If he desires to go to college, the manual
training furnishes another avenue of expression for which he may
secure credit on the entrance requirements. If he goes to work, he
has an elementary knowledge of tools, machines, and processes funda
mental to many industries. Doubtless many boys who have not com
pleted the course have gone into industry with a valuable asset of this
fundamental knowledge.
The boy does get from the manual training work experience of un
course gives boys who desire to become skilled workmen an oppor
tunity to find the life work for which they are fitted by presenting the
elements of several industries. The course can not serve this purpose
well until it covers more than four trades dealing with two mate
rials. Pupils take woodworking in some form for five consecutive
years, three in the grades and two in the high school, before any
change of material is offered. The lack of flexibility in the course
makes it impossible to try machine-shop experience until they reach
the fourth year, which means that about two of every three drop out
of school without sampling this line of work. Furthermore, the two
years of manual training in the general course gives instruction in
wood only. Statistics previously given show that only a few boys
who complete high school enter the trades.
As a venture in prevocational training, the manual training offers
these boys a chance to sample trades in which very few are interested
as prospective occupations. The group destined to become wage
earners never enters high school at all. Thus far only the high school
has provided any opportunity for sampling the trades. Entrance
requirements to high school manual training work, however, preclude
the use of the shops by boys over 14 years old, who might profit by
the work there offered, but can not because they have not completed
the elementary school. Attention is here called to the time these
shops are idle, previously considered.
The manual training work as preparation for the engineering college
of the University of Minnesota and other engineering schools calls
for consideration. No doubt some boys are attracted to the high
school, held there, and pointed toward the engineering college for
professional work by the manual training of the high school, which
has thus rendered valuable service. It is a mistake, however, to con
sider this work as an essential preparation for the engineering college
under present conditions. Pupils can get admission to the engineer
ing college just as readily from the other courses of the high school
and without instruction in manual training. In fact, 6 of the 17
graduates of the high school finishing last January and electing the
engineering college came from the general courses.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

One year of manual training in high school is necessary for the
prospective student of dentistry in the University of Minnesota. On
the other hand, the dean of the College of Engineering at the uni
versity does not regard high school manual training as advantageous
or desirable for the student who is to take an engineering course, but
prefers that he devote his time in high school to academic studies.
This attitude is not supported by the superintendent of schools, the
supervisor of manual training, the assistant superintendents, or the
principals of the high schools of Minneapolis, all of whom believe
strongly that manual training work is a valuable preparation for the
engineering course.
They say that manual training attracts many boys who in its
absence would not go through high school and consequently would
not prepare for the engineering college or attend it More than two
out of three from all the courses entering the engineering college each
year come from the manual training course, and its effect has been to
increase both the high school enrollment and that of the engineering
college, for which it is the chief source of supply so far as Minne
apolis is concerned. “ The boys who elect the manual training course
of the high schools are usually boys who have a natural interest and
ability for mechanics and drawing. They should, and in most cases
do, furnish fine material for the engineering school.” “ There is dan
ger that our engineering schools will lay too much emphasis on theory
and too little on practical considerations in the selection and training
of men. Most of the big work of the world in engineering is being
done by practical men of large experience and executive capacity.”
The limits of this report will not permit further discussion of the
very interesting and somewhat vital issue thus raised.
The engineering college would be willing to give credit for fresh
man shopwork in the university “ if the high school work were of
acceptable grade.” At present, for entrance to all courses at the uni
versity, students receive credit for only three units of manual training
work, whereas academic studies in the high school pursued for equal
time receive four units. It would seem, therefore, that to make the
manual training work count on the engineering course, if it should
be given for that purpose, arrangements should be made in the high
schools to provide in the upper years of the manual training course
exactly the amount and kind of shopwork for which the university
would give advanced standing to students preparing for the engineer
ing college, but for this group only, at the same time requiring of
this group the full 15 units of academic work necessary for admission.
If a city is to provide equal opportunities for all boys to receive
training for their life work, it must continue and enrich the college
preparatory courses which the American high school has developed
to such a high degree of excellence. These courses are for leaders,

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUKVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

the commissioned officers of every vocation and avocation of life.
It must also make provision for the noncommissioned officers and
private soldiers of these vocations, so that they may have their “ way
out ” to happiness and larger fields of usefulness.
In Chapter XV III, on “ Noncommissioned officers of industry,”
a full discussion will be found of the need in Minneapolis for young
men who have had, in addition to high school education, special train
ing for entrance to the directive and business side of industry. A
course of study,1 which was approved by the Civic and Commerce
Association and the business men of the city, is now being established
in the Central High School. This course furnishes the largest oppor
tunity of the high schools to meet one of the greatest needs of business
and manufacturing life. Few boys who complete a high school
course go into trades as producers. The boy who wishes to enter the
trades feels that he can do better without the high school course, at
the close of which he would be approaching the age of 20 and facing
four years of apprenticeship at low pay.
On the other hand, the high school graduate who takes some prac
tical training finds better positions open than as a machine hand or
apprentice. Many occupations of an administrative, supervisory,
directive, and planning type invite him. Many high school boys now
enter these occupations, who testify that manual training work has
helped them. Industry is eager for these boys. By a recent arrange
ment, it was agreed to take them as the source of supply of*new em
ployees at an entrance wage of not less than $50 a month, when it
was proposed to make the shop and drawing rooms, laboratories and
classrooms give them in a lengthened day a thoroughgoing training
which would make the course more vocational. For details of this
arrangement see Chapter. X X III, page 528.
This work is done in many cities by the manual training or tech
nical high school. Minneapolis seems committed to the policy of
the cosmopolitan high school, and the training of noncommissioned
officers of industry must be given in a school where a wide variety
of courses is offered. The work can not be done properly without the
establishment of a department within the school having the freedom
and flexibility necessary to develop the work.
The need for the training of the boy who is to become a tradesman is
dealt with in various chapters of this report. This need can not be
met by any school requiring graduation from the elementary school
for entrance, since a majority of the boys who enter the trades have
not completed the work of the eighth grade by the time they are
15 years old, when they must begin to prepare for wage earning.
Schools and classes for the boy headed toward joumeymanship in
1 See Appendix C. p. 567.

42806*— Bull. 199—17------ 4

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

most of the trades should be open in Minneapolis to those who have
completed the work of the seventh grade.
The need of preliminary training for tradesmen can not be met,
for reasons already stated, by a four-year trade school. No one con
nected with the trades believes there is a place in Minneapolis for
such a course. All, however, have affirmed the need for a two-year
course giving elementary instruction in the skilled trades to take the
place of the present unsatisfactory method of training new workers,
and to fit for advanced apprenticeship.
The work of the day classes of the -Dunwoody Institute has been
planned to meet this demand. It is probable that this institution
will relieve the high schools, in large part, of this responsibility so
far as the capable boy desiring trade instruction is concerned.
Should the high schools ever undertake to give any trade training,
they must meet this demand through a separate department in
which two-year courses are offered to those able to profit by the in
struction even though they have not completed the elementary
school work.
It must be remembered that the academic and technical classes of
an industrial school are as much of an extension of the general edu
cation as the regular classes of the elementary or high school, and
that through them the student is extending his general education
while getting direct preparation for wage earning. Furthermore,
the training for the trade with its discipline, its mastery of mechani
cal processes, its applied mathematics, drawing, science, art and
technique, affords as good mental discipline, opportunities for selfexpression and self-mastery, education, and culture, as do the older
courses of the secondary schools.
To carry out any widening program for vocational education in the
Minneapolis schools decided changes in policy are necessary. The
plan of making all high school courses four years long and their aim
college should be abandoned. Practical courses fitting for business
or preparation for industry should be established, adapted in length,
content, and method to the varying needs of specific groups. There
will be need of careful search for these groups and careful experi
ments with small numbers in dealing with them.
It will be difficult to carry on these experiments imder the present
policy by which each of the five high schools offers exactly the same
courses. Every consideration of economy and efficiency would seem
to argue that, with the possible exception of the general courses
which lead to college, this policy should be abandoned for a plan
whereby the different schools may be used to best advantage in giv
ing at different centers diversified courses meeting the vocational
needs of groups too long neglected.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

The enrichment of the traditional courses in the high school with the
opportunities for even brief courses in the manual aits was a move in
the right direction. What is needed now is careful consideration by
the school authorities of what is the real place of the present work
and what part of the whole group requiring training in the indus
trial arts is getting instruction adapted to its needs. This report
has emphasized the cost of high school manual training, not to
criticize, as training in the manual arts is more costly than academic
or general education, but to show that it has been spent for only
one group, while other groups needing it for more immediate and
direct purposes and requiring more thorough training have thus far
not been served.
This is an issue which should be faced immediately. If the city
is spending all it can afford in this direction, the question is whether
it is spending it on the group that needs it most, and whether it is
spending it to the greatest advantage on that group.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON
MANUAL TRAINING.
A special committee, consisting of western men connected in
various ways with manual training work, was appointed by the
chairman of the general survey committee to give special consider
ation to the findings on manual training in the Minneapolis public
schools as here presented and to take such action concerning them
as it might deem advisable. The names of the members of this com
mittee appear in Appendix A. This committee met in Chicago on
September 11 with all members present. The first draft of the fore
going report was submitted for consideration and amendment. It
then was approved by the committee in the form here presented.
In approving of the report as a whole, the committee laid special
emphasis upon the following points:
1. That the elementary schools should be so organized as to offer
a wider variety of manual activities for all children.
2. That in the upper grades of the elementary schools prevocational courses should furnish to pupils who desire them opportuni
ties to gain definite knowledge about any specific practice in several
of the most important industrial and commercial arts in order to
(1) interest and hold “ motor-minded” children; (2) furnish new
avenues of expression in learning and doing; (3) aid in proper train
ing in book subjects; and (4) help young people to select the kind
of training and the kind of occupation they desire to follow.
3. That the intermediate school or junior high school is the best
administrative agency yet devised for meeting the need of training
in the manual and industrial arts for adolescent boys and girls;
and that the training in each of these arts should be varied in kind

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

and grade, but should be sufficiently constant for a considerable time
to meet the varying interests and requirements of different groups.
This training should enable individual pupils to select the kind of
work for which they are best adapted.
4. That short courses meeting the vocational needs of different
groups be offered in the high schools and that these courses be open
to all graduates of the elementary schools who wish specific voca
tional training, either at the beginning of a high school career or
at any time during the high school years, when the pupil seeks
more direct preparation for a vocation; and that this could be
accomplished in part at least by admitting pupils of the early high
school years, who desire it, to shop courses of the high schools now
reserved for pupils of the late high school years.
5. That the four-year technical course already approved by the
Minneapolis Board of Education, the aim of which is to give boys
seeking advantageous entrance to industry on its business and direc
tive side technical preparation in addition to a good high school
education, is especially to be commended.
6. That, to be successful, any vocational course must have the
hearty support and cooperation of all interests in the vocations con
cerned and, to meet the requirements of any vocation, must have
information and advice which only those in the vocation itself can
give. This requires, even in the case of the public schools, supported
by the public and responsible to the public, the use of the advisory
committee made up of employers and employees, through which the
school in each of its vocational courses gets contact with the voca
tion. This reason for an advisory committee is self-evident. The
committee believes, however, that when a great fund like that of the
Dunwoody Institute, managed by a private and self-perpetuating
board, however able and well meaning, divides with the public schools
the task of giving specific trade education, there is another and
added reason why an advisory committee should be obtained for
each trade by the board of control. This reason is that the citizens
of Minneapolis, through this advisory committee, may have a means
of knowing how far the schools, both the regular public schools and
the one providing the special fund, are meeting the interests of
the vocations and the pupils; and, further, that the most efficient
relationship between these two types of schools may be established to
serve all interests concerned.
HOME ECONOM ICS IN TH E GRADES A N D HIGH SCHOOLS.
DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND DOMESTIC ART IN THE GRADES.

Domestic science courses have been given to girls in the seventh
and eighth grades for two full years, and sewing in the sixth, seventh,
and eighth grades for three full years. Cooking classes have had

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

one 2-hour period, and sewing classes one 1-hour period a week,
making a total of 152 hours for two years of cooking and 114 hours
for three years of sewing.1 Optional classes in both subjects for
pupils desiring extra work and for those more interested in hand
work than in books are also provided.
In the past year 5,360 pupils were registered in the day cooking
classes, of whom 2,950 were in the seventh grade, 2,100 in the eighth,
and 310 in special classes. Pupils in day sewing classes totaled
8,732, of whom 4,321 were in the sixth, 2,332 in the seventh, and 2,079
in the eighth grade. Individual recipes are used for grade cookery,
and one meal at the close of each half year is planned, prepared, and
served. Children do not work out proportions in individual recipes,
but use printed recipes.
Individual recipes are favored by those in charge for the follow*
ing reasons: (1) The cost is decreased (cost per capita to a lesson
being 2 cents) and foods are not wasted; (2) children of gradeschool age can not handle full quantities successfully, pans are
too heavy, and stirring large mixtures too difficult, and (3) small
quantities show inaccuracies more readily than large quantities, hence
principles are more readily checked up.
The second and third points may be questioned, as in many cities
sixth, seventh, and eighth grade pupils in squads are successfully
preparing luncheons in small family quantities, with better results
than by the small-quantity teaching.
While these arguments may apply to sixth and seventh grade girls,
eighth grade girls seem strong enough to handle full quantities.
To increase their work would necessitate additional utensils of regu
lation size and a market for the cooked food to avoid waste and
equalize expense. Grade schools have no lunch rooms. Foods cooked
are eaten by the pupils. Tasting of foods is used whenever possible
to teach children to eat wholesome foods which they scorn or have
not had at home.
The aim of domestic science in the grades is to give general knowledge
of cookery and food principles and appreciation of food values.
This aim is also stated for the high school course, but in the grades
the children are younger and the time for instruction limited; hence
instruction is much more elementary and lessons simpler. Instruc
tion is given for use in the home, and although home work is not re
quired nor credit given for cooking done at home as a result of
school instruction, the children are encouraged to put each lesson
into practice and report to the teacher.
The aim of sewing courses in the grades is to teach fundamental
processes such as stitches, seams, hems, and fancy stitches for deco

1 Based on 38 school weeks.

BULLETIN OF THE BL'KKAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

rative purposes. In the sixth and seventh grades, emphasis is placed
on processes and in the eighth on simple garment-making. The out
lay for sewing materials in the grades is from 60 to 80 cents a pupil
each year. Most of the product is made for the pupils’ personal use.
Materials are chosen by pupils with the help of the teacher and pur
chased through the school or brought from home.
The grade schools have 33 domestic science and domestic art centers in
use and two additional cooking centers are being installed. Of
these, every week, ten accommodate 10 classes each; one 9| classes;
four 8 classes each; nine 6 classes each; one 5 classes; six 4 classes
each; one 3 classes; and one 2 classes. These classes total 229J a
week, or an average of 6.9 classes for each center a week, which is
about two-thirds their capacity. Although sewing centers are used
by more classes than kitchens, recitation periods are shorter and are
used less than full capacity.
Equipment of kitchens in the grades is the same as in the high
school, except that cooking utensils for the individual equipments of
the grades are one-portion size.
Several grade schools have dining rooms for serving meals. In
others dishes for serving foods are part of the regular equipment.
In September, 1915, the program for instruction in domestic science
and domestic art in elementary schools was changed. These sub
jects are now alternated by semesters throughout the sixth, seventh,
and eighth grades. Lesson periods are now two hours for cooking
for the 7A and 8A classes and one and one-half hours for (he 6A
class, with two hours for sewing for all classes. The school authori
ties point out that the number of hours just stated represents only
the minimum given in domestic science and art, as pupils may elect
to spend more time after regular school hours. This change of pro
gram not only reduces the time allotted for instruction in these sub
jects, but scatters the instruction over a much longer time with long
lapses between lessons and between courses.
This plan has been introduced to do away with certain features
of the former plan by which instructors of domestic art and domestic
science constituted a floating force moving from building to building.
By the new arrangement, each instructor teaches in one or a very few
buildings, and thus becomes identified with the teaching force and
with the neighborhood.
This change has caused considerable discussion among teachers
of domestic science and domestic art. The survey can only point
out that to carry out the new plan teachers of domestic science are be
ing required to teach domestic art and teachers of domestic art to
teach domestic science, and, in some cases, general subjects as well.
It is to be hoped that this division of teachers’ time is only temporary,
as, in the opinion of the survey, much better results are attained when

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

the time of the special teacher is given to work for which she has
special knowledge and experience.
Sewing and cooking have little subject matter in common. It is
generally conceded that combining the two subjects in one course,
as is the custom in some cities, makes for scattered work and less
efficient standards than separate courses under special teachers.
Practical chemistry, teaching food values, balanced diets, proper
combinations of foods, chemical and cleansing qualities of things in
common use, antidotes for the wrong use of such things as ammonia,
use of disinfectants and antiseptics, might well be correlated with
domestic science. The study of color, color harmony, attractive and
economical home decorations, textiles, and retail shopping, good
linen, and hygienic and comfortable dress is domestic art. Physiology, hygiene, sanitation, and cleansing processes belong to both.
It is practically impossible to get teachers qualified in both lines
of work, as it means virtually preparation for two professions, with
practice, technical preparation and teaching ability in each. To
carry two subjects so diverse means divided time, divided respon
sibility and divided loyalty.
HOME ECONOMICS COURSES IN THE HIGH SCHOOL.

Ilome economics in the high school includes courses in domestic
science and domestic art. Domestic science includes cookery, house
hold science, household management, marketing and dining-room
service, and laundering. Domestic art includes sewing, dressmaking,
textile study, applied art, home decorations, home furnishings, and
millinery. Instruction in cleansing processes and spot removal is
also given. These subjects are required for a four-year course in
home economics, and either domestic art or domestic science courses
are elective for girls taking the general and commercial courses.
Pupils recite in the same classes, and no differentiation is made in
the work to meet the aims and ability of the two groups. In the
last school year 1,099 pupils were in cooking and 1,038 in sewing
courses.
There are no records to show how many are pursuing these
branches as a major subject and how many as an elective. By this
arrangement first-year pupils with little instruction and experience
are frequently in classes with girls who have had two or three years
of high school instruction in the subjects; hence there are serious
differences in age, experience, and ability, as well as in aim, which
tend to make the instruction less effective.
Domestic art and domestic science courses alternate by semesters
throughout the four years. Cookery and household science classes
meet on alternate days during the first semester, and sewing, applied
art, and millinery on alternate days during the second semester each

BT'l.LETlX OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

year, making two full years in cookery and science, and two full
years in sewing, applied art, and millinery. Excluding time spent in
passing back and forth between classes and in washing dishes and
setting the kitchens in order, each pupil “ majoring ” in home eco
nomics receives 71 hours’ instruction in science and 71 hours’ instruc
tion in practical cookery each semester, and for the four semesters of
the high school course, 284 hours in each of these subjects. The same
amount of time is given to domestic art courses.
The equipment of school kitchens is uniform. Each kitchen has 24
individual equipments, each consisting of table space, one gas burner,
one portable oven, familv-size cooking utensils, knives, forks, spoons,
and other small utensils, two gas ranges, one demonstration table,
one refrigerator, stationary sinks, and storage space; also dishes and
silver for serving. Kitchens, with one exception, are in the base
ment, but are light and well ventilated. The average cost of equip
ment per kitchen, including plumbing and stationary fixtures, is
about $700.
The equipment in sewing rooms consists of table space for 24 girls
with drawers and lockers, sewing machines, dress forms, pressing
boards, and fitting rooms. Tables are 31£ and 32 inches high, or 2
inches higher than the regulation dining or reading table, for con
venience in cutting, but as this work occupies not over 25 per cent
of the class time the tables are not sufficiently comfortable or useful
most of the time. .Sewing rooms with one exception are located in
the basements. Light and ventilation are good, but with one excep
tion rooms are overcrowded. The cost of sewing-room equipment
for each high school is $600 to $700.
The five high school kitchens and sewing rooms are each used four
and one-half hours a day for three class recitations, two in the morn
ing and one in the afternoon. This totals 22$ hours a week or 855
hours a year.1 Each class accommodates 24 pupils, or 144 pupils a
week, as classes recite on alternate days. The same number may be
accommodated in the domestic art courses.
Supplies for cookery are furnished by the school and sewing materials
by the pupils. Usually staple foods are purchased in quantity by
the school, and perishable foods by the teachers except for special
meals when the pupils do the marketing. Materials for sewing
classes such as nainsook, long cloth, and toweling are bought at
wholesale and sold to pupils at cost. Other materials for dresses and
waists are brought from home.
Courses are uniform throughout the five high schools. The course
is planned by the supervisor, but the teachers have some freedom in
deciding what subject matter may be used for each lesson. Varia

1 Based on 38 weeks.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

tion in the course or individual work is determined to some extent
by the neighborhood in which the school is located.
The aim of the domestic science courses is to give a general knowledge
of cookery and food principles and an appreciation of food values
and comparative costs. These courses are planned for use in the
home. Cooking or other housework done at home is reported and
discussed in class, but no school credit is given. A few pupils have
been prepared for and during vacations have occupied positions as
waitresses. This work if related to school lunch-room instruction
may be made to interest many girls in this and other branches of
home economics.
Individual recipes have been abandoned for full-quantity cook
ing. All high schools began last February to teach cookery on the
family-quantity basis. The original program of lessons was adhered
to, but each pupil prepared a five-portion quantity. Foods pre
pared in these classes were sold to the school lunch room and served
as part of the regular luncheon. Eeceipts covered cost of food ma
terials used by the classes. This plan reduces cost of cookery ap
proximately $1,000 a year.
Each high school has a large cafeteria with a well-equipped insti
tutional kitchen for preparing foods in large quantities. These ac
commodate 800 to 2,000 persons. Simple, wholesome foods, pre
pared by classes and by practical cooks are served at a minimum
cost.
The combination of the classroom and the lunch room promises to
solve a serious problem in teaching cookery. The preparation of
five-portion recipes in the classroom makes it possible to have theo
retical work practical. Standards attainable only through repeti
tion and experience may be gained in the school lunch room, kitchen,
and dining room if the pupils work in squads according to a schedule
arranged in advance so as to give variety as well as repetition. The
school lunch rooms are not as yet used for instruction purposes, but
plans are being made for so using them. .
Proximity of science laboratory to kitchens in North and South
High Schools effects a desirable correlation. Science and cookery
teachers cooperate in keeping the practical and theoretical work
parallel and thus make both immediately useful. Where labora
tories and kitchens are placed in different parts of the building co
operation is more difficult and instruction probably less effective.
Instruction in domestic science is good technically and has progressed
with home needs, though teachers find difficulty in completing some
lessons in the periods allotted. Preparation of foods can not be
hastened without risking quality. When class periods are not fully
occupied with the actual cookery lessons, general instruction in

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

theory, rules for table and dining-room service, hygiene, and sanita
tion are given. This work is important and is regularly planned.
The aim of domestic art courses is the planning, cutting, and making
of garments for individual and home use, and the selection, .making,
and decorating of household furnishings for school and home. Em
phasis is placed on construction and application of art in design,
color, and decoration of garments and other articles. The usual
series of exercises is used, each girl furnishing her own material,
chosen, as a rule, in consultation with the teacher. Two semesters
are devoted to mending, making underwear, study of materials, and
applied art, and the next two to household furnishings, dresses, and
waists. Girls are encouraged to make garments at home, and this
gives them opportunity to apply methods for garment making
learned in school.
The time allotment to an article in both grade and high school
is too high. This is a common fault in other places. In planning
courses to enable all pupils to complete the work in a given time with
due allowance for instruction in theory, the number of articles to
be made has been set at the minimum. Sewing courses should set
standards of speed as well as workmanship and should be so ar
ranged as to give slower pupils opportunity to complete the work
and at the same time not restrict those with ability to do more work
than is scheduled. This can be accomplished by setting a minimum
amount of work for credit and a maximum with extra credit for
each garment made, thus enabling those who have the ability to
qualify “ as efficient home makers or prepare for entrance into culi
nary occupations or the needle trades.”
The plan in use for the correlation of art and sewing courses
by applying designs with proper stitches and colors in the class is
especially good. Application of the design to the article for which
it is intended is essentially art, the making of the stitches being a
smaller part of the problem than the colors, the design and its
suitability for the purpose. This correlation may be still further
effected by having the art and dressmaking departments in close
proximity. Dressmaking is also very largely a matter of art, and
close cooperation between the departments should result in more
artistic garments and more practical work for design classes, but
wasting time in work for the sake of using design should not be
allowed.
Instruction in domestic art is good from the technical standpoint.
Greater emphasis on commercial sewing would be welcomed by some
teachers who feel that better results may be obtained if the personal
element can be made to give place to real interest in work. Last
year seven babies’ layettes as permanent models at the school and
for use by the Infant Welfare Society, the State Art Society, and

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

the Woman’s Club were made by the domestic art classes in each
high school. From the standpoint of standards of work and interest
in a product not for personal use, this first attempt in making com
mercial product was so successful that similar outfits are to be made
and sold during the coming year. Making garments for customers
or for sale establishes ideals and standards in sewing that can not
be accomplished as effectively when made for personal use. The
latter method emphasizes self-adornment; the former good work
manship measured by accepted standards and the working for others
with enthusiasm.
Teachers of home economics are all college and technically trained
women. Experience in the sewing trades is not required of do
mestic art teachers, nor is business or practical housekeeping ex
perience required of domestic science teachers. Lunch-room mana
gers are teachers, trained domestic science workers, and practical
housekeepers. Requirements for these positions have not been stand
ardized. Teachers of science are trained in domestic science. This
requirement is made for the purpose of having teachers who appre
ciate practical science for housekeepers.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
Very little claim has been made that the courses in domestic
science and domestic art in the regular schools are designed to pre
pare for the trades, or that pupils of these courses enter these trades
to any extent as a result of training. The aim in the schools has
been to give girls as part of general education some elementary
training in domestic science and art because it has been considered a
necessary equipment of every girl and woman, no matter what her
future career may be. It is from this point of view, and with full
sympathy toward it, that the domestic science and art work has been
considered in the foregoing study.
In many respects good work is being done in both subjects and the
defects and difficulties observed are common to the public schools
everywhere. It remains to point out what some of these defects and
difficulties are:
1. The work of the home economics courses in both grades and high
schools should be broadened so as to include the development of neigh
borhood interests and activities. There are limitations upon the
amount of practical experience that can be given in school, but this
the home can supply if the teachers and the parents will cooperate.
This cooperation can be furthered (1) by teachers visiting the fami
lies in the neighborhood and by working with such public bodies
as the Visiting Nurses, Women’s Welfare League, and the like;
(2) by afternoon and evening classes for the mothers of the girls in

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

the school, brought about and planned in part through the visiting;
(3) by popular illustrated lectures upon subjects of immediate in
terest and of use to the home people.
2. Attention is called to the need for adjustment of equipment. Ac
cording to common experience, the sewing-room furniture is not
suited to the height of the children. The tables and chairs are too
high for any but the over-sized pupils. Tables should be 27 to 283inches high, and chairs should be of different heights, ranging from
14 to 17 inches. For hand sewing the chairs should be low enough
for the knees of the worker to be level with or slightly higher than
the hips. For machine work the chairs should be of regulation
height, as machines are adjusted to such standards. Machine tables
as now manufactured are too high for most persons under 15 years.
This adjustment of chairs and tables is comparable to the adjustment
of seats and desks in the regular classrooms, to which much attention
has already been given.
3. It has been pointed out that the time allotment is too high for the
best use of the pupils’ time. Sewing courses to be effective should
set standards of speed as well as workmanship, and to acquire these
standards the work should be arranged to give the slower pupils
time to complete it and, at the same time, not restrict those who
have the ability to do more work than is scheduled at present. This
can be accomplished by setting a minimum amount of work for
credit and a maximum with extra credit for each garment made,
thus enabling those who have the ability and desire to qualify “ as
efficient home makers or prepare for entrance into culinary occupa
tions or the needle trades,” as the high school course states.
4. Too little time is being given in 1915-16 to cooking and sewing in
the grades to accomplish very much; 38 hours a year in sewing and
38 hours in cooking is, at best, a very short allowance of time for
work where actual manipulative skill is to be taught. Furthermore,
it practically excludes the scientific and artistic principles of the
subjects. When these hours are distributed over a period of 19
weeks, the situation is even less promising. It is recognized that
the numerous demands upon the school curriculum, time, and budget
make this problem in large part an administrative one. More time
is certainly needed to get results that count for much in better home
making. The survey is strongly of the opinion that the present
limited number of hours could be used to better advantage if they
were not scattered over so long a period.
5. From the statements of the teachers of domestic science and art
in the various high schools it appears that the present facilities for
these subjects in some of the schools are inadequate to meet the demand
for the training. There is probably as great an interest in these
subjects on the part of the high school girls as can be found any

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

where, and wherever additional classrooms and equipment are needed
they should be provided to meet and foster this interest.
6. The lunch rooms of the high schools present an opportunity, of which
advantage has not been taken, to enable the girls in the domestic
science classes to get experience in cooking on a larger scale, an
experience proving of such benefit in the Girls’ Vocational High
School. If, however, close correlation of work with the lunch rooms
is to be successful, it is important that girls taking training in the
lunch rooms be under the direction of trained and experienced
persons.
7. There is a growing feeling that it is a mistake for the pupils in
such practical work as manual training, cooking, and sewing to
spend all their time in making things for their personal use. Much
of this is desirable, but there are certain ethical and social gains in
school work connected with a product of marketable value that can
be utilized in the school system or sold.
GIRLS* V O C A T IO N A L HIGH SCHOOL.

The school was opened in December, 1914, with an enrollment of
256 girls. Seventy-four were in the dressmaking, 40 in the millinery,
83 in commercial and salesmanship, 37 in home making and junior
nursing, and 22 in the catering and nursing courses.
Each course is supplemented with related and general academic
subjects, art, and physical education. Day courses are planned for
two years or more, according to preparation and ability of pupils.
One year of service in the trades for which pupils wrere trained will
be required before school diplomas are granted.
The object of the school is to give practical training, to prepare for
employment, and to extend the general education for girls who do
not care to or can not take the four-year high school course. Pupils
must be 14 years old and have completed the sixth grade, except that
those completing the eighth grade before that age may be admitted.
Pupils entering the commercial and junior nursing courses must have
completed the eighth grade.
One-half of the school time is given to practical work in the voca
tional subject elected, including art, and one-half to academic courses
and physical education. One vocational subject is chosen after pupil
and parents have conferred with the principal.
The school makes a commercial product in all handwork departments.
Sewing classes make school furnishings, aprons and caps for cooking
uniforms, and “ middy” blouses and bloomers for the gymnasium;
also garments of stock sizes and for individual orders. Hats and
millinery novelties are made by millinery pupils for stock and custom
orders.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

Class kitchens of the high school type are used for regular instruc
tion in theory, and foods cooked by the classes are sold in the school
lunch and tea rooms. Other foods required for luncheon for 60 to 70
persons daily are prepared in the lunch-room kitchen under the direc
tion of a teacher and two women helpers.
Girls serve in squads and class credit is given for the work, which
is planned to supplement the classroom instruction so as to develop
skill in the application of theory. Full-quantity recipes are used.
Girls “ majoring” in cookery courses obtain practical work in dining
room service in the school tea room. Fourteen special dinners for
from 28 to 200 persons were served by these pupils.
Salesmanship pupils sell stock garments, hats, and foods in the
school salesroom, thus getting experience in showing goods, making
sales slips, wrapping packages, and making change. Commercial
pupils do stenographic work and typewriting for the school.
Plans for extending’ the work of the day school include courses in
garment making on electric-power sewing machines, a day nursery
for practical work in the junior nursing course, expansion of the
dressmaking and cooking departments for advanced work, and a
model department for practice in housekeeping and home decoration.
Evening courses will include extension courses for housekeeping
and business women seeking instruction in their trades and household
arts course for women desiring instruction in making their own
clothes and hats. These plans have been shaped, in some measure,
by the developments of the survey.
Equipment in this school is practically the same as in the other
high schools. The class kitchens and sewing rooms are of the type
described under “ Home economics in the high schools.” The lunch
room kitchen is equipped with up-to-date machinery and utensils.
The suggestion as to height of chairs and tables under sewingroom equipment in the high schools applies also here. Electricpower sewing machines for garment instruction are to be installed
this coming year; also an additional class kitchen, a sewing room, a
model apartment, and a day nursery.
Practical business experience is required of teachers of vocational
subjects. Each is a specialist in her line. There are 12 teachers of
vocational subjects and one trade assistant in dressmaking. The
two commercial teachers have had college and business courses and
practical experience; the salesmanship teacher university training
and practical experience as a saleswoman; the three cooking teachers
technical training and housekeeping experience; the millinery teacher
practical training and experience as a millinery saleswoman; and
the two teachers of sewing professional and technical training, but
no trade experience, although such experience is desirable. The
teacher of dressmaking is an experienced tradeswoman. The two

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

academic and art teachers are professionally trained and experienced
teachers, but have had no business or trade experience.
Experience shows that teachers of academic subjects do more
effective work when they have real interest and actual practice in
the trades taught. This practice may be acquired in the school work
rooms, and business experience during vacations may contribute
materially to an appreciation of the vocations and their demands.
Teachers of trade subjects need to keep informed of trade demands
by constant visits or periods of experience in business establishments,
and to keep in touch with current trade news through trade journals,
which may help teachers of academic subjects as well.
The need for this type of instruction has already been demon
strated, although the Girls’ Vocational High School has existed only
five months, and the pupils’ response to the work gives promise of
attaining its aims and ideals. It was recognized at the outset that
commercial and nursing courses could be given successfully only
to girls who had completed the eighth grade, and only those were
enrolled. No age or educational requirements were set for salesman
ship courses, but the work thus far indicates a need for higher age
and educational requirements than those demanded for other courses.
Cookery courses for home cooking, catering, invalid and children’s
diet, and the school lunch room have drawn many pupils. The
classroom instruction is planned to give sufficient practice for neces
sary theory, supplemented by intensive practical work in the lunch
room kitchen and dining rooms. This correlation of classroom in
struction and cookery in the lunch-room kitchen has been successful
enough to warrant the installation of a second class kitchen to carry
out still further this method of instruction. Work in the latter
kitchen will be scheduled so as not to prolong one task beyond the
point of value to the pupil.
The millinery workroom connects directly with the salesroom, and
meeting customers and trying hats on them is part of the courge. It
is doubtful if any but a few selected girls should be admitted to this
course on account of short seasons and uncertain employment.
Dressmaking offers several alternatives for graduates. Minneapolis
has a large number of first-class dressmaking shops employing
10 to 50 workers each, and alteration and dressmaking departments
in department and specialty stores employ many skilled sewers.
The demand for experienced workers practically always exceeds the
supply. This department will be materially increased in scope as
pupils become proficient in sewing and handling different kinds and '
qualities of fabrics.
Salesmanship offers unusual opportunities to girls and women. There
is great demand for young women educated and partially trained
for salesmanship, and for older women to fill positions as assistant

BULLETIN OF THE

BUREAU

OF LABOB STATISTICS.

buyers and buyers. Girls in a class now in training have practical
work in meeting customers and selling goods in the school sales
room, to be supplemented by experience in local stores during holiday
seasons and special sales. This work will be reported upon by em
ployers and school credit given. Retail stores have expressed their
desire to cooperate in this work.
Pupils in the junior nursing course look forward to employment as
nursemaids. Since they are to take care of small children, only
reliable and fairly mature girls having an eighth-grade education
were admitted. A general course in plain and invalid cooking, prep
aration of foods for the baby, plain sewing, hygiene, and academic
subjects is given. This is being supplemented with practical work
with children in a day nursery, and the school anticipates cooperation
with hospitals for further practical training.
Trade art courses have not yet been developed beyond the point of
correlation with the vocational subjects. There is a limited demand
for trade art in such lines as illustration for advertisements and
posters, but practically no demand for costume designers outside of
dressmaking shops where most designing is done in cloth. Specific
art instruction which develops taste is a large factor in dressmaking,
millinery, and home decoration, and to this end courses are being
developed.
Academic studies are correlated with vocational subjects. The
scheme, however, recognizes the need for still closer correlation of
subject matter and follow-up work on the part of academic and
vocational teachers to see that related subject matter is put into use.
Practical courses in textile study are coming into importance. No
related subject taught in vocational schools is so rich in historical,
cultural, and girls’ industrial interests as the study of fabrics. A
knowledge of this subject is very essential in all the sewing trades,
millinery,-and home making, and to some extent in salesmanship
and nursing. It must be taught largely from the customer’s point of
view, however, and has been difficult to teach, as until recently text
books dealt almost exclusively with technical and scientific methods
of manufacture. The customer’s greatest interest and need for in
formation relate to a wide range of materials with their different
uses, fastness of dyes, and durability of weaves, as well as the char
acteristics of pure wool, linen or silken fabrics, and mixed fabrics.
A most efficient method of teaching textiles from this standpoint
is to begin with commercial names, kinds, widths, prices, and quali
ties of standard fabrics and how to recognize them, points which may
be learned by handling a variety of materials. This quickly shows
need for further study of cloth manufacture as to preparation of
fibers, kinds of yams, types of weaving, and dyeing, adulteration,
and finishing processes. By emphasizing their contribution to the

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SCJRVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

finished cloth rather than the technicalities themselves, the student
acquires a sufficient background for intelligent buying and use of
fabrics.
The school has a good opportunity for developing trade extension
courses for workers in garment trades, millinery, dressmaking, alter
ation work, salesmanship, waitress work, and catering. These pupils
should be grouped by trades according to their qualifications and
experience.
Extension courses for home workers as described in Chapter X X II
should also be provided in the afternoon and evening. Especially
qualified teachers, understanding the interests and needs of the home
workers in these classes, may make them of real value to the homes
of the community.
Evening courses in household arts for women wage earners seeking
instruction in sewing, millinery, and cookery for personal and home
use, by careful grouping of pupils and by live teaching, may be made
to serve a genuine demand and need.
The vacational school has unusual opportunity to establish some
well-defined type courses which will indicate the type of class work,
the group, the course to be covered in a given time, and special
methods required for teaching pupils who seek such instruction after
the long day’s work. It is also in position to develop real interest
in public lectures on health and sanitation, family income, purchase
and care of foods and clothing, prevention of contagious diseases,
and other subjects.
SUMMARY OP CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OP THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
Agreements have been made for this school with employers in the
department stores, the garment industries, dressmaking and mil
linery which are discussed more fully in the chapters on these occu
pations and in Chapter X X III on cooperation between the schools
and the trades. These agreements provide for a three-month proba
tion period for the girls desiring preparation in these lines in order to
test their interest in and fitness for the work. Those who are thus
selected give the rest of two school years of 10 months each to further
preparation for their chosen work, after which they are placed in the
trade as workers for a third year, diplomas not being given until
proof of satisfactory work at the close of the year. All pupils so
trained are to be paid not less than $8 a week. A committee made
up of employers and employees from the trade is to assist the au
thorities in standardizing the work so as to insure proper training.
At the conferences for the different trades taught in the Girls’
Vocational Iligh School courses of study were worked out and ap
proved by the trades and are now being taught by the school.
42805°— Bull. 100—17------ 5

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

It is impossible to pass auv final judgment upon the work of the
Girls’ Vocational High School, which has been in existence less than
a school year and which has not yet graduated a class from its twoy e a r courses. In the opinion of the survey, the school has been
planned along right lines. Considering the quarters in which it
is being carried on and the length of time it has been in operation,
the institution has done its work better than could have been expected
in the circumstances.
The bulk of the suggestions and plans for the trade training for
girls growing out of this study and the conferences held in connec
tion with it have been adopted by the school and are now being
organized and developed as part of its work. The close and sym
pathetic understanding among the principal and teachers and the
workers on the survey have proved, in the opinion of the school and
the survey, beneficial to both. The following suggestions with regard
to the work of the school, which have been touched upon in the fore
going statement, are offered here in more positive form:
1. The present quarters of the Girls’ Vocational High School are
poorly adapted to the purpose. While undoubted advantages have
come from starting the school in a very simple and experimental
way, the attendance and the work done already indicate that the
school is to have a permanent and important place as an educational
institution in Minneapolis. Every consideration requires that a
better plant and better equipment be provided soon.
2. In the opinion of the survey, much of the success of the school
depends upon its teachers. Teachers of trade processes should, with
out exception, have trade experience and, wherever possible, tech
nical preparation as well. Teachers of technical subjects should
have an acquaintance with the trades in which they are to be used.
Teachers of academic subjects should have an acquaintance with the
occupations followed by girls and women which will give them a
sympathetic understanding of the problems and demands made upon
the working girl. Teachers already employed in the school without
these qualifications should be required to get them. As has been
pointed out, the Girls’ Vocational High School has already acted
on these ideas more generally than many of the other girls’ trade
schools in the country.
There is danger in any large public school system that the more or
less rigid and uniform standards and requirements set up for the
work of the regular schools may be applied in the selection of teachers
for vocational work, so as to lay too much emphasis upon academic
rather than practical assets. In Minneapolis, or elsewhere, standards
in the selection of teachers in vocational schools should be made
flexible, if necessary, in order to obtain the best results. This may

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

require rules and regulations entirely separate from those used in
the employment of teachers for the so-called regular schools. It
should be said here that the Minneapolis school authorities fully
realize this and have already taken steps in this direction.
3. Advisory committees have been formed to assist the school in
giving training for salesmanship, commercial work, dressmaking,
millinery, the garment industries, and junior nursing. These trades
and occupations have agreed to use the school as an apprenticeship
training place and source of supply for new workers. Probably no
other girls’ vocational school ever had a greater opportunity to make
itself a necessary part of the trade training of girls in a city than
has the Girls’ Vocational High School of Minneapolis. Whether it
will hold this advantage gained by the survey depends very largely
upon the way in which the school authorities and the advisory com
mittees cooperate in the task of making the work of the school truly
educative both for life and for a vocation. These advisory commit
tees are the expression of interest and willingness of the trades they
represent to make the school an effective agency for apprenticeship
training through the trade understandings established. They un
doubtedly have contributions to make by the way of suggestions to
the school authorities, who must finally determine courses of study
and methods of instruction. The plan will succeed very largely in pro
portion to the extent to which the school authorities recognize and
use the help which the trades are able to give.
COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
IN THE REGULAR HIGH SCHOOLS.

This section represents a study made by a special committee of
Minneapolis citizens, whose names are given in Appendix A.
Commercial training in Minneapolis is given in commercial courses
by the five public high schools and the Girls’ Vocational High School,
by 12 private business schools, by two Catholic schools, and by the
University of Minnesota in its extension courses.
Eight years ago the five regular high schools recognized commer
cial education as one form of vocational education it was their duty to
give and established four-vear courses, which have been continued
and developed. In December, 1914, a two-year course for elementary
school graduates was established in the Girls’ Vocational High
School. No such course has as yet been established for bovs.
The commercial training is of a very high order and compares favor
ably with similar courses in other cities. Furthermore, there has been
steady improvement in this work from the beginning. This study has
been undertaken with full recognition of the excellent results accom
plished for students able to give four years to a regular high school

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

education and preparation for business life. Its main purpose was to
learn what improvements and enrichments could be made in the pres
ent four-year course and what reorganization was needed to meet the
requirements of those who can not give four years to commercial
training.
In 1914-15, 1,C05 pupils were enrolled in the commercial courses
of the regular high schools, and 1,600 attended the private business
schools of the city, of whom 60 per cent, 960, were residents of Min
neapolis. The high school pupils were distributed as follows: Fresh
men, 576; sophomores, 439; juniors, 298; seniors, 292. From all the
graduating classes 210 students went into the business world. It was
impossible to obtain an accurate statement as to the withdrawal of
commercial students from all the high schools. Two were unable to
give figures as to freshmen, and one was unable to give any figures.
To get an estimate, the figures from the schools able to report were
divided by the number of reporting schools and multiplied by 5, the
total number of high schools.
This estimate showed withdrawals as follows: Freshmen, 189;
sophomores, 80; juniors, 115; seniors, 10. Out of every 100 pupils
pursuing these courses, 24 withdrew, while out of every 100 pupils
pursuing all high school courses 16 withdrew. This seems to indi
cate that pupils in business courses drop out much more frequently
than college preparatory students, and that the commercial courses
should be arranged to give definite preparation in such practical sub
jects as stenography, typewriting, and bookkeeping earlier in the
course for those who can not give four years to further education.
A uniform curriculum is prescribed for all schools and the work is
not supervised by one expert. The senior teacher is head of the com
mercial department and leads in creating and carrying out plans.
The addition of a general supervisor of commercial work would un
doubtedly result in an equal standard for all schools and in certain
improvements, but there is equal justification for adding a super
visor for English, French, and other special subjects, and this is not
practically possible.
The teachers with whom this question was thoroughly discussed
believe that such a system would lessen initiative and consequently
interest in their work. They think that if the business course is
made a closely correlated unit and cooperation developed among
commercial teachers the same improvement in standard would be
accomplished by a happier and less expensive method. It was sug
gested, on the other hand, that a superior teacher who could instruct
in teaching practice might be very useful. Such normal training
will be especially necessary in future as commercial teachers are
drawn more and more from the business world on the basis of experi
ence rather than knowledge of teaching methods.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

Six teachers in each school on the average teach commercial sub
jects. There is no departmental organization of subjects, teachers,
or pupils for other than practical work. Pupils of the commercial
course recite as a separate group to a special teacher in all subjects
relating to business. Other subjects are pursued in regular classes,
under regular teachers, with pupils taking college preparatory work.
The four-year course of study for commercial students of the five regu
lar high schools, as given in the prospectus, follows. Subjects in
black-faced type have a bearing upon commercial work:
F ir s t Y ear .
FIRST SEMESTER.

SECOND SEMESTER.

English II.
Penmanship and Spelling II.
English Grammar or Algebra II.
Commercial Arithmetic I.

English I.
Penmanship I.
Etymology and Spelling.
Elementary Algebra I.

S econd Y ear .

English III.
Commercial Arithmetic II.
Commercial Geography I.
General History I.

English IV.
Elementary Bookkeeping (2 periods).
Commercial Geography II.
General History II.
T h ir d Y ear .

English V.
Commercial History I.
Stenography and Type
writing (2 periods).
Advanced Bookkeeping.
Select two Modern Language.
Botany I.
Physics I.
Plane Geometry I.

English VI.
Commercial History II.
Stenography and Type
writing (2 periods).
Accounting.
Select two {Modern Language.
Botany II.
Physics II.
.Plane Geometry II.

F o u r t h Y ear .

Business Correspondence.
Civics.
Stenography and Type
writing (2 periods).
Modern Language.
Select two {Industrial History o f U. S.
Chemistry I.
Advanced Algebra.
English Literature I.

Business Composition and Literature.
Commercial Law.
Stenography and Type
writing (2 periods).
Modern Language.
Select two. Chemistry II.
Solid Geometry.
English Literature II.
Economics.

The difference between the commercial course and the other courses is
for most subjects one of arrangement rather than subject matter.
All the high school courses are so planned that pupils in the voca
tional courses, by taking only a minimum of vocational subjects and

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

electing a larger number of college preparatory subjects, may meet
the entrance requirements of the university.
Except for one year's work in mathematics, which must be taken
in addition to the regular commercial course, pupils who have taken
all the commercial subjects offered are admitted to the university
on graduation. Since only part credit is given for practical sub
jects, a commercial student wishing to enter the university must
emphasize electives drawn from the academic course. While only
one out of 210 graduates of the commercial course last year is at
tending the university, the course is so planned as to make it possible
for any student to qualify for college entrance.
No electives are permitted for the first two years of commercial,
Latin or modern language courses, although pupils may choose some
of their subjects in the domestic science, art, manual training, and
general courses. Except bookkeeping, stenography and typewrit
ing, business arithmetic and business English, only allowed in the
course called “ commercial,” all other subjects, and they are the
majority, are required or elective in the course called “ general.”
A commercial student may sit beside a college preparatory student
for the first three years in every class but one and during the fourth
year in two out of four classes. He may be graduated as a commer
cial student and never take any practical business work except a half
year of business arithmetic, a year of spelling, and a half year of.
bookkeeping. If he leaves school at the end of the first year, he has
as practical preparation only a drill in penmanship and a half year
of business arithmetic; if at the end of the second year, only this and
a brief training in elementary bookkeeping.
He has, however, opportunity to choose a course giving excellent
equipment for business. To do this, however, he must in the last
two years choose commercial instead of college preparatory subjects.
A statement approved by all principals of the high schools says that
the “ commercial course” is not regarded as a college preparatory
one. It reads:
The commercial course as outlined by the school authorities serves
a twofold purpose. The idea primarily is to prepare the student
for active business life. But a student who avoids the purely tech
nical commercial subjects and makes a careful selection from the
optionals allowed may so nearly meet the requirements of the Uni
versity of Minnesota as to enter the university with but little addi
tional study. Very few commercial graduates do enter the uni
versity, however, and the course is not looked upon by the students
as preparatory to college.
This statement also covers the question of credits that students of
the commercial course must have to enter the university:
The typical commercial student making the usual choice of subjects
can not enter the University of Minnesota at all unless he carries at

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

least one full year additional of academic work. For, of the required
subjects in the first two years, the university gives no entrance credit
for the year of penmanship, the year of etymology, spelling, and
English grammar, the year of general history, and only half credit
for the year of commercial arithmetic. On the other hand, the
university will accept for entrance four credits from the group known
as “ vocational subjects.” This group includes two units allowed for
bookkeeping, two units allowed for stenography and typewriting,
one-half unit for commercial law, and one-lialf unit for commercial
arithmetic, or five possible units for technical commercial subjects,
of which four may be presented for entrance. Therefore, the student
carrying the complete technical course, including bookkeeping, ste
nography, and typewriting ,as outlined in the course of study, will
secure nine and one-half units credit toward his graduation from
high school, of which but four will be accepted by the university.
Such student must also carry three years of academic English and
one year of business composition, correspondence, and office practice.
(Under a liberal interpretation of the university requirements, this
last year’s work has been allowed as a fourth year of English.) He
is also required to complete one year of commercial geography, one
3rear of commercial history, and one-half year of civics, all of which
are accepted by the university. This leaves for him a slight margin,
varying according to his choice, for academic subjects, but in any
case he will be short one year’s work for college entrance, where a
liberal allowance for vocational subjects is made, as in the case of the
University of Minnesota, and short two years’ work or even more,
where no such allowance is made.
In all the schools typewriting suffers because it is not valued like other
subjects. A credit is a semester’s work of five hours of recitation a
week, or ten hours’ laboratory work and practice. Typewriting re
ceives only half a credit each semester for three semesters, and a full
credit only in the fourth. Shorthand and typewriting count as one
subject and, since the course calls for four each semester, students
of stenography must carry three subjects besides typewriting and
shorthand. This makes it impossible to require two periods of reg
ular practice on the typewriter for the first three semesters, and
pupils get full practice only by giving extra time to it.
Many stenographers and teachers think typewriting more difficult
than shorthand; almost every commercial teacher agrees that far too
little time is devoted to it. They favor two periods a day for four
semesters in typewriting, giving a full credit as for any other subject,
if such a system of measurement continues advisable.
Certain important subjects are omitted from the course which the
modem business world believes should be included. Typewriting
seems as necessary as elementary bookkeeping. Success in modem
business requires elementary training in such important things as
salesmanship, advertising, banking, and knowledge of local business
conditions and problems. Furthermore, since the days when the
stenographer’s notebook, the typewriter, and the ledger were all the

BULLETIN OF TIIE BCI5EAU OF LABOE STATISTICS.

new commercial worker liud to understand the use of, many devices
have been introduced which business men think the newcomer should
know how to handle before going to work. Among these are the
comptometer, dictaphone, adding machine, stenotype as a substitute
for stenography, multigraph, addressing machine, billing machine,
telephone, and telephone switchboard.
The equipment of each school includes typewriters of at least three
kinds, mimeographs, and, with one exception, some kind of filing
system. The efficiency of the equipment depends on the amount of
use it receives and the amount of practice afforded each student.
Since no school has more typewriters than it needs, the efficiency of
each machine is very high. Practically all are used every period
except one, and during that period and also before and after school
a large proportion are in use. The mimeograph is largely used in
practice work rather than for regular assignments, and both this
machine and the filing equipment would be used more if greater
emphasis were laid on practical work. The amount of typewriter
practice has already been considered. An increase in the efficiency
of the course inevitably involves a double amount of the practice
now required.
Teachers differ somewhat regarding the increase of equipment. Three
schools advocate introducing an adding machine, one a multigraph,
one a stenotype, and one an Elliot-Fisher biller. One commercial
teacher objects to the adding machine on *the ground that students
get little 'practice in addition, and with the machine would depend
less than ever on their own ability. Though many of these machines
require only a short period of instruction, all, with the addition of
the calculating machines, increase the practical knowledge and
mechanical skill of office workers. As yet the filing equipment is not
complete, because training in office filing has only recently been
added to the student's equipment.
The cost of buying supplies, new equipment and material, and of
keeping up old equipment in all the commercial departments was
$3,500 last year. The increase of equipment necessary to make a
sufficiently practical course in new modem office devices involves the
question of expense, especially since the commercial courses are
divided among five high schools. Should the cost of installing com
plete outfits in each high school be too burdensome, the difficulty
could be met by installing them at a central place, or they could
be sent from school to school like traveling libraries. Doubtless some
manufacturers would be glad to lend them for educational purposes.
Classroom arrangement and space are, in the main, good. Light
and ventilation are varyingly good, North and Central High Schools
having the best. The best arrangement in the bookkeeping depart

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVF.Y OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

ment, already provided by three schools, includes permanent drawer
or locker space for ledgers, paper, and ink for each student.
The training of all the teachers in the commercial courses extends
beyond high school. Of the 25 instructors, rated as special commer
cial teachers, 15 are university graduates, 4 having had training in a
business school; 9 are graduates of a normal school, 7 having had
special university or business college courses, or both. One other
teacher has taken university and business college courses.
Not many commercial teachers have had much commercial experi
ence. Including as it does selling insurance, practice of law, and
management of private property, their business experience differs
little from that of teachers in academic courses.
The standard for commercial teachers adopted by the board of
education, April, 1915, is as follows: “ Required—either college edu
cation with proper emphasis on the subject to be taught or high
school education plus four years approved study; or high school
education plus two years study above high school grade, plus four
years approved business experience.” A teacher must also have two
years successful experience in teaching, unless willing to be appointed
as an apprentice teacher to serve as an assistant.
It would be possible under these requirements to teach commercial
subjects without special commercial training or actual business expe
rience, and there is no indication that teachers with the approved
amount of business experience are to be preferred to those academ
ically trained. It is only fair to say, however, that preference is
being given to candidates with actual commercial and office experi
ence.
Salaries for special commercial teachers totaled for all high schools
$35,667 in 1914-15. The total is $40,000 for 1915-16. The minimum,
paid to one teacher, was $800. The general minimum is $1,200 and
the maximum $1,700.
The method of teaching in the commercial courses is excellent. Any
criticism of it must allow for the difficulties due to the present loosely
knit course and to the fact that many teachers not required to have
business experience are expected to prepare business students. If the
commercial course were closely welded together, it would produce
better results. For instance, a teacher in business correspondence
could, in a unified department, correlate her work with that of the
teacher of shorthand dictation so that there would be harmony and
not confusion of ideas.
Although there are differences in the interest aroused by different
instructors in treating the same subject, generally those who have
been in business can stimulate their students to the best effort, keenly
aware as they are of the sharp standard of efficiency demanded in »
real office. It is not enough that the content of a subject should be

BULLETIN OF TIIK BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

veil taught. That content must be of practical value to the student.
Every teacher of bookkeeping, for instance, should know what the
application of his teaching is going to be, and how much detail is
necessary for a boy or girl about to enter a modern office, where at
present there is so much subdivision of labor.
It is the belief of the survey that the classroom work, in quality
and quantity and the conscientiousness of the teacher, compares
favorably with that in any other commercial school in the country.
It is the expressed opinion of business men and women, however,
that greater correlation between different subjects and greater prac
ticality in teaching them are needed to make more effective the excel
lence of the high school commercial work.
Practical commercial work has been introduced into three high
schools. From principals in grade schools and from teachers and
different departments in the high school, work is accepted which can
be done by the commercial classes. This consists of tests, questions,
announcements, songs, writing of business letters, typewriting out
lines, memoranda, programs, etc. At certain periods a good deal of
this is done. One school is working out a complete system of check
ing and crediting this practical work for each pupil. This is effort
in the right direction. Every school needs to have practical work
and to make it systematic and continuous. Two schools supplement
such effort by sending pupils in their last year to offices under the
board of education, either in the city hall or in part-time schools.
Here they do general office work, for which they receive no pay, but
which is credited to their record.
As soon as this is systematized so that every graduating pupil has
opportunity to do this work and definite reports are returned to the
school, the public schools will have excellent devices for giving prac
tical experience to students and for testing their ability. The diffi
culty is that there are not enough places in the department of educa
tion for all to get actual office experience. Some scheme will have to
be worked out by which such experience may be afforded in business
offices of the city.
The amount of time given to practice work in the commercial coursc
seems small. All effective vocational education requires much actual
practice, with training in theory, to realize the best. At present the
high schools open at 8.30 a. m., and close at 2.15 p. m., with half an
hour for lunch. The regular classes are in session only five and a
o,uarter hours. The school day is divided into seven periods of 40
end 45 minutes each. Each student devotes four periods to rccitation
and three to preparation of lessons or to practice work.
Commercial students have the same hours and time allotments as
pupils in other courses. The regular commercial course gives no
business practice except drill in penmanship during the first year.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY 01' MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

In the second year two periods a day (80-90 minutes) arc given iu
elementary bookkeeping for a half year, a total of 30 hours a mouth,
equivalent to less than 4 eight-hour days a month, or 18 eight-hour
days for the year. Graduation from the commercial course is possible
without any other training in principles of accounting.
Third-year pupils who elect stenography and typewriting give one
period a day to each of these subjects for the entire year. In regular
classes they practice dictation only a little over 3 hours a week, 12
hours a month, 120 hours a year, or 15 eight-hour days—one-half
a month in a modem office. The same holds true in typewriting.
Furthermore, it is possible to be graduated from the commercial
course without any additional training in these branches. A good
deal of time, however, is spent by some students in voluntary prac
tice before and after school, and they may elect to give the same
amount again in the senior year to the same subjects, thus doubling
the amount of practice. In general, senior students get about as
much practice as students in the six-month course of the private
business college.
A responsibility in helping its commercial students find office positions
is felt by each school. There is no systematic placement department,
but the principal and the commercial teachers place many pupils
and give valuable assistance to others. This they accomplish by
personal calls upon employers, by calls received from employers, and
by the use of typewriter companies and employment agencies. Each
high school professes to place all its graduates, and there- is evidence
that these graduates find places with ease.
The success of the placement work has been very marked, considering
the handicaps. The teachers have no time to investigate individual,
places. If the schools send pupils to typewriting companies, they
realize that the students will be sent to whatever places are offered,
regardless of their kind. The service of calling on employers and
of telephoning for places for the commercial course graduates comes
out of extra time given by busy teachers and is a great burden on
some. As the schools grow, this burden becomes heavier and the
need of a central employment exchange is increasingly felt. While
placement is now fairly satisfactory, in the future some other means
will have to be provided, with adequate follow-up records of those
who have been placed, to help individual students to the right work
and to test the success of the school courses.
The aim or purpose of the course is to give both high school and
commercial training to boys and girls able to spend four years more
in school after finishing the eighth grade. This is well expressed in
a bulletin giving courses for 1913-14:
The commercial course is arranged to give the studies which will
fit young men and young women to go into commercial positions as

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

stenographers, bookkeepers, or general assistants in office and clerical
work. Many young people leave school before they come to the
high school and go into this kind of work; but these boys and girls
who leave at the end of the seventh or eighth grade usually find, after
they have worked a few years, that they are at a disadvantage because
they have not had a more thorough training in English and a better
general education. There are many positions which will not be open
to them because of this lack of general education. The high school
commercial course, extended through four years like other high
school courses, has been arranged to meet the need which is felt for
a course which will give the young people who take it more general
intelligence and a good general education, as well as knowledge of
those studies which will enable them to get positions promptly and
earn money after graduating from the high school.
Thus far the high schools have made little provision for the many
young people who can not or do not take the four-year course in the
secondary school. While high schools turn out a group of highly
selected, well-educated, promising boys and girls, they have thus far
left to private business colleges the commercial training of the type
of pupils making up the great bulk of commercial workers, who must
either go into office service entirely without training or get it at per
sonal expense.
This situation has been partially remedied for girls by the estab
lishment of two-year courses in the Girls’ Vocational High School,
open to graduates of the eighth grade. The work of this school will
be described later. -Not even this provision has as yet been made
for boys.
The present four-year course has a large justification as far as the
more fortunate boys and girls are concerned. The catalogue of (lie
high school says:
The bookkeeping and the shorthand and typewriting are given
during the last two years of the course, because it has been found
that these studies can be more easily mastered and a better knowledge
of them obtained if the students have had a thorough training m
English and in other branches given in the first two years of the
course.
On the other hand most pupils who enter commercial work do not
take the four-year course in the high school and, therefore, the
courses thus far offered do not benefit them. The day may come
when every youth will have a high school education as wrell as special
preparation for commercial or other work, but when in such an excel
lent school system as that of Minneapolis less than one in three
pupils enrolled in the eighth grade remain to be graduated by the
high school that day seems far removed, and entrance requirements
and courses should be governed accordingly. In every vocation there
are levels of service, and therefore levels and degrees of preparation
for the service. It is the purpose of a democracy to train all kinds
of men in all kinds of ways and for all kinds of things.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUliVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

Some also believe that to hold children in school a course must, offer
no definite training for wage earning short of the third year in high
school, for fear they may go into business and use it, and not finish
their general education. This policy disregards the fact that at the
end of the freshman year about one out of three, and at the end of
the sophomore year one out of every two pupils has dropped out
without any preparation for useful work; also the fact that only
one out of three who enter high school remains to finish, and more
than 20 per cent graduated from elementary schools do not enter high
school at all. Many of these go to the private business college where
they meet pupils who have dropped out of the lower years of the
high school.1 Nor does it take into account that in 1914-15 approxi
mately 384 pupils withdrew from the commercial course in the high
schools, during freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Most of
them undoubtedly went into the commercial field.
Special training in office efficiency should be given in the last year.
Students should not use devices for speed and accuracy until trained
in basic principles, but near the close of the last year, at least, they
should be made familiar with devices in common use. In this the
advisory committee may be of great help. The advisability of using
miniature offices depends partly upon the age of the student. If it
is a question of using “ make-believe ” offices rather than nothing at
all, it would bo preferable to use them, but practical experience with
real office work is far better.
A knowledge of the slide rule for making calculations is useful in
many offices. The local survey committee has recommended that the
telephone companies work out some method of instruction in use of
the switchboard, voice training in handling numbers, efficiency
methods of answering the telephone, telephone technique, and sales
manship. The mechanics of the typewriter—cleaning, oiling, and
minor adjustments—is a necessary part of instruction in its use. The
use of banking forms, drafts, indorsements, and the like, must bo
given every pupil whether he takes the bookkeeping course or not.
Finally, the office practice and drawing courses should be correlated
so as to teach every office worker how to use the simpler drawing
instruments, make maps, do lettering, ruling, etc.
The value of such a course in office practice is not alone to give
familiarity with any article or device, but to give a method of getting
information and of using every short cut making for efficiency. To
know what real estate designations mean and how to use plats and
a city atlas; to know how to use city and telephone directories, gazet
teers, trade and financial directories, such as Dun’s and Brad1 The enrollment in the eighth grade for all the schools in 3910-11 was 3,454; in
1911-12 the freshman class in the high schools had 2,315; in 1912-13, the sophomore
class 1,715; in 1913-14, the junior class 1.254; in 1914-15, the senior class 1,111. The
approximate ratio of these figures remains about the same for the last five years.

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

street’s; to be able to get information quickly about mail, express,
and freight service and rates, and draw up chocks and money orders;
to know the location of cities, streets, and important buildings, and
the use of blue prints, zinc etchings, map mountings, etc.—these are
some of the suggestions given by business men for training in expert
office efficiency.
No advisory committee of business men has been established to help
the high schools standardize their training and adapt it to actual
business demands. Thus far their contact with business men has
been entirely through the commercial teachers, who are already busy
and can not give much time to extra school work. A means of meet
ing this need is suggested by the recommendations of the local survey
committee for commercial education, namely, that the board of
education appoint an advisory committee, including employers and
employees in offices, which will inform the schools of changes in
office organization affecting questions of training, and which will
offer suggestions about equipment and practical work.
An attitude of flexibility and experiment is expected of an institu
tion preparing youth for life and work. In a course preparing for
commercial work, which is comparatively new in the school system
and has to meet with constant changes in practice, it is important
that no crystallization of method shall obstruct the free play of new
ideas. Therefore, although present commercial work in the high
schools is excellent in many ways, suggestions for improvement based
on a study of the vocation itself undoubtedly will have the support of
all progressive teachers.
Greater freedom in testing themselves must be given pupils
in the elementary schools, in order that when they choose com
mercial training they may do so more wisely.
Since the schools must meet the needs of all young people, they
should introduce a short intensive business course for those who
can remain only one or two years. Those able to take a 4-year course
should gain not only technical skill, but a broad view of business by
which they can gauge its opportunities more intelligently, and that
general information which creates the power to make an infinite
number of adjustments. The vocational teachers must have this wide
outlook on business and practical experience in meeting the demands
of business to give their students ability, initiative, and training.
The high school principals favor the introduction of 2-year courses,
explaining that the delay in introducing these courses has been due
in the past to overcrowding by those desiring the regular work.
During their final months of work commercial students should
be given practical office experience that will test their business ability
and give them opportunity for adjustment to actual conditions of
work. The schools must have constant contact with business through

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SL'RVEV 01' JVIINNEAPOHS, M IN N .

an advisory committee, and must provide in night sessions business
courses that will give the training necessary for advancement to
young people already at work.
To summarize this treatment of the present commercial training:
1. For the limited group that gets the four years’ training the
course is excellent.
2. Only one out of two new workers from the high schools going
into business each year gets four years’ training.
3. Two-year courses are needed for the large group who go to
private business colleges without entering high school, or drop out
of the lower years of high school before reaching the instruction
in typewriting, shorthand, and bookkeeping of the last two years.
This is particularly true of boys, since such a course for girls has
been introduced into the Girls’ Vocational High School.
4. The accumulation of credits for college entrance needs to be
subordinated to the vocational idea of thorough preparation for the
large opportunities of commercial work.
5. The present work of the 4-year course needs more intimate
contact with actual business life and practice.
6. No study of vocational training can fulfill its obligation that
does not emphasize the value of a high school education. The inves
tigation of office work in Boston and Cleveland shows that, except
in special cases, girls with high school education advance farthest in
wage and responsibility. Therefore, short courses should be offered
only to pupils who can not spend four years in high school.
The Girls’ Vocational High School was opened December, 1914.
It offers five courses, one in commercial work. This school was
organized to give training for wage earning to students unable to
remain four years in high school, and to give practical work to
pupils demanding that rather than academic education. The aim of
the commercial course is frankly experimental, to see whether in
two years of intensive work it can adequately prepare students to
earn a living in office work. The value of this experiment to the
educational system in Minneapolis can hardly be overestimated.
The total enrollment in the commercial work was 85 in 1915, includirg
special students, 65 being in the regular course. Only one grade of
work was undertaken, since no pupils would be ready for the secondyear work until January, 1916. Entrance requirements are, for the
commercial course, a minimum age of 14 and completion of the ele
mentary school. Many girls are over 16. Two or three students
below the eighth grade were at first accepted but were unable to
keep up the work.
There are three special teachers for business subjects, supervised by
a principal, and, although other spccial studies in the course are
taught by six different teachers, the commercial students are kept

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

together as a group. The three commercial teachers have had high
school education plus special training, one being a university grad
uate. All have had some business experience.
Hie two-year course of study includes salesmanship, bookkeeping,
shorthand, typewriting, English, civics, hygiene, office-training and
practice, physical training, cooking (once a week), and arithmetic
and penmanship for those weak in those subjects. In the-second
year the students arc expected to specialize further. The book
keeping course aims to give elementary training in principles with
a little practice in applying them. More advanced work may be
given in the second year to girls who wish to specialize in this
subject.
In the correlation and intensiveness of its commercial course the Girls'
Vocational High School has decided advantages. Since the hours
are from 8.30 a. m., to 4 p. m., about 80 minutes can'be given four
times a week to both stenography and typewriting, amounting to 5}
hours a week, 21-J hours a month, or 24 working-days a year. It
also offers the same opportunity as the regular high schools for
extra practice on the machines outside of regular hours.
The equipment is far "from complete, except in typewriters, but
improvement in this is only a matter of time. Practical work,
especially during the summer session, has been done for the school
and Dunwoody Institute by the typewriting students.
While the initial work and spirit of this school is to be highly
commended, it is too early to judge either of the methods or results,
especially since a year and a half must pass before any student can
complete the course.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON C O M M E R C IA L EDUCATION.

The committee for the survey of commercial education has re
ceived and accepted the foregoing report on the work of the public
and private commercial schools in Minneapolis. The report is based
on data which have been gathered for the Minneapolis vocational
survey and which is available to anyone who wishes to investigate
the source of any statement.
The private commercial school as an institution has been and is
rendering valuable servicc to the community and the committee
desires, first of all, to express its recognition of this fact. However,
as the report shows, there are at present too many private com
mercial schools for the needs of the city. Their competition for
pupils results, for certain schools, in a low standard of instruction
and lack of careful selection of pupils. Considering the fact that
these organizations are designed to fulfill an educational need with
out being under public control, it seems wise and just that a definite

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

standard be established and maintained, with proper supervision by
some public-spirited organization, like the Civic and Commerce As
sociation, cooperating with the Association of Business Colleges
which has approved the findings of this report.
The committee feels, as stated in the report, that the present
high school commercial course, excellent as it is in many respects,
does not fulfill the needs of that large percentage of students who
do not remain four years. The committee also finds a lack of cor
relation in arrangement; therefore, it recommends that the entire
commercial course be reorganized and that a two-year intensive
course be introduced. It also believes that more emphasis should
be placed upon obtaining teachers who have had practical experi
ence in business life, and that they should be encouraged, if not
actually required, to keep abreast of changing business conditions
by continuing their practical contact. In view of the fact that com
mercial graduates are to take places in the business world, the com
mittee recommends the organization of an advisory committee, com
posed of high-grade practical business men and women, both em
ployers and employees.
In all conferences held by the survey with employers and em
ployees from the business world, there was, of course, a recognition
of the very great need for the proper technical training of the com
mercial worker. In practically every instance, however, there was
an agreement upon the statement that there was at least equal need,
if not even greater need, in business to-day of certain habits of work
and mental attitudes toward work which are as necessary as techni
cal training, if not even more so, for the success and advancement
of office employees.
Many persons possessing admirable technical knowledge fail to
apply this knowledge in their daily work to the greatest advantage
to themselves and to their employers, because they have not ac
quired habits of expressing themselves in terms of painstaking at
tention, system, order, neatness, punctuality, and accuracy. It is
perhaps even more true that many fail to make anticipated progress
because they do not bring to their tasks certain mental attitudes
which express themselves in terms of ambition, loyalty, initiative,
self-confidence, and willingness to assume responsibility.
Much as the business world realizes the need of these habits and
mental atttitudes, the large majority of business concerns have few,
if any, suggestions to make as to the way in wThich these habits
and attitudes are to be developed. Most of them have failed to
inaugurate in their own establishments any plan for insuring them,
although a few have been conspicuously successful in so doing.
42805°—Bull. 109—17------ G

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

So far as habits are concerned, the committee believes that much
may be accomplished both in the school and in the office by insist
ence on more rigid standards in the performance of all work. Sys
tem and order are gained in proportion as pupils and employees are
required to use system and order in planning of work, in arrange
ment of material, in the use of proper filing devices and to be prompt
in execution of tasks. There is practically no means of teaching
neatness and punctuality except by requiring their constant practice.
Accuracy is a habit developed largely by the refusal to accept
anything else. The committee believes that the schools can do much
in this respect by adopting and causing to be used at all times
the most modem methods and devices for checking and verifying
•work. While the schools have done commendable things along this
line, the committee believes that the firm refusal either to graduate
or to place students in commercial courses who have not met high
standards in proper habits of work tested in practical ways would
tend to eliminate much of the present dissatisfaction of the business
world.
It is no less important that employers should give more atten
tion to the careful selection of office employees, to insure the entrance
into office work of such persons only as show some progress in the
formation of proper habits. The employer needs also to give more
attention at the very outset to the careful instruction of new em
ployees in the desired methods of performing the routine of their
tasks, and to insist upon high standards of neatness, promptness,
and accuracy in their discharge. It is recognized at the same time
that no rules and regulations for the work of employees should be
carried so far as to rob the worker of initiative.
Even more important is the question of the mental attitude of the
worker toward his work and its opportunities. The committee
recognizes that the development of such qualities as initiative, selfconfidence, willingness to assume responsibility, loyalty toward em
ployer, and ambition for larger efficiency and success is responsible
in a majority of cases for any pronounced success in the business
world, yet it recognizes, too, that these qualities are much more diffi
cult to impart or to inculcate than habits of doing work.
The committee finds, however, that progressive business con
cerns have been addressing themselves to this problem with at
least some small measure of success. The committee, therefore, rec
ommends that all business schools, private as well as public, give
special study to these efforts and to all other methods which have
proved helpful in achieving proper mental attitudes toward work as
well as toward life, to the end that such methods as far as possible
be incorporated into the system of business training.

VO CA TION A L EDU CATION SURVEY OF M IX X E A P O L T S , M IN N .

M INNEAPOLIS PUBLIC EVENING CLASSES.

For several years public evening classes have been conducted in the
elementary and high school buildings, giving instruction in academic,
recreational, industrial, commercial, and household arts subjects.
This report deals only with the last three. No attempt has been
made to go into the development of evening classes further than to
ascertain that during the last three years the amount and character
of the work has remained fairly constant, so the analysis of the
work of 1914-15 presents a record of progress made as well as its
present condition.
Of 6,000 students in all subjects, 457 took industrial, 786 commer
cial, and 1,242 household arts courses, a total of 2,485.
The industrial classes offered training in mathematics and plan read
ing, estimating, show-card writing, electricity, mechanical and archi
tectural drawing, sheet-metal drawing, cabinetmaking, and machin
ists’ work. Domestic science, millinery, sewing, dressmaking, and art
needlework were offered in the domestic science and art courses,
while the commercial classes gave instruction in salesmanship and
advertising, typewriting, shorthand, and bookkeeping.
The evening schools for 1914-15 were in charge of a director employed
during the day as principal of an elementary school and able to give
only a small portion of his time. This year the work is in charge of
an assistant superintendent of schools. A week was given last year
to preliminary registration before the classes opened. A fee of $1
was collected and returned when the books and unused material were
turned in at the close. In his report the director recommended that
this fee be forfeited for nonattendance or indifference. Practically
no additional equipment was provided, only those facilities used in
the day schools being afforded. The work was greatly hampered by
lack of locker rooms. No shopwork could be given in other than
day-school lines. Evening classes for tradesmen require modern
shop equipment, such as is found in the commercial shop or factory.
Except for the facilities of the manual training shops of the high
schools, this equipment has not been furnished for any classes.
Equipment for domestic science was reported inadequate, as not
every class should be taught to cook in small quantities, and group
instruction for adults is impossible without larger utensils.
No definite standard of qualifications for teachers of industrial classes
has been set. In general, those teaching trade subjects had had trade
experience in them. The director of the school engaged as com
petent persons as he could get for $2.50 a night. This wage he declared
to be the greatest handicap to the work, because the persons whom he
would choose would not serve for it. The same fee is paid for instruc

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

tors in domestic science and commercial classcs, almost all of whom
are teachers of similar subjects in the regular schools.
The courses given were full-term courses, general in character. Tims,
the course in cabinetwork, running for 45 nights, gave elementary in
struction in general cabinetmaking to 37 persons from eight occu
pations, none of which was cabinetmaking. The night school was in
session 21 weeks, four nights a week. Not all the classes began or
closed at the same time. They closed according to amount of work
desired and varied according to the kind of attendance developed
and number of nights a week given to each. Sessions varied from
81 nights for bookkeeping to 20 nights for some domestic science
classes. On account of the mixed character of the classes only ele
mentary instruction was given in many subjects, and therefore did
not meet the needs of specific and advanced training for tradesmen.
The methods of instruction were those usually employed in such
general evening courses.
The analysis of the public evening vocational classes which follows is
based upon returns for these classes during 1914-15, as filed in the
office of the board of education. The figures have been difficult to
interpret because of the variety of record attendance kept by various
principals and the wide variation both in membership of classes and
in time given each week to different practical subjects.
The session of the evening high schools for 1914-15 was divided
into three periods of 40 minutes, so that the same pupil could take
bookkeeping, shorthand and typewriting, or some other subject, all in
the same evening. Some pupils went for only one period, taking only
one subject one night a week. Most classcs did not accommodate the
same group more than two nights a week. In domestic science and
domestic art pupils attended only one 2-hour session a week.
“ Number of sessions ” means number of times during the year that
a given subject was taught.
* The figures in the three tables which follow represent the best in
terpretation of the records that could be made after repeated confer
ences with the public school authorities. The survey believes they
give, a fairly accurate picture of the situation as to the points
covered.

T ab le 6 .— ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL COURSES, 1914-15, IN THE PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EVENING SCHOOLS OF MINNEAPOLIS.

Manual training
(2 classes).

Plan reading and
mathematics.

Estimating.

Show-card writing.

Total number admitted....................................................
Average attendance...........................................................
Attendance:
1 to 5 nights................................................................
5 to 10 nights..*...........................................................
10 to 15 nights.............................................................
15 to 20 nights.............................................................
20 to 25 nights.............................................................
Over 25 nights.............................................................
Number of classes.............................................................
Number of sessions...........................................................

119
44

34
15

20
11

28
9

23
29
13

9
3
4

10
8
1

3
2

14
28

10
1
G2

Occupations......................................................................

1
1
2

Butcher and grocer 4
Clerk.................... 19

Bricklayer............
Sash and door clerk
Sheet and metal
worker..............
Railroad clerk.....
Salesman............

1
1

Laborer................ 1 Salesman............... 2
Foreman............... 1 Painter.................. 3
2 Unemployed or not
W indow trimmer.. 2
stated................. 6 Upholsterer........... 1
1
Sign writer.
1
l
Bookkeeper
2
l
Mail clerk...
1
Adv. solicitor.......... 1
Clerk...................... 1
Unemployed or not
stated.................. 10

1 One for each occupation. It was impossible to give in some of the columns each occupation followed by one student only.

M IN N EA PO LIS,

Mechanic.............. 4
l Messenger.............' 8
2 Printer................. 2
Teacher................ 9
2 Cabinet worker__ 2
Miscellaneous1___12
Unemployed or not
stated................ 51

7
13

4
14

OF
M IN X .

Bookkeeper..........
Blacksmith..........
Boiler maker........
Teamster.............
Foreman..............
Unemployed or not
stated................

SX7BVEY

[Machinist............. 11
Sheet-metal worker 1

9
4

EDUCATION

Shop mathematics.

VOCATIONAL

Item.

T a b l e 6.—ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL COURSES, 1914-15, IN THE PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EVENING SCHOOLS OF MINNE-

APOLIS-Concludod.

Item.

Cabinetwork.

Machinists.

Free-hand drawing.

13
8

28
G

11
11

5
5

3
8

11
1

Office work.......... 10
Carpenter............. 2
Draftsman............ 1
Physician............. 1
Teacher................ 3
Student................ 3
Machinist............. 1
Upholsterer.......... 1
Unemployed or not
stated................ 15

Machinist............. 34
Clerk.................... 7
Cement worker__ 1
Carpenter............. 1
Metal worker........ 1
Fireman............... 1
Farmer................. 1
Printer................. 1
Paper factory....... 1
Polisher................ 1
Factory foreman. . 1
Student................ 2
Chauffeur............. 1

Office—clerical...
Draftsman..........
Class painter......
Counting.............
Bundle wrapper..
Housekeeper......
Division assistant
Printer................
Bookkeeper.......
Student.............
Unemployed or not
stated.................. 12

G
1
20
1

STATISTICS,

Office work.......... 3 Sheet-metal worker 10
Stock keeper........ 1 1toiler maker........ 2
Carpenter.............11 Structural-iron wkr 1
Machinist............. 1G
Student................ 1
Landscape worker 1
Electrical worker. 1
Teacher................ 1
Wholesale............. 1
Plumber.............. 3
Draftsman............ 1
Clerk.................... 1
Surveyor.............. 2
Unemployed or not
stated................ 13

5
13

LABOR

Jnempl
stated..'............. 19

15
14
9
4
5
7

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
2

4
5

2
73

BUREAU

Electric Co........
Sash & Door Co.
Telephono.........
Am. Linen Co...
Engineer............
L. S. Donaldson
Mpls. Shade Co..
Delivonr............
National Bis. Co
Meter tester.......
Carpenter

THE

Sheet-metal
drawing.

Occupations..

Mechanical and
architectural drawing.

BULLETIN

Total number admitted
Average attendance__
Attendance:
1 to 5 nights...........
5 to 10 nights..........
10 to 15 nights........
15 to 20 nights........
20 to 25 nights........
Over 25 nights........
Number of classes........
Number of sessions.......

Electricity.

T a b l e 7.—ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL COURSES, 1914-15, IN THE PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EVENING SCHOOLS OF MINNEAPOLIS.

Shorthand.

Bookkeeping.

Shorthand and
bookkeeping.

75
18

175
38

220

286
172

30
37
41
33
27

4
5
4
4

18
15
13
6

17
2

25
10

57
4
80

* Average attendance for three classcs.

4
274

Bookkeeper.......... 7

Factory................ 10
Waitress............... 1
Student and tchr.. 2
Laborer................ 3
Housework........... 2
Miscellaneous2___ 3
Unemployed or not

1
12
1

200

Dressmaker.......... 2
Elevator operator. 2

Errand boy..........

Stenographer......... 3
Clerk..................... S
3 Teacher.................• 2
Bookkeeper........... 11

Teacher................

Milliner................

Student................ 4
Miscellaneous2___25
Unemployed or not

2 One for each occupation.

Printer.................. 1
Unemployed or not

Tailor....................

M IN N EA PO LIS,

Office worker....... GO
Specialty salesman 19 Printer................. 3
Stenographer........ 3 Draftsman............ 2
Cigar mfg............. 1
Housework........... 3
Watch repairer.... 2 Machinist............. 14
Plumber.............. 1 Photographer....... 2
Machinist............. 1
Brakeman............ 1 Seamstress........... 5
Telephonelineman 2 Sheet-metal worker 1
Draftsman........... 2 Student................ 2
Miscellaneous2...... 1 Miscellaneous2. . . . 4
Unemployed or not
Unemployed or not
, stated................23

44
30
26
19
1G
59
4

[Office work.......... 10
Salesman.............. 6

SURVJBV
1IIN N .

Typewriting.

EDUCATION

Total number admitted....................................................
Average attendance...........................................................
Attendance:
1 to 5 nights...............................................................
5 to 10 nights.............................................................
10 to 15 nights.............................................................
15 to 20 nights.............................................................
20 to 25 nights.............................................................
Over 25 nights.............................................................
Number of classes.............................................................
Number of sessions...........................................................

Salesmanship and
advertising.

VOCATIONAL

Item.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

T a b l e 8 . — ANALYSTS

OF HOUSEHOLD ARTS COURSES, 1914-15, IN THE PUBLIC ELEMEN
TARY AND SECONDARY EVENING SCHOOLS OF MINNEAPOLIS.
Household arts courses.1
Domestic art.

Item.
Domestic science.

Total number admitted........................
Average attendance-. . . - ..................
Attendance:
1 to 5 nights................................
5 to 10 nights................................
10 to 15 nights................................
15 to 20 nights................................
20 to 25 nights................................
Over 25 nights................................
Number of classes.................................
Number of sessions...............................

Mil
linery.

Sewing.

Dress
making.

Art
needle
work.

552
215

271
96

256
91

93
22

70
16

96
123
74
56

52
55
48

23
17

38
53
56
51
23

10
10
10

2
1

25
368

7
196

337

Bookkeeper.......... 5
Stenographer........ 32
Teacher................ 26
Housework........... 70
Clerical work........ 14
Waitress............... 7
Saleswoman..........32
Dressmaker.......... 19
Factory work....... 18
Personal service... 0
Nurse................... 6
Student................ 1
Telephone opcr.... 16
Miscellaneous....... 6
Unemployed or not
stated................ 125

7
26

1
11

4
9

21
10

3
69
14

8
66

3
1
12
1

4
7
1

4
5

10
5

1
1

50
1

1 This record docs not include the following classes: Seward School (records not turned in)—1 class
domestic scienco, 1 class sewing; Holland Sciiool, distribution of attendance and occupation.

The customary poor attendance in evening classes of the same general
character is shown by the tables. Out of 2,485 enrolled there was an
average attendance of 809 students, or less than one out of three.
In the industrial classes, where 457 were enrolled, an average of only
156 attended, a little over one out of three. Out of 786 in the com
mercial courses, an average attendance of 213 was maintained, a little
over one out of four. Out of 1,242 in the domestic science and art
classes, 440 were in attendance nightly, or about one to three.
A great many students left within the first five nights. Out of 457
students enrolled in the industrial classes, 107, or about one out of
four, remained less than five nights after paying a fee of $1 for books
an<l material. So with 94 out of 786, or one out of eight, in
the commercial classes and 219 out of 1,242, less than one out of
five, in the domestic science and art classes. Only one out of four
remained over 25 nights in the industrial classes, less than one out
of three in the commercial classes, and less than one out of 12 in
the domestic science and art classes. Apparently many left the work
from disappointment as to the instruction.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

The trade extension classes held their pupils better than the general
classes. Classes in mathematics and plan reading, estimating, and
sheet-metal drawing, giving direct instruction relating to the trades,
not only drew most of their students from the trades, but held them
longer, 41 per cent of the students in plan reading and math
ematics, 65 per cent of those in estimating, 39 per cent of those in
sheet-metal drawing, and 42 per cent of those in shop mathematics re
maining over 25 evenings. The class for machinists, apparently the
only exception to this statement, was really a general course in ma
chine-shop practice where clerks, cement workers, firemen, printers,
and farmers were mixed indiscriminately with machinists. Very
significant is the poor showing of the general courses giving ele
mentary instruction in the trades to mixed groups, mostly of mem
bers not engaged in trade. Only one out of the 28 students in
show-card writing, one of four in the manual training classes, 18
per cent in electricity, 21 per cent in mechanical drawing, and 7 per
cent in free-hand drawing attended as many as 26 nights. In the
cabinetmaking classes, whose showing is comparatively good, the
students made furniture for their own use and the desire to complete
their projects held these through the course. The difficulty with
these general industrial classes seems due to inability to give in
struction meeting the interests and requirements of mixed groups
differing as to occupations and motives.
No trade extension classes for women were conducted as such. While
77 out of 552 enrolled for domestic science were employed as
houseworkers and waitresses, there were no separate classes for
instruction. In the domestic science course were. 14 occupation
groups, largely stenographers, saleswomen, teachers, dressmakers,
and factory workers, for whom instruction had to be of an elementary
character. Only one milliner was enrolled among the 271 pupils in
the millinery classes, only one dressmaker among the 349 in sewing
and dressmaking, and none in related occupations among the 70
in art needlework. .
It should be said that none of these classes in household arts was
designed primarily for the trade or home worker. Although the
courses were advertised as plain sewing, advanced sewing, fine handsewing, dressmaking, and art needlework, there is nothing to show
that anything other than the pupils’ desires to register for a course
determined their grouping. The teachers feel that these courses
ought to be organized so as to sift and group the students according
to experience and qualifications.
Out of a total registration of 1,242 in domestic science and domes
tic art 747, or about 7 out of 12, were employed in occupations during
the day in no way connected with the work taken in the evening

BULLETIN OF T1IE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

school. 'Many took these courses for recreation, or to learn to sup
plement their daily wage by the ability to make some of their own
clothes and hats and to cany on their domestic affairs.
Since the aims and needs of these people are so different from
those seeking trade extension work, every consideration seems to
demand their separate grouping for instruction. That such a large
proportion of evening school pupils is made up of these women shows
that they have an earnest purpose and that there is a genuine social
demand for the work. However, the teachers declare that in too
many instances the attendance of women in evening schools is to get
assistance in making one new garment or hat for personal adornment,
after which they drop out. This accounts largely for the fact that
attendance in domestic science and art classes is much poorer than
in the commercial and industrial classes. This is no more true of
Minneapolis than of evening schools everywhere.
At the same time many women attend these evening classes to add
to their knowledge and skill along practical lines. This group de
serves every encouragement and help. It is doubtful whether the
money spent on the first group brings adequate social returns. It is
admittedly difficult to separate the two types so as to retain the
second and discourage the first. This end will be accomplished in a
large degree, however, in proportion as the trade extension classes
are planned to meet trade rather than personal needs. It is possible
that the courses suggested in Chapter X X II on training the home
workers will meet the needs of the women employed in the home
when taught from the standpoint of her present needs and abilities.
In the commercial classes two distinct types of pupils were enrolled.
About one in three was employed during the day in work for which
he sought additional training. About two in three were employed in
a variety of occupations and came to evening school to add some
knowledge of salesmanship, advertising, bookkeeping, or stenography
to their equipment, probably in most cases with promotion or change
of position in view. There was no separation of these two groups
for instruction; for example, the 15 bookkeepers enrolled in the eve
ning courses in bookkeeping were scattered through four different
classes in various parts of the city, where they took instruction with
errand boys, laborers, and factory employees. The enrollment for
each of the commercial courses was large enough to have made it
possible to separate those with experience from novices and to group
novices into separate classes according to previous experience and
aims in taking the course. This difficulty will probably not be met
until the establishment of uniform classes is abandoned, and careful
grouping of pupils in more diversified courses is emphasized.
Three distinct types of evening school students attend the classes.
There is the trade worker seeking advancement or promotion in his

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

trade by adding to his productive skill and technical knowledge.
Only trade extension courses giving advanced technical instruction
can hold and benefit him. Such courses are beyond the grasp of the
novice, who must be dealt with in trade preparatory classes, separate
and distinct from trade extension classes, and giving only elementary
instruction. A third type is the large number seeking knowledge of
subjects other than those of their occupation, not to become beginners
or productive workers in new lines, but to add a promotional asset
for the work in which they are engaged. For example, a number of
clerks, salesmen, and bookkeepers took industrial courses, and many
trade workers enrolled in commercial classes, each seeking a knowl
edge to fit him for the growing demands of his present position or
for positions ahead of him.
Many workers seem to realize the necessity of business training as
a factor in promotion, and commercial workers in manufacturing
lines feel the need of a knowledge of mechanical processes and how
to represent, plan, and estimate them. This seems to indicate the
need of general courses in such commercial subjects as salesmanship,
advertising, accounting, modern business methods, business econom
ics and elementary typewriting, and of general industrial courses in
free-hand, mechanical, and architectural drawing, plan reading and
mathematics, cost estimating, principles of mechanics, and the trans
mission of power, industrial chemistry, industrial design, shop or
ganization and management. Such courses would be beneficial not
only to the office man, but also to the promising man in overalls who
by this equipment rises to the rank of “ noncommissioned officer,”
more fully treated in Chapter XVIII.
When the Dunwoody Institute was created it was understood that
its work was to supplement that of the regular schools of Minneapolis
and Minnesota. Since its buildings are to be located in Minneapolis,
practically all the work of the institute thus far planned has been
carried on in this city. At the outset hearty cooperation was estab
lished between the board of education and the trustees of the Dunwoody Institute. While there has been no formal agreement as to
the work, there has been a tacit understanding that for the present
the institute expected to confine its efforts to training boys and men
in industrial and mechanical arts, leaving to the public schools all
such training for girls and women and all other forms of vocational
instruction for both sexes.
The institute conducts both day and evening classes. The evening
classes are not for novices but are either trade extension or general
promotional classes for wageworkers. The institute plans to give
brief trade extension courses in a large number of subjects whenever
an average attendance is maintained of 12 persons in occupations

BULLETIN OF T1IE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

to which the courses are closely related. General evening classes will
also be conducted for those seeking promotion in industrial lines.
No trade preparatory courses will be offered.
SUMMARY OF STUDY MADE BY THE SURVEY, AND CON
CLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
1. It would seem from the experience of the public evening classes
conducted by the board of education that, if they are to discharge
successfully the important task of extending the general and voca
tional education of the wage earners of the city, they must have more
funds at their disposal. More funds are necessary properly to organ
ize, equip, and teach classes already established and to extend the
service of the evening schools to more people and to additional lines
of work for which the survey has shown there is undoubtedly a large
demand.
2. The problems of the evening schools are perhaps more numerous and
difficult than those of almost any other kind of schools. These
schools, therefore, require a different type of organization and super
vision, and fully as much time and attention as are given to the day
schools. Ultimately they should have the entire time of a director
who can give all his attention to their development and administra
tion. Better schools and equipment will bring better teaching and
a more permanent, instead of an uncertain and shifting, teaching
force. Continuous experience with the evening schools and con
tinued study of the conditions and requirements of the wageworkers
will result in courses better adapted to their needs. Wider and more
carefully planned courses and higher standards of teaching will
reach and hold larger numbers of young persons coming to the even
ing school for a more intelligent and serious purpose. Cooperation
with the vocation, whatever it may be, can then make the evening
class a recognized and invaluable part of the vocational education
of the w'orker.
3. Evening school instruction is now being given by a number of
public and semipublic institutions, such as the general extension
division of the University of Minnesota, the public evening schools,
the Dunwoody Institute, the Minneapolis Art Institute, the Y. M.
C. A., and the Y. W. C. A. There have been occasional conferences
between these bodies for the last four years and a general desire
exists among them to coordinate their work. Economy of effort
would require that before the opening of another school year there
should be, as a result of joint conference, a clear understanding and
agreement as to the place which each is to fill in a program of evening

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEV OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

school education for Minneapolis. This understanding should de
fine the field of service of each for both general and vocational edu
cation. Only in this way can needless duplication of work be avoided
and efficient cooperation be effected.
4. The survey seems to show clearly that the largest difficulty
with the public evening classes has been their inability to give in
struction of a kind to meet the interests and requirements of mixed
groups coming from a variety of occupations with a diversity of
motives. It would seem that a highly important step at present
would be a careful study of the widely diversified experience, abili
ties, and aims of the student body of the evening schools, so as to
group them more effectively for teaching thereafter.
5. Where the resources of the public evening industrial schools are
limited it would seem advisable to lay special stress upon the effort to
meet the needs of those already employed in occupations whose demands
they seek to serve. All experience seems to show that the further
training of wageworkers along the lines of their vocation brings
better returns to the evening school than the attempt to give novices
any considerable amount of helpful instruction for a vocation in the
limited time available for evening classes.
6. It would seem that if evening school students are to be grouped
for instruction according to such considerations as their day employ
ment, their ability, their previous education, or their aims it will not
be possible in the future to offer many uniform courses in different
evening school centers. The better plan would seem to be that courses
be organized according to the requirements of students and given where
facilities permit. It is recognizedthat there are many administrative
difficulties to be met which make this plan hard to carry out in some
instances. However, the committee believes that many of these will
disappear in proportion as the growing enrollment of the evening
schools makes possible a more diversified grouping of students, and
as the students themselves become educated to the idea of attending
the class best adapted to their needs wherever it may be held rather
than to patronize the closest evening school center.
7. There seems to be a very great need for the development of pro
motional classes in such general business subjects as salesmanship,
advertising, principles of accounting, modern business methods, and
business economics; and in such general industrial subjects as free
hand. mechanical, and architectural drawing, plan reading and
mathematics, cost estimating, the principles of mechanics, industrial
chemistry, industrial design, and shop organization and manage
ment. While the general extension division of the university has
done a most excellent piece of work in the development of evening
class instruction in these general business subjects, there is still a

BULLETIX OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

practically undeveloped field of training in these subjects of a some
what lower grade from the standpoint of previous experience and
requirements which the evening classes of the public schools should
develop.
The large attendance upon the evening classes in general indus
trial subjects at the Dunwoodv Institute by promising and ambi
tious men fitting themselves for promotion and leadership on the
technical and directive side of production shows the need for this
type of instruction. So with the trade extension classes already
organized. The committee believes that the teaching of most work
ers in the trades can be.st be done by short courses, each directed
toward some need or demand of the shop. In this way, not only
will the teaching be made more direct and practical but it will
attract and hold the trade worker seeking an additional wageearning or promotional asset.
In providing these evening classes to afford instruction of real
promotional value to those in the trades, it is necessary not only to
provide money, space, and teachers for such classes, but to keep in
mind a number of considerations fundamental to their efficiency.
Among these of first importance'are the following:
1. Teachers for such classes should be carefully selected. They
should have sufficient background of practical experience to under
stand thoroughly the needs of the student workers and the terms
in which instruction should be given. Also, they should have mag
netism, alertness, interest in the problem, and a personality that
will command the respect of and stimulate those who come into their
classes.
2. In order to obtain such men, it is essential not only that they
be carefully selected but that sufficient remuneration be available.
3. If such classes are really to function as trade training, it is
essential that some method of selection of student workers be kept
constantly to the front. Such methods, in the case of most of the
classes dealt with in this report, would center upon the condition
that only those in active work in the trade be admitted.
4. Great care should also be taken to organize the matter of
instruction so as constantly to present material of direct practical
value to the man who is looking ahead for increased pay or ad
vanced position.
5. In regard to teaching methods, it is of the utmost consequence
that matter be presented in concise, objective fashion adjusted to
the mental habits of the students. This means oftentimes that it is
far better to present material not in the theoretically logical order,
but in the psychological order that will result in the easiest and
most natural assimilation by the students.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUE VEST OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN X .

Trade extension courses for women in the trades seem to be gen
erally needed. These should include, besides others, separate classes
for saleswomen, dressmakers, milliners, and garment workers.
These courses should be confined to persons already employed in
these lines. The instruction should bear directly upon their trade
work and the instructors should be experienced women in the trades
taught. In the chapters of the report dealing with the women's
occupations suggestions will be found as to kind of courses needed.
Trade extension courses for home workers should, in the opinion
of the trades, be given by afternoon and evening lectures and class
instruction such as is suggested in the chapter on the training of the
home worker. As in the other case, these classes should be limited
to women employed in the home and prospective home makers.

CHAPTER IV.
TO WHAT EXTENT ARE OTHER AGENCIES MEETING THE
NEED FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION?
In addition to the work of the public schools considerable voca
tional training of many kinds is given by other agencies. A com
plete chart of these is given at the end of the chapter. No attempt
is made to describe the excellent courses offered in the regular classes
of the university. Only instruction of secondary grade fitting for
wage-earning occupations will be considered.
These agencies supplementing the public schools provide instruc
tion for numerous occupations in industry, commerce, and personal
service. One only, the university’s general extension division, is sup
ported and controlled by the State. AH the rest are privately con
trolled. Only one, the Dunwoody Institute, is supported by endow
ment, controlled by a private board, and at the same time free to the
public. All the rest, including the university’s general extension
division, are supported wholly or in part by tuition fees, except a
few operated by corporations for their own employees. With the
exception of the university extension division, the Y. M. C. A., and
the Y. W. C. A., all charging tuition are on a private basis and are
operated for profit.
These agencies range from small institutions having one in
structor and a capital of less than $500 up to the facilities of the
university extension division, the resources of the Dunwoody fund
and the correspondence schools.
GEN ERAL EXTENSION DIVISION OF TH E U N IVERSITY OP
M INNESOTA.

This division offers both correspondence and class instruction.
While the correspondence work is recent and its development neces
sarily somewhat slow, an encouraging advance has been made over
last year. Some new courses have been developed, and plans are
under way for others. “ One of the present problems is to convince
the instructors who conduct the courses that a special point of view
is necessary and that a particular method is required for conducting
courses through correspondence.”
In all, 183 students in the State did correspondence work, of whom
very few were in Minneapolis. Only 11 took business subjects, the
42805°— Bull. 100—17---- 7
97

BULLETIN OF TITE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

other 172 taking purely collegiate courses. While the prospectus
proposed instruction in shop mathematics, mechanical drawing, elec
tricity and magnetism, direct and alternating current, heating and
ventilation, strength of materials and elementary mechanics, no
students took such courses.
A tuition fee of 50 cents a lesson was charged for all correspond
ence work, and 105 students sent in over four lessons each. The
courses are open to all persons qualified to pursue them, and credit is
given in the university courses for persons qualified to matriculate.
The registration shows that these correspondence courses are not
a factor in vocational education for Minneapolis.
Their permanent field of service will probably be the smaller towns
and rural districts. In offering instruction by correspondence the
university realizes that this can never take the place of the teacher
in the classroom, but that it does reach students who can not be
served by regular or extension classes.
The extension classes of the university were carried on under two
divisions—the agricultural and the general. The former was in
charge of a director at the agricultural college, and gave instruction
in agricultural subjects with which this report is not concerned save
as to home gardening work set forth in Chapter XX.
In addition to other activities, the general division conducted eve
ning classcs in academic, business, and engineering subjects, in which
there were 3,350 registrations for the two semesters by 2,508 different
students. Of these 1,846 registrations were for business and 349 for
engineering courses, the fees amounting to $11,358.
Seventeen, -different courses in business were offered for Minneapolis,
covering practice, procedure, advertising, banking practice, business
correspondence, business law, cost accounting, elements of economics,
principles of accounting, railroad traffic and rates, retail selling, and
salesmanship. In the first semester 521 students took these, an
average of about 30 to the course, their fees totaling $3,236.50. In
the second semester 20 classes gave instruction to 510 students, who
paid $2,298.50 in fees, a total for the year of $5,535.
Students from Minneapolis took 13 different courses in engineering, as
follows: Alternating currents, architectural design, elementary and
intermediate and advanced, automobile construction, electricity (be
ginning) , gas engines, heating and ventilating, mechanical drawing,
reinforced concrete, design, shop mathematics, structural design and
trigonometry. In all, 183 students, or 14 to each class, took the work
and paid $1,221 the first semester, while 129 attended 12 classes in the
second semester and paid $982.50 in fees, a total of $2,113.50.
The rapid growth of these evening classes shows that their work
has met the real needs of many dayworkers. The largest increase
was in the business courses, where 746 more students were enrolled,

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

almost 70 per cent more than in 1913-14. The engineering classes
gave instruction to 1*24 more, or 50 per cent over the previous regis
tration.
The business courses seem to meet the desire for advanced training
along business and commercial lines in Minneapolis, and supple
ment well the elementary courses in typewriting, shorthand, book
keeping, and advertising given by the public schools.
Excellent beginnings have been, made with the engineering courses
but they need to be greatly extended. The advanced instruction they
offer will prepare exceptional men for leadership in trades and indus
tries and supplement the trade extension wTork planned for the eve
ning classes of the Dunwoody Institute. The respective fields of
service for the two institutions should be determined soon.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SURVEY
COMMITTEE.
It is to be regretted that the important work which the general
extension division of the university has been doing in carrying aca
demic, commercial, and industrial education to the people of Min
nesota must be greatly curtailed during the next biennium because of
the reduction made in its appropriation by the last legislature. The
committee believes this to be most unfortunate in these beginning
days of a forward movement in vocational education in the State.
Through the evening classes of the division the university has a large
opportunity and responsibility for introducing practical education,
both in business and in engineering, into the various communities,
where, seeing its need, the people may be induced to continue and
enlarge it under the auspices of the public schools. A strong effort
should be made at the next session of the legislature to obtain for
the division the funds it needs to discharge this responsibility
properly.
W ILLIAM HOOD DUNW OODY IN DUSTRIAL INSTITUTE.

William ITood Dunwoody, who died February 8, 191-t, left a trust
fund for the purpose of teaching industrial and mechanical arts free
to the youth of Minneapolis and of Minnesota. While the buildings
must be located in Minneapolis, the institute may carry on extension
work anywhere in the State. The board of trustees has interpreted
“ youth ” to mean anybody over 14 years old.
In December, 1914, a small beginning was made by the institute in
temporary quarters in the old Central High School building. The
institute plans to erect its own plant at an early date.
Day classes were opened in printing, woodwork, machine-shop
practice, electrical work, automobile repair and construction, and
drafting. For all these lines 167 were registered out of 473 applying,
the facilities compelling careful selection and limiting of the number

100

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

admitted. Of the 167, only 6 came from outside of the city. Eightyone had completed the eighth grade and 51 were over 16 and not at
tending any school. In all, 90 were over 16. The average age was
between 15 and 16 years. Of the 473 applicants only 31 said they
could remain three years, 14 four years, and 3 five years. Forty-six
were in the high school, 192 had completed the eighth grade only,
158 the seventh grade, while 78 were scattered from the first to the
sixth grades, inclusive. None was admitted who had not reached
the seventh grade. For 1915-16 all new pupils must have com
pleted the seventh, and those in the electrical and printing classes
the eighth grade.
Only day classes were conducted for the first school year. Each boy
received seven hours’ instruction a day, half in shopwork and half in
academic and lecture classes. Five 40-minute periods a week were
given to mathematics, three to drawing and plan reading, two to
English, three to science, one to hygiene, two to gymnasium, five to
industrial history and civics, five to library and study, and two to
chapel and chorus singing. On two Saturday mornings each month
the boys visited shops with instructors.
The equipment was largely that famished by the board of education
from unused manual training equipment of the public schools. It
was inadequate both in variety and quantity, but this was rapidly
corrected by adding modem machinery and tools before the open
ing of the present school year. It has been necessary to use artificial
lighting in the four basement shops.
The teachers of the academic work are all college graduates.
Those giving technical instruction have all had practical experience
in the industries. All the shopmen have been successful journey
men in the trades they teach. All but two of the seven are highschool graduates, two graduates of engineering schools, one attended
college over two years, and one normal school one year.
The shopwork has been almost entirely commercial in character. The
total value of the product from December 1, 1914, to July 1, 1915,
was $3,797.26. Of this, $2,400.68 was produced by the print shop,
which did all the printing for the public schools and the Dunwoody
Institute. Practically all the work of all the shops was done for
these institutions, except that of the automobile shop, which did
repairing and overhauling of private automobiles amounting to
$280.37. Only work was solicited which furnished educational expe
rience, and emphasis was laid on the opportunity for training.
The cost of instruction and materials for the school, deducting value
of work done in the shops, was $12,808.63 for the seven months. As
there was an average attendance of 138 boys, the average pupil-cost
was $92.81; at the same rate, the average for a 10-month session would
be $132.60. On the basis of a total registration of 190 pupils, the per

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

101

capita cost for the 7 months would be $67.40. As the school gives 7
hours a day, 5 days a week, 10 months a year, a total of 1,400 hours of
instruction, the cost for each of the “ average ” 138 enrolled would
be a little less than 10 cents an hour for all class and shop work
taken together.
No facilities for the industrial training of girls have as yet been pro
vided, although the board has interpreted the word “ youth ” to cover
both sexes. The Girls’ Vocational High School, giving trade train
ing, was established by the board of education in the same build
ing and at the same time that the boys’ classes in the Dunwoody
Institute were established. It has not been decided whether a part of
the Dunwoody fund shall be used to give instruction in the industrial
and mechanical arts to girls and women.
As the result of the survey, the trustees of the institute established
certain new courses and made certain new arrangements for 1915-16.
The work for the current year includes all-day, part-time, dullseason, and evening classes, the all-day classes giving two-year
courses as originally planned for the same trades in 1914-15, with
the addition of sheet-metal work and carpentry.
The dull-season school will instruct apprentices and journeymen in
bricklaying, plastering, painting, and plumbing. Through agree
ments and trade understandings already perfected with employers
and approved by the unions for closed shops, apprentices from these
trades will be required to attend the Dunwoody Institute all day for
two months each year until they have completed their apprentice
ship. A full discussion of all arrangements with the trades concern?
ing the work of the school will be found in Chapter V on appren
ticeship and Chapter X X III on cooperation with the trades.
Evening classes are offered of two general kinds. Most will be trade
extension classes for supplementary instruction to meet the trade
needs of journeymen, apprentices, and helpers. For these classes
students will be grouped by trades and instruction will be directly
related to the trade. These trade extension classes will include the
following trades and any others for which classes can be formed:
Printing, machine shop, cabinetmaking, automobile repair and con
struction, bricklaying, painting, plastering, plumbing, steamfitting,
stonecutting, baking, shcet-melal work, stationary and hoisting en
gineers, firemen, and janitors of the public schools.
Chapter XVIII treats fully of the need and possibilities of train
ing persons who need special knowledge to help them advance to
positions of larger responsibility. For lack of a better name, those
employed in the directive and business positions of industrial life
have been called “ Noncommissioned officers of industry.” Doubt
less many of these will find in the trade extension courses the tech

102

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

nical information which they need for their present and future
positions.
Some, however, need more general and extensive courses. For
these the Dunwoody Institute will offer courses, most of them 50
nights long, in such general subjects as shop mathematics, free-hand
and mechanical drawing, architectural drawing, industrial design,
mechanics, industrial chemistry, and cost estimating for the building
trades and for manufacturing. These will be taught with constant
application of principles to the different lines represented, and the
classes will include persons from all lines of production in the city.
The generous contributions of the Dunwoody trustees to this sur
vey evidence their purpose to discover how the institute can be of
greatest service. That they value the survey’s efforts to develop a
sound basis for the establishment of industrial education is shown
by the fact that, without waiting for the report of the survey, they
have established day, evening, and dull-season classes and effected
trade understandings relating to them.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SURVEY
COMMITTEE.
The work of the Dunwoody Institute thus far has been largely
experimental in character, which has been clearly recognized by the
board of trustees and institute officials. It has been struggling to
discover the field in which it could be of the most servicc to the youth
of the city and State in the promotion of the industrial and mechan
ical arts. Meanwhile, it has made a commendable beginning in the
establishment of trade courses of the character usually found in such
schools, with the exception of the course in automobile repair and
construction, which represents a distinct departure from the usual
trade-school courses and is, therefore, a distinct contribution. In
the first few months of the history of any school, particularly an
industrial school struggling to establish itself, many things are done
which would be open to criticism in an older or established institu
tion. It would be neither just nor profitable to enumerate them in
the case of the Dunwoody Institute, especially in view of the fact
that it is making such rapid advancement in the enlargement and
improvement of its work.
The present survey is evidence of the purpose of the board of
trustees to discover the field in which the institute can be of the
greatest service. If the day, evening, and dull-season classes are kept
in touch with the best practice of the trades; if the advisory com
mittees will keep the school in close contact with the trades; if the
agreements are carried out whereby apprentices are allowed to attend
dull-season classes and whereby graduates of the day classes are
placed in the industry at an agreed wage, to work one year before

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103

receiving their diplomas, there is every reason to believe that the
school will be a large factor in the industrial and educational life
of the city.
TH E Y. M. C. A . EVENING IN DUSTRIAL AN D COMMERCIAL CLASSES.

For many years the Y. M. C. A. in Minneapolis has done pioneer
•work for industrial and commercial education. Much credit, here and
elsewhere, is due the organization for providing practical education
for its membership and blazing the way by experiments for extend
ing this work on a larger scale by public agencies. Especially to be
commended is the way it has cooperated with other agencies. Even
its advertising circulars stated that “ every person in Minneapolis
should be in some form of study this winter,” and gave a complete
description of evening school work offered by other agencies, listing
its own last.
The Y. M. C. A. evening school work included 66 classes giving
instruction in 23 subjects, ranging from English for foreigners and
penmanship to salesmanship and bookkeeping. Of a total of 1,091
students, 401 received instruction in subjects other than vocational.
Thirty classes were conducted for this purpose.
The subjects in the business classes included real estate, salesman
ship, character analysis, credit management, personal efficiency,
bookkeeping, stenography, business law, business English, and busi
ness extension. There were 14 classes with 3*22 students.
The subjects taught in the 17 industrial classes were builders’
drafting, mechanical drafting, electricity, estimating and automobile
work. These had 368 students, most of them (207) in 12 classes in
automobile work.
The automobile work is done through a private garage known as
the Y. M. C. A. Auto School, in which 207, as noted, out of 400 were
Y. M. C. A. students.
Most classes are organized into regular courses of two to three
years. Usually the class meets twice a week during two terms of 15
weeks each. Usual tuition fees are $6 to $15 a term, the largest fee
in any case being $35 and the smallest $16 for the year. Tuition in
cludes membership in the Y. M. C. A. for the time, and a reduction
of $3 to $5 is made to persons already members.
The Y. M. C. A schools are somewhat distinctive in trying to
adapt their courses to' those enrolled in a way that often approaches
individual tutoring. They do considerable pioneering in opening of
new courses. With a freer hand than the public institutions, they
have rendered much service in stimulating the ambition of young
men. The Y. M. C. A. program of symmetrical development for
young men through correlated physical, educational, social, and re

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BULLETIN OF T1IE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

ligious activities gives an even more distinctive stamp to its night
school work.
The probability of a new and larger plant for the Y. M. C. A.
in the near future promises much for its educational work. The
Y. M. C. A. should be encouraged to develop its work, coordinating
it with the other public and semipublic institutions of the city and
carrying on its own distinctive features.
When the educational department of the Y. M. C. A was endowed
by Mr. W. H. Dunwoodv. less than two years ago, the directors of
the association unanimously adopted a resolution 46to use the Dunwoody fund in educational pioneering through (1) the investiga
tion of the educational needs of young men and boys; (2) experi
mentation with new educational courses and methods for meeting
those needs; and (3) the introduction and development of new edu
cational enterprises.” This seems to indicate the true plan and pur
pose of its vocational education work.
The work of the general extension division of the university in
cludes evening classes of a more technical and advanced character.
Attention has been called to the evening classes of the Y. M. C. A.
of this character. Economy of effort would seem to require an un
derstanding between these agencies and the public schools, defining
at the outset of a widening program the place of each and the co
operation each could give. It would seem that the university exten
sion division should continue to present advanced classes in industry
and commerce, leaving the other agencies to provide classes for be
ginners seeking technical, directive, or business advancement in in
dustry and commerce.
A meeting of the representatives of the public schools, the general
extension division of the university, the Duiiwoody Institute, and
the Y. M. C. A. was held in September, at which the question of
their respective fields of service and plans for more helpful cooper
ation were discussed. It was agreed that at present there was prac
tically no duplication of evening classes in the four institutions, and
that there was little danger of overlapping and conflict in the near
future. It was agreed that all publicity work concerning evening
schools of any one of the four institutions should include some refer
ence to the work done by all the others, so that the people of Minne
apolis might be fully informed as to all opportunities for practical
training through evening classes.
The necessity of a clear understanding of what work each insti
tution was to do was recognized, but it was felt that such an under
standing could not be reached without more experience.
Undoubtedly this meeting will result in better differentiation of
the work and closer cooperation in the effort to reach and help all
desiring evening school instruction.

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PRIV A TE COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS.

This study was made under a special committee on commercial edu
cation, whose membership i3 given in Appendix A.
There are 12 private commercial schools in Minneapolis. These differ
slightly in purpose and type. Five of the largest work together in
harmony, offering parallel courses in bookkeeping, stenography, and
general efficiency, charging the same tuition. Three small schools,
one emphasizing court reporting, instruct in stenography and type
writing only. Two are connected with sectarian interests and are
largely supported by churches. One specializes in expert training
and considers that its work begins where others leave off. One is
being rebuilt from the ruins of a school which practically failed, and
can not, therefore, be judged on the same basis as the others.
The work of the private business schools is, in the main, good, and
compares favorably with that in other cities, but these schools differ
greatly in merit, as employment agencies and typewriter bureaus
testify. A few have little educational value, but others may be
recommended. They have filled, until the last eight years when
commercial courses were introduced into the public high schools, a
very important need in education, and business owes them a great
debt, because for so long they alone offered preparation for this
Aocation.
The aim of all the private schools, as stated by their managers, is to
train for wage earning, returning for the tuition money adequate
instruction in commercial work and aid in finding places.
The administration of these schools is under presidents or managers
responsible only to the pupils; usually the schools are owned by one
man or by partners, and there are no stockholders.
The number of pupils varies with the season. The maximum
enrollment of day students for all 12 schools was 1.600 during the
busiest season. The lowest age for entrance is usually 15. Three
schools require 16 years for entrance, and several report no fixed
age requirement. The age of graduation ranges from 15 to 18 or 20,
depending on the time previously spent in public schools.
The course of study differs with each individual school. Some lay
emphasis on stenography and bookkeeping, some on stenography
alone. The catalogues show much similarity though they differ
in amount of padding and exaggerated statements. The following
course seems typical of the larger schools, the smaller ones offering
more limited selection of subjects:
Commercial Course or Bookkeeping.

Bookkeeping (double and single entry). Actual business practice,
business correspondence, banking, commercial law, business arith

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

metic, business penmanship, grammar, spelling, rapid calculation,
and business efficiency.
Stenographic Course.

Gregg shorthand, touch typewriting, filing, manifolding, tabu
lating, letter press and mimeograph copying, actual office dictation,
business and legal forms, grammar, punctuation, spelling, penman
ship, rapid calculation, correspondence, billing, and business
efficiency.
Combined Course.

Bookkeeping, Gregg shorthand, touch typewriting, filing, mani
folding, tabulating, letter press and mimeograph, copying, actual
office dictation, business and legal forms, grammar, punctuation,
spelling, penmanship, rapid calculation, correspondence, billing, and
business efficiency.
English Course.

Spelling, arithmetic, penmanship, grammar, correspondence, com
mercial law, and business efficiency.
Equipment in the smaller schools consists of typewriters of several
kinds, and usually a duplicating machine. The larger schools use
adding machines. Eight possess mimeographs and three multi
graphs. Two use dictation machines, two billing machines, and one
is sole agent for the stenotype dictation machine. Usually, how
ever, where billing is taught, a wide-carriage typewriter is used.
The number of typewriters varies from 10 to 52, according to size
of the school, and since students of stenography leave typewriting
only to practice shorthand, the machines are used almost continu
ously, giving each a high percentage of efficiency.
Conditions in the private schools are in the main good. In five schools
light and ventilation are only fair. Several have no-cloakrooms and
few have lockers. Improvement of these conditions is highly de
sirable, especially in the matter of light.
The standard of the work done in the private business school depends
primarily upon the amount of general education pupils have had.
All the schools express preference for high school students, but none
makes this an absolute entrance rule. For young people from
country schools, experience and maturity are allowed to count in
stead of education. Five schools require eighth-grade preparation;
four make no positive requirements; two are satisfied with seventhgrade education; one requires “ very little general education,” and
only one insists upon high school work. Those accepting eighthgrade preparation or less, with one exception, offer general English,
mathematics, and spelling as a substitute for regular grade school
work, but it can not be proved how conscientiously this training is
pursued by the student. It is hard to believe that an entire year’s

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107

work in the public school can be made up in the business college by
devoting an hour or more a day for a few months to general educa
tion. A number of graduates of the schools think that English is
not emphasized sufficiently. As one young man put it, “ to miss one's
English class was conside/ed quite unimportant as compared with
missing the stenographic or bookkeeping work.”
The number of teachers varies from 1 to 10 or 12. No definite
standard determines selection of teachers as in the public schools.
All private schools, however, say their teachers have had high school
education with further training at the university, normal or business
schools, and 9 state that “ practically all of the teachers have
had business experience.” The same teachers are used in the night
schools.
The method of instruction consists of class work with attention
to individual students. Each school states that provision is made
for students to progress as fast as they show ability. As soon as a
student can advance more speedily than the others in the class, he
may pass on to the one just ahead. Since the study of bookkeeping
consists of working out assigned lessons in the textbook and ledger,
as fast as one portion is completed the student may go on to the
next. Theoretically the individual method is good, but its succcss
depends on the number of teachers for the class.
The correlation of subjects in the private commercial school courses
which are of an intensive character is good, since the business schools
are only vocational in purpose and have little interest in general
education except in relation to wage earning.
Practical work consists mainly of practice in dictation, type
writing, mimeographing, keeping books, etc., which their text
books outline. School correspondence is generally done by the
pupils. Some schools relay their students in the school office where
their work corresponds to general office work of small business firms.
Three schools take in a little typewriting and mimeographing for a
small recompense, which offers practice for the students. Three
schools have miniature business offices, and the heads of the schools
seem to have a good deal of faith in their practical value.
Some business schools announce certain courses which are not
actually substantiated. This applies to much of the training on
special machines which, in the main, is not thorough. As the dicta
phone is taught by using one record on a number of extension tele
phones, the pupils have no means of stopping or starting the ma
chine for corrections, as they would if using it in an office; therefore
the teaching is not practical. It takes four to six weeks to become
competent as an operator of a calculating machine. As the schools
spend but a little time in instruction on this machine, the pupils learn
merely its general principles and not proficiency in operation. Such

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

courses as advertising, cost accounting, salesmanship, and secretarial
work are seldom worked out practically. Most of the private schools
do not give the extensive training in office efficiency which they
advertise, unless it be in filing.
The amount of time given to practical work in some schools is still
too small. The school hours are usually 8.30 a. m. to 12 m. and
1 p. m. to i p. m. The pupils in the shorthand and typewriting
course spend from 80 minutes to 2 hours in typewriting and twice
that time in stenography, the remainder being devoted to business
correspondence, rapid calculation, grammar, and spelling. This
gives practice work on the machine equivalent to an eight-month
course of 21J working days, as compared with 18 eight-hour days
required by the public schools in a nine-month course. Since pupils
in private business schools can progress as fast as they like and no
definite time is given for graduation, the period spent differs for
each pupil. The schools report six to eight months to be necessary
for efficient training in stenography or bookkeeping, and nine months
to a year for the course combining them. Private business schools,
like high schools, allow extra practice time while school is not in
session, and state that many individuals take advantage of this
privilege.
The contact with business men and the field of office work, as in high
schools, comes mainly through their executives. No private business
school has an advisory committee, although several have expressed
willingness to take up such a suggestion.
The rate of tuition recently adopted for the most prominent
schools is a flat payment of $15 a month. One charges $25 a
month, and several $00 to $75 for the course, with the understand
ing that the student may remain until thoroughly prepared. The
aggregate amount of tuition received in all schools is estimated to
be about $150,000 for the entire year.
The problem of dropping out is a matter which private schools can
not help except by refusing diplomas to pupils not finishing the work.
If a pupil who has paid in advance becomes ill or has to leave town,
his money is refunded. Some schools refund money to the pupils who
in a given time can not master the subjects. Most pupils are eager
to get the worth of their money and stay until proficient enough to
get positions. One school reported that only 15 per cent of the
pupils enrolled remain to finish; another 50 per cent; six others re
porting on this point stated that 75 per cent or more finished the
course.
There is no definite standard for determining whether a pupil is
ready to be graduated. Many schools require a final test before
granting a diploma, but not before recommending pupils for posi
tions. The principal's opinion, based on reports of daily work and

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109

the pupil’s desire to earn money, govern the time of his leaving,
although many schools test the pupils’ ability as they progress. Un
doubtedly schools sometimes send out pupils before they are efficient,
but this is partly because certain pupils have never had ability or
education.
Placement on the part of the private schools is carried on by much the
same method as in public schools. Private schools probably receive
more calls from employers, and their heads have more time than
public school teachers to find places for students and keep in touch
with openings. They are mainly indebted to typewriter bureaus for
placing graduates. They say that, without receiving any guaranty
of positions, the great majority of their students find work upon
finishing their training. Six business schools state that the mini
mum initial salary at which they place their students is $8 a week,
one $10 a week, and one $50 a month. Two send girls out at $6 a
week when they can get no more. Temporary work evidently does
not come under this rule, for graduates testify that $6 has been the
beginning wage for such work. Many schools take pains to in
vestigate the offices to which they send graduates and share with
one another knowledge of employers to be avoided.
Private schools do not follow up their graduates and do not know
what becomes of all their students. Not one keeps an adequate
record of graduates and beyond knowing, mainly for advertising
purposes, the good positions reached by the minority are not aware
whether they succeed or fail. Every vocational school should follow
up a certain proportion of its graduates to test the value of its
instruction. The cooperation of the private schools with the survey
in the attempt to do this has indicated their sincere interest in
knowing what they have accomplished and what they need to do
for greater efficiency.
The amount of solicitation carried on by the private business schools
varies. One or two small schools depend upon their reputation and
the recommendation of graduates, and do almost no advertising.
Almost all the larger schools employ solicitors to obtain students.
The field of activity is now as much in small town and country
districts as in Minneapolis, perhaps more so. Evidence seems to
indicate that formerly the solicitation among school children here
operated to direct pupils away from the high school to the business
“ college.” However, the inquiry made by the survey, June, 1915,
among eighth-grade classes showed that only about 18 per cent of
the children had been approached in any way by business schools,
and a study of the cards signed by eighth-grade children from all
schools, giving the school plan for the year 1915-16, showed that
64 had determined to go to private business schools. All these
children were interviewed and in no case was their decision a result

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BULLETIN- OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

of solicitation from the schools they intended to enter. It can notbe disputed that high school graduates are a legitimate group for
efforts "by private schools to obtain pupils.
Some schools solicit through correspondence and mailing of cata
logues, letters, and circulars, often containing exaggerated statements
concerning the opportunities which result from taking them.
As none of these schools can thrive without a margin of profit the
larger the number of pupils the better the school is likely to be.
The consequence of the necessity for money making is widespread
efforts to induce young people to take up commercial work re
gardless of their adaptability for such work. The effect upon
society is often not beneficial in certain respects.
The schools can not afford to reject many who apply to them,
but there is a growing sentiment among the better schools in favor
of discouraging immature and poorly educated applicants.
Those in charge of employment bureaus in Minneapolis say
that the field of office work is overcrowded and that it is the most
inefficient stenographers and bookkeepers who bear the brunt of
unemployment. The efforts of private schools to make a living form
a large factor in the oversupply. One or two schools so plainly
lack the standard necessary for educational work that the com
munity would be much better off without them.
The private commercial school is still serving an educational
need and will continue to do so until short intensive courses are
offered by the public schools. Certain schools have excellent courses,
but the large number of schools results in a lively competition in
which the best good of the youth of Minneapolis is a secondary
consideration.
Many, if not most, of the private schools are good institutions,
the value of whose services are not questioned, but some are not
good institutions, because of their low standards of admission, poor
equipment, overcrowded classes, superficial and time-worn methods
of teaching, and lack of adjustment to the demands of the modern
business world.
The situation in regard to commercial education needs careful
study by some authoritative body like the Civic and Commerce
Association, for the purpose of evaluating the work of private
agencies giving commercial training so that the schools which are
below par may be eliminated. The data which have been gathered
by this study, bearing on specific institutions and not herein pub
lished, should prove most illuminating.
It has been stated that these private schools have met a voca
tional need in Minneapolis for thousands who were unable to take
the four-vear school course. They are performing a service, how

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, MTNN. H I

ever, which should be offered at public expense. Wider facilities
for commercial training are being provided in the public schools
and when shorter and more direct business courses are offered in
the public secondary schools, most of the private business schools
will probably have fulfilled their mission. A healthy competition
with the public school on the part of a small number of wellequipped business colleges will then assist in standardizing the work
of the former and these colleges will continue to serve the interests of
the boys and girls of Minnesota farms, towns, and cities who look
to Minneapolis for commercial education.
DENOM INATIONAL SCHOOLS.

This study was made under the auspices of the special committee
on commercial education whose membership is given in Appendix A.
Catholic organizations support two commercial schools in Minneapolis,
one for boys and one for girls. The girls’ school offers a two-year
course to which only eiglith-grade pupils are eligible. The average
graduating age is 17, and the course includes English, bookkeeping,
arithmetic, stenography, commercial law, rapid calculations, and
office practice. Special short courses are also offered in stenography,
English, and office practice.
The school is crowded but the equipment good, and the teachers
are thorough, conscientious, and enthusiastic. The instruction, how
ever, is formal and lacking in practicality, and it is a question
whether the method of instruction sufficiently develops initiative.
The students are placed through efforts of the priests interested
in the school, the alumni association, and the typewriting compa
nies. No follow-up system is observed and no record is kept of re
ports. About 80 girls are enrolled, and the seniors appear to be
mature and businesslike.
The boys’ school devotes three years to commercial work. It has
a strong alumni association, and through its members and the efforts
of instructors the school places its students. The course in the first
year consists of Christian doctrine, spelling, English composition
and rhetoric, stenography, bookkeeping, history, and etiquette, which
means business ethics. Every year the same subjects are studied,
commercial law being added in the second and talks on physics in
the third year. There are about 200 boys in the school. Sixty-three
were graduated in 1914-15, and many of them were at work before
commencement. The initial monthly wage at which the school is
willing to place students is about $40.
Some attempt is made to determine whether pupils have chosen
their courses wisely. The courses are said to be taught with thorougnness, but the teachers have not had practical experience. The

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

only contact of the school with the business world is through the
alumni association, and it is only through this that the school has
any way of following up its graduates.
CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS.

The large part which correspondence instruction has played in
developing industrial intelligence calls for special consideration.
A study of correspondence schools in Minneapolis was made in con
nection with the survey by the State Department of Labor and In
dustries, which furnished the facts here given. The sources of infor
mation were interviews with students, replies of workmen to sched
ules, and data furnished by the international correspondence schools.
There are 11 such schools in Minneapolis, as follows: Interna
tional Correspondence Schools, American School of Correspondence,
Patterson Correspondence School, Technical Correspondence School
(Chicago), Independent Correspondence School (Seattle), PageDavis School of Illustrating, International Typographical Union,
Federal School of Commercial Designing, Milwaukee Correspondence
School, Alexander Hamilton School, and Emerson School of Busi
ness Efficiency. As 9 out of every 10 workmen furnishing informa
tion had been students of the International Correspondence Schools
(I. C. S.)? this section is really a study of the work of that company.
Thirty-six thousand students in Minnesota have taken correspondence
school instruction with the I. C. S. alone during the last 20 years, and
have paid about $50 each in tuition, according to a statement of that
company. While the average price of all courses is about $75, many
pay in installments and fail to finish. On this basis the company has
collected $1,800,000 as tuition from the 36,000 students. About 8,000
were enrolled in Minneapolis and paid about $400,000 as tuition in
the last decade, while 7,000 St. Paul students paid $350,000 in the
same period, a total of $750,000 for the Twin Cities. Assuming that
this company does 90 per cent of the correspondence school work,
there is a total of 40,000 Minnesota students paying $2,000,000 for
tuition in the State, of which the Twin Cities contributed almost
17.000 students and $850,000 in tuition.
According to the I. C. S., 2,301 students were enrolled last year
in the Minneapolis district, covering the whole of Minnesota and
two or three routes running up into Canada. Of these about 500
were enrolled in Minneapolis and paid about $25,000 in tuition,
while approximately 450 wrere enrolled in St. Paul and paid $22,500
in tuition, a total of almost 1,000 students for the Twin Cities paying
almost $50,000 for instruction by correspondence.
The purpose of the International Correspondence Schools, as
stated in their catalogue, is threefold: first, “ teaching employed per
sons in science of their trade or profession; second, preparing mis

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113

placed or dissatisfied persons for more congenial or better paid work;
third, giving young unemployed persons the training necessary to
enable them to start at good salaries in chosen vocations.”
Owing to the limitations of instruction by mail, the first of these
purposes constitutes their greatest field of usefulness. Only in one or
two cases was a man found who had finished a course which did not
apply directly to his trade or was not closely related to the work he
was doing. These exceptions were men with mental ability above
the average.
The second purpose applies when a man wants to take up some
other branch of the business at which he is employed; as, for instance,
when a man employed in a woodworking shop takes up an architec
tural course or drafting course. The main benefit of the course is
in giving the theories and principles involved in the trades. The
application depends entirely upon the students. Many who say
they have been benefited will not give the course full credit for their
advance. They assert much in every case is due to personal ambition.
A STUDY OF CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL STUDENTS.

The Minnesota Department of Labor made a study of 151 men
employed as productive workers in Minneapolis who had taken or
were taking instruction by correspondence. Of these 135 had been
or were students of the International Correspondence Schools.
Thirty-four different courses were taken, of which five—mechanical
engineering, drafting, electrical engineering, electric lighting and
shop practice—were pursued by 80 per cent, while the rest took 30
different courses, four being the largest number enrolled by any
one course.
Forty-four per cent reported they had been benefited in increasing
either their efficiency or their earning capacity, while 56 per cent
said they had received no help from the courses. Of the 154 inter
viewed, 47 per cent had dropped out, 23 per cent had finished, and
30 per cent were still working in courses.
Not all took the courses because they desired better positions or
greater efficiency. Many enrolled because of the insistence of sales
men who talked them into signing a contract which they did not
understand. In two cases men bought courses thinking they were
to have personal instruction.
Whenever he had profited by the course, the student was enthusi
astic in his praise and support of the school. The dissatisfied student
was equally emphatic in his attitude. Sixteen different reasons for
failure to succeed were given by dissatisfied students, as follows:
1. “ Did not have any idea o f the amount o f work that the course would take
until I got started.”
2. “ Too much elementary stuff.”
42805°— Bull. 199—17------ 8

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

3. “ Too tired when clay's work was done.”
4. “ Night work.”
5. “ Wanted to do something else in the evening besides study.”
6. “ Lack o f ambition.”
7. “ In order to handle my work I had to study ahead o f my course.”
8. “ Taken sick.”
9. “ Got what information I wanted so I dropped the course.”
10. " Got married.”
11. “ Lack o f previous education.”
12. “ Too much stuff that did not apply to my business.”
13. “ Was not getting anything that I did not already know.”
14. “ After I had finished paying for the course the school paid no more
attention to me.”
15. “ Did not understand the English language.”
16. “ Agent got me to take course when I did not really want it.”

Perhaps the most important cause for not succeeding is that the
student became tired of the delay in getting answers to his requests
for information. While most instruction by correspondence is more
direct and less general than that of most schools, a long period is
required to complete even a short course by mail, the average time
being two years and seven months. When a student writes to the
school for help there is a delay of a week or more before he gets a
reply, and when this happens often he naturally loses interest and
drops the work.
1
The schools attempt to meet this trouble by having local men and
graduates of similar courses to assist students. Organized classes for
study of correspondence courses have not succeeded and no students
were found who had ever attended such classes. The central office
of the International Correspondence Schools at Scranton, Pa., has
established a follow-up system “ to prevent lapse, to aid struggling
students, to stimulate discouraged students, and to increase the
amount of work done by all students.”
A common-school education is necessary to succeed in correspond
ence work. Preliminary education determines to a great extent the
success or failure with correspondence courses. The correspondence
schools require only a knowledge of how to read and write English.
In some cases, however, salesmen have sold courses to foreigners who
could scarcely talk simple English. In no case interviewed had a
course been completed where the preliminary education was below
the eighth grade or its equivalent.
The previous education of the students varied widely. Of the 154
interviewed 110 gave information as to what schooling they had had
before undertaking correspondence courses. Twenty-one per cent
had had less than an eighth-grade education, 79 per cent eighth
grade or more, 35 per cent high school or its equivalent, 3 per cent
part of a university course, none a full university training, and 31
per cent night-school work.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

115

The home office of the I. C. S. stated that the majority of their
students probably had less than an eighth-grade education; that one
of the chief aims of the school was to help “ those who could read
and write English, but could do little more ” ; and that the company
know of “ many cases in which students with less than an eighthgrade education have completed or made sufficient progress with
their studies to achieve real success in their line of work.”
In every case where the student had taken night school courses in
the public schools x>r Y. M. C. A. he had reported that he had been
benefited by the course. This, however, did not hold true with cor
respondence school instruction.
The attitude of the employers was either in favor of the correspond
ence school or indifferent to* it. A few hare tried to influence stu
dents to take courses by giving them free scholarships. Some rail
roads are making deductions from their pay roll in favor of the
correspondence schools. Others refuse to encourage the courses,
holding that the schools raise the hopes of the men for high-salaried
positions without giving an adequate idea of the time or effort nec
essary to prepare for such positions.
Whether or not a student can succeed with a correspondence course
depends largely upon his personal ambition. The books and instruc
tion are up to date and thorough in fundamental principles. It is
doubtful whether any other set of textbooks are as good for the
student desiring direct and practical instruction as those of the
I. C. S. in some lines. If the student has sufficient determination and
mental ability he will succeed.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE.
(1) The correspondence schools have done much for the ambitious
man of superior preparation and ability.
(2) Instruction by mail can never take the place of the living
teacher in a classroom.
(3) Large sums of money are annually spent by students for
tuition for instruction along many different vocational lines and
for general education.
(4) It is as much the duty of the public schools to provide this
instruction through part-time and evening classes as it is to operate
high schools for more fortunate boys and girls fitting for business
and professional careers.
(5) The large number of students reached by the correspondence
schools makes them institutions not only of public but of national
importance; and the large amount of money spent by wageworkers,
many of whom can ill afford to pay for the instruction which they
give, will draw public attention to, if not finally public regulation
lof, their methods and standards.

116

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

A CHART OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN M INNEAPOLIS.

The nccompanying chart relates to public schools and colleges,
semipublic schools, corporation schools, and private schools. The
■work of the public schools shown in the preceding chapter is here
included so that a view of all facilities in Minneapolis for vocational
education may be presented. Under “ semipublic schools” are in
cluded those not controlled by the public, but operated for the pub
lic good and not for profit. Schools operated by commercial estab
lishments for their own employees are classed as corporation schools.
While manual training, domestic science, and domestic art classes
are listed among the public school vocational facilities, much of
this work is no more than prevocational. While it has been im
possible to separate residents from nonresidents, most of the figures,
except for business colleges, represent Minneapolis schools only.
An inspection of this chart shows in all the courses specified about
16,297 students, of whom 9,207 were enrolled in the public schools
and the extension classes of the university, leaving about 7,790 in the
semipublic and private schools. Omitting Dunwoody Institute, the
corporation schools, and the Bankers’ Institute, where no tuition
is charged, about 6,000 fees were paid, a total of about $336,000 for
tuition last year.
The detailed information in the chart was gathered before Sep
tember 1, 1915, and includes only schools and classes in operation
1914-15 or planned for 1915-16 previous to September 1, when the
field work of the survey closed. Consequently a number of classes
established since that date do not appear.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE.
In a widening program of vocational education for Minneapolis
many of the courses now offered by private institutions, particularly
those charging tuition, will eventually be assumed by the public
schools and be given free. There is no more reason why students
should be obliged to pay for vocational preparation in one legitimate
and desirable line than in another, or for one grade rather than an
other. The question before the public schools is partly one of re
sources and partly one of wise choice of the kinds of vocational edu
cation now offered at private expense which they shall take over.
It is probable that there will be an increasing number of corporation
schools training workers to meet their special needs. The semipublic
school not operated for profit is here carefully differentiated from
the private school. The semipublic school will continue as long as
it serves the public good. The private school operated for profit is
jonly a phase of development which will lead to large free public
educational opportunities.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

117

It may be doubted whether the tuition-charging school, semi
public, or a private school operated for profit will be entirely elim
inated by the expansion of free public facilities. There is sufficient
evidence to show the existence of a class of ambitious individuals
who prefer to pay fees and who do better work under the fee system.
These schools will survive or disappear according to their individual
merits, and according to their ability to keep pace or to outrun,
from time to time, the public institutions.

VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS OF MINNEAPOLIS, 1914-15.
I. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.
Tuition.

Entrance requirements.
What school touches.

Kditeration.

Age.

Public schools:
Kvcning business classes.

j Experience.

...... do.......

High school:
Manual t

Domestic science..

Girls* Vocational High School:
Domestic science...................

Elementary school.

.do..

..do.

Plain sewing, underwear, dressmaking, fine hand sewing ...... do......... ...... do.................. |.......do............. ...... do.................. ___ do............ ...... do.
and art needlework.
Tj’powritinj;. stenography, salesmanship, bookkeeping.... ...... do......... Sth grade..............j.......do............ ...... do.................. ___do............ ...... do.

Salesmanship and commercial..

Care of children, preparation of foods.,

Home making and junior nursing.
University:
. ,
Extension business classes (evening).

j
6th grade..............!.......do.............!.......do.................. __ do.................... do.

..do__

Millinery.............................................................! Making and trimming hats, millinery novelties.

.do..

$7.50per courso per
semester.

..do.

Cement and architectural design, direct and alternating cur ...... do......... ...... do..................
rent, loginning electricity, machine drawing, mechan
ical construction of buildings, plane surveying, plumb
ing, telephony, trigonometry, reinforced concrete, shop
methods,strength materials.
Same as evening extension............................................... Over 21.

Extension business (correspondence).,

50 cents per lesson.

.do.

__ do.................... do.

..do.

Usual university
entrance require-1
mentswliencredit desired,other
wise none.

Business practice and procedure, advertising, banking, Over IS.
business law. cost accounting, elementary economics,
principles accounting, railroad transportation, retail sell*
Ing and salesmanship.

Extension engineering (evening).

...... do............i.......do............ ...... do.................. 1.................... Classroom practice.

15and over..: Sth grade,

.do.

..do.

do................. I 1.

1 to 2 semes
ters.

Advance................ do.

,.do.

Annual
number
students.

Waces at which
graduates begin.

♦Classroom............

Minneapolis and 11 .
other cities and
to vns.

..do.

Lectures................

.do.

Shop and classroom equipment............. j Yes................

....d o............ Yes..............................

.do.

Classroom equipment..

No..

....d o.......

University classrooms..

No.

U n iversity
plant.

.do.

All parts of State..

Printed lessons; written lessons; exami
nations.

|Total income, j

Remarks.

!
Yes; with aid of typewriting $S per week, min- j 2S0 graduates,
I companies.
imum: S15 per j l,f.05
enweek. maximum.! rolled.

!
1£ hours......... ...... do..................! 5 cooking; 5 Classroom and practico..................................do............ Kitchen equipment of schools............... Yes; sold in In operation
1 science; not
lunch room.
only 2 years;
i 11c 1u ding
no gradu
lunch room.
ates.
....d o ........... ....d o ........... ...... do.................. 5 sewing; 5 art.
Classroom and sewJng-room equipment.. Yes; belongs to ___ do...........
individual
pupils.
2years or more. 75 hours__
Minneapolis and
Classroom practice in school kitchens; •...... do.......... . Kitchen, lunch und tea room equipment Yes............... j No graduates.. Yes................................
suburbs.
service in lunch and tea room.
|
__ do............ ...... do............ ...... do..................
Classroom practice 011 commercial prod ...... do............ Sewing-room and classroom equipment.. Yes................J.......do............ Yes...............................
Ss per week, miniuct.
! mum.
I
__ do.................... do............ ...... do.................. 3 .................... Classroom practice on machines; selling ...... do............ Typewrit ers,mimeograph,andclassroom No.................I.......do............
Yes....................................1.............................
!
in school store.
equipment, school.store.
i

...d o.................. ...... do............ Pupils pay for own ....d o ............ ...... do..
materials.
___ do............

Classroom and shop..........................

5 hours...........j .......do.................. 30.................. Classroom; jjractico rooni......................'.......do............ Typewriters, mimeograph, filing cabinets. No.................

...... do.........

None.............. None.

,.do............ None.

14 find over. Gthgrade or over.. .|...... do............. None...............

Home and lunch-room cookery, lunch-room and dining
room service, invalid cookery for nurse girls.

Sowing and dressmaking........

......do................................................

4£ hours a day

____ u , ,
.
1m"?! i ’
ment after :;i adualiou.

Public-school Business equipment of schools...............'■No................. 17 to 09 per j No.,
7SG..
plant.
cent coin-!
pleted251es-j
sons.
S
Shops and classrooms............................ No................. 17 to 65 per No.
457.
cent com
pleted 25les
sons.
"Domesticsclcnco und art <-q.iipmei]
3 to 70 per No..................................... 1............................. 1,212........................
I
cent, com
I
pleted 25les
sons.
I
Completo shop und drawing equipment.; No.,
16per cent,... Sometimes..................
1,270.............. 1.......................

Usual cvonfug shop and class method.

None..

Nono..

...... do.......................... do............. ...... do..................

Sewing, art needlework, dressmaking, millinery,applied ...... do.........
design.

Domestic art..

..do....................do.

Does school j Students j
manufacture
completing I
a product?
course.
•

Equipment.

Lectures; instruction practice.............

Woodwork and cabinetmaking, wood turning and pattern Over 14.
making, forge work, machine-shop work, mechanical
drafting.
Penmanship, commercial arithmetic, commercial geogra ....d o.
phy, elementary arid advanced bookkeeping, stenogra
phy and typewriting, business correspondence and composil ion,civics and commercial law, industrial history of
united Slates.
None..
Cooking,serving, household science and sanitation.....

Commercial.,

...... do........... <30to 79 nights.

Capital
Invested.

Instruction—llow?

20 to SOnights.

Mfllinerv, cooking, plain and advanced sewing, elementary
drcviuuking, domestic art, art needlework.

KvftT mg dornosflc science ami urt ciasscs.

Number of
instructors.

from* here.

At end of 4 1to SI nights. 2hours anight. Minneapolis.
course, if re
turned.

___do.................

.........do..

....do..........

Time require;! , Hours a day !
tocompleto
sponi in
course.
I
school.

Tiofund.

SI for books and
material.

None................... ! None.

Salesmanship, advertising, typewriting, shorthand, book Nono..
keeping.

Evening Industrial classes......................

Advance or
inslailments.

Enough for
supplies.

1,03$.

None.......
$1,805.12 for
supplies.

74.................. 8555.S6forsup
plies.
S3 ..
Sell product
other de
partments.

.: $s per week, mini* J 40.,
i mum.
1

$587.98for sup
plies.

Yes..............................

No............
I

University shops and classrooms, labora N o .
tories. '

-do............ For correspondence work only.

1,099....

1,031.............. $5,515............. R e g is t r a t io n ,
M in n e a p o lis
only.
312................. 12,113.50...,

No............... . 27 per cent.

105................. 153...............

105took over 4 les
sons at 50 cents.

II. SEMIPUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Y . fit. C . A*:

Business courses.

Bookkeeping, business courses, English, character analysis, 16and over.. None: member of
Y. M. C. A.
credit management, penmanship, personal efficiency,
real estate, salesmanship, stenography.

Industrial courses.

iluilders’ drafting, electricity, estimating, mathematics, ___ d o .. .
mechanical drafting.

T .W . C. A.:
General courses...,

Si? ti $15 per term Either.
I each subject.

General courses—(1) Salesmanship grammar and arithme Over 15....... None...
tic, English for foreigners: (2) shampooing and manicur
ing; (3) china painting; (4) French. German, and Spanish.

None..

..do.

.do.

..do.

___ do.......

.do.

___ do.

(1) No tuition: (2) ___ do.......
$4per term;(3)85
and $6 per term;
(4) 52 and S3 per
term.
(1) 7 courses, S3 to
87; (2) Si, 7 les
sons; (3) $0 per
term.

Domestic science..

(1) Cooking, (2) serving, (3) diet cookery

Domestic art..

(1) Sowing, art needlework; (2) dressmaking; (3) milli ...... do....... .......do.................. ...... do...........
nery.

....d o .......

(1)84 per term; (2) ....d o .......
315,15 days, S25
30 days; home
dressmaking. S7
per term; (3) ?5
per term.

Illness: leav 15 weeks to 3 E v e n i n g
ing city; class years.
classcs.
abandoned.
..do.

..do.

High school and
complete 3-year
course for di
ploma.

Design,commercial work,interior decorating.illustrating, 1None...
stenciling, wood-block printing, ceramics.

___ do.

Largely individual, classroom, lecture..

......do..........

___ do............ 1class a week, 2 hours..
15 to 30
weeks.
...... do............ ...... do..

Classrooms, tables, desks, electrical ap
paratus, typewriters.

No..

.do.

Illness or leav 1lesson a week, I hour..
15 to 30
ing city.
weeks.

American Ins tit u te of Hanking (Minneapolis Chap$"> per course or Advance.,
N| Bank employee.. J.,
ter)........................................................................... j Banking: Bank accounting, loans and investments, clearsemester.
I ing houses and savings Institutions, Federal Reserve Act.
Lav/.- Commercial, sales and bailments, banking, negotia
ble instruments, agencv, contracts.
Dumvoody Institute:
Machine shop, printing, carpentry and cabinetmaking, llandover.J 7th grade; Sth None..
Day.....................
grade for printauto construction and repair, electrical construction, ar
l ing.
chitectural drafting.
Journeymen None..
Machinist, auto construction, electrical work, composition
Evening.
and appren
and presswork, cabinetmaking, architectural drafting,
tices in the
mechanical ami muchino drafting, c&rpectrv, brie1 lad
trades.
ing, nainting, plastering, plumbing, steam fitting, stone
cutting.sheet-metaldraftjng.enginecrs and firemen, bak-1.
Ing. building foremen. industrial desini, cost estimat ing, :
oxyacetylene welding, telephony, decorating.
Normal art, design, csmposif ion, color. Jewelry, stencil ing, ISin normal Equivalent of high Drawings sub- First year, S110 (3 Advance by For good cause,
H a n d icra ft G u ild ..................................
school in normal
m itted or
terms); scc:>nd
terms.
leather work, modeling, house decoration,'metal work, ; art.
examination.
art.
year, S100; spe
pot ten’, wood-block printing.
cials, 82.50 to 825
per term.
Minneapolis Art Institute..

Minneapolis..

.do.

■i ‘

322..

$2,043........

No..

No.,

365..

8974.,

No..

No report...... ! No..

243..

$661.

Classroom, lectures; practice.

General classroom equipment.

Classroom; no examinations...

Fairly complete equipmont of the typo Yes; for per
needed for such work.
sonal use.

Through Y. IV. C. A. em
ployment bureau.

. . . . d o ........

$1,500.65. ...... |Each student SI
, for membership.

hours;

4S........

dressmak
ing may bo
ta k en all
day.

3 years........... Evening class, ...... do..................
1 hour per
week.

Lecture, classroom.

Held at uni
versity.

2 vears; 1 in 7J hours..
trade.

Minneapolis, 90 11..
per cent; Minne
sota, 10per cent.

Lecture, classroom, shop.

About S25,000. Complete shop and classroom equip Yes.
ment.

5to 50lessons.. 2 h o u r s , 2 Minneapolis......... 3*..
nights per
week.

___ do.............................

___ do.......

Nearly all.,

No...

S1,679.62......

.1 100................. $1,000

No graduates... Yes
..do.

No..

..d o .

Each student S3 or
$5 for member*
ship.

No graduates..

No..

167.,
1,100.

..do.
1

I
2 years normal
art; 10-les
son special
course.

10 to 12.........

Everywhere...

S50 per term......... Installment— • Protracted ab- 3 years........... 7 hours, 5days -----do..........
$25,825,810. j sence.
a week.

Classroom, individual, lecture, shop.,

4, fine arts; 2, Individual, criticism.,
design.

S2,0 0 0 ........

Classrooms, modeling vheols. 2 kilns,
metal-shop equipment, tools, ctey,
drawing boards, etc.

No__

Occupies in- Benches, easels, tables, chairs....
s t i tu t e
building.

!
i
..' SCO to $125 per j 35, normal art;
; month.
j 100, sh ort
i
courses.

SOper cent__ No contract; assists.

N o..

I No...............

.! Vary.................... About 200..

ffl. CORPORATION SCHOOLS.
TRAINING OWN HELP.
Northwestern Telephone (training department)___; General education, efficiency, telephone operating.........

3 years.

Dayton’ s IJry Goods (salesmanship classes).............. •Grammar, arithmetic,salesmanship..................................

...........I Nongrads, of gram-.. .do............... None; course com- None......
j m;:r schls. re- 1
pulsory.
j
j quired to attend.

None..............

Classrooms....................................
2 hours a da}’ , Store employees...
twice a week.

Nearly all.

I
Desks, chairs, charts, specimen checks, ! No.,
sales slips, trade magazines.

Classroom recitation, examination.

Same as regular in ! 400to500; aver-! None..
similar positions., age attend
ance, 250.

■Instore.

IV. PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
OPERATED FOR PROFIT.
American Telegraph College................................... I Railroad, commercial, ami wireless telegraphy..................
1

handover..' Common .•rbool...1 None..............j About SW............. Either........... ' None.............. 4 to 6month.*.. 5J hours......... 1 Northwest towns j 3.................... j Leeturtw, classroom, individual..............$‘20,000.............STelegraphy, typewrite
and country dU- :
'
\
triots.
;
1

: ad- j 1»n agreement.-...... do............ 17: hours..
■apli School........................................ ! . 111br.iTUhtvi of telegraphy.................................................: 1'itoM................ do.......................... do............ S75....................... Eivtaher
Barry’s Telegraph
n r e pre- j
ferred.
i
Advance........! None.............. 3 to 5 months.. f>hours,
Interstate Telegraph Institute................................ j Allbrim-bwrttele^pliy; typewriting
Twin City Tractor School........................................ ! Operaii.m gas tractors; general gas engineering.,
I
Twin City School of Window Dressing..................I Windov dressing, show-card writing

M eE U roy A u t o S c h o o l............................................

TT. M . C. A. Auto School (W . S. Milnor)...........

..do..

IS to 35....... Common school.. ...... do...........
..do..........

None..................
16und over..

Automobile driving, repair work, lathe work.,

16...........

Automobile driving, repair work..................

10......

,............ i A d v a n c e if ...... do............ 4 to 6 weeks...' 8 hours........... Nortliwest........... j 20...................1.......do.................................
845..............
possible.
855 average, op- | U s u a 11y ad- Not os rule__ 6 to S weeks... 9} hours......... U. S. and Canada.. 25.................. ' Lectures, classroom, individual..
tional.
vance.
Lectures, individual........................
Advance........ None............. 0 weeks or 8 hours........... Rural districts___
$40...........
longer.
815 toSSO..

Minnesota, snr- 3.................... Textbook, classroom, shop...................
rounding terri- '

Installments.. Yes...............

torv.

Advance........' For good cause I 3 months........ . 5 to 6 hours.

.' Common school...!...... do............ ' 850 average..
M ___Ue aulle College of Beauty Culture...............: Hair dres-sins, massaRlnR, mnnkurinii. chiropody..............
i
$50 for complete;
Dobbs School ol Dressmaking and Millinery.......I T>rosanaklnK, oittlns by chart, online patterns, Irame- Not specified. Not specified..
835 for special.
uuuusovu” "
, wor* hats trimming.
.do..................1................

hom* fMnwinv..

Draft inir, so.ving, ded^n. fitting, pattern making.

17p-to-I>ate School of Dressn

8500..

Telegraphy, typewriters..

j 8-17.50 per month 125................ $7,500............
; and over.
840 to 8125 per 250............... 818,750...........
month.
1
..' 810 to 875 per 20.................. 8800_
! month.

Classrooms, apparatus....

Yes................i 5 weeks.......... :.......do............ Minnesota farm*.. 2.................... Lecture.*, classroom..............

..do..

75 per cent....; Young men only.

$20 to $100, optional Either........... None..............i 4 to Kweeks... j 9 hours........... Entire country__ I 3.................... Lecture.*, individual............................. $5,000.,

Minnesota Institute ol Pharmacy......................... . Instructs drag clerks to pass Stale Iward examinations.... ....................|None............................do............ •875.

K e is te r s S ow in g ScTiool.

S u r r o u n d i n g . 1....................
States.
j

815,000........... Morso telegraph.

does.

Victor Barber College................................................' Uarbering........................................
BXoler Ilarbcr College................................................ ........ do..............................................

815..............

None..................

Rural districts___: 4.................... 1 Clj;s«rooin, imlividiia

..do............ ! Sometimes....' 8 weeks or
longer.
i

hours..........' Ail States............. '3..
j
!
R u r a l districts ; 2.................
largely.
!

Installment by,...... do............ 2 to 4 weeks 6 hours..
cutting; 8week.
,
10-12 weeks.

¥25 per course:
speci.d 10-dav
course.

E ith er...............' F or grwvl cause

812 per monil

By month......' None.............

...... do............ Tify nnd rural dis
tricts.

I*....

.do..

$8,000.
$3,000..

75 per cent__

No.,

Ropair shop, several machines, 2 lathes.. Does repair 90 per cent___! No.................
work.
Classrooms, repair shop.........................

$2,000..

Classrooms, laboratories......................... No..

Lectures, classroom, individual............ 85,000

Beauty shop......................................... : No..

does.

Lectures, demonstrations, individual... About 81,000, Machines, charts, forms, tables.,
i 11c 1u d ing
store.
$150 and 810 Tables, machines, forms..
per

1.000 :

population. ,

nats.,

10 to 90 per ■Assist....... .
cent.
;

No: mar sew
outside.

State inspection.

350................. 1 812 750

1
1

Do.

...... do.................. 150................. 86,000............
8
j
...... do.................. 400................. Over 87,500....
SIS to S20 per week.
$8,700........... •
1
. $S per week.......... 50.................. Average $3, 000’
.i Milliners, $1 to S5 ! 30 toSO..........
I j»er week; dress- 1
1 makers vary by I
J day.
y!

No students en
rolled.

SO.................. ft.tfVUott.rw1

course, 50 jier
cent special '
course.

10 weeks........ • ....d o .............State..................... •2.................... 1.......do................................................... 875 and 8100............do....................................................! No..............

About 86,000..

..I 812 to 814 per week 200................. ' 89,000..

No.

Lectures, classroom, laboratory, individ
ual.

Individual.

..' Average, 820 per 100........
{ week.

Barbershop.......................................... j No

$2,000.

875 to 8100 per 200................ 83,000.
month.

Majority........ No..................................... .............................. :....................................

'■

COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS.
American Business College.

Bookkeeping, stenography, business English;business 15......
arithmetic, penmanship.

Curtiss Business College.

Combination (stenography, bookkeeping).

None.................... None.............. 815 per month...... Either.

10....

Gregg Shorthand School.
I

7th grade*............ ....do........
Very little............

None..

Humboldt College.............

$12 per month;
865 per course.

5 to 8 months.. 5 hours..

..do..

.do..
..do........

..do..

3 months per S hours..
course.

..do........... 4 to 6 months. 5} hours....

..do..

..do........... i 8 months..
I

6 hours..

9 months..

r hours..

815 per month..,

Sth grade...

.do..

$60 per coursc; 810 ...... do............
per month; $10
extra for book
keeping.

.................... ■Bookkeeping, stenography, business English, business 16......
! arithmetic, penmanship.

___ do..

.do..

815 per month..

.do..

..do...

6 to 8 months. 6 hours......

None..

None...

..do..

860 per course..

..do..

-.do...

9 months...

..do..

875 per course..

..do..

, business correspondence, 16............... ! 7th grade..
ip.

I
MinnKdtA Cniieee ................................................. S-Academic and general business, bookkeeping, stenography,
Minnesota college........................
businoss English, business arithmetic, penmanship.

Minnehaha Academy.............................................. Academic, general, commercial, bookkeeping, civflservice,
stenography, accounting, combination, normal.
M unson Shorthand Institute...

Stenography.

50 per cent Minne 10.,
apolis; Minne
sota and other
Slates.

50 per cent Minne 12..
apolis; Minne
sota and other
States.

.do..

50 per cent Minne
apolis; Minne
sota and other
States.

..do..

812 per month; ...... do..,
$75 per course.

Office Training School...

Stenography, bookkeeping, penmanship, combination......; None.

None...

•adO.... . . . . .

812.50 per month; . ... .do.. . . . .. . . ...... do........... ... ..do..*... . . . 5£ hours......... Minneapolis90 per
cent: 10per cent
$75 per course.
Minnesota and
other States.

8th grade..

..do..

84 per month...

2 years, ex
cept special
course.

...... do......

..do..

83.50 to $4 per
month.

4 years.

De La Salle Institute.......

Minneapolis and
Minnesota.

*0 to 100......... ' 812.000
i!
..' 90.................. 11813,500...........

Classroom and individual.

l
S35,000

for all
schools.

1
1
!

SO fvpewriters, stenotvpe agencv, add
in:, duplicating, printing, and dicta
tion machines.

..do..

No................

typewriters, dictationmacliino, add
ing machine.

Individual.............................................

$8 per week.......... 300.................1
j
87 to $10i»er week.. 1 IO&

50 tvpewrilers. duplicating machine,
adding machine.

No................ Refused infor
mation.

Classroom.........................................

1811,700...___ '
!
i
«

88 to $10per week.. 300...........

15 typewriters, 1 duplicating machine... No................

7th grade..

250maximum. s^t non

810 per week........ j J->.................. 825,000...........
1
i«l

Classroom and individual.

i'lass.,

Stenography, bookkeeping, preparatory course, civil
service, combination.

Stenography, bookkeeping, Christian doetrine, commercial j 15..
j law, penmanship, rapid calculation, oflice practice.
I
;
j Stenography, bookkeeping.............................................. : 15.

Yes, with :iidof typewriting j
1 companies and employ- *
ment bureaus.
;

90 typewriters, 1 duplicating machine. .J No................
i
il
65 typewriters, filing system.................. No................ 190 per cent, a ...... do................................ 850 per month
1
!
3 mo n t h s ’
course.

7J hours....

8 hours..

No................. 85 per cent

95 per cent Minne 2....................! Individual.
apolis.

Northwestern Business College..

St. Margaret’ s Academy.

6 months..

30 typewriters, duplicating, adding,
printing, and diet aiion ' machines,
filing system.

063 per cent city;
33li per cent
State.

Illness; leav 4 to 6 months.. 5 hours........... M i n n e a p o l i s
100 per cent.
ing city; in
adaptability.
.do:..

Classroom and individual.

35 per cent Minne
apolis; Minne
sota and other
States.

,.d o ...........i 800per coursc; 8100 ...... do............ ...... do........... 6 to 9 months. ...... do............ Seventy-five per
cont Minneapolis.
j per combination
1 course.
.do..

Stenography,
bookkeeping, pern

Minneapolis Business College.

Minnesota School of Business.

•do..

Ili^h school, Ifpos- ... ..d o..... . .. . 825 per month..

Clerical course, graduate course, private secretaiy course, j 10business course, banking course.

Ford Offices.

.do..

Illness; leav 6 to 9 months.. 5J hours..
ing city.

SS per week.......... 45 to 100

Aft*

Boys, SS to $12, 1<I*a 4A
girls, 86 to 810,
per week.
I'M
No................ Can not state.. Rarely.............................. SATU>f u*m L”

Classroom and individual.

40 tv newriters, duplicating, adding, cal •N o................. 90 percent__
culating. and printing machines.
!

Classroom..

40 typewriters, 1 mimeograph, 2 adding
machines, filing equipment.

Yes. with aidof typewriting 88 per week.......... 150..
companies and employ
ment bureaus.

a non

!
1

811 000
1

$0............

..do..

No.................

°00

CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS.
In te rn a tio n a l C orresp on d en ce..

Mechanical engineering, drafting, electrical engineering, None..
electric lighting, shop practice, and 30 other courses.

None..

.. None.............. Average $50.......... not given....... Not given...... Notgiv

Correspondence.

!
i

A m erican C orresp on d en ce..............................
P a tte rs o n C orresp on d en ce..............................
T e ch n ica l C o rresp on d en ce..............................
i n d e p e n d e n t C orresp on d en ce ......................
P a ge-D avis S c h o o l o f Illu stra tin g .................
In te rn a tio n a l T y p og ra p h ica l t u i o n . . . . . .
F ederal S c h o o l o l C om m ercia l D e s ig n in g .
M ilw a u k e e C orresp on d en ce S c h o o l.............
A lexander ITatnUton S c h o o l...........................
E
m e rfor
s o nFRASER
S c h o o l B u sin ess E ffic ie n cy ..........
Digitized

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/
42805°—Bull. 199-17. (To face page 116.)
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

■Ailf AAA

!
!

i
i

1
* Supplemented with practical work with children in a day nursery.

!
1
l

CHAPTER V.
TO WHAT EXTENT IS APPRENTICESHIP MEETING THE
NEED?
CONDITION OF APPRENTICESH IP IN M INNEAPOLIS.

The main facts regarding apprenticeship hare been given in the
separate chapters of this report devoted to each trade. This chapter
attempts to interpret and analyze apprenticeship as an institution
for training new workers.
According to former practice, an apprentice is a worker receiving
initiatory training under a legal contract entered into by the em
ployer, the apprentice and his parent. Originally this written in
denture provided that, in place of the parent, the master or employer
was to have care and custody of the youth during his apprenticeship,
and at the same time was to teach him “ the art and mystery of the
craft.” The apprentice in turn agreed to obey the master and to ex
change his services for support and instruction in the trade.
No apprenticeship of this kind exists in any of the trades and in
dustries of Minneapolis. Instead a wide variety of schemes called
apprenticeship and so designated by the United States Census of
Population are now relied upon to prepare workers for the trade.
There are five such methods of regulating apprenticeship in Minne
apolis : (1) By written contract; (2) by trade agreement; (3) by
custom; (4) by a helper system; (5) by schooling. Sometimes the
helper system is regulated by trade agreements and sometimes by
custom. With the use of public and private schools to prepare
youths for wage-earning occupations there has come a fifth and
growing plan, here called apprenticeship by schooling.
Apprenticeship by written contract is infrequent in Minneapolis, and
so far as the survey has been able to ascertain is used in only three
trades, photo-engraving, bricklaying, and painting. The provisions
of the written contract used in each of these strongly organized
trades embody in part the union regulations for apprenticeship.
In these contracts the employer agrees to instruct the youth, but
is not given the care and custody of him. While the old-time appren
tice exchanged his services for instruction and support, the youth
agrees in these written contracts to exchange his services for instruc
tion and wages, which in the case of bricklayers and photo-engravers
are specified in the contract.

119

120

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOE STATISTICS.

The written contract in the painter’s trade is little more than an
application approved by the employer, and in none of the three
trades does the contract cover all the union rules and regulations.
The parent is not a party to the agreement, and the contracts be
tween the employer and the minor have little legal significance.
Apprenticeship by trade agreement occurs when the owner of a
“ union ” shop agrees, in employing new workers and teaching them
the trade, to observe the rules and regulations of the union for the
trade, which in this way bccome the terms of apprenticeship.
There are two kinds of apprenticeship by trade agreement in
Minneapolis. In the first, the conditions are set forth in the written
agreement between the employer and the union. Apprenticeship is
carried on in this way in the case of machinists, compositors on some
newspapers, photo-engravers, boiler makers in railroad shops, electro
type workers, brewery workers, and electrical workers.
In the second, the arrangements with the employer for training
the apprentice are not prescribed in a written agreement, but are
governed by the rules and regulations concerning apprenticeship in
the national constitution and by-laws of the union. Sometimes the
understanding with the shop to adhere to the union regulations is not
written but oral or tacit. Apprenticeship of this kind exists to some
extent among electrical workers, stonecutters, plumbers, carpenters,
cabinetmakers, compositors in job shops, pressmen, slieet-metal
workers, steam fitters, lathers, pattern makers, bakers, cigar makers,
barbers, and bookbinders.
In general, the union by-laws or the trade agreement specify mini
mum and maximum age of entrance upon apprenticeship; number of
apprentices allotted to shops of different size; obligations which the
employer assumes in training the apprentice; years of service re
quired in apprenticeship preliminary to joumeymanship; usually the
wage to be paid the apprentice during the successive years of his
service, and the length of time he is to be employed each year.
Apprenticeship by custom usually obtains in an “ open shop ” or in
unorganized trades, where, without any indenture or agreement,
young persons are taken on at a learner’s wage and advanced to
journeymanship either in orderly sequence or as rapidly as em
ployers consider them competent.
An illustration is furnished by the milliner’s trade. Without any
papers being signed, new girls serve as learners the first year for
little more than their car fare and the second year receive $3 to $4
a week. After this, their wages are advanced as they show skill.
This plan* for girls known as apprentices in millinery has become a
well-recognized custom in practically all the shops employing
learners.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

121

Frequently where apprenticeship by custom exists, new workers
are taken cn without even a verbal understanding as to years of
service, wages, or kind of work. In some instances, apprenticeship
by custom exists in unorganized shops of trades having a labor or
ganization whose employers engage apprentices on substantially the
same conditions as in union shops except that in the latter the num
ber to be employed is limited.
Apprenticeship by custom exists, with one or two exceptions, in
all the skilled trades named in the foregoing paragraphs. Where
the trade is strongly organized, practically no apprenticeship by
custom occurs, but where not strongly organized or not organized at
all, some apprentices by custom will be found. For example, there is
no apprenticeship by custom in electrotyping, which is 100 per cent
organized. Practically all apprenticeship in the carpenter’s trade
is by custom, as all carpenter shops in the city are open shops. In
the machine shops of railroads where the unions have agreements
apprenticeship is entirely by trade agreements, but in all other ma
chine shops of Minneapolis it is entirely by custom.
Apprenticeship by the helper system is found in trades where the
work is too arduous for youths and where there is little opportunity
for shop training, the helper acquiring the tricks of the trade in as
sisting his principal. This plan is used in blacksmithing, boiler
making, steam fitting, and plumbing. Perhaps the best illustration
is the boiler shop of the railroads, where a new worker, who must be
over 21 years old, starts as a second-class handy man. From this
position he may rise by successive steps through 13 classes of boiler
makers to that of a first-class boiler maker.
Apprenticeship by schooling obtains when a school is established
which gives a student the preparation needed before he enters the oc
cupation as a wageworker. This kind of apprenticeship is not given
in the United States Census of Occupations because such learners are
not usually called apprentices. It is included here, however, because
the school is already being used in Minneapolis to give new workers
some preparation for a variety of occupations, and because the fail
ure of other kinds of apprenticeship seems to point to the school as
a growing means of solving the problem.
Attention is called to the chart and the text comment upon it in
Chapter IV, showing the wide variety of vocational schools already
established in Minneapolis. The rapid rise of these institutions, un
satisfactory as some of them are, shows not only that in some occu
pations apprenticeship no longer serves as an adequate means of pre
paring competent workers, but also that the school has become a
definite substitute.
This is especially true of the commercial school, which has de
veloped simultaneously with the modern office. The commercial

122

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

world has long ceased to give systematic training to its employees and
relies entirely for this upon the public and private schools.
Of more immediate concern here are schools that give instruction
in trade and industrial subjects. The chart in Chapter I V lists both
day and evening classes in these subjects. For the purpose of this
chapter the evening classes are disregarded. In the opinion of em
ployers and employees evening school work serves best when it gives
supplementary instruction to persons with experience in a trade or
occupation. Evening courses which attempt to train novices, par
ticularly in practical work, are too rudimentary and too limited as to
the time to afford any adequate substitute for apprenticeship training.
Consequently, only day trade and industrial classes are considered.
Up to September 1, when the field work of the survey closed, only
two companies were conducting schools for employees. One tele
phone company had a brief course for novices in switchboard oper
ating and one department store a short course in salesmanship. Since
then the other telephone company has established classcs in the oper
ation of the automatic telephone, while several department stores
have introduced lectures in salesmanship.
In all, 14 private schools, operated for profit, give day-class instruc
tion in telegraphy, operation of traction engines, window dressing,
barbering, manicuring and hairdressing, automobile repair, sewing,
and dressmaking.
The number of students in these schools is shown in the chart.
Some do good work and prepare large numbers of persons for certain
occupations. The survey was unable to obtain definite information
as to the number going from the schools into the trades or as to their
success as workers. Comment on these schools has already been made
in Chapter IV. The time given by the student for preparation in
most cases does not seem to promise much apprenticeship training,
the average in all the courses, except telegraphy, being about six
weeks. These schools occupy a very limited field and do not cover
any highly skilled trades. Even if they gave adequate preparation,
the tuition they charge for very brief courses is so high as to place
them beyond the reach of most.
Later this chapter will discuss the effort by the Girls’ Vocational
High School to give girls a two years’ practical and technical train
ing and place them as advanced apprentices in dressmaking, mil
linery, garment making, salesmanship, and junior nursing; also the
effort of the Dunwoody Institute to train boys in a two years’ course
and placo them as advanced apprentices in electrical working, teleph
ony, carpentry, cabinetmaking, machine-shop work, and automobile
repairing and construction.
The number of apprentices in the manufacturing and mechanical
industries of Minneapolis in 1910 was 634, according to the United

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

123

States Census, of wliom 554 were males and 80 females. Since the
census must rely for its classification upon statements of workers,
this number represents a rather rough return as to number of appren
tices and includes persons from each group of apprentices con
sidered ; it is also doubtful whether all helpers are included. Of the
male apprentices, 142 were employed in building and hand trades
and 412 in manufacturing industries. Of the 80 females, 67 were
employed in millinery and 13 in dressmaking.
It is impossible to make an accurate estimate of the number of
apprentices in the manufacturing industries for comparison with the
census figures, because the term apprentice is very uncertain in its
meaning and scope.
According to the survey figures from the joint conferences of em
ployers and employees, checked up by the registration of the unions,
there were 441 apprentices in the building trades in Minneapolis, dis
tributed as follows:
Electric workers_____________________________________________ 50
Plum bers____________________________________________________ 82
Carpenters----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50
P ainters_____________________________________________________ 25
Bricklayers_________________________________________________
30
P lasterers___________________________________________________ 25
Steam fitters________________________________________________ 1145
Cabinetmakers---------------------------------------------------------------------20
Lathers______________________________________________________
4
*
Sheet-metal workers_________________________________________ 10

These figures seem to indicate that the census returns of 1910 were
too low or that the number of apprentices had increased since then.
Assuming that as many apprentices are in the manufacturing in
dustries now as in 1909 (425), and in dressmaking and millinery
(80), and adding the number in the building trades in 1915, there
would be approximately 946 in Minneapolis. At best, these figures
are only a rough estimate and do not include a small group of ap
prentices in hand trades not counted among the building trades.
Even if it were assumed that all these 946 apprentices were getting
adequate training, they represent a very small contribution to future
workmanship when it is pointed out that productive work in Minne
apolis in 1909 employed 53,250 persons.
Conditions of work and of apprenticeship in Minneapolis are
about the same as in every other large city in the country, indicating
that apprenticeship, if not actually on the decline, furnishes little
hope for adequate training even in the skilled trades. About twothirds of the 53,250 productive workers in Minneapolis reported by
the census are in unskilled or low-grade skilled industries, where
1These are not real apprentices, but helpers, though sometimes called apprentices by the
trade, and hence included here.

124

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

there is no apprenticeship and the conditions of manufacturing are
such that there probably never will be.
These industries employ many workers and manufacture such
products as flour, lumber, textiles, chemicals, and clothing on a large
scale, using highly specialized machines which operate almost auto
matically and require workers only to feed them.
In general, what little apprenticeship there is in Minneapolis is
in the building, printing, tobacco, brewing, dressmaking, and milli
nery trades, and the machine shops, about one-half of all being in the
building trades.
Even in these trades in which apprenticeship is the principal
avenue of entrance, large-scale production, specialization, and intro
duction of machinery have worked great changes. What was for
merly a trade has become machine work. The old-time tradesman has
become a machine worker no longer able to learn the whole trade nor
use it in industries that have increased the demand for a kind of un
skilled labor which untrained youth and man can learn quickly.
This may appear to be rather a gloomy picture, both as to opportuni
ties for apprenticeship training and as to the need and opportunity
for the well-trained and all-round workman. On the other hand,
employers and employees agree that, while the number of competent
all-round workmen is comparatively less than ever, the need for a
few such men is more intensive. One evidence of this is the eager
ness with which employers agreed to employ the graduates of the
two-year courses, fitting for different trades, offered by the Dun
woody Institute.
In the conferences last summer, emploj^ers and employees in prac
tically every trade agreed that some form of apprenticeship train
ing was greatly needed for the worker and the business, for one or all
of the following reasons:
(1) A more careful selection of men who want to follow the
trade results.
(2) The apprentice advances into journeymanship with more in
terest in his calling.
(3) The best time to get full knowledge of different machines
and processes is while the learner is young. With proper apprentice
ship training the youth learns best methods at the outset, instead of
unlearning bad practices later.
(4) Where school training accompanies shop practice, the youth
gains technical mastery over processes which would otherwise be
mechanical, and learns to adapt himself to changing conditions as the
untrained specialized machine worker never can.
(5) Wider knowledge of all processes gives him an understanding,
even in specialized work, which machine hands can not have.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUEVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

125

(6)
Apprentices of the future, if some better method of teaching
can be found, will be not only all-round men, able to cope with every
situation, but also men from whom the shop can obtain foremen and
technicians.
“ Modem industry may even complete an organization in which
all the work is done by machinery made almost automatic and oper
ated by machine hands, but will always have a need of the men who
are masters of its processes to bind them all together and to direct
the labor of the machine worker.”
Buies and regulations for apprenticeship as to age, wage, period
of service and quota limitations vary greatly not only between dif
ferent trades but between organized and unorganized shops. In
the accompanying table the rules and policies adopted by the
union are given where there is an organization of any kind, stx*ong
or weak. Where there is no organization, the prevailing custom of
the trade is given.
T ab le 9 . —RULES AND REGULATIONS FOB APPRENTICESHIP IN MINNEAPOLIS.

Trade.
Barbers.......
Blacksmiths.

Brewers..........

Age.

Wage.

Period of service.

Not un No regulation............. Not specified..............
der 16.
N o re Helper, big lires, 274 2 years as helper; 3
cents anjiour; helper,
years as advanced
quire
2d fires, 27$ cents an
helper.
ment.
hour; helper, spring
makers. 25$ cents an
hour; helper, gen
eral, 24} cents an
hour.
is to 21. 1st year, $14.50 a week; 2years
2d year, $16.50 a

Bricklayers__

16 lo 20.

Cabinetmakers

18 lo 22.

Carpenters___

17 lo 22.

Cigar makers..

16 to 17.

Compositors...,

1st year, 20 cents an

3 years
hour; 2d year, 30
cents an hour; 3d
year, 40 cents an
hour.
1st year, $2.25 a day; 4 years
2d year, $2.50 a day;
3d year, $2.75 a day;
4th year, $3.15 a day.
1st year. $1 a day; 2d 3 years
year, $1.50 a day; 3d
year, $2.25 a day.
No regulation.............
do.

No regu No union provision; 4 years
1st year. $6 or $7 a
lation.
week; 2d year, $8 a
week; 3d year, $12 a
week; 4th year, $15 a
week.
Dressmakers (no or ..d o ----- Very low..................... No provision.
ganization or agreement).
1st year by contract; 4 years.
Electrical workers__ 18..
2d year, $2.50 a day;
3d 3rear, $3 a day; 4th
year, $3.50 a day.
Electrotypers.
No pro 1st year, $17 a week; 5 years.
vision.
no provision other
years.
Horseshoers.
No provision............... 4 years........................
Lathers.......
18 to 21.. $1.25 to $3 a day, de 1to 2 years; when l:e
pending on lath laid.
becomes third-class
lather.

Limitations as to quota.

1to shop.
1 advanced helper to
every 5 blacksmiths;
1to shop.
1to the brewery.

If 20
men are employed, 2
but no more.
1to each contractor.

1lo 10 journeymen.
I>o.

1to shop up to 5 jour

neymen; 2 for from 5
to 10 journeymen; 3
to 10 or more.
1 to 5 journeymen.

1to 2 journeymen.
1for 11
1 to each add
journeyman.
1to shop.

126

BULLETIN OF TIIE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Table 0.—RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR APPRENSICESHIP IN MINNEAPOLIS—Con.
Trade.
Machinists.

Millinery (no organi
za tion or agree
ment).
Painters...................

Wage.

Age.

1st

Period of service.

year, 12 cents an 4 years.
hour; 2d year, 16
cents an hour; 3d
year, 20 cents an
hour; 4th year, 21
cents an hour.
No regu 1st year. $1.50 to S3 a 2years,
lation.
week; 2d year, $2.50
to S5 a week.
16 to 21.. 1st year, 87 a week; 2d 3 years,
year, S12 a week; 3d
year, S15 a week.

16 to 21..

1st year, S5 a week; 2d

Limitations as to quota.
1 to 5 journeymen.

1 to 3 journeymen; 2 to
average of 15; 1 to
every 25 men there
after.
1 to 4 journeymen; 2 to
7 journeymen.

5 years
year, $7 a week; 3d
year, $9 a week; 4th
year, $12 a week; 5th
year, S15 a week.
Plasterers................ 16 to 21.. 1st 6 months, SI a day; 4 years
1to each contractor.
2d 6 months, $1.50 a
day; 2d year, $2 a
day; 3d year, $3 a
day; 4th year, $4 a
day.
No union provision; $5 No specified period; 1to each shop.
Plumbers.
17.
becomes j u n i o r
a week to $2 a day.
plumber upon pass
ing city examina
tions.
Sheet-metal workers.. About 16 30 cents an hour..
3 years as helper; 1 1 to 5 journeymen; 1
year as apprentice.
helper to each man
on job.
5 years.
Steam fitters (no ap 21years $2.50 a day.........
Up to 4J-inch pipe, 1
prentices; helpers
helper to 1 journey
f o r
only in Minneapo
h e 1pman; over 4J-inch, 1
lis).
ers.
helper and 1 laborer
to 1journeyman.
Stonecutters.
Not over 1st year, $1 a day; 2d 4 years:
1
to 12 journeymen.
18.
year, si.50 a day; 3d
year, $2 a day; 4th
year, S3 a day.
Photo-engravers...... . 16.

In no other question investigated by the survey was such free
expression of opinion gained as concerning apprenticeship. A con
ference committee for practically each skilled trade, composed of
two employers and two workers, gave frank consideration to the
problem and agreed in most respects both as to the present condition
of apprenticeship and the causes of its decline. These views were
supported by practically every employer and employee with whom
the question was discussed. A summary of these conferences with
quotations of representative statements from the trades follows:
The matter in the foregoing table was not the subject of much
discussion. While in times past such questions as age, wage, period
of service, and limitation on the number would have provoked
vigorous discussion, none, except limitation of numbers, was given
more than brief consideration. Most of the conference centered
around the present unsatisfactory arrangements for training ap
prentices and ways for improvement.
The limitation upon the number of apprentices allotted to a shop
under union rules brought out, in frank discussions, sharp difference
of opinion between employers and the unions. While few employers

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

127

even in union shops have the full quota of apprentices allowed
under union regulations, a large majority declared they were opposed
to the limitation as a matter of principle. Their position may be
stated thus: “ As employers in shops independent of the unions we
are not interested in the limitation imposed by the unions on the
number of apprentices, but we have always been against it.” Most
employers declare the limitation showed that the union favored ap
prenticeship “ not so much as a device for training new workers
but as a means of restricting the number of journeymen in the trade
and of insuring new workers favorable to the union.”
The union representatives admitted that the main purpose in limit
ing the apprentices was “ to prevent the overcrowding of the trades
with its resulting reduction of wage,” stating that “ It is right in
principle for those dependent on a trade for a livelihood to protect
themselves against undue competition and to organize themselves
for the protection of mutual interests,” and that “ while this is true,
we have always favored the proper training of the apprentice in
the shop and many of the unions have tried through their by-laws
and trade agreements to insure this to the boy.”
The fact that most of the shops do not have the full quota shows
that limitation of apprentices is not an issue at present.
The facts and opinions gathered from these conferences are un
satisfactory and discouraging to those who have believed in the
old form of apprenticeship. Except for three important railroad
shops and a few employers employing one or two apprentices, prac
tically no employer, whether operating under or independent of
union rules, has the quota of apprentices allowed under such rules.
Because their work consists of a variety of repairs affording good
opportunity to use and instruct apprentices, the three railroad shops
have found the employment of apprentices to be profitable both for
immediate returns and for obtaining good workmen.
Most employers do not want apprentices under the old system. Per
haps the most striking fact brought out by the survey was that most
employers do not want to be bothered with apprentices. Some of
the reasons given were:
Apprentices o f the old kind are unprofitable as a business proposition.
Modern industry is organized to produce goods, not to train new workers.
In his first year the apprentice, as a novice, is a liability rather than an
asset.
The wage o f the modern apprentice is too high; he exchanges his labor for
wages greater than his work.
The employer can not afford to pay the wage and in addition go to the
trouble and expense o f giving instruction.
The wage paid is so high as to make it impossible for the employer to em
ploy apprentices, and if he does it is necessary to use them for productive
work rather than as learners.

128

BULLETIX OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The cost o f systematizing and supervising the work o f the learner makes
the task unprofitable from the standpoint o f either immediate or future
returns.
It is not safe In some lines to employ the apprentice as a young learner
because o f the danger from machines and the value o f the materials handled.

In the seasonal building trades most employers objected to giv
ing continuous employment to apprentices, declaring that, aside
from the co§t, they disliked to assume responsibility for training
young workers.
To the facts brought out by employers the unions, as a whole, did
not take exception. They deplored the specialization in modem in
dustry which is making apprenticeship of the old kind increasingly
difficult. While they conceded that in some trades, at least, such
apprentices are undoubtedly unprofitable to the employer, “ never
theless, the employer usually makes back the loss before the close
of the period of apprenticeship.” Some unions admitted that the
wage of the apprentice, particularly for the first and often for the
second year, was too high, but declared it necessary in order to at
tract desirable boys.
Most of the unions, though recognizing the difficulties, thought it
possible to go much further than the employer seemed willing to go
in systematizing shop experiences of the apprentice, and that a
proper system of helper training “ not only would do away with
the most of the present fear as to injury to the apprentice and
damage to goods, but also would provide a better trade education
than is now being given.”
“ Only,” it was said, “ in proportion to the employer’s sense of
obligation to prepare new workers, even if it is necessary for him
to go to some expense and trouble, can the shpp succeed as a device
for instructing the apprentice.”
Employers maintain that apprenticeship does not develop desirable boys.
Some prefer “American boys,” saying, however, that “ the American
boy is not willing to serve faithfully in the trade.” Many say they
are constantly besieged by apprentices who want to remain at one
machine or process where the wage is better than in regular appren
ticeship.
They say: “ Young men don't want to learn the whole trade, but
just enough to get by.” “ Many apprentices never finish the train
ing if such it may be called.” “ They leave for more money at
special jobs in other shops.” “ They drift away to other shops and
cities carrying with them the asset of experience and skill which
they have gained with one employer to use it for the benefit of a
competitor.” “ Even when they serve until journevmanship they
are quick to shift to other shops before the employer who has ap
prenticed them is able to profit by his investment in them.”

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

129

The unions admit the increasing difficulty of getting promising
apprentices, but assert that this is due in part to the fact that many
trades have ceased to train apprentices properly. “ If the apprentice
is not engaged or instructed in anything but a monotonous drudgery
he sees nothing ahead of him in the trade.” “ If he learns only a
few specialized processes he does not see why he should remain
three or four years as an apprentice learning only to be a machine
hand.”
Unions as well as employers recognize the temptation of the ap
prentice “ to shunt off into a special task as a machine worker,” but
also feel that “ there is too much of a tendency on the part of some
employers to take advantage of this attitude of the apprentice by
assigning him to one task permanently.”
The unions admit that apprentices quit before their time is out
and sometimes go elsewhere as journeymen. “Admittedly the mat
ter is difficult to control.” “ Where the trade is strongly organized
the union often succeeds in compelling the apprentice to return
and complete his apprenticeship.” “ If the shop career of the ap
prentice was properly organized and systematized the present dif
ficulty in getting and holding good boys would largely disappear.”
The attitude of the apprentice himself has had, in the opinion of
both employers and unions, a great deal to do with the decline of
the old apprenticeship. The following quotations are representative:
“ Like the employer, the American boy, and to an increasing
degree the foreign-born boy, object to being bound by rules and
regulations as to wage, period of service, and kind of employment
and training.” “ In many instances he looks upon apprenticeship
as a form of wage slavery.” “ Unlike the apprentice of European
countries, he is not willing to make thoroughgoing preparation
for the future, but wants the largest immediate return for his labor.”
“ It is the spirit of the age which has had most to do with the
failure of apprenticeship in getting and keeping promising boys.”
“ In a few of the trades, at least, the beginning wage of the ap
prentice is less than he could earn in a short while in some juvenile
employment or factorized process. Even when the wage at the
start is as good or better than the apprentice could make in other
lines, the gradual rise of wage from year to year during his period
of service does not appeal to him as offering the same opportunity
for quick return as other lines outside the skilled trades.”
“ In his eagerness he forgets that if he would forego wage earning,
journeymanship at the end would offer better wages and larger
opportunity for advancement than can possibly.come to him in
highly specialized occupations where the entrance wage is good but
42805°— I?ull. 100—17------ 9

100

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

where the top wage is soon reached.” “ The shifting of apprentices
to other positions is due to a desire for a larger wage, and, if the
employer does not grant the request for the change of work, the
apprentice will shift to another shop where it will be granted.”
“ In the shops where the work under modern production is highly
specialized in all departments and the piece-rate system of wage is
used, there is undoubtedly a strong temptation for the boy to re
main at some one machine or process rather than to shift to another
machine and begin again at a lower wage.”
“ Undoubtedly the failure under the modern system of produc
tion to systematize and standardize the shop experience and train
ing of the* apprentice, as well as the almost total absence of techni
cal instruction, is a moving cause of the failure of so many appren
tices to finish the required period of service.” “ Much of the work
they perform is menial, automatic, monotonous, meaningless, and
uninteresting. Some of this is probably good and unavoidable, but
too much of it leads apprentices to feel that it is of no consequence
and leads nowhere.” “ Discouraged because they are not gaining
any insight or skill in trade processes, they seek a change of em
ployment, a new start, and a larger income.”
The apprentice of to-day must rely for instruction upon the fore
man and journeyman. Unless they have a direct interest in the
apprentice, he is frequently neglected. The testimony of apprentices
themselves and of employers and journeymen indicates that often
the indifference and unwillingness of the journeyman to teach the
trade to apprentices have helped to discourage and eliminate them.
The lack of proper shop training of the apprentice was admitted by
both employers and employees for practically all the trades except
that of machinist in the railroad shops, where the apprentice is
trained under the specific agreement between the railroad companies
and the machinists’ union.
Under the terms of this agreement apprentices “ will be in
structed in all branches of the trade during their term of appren
ticeship and as far as practicable will not be required to work over
four months on any one machine or class of work.” These shops
have charted the work for each of the four years.
In addition to charting the work these shops keep records show
ing what the apprentice does each year and his progress. Fol
lowing is the card checking system devised by the superintendent
of motive power of the “ Soo ” Railroad. It represents the highest
development of systematic training of apprentices that the survey
has found in this city:

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

131

MINNEAPOLIS, ST. PAUL & 8AULT STE. MARIE RY. CO.
R ecord

of ..............................................................................................Machinist

A pprentice.

Entered service 6-9-11. Age, 18.
T raining .

A bility.

Conduct.

F irst
Y ear .

Drill press............ 6-9-11 to 7-1-11.
Shaper.................. 7-1-11 to 10-fc-ll.
Boring mill.......... 10-2-11 to 1-2-12.
Slotter.................. 1-2-12 to 4-2-12.

Fair.
Good.
Fair.
Fair.

Good.
Inclined'to be inattentive.
Good.
Good.

Second
Y ear .

Lathe work dM f 4-2-12 to 7-2-12.
vided betweenII 7-2-12to 10-2-12.
4 engine andf| 10-2-12 to 1-2-13.
turret lathes.. .J ( 1-2-13 to 4-2-13.

Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.

Good.1
Good.
Good.
Good.

Valves.................. 4-2-13 to 7-2-13.
Eccentrics............ 10-2-13 to 1-2-14.
Planer.................. 1-2-14 to 4-2-14.

Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.

Good.
Good.
Good.
GoodJ

Devoted to floor)
work, including!/ 7-2-14.
air brake and ft 6-9-15.
truck work.......J

Good.
Good.

Good. Getting better.
Good. O. K.

T hird
Y ear .

F ourth
Y ear .

A little slow in move' ment and concep
tion.

R emarks: Will make a good mechanic.

In general, the experience and the attention the apprentice gets in
the different trades of Minneapolis depend upon the employer and
the nature of his business. Employers vary greatly in their attitude
toward apprenticeship and the apprentice. Some feel a keener sense
of responsibility for him than others. Some make an effort, unsatis
factory to themselves, to give him as wide an experience as the shop
will permit. Others state frankly that they dislike to be bothered
with apprentices and permit them to receive training through chance
experiences of the trade. The experience of the apprentice differs
widely in different plants. In general, the more highly specialized
the business the more difficult it is to broaden the work of the appren
tice and give him an all-round training.
Regulations as to training of apprentices have been adopted by the
unions in most of the trades of the city. Plumbers, steam fitters,
lathers, cabinetmakers, and cigar makers have no provisions.
As already stated, the machinists provide for shifting apprentices
from machine to machine once every four months. The stonecutters
provide that “ the apprentice shall be given the best work as far as
he is able to do it and pushed along as fast as his ability will allow.”
In the case of electrical workers, the apprentice “ must, before being
admitted as a journeyman, pass an examination before the regular
examining board of this local union.” The employing painter who
has an understanding with the union agrees “ to use all proper
endeavor to instruct the apprentice to learn said trade.”

132

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Written contracts of apprenticeship made by the bricklayers’ union
provide that the boy is to be taught the trade. The sheet-metal
workers state that “ helpers who look promising are asked to join
the union.” The brewers’ organization provides that “ all appren
tices must be given the opportunity to work in all departments of
the brewery.”
With the exception of the machinists’ union, the blacksmiths’ union
has the most specific regulations of apprentice training in its by-laws.
They read: “A helper shall be permitted to have a fire after he has
worked three years continuously in the shop that he is employed
in. He shall not be required to work on one class of work for a
longer period than six months, if at all possible, and during the
period of his advancement he shall be instructed in all branches of
the trade, after which he shall receive from the company a cer
tificate.” No apprentice in the blacksmith’s trade was reported.
The Minneapolis Typographical Union requires all apprentices
who are to be compositors to take a course of instruction in the corre
spondence school at Chicago, maintained by the International Typo
graphical Union. For this course, which usually requires about two
veal's, apprentices pay $15 tuition. Efforts are being made to arrange
that attendance of apprentices upon evening classes for compositors
in the Dunwoody Institute shall be accepted in place of the work
by correspondence.
It appears that only a few unions have any regulation as to kind
of experiences and training for the apprentice. In some cases, ac
cording to their own statement, the provisions of the unions for
training are not much more than paper regulations, because the trade
is poorly organized. In most cases these provisions are general and
do not regulate the shopwork of the apprentice. Only one union,
which has no strength outside the railroad shop, has charted any
definite and systematic plan of training. Even in some of the more
strongly organized unions, such as the bricklayers’, the training of
the apprentice has been left entirely to the employer and the chances
of the trade.
The criticism as to the actual kind of training given to apprentices
came from both employers and employees, who found themselves in
substantial agreement. All recognized and deplored the entire
absence of technical instruction, which all believed the shop never has
given and never can give properly. Their statements ran: “ Techni
cal knowledge can riot be acquired in the routine of the trade.”
“ Drawing and laying out of the work can not be learned on the job.”
“ The apprentice must get his technical training from the outside or
from trade papers.” “ Journeymen are not able to instruct in any
thing else than the processes of the trade, because they do not have

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133

time.” “ Technical training must be given by outside agencies, such
as the school or trade papers.”
The statements as to shop experiences were no less positive:
“ Modern apprenticeship is no way to train boys, who just have to
pick up their trade knowledge.” “The apprentice has always been
neglected.” “ Not one out of 25 employers takes any interest in the
boy other than paying for a day’s work.” “ Some journeymen are un
willing to teach boys what they know about the trade.” “ Boys are
not kept with one man, but shifted too often.” “ No time is devoted
to the training of apprentices.” “ The boy runs errands instead of
learning trade.” “ The tendency of the trade is to make the boy a
machine hand.” “ Employers keep boys on one machine too long.”
“ There is no training for the better branches of the trade.” “ A
worker learns by bitter experience long after his term of apprentice
ship has been served.”
R ELATIO N OF TH E SCHOOL TO APPRENTICESH IP TRA IN IN G .

From the foregoing, apprenticeship seems to be on the decline, and
employees and employers not only are dissatisfied with it as a means
of training new workers but believe that under modem conditions,
unaided by other devices, apprenticeship offers little or no hope as a
system of preparing youths for the skilled trades. It remains to
consider how far the industrial school can be used to supplement or
serve as a substitute for apprenticeship.
In considering this question conferences were held with employers
and, wherever the trade was organized, with employees, in the fol
lowing lines: Electrical working, stonecutting, plumbing, carpentry,
painting, machine shops, bricklaying, cabinetmaking, automobile
repairing and construction, printing, sheet-metal working, hoisting
engineering, stationary engineering, steam fitting, plastering, laun
dering, structural-iron working, dressmaking, and millinery.
The effort was made to learn whether there was any need for school
instruction in the trade and whether this should be given (1) in
all-day classes, preparing the youth, in part at least, for the trade;
(2) in part-time or cooperative classes, taking part of his working
time for school training; (3) in dull-season classes, attended for a full
day by apprentices already in the trade during the dull season, as in
building trades; (4) in evening trade extension classes, extending the
knowledge and skill of the apprentice or adult worker; or in some
combination of two or more of these types of classes.
Of all the trades above listed only structural-iron workers and
laundries held that the school could give no training of any kind.
All the others believed there was a need of trade instruction through
the schools, although differing as to whether day, part-time, dullseason classes, or evening instruction was needed.

134

BULLETIN OK TTTE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Evening school instruction was favored by all the other trades
listed. The survey did not find a single trade where employers
or employees believed that evening classes should attempt to train
novices for any trade in which they had no experience. All believed
that the time given evening instruction was short (about 100 hours
a year), and that effort to prepare men for trades in which they had
no experience would waste the student’s time and the resources of the
school. All these trades, however, heartily approved the evening
trade extension classes, with their policy of taking men already en
gaged during the day and giving them practical and technical in
struction. The interest of both employers and employees in evening
schools of this kind was shown by the hearty cooperation and assist
ance they gave to the survey in drawing up evening schpol courses to
meet the needs of both apprentices and journeymen already in the
trade.
The part-time school, for the apprentice or young worker, which
takes a part of his working time out of the day, week, or month for
instruction in the theory and practice of the trade, was approved by
both employers and employees, although only one class of this kind
had been formed. In general, both employers and employees thought
the fairest plan was for the employer to pay half the apprentice’s
regular wage during the time given to part-time instruction.
The dull-season school met with strong approval from four building
trades—bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, and painting.
The question of day classes giving boys who have never been in
the trade a part of their apprenticeship training occupied much
attention. Much of this centered around the work of the Dunwoody
Institute which had established a school that is now preparing boys
for entrance into electrical work and telephony, carpentry, and cabinetmaking, machine-shop work, and automobile repair and construc
tion, printing, and presswork.
The employers from these trades welcomed the establishment of
these day classes as giving boys a part of their appenticeship train
ing. They believed that the school would give the apprentice far
better training than the shop, and that two years of instruction in
the school would more than equal two years of experience in the
trade. They looked upon the school as a promising source of supply
of carefully trained bovs, whose employment would relieve the em
ployer of practically all the objections now found in employing
apprentices, particularly in their earlier years in the shop. They
strongly believed that to train these apprentices properly the school
must be kept in close touch with the trade.
The representatives of the unions heartily indorsed the part-time,
dull-season, and evening schools, but raised some questions concern
ing the day school which are presented here because they reflect the

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135

doubts of organized labor. They said that schools had been estab
lished in some communities in the interest of the manufacturer and
with the deliberate purpose of breaking up the union; that these
schools turned out mechanics too rapidly, without giving them a
thorough knowledge of the craft, with a resulting tendency to lower
the standard of skill; and that in any day school preparing for the
trade there was danger of overcrowding the market with new work
ers, should more boys be trained than there were positions. It was
said: “ The effect of this would be unemployment and a depression
in wages injurious alike to the older workmen and the boy desiring
to follow the trade as a life work.” “ If the purpose of the day school
is to fit the pupils for a desirable skilled occupation, it should not
train more than a limited number of workers, otherwise it will defeat
its own aim.” The largest misgiving as to the day school was “ the
fear that it might be conducted with ulterior motives rather than
to promote a higher order of industrial skill.”
While practically all the unions voiced these sentiments, they rec
ognized that the day school had many excellent advantages as a pre
liminary apprenticeship. They agreed with employers that if the
day school was to realize its purpose as to apprenticeship training,
there must be more careful selection of youths, more thoroughgoing
training than is usual in industrial schools, and close contact with
the trade.
The idea of both employers and employees as to the best way the
school could serve is shown by the arrangement drawn up in con
ference and approved by employers and employees for carpentry,
cabinetmaking, and printing. These trades are now taught in the
Dunwoody Institute. Similar arrangements were made with the em
ployers in telephony and automobile repair and construction, which
are not organized. Negotiations with the employing electricians are
still pending. The employing machinists did not complete the ar
rangements for that trade. In the one remaining trade—pressroom
work—the union did not complete the arrangements.
What follows, therefore, is a description of apprentice training in
the Dunwoody Institute for electrical work and telephony, carpentry,
and cabinetmaking, automobile construction and repair, and printing.
It is understood that these arrangements are for the benefit of all
the workers in the trades and industries whether organized or un
organized, and whether workers are employed in union shops or
otherwise. It remains to point out the significance of these arrange
ments from the standpoint of apprenticeship.
1. The selection of apprentices for training. All boys entering the
classes must be over 14 years old. Those taking telephony, electrical
work, and printing must have completed the eighth grade, and those
fitting for the other trades the seventh grade.

136

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

2. A probation period of three months is to be required in each of the
trades to test the pupil’s interest in and fitness for the work.
3. A two-year period of training is to be provided, including three
months of probation, half of each school day being given to actual
sliopwork and half to academic and technical instruction.
4. Provision is made for the transfer of apprentices from the school to
the shop after two years of instruction in the school.
5. Adjustment to the apprenticeship arrangements of the shop. The
boy from the school is to have credit for at least two years of shop
apprenticeship; to be paid at the beginning the same wage as the
apprentice from the shop receives at the beginning of his third year;
to be required to pass through the same total years of apprenticeship
as the custom or the rules of the shop require.
6. Graduation from the apprentice school will come at the close of
the first year of service in the shop, if the apprentice-student can
furnish proof of satisfactory service. This makes at least one year
of service in a commercial shop outside the school part of the neces
sary schooling of the student expecting a diploma.
7. Part-time instruction for the apprentice-student will be offered
where the employer is willing to give him time off from his daily
work to attend the school. This may take place either during his
first year as a wage earner or subsequently.
. 8. An advisory committee of employers and employees from each
trade to aid the school in standardizing its courses and method of
teaching; this arrangement is to hold for all trades taught in the day
school and for those taught in the part-time, dull-season, and evening
schools. Courses as approved by conferences with the trades held
by the survey are given in Appendix C (see p. 567).
Similar arrangements for “ the girls’ and the women’s trades”
have also been made. These include dressmaking, millinery, gar
ment making, salesmanship, and junior nursing, the latter meaning
training of girls to be caretakers for young children. These ar
rangements are practically the same as those for boys and men, with
two main exceptions. As no apprenticeship exists in any of these
lines a beginning wage for those entering the trade after two years
instruction in the Girls’ Vocational High School had to be set with
out reference to any precedent, since none existed. This was placed
at “ not less than $8 a week.” Since this school is under the controP
of the board of education the advisory committees have been ap
pointed by that board, while such committees for the boys’ trades
have been appointed by the Dunwoody Institute.
The four-year technical course for boys in the regular high schools is
also a plan of apprenticeship for boys who desire by beginning at
the bottom to advance in the business and directive side of industry.
This plan is given in Chapter X X III (see p. 528). After four years

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137

of training in the high schools, employers are to engage these grad
uates at not less than $50 a month, and an advisory committee o f
employers and employees is to aid the school authorities to make
effective the training given.
There is no expectation by the school authorities or the trades that
this plan of apprenticeship training through the schools will furnish
more than a small proportion of the new workers employed in the
various occupations. They believe, however, that it will select and
train better than would otherwise be possible promising boys and
girls, who, because of better preparation, will become the superior
workers and leaders after adding trade experience to their school
training.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY AND CONCLUSIONS
OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
It would appear from the foregoing study that the following
things are true:
1. With the exception possibly of a very few trades, there is
little or no apprenticeship of the old form of any consequence in
Minneapolis.
2. At present, apprenticeship is so much on the decline in Min
neapolis that few of the trades rely upon it as a means of training
new workers.
3. The study seems to show from the testimony of the trades
themselves (1) that the American boy no longer desires to be ap
prenticed to the trade under the old conditions; (2) that a growing
number of employers no longer desire to be bothered with appren
ticeship; (3) that in most instances the training of apprentices is
largely a matter of chance experiences; (4) that the efforts which
have been made to revive and systematize apprenticeship have not
been successful; (5) that employers and employees find themselves
unable to cope with the situation.
4. The causes of this decline of apprenticeship are largely in
herent in the organization and spirit of American social and indus
trial life and, therefore, can not be removed.
5. As a result, practically all the trades dealt with by the sur
vey .recognized the inadequacy of apprenticeship as a means of
training new workers for the trades. While they differed as to
its type, all advocated some kind of training and education in schools
as a necessary part of apprenticeship training for the future.
These facts seem to warrant these conclusions:
(1)
It would appear from the foregoing study of apprenticeship
that higher efficiency in training new workers must come through
the schools, as a device for supplementing the shortcomings of ap
prenticeship. The trades seemed to hold out little hope for selfimprovement in this respect. Nevertheless, in the opinion of the

138

BUI-LETIK OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

committee, a great deal could be accomplished by the trades them
selves, which the school can not accomplish, through the organizing
and systematizing of the shop careers of apprentices.
(2) The practically entire absence in the trade of any technical
instruction relating to the trade makes the evening school absolutely
necessary for giving this knowledge to promising, ambitious workers.
(3) The dull-season school seems to be the best device in the
case of the building trades for giving the apprentice already in the
trade not only the technical knowledge bearing upon it but the ex
perience in processes which he can not gain with the employer whose
work may be highly specialized. In order that this plan may be suc
cessful, the employer should make it possible for the apprentice to
attend such a free school during the dull-season period.
(4) In the case of trades and occupations other than the building
trades, there is a great need of part-time and continuation classes
which will claim a part of the working time of the apprentice or
young worker for further instruction, according to his needs.
The committee believes that the trade understandings which have
been worked out between the industries on the one hand and the
public schools and the Dunwoody Institute on the other promise to
provide the industries of the city with capable, well-equipped young
persons, who will make their way up through apprenticeship to
leadership in the industry.
The features of these understandings specially worthy of note
are: (1) the three months’ trial period in the school; (2) the two
years’ instruction in practical, technical, and academic subjects; (3)
the agreement of the employer to use the school as the first course
of supply in engaging new workers; (4) the approval of the ar
rangements by the union in the trade; (5) the placement of the
pupil in the occupation at a beginning wage equal at least to that
of a third-year apprentice; (6) the withholding of the diploma of
the school for one year until proof of satisfactory service as a wage
earner; (7) an advisory committee for each line taught, made up
of employers and employees, to assist the school in standardizing the
work.
There can be little doubt here, as elsewhere, that when closer
cooperation has been established between the shop and the school,
the part-time school will be an important device for reaching and
training young workers in the trades and industries. There is need
of continued study of the possibilities of part-time schooling in Min
neapolis, both in order that the schools may learn how to deal with
the problem and in order that the industries may learn to rely upon
the school for help in educating their young people. In this con
nection, the committee believes that the employer should pay full
wage for attendance upon such part-time or continuation classes.

CHAPTER VL
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
BUILDING TRADES?

The following table lists the groups of the building trades here
considered, with an estimate of the number of persons employed in
1914-15, based on figures furnished by the Master Builders’ Asso
ciation and the unions for the different trades. Occupations are later
described in the order given in this table.
Contractors---------------------------------------------------------------------Bricklayers and masons----------------------------------------- -------Carpenters_______________________________________________
Electric wiring men_______________________________________
Hoisting engineers---------------- -------------------------------------------Laborers (all kinds)-------------------------------------------------------Latfters____- ______________________________________________
Painters and decorators___________________________________
Plasterers-------------------------------------------------------------------------Plumbers and gas fitters--------------------------------------------------Sheet-metal w orkers______________________________________
Stationary engineers--------------------------------------------------------Steam fitters--------------------------------------------------------------------Stonecutters---------------------------------------------------------------------Structural-iron workers___________________________________

250
1,200
0,435
820
75
6,000
200
2,000
500
500
430
3, 500
375
30
100
21,015

In the construction of a building of any importance typical procedure
is as follows: The owner, having decided upon the location, size,
and approximate outlay, engages an architect to draw plans and
specifications and to supervise the construction and makes a contract
with a general contractor for the construction of the building.
The work of supervising the construction is done by the architect or
by a supervisor whose duty is to see that materials and details of
construction conform to specifications. He represents the owner
and has no authority over the workmen. On large buildings a “ clerk
of the works” is sometimes employed by the owner to look after
materials and insure the progress of the work.
The general contractor often sublets contracts to specialty contractors
for such work as lathing, plastering, electrical work, heating, plumb
ing, and decorating. He usually employs tradesmen to do bricklay
ing, carpentry, and certain other work.

139

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

CONTRACTORS.

The contractor is essentially a business man with some capital
or the necessary credit. He must have considerable knowledge of
building materials and processes of construction, must know how to
buy materials, estimate amount of material needed and of time
required to complete the work, manage his employees so that no
time will be lost, and inspect the construction and know if it is ac
cording to specifications.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY AND CONCLUSIONS
OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
In order to estimate materials, the building foreman must be
able to read plans drawn by architects and others and from these
plans to estimate the quantities of materials needed. He must
interpret specifications, be familiar with building ordinances, and
understand the laws governing contracts and employers’ liability.
In many cases building foremen would be greatly helped toward
promotion and greater responsibilities with larger concerns by
the special courses for journeymen in the various building trades
which are suggested at various points throughout the chapter.
Probably, however, most of them would find most profitable the
courses in such subjects as plan reading, estimating, and interpreta
tion of specifications.
BRICKLAYERS A N D MASONS.

The growing demand for fireproof buildings and the increasing
number of apartment houses make bricklaying an important indus
try in Minneapolis. While few firms specialize in it, all general
building contractors do brickwork.
The United States Census of Occupations for 1910 reported 1,046
bricklayers and masons in the city. The Builders’ Exchange reports
760 at present. Employers and employees agree that the bricklayers,
with laborers, mortar mixers, apprentices, and foremen total ap
proximately 1,200 men, an increase of 150 in 1915 over 1910. Many
bricklayers live in Minneapolis and work outside the city.
Bricklaying is a somewhat hazardous occupation. Casualty com
panies rate it as less hazardous than structural-iron erecting and out
side electric wiring, but more hazardous than painting, carpentry
work, steam fitting, or iron-foundry work. The danger is chiefly
from falling brick or stone, or from injury caused by falling from the
scaffold. While the work requires constant exposure to the weather,
it also tends to conserve the health.
Specialization and absence of instruction for beginners is hamper
ing the industry to a marked degree. Lack of opportunities for extend

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141

ing their knowledge of the trade prevents journeymen from receiving
promotions, though superior ability or increase in efficiency is
quickly recognized. The bricklayer who becomes capable of super
intending a building may expect advancement, but his work is such
that he is not called upon to read plans or estimate materials, or to do
anything which the position above his present one requires.
The journeyman bricklayer receives a rate of 70 cents an hour and
works eight hours a day. The stonemason is paid 65 cents and works
eight hours. The busy season for the bricklayer is from April 1
through November. Practically no bricklaying is done in January,
February, and March. The busy and slack seasons vary with
weather conditions and the amount of building.
The trade is about 95 per cent organized.
Beginners are usually between 16 and 20 years old and those who
wish to become journeymen are indentured as apprentices. Ap
prenticeship lasts three years, after which the apprentice automat
ically becomes a journeymen. A bricklayer is at his best from 22 to
55 years old.
Usually the apprentice is the son or friend of a journeyman, a
relative or friend of the contractor, or a boy who comes seeking em
ployment. There is no systematic method of selection.
In brickwork five classes are usually employed—laborers, mortar
mixers, apprentices, journeymen bricklayers, and foremen. Where
there is stonework, stonemasons are employed.
THE LABORER.

The number of laborers on a building varies with the height of
the walls, one laborer usually being employed for every bricklayer
on the ground floor, three laborers to two bricklayers on the second
and third floors, and two laborers for each bricklayer on the fourth
and fifth floors.
Thus the number during the busy season varies from 350 to
500 men. They are usually between 18 and 50 years old and receive
from $2 to $2.25 for an eight-hour day. If efficient a laborer may
receive $2.50, but does not advance to any other position.
The laborer carries all material to place, assists in building scaf
folds, loads brick and mortar into a wheelbarrow and wheels it to
the journeyman or to the elevator.
The hod carrier is a thing of the past in the bricklaying craft of
Minneapolis. Instead of carrying material up a series of ladders,
the laborer now wheels it on the platform of a temporary elevator
which carries it up. A laborer at the top wheels it where needed.
His tools are the shovel and wheelbarrow, and he is not allowed to
handle the bricklaying tools. In building scaffolds he puts together
stock materials with bolts and clamps.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

lie must be strong, healthy, able to lift heavy loads continuously,
have ordinary intelligence and be capable of interpreting and obey
ing orders. He has no written or printed instructions to follow,
plans to read, or arithmetical computations to make other than keep
ing a record of his time. A common-scliool education is desirable,
but not essential. The knowledge needed concerning his wTork can
only be learned on the job.
The laborer is an unskilled workman. He is often a nonresident,
seeking temporary employment. He requires no special training and
receives none.
THE MORTAR MIXER.

There is usually one mortar mixer to every five or six bricklayers.
This means between 75 and 100 in the busy season. The typical
mortar mixer is between 20 and 50 years old and gets $8 for a 9-hour
day.
He arrives before the other workmen and prepares the mortar,
remaining after the bricklayers to cover his vat. He screens the
sand, shovels the right amount of sand, cement or lime into the vat,
adds the water, mixes the material, and adds coloring material if
necessary.
His work requires health and strength, as it is heavy and he is
exposed to all kinds of weather. Average intelligence, but no supe
rior knowledge or ability, is required. He must understand the
action of water upon lime and cement and the proper mixtures of
materials for different grades of work. His tools are the shovel
and hoe.
All the knowledge and skill required can be learned in a few weeks
on the job, and it would be almost impossible to learn it otherwise.
Usually when a new mortar mixer is wanted a laborer is put on the
work.
While this work offers no opportunity for promotion, a mixer who
always supplies the bricklayers with mortar properly mixed will
have regular employment and be advanced in pay.
The mortar mixer is being rapidly displaced by the more efficient
mortar-mixing machine, which is operated by a gas engine and auto
matically dumps the mortar into a wheelbarrow.
THE APPRENTICE.

At present about 30 apprentices are employed in bricklaying. The
rules of the union for organized shops allow one apprentice to each
firm. In addition, any bricklayer may take his son as an apprentice.
An apprentice to each firm would mean approximately 125 in the city.
The apprentice is between 16 and 20 years old, receives as a gen
eral rule 20 cents an hour the first year, 30 cents the second, and
40 cents the third, and serves three years.

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He is allowed to use all the tools of the trade and, if the journey
men are kindly disposed, is taught to do all the work of a journey
man. At first he is allowed to work on a straight wall and after he
can lay it plumb and straight is allowed to try a corner. It usually
is more profitable to keep him on work that he can do well, and
consequently he is taught very little.
The apprentice must be fairly robust and have good health. To
advance he should have a common-school education. If he under
stands a blue print and knows something about building construction
he may expect rapid promotion. If he is content merely to draw his
pay as a bricklayer the work is laborious and uninteresting.
As at present organized the trade offers little opportunity for the
apprentice to learn all he should about bricklaying. Many con
tractors specialize, and if he learns his trade with a specialist he may
have no opportunity to learn other branches. When unusual work
is to be done or work requiring considerable skill, an experienced
workman is assigned to it and the apprentice gets no opportunity
even to watch it.
Such work as building chimneys, paneled work of all kinds, build
ing in windows and doors, corbeling, laying the more unusual bonds,
making arches, bow windows, laying fireplaces and mantels, laying
pressed brick, and all kinds of ornamental work is done by more ex
perienced workmen and is not taught to the apprentice. If he is to
learn these specialties some means must be provided outside of the
regular routine. Blue prints and plans are usually read by the fore
man and the apprentice never sees them. He is not taught to esti
mate costs of time or material, and pays no attention to building
regulations, as the foreman is responsible for that.
As there is little work for the apprentice in January and Febru
ary, he might well attend all-day school during these months for this
instruction. These classes might be open to unemployed journey
men also.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

There are approximately 400 journeymen bricklayers and stone
masons employed in Minneapolis. Of these, between 60 and 70 are
stonemasons. The work of the stonemason is constantly decreasing
on account of the increase in the use of concrete.
Journeymen are usually between 22 and 50 years old. The brick
layer receives a rate of 70 cents an hour, the stone mason 65 cents
an hour, and both work eight hours a day. If a man is extraordi
narily efficient he niay be paid in advance of the union scale.
The union rules specify that all clay products, stone or substitutes
of stone, set with or without mortar or cement are to be set by a
bricklayer or stonemason. This includes walls, columns, chimneys,
foundations for machinery, tunnels, fireplaces and mantels.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The work does not require great strength, but a physique strong
enough to withstand exposure to all kinds of weather. Merely to lay
brick does not require much thought or great intelligence. The skill
lies in using the trowel and keeping the work straight and plumb.
But if the journeyman hopes to become a foreman, or to advance, he
must know the different types of bonds used in brickwork and the
advantages and disadvantages of each and be able to lay the different
arches and know their relative strength and advantage. He must be
able to read blue prints, interpret specifications, estimate quantities
of materials needed, and know their cost and where to buy them.
Evening classes in plan reading and estimating, strength of ma
terial, ornamental brickwork—such as fireplaces and mantels, pi
lasters and columns—proper construction of different arches, the
different bonds and how to lay them, would, in the opinion of the
trade, be of great value to apprentices and journeymen.
THE FOREMAN.

A foreman is employed on each job. He plans the work and is
responsible for following plans and specifications.
During the busy season between 80 and 100 foremen are employed
in brick construction in the city. The foreman is a journeyman who
has been promoted to his present position. He receives 75 or 80
cents an hour and works eight hours, is usually between 25 and 40
years old, and a man of intelligence and executive ability.
His work requires familiarity with proper methods of construc
tion; and ability to read and interpret plans and specifications, and
to manage his crew so as to get the work done with a minimum waste
of time and material.
His only possible promotion is to the position of building super
intendent ; but to get this he must be familiar with all the processes
of building. This position is usually filled by a carpenter, as few
bricklayers are competent to fill it.
The foregoing analysis is, in the opinion of representative employ
ers and employees, a correct one, but all agree that there is great
need in Minneapolis for technical instruction in the trade.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
After a careful study of the situation made during the progress
of the survey, both employers and employees in the trade approved
a plan to open evening classes in the Dunwoody Institute for jour
neymen bricklayers and masons, dealing with the different kinds of
bonds and advanced problems of fireplace, mantel, and arch con
struction. The survey committee is of the opinion that oppor
tunities should be afforded journeymen bricklayers to attend classes

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in architectural drawing, and also general classes in plan reading and
estimating for the building trades. Such classes will open oppor
tunities to ambitious journeymen for advancement to foremen’s
positions.
The conferences also developed the following plan which has the
approval of the survey committee:
The Bricklayers’ Union has agreed to require all apprentices in
the organized shops to attend during the entire three years of their
apprenticeship, at least five days a week, an all-day school at the
Dunwoody Institute for the months of January and February.
The contractors of both organized and unorganized shops have
agreed to pay the apprentice one-half of his usual wages while
attending the school.
An advisory committee from the trade is to assist the authorities
of the school in standardizing the work of the school and in carrying
out the trade understanding. One-half of the time spent in school
shall be devoted to the practical work of bricklaying and one-half
to technical and academic work, to consist of drafting, applied
science, and cost estimating.
CARPENTERS.

The carpenter’s trade is perhaps the most important in the build
ing industry. There is work for a carpenter in nearly every build
ing project. As it is necessary for him to prepare a building for
workmen who are to follow, he must have, in addition to thorough
knowledge of his own trade, some knowledge of all of the other
building trades.
There are about 6,400 carpenters in Minneapolis, an increase of
about 1,000 over the number reported by the 1910 census. The sec
retary of the Builders’ Exchange estimates 6,435 in 1914, and the
State Department of Labor reports 133 firms employing carpenters.
The rapid increase has been caused by the growth of the city and the
need for new buildings and for remodeling present ones.
The standard minimum wage rate of journeymen is 50 cents an
hour for an eight-hour day. A few shops pay as low as 45 cents and
run a nine-hour day. The slack season is in January and February,
and the force is generally reduced in June and August; the rest of
the year is fairly busy.
According to the union, the trade is about 50 per cent organized.
The union takes on no apprentices under 17 or over 22 years old.
The age of maximum usefulness is from 25 to 55 years. On account
of present conditions, workers are being recruited from Canada and
from other parts of the country.
42805°—Boll. 199—17----- 10

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The trade is somewhat hazardous, as is shown by the rate charged
by the casualty companies to employers for protection against acci
dents. Carpenters are rated as less hazardous risks than structuraliron workers, outside wiremen, bricklayers, and outside painters, but
more than steam fitters, iron-foundry men, bakers, or machinists.
The workmen must be able-bodied and able to withstand exposure to
weather conditions.
Employers seem fairly satisfied with the present apprenticeship
system, but feel that the industry is hampered by lack of technical
knowledge on the part of workers. With no special training the
apprentice must acquire knowledge and skill from observing other
workmen and doing simple work.
Four grades of workmen are employed in carpenter work by con
tractors: laborers, apprentices, journeymen, and foremen, in the
order, theoretically, of promotion. In fact, laborers rarely become
apprentices or journeymen, but apprentices do become journeymen,
and foremen are almost always selected from journeymen.
THE LABORER.

Approximately 350 laborers are employed in carpentry work in
the city. They are 18 to 30 years old and get 25 cents an hoar,
usually for a nine-hour day. They do all the heavy work, carrying
lumber, nails, and hardware, and doing work not requiring the
handling of tools. In some shops not controlled by the union the
laborer is permitted to use the simpler tools.
To do his work the laborer must have considerable strength and
be able to stand exposure to hot and cold weather. The work does
not require high intelligence or skill; he does not have to read draw
ings or specifications, but should be able to understand directions
and know what is needed without being told.
A few workers are employed all year by the same contractors.
The majority are usually transient and do not stay long in one place.
There is no system of employment. The first applicant who appears
able to do the work gets the job.
As the work requires only physical strength and agility and is en
tirely unskilled, it would be futile to establish any training to prepare
men as laborers. However, if the laborer is to advance to joumeymanship in any line, he must receive elementary instruction.
THE APPRENTICE.

There are approximately 50 apprentices in the carpenter’s trade
in Minneapolis. They are 17 to 22 years old and are paid during the
first year, $1; the second, $1.50; and the third, $2.25, for an eight-hour
day. The third year completes the apprenticeship, and at its close

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the apprentice is usually accepted as a journeyman. There is no
systematic method of employment or selection of apprentices. The
majority are Minneapolis boys who have completed the eighth grade
and can not go to high school. If the apprentice shows interest in his
work and improves, his pay is increased and he advances auto
matically.
There is no provision for systematic training of the apprentice.
He is usually put to work to help the journeyman. If the work per
mits he is taught to use the tools, and as he acquires skill is assigned
to work which will give him practice. The amount of instruction
which he receives depends almost entirely upon the relations between
apprentice and foreman.
The work requires that the apprentice be able-bodied but not above
average strength. He should be nimble and able to climb about on
narrow planks and scaffolds. The better positions require at least a
common-school education in order to read plans and specifications
and estimate materials. To advance to joumeymanship he must
acquire skill in use of tools, a knowledge of building construction,
and ability to lay out work, frame buildings, construct roofs, build
staircases, and to do other similar work.
Employers feel that the chief deficiency of apprentices is lack of
interest and desire to gain proficiency. This may be due to absence of
opportunity for technical instruction.
A boy with skill in the use of tools and knowledge of building
construction will find entrance to the trade at larger pay than if
untrained. The trade agrees that a day school giving two years of
training would help prepare the boy to enter as a third-year appren
tice. During that time he should receive instruction in use and care
of woodworking tools, common methods of fastening woodwork, use
of the steel square in laying out work, house and roof framing, use,
care, and adjustment of woodworking machinery, knowledge of
building hardware, and supplementary classroom instruction in
mathematics and applied science, and in making and reading work
ing drawings.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

Normally over 4,000 journeyman carpenters are employed in Min
neapolis. They are from 22 to 60 years old and are paid 35 to 55 cents
an hour for an eight-hour day. Some shops outside the jurisdiction
of the union pay 35 to 45 cents an hour for a nine-hour day.
The work done by the journeyman carpenter may be understood
from the following statement issued by the Carpenters’ Union:
It extends over all journeyman carpenters,or joiners,stair builders,
ship joiners, millwrights, planing-mill bench hands, cabinetmakers,
car builders, or operators of woodworking machinery. It extends
over all men engaged in the occupations enumerated, whether on the

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

building in its erection or repair, or employed in the preparation or
manufacture of material for the same, including all metal-covered
trim, hollow sash and doors, and hollow-steel trim.
It extends over men engaged in putting up all kinds of wood
molding, putting up “ run, strips for plumbers, the opening
through floors, joists, or partitions where coming in contact with
wood, also the setting of all woodwork in toilet rooms; fastening of
all wood cleats to ironwork; cutting up and hanging all rough lumber
between girders and joists, for fireproofing or concrete centers, and all
forms used in concrete work; the setting of all sash, doors, windows,
and other frames; the building and setting of all centers made of
wood, the putting on of plaster boards and putting on of all plaster
grounds, and also the erection of furring for cornices where wood
is used; the building of all scaffolds where any carpenters’ tools are
used; the building and construction of all derricks; making of mor
tar boards; boxes and trestles; putting in “ needles” ; shoring of
buildings; raising and moving of buildings, etc.; the nailing and
cutting of all stops in doors and windows, the framing of all false
work, derricks, etc., when applying to structural-iron work.
The journeyman should be able-bodied, able to stand exposure, and
get about on scaffolding, and especially qualified to work in the cold.
He needs no school education beyond the eighth grade, but must
have thorough technical knowledge of his trade, including roof con
struction, stair building, the construction and fitting of building
trim, interior finish, and other work of like nature; also including
thorough knowledge of all kinds of wood and lumber and of the
fitting of buildings and hardware.
To do this work he must have considerable knowledge of mathe
matics and plane geometry. His skill consists in knowing how to
handle tools and keep them in first-class condition.
Carpenters in Minneapolis feel that there is great need for evening
classes in roof construction, house framing, stair building, construc
tion and fitting of building trim, interior finish, plan reading and
estimating of materials, and architectural drawing, opportunity for
advancement depending not only on skill, but also on ability to read
plans and estimate materials. The latter requires instruction in
arithmetic and the use of formulas given in carpenters’ handbooks.
THE FOREMAN.

Between 300 and 350 foremen are usually employed in carpentry
work in Minneapolis. They receive 55 to 75 cents an hour and work
eight hours a day. The majority are 30 to 60 years old.
The foreman lays out and supervises all the carpentry work of
the building. As he usually has been promoted from a journeyman,
he has all the physical and mental qualities required, and must also
have a knowledge of plans and specifications and be able to manage
men.

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The trade feels hampered by the lack of competent foremen, which
probably is due to the absence of opportunities for journeymen to
receive adequate instruction for their work. Competent foremen
usually find ready employment, and if they have sufficient technical
knowledge and ability positions as building superintendent are open
to. them.
With adequate provision for instruction, carpenters feel that the
trade is a desirable one, and offers opportunities for advancement.
With instruction, an apprentice can look forward to journeymanship and foremanship, and, if willing to devote time and study to
his work, has opportunities of advancement to contractor or archi
tect. The desirability of the trade is evidenced by the willingness
of journeymen for their own sons to enter it.
SUMMARY OP CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OP
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
A a result of agreements reached before the formulation of this
report, the following plan was developed. It was agreed that a twoyear course of training in preparing boys for advanced apprentice
ship in the carpenter’s trade would be conducted in the Dunwoody
Institute. The first three months of this period will be used as a
probation period for the purpose of testing interest and fitness for
the work of a carpenter. Upon completing the two years’ training,
the boys so desiring are to be placed in the shops of the city at an
initial wage of $2.25 a day, the diploma of the school being with
held until proof of satisfactory work is furnished at the close of
one year. Contractors who are parties to this understanding agree
that they will use the pupils completing this two-year period of
training in the school as their preferred source of supply in employ
ing new workers. A copy of this agreement is given in Chapter
X X III (see p.'526).
Contractors and employees in Minneapolis have approved of even
ing classes in architectural drawing and classes giving instruction in
such subjects as advanced problems of construction, like hip and
valley roof framing, stair building and handrail work.
It is also believed that general courses for the building trades in
plan reading, estimating, and interpretation of specifications would
be of value to the more ambitious workers aiming at foremanship
or setting up of their own establishments.
The survey committee approves the above classes and believes
that the experience of schools carrying this work shows that, out
side of courses in architectural drawing, the only work that attracts
journeyman carpenters to evening classes in any numbers is that
which gives opportunities for laying out advanced problems in con
struction, as indicated above. Such instruction should take form

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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

in actual laying out of practical work, which should then be carried
far enough in execution thoroughly to illustrate the method. Such
courses give the opportunity of preparing for high-grade work or
for foremanship. The courses in plan reading and estimating of
material and in specification writing will reach only the particularly
ambitious workers.
ELECTRIC W IRIN G MEN.

It is almost impossible to ascertain the number of workers en
gaged in electrical wiring in the building trades. Firms employing
electric wiring men usually engage in other lines of electrical con
struction and wiring men have to do other electrical work. The
secretary of the Builders’ Exchange estimates that 320 men are
engaged in inside wiring in Minneapolis.
The work includes the preparation for and installation of electric
wires for all purposes within buildings and the installation of electric
appliances and fixtures for which the wires must be run; this in
cludes such work as wiring for lighting, heating, power, telephone,
bell, signal, and elevators; also installation of outlet boxes, switch
boards, lights, switches, and fuse blocks.
Casualty companies rate the work as less dangerous than any other
building trade, the basic rate employers pay for protection against
accidents being 84 cents, while for carpenters it is $2.77; outside
electricians, $4.73; structural-iron workers, $8.93.
There is considerable fluctuation in the busy season. From Sep
tember 1 to the end of February the work is usually slack. In the
busy season workmen work eight hours a day. Journeymen usually
receive $4.50 per day.
The union says it lias 80 per cent of the journeymen in its organi
zation, but the employers give the percentage as “ about 50.”
The demand for men to do this work has been steadily increasing
for 8 or 10 years, but the supply now seems adequate. Em
ployers state, however, that there is a demand for exceptionally com
petent men. Because of the changing demands upon workmen,
caused by the progress in electrical work and the inability of older
men to adapt themselves to changing conditions, men over 45 years
old are not sought by employers.
New men are supplied from many sources. High school boys with
fundamental knowledge of electricity can do the work of inside
wiring men without serving a long apprenticeship. Young men from
technical schools enter the trade without serving any apprentice
ship. Many boys enter the trade as apprentices.
There does not appear to be any organized apprenticeship in the
trade. Boys enter shops as helpers and as rapidly as they are capable
are advanced to journeymanship. The union rules provide for four

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year apprenticeship, the apprentice to receive for the first year the
wage agreed upon with the employer, usually $8 to $12 a week; the
second year, $2.50 a day; the third year, $3, and the fourth year,
$3.50. The State law provides that all electrical installation must
be done by persons licensed by* the State board, and that not more
than one apprentice shall be employed for every two journeymen.
The city ordinance provides that electrical licenses shall be divided
into four classes: Class A, including all branches of installing, oper
ating and maintaining electric wires, apparatus and plants; class
B, only the manufacture and installing of electric and combina
tion fixtures; class C, only wiring electric signs; class D, only
minor alterations, extensions, and repairs to existing systems of
wiring. It provides further “ that no individual, firm, or corpora
tion shall enter upon the erection, construction, alteration, or chang
ing of any electrical installation work or wiring in the city of
Minneapolis until proper application has been made to and approved
by the inspector of buildings. ”
THE APPRENTICE.

Between 60 and 75 apprentices are now employed in inside wiring
in the city. The union rules provide that the apprentice shfell be
between 18 and 22 years old. The State law permits no one under
16 to be apprenticed and no person under 21 to have a journeyman’s
license.
A four-year apprenticeship is not observed in all shops. Prom
ising boys are engaged as helpers and work with the journeyman,
doing the more unskilled work, such as boring holes in the joists
and studding, chiseling holes in brick walls, putting in tubes and
knobs, cutting conduit pipe and putting it together. This work is
all laid out by the journeyman, who, if kindly disposed, may give
the boy considerable instruction.
The boy must be able-bodied and able to climb around in buildings.
Cutting and bending pipes requires considerable strength. He must
be keen and alert, interested in the work, and willing to devote
considerable time to study of the trade. Work as a helper does not
demand much schooling, but as this position is only temporary and
advancement depends upon acquiring considerable knowledge, the
boy should have at least an eighth-grade, and, still better, a high
school, training.
He need not have any knowledge of electrical work as a beginner,
but should acquire this as rapidly as possible. He should have some
mechanical aptitude and an interest in electrical work. When he
has gained sufficient knowledge and skill he is advanced to the
position of second-class journeyman.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
THE SECOND-CLASS JOURNEYMAN.

The second-class journeyman holds a position between apprentice
or helper and first-class journeymanship, corresponding to the “ twothirder ” or junior journeyman of other trades. He usually has a
license to do certain classes of work' and assumes all responsibility
therein. He may work on outlet boxes, switchboards, fuse blocks, etc.
The second-class journeyman should devote considerable time to
gaining a technical knowledge of electrical work and acquiring skill*
in the use of electrical tools, study city ordinances, State laws, and
underwriters’ rules governing electrical work, familiarize himself
with electrical handbooks and. by learning to read plans and under
stand specifications, become qualified for first-class journeymanship.
Employers find the most common deficiency to be lack of interest
and unwillingness to devote time and energy to a study of electrical
work. On the other hand, the city does not provide for this needed
instruction, and the workman is not altogether to be criticized.
Workmen feel that evening classes in theory of magnetism and
electricity, carrying capacity of wires, city building code, and under
writers’ rules would assist them greatly.
THE FIRST-CLASS JOURNEYMAN.

The first-class journeyman is usually licensed by the State and
by the city building inspector to do all classes of electrical installa
tion. He must be capable of assuming responsibility for the work
and usually has served as a helper and second-class journeyman,
although graduates of technical schools are often granted licenses
by the State board. He is called upon to install complete circuits
for electric bells, telephones, elevators, and electric machines, such
as motors, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and similar appli
ances, and must understand the building code, underwriters’ rules,
proper sizes of wire for different circuits, amount of current neces
sary for operating various machines, and be expert in the use of
the tools of his trade.
This requires skill in the use of tools and considerable technical
knowledge, which can be acquired only by considerable study. Many
journeymen have taken instruction in the theory of their trade
through correspondence at considerable expense and feel that evening
classes would greatly benefit them.
THE FOREMAN.

The foreman in the electric shop usually receives $4.50 a day to
$150 or $175 a month. His duty is to manage all the work of the shop,
plan work for the different crews, keep .work progressing, and supply
material as needed. He must keep accurate records of all work
and the time and material used. This requires executive ability, fore

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sight, and tact in handling men, customers, architects, and engineers.
He must understand plans and specifications and be competent to
judge the work that is done. Occasionally he is a graduate of an
electrical engineering school. Technical graduates, as a rule, how
ever. are not content to devote their time to wiring, as their training
has fitted them for higher work.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
As advancement in wage opportunity in electrical work is depend
ent upon the technical education of the worker rather than upon the
manipulative skill in handling tools and materials, although this is
essential, it is recommended that a general evening course be pro
vided in electric trade science dealing with the conception of the
electrical circuit, electrical units, Ohm's law, carrying capacity of
wires, and simple tests of line and machine circuits.
In regard to preparing for entrance to the trade, those engaged
in the industry feel that there is a great need for two-year courses in
which boys would receive fundamental instruction in the theory and
practice of electrical wiring.
Therefore, during the progress of the survey, employers and
employees in electrical work in Minneapolis and the authorities of
the Dunwoody Institute agreed that such day and evening classes
should be conducted at the Dunwoody Institute, and that employers
should use the boys coming out of such day courses as their source
of supply of new workers in the trade. A type of this agreement is
given in Chapter X X III (see p. 526).
HOISTING ENGINEERS.

Increase in number of tall buildings and regulations concerning
fireproof structures, and the use of machinery for elevating ma
terials, have called for more hoisting engineers in the city. Approxi
mately 75 hoisting engineers are employed here. There are 58 mem
bers in the Hoisting Engineers’ Union, which comprises only men
operating engines. The position is not especially attractive because
of low pay, irregularity of employment, nervous strain, and possible
loss of life which might attend any mistake.
The union scale of pay is 50 cents an hour for a 9-hour day. As a
rule, no work is done on Saturday afternoons. The busy season is
the same as in other building trades, with January and February
practically idle. At this time, however, hoisting engineers are in
demand in ice houses.
The hoisting engineer often obtains his first experience with the
pile driver or steam shovel, or in a stone quarry. There is no ap
prenticeship and no systematic method of training for the work.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The man in charge of the engine must have an engineer's license,
which he secures on passing an examination by the State boiler in
spector. Though there is no system of training, the supply of
men qualified to operate engines is adequate.
The most common deficiency of hoisting engineers is lack of
knowledge of strength of materials and devices used in the work,
and of weights of loads. Serious accidents may result from a misjudgment of the strength of a cable or of the weight of a load.
The work of the engineer consists in keeping steam at a sufficiently
high pressure and in operating his engine in response to signals from
men 011 the building. It is essential that he respond immediately to
the signals, start and stop his engine at the proper time, and swing
the boom of the derrick in the proper direction. Often both hands
and sometimes both feet are required to shift levers. Liability of
serious accident causes constant nervous strain.
Ability to operate a hoisting engine can not be gained elsewhere
than on the job. The knowledge concerning the engine is largely the
same as that of the stationary engineer; and training should be the
same as for such engineers.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The study of the conditions under which the hoisting engineers
work does not seem to warrant the establishment of special classes.
The more ambitious men in this trade might profit by the courses
established for stationary engineers.
LATHERS.

Lathing, formerly part of the carpenter’s work, has become a
special trade and it is now done only in small communities by the
carpenter. The use of wall board has not materially affected the
business, and the increased use of metal lath for exteriors has in
creased the work for the lather.
It is difficult to ascertain the number of contractors or “ boss
lathers,” for they seldom have an office or regular place of business;
there are 28 in the contractors’ association and about half that num
ber outside. There are approximately 200 lathers in the city, and
the demand for men is increasing. In the busy season the supply
does not equal the demand, while in the dull season the reverse is
true.
The lather’s work is light and, except when nailing metal lath
outside, he is not exposed to the weather. In doing metal work, he
sometimes has to work on high scaffolds. He works eight hours a
day at $3 to $4.50. The dull season is January. February, and
March.

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The union says the trade is about 75 per cent organized. An ap
prentice is generally from 18 to 21 years old. He enters into no
agreement with the employer. He simply goes to work and keeps
at it until he can put up 1,400 laths a day, when he becomes a thirdclass journeyman. This requires from one to two years, depending
upon ability. The rules of the union provide for one apprentice to
every 30 journeymen, which is about the average for the trade.
Regularly five classes of workmen are in the trade—apprentice,
first, second, and third class journeymen, and contractors, or “ boss
lathers.” Occasionally on large jobs laborers are employed to carry
the lath. The boss lather is generally the foreman.
THE APPRENTICE.

The apprentice is usually from 18 to 21 years old. He works
eight hours a day at $1.25 to $3, depending upon the number of lath
he can put up. In taking on new apprentices, the sons of journey
men and contractors are generally preferred, there being no other
rule of selection.
The apprentice starts on the same work as the journeymen, all of
which he can learn in a few hours, but it takes much practice to ac
quire speed. Speed can be gained only on the job and, as the ap
prentice is paid according to speed, the present plan satisfies the
contractor.
The work is light and easily learned so that the apprentice needs
only average physical and mental capacity. In order to become a
foreman or contractor, he should have at least a common-school
education.
THE JOURNEYHAN.

There are approximately 200 journeymen lathers in the city, in
cluding those doing contracting, divided into first, second, and third
class workers, according as they can put up 1,800, 1,600, or 1,400
laths a day. If the journeyman is a member of the union, his stand
ing is determined by the organization, otherwise the contractor pays
him what he thinks he is worth, and sometimes more than the rule.
Metal lathers are graded as first, second, and third class, according
to their standing. The majority of both wood and metal lathers
eventually become first-class journeymen, but some indifferent and
indolent ones never rise above the second or third class. About twothirds live in Minneapolis and work steadily, and one-third are prin
cipally nonresidents or “ floaters.”
A journeyman is at his best between 21 and 55 years old. He
works eight hours a day at $3.50 or $4, depending upon his standing
as third, second, or first class man. If extraordinarily efficient, he
may receive $4.50 during the busy season. The work of a journey

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

man as defined by the lathers consists o f: Erecting and installing of
all light iron construction; furring; making and erecting brackets,
clips, hangers; wood, wire, and metal lath; plastic board or other
material which takes the place of same, to which plastic material is
adhered; cornice beads; all floor construction; arches erected for the
purpose of hauling; plastic cement, concrete, or other plastic ma
terial.”
AVood lathing is too familiar to need detailed description. Each
lath is four feet long and the tool used is a lathing hatchet. The
lather fills his mouth with nails, using both hands to place the lath
and the nail, and his tongue to supply the nail in proper position.
Metal lath is sometimes simply nailed up like wrood lath. In what is
termed ironwork, light wire strips known as carrying iron are first
put in place. Tied at right angles to these with wire clips are other
light iron strips called furring to which the metal lath is tied. Pro
jecting beams are surrounded by iron brackets to which a pencil rod
is tied to hold the lath. The journeyman carries, cuts, and fastens in
place all material. There is not sufficient metal lath work in Minne
apolis to pay men to specialize in it. There are, therefore, two
classes of journeymen, one doing both metal and wood lathing and
one only wood lathing.
Like the apprentice, the journeyman needs only average physical
and mental capacity. Journeyman's work does not require any
special education; the position of foreman or contractor requires at
least a common-scliool education.
He must understand thoroughly how to put up wood and metal
lath. The process is quickly and easily learned, but efficiency de
pends entirely upon speed and the only way this can be acquired is
by continual practice.
THE FOREMAN.

Nearly always the foreman is the contractor and has been a jour
neyman. The contractor may have men working on more than one
building, but acts as foreman on all except very large jobs. The
foreman may be from 25 to 60 years old. generally works with the
journeymen, and by the rules of the union receives a dollar a day
more than a first-class journeyman.
It is the foreman’s duty to lay out the work and see that it is done
properly. He also measures the wTork and figures the yardage. He
should be able to handle men, read simple plans, and measure accu
rately the amount of work done. A common-school education equips
him to acquire on the job the knowledge necessary for efficiency. To
do contracting he must also be able to estimate cost of material and
labor. Contracting is all done by the yard and not by the job, so that
estimating does not involve plan reading.

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Any journeyman with the qualifications outlined, sufficient capital
to meet one or two pay days, and the initiative to obtain a lathing
contract can become a “ boss lather” on wood jobs. Contracts for
metal lathing require more capital, as metal jobs are, as a rule, more
extensive than wood jobs.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE.
As efficiency in wood lathing depends on speed rather than on
skill or expert knowledge, and as speed can be gained only through
practice in the work, it is clear that a course in lathing would be
unnecessary and unprofitable.
PAIN TERS A N D DECORATORS.

Approximately 2,000 painters and decorators are employed in
Minneapolis. The United States Census reports 2,017 painters in the
building trades in 1910. The secretary of the Builders’ Exchange
estimates 1,683 painters and decorators on buildings, not including
sign painters or wood finishers in factories. The growing use of
plaster or stucco as outside finish and the tendency to simplicity in
interiors have held the trade nearly constant notwithstanding the
growth of the city.
The outside painter is liable to injury from falling from scaf
folds. Casualty companies rate his work as more dangerous than
that of the carpenter, steam fitter, or woodworker, but less so than
that of the bricklayer, sheet-metal worker, or structural-iron worker.
Employers and employees agree that while few painters die of lead
poisoning or kidney trouble contracted in the work, it is the most
unhealthful of the building trades.
Eight hours constitutes a day’s work, and, as a rule, painters do
not work Saturday afternoons. The busiest months are April, May,
June, September, October, and November, the less active, July and
August. Practically no painting is done on buildings in January,
February, and March, but some painters find employment in auto
mobile repair shops and furniture factories. Painters and decorators
on buildings receive 50 to 60 cents an hour. Approximately 80 per
cent of the journeymen painters and decorators in the building trade
are members of the union. A man is at his best between the ages
of 21 and 50.
Conditions indicate no need for a large number of additional
painters in the trade. The present number of apprentices, and the
influx of painters from other cities, furnish an adequate supply.
There is a constant demand, however, for painters with artistic
ability, and these will find ready employment and fair remuner
ation.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

As a large majority of the painters are in union shops the appren
ticeship system is practically governed by union rules, which forbid
nny person to begin to learn the trade before he is 16, or after he
is 21 years old. One apprentice is allowed for the first three journey
men employed, and an additional one for 10 additional journeymen.
Each journeyman is allowed to take a son desiring to learn the trade
as an apprentice.
The apprentice receives $7 a week during the first year, $12 the
second year, and $15 during the third year, which completes the
apprenticeship. Before entering his apprenticeship the boy signs a
contract to serve three years at an agreed wage, the employer agree
ing to employ him steadily and to “ use all proper endeavor to in
struct him to learn the trade.”
At present 25 apprentices are registered with the union. I f the
full quota allowed by the union were employed, more than 200 ap
prentices would be learning the trade. No system of selecting ap
prentices is practiced. Sometimes sons of painters are engaged.
Occasionally an employer secures an apprentice by advertising.
The trade includes six classes of workmen—apprentices, house
painters, wood finishers, paper hangers, interior decorators, and sign
painters. The first five represent the stages of advancement some
times followed. Each line, especially sign painting, has become
largely a trade of itself, the workman in many cases becoming a
specialist in some one trade. The specialist finds it difficult to remain
continually employed in his line; the man with a working knowledge
of all branches has many more opportunities to find employment.
THE APPRENTICE.

A boy may be apprenticed to learn any branch of the trade, but
by confining his training and experience to one department limits his
future opportunities and closes some avenues of promotion. It is pos
sible, however, for the apprentice paper hanger to advance to foreman
paper hanger without doing any painting or finishing, but such op
portunities are limited. It is also possible to become an interior dec
orator without having been a paper hanger or house painter, but the
interior decorator finds the latter experience much to his advantage.
If the ambitious, young man, whether apprenticed to learn wood
finishing, house painting, wall papering, or interior decorating,
learns all branches of the trade thoroughly, his chances for advance
ment to foremanship will be multiplied and his employment much
m ore steady. It is customary for house-painting firms to do wall
papering and interior decorating and wall-papering firms to do
house painting and interior decorating: therefore, a foreman in such
an establishment must know all the lines of work carried on. He
should early take-training in art and design and continue it through

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out his career as an apprentice and journeyman. His value and his
wages will depend greatly upon his taste and intelligence.
The apprentice of a house painter usually spends some time in
the shop cleaning paint cans and brushes, and then works at sand
papering or removing old paint on some building. After a short
time he is allowed to put on the priming coat until he can handle
the brush skillfully. In time he is allowed to apply the second coat
and take part in the entire job of house painting. The journeyman
gives him some instruction in the mixing of paint; but, as a rule, the
apprentice simply does the stirring and straining. If he is observing
and persistent, he may find out what is put in the mixture and why.
To become competent he must learn the kinds and grades of brushes
and their use, treatment and care. He must learn the composition
and properties of the various materials used, how to test pigments,
oil, and driers, and the effects of heat, moisture, and acid on paints
and colors. He must be able to name and recognize tints, shades,
and colors, have a knowledge of color harmony and contrast, and
be able to analyze a color in order to mix a paint that will match it
when dry. He must know how to prepare plaster, brick, wood, and
metal surfaces for painting, patch, size, and prime a surface, finish a
surface flat or glossy, stipple and smalt, and apply and finish
enamel. There are so few opportunities in the trade to acquire this
skill and information that the apprentice usually learns to do only
one thing, and is kept at that.
For his own safety he must learn to construct and test a scaffold
before working on it, to work on a ladder without becoming dizzy,
and so to adjust his weight that he can cover the largest surface pos
sible without moving the ladder. He must learn to swing a scaffold
from the top of a high building and to lower it evenly and surely.
Knowledge of paints, colors, surfaces, and scaffolds is essential in all
other lines of the painting- trade, especially sign painting. While
sign painting is not a building trade, it is mentioned in this connec
tion on account of its close relationship to other lines.
The apprentice paper hanger usually begins by working in the shop,
cleaning brushes and paste cans. After a few weeks he is set to work
scraping off old paper and washing walls, filling cracks with plaster,
and cleaning up after the journeymen. Then he is allowed to apply
the paste to paper, trim edges, and eventually experiment in hanging
paper on the wall. The apprentice wood finisher is put at cleaning
and sandpapering wood surfaces, then at puttying and filling cracks,
ar>J in time is taught to apply filler and rub it in, and apply stains,
shellac, wax, and varnish.
The apprentice in a general painting and decorating shop may
learn, during his apprenticeship, something of all these branches. It
will be to his advantage to learn as much as possible of all.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The apprentice should not be above the average weight, as he must
be able to get about on ladders and scaffolds. He should have sound
lungs to endure the fumes, flexible hands, arms, and wrists, and keen
sight to distinguish colors. To advance, he must have a good commonschool education, considerable patience and endurance, an accurate
sense of color, and some artistic sense. To an ambitious young man,
willing to study and improve, the trade offers an attractive future,
but to the person mentally or physically lazy the trade offers little
more than a bare living.
THE HOUSE PAINTER.

There are between 1,100 and 1,200 house painters in the city. The
typical house painter is between 21 and 55 years old. He works
eight hours a day, usually at 50 cents an hour. He prepares outside
surfaces for paint and applies priming and finishing coats. He must
examine new w7ood surfaces carefully and cover all sappy and knotty
places with some preparation to prevent too rapid absorption. He
then applies the priming and one or two further coats of paint as
required. He usually puts a different color on all wood trim. He must
have a thorough knowledge of surfaces and materials, and to advance
to foremanship must know the amount and cost of materials neces
sary to cover surfaces, and the time required.
The most common deficiency of house painters is lack of knowledge
of the nature and properties of materials, inability to match colors,
and lack of knowledge of other lines which would enable them to
find employment when there is no house painting to do.
THE WOOD FINISHER.

A number of wood finishers are constantly employed in the build
ing trades and a large number in furniture factories and cabinet
shops, who specialize in this work. Finishers on outside work who
are usually able to do painting or wall papering receive 50 to 55
cents an hour. Specialists in this work in factories and cabinet
shops receive 25 to 35 cents an hour.
The wood surface is first prepared for the finish, then the pores of
the wood are filled with a prepared filler or shellac, and stain, shellac,
or varnish is applied. A coat of wax is often applied after the
shellac, and the surface, whether waxed or varnished, is rubbed to a
polish. On fine woodwork the finish called “ French polish ” is often
given, which requires considerable skill. In rubbing down, the var
nish is first rubbed with pumice stone and later with rotten stone
and oil.
The wood finisher must know thoroughly the chemical properties
of the materials he uses and the nature of the wood to be finished.
Different woods require different treatment, and the same materials

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applied to different woods will often produce a different color and
finish.
It is practically impossible for the wood finisher to acquire all the
knowledge necessary for efficient work in the regular routine of the
shop. Some outside agency must supply the opportunity.
THE PAPER HANGER.

There are approximately 400 paper hangers in the city, of whom
some are transients. They have a separate organization, numbering
approximately 200. The demand for paper hangers has increased
greatly within the last few years, caused by the tendency of apart
ment houses and hotels to use wall paper instead of paint. The
demand being for plain paper, with small borders and panels, con
siderable skill is required.
As wall papering does not require much strength, a man can con
tinue at this work until he reaches 60 or 65. While some piecework
is done, the union scale is 55 cents an hour, with an eight-hour day.
The work consists of preparing new and old walls, cutting paper
to the proper length, trimming off blank margins with a knife and
straight edge, applying paste, placing on the wall smoothly and rub
bing out all air bubbles with a dry brush and roller. On old walls
the paper must be scraped off, cracks and depressions filled and
smoothed with plaster of Paris, angles pointed up, and the walls
sanded smooth. New walls must be sized with thin liquid glue. The
workman must understand the making and testing of paste and its
proper consistency for different papers. He must be able to cut the
paper to edge and match it properly. Panel work must be laid out
with some taste and all edges colored so that seams will not show. A
room may be made to appear large or small with the use of proper
patterns and ceilings made to seem high or low by the placing of
moldings and borders. It is essential to understand these relations.
THE INTERIOR DECORATOR.

Interior decoration has of late years taken on the nature of a pro
fession rather than a trade, a change caused -by the high degree of
skill, taste, and technical information which is required of the expert.
Between 90 and 100 men devote their entire time to interior decora
tion in Minneapolis. The interior decorator occupies the highest
position in the building trades, receiving from 60 to 90 cents an hour
for eight hours’ work.
The value and efficiency of the interior decorator lies more in his
artistic sense and ability than in skill in the use of brush and paint
materials, though the latter is very essential.
He must have a thorough knowledge of color harmony and con
trast, be able to read and analyze colors, and mix a color with water,
42805°— Bull. 199—17------ 11

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

acid, distemper, dye, or oil. He is often called upon to reproduce a
picture on a wall, requiring ability to draw and then paint it in the
colors desired. He is required to stencil various figures and must
draw the design first on the paper and then cut out the parts which
are to appear in color on the wall.
Interior decorators state that evening courses in drawing and
applied design, color analysis, harmony and contrast, the designing
of borders, panels, and so forth will be of great value.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.

During the progress of the survey, conferences were held between
employers and employees in the painting and decorating trade and
plans considered for training apprentices in evening and dull-season
classes. As a result of these conferences employers and employees
have approved of a scheme for training apprentices, which provides
that an advisory committee shall be appointed, consisting of em
ployers and employees, to assist the Dunwoody Institute in standard
izing the work of the institute relating to the painting trades.
Under the terms of this plan, the union is to require all apprentices
during the entire three years of their apprenticeship to attend at
least five days a week in January and February an all-day school at
the Dunwoody Institute, which classes shall be open to all appren
tices in the painting trade in Minneapolis. Half the time spent by
the apprentice in the school shall be given to the practical work of
painting and decorating, and half to technical and academic work.
The employers have agreed to pay the apprentice attending this dullseason school half his usual wages while attending school through
the dull season.
The survey committee approves the above plan and recommends
the establishment of the following evening classes:
House painter: Classes in color mixing and color harmony, con
ducted in connection with the courses in interior decoration, in which
the more ambitious inside painters would obtain profitable instruc
tion.
Wood finishers: Courses of instruction in methods of advanced
wood finishing operated in conjunction with classes in interior
decoration.
Paper hangers: Courses of instruction dealing with fine and special
papers operated in connection with the classes for interior decorators.
Interior decorators: Evening classes centering the instruction around
practical work on the plastered wall and involving lining, use of
pounce and stencil, and the study of special methods of decoration,
such as bronzing and plaster work, which afford opportunities for
instruction in design of borders, panels, and surface ornament, and
in color combinations.

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PLASTERERS.

The growing use of cement, plaster, and stucco as outside finish
for buildings, together with the large amount of building due to
growing population, has called for more plasterers in the city.
About 500 men are now engaged in the trade in Minneapolis, an
increase of 28 per cent over the number in 1909.
For plain plastering the supply of men is recruited largely from
nonresidents or “ floaters,” but the number who can do ornamental
plastering is quite limited. Almost all modeling and casting is done
by men who learn their trade in Europe, particularly in Germany
and Italy. There is little physical or nervous strain on plasterers
but, except for casters and modelers, the nature of the work requires
that the man be able-bodied and have considerable endurance.
The busy season is from April to October. January and February
are practically idle, though inside work sometimes furnishes em
ployment. Journeyman plasterers work eight hours a day at 70 cents
an hour. About 65 per cent belong to the union, plasterers’ tenders
and modelers and casters having separate organizations.
As has been stated, the demand for skilled men is constantly in
creasing with, as yet, no adequate provision for training men to meet
this demand. There is a crude apprenticeship system, the training
consisting of that which can be picked up in working on the job.
Under these conditions men from smaller communities could come to
Minneapolis and, because of their experience in plain plastering, get
admitted to the union, and it has been impossible to maintain any set
standard of efficiency for journeymanship. Apprentices are expected
to serve four years and admission to the union has been based more
upon the time served by the apprentice than upon his proficiency as
a plasterer.
The classes of workmen are: Tenders, apprentices, and journey
men plasterers who are engaged in or on buildings, and casters,
modelers, model makers, and case makers, who as a rule work in
shops making material to be later installed in buildings much as millwork is made and installed, and are not supposed to do any work or
to erect work on buildings.
THE TENDER.

The tender does about the same work as a common laborer, in
cluding the heavy work of mixing the plaster, carrying it to the
workman, and building scaffolds. As one tender is usually required
for every journeyman, there are approximately 220 in the city. The
tender must know how to mix plaster containing the right propor
tions of materials and of the proper consistency. He must be able
to carry a hod, climb ladders and scaffolds, and capable of doing
heavy work. Tenders are from 21 to 60 years of age, and, for the

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most part, have little education or training. Inability to read or
write is no handicap for the work, as they are never called upon to
follow written directions or specifications, but the work requires
considerable knowledge of materials and the kind and consistency of
mixtures for different jobs. Skill consists largely in handling the
hoe and hod. Tenders are not allowed to handle a trowel or other
plasterer’s tools.
For his work the tender receives 45 cents an hour, eight hours
a day. Employers feel that provision should be made for giving
the tender some knowledge of plaster and its uses before allowing
him to draw full pay for this work. At present no provision is
made for teaching the tender; he merely goes to work, picks up
what knowledge he can, and from pointers and complaints made
by the workmen is expected to acquire the necessary knowledge.
THE APPRENTICE.

At present 19 apprentices are registered with the union, who,
with a few others, make the total about 25. The only system of
training young men for the trade is that prescribed by the union un
der its rules. One apprentice is allowed to each contracting plasterer.
The term of apprenticeship is four years. The wage rate in the first
six months is $1 a day; in the second six months, $1.50; in the second
year, $2; in the third year, $3; and in the fourth, $4. Apprentices
are usually sons or near relatives of journeymen. No systematic
arrangement has been made for employing or testing out the young
man desiring to enter the trade; the employer desiring an ap
prentice engages him. He must be between 16 and 20 years old
and be able-bodied and of good health. To become a common plas
terer he does not need considerable education; but to rise above the
average and be an expert should have at least a common-school edu
cation, and a high school education would be a distinct asset.
The usual custom is for the apprentice to go to work with a
journeyman, who gives him a few instructions. He is allowed to
use all the tools of the trade and work on any kind of work the
journeyman is doing. The amount of instruction he receives de
pends on the disposition and time of his fellow workmen.
To become an efficient workman he must learn the composition
of different mixtures, such as first, second, and third coat, and of
cement mixtures for outside work. He must become expert in han
dling trowel and hawk in applying plaster. He should also learn
how to cut templates or models, run moldings and cornices, and
put ornamental casts in place, pointing them up neatly and ac
curately.
The most common deficiency of apprentices is lack of fundamental
training in the finer points of the trade and inability to make mold

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165

ings and miters and keep all work flat and true. While many are
ca reless and indifferent, these deficiencies are largely due to the
absence of opportunity for training.
THE JOURNEYMAN PLASTERER.

At present approximately 220 journeyman plasterers are employed
in Minneapolis. To meet the demand the trade must take on 20 or
25 each year. As the number of apprentices is not sufficient to
meet this demand, journeymen are recruited to some extent from
other places. They are usually between 21 and 60 years old and
the wage rate is 70 cents an hour for an eight-hour day.
The work consists of plastering walls, ceilings, and other surfaces
by the use of the trowel, hawk, and other tools, also ornamental
work such as cornices and moldings with stucco, cement, and other
materials. “ Three coat” work,is generally done upon flat surfaces.
The first coat, consisting of plaster containing hair, is well scratched
and made flat; the second, which is like the first except that it con
tains no hair, is put on and floated; the third, or finishing, coat, con
sisting of lime and plaster of Paris, is very thin and the surface is
smoothly finished.
As considerable stooping, reaching, and working on scaffolds is
required, the workman must be able-bodied and have considerable
endurance. While common plastering does not require more than
average intelligence, the better class of work, such as making mold
ings, cornices, and ornamental ceilings, requires that the man under
stand how to read drawings, lay out work accurately, and cut and
use templates. In making moldings' or cornices the workman cuts
a piece of metal to the outline of the mold or comice. This is
mounted in a rude frame called a “ horse” ; by pushing this tem
plate along the wall in a straight line the molding or cornice is
formed. The running of this mold into the corners and making a
neat miter requires considerable skill and accuracy.
To advance to the position of foreman the journeyman must have
other qualifications, which will be described under “ Foreman.”
The most common deficiencies of journeymen are lack of exactness,
inability to read plans and specifications, and lack of skill in doing
the more intricate work. Workmen are often accused of indifference
to the finer points of the trade, but there is at present no provision
whereby they may learn how to do this work skillfully.
THE FOREMAN.

The foreman is generally a journeyman, promoted because of his
knowledge and skill and his ability to manage men and plan their
work successfully. As he is responsible for its proper performance,
he must be able to lay out all the work and show1the workmen how
to do it. He, therefore, must have complete knowledge of the work

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

of journeyman and tender and be able to read and interpret plans
and specifications. While most of the men engaged as foremen have
only elementary schooling, a high school education would be of ad
vantage. In laying out work a pi*actical knowledge of geometry and
in mixing plasters some knowledge of the chemistry of the materials
is essential. The setting of plaster can be hastened or retarded by
mixing sugar, salt, and other substances in the plaster. Often a mix
ture will require a hard, nonabsorbent surface and the foreman
must understand how to obtain this finish.
The ornamental plasterer is dealt with in the chapter on the place of
art in industry.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The foregoing account of the organization of the plasterer’s trade
and of the knowledge required by the trade has been obtained from
the employers and employees in the trade in Minneapolis. Em
ployers and employees agree that the trade is greatly in need of
some provision for the training of both apprentices and journey
men. In conference with employers and employees, the following
plan was formulated and subscribed to by contracting plasterers
and the Plasterers’ Union: Free evening classes for apprentices and
journeymen plasterers should be conducted in the Dunwoody Insti
tute ; in addition, both contractors and the union agree to require all
apprentices during the first three years of their apprenticeship to
attend at least five days a week in January and February an all-day
school, if established, at the Dunwoody Institute; during these
months, the contractor is to pay the apprentice half his usual wage
while in attendance at the school. A type of this agreement is given
in Chapter X X III (see p. 529).
The survey committee approves the establishment of the dull-season school and is of the opinion that there may be some small pos
sibilities in the way of evening classes for journeymen plasterers,
although it should be pointed out that the total number in the city
is very small. It is believed that the only evening classes that
would attract such men would be classes dealing with the laying out
of advanced work, such as the more complex moldings and cornices,
polygons, ellipses and arches, and that these would appeal only to
men of superior ambition desiring advancement to foremanship po
sitions.
PLU M BERS A N D G AS F ITTE RS.

In the last few years increased attention to sanitation, with the
growth of the city, has given increased importance to the plumbing
trade. About 500 men are now employed at this work. The work

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of the plumber, steam fitter, and gas fitter, though different, is often
done by the same shop, as the same tools and many of the same ma
terials are used by all three.
Gas fitting consists of cutting, fitting, and installing iron pipe to
conduct gas to heating and lighting fixtures or appliances.
Plumbing work consists of laying water and sewer pipes from the
street to houses; installing in buildings and residences plumbing
fixtures and other appurtenances, such as filters, meters, tanks, bath
tubs, showers, wash basins, sinks, water-closets, and urinals; install
ing fixtures and pipes for sewerage and drainage.
Liability to injury is small, as is evidenced by the rates charged by
casualty companies to employers for protection against accidents
to plumbers, the rates being less than for machinists, steam fitters,
carpenters, outside painters, bricklayers, and workers on the out
side of buildings, and the same as for painters and electricians on
the inside of buildings. Plumbers feel, however, that contact with
insanitary conditions often causes ill-health.
Plumbers work eight hours a day at from $5 to $5.50 a day. In
January, February, and the first part of March, and for about six
weeks during the harvest season they have little work to do. The
demand for plumbing work is fairly constant the rest of the year.
The trade in Minneapolis is about 50 per cent organized and
contains both journeymen and junior plumbers. Although the de
mand for plumbers has been increasing, the supply is adequate to
meet this need. There is, nevertheless, a great demand for experts
competent to plan and install sanitary plumbing. As there has been
no opportunity for plumbers to receive instruction in the theory and
practice of hydraulics and sanitation, the trade has deteriorated and
planning is now done largely by sanitary engineers and architects
trained in technical schools. I f this continues, the trade will take
on more and more the nature of semiskilled labor with a trained
technical engineer to plan and direct On the other hand, the skilled
mechanic who understands the practical work and the theory of
hydraulics and sanitation is more to be desired than the technical
graduate with no skill.
The new workers in the trade are largely apprentices and a few
transients from other parts of the country. At present there is no
systematic method of selecting or employing apprentices. Plumbers
do not, as a rule, urge their sons to enter the trade, as they do not
feel that opportunities for training and promotions are sufficiently
attractive.
Four classes or grades of men are employed: Laborers, apprentices,
junior plumbers, and journeymen, the last three in the order of
promotion. A laborer sometimes becomes an apprentice and eventu
ally a journeyman, although such instances are rare.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.
THE LABORER.

The usual ratio is one laborer to two journeymen, and there are
approximately 90 plumbers’ laborers in the city. The laborers are
often “ floaters,” but there are 15 or 20 who remain constantly in
the trade. Their ages are between 18 and 50 and their wage rate
$1.75 to $3 a day.
The laborer digs ditches, puts in sewer pipe, runs the water main
from the street to the house, and puts on a shut-off valve. The work
requires physical strength and sufficient intelligence to do the work
correctly, The laborer can do all the work without a great amount
of education. He seldom has written or printed directions to read
and has no calculations to make. He must be able to cut and thread
pipe and use a pipe wrench.
If the workman is to remain a laborer, he does not require any
schooling or training, but if he is to become an apprentice or a
journeyman, he must acquire knowledge and skill required for that
work.
THE APPRENTICE.

There are in the city about 150 apprentices in the plumbing trade.
Of these 100 are registered with the union and about 50 employed
in nonunion shops. There is no strict regulation concerning age,
but apprentices are usually between 17 and 25 years old. There is
lio rule governing wages and the rate is $5 a week to $2 a day.
Length of apprenticeship depends on the ability and progress of
the apprentice. When he passes the city examination, he becomes a
junior plumber and is accepted by the union. No system of inden
ture is generally practiced, the boy merely going to work with the
employer and becoming a journeyman when he can qualify.
The apprentice is usually put to work at things he can do, such as
waiting on the journeyman and bringing him tools and materials,
and as occasion offers is allowed to do the same work as the journey
man. He receives no training except what the journeyman gives him.
As the journeyman is pot always familiar with technical points, and
feels no responsibility for the apprentice, the latter often gets an
inaccurate idea of the trade and its requirements.
The work requires average strength, intelligence, and, under pres
ent conditions, ability to learn without a teacher. To advance, the
apprentice should have a common-school and, better still, a high
school education. He must learn the use of all the tools of the trade,
how to make joints in all kinds of pipe, especially to wipe a joint in
lead pipe, the proper proportions of lead and tin in solder, how to
clean and restore spoiled solder and how to bend lead pipe without
kinking it, and how to construct traps of various kinds. He must be
able to test drainage systems with water, air, smoke, or chemicals,

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169

have considerable knowledge of physics, especially the effect of heat
and cold on lead, tin, brass, and iron, and understand the water
hammer, pumps, siphons, traps, and such parts of chemistry as deal
with lead, tin, brass, red lead, white lead, litharge, cements, fluxes,
sewer gas, septic tanks, water contamination, and electrolysis. He
must also learn to read working drawings, be able to make layouts
of complete plumbing and drainage systems and install them. He
must understand different types of plumbing fixtures and how to
connect them, and be thoroughly familiar with regulations concern
ing traps and vents.
It is impossible, under present conditions, to gain this knowledge
while working at the job. Some outside agency must supply instruc
tion. The trade advocates all-day classes in theory and practice of
plumbing during the slack months of January and February.
THE JUNIOR PLUMBERS.

The junior plumber is half way between the apprentice and journey
man. He is, in reality, an apprentice who has acquired sufficient
knowledge to pass the city examination. He is legally permitted to
do plumbing work; but, as he can not market his services at full
journeyman pay, the union accepts him as a junior plumber, and
allows him to work at a lower rate than the journeyman. His great
est need is skill and technical training, especially the latter. The
manipulative skill required of the plumber is not extensive; what he
needs is scientific knowledge of hydraulics and sanitation as applied
to buildings. Courses in evening or all-day dull-season schools would
furnish him the opportunity to acquire the necessary technical
knowledge for journeymanship.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

Approximately 200 journeyman plumbers are employed in the city.
They are between 21 and 60 years old, and their wage rate is $5 to
$5.50 for eight hours’ work.
As has been stated, the journeyman installs all the plumbing in
residences and other buildings, and it is evident that he should under
stand all the processes of installation and the theory underlying
sanitary plumbing and drainage. I f he lacks this knowledge and
ability, his work must be planned by some other person. To protect
the community from the effects of insanitary plumbing and drainage,
the city has had to establish rules and regulations concerning such
installation and the qualifications of men who do it. To the com
petent plumber these rules and regulations are no hindrance what
ever; they serve, however, to check the incompetent one or the con
tractor who would disregard them to add to his profits.
I f the industry is to become the scientific agency for promoting
health, which it should be, plumbers must have opportunity to in

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

crease their skill and acquire a scientific understanding of the prin
ciples underlying sanitation in cities. The advancement of the trade
depends more upon this than upon skill in the manipulation of tools,
although this is essential.
The trade is in favor of evening classes for instruction in such
subjects as computing contents of tanks and cisterns of various
shapes and sizes and the capacity of pipes and boilers; plan reading
and estimating of materials; drawing details of valves, traps, sec
tions of bath tubs, sinks, and lavatories; chemistry, including action
of hot water, acids, and various materials used in plumbing; elec
trolysis; septic tanks and disposition of sewage, and plumbers’ laws
and ordinances.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The industry in Minneapolis is fully aware of its shortcomings
and recognizes the fact that instruction in the theory and practice
of the trade is its greatest need. Accordingly, an arrangement has
been made with employers, the Dunwoody Institute, and the trade
whereby free evening classes in plumbing at the Dunwoody Insti
tute will be open to apprentices and journeyman plumbers.
The survey committee approves such evening classes for journey
man plumbers centering upon practical work in joint wiping and
erection of typical fixtures for hot water, drainage, and ventilating
systems, together with instruction in the scientific principles under
lying the operation of such systems and in city laws and ordinances
relating to plumbing work. A certain amount of drawing, such as
is used by plumbers, could be introduced in such courses by filling
out prepared blue or white prints of floor plans, with plumbing lines
and fixture installations, together with the necessary calculations.
Opportunity should be given for journeymen to attend general classes
in plan reading and estimating and specification writing for the
building trades.
These courses afford opportunities for preparation for the exami
nations required for the license for master plumbers.
Previous to the formulation of this report the employers and
the union agreed to require all apprentices during the entire three
years of their apprenticeship to attend at least five days a week
during January and February an all-day school at the Dunwoody
Institute. The contractors will pay the apprentice during his attend
ance at this dull-season school one-half of his usual wage. An ad
visory committee from the trade will assist the school in stand
ardizing its work and keeping it in close contact with the trade.
A type of this agreement is given in Chapter X X III (see p. 529).

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SHEET-M ETAL WORKERS.

This discussion treats only of sheet-metal workers in the building
trades and men who make metal appliances for buildings and put
them in place, and does not include those making sheet-metal ap
pliances in factories and shops. The secretary of the Builders’
Exchange estimates that there are 4H0 men in slieet-metal work
on buildings in the city. The United States Census shows 882
tinsmiths in 1910. The large increase in the number of sheet-metal
workers since 1909 has been due largely to the growth of the city.
Casualty companies rate sheet-metal work on buildings as more
precarious than the work of painters, carpenters, steam fitters,
plumbers, or electricians. Only two classes in the building trades
are rated higher—structural-iron workers and electricians working
outside. Employers feel, however, that the rating is too high, and
not proportionate to the number of accidents which occur. Em
ployers and employees agree that the noise of making sheet-metal
products causes partial deafness, and employees feel that fumes
from acid on the metal used in soldering cause headaches and
nervousness.
Eight hours constitutes a day’s work, and journeymen receive
50 cents an hour. The busiest season is from August 1 to December
1, with very little work done in February, March, and April.
Of the 300 journeymen employed in the trade, the union holds
that 55 per cent are members of their organization. It states that
a man is at his best between the ages of 25 and 55; but that occa
sionally men work at the trade until 65.
The supply of workers seems to keep pace with the increasing de
mands, but employers state that there is always a demand for men
capable of doing the better work of the trade.
The apprenticeship system is peculiar. Each shop employs a
number of helpers, and from those who have worked at the trade for
at least three years the union selects the most promising and accepts
them as apprentices. At the close of one year the apprentice is ad
mitted to the union as a journeyman. In shops where union rules
are not observed, boys are engaged as helpers and as they gain
knowledge and experience their wages are advanced until they re
ceive the same as journeymen. The union admits only 10 apprentices
and when they become journeymen new apprentices are admitted.
The union, however, often takes in men who have not served ap
prenticeships, in order to protect their interests.
From three to four years are required to learn the trade. •Helpers
receive 25 to 30 cents and apprentices 30 to 35 cents an hour. No
contract or indenture is signed in these cases. The survey has not
found one indentured apprentice in the trade.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
THE HELPER.

The helper waits on the journeyman, carrying his tools and ma
terial and doing other unskilled work. The union rules require
journeymen to do all they can to teach apprentices the trade, but
recognize as apprentices only those admitted to the union.
The helper and apprentice must be fairly able-bodied, but not too
heavy, as they have to climb ladders and get about over roofs. They
should be keen, alert, and able to learn quickly. To understand the
mathematics of the trade, they should have at least an eighth-grade
education and a high school education would be of advantage.
Journeymanship and the better positions of the trade require a
knowledge of the composition of the various materials used, such as
tin, copper, sheet steel, sheet iron, galvanized iron, solder, fluxes, and
rivets; expertness in handling hand and machinc tools used in cut
ting, bending, turning edges, and riveting; and proficiency in laying
out and drafting patterns of pipes, elbows, and tanks.
The mechanical skill necessary can be gained in the shop and on
the job, but technical knowledge necessary to read plans, draft pat
terns, and estimate quantities of materials can not be learned with
out outside assistance.
The common deficiencies of helpers and apprentices are lack of
technical knowledge and of appreciation of mechanical perfection.
Helpers are usually selected indiscriminately from applicants. No
tests are given and usually, upon the satisfactory answering of a few
questions, the boy is put to work.
As advancement depends more upon knowledge of pattern drafting, plan reading and estimating, and the proper use of sheet metal
than upon mechanical skill in manipulating tools, it is obvious that
day or evening classes giving technical instruction would materially
assist helpers and apprentices.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

The work of the journeyman sheet-metal worker consists in laying
out, forming, and assembling sheet-metal utensils; making and
erecting water spouts, valleys, and gutters; roofing buildings; attach
ing metal to ceiling and side walls; making and erecting cornice
work, crestings, hollow circular moldings, metal sash frames, sky
lights, and the covering of fire doors and windows; erecting hot-air
furnaces, together with sheet-metal casings, smoke pipes, hot and
cold air pipes; making water tanks of various shapes and sizes.
He mu,st have the physical and mental qualities mentioned for
the apprentice, but considerable more technical knowledge. He must
be able to draw patterns, determine capacities of hot and cold air
pipes, square and circular pipes, and of water tanks of various sizes

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and shapes, and know the proper methods of joining sheet metal and
the action of water and air upon it.
The most common deficiency of the journeyman is lack of knowl
edge of how to draft patterns, read blue prints, and interpret speci
fications. To keep up with changing conditions, .he must be con
stantly on the alert to learn and take up new methods. The journey
men feel that they could be benefited by evening classes giving in
struction in mathematics, especially the reading of formulas, plane
geometry, plan reading and estimating, free-hand and mechanical
drawing, and heating and ventilating.
THE FOREMAN.

The foreman is usually the most competent journeyman in the
shop. His wage rate is from 50 cents to $1 a day more than that of
other journeymen. His duty is to plan and lay out work for those
under him. He must be able, therefore, to read blue prints and draw
off quantities of material from them; plan a complete hot-air heat
ing plant, determining proper sizes of all pipes necessary to heat the
building, and plan the water spouts, gutters, etc., for a house.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.

While the survey was in progress, arrangements were made to
establish evening classes at the Dunwoody Institute in sheet-metal
drafting, covering practical problems of laying out for cornices,
decorative details, gutters, piping, and other architectural work.
The survey committee believes that such courses will be of value in
preparing for supervision or foremen’s positions.
STATIO N AR Y ENGINEERS.

In the study of the hoisting engineer the work of stationary engi
neer was also studied, as both require the same types of license.
It is difficult to ascertain the number of stationary engineers in
Minneapolis because of the number and variety of places where they
are employed. These places include hotels, apartment houses, manu
facturing establishments, hospitals, schools, public buildings, fire
departments, and all places requiring steam engines for operating
machinery, fans, electric generators, etc. Every person operating
such an engine or in charge of a high-pressure boiler is required
to have a stationary engineer’s license issued by the State boiler
inspector, and valid for two years. In 1914, 1,795 stationary
engineers’ licenses were issued in Hennepin County. It is estimated
that about 3,500 stationary engineers are employed in the county at
present, a large majority of these in Minneapolis.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Engineers’ licenses are of four kinds; special, second-class, firstclass, and chief engineers, according to sequence.
The chief engineer’s work varies with the size and character of
the plant. In small establishments he is often fireman and engineer
and sometimes does sweeping or cleaning. In larger plants the en
gineer operates the engine and supervises the firing. In very large
plants the chief engineer supervises all engineers and firemen. In
any case some engineer is responsible for the care of the boilers and
their accessories, and must see that the engine is lubricated and al
ways in working condition.
To do efficient work the engineer must understand the care of steam
boilers and the conditions affecting them, and know how to test a
boiler and care for the fire so as to prevent smoke, and for the boiler
so that there will be a minimum of incrustation and corrosion. He
must understand the operating of safety valves, injectors, and feed
pumps; be familiar with the use of steam indicators and the method
of measuring the horsepower of engines; and know the conditions
affecting the economic performance of steam engines, such as feedwater consumption, the action of condensers, and the use of re
heaters.
This requires a broad knowledge of the theory of boilers and en
gines as well as of the practical operation of engines and their ac
cessories. This knowledge can not be gained in the routine, and
some outside agency must supply instruction.
There is no system of apprenticeship among stationary engineers
in Minneapolis nor any plan for systematic training. Often the
chief engineer is a graduate of a technical school who has not served
an apprenticeship or had practical experience other than in the
school. Occasionally a man gets his first experience operating a
small engine in a stone quarry or on a pile driver. From this he
drifts into engineer’s work in some office building and by reading
technical books or through a correspondence course learns something
of the theory and practice of stationary engine operating. Some
times he begins as fireman, and by outside study acquires enough
knowledge to obtain a special license and in time become an engineer.
The State examines all boilers not inspected by insurance com
panies to insure their safety and prevent their being operated at too
high pressure. The State boiler inspector feels that there is a great
need for some system of training among firemen and engineers, as
ignorance of the danger often leads a fireman to tamper with a
safety valve and overload his boiler.
The pay of engineers is from $60 to $300 and of firemen, from
$50 to $60 a month. Engineers holding special licenses receive from
$65 to $75, and other engineers from this up to $300 a month for
chief engineers. The average pay for stationary engineers in Min

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175

neapolis is approximately $75 a month. The number drawing $200
to $300 is small.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
Stationary engineers in the city feel that evening classes giving
instruction in advanced valve setting, in the use of formulas suf
ficient to enable the student to understand engineer’s handbooks,
in care and efficient operation of steam boilers, methods of firing to
prevent smoke, prevention of incrustation and corrosion in boilers,
principles governing the expansive use of steam, and economic
performance of steam engines would be of great value to the engi
neers employed in the city as regards both wage and advancement.
The survey committee believes that courses consisting partly of
classroom instruction and partly of laboratory work can be devised
for this class of men, and recommends the establishment of such
courses at the Dunwoody Institute.
STEAM FITTERS.

There are 51 steam-fitting shops in Minneapolis, and a large
amount of steam fitting is done by plumbing shops. Approximately
375 men are employed in steam fitting. Because of the increase in
apartment houses and the tendency to install steam heat in better
class residences, the business is constantly increasing. This, together
with the growth of the city, places rising importance on the trade.
On account of seasonal fluctuation in the work the supply of labor
at some times of the year is much in excess of the demand, while
at other times it is necessary to employ men other than journey
men to work as steam fitters in the shops. The business depression
in Canada has brought many transient steam fitters to the city.
Steam fitters generally are paid $5 a day, but in some shops be
tween $4 and $5. The working day is eight hours.
The busy season in the steam-fitting trade is from July to January,
the installation of new work being done in that period. In Januuary and February considerable repair work is necessary. In April,
May, and June the trade is at its worst.
About 80 per cent of the journeymen are members of the union,
or about half of the skilled and apprentice workers.
The age of beginners is from 18 to 20 years. As a rule, five years
are required to learn the trade.
The steam fitter is at his best when between 21 and 55 years old.
There is no regular apprenticeship, but the helper is put to work with
journeymen. After working three or four years he may take an
examination, on passing which he is admitted to the union.

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BULLETIN OF THE BVBEAX7 OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The work requires men who are able-bodied and able to withstand
some exposure. Casualty companies rate steam fitting as less hazard
ous than carpentry, bricklaying, or slieet-metal work, but more
hazardous than iron-foundry work, automobile manufacturing, or
woodworking.
Employers say the industry is hampered by lack of knowledge
and training of beginners, as there is no apprenticeship system and
no special training. As some of the work requires considerable
ability and technical knowledge, it is almost impossible to find a
man who is competent to do all work required of a steam fitter.
The main work of the steam-fitting shop is to install steam and
hot-water heating in new buildings, connect power plants to boilers,
repair defective or worn-out plants, and install refrigerating plants.
There are four classes of workmen: The laborer, the helper or ap
prentice, the journeyman steam fitter, and the construction foreman.
Only larger shops have a construction foreman. In some cases he
is a paid man on a given piece of work, hired by the contracting
firm; sometimes his place is taken by the architect of the building.
The other three positions are more clearly defined.
THE LABORER.

The laborer does only the rough and heavy work. He helps to set
up boilers, cuts up large pipe, carries it to where it is needed, and
does other unskilled work. As a rule, one laborer is employed for
every two or three journeymen. He must be able-bodied, capable
of lifting heavy weights, and ready to obey orders. He may be from
18 to 40 years old, and is paid $2 to $2.25 a day, but seldom remains
long on a job. He does heavy work, and needs only to understand
the orders given him. He has no printed or written instructions and
requires no technical knowledge or skill, but quickness to grasp a
situation is an advantage.
The most common deficiency of the laborer is his inability to un
derstand and execute the orders given him. A common-school educa
tion might be of assistance, but few laborers now are ever promoted
to be helpers.
THE HELPER.

The helper acts as a general assistant to the more experienced
journeyman, his position corresponding to that of apprentice in
other trades. He therefore must learn to handle all the tools of the
trade. He is usually a man with a common-school education, who
has not had the opportunity to go to high school. His age is between
18 and 30 years, his wage rate $2.50 a day or less for an eight-hour
day. He must be healthy and fairly strong, though his work is not
so heavy as that of the laborer. He must be alert, as intelligent as
the average carpenter or machinist, and be able to read, write, and

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make arithmetical calculations. The farther he has gone in mathe
matics the better.
Much of the knowledge and nearly all of the skill requisite to a
good journeyman steam fitter must be learned by the helper by prac
tical experience, and can not be taught outside. For example, he
must be expert in handling all the tools of the trade, such as pipe
cutters, taps and dies, and threading machines, but there is much
that he will find it difficult or impossible to learn on the job. The
finer points of mathematics and the use of formulas must be gained
elsewhere. Weights and measures, boiler capacity, high-pressure
heating, the properties of superheated steam, pressure reduction,
valve and flue construction, heating capacity of radiators, the rate
of condensation, blue-print reading, and the construction of thermo*
stats can not be learned in the shop without great effort. At present
his only sources of information are technical books and correspond
ence courses.
The helper is generally selected by personal interview or on rec
ommendation of friends. He is given no special training, but learns
as he works. The length of time required to make him an efficient
helper varies from one to three or four years. Increase in efficiency
brings increase in wage, but there is no rule or custom governing
this increase. About 25 new helpers are taken on by the union each
year; the same number are promoted or leave the trade. At the end
of three to five years the union gives the helper an examination, on
passing which he becomes a journeyman. He is required to draw
plans of heating plants and tell how to run pipes and do a specified
job.
THE JOURNEYMAN.

About 150 journeyman steam fitters are employed in Minneapolis.
The journeyman does all and more than the helper does, and must
have more thorough and extensive training. He installs heating and
refrigerating plants, sets boilers in place, and superintends leveling.
He must be able to read blue prints and follow out the plans of the
engineer. He takes orders from the supervising architect and must
see that they are followed out, after which his responsibility ends.
In some cases, however, he is made responsible for the installation
with no engineer’s instructions to carry out. No man is admitted to
the union unless he is thought capable of planning work.
An expert steam fitter should be able to see when repairs are needed
in a plant. He should understand different makes of valves and
how to handle all the tools of his own trade, together with others
used in woodworking, as he cuts all necessary openings in walls and
floors. He must know how to grade pipes, put in steam traps and
pumps, thermostats and condensers, and repair boilers. He should
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

know the theories of heat expansion, and the size of the plant re
quired to heat a given space. In short, he should be a thorough
mechanic.
The steam fitter usually has at least a common-school education.
His age varies from 21 to 60 years, and his wage rate is $5 to $7 a
day for an eight-hour day, superior ability being recognized by
increase in wage or promotion to construction foreman. He must
be in good health and fairly strong. In most cases he has been a
helper and should have acquired skill by actual work. A graduate
of an engineering school with theoretical knowledge sometimes fails
because he can not handle the tools.
The greatest deficiency of journeymen is lack of technical knowl
edge, and this is difficult to acquire while working at the trade. This
hampers the industry. A course of systematic instruction in techni
cal phases of the work is, in the opinion of the trade, greatly needed.
THE CONSTRUCTION FOREMAN.

As already stated, the construction foreman is not essential to
the shop. He may be appointed by the contracting firm and have
no other connection with steam fitters under him. In larger shops
he is usually part of the force. The construction foreman plans
out the work for the whole shop. He looks over the work, sees what
is necessary, and gives instructions to the journeyman. He should
have all the technical knowledge of the journeyman and more.
Physical qualifications are not important nor is skill in handling
tools. He may or may not have been a journeyman steam fitter or
a helper. He may be a graduate of an engineering school who has
never worked with steam-fitting tools but should have a good techni
cal training.
This position is a promotion for a journeyman, if he can gain it.
Ages of construction foremen range from 25 to 60 years, and their
wage $5 to $7 a day or over for an eight-hour day. They are chosen
for ability, increase in which is recognized by increased wage. They
are, as a rule, efficient; if not, they lose their jobs.
If the journeyman steam fitter were given a sufficient course in
technical and theoretical branches of the trade, there is no reason
why, with practical knowledge of his work, he should not be able to
do the work of the construction foreman.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.

While the survey was in progress, the foregoing analysis of
the steam-fitting trade was approved by representative employers
and employees in the trade in Minneapolis. Both employers and
employees feel that supplementary training is greatly needed, and,

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as a result of the survey, they have sanctioned an agreement whereby
evening courses are to be offered at the Dunwoody Institute for
journeyman steam fitters and helpers.
The union is to require all helpers in the organized shops en
tering the work after August 1, 1915, to attend for not less than
two nights a week for two seasons of not less than seven months
each evening classes in steam fitting at the Dunwoody Institute,
wThich are to be open to all helpers from all shops of the city. The
employers of both organized and unorganized shops are to give pref
erence in employment of workers to the helpers attending such
classes, and in the reduction of their force in dull times are to give
the same preference. An advisory committee from the trade is to
assist in standardizing the work of these classes.
The survey committee believes that in such evening classes the
instruction should center about practical problems and should
involve the simple calculations needed. It should bring out the
varying requirements involved in piping of water, steam, com
pressed air and oil systems and should show the construction and
operation of different kinds of heating systems, together with the
scientific principles which underlie them, including a study of heat
radiation. A certain amount of drawing dealing with the laying
out of piping systems should be had in such a course.
STONECUTTERS.

There are five stonecutting concerns in Minneapolis who employ
practically all the stone and marble cutters in the city. While the
industry is an important one, only 30 men are employed as stone
cutters.
The work consists of cutting stone to fit various parts of buildings.
The marble cutters cut tile for walls, floors, and ceilings, and marble
for interior decoration.
The occupation is not particularly hazardous, but the workmen
assert that dust from the stone causes “ stonecutter’s consumption’’ ;
that vibration of the automatic hammer causes numbness or paralysis
of the hand and wrist, and that the constant noise occasionally
causes deafness and affects the nerves. Eight hours is a day’s work,
with Saturday afternoon off. The marble cutting is fairly regular
all year round, depending upon the contracts. The active season is
from March to November, the slack season from November to Febru
ary. Often, however, stonecutters are busy all year.
Of a total of 30 workers 25 are members of the organization. Be
ginners are between 16 and 18 years old, as a rule, although at present
only one apprentice is employed in the city. Four years are required
to learn the trade, and the age of maximum productivity is between
20 and 50. Employers say that bad habits do more to limit the
productive life of the workman than the work does.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOH STATISTICS.

The demand for stonecutting is fairly constant in Minneapolis,
and the supply seems adequate. Xew workers, as a rule, come from
outside the city and largely compensate for older employees who
drop out. Many of these men are from Europe, and in the marble
work most are from Italy.
The union rules provide for one apprentice to every 12 workmen,
but no attention is paid to this rule, as apprentices are not being
taken on in the city. The one apprentice is being paid as follows:
First year, $1 a day; second year, $1.50; third year, $2; and fourth
year, $3. Journeymen are paid $5 a day for eight hours’ work.
There are no apprentices in marble cutting, and journeymen receive
35 cents an hour. The employment, however, in marble cutting is
much more steady than in stonecutting.
The processes of stonecutting are more and more being performed
by machinery. Firms, as a rule, employ draftsmen to make complete
drawings of all stones to be cut and patterns for curved work, stone
moldings, and cornices. They make metal patterns or templates,
with which the cutter measures his work. The cutting is largely done
by automatic chisels operated by steam, hydraulic, or electric power.
The work requires that the man be able-bodied, as he is often called
upon to do handwork and to handle heavy stones.
To be a stonecutter under present conditions does not require
high skill or more than average intelligence. To be a first-class
mechanic, however, the man must have thorough knowledge of plane,
solid and descriptive geometry, and of stereotomy or the art of cutting
solid stone to various shapes. He must be able to visualize the stone
as it will appear when cut and have a definite plan for cutting this
stone from the solid block. This requires ability to interpret work
ing drawings and to measure accurately. To advance to the highest
position in his trade, he should have a knowledge of the chemical and
geological formation of stone in order to determine the enduring
qualities of stonework. He should know something about conven
tional architectural standards and be a judge of color harmony and
proportion in buildings. This technical knowledge can not be
learned in the routine, but the actual cutting of the stone can be
better learned in the trade than elsewhere.
The most common deficiency found in stonecutters is inability to
visualize and lay out the work accurately.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.

While the survey was in progress, this statement of the work of
the stonecutter was approved by both employers and employees in
the stonecutting industry in Minneapolis, and an agreement was

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reached whereby the Dunwoody Institute is to provide free evening
classes, as outlined, for cutters and apprentices in the hard and soft
stone cutting business.
Under the terms of this agreement apprentices are to be required to
attend these classes, and the employers have agreed that, other
things being equal, preference in the hiring and retention of em
ployees will be given to men attending such evening classes.
The survey committee believes that such courses should provide
instruction in the laying out of the more difficult forms met with in
stonecutting, such as arches, spiral stair treads, decorative details,
and lettering. The committee also feels that work in modeling would
be of value to those who wish to prepare for stone carving.
STRU C TU R AL-IR O N W ORKERS.

A large quantity of structural-iron work in done in Minneapolis.
The manufacture of structural and ornamental iron is treated fully
in another chapter. This discussion relates to erectors who do
heavy structural-iron work on buildings.
There are, approximately, 100 erectors in the city, 95 of whom
are members of the union. Not more than 20 erectors are regularly
employed in the city, the others being engaged in bridge and other
construction work in the territory contiguous to Minneapolis.
The work is unsteady and precarious. The liability to accident
is-greater and the insurance rates are higher than in any other build
ing trade. The erectors themselves are of the opinion that the noise
made when riveting causes nervous strain and deafness to the worker.
The employers consulted were not of this opinion.
Eight hours is the usual day’s work. Fluctuation in employment
is considerable. January and February are the dull months. The
wage rate for journeymen erectors is 62£ cents an hour. The new
workers come from laborer's who learn the work rapidly. They must
be men of nerve and agility.
There is a crude system of apprenticeship in the trade. The union
allows one apprentice to seven journeymen, but this is far more than
the number employed. Apprenticeship lasts 18 months, during which
the apprentice learns to “ walk iron,” become accustomed to the
height, and overcome his fear of falling. He carries rivets and bolts
and learns all the operations of heating, bucking, and riveting by
assisting in this work. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he is
given an examination by the union, and on passing becomes a jour
neyman.
The beginning age is from 21 to 25, and the age of maximum
productivity from 21 to 45. Both employers. and employees state
that the supply of erectors is adequate. The demand is decreasing
on account of the use of reinforced concrete, in which the day laborer

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

has supplanted the erector. While the union has held that laying
rods in reinforced concrete is the work of journeyman erectors, no
contractor in Minneapolis has recognized the contention.
The work of the structural-iron worker consists of laving out
and cutting to proper length angle iron, channel iron, and T-iron
beams used in constructing buildings, bridges, and viaducts; erecting
and fastening these by bolts, rivets, and plates; laying out and
assembling grills and other ornamental work, assembling and erect
ing fire escapes, vaults for banks, advertising signs, smokestacks,
ventilators, and all iron and steel construction work in the building
trades.
Except that of foreman, no work in the trade requires particular
training. As a rule, the men have more than average strength and
are muscular and wiry. Wages of erectors are high largely because
of the risk. Both employers and employees agree that good foremen
are needed, who should know strength of materials, be able to read
plans, have good judgment, and understand the machinery of hoist
ing loads, weights, pulleys, engine action, and conditions. The fore
man is usually the best man in his crew and has some technical
knowledge.
Occupations in the work of erecting structural iron includes heater,
bucker, riveter, and derrick man. There is no sequence in promotion.
The bucker, riveter, and derrick man receive same rate, 62J cents an
hour. Every journeyman is expected to perform all the work of
each process and thus be able to relieve others.
There is no systematic method of selection. Erectors are usually
men who travel from city to city doing work for big firms, or are
selected from strong, robust, and promising men in the city. All
they need is to be muscular, of good health, and fairly intelligent.
No special knowledge or skill is required except by the foreman. A
man can acquire in the routine all that he needs to know. Usually
the foreman is somewhat lacking in technical knowledge.
The industry does not seem to be hampered by lack of training or
knowledge among beginners. Workers are selected at random and
from .various sources, usually from casual laborers. They receive no
special training and there seems to be no need, except by foremen,
for any technical knowledge or manipulative skill before entering.
Whatever skill is needed can be gained in the routine. The fore
man would be greatly benefited by evening classes where he can
learn the reading of plans, strength and weight of materials, loads,
weights, pulleys, and hoisting machinery, including engines.
The heater heats the rivets in a forge, usually operated by hand,
and tosses them to the man who places them in position. He must
know when the rivet is hot enough by sight and be able to throw it

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skillfully. He must know different sizes and lengths of rivets by
sight in order to supply the other workmen with those of the proper
size.
THE BUCKER.

The bucker places the rivet in place and holds a lever or bucking
iron against it wThile the riveter hammers. The bucking iron is a
heavy bar of iron with a countersunk end which fits over the head of
the rivet. All the bucker needs to know is how to hold this lever
properly, and a week is ample time to acquire skill in this.
THE RIVETER.

The riveter forms the head on the protruding end of the hot rivet
by means of a special riveting hammer or automatic riveting ma
chine driven by air, hydraulic, steam, or electric power. He needs
to know when the rivet is tight. His skill consists in operating the
hammer, which he learns in a short time.
THE DERRICK MAN.

The derrick man, who usually comes to his position through the
other work of the hoisting crew, is responsible for such work as plac
ing beams and hoisting. He must know how to fasten chains and
cables and be a good judge of weights and the strength of all parts
of the derrick, and of chains and cables. His skill consists in han
dling heavy material rapidly. This he learns entirely by experience.
A man of average intelligence will acquire the necessary skill in one
or two years.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE SURVEY
COMMITTEE*
A study of the trade of the structural-iron worker does not war
rant the establishment of courses training for the work or extend
ing the knowledge of the technical phases of the work to erectors in
Minneapolis.

CHAPTER VH.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
ELECTRICAL WORKER?
Discussion of the electrical worker naturally resolves itself into a
consideration of (1) the telephone; (2) the electric railway; (3) pro
duction of electric heat, power, and light for general use; (4) manu
facture of electrical apparatus; (5) installation of switchboard
apparatus; (6) the armature winder; and (7) overhead and under
ground construction. These are treated in the order given.
TELEPHONE INDUSTRY.

Both the Northwestern Telephone Exchange Co., a Bell company,
and the Tri-State Telephone & Telegraph Co., sometimes called the
independent telephone company, serve Minneapolis and St. Paul.
These two companies, whose offices in Minneapolis are also head
quarters for the Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota dis
tricts, employ about 3,000 men and women.
The telephone property consists of the main central buildings
and about a dozen branch exchanges. The central exchanges and
all the branches are connected by trunk or cable lines, usually laid
in conduits, especially in the down-town districts, while overhead
construction is used to a limited extent in outlying districts. Sub
scribers are connected to branch exchanges by individual or party
lines, and these in groups of 25, 50, 100 or more pairs are placed
inside a lead cable.
In the exchanges are the switchboards and racks containing relay
coils, fuse boxes, and ringers, and in the central exchange are the
toll or long-distance boards. Each subscriber’s pair of lines must
be run to each of 12 to 15 sections of the switchboards, so that his
telephone can be reached by any operator. The fact that from
10,000 to 12,000 subscribers are connected with a station gives some
idea of the interconnections required. Furthermore, the wiring
is made much more intricate by being run through various relay
coils.
The apparatus used on switchboards and racks for giving signals
to operators and subscribers, such as the busy signal and the outof-order signal, consists of mechanisms comparable to those in a
watch, and the various pieces must be kept accurately adjusted. The
185

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

adjustment and proper care of this mechanism and the proper
understanding of the functions of each individual part require a
high degree of skill and training.
The Tri-State Telephone & Telegraph Co. is installing an auto
matic system in the Twin Cities, and in a year or so automatic
switchboards will have entirely replaced the manual boards now
in use. This will practically eliminate all girls now operating the
local switchboards, except in the special-service or information
department.
The telephone industry is one of the most highly developed in the city
in perfection of service and in skill and training required of the
worker. Many illustrations like the following could be given: One
company has a department whose sole duty is to check the speed
with which subscribers are served, and it is not uncommon for an
operator to be notified that the preceding month she averaged two
seconds below the standard in pulling out plugs or disconnecting
parties after the receiver was hung up. A break in a cable nearly
18 miles away was located in the central office by electrical measuring
instruments, and was found to be within 7 inches of the designated
point.
The telephone business is advancing so rapidly as to require years of
training to be able to understand the constantly shifting conditions
and the adjustments necessary to meet them. Three years ago a cer
tain type of switchboard, considered a great improvement, was
installed by both companies. Now this board is regarded as obsolete.
Telephone men agree that from 5 to 10 years of actual experience are
required really to learn any branch of the business.
The general organization of a large telephone company includes four
departments, all under a general manager. The commercial depart
ment, where both men and women are employed, makes out the
monthly bills to subscribers, collects accounts, adjusts complaints,
looks after legal matters, and handles the general commercial work.
In the traffic department, where 99 per cent are girl operators, opera
tion of the switchboard and connections is carried on. The plant
department, employing men only, takes care of construction and
maintenance. The engineering department gives technical service
to the other three departments and plans development and extendon
of all the work. This report is primarily concerned with the plant
and engineering departments.
PLANT DEPARTMENT.

In the plant department of the two companies are about 1,100 em
ployees, of whom 75 per cent should have a good technical knowl
edge of telephony, either for their present or for more desirable
positions. These men, whose ages vary from 18 to 56 years, are em

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ployed in six subdivisions, rated in the order of importance as
die facility, maintenance, installation, construction, cable, and cleri
cal divisions.
The facility division employs six to eight men, whose ages range
from BOto 35 years and wages from $75 to $175 a month. They must
have the experience and ability that can be acquired only after years
in the industry. They must understand thoroughly outside plant
development work, especially as applied to future growth, as it is
their duty to study the growth of additions and new subdivisions and
the problems connected with introducing the telephone into these
districts. Branch exchanges are often located 15 to 18 years ahead
of the development of new territory.
The maintenance division employs 75 to 150 men, whose ages vary
from 18 to 36 years and wages from $35 to $90 a month. Their duty
is to maintain the operating plant in a high state of efficiency. The
head officers, whose duties are directive and supervisory, are the dis
trict wire chief, assistant district wire chief, and the wire chief of
each branch exchange. Under these are the switchboard workmen
and apprentices, and outside repair men, who look after the ap
paratus of the switchboards and workrooms, and repair station ap
paratus and subscribers’ lines. Their service is not so much to cor
rect as to prevent trouble. Often a subscriber’s line is repaired
without his knowing it. All these men must have a thorough knowl
edge of telephony, including the elements of electricity and mag
netism, electric circuits, functions of intricate pieces of apparatus
used in telephony, their construction, and the theory back of them.
The installation division employs from 100 to 160 men, whose ages
range from 19 to 56 years and wages from $1.50 to $3.50 a day. The
foreman draws $95 to $125 a month. These workers install the
equipment, which may be a single instrument or an entire private
switchboard. A knowledge of telephony is required only sufficient
to run lines from the “ street feeders ” to the instruments and prop
erly “ connect up ” the latter. As so many telephones are taken out,
replaced, and installed a year, there is continual change in this part
of the telephone property. If there is only one facility installation
in every ten, many facilities result in the aggregate. For this rea
son, although the duties of the installer are comparatively simple,
much care is required to insure the best results. This is particularly
true during rush seasons.
The construction division has from 125 to 250 men, who are from
25 to 40 years old. Foremen’s wages range from $100 to $160 a
month, the wages of the men they direct from $2 to $3.50 a day. All
new outside work, such as setting poles and running wires, is done
by this division. Only the foreman requires special skill and train
ing, the other workers merely following instructions. As the amount

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

of employment varies greatly from season to season, extra men are
either taken on temporarily from any available source or transferred
from some other part of the company’s work.
The cable division employs from 40 to 100 men, who are on the aver
age about 40 years old and draw $1.75 to $4 a day, foremen receiving
from $100 to $150 a month. The men splice cables, wipe lead joints,
though not so carefully as a plumber, attach cables to supporting
wires, and make connections to distributing boxes. Only the fore
men must have any considerable training in the science of telephony,
while the workers are taken from the old-time linemen or from
helpers to the cable men, who in some cases are promoted to be cable
men themselves.
The clerical division has from 25 to 40 men and women, from 20 to
30 years of age, and receiving $40 to $90 a. month. Their duties are
to look after business accounting. They should have business train
ing and experience and know the names of different pieces of ap
paratus, where used, and the cost.
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.

This department is usually under the division engineer and its
work is done by six groups of expert workers: Outside plant con
struction engineers, equipment engineers, toll-line construction engi
neers, traffic engineers, drafting department engineers, and appraisal
engineers. From 28 to 35 men are employed who vary in age from
17 to 36 years, and whose salaries range from $60 to $150 a month,
except draftsmen and clerks, who get $35 to $90.
The 10 or 15 outside plant construction engineers design pole,
conduit, and cable construction. Four to six equipment engineers
prepare specifications for switchboards, substation apparatus, power
plants, and buildings. Two or three toll-line construction engineers
make specifications for toll-line construction and transferring lines.
One or two traffic engineers study population and telephone growth,
usually called development work. Four to six draftsmen do archi
tectural, mechanical, and electrical drafting, and several appraisal
engineers make physical valuations of sites, buildings, and plants.
In the engineering division, good judgment, accuracy, carefulness,
and a serious attitude toward the work are needed. A good educa
tion is of value, and a high school course, followed by college train
ing. is highly desirable. All should have considerable knowledge of
telephony, acquired by study after long experience in the field, or
preferably in the field after a special course in electricity.
The demand for good telephone men is growing daily. In the last five
years one of the companies has doubled its number of stations and its
force. A special type of man with knowledge of the technique and
theory of telephoning is required. This can be acquired only by

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private study or in some special school. Both pay and chances of
promotion are good. The field of telephone work from every angle
seems attractive. All telephone companies are more or less national
in organization and practice is well standardized throughout the
country. Consequently, a successful telephone man has no trouble in
getting employment in almost any locality.
The most common deficiencies of workers are lack of proper training
and indifference. The older men who are not “ making good ” have
not had sufficient education or training, and must be content to fill
more or less “ set” jobs in which they can perform routine work. In
cable work or line construction, for example, these men follow certain
rules of construction, and the more nearly they follow them the
better their work. Younger men not only fail by reading or study
to acquire technical and scientific knowledge, but fail even by obser
vation and investigation to learn the practical side. Apprentices
work around the switchboard and racks in the rack room, wiping off
dust and tightening connections, and entirely neglect this chance to
learn the construction, care, and use of the apparatus.
If apprentices and helpers had regular instruction in part-time or
evening classes, there is no reason why most of them should not
become students of the business and develop into valuable men.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The suggestions for training embodied in the courses herewith pro
posed, developed during the progress of the survey, have been
approved by representatives of the two telephone companies and con
curred in by the survey committee.
For boys who wish to fit themselves to become telephone men a two
years’ course should be offered. Only those should be admitted to it
who have completed the eighth grade at least, as a fair knowledge of
common-school subjects is necessary to a proper understanding of
electrical and telephone work. The first year should deal with the
fundamental conception of the electrical circuit, electrical units,
Ohm’s law, and its application to series and parallel circuits and line
drop, equations in the measurement of power and losses in transmis
sion; construction and troubles and connections of shunt series and
compound generators, and the testing of open and short circuits in
cables.
In the second year complete outfits of telephone apparatus should
be installed, set up and disassembled from time to time. The instruc
tion should cover the laying out of different circuits; construction,
operation, and repair of switchboard circuits; relay adjustments,
storage battery and power equipment; application to the telephone
of magnetism and electricity as presented in the first year; and con

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

struction, operation, and repair of transmitters, receivers, condensers,
induction coils, ringers, protectors, and switchboards. Near the close
of the year the pupils of the telephone course should have actual
experience in testing and in clearing trouble on lines and substation,
central office, cable, and private branch exchanges.
It was also the opinion of these representatives that persons al
ready employed in the telephone business should have a chance to
attend classes two nights a week, two hours a night, for the 50 nights
the evening schools are in session. The evening courses of instruc
tion should deal first with the fundamental conception of the electri
cal circuit, electrical units, Ohm’s law, with particular reference to
line resistance and line drop and testing of line circuits. These
courses should later differentiate according to the needs of different
groups of telephone workers, such as central office, cable, private
branch exchange, line and substation men, and into special lines of
instruction based upon practical applications and commercial opera
tions not met by these men in their daily work.
Here, as in the case of the day-school pupil, the equipment should
provide opportunity for demonstration, testing, and,- in some cases,
for actual construction; and the instruction must be made practical,
with constant application of themes and principles to actual work.
Where students are deficient in general mathematics they should
take the work of the special class for telephone men in this subject.
This training should open opportunities for better wage and for ad
vancement to supervisory positions within the facility, maintenance,
installation, construction, or cable divisions of the plant depart
ment of the telephone business; and for promotion from one di
vision to another, which usually takes place in the order given above.
ELECTRIC R A IL W A Y IN DUSTRY.

The Twin City Rapid Transit Co. operates 437 miles of lines in
the Twin Cities, Stillwater, and Lake Minnetonka field, serving a
total population of 650,000. About 4,000 persons are employed, all,
except a few stenographers and clerks, engaged in operating or con
struction afid repair work, the company maintaining extensive shops
to build its own cars. One steam plant and two hydroelectric plants,
located at dams on the Mississippi River, furnish electric power,
and 13 substations containing rotary converters transfer the hightension alternating current from the transmission lines and feeders
down to 700-volt direct current used on the car motors.
The departments of the company are the legal department; the
power, publicity, stores, maintenance-of-way and mechanical de
partments under the jurisdiction of the vice president; and the
schedule, navigation, station, supervision and inspection, switchmen,

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trainmen, and passenger departments under the general superin
tendent. This report deals only with the mechanical, maintenanceof-way, power, switchmen, and trainmen’s departments. The last
also is known as the transportation department.
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT.

Under the master mechanic and general foreman in this depart
ment 525 workers are employed, as follows: Machine shop, 48;
sheet-metal shop, 15; electric repair men, 29; truckmen, 33; general
repair men, 14; painters, 60; millroom and woodworking rooms,
109; engineers and cleaners for the lake boats operated by the com
pany, 13; general building construction for the erection and repair
of stations, shops, and pavilions, 100; foundry, 24; forge room, 22;
structural steel, 13; pipe shop, 13; boiler room, 20. All the figures
given are for the largest number employed. These workers are
from 18 to 50 years old and get from. 75 cents a day for the first
two months of apprenticeship to $4 for experienced workers, the
foreman receiving $85 to $200 a month. There is a wide variety
of employment under the same roof, and skill ranging from that of
the inexperienced boy and common laborer to that of the high-grade
mechanic.
There is a general apprentice system for each trade, but no papers are
signed. Apprentices begin at 75 cents a day for a trial period of
two months. If satisfactory, wages are raised to $1 a day for the
next 10 months. The second year $1.50 is paid, and the third, $2.
Advancement after this depends upon ability and application.
The instruction needed by employees in the machine shop, sheetmetal work, general repair, painting, woodworking, and the con
struction of buildings would not differ from that required in plants
considered in other chapters; consequently only the training needed
in electrical work will be stated here.
The greatest deficiency of the men in all lines is their failure to take
advantage of opportunities to prepare themselves for advancement.
Often this results in bringing in foremen and workers from the out
side for the better positions. Most of the workers seem content simply
to do the daily task and fail to learn more about their own work
and that of others. One great difficulty is that they work 10 hours,
and are too tired to take evening school work. Neither officials or
men think that part-time or shop classes for mature workers would
be feasible or advantageous, but they believe that further training
would help the apprentice. However, the courses for all the trades
of the shop should be extensively advertised among these men, so
that the more ambitious at least may have the chance to attend.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
MAINTENANCE-OF-WAT DEPARTMENT.

Under the engineer of maintenance of way are five assistant engi
neers, all technical graduates; six surveyors who lay out the work;
10 machine men who operate grades, concrete mixers, electric shovels,
track-grinding and track-welding machines; and from 100 to 800
men, according to the season, mostly laborers on track construction
and repair and street work. Engineers are from 20 to 39 years oid
and receive $80 to $150 a month; surveyors, from 20 to 30 years,
and get $50 to $80; machine men from 20 to 40 years, and get $2.25
to $2.50 a day, and laborers from 20 to 50 years and get $1.75 to
$2.50 a day. Four general foremen at $100 to $150 a month are in
charge of track construction and repair work, while a gang boss at
$3.50 a day is used with every gang of 25 or 30 men.
There are three general classes of workmen in the department:
Technical graduates, surveyors who might be interested in spe
cial courses in advanced surveying or higher mathematics, and the
trackmen and machine men. Among the last, the common laborer
largely predominates, and neither the pay nor occupation would
justify special courses, except for men of superior ability.
POWER DEPARTMENT.

At the head of this department are the engineer of power and his
assistant, who have direct charge .of the power stations, substations,
underground and overhead lines.
In the steam-power station a chief engineer, an assistant engineer,
and one night and one day operating engineer direct the work of
the boiler-room engineer and his two foremen who look after the
water, the foreman of the coal crew, and the foreman of construction
work. With the exception of the chief engineer, these men are paid
from $80 to $125 a month and are from 30 to 45 years old. Prac
tically all are without technical education, but have worked their way
up and possess a good practical knowledge of the work.
Under these foremen are about 50 men employed as oilers, firemen,
general repair men, boiler setters, cleaners, and repairers, and la
borers performing various tasks, whose ages range from 20 to 40
years and wage from 20 cents to 40 cents an hour.
In charge of the two hydroelectric stations and the 13 substations is
the chief electrician, with 33 switchboard operators, 13 dynamo
tenders, and three general electrical repair men. These men are 21
to 60 years old and draw $70 to $120 a month. They start as
dynamo tenders or repair men and their wages are increased as
they become more efficient.
All the men in all the power stations should be familiar with the con
struction and operation of electrical machinery, both steam and hydrau-

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lie, and should understand the underlying principles of direct and
alternating currents, transformer and switchboard operation, and
synchronizing machines. Practically all lack technical knowledge
of electricity and magnetism as applied to the apparatus in their
charge. Evening courses, combined with written work, which could
be studied on duty, seem to offer the only chance to reach these men.
In the overhead and underground line work there are 8 to 10
foremen who receive from $75 to $100 a month, and 60 to 65 men
employed as splicers, bonders, conduit men, helpers, and chauffeurs,
who receive from $2.25 to $2.50 a day.
TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.

Under the general superintendent and his assistants in this depart
ment are between 2,200 and 2,300 men. Last year 971 new men were
taken on and 739 dropped, an increase of 232. Each of six car
stations is in charge of a day and a night foreman, paid from $125
to $150 a month. Under these are 90 men, mostly clerks, at $80 a
month, usually promoted from the position of conductor and expert
in checking transfer numbers and conductors’ reports. The rest of
the station crew are trainmen, usually beginners, who get experience
by switching cars in the station shed and getting them ready to
go out.
There are seven supervisors, one each for five stations and two in
the sixth, who get $150 a month. In charge of all cars and crews
after they leave the stations are 24 inspectors and 5 dispatchers at
$100 a month. Thirty-five old employees, who may be considered on
the pension list, clean, grease, and operate the switches at 19 cents
an hour. Under a superintendent of schedules, at $75 to $80 a
month, 15 men are engaged in starting and recording routing lines
of cars. In all, 2,128 motormen and conductors operate the cars, of
whom half are 23 to 30 years old, and 86 out of 100 between 23 and
40 years. These men come from rural districts. They are paid on a
steady scale based on length of service, starting at 23 and rising to
30 cents an hour.
The conductors must be honest, even-tempered, slow to anger, and
should be courteous and tactful with the public.
These men need little knowledge of a general kind, but should be
familiar with car operation and car construction, with a knowledge of
the controller, its construction, operation, and function, and the use
of overload or blow-out switch and fuses. The motorman must also
have skill in car operation, acquired during his trial period in a
station, later on runs with a regular motorman, and finally on a run
of his own. These trainmen receive a few weeks’ course of instruc
tion before they go on regular runs, and there seems to be no further
need for instruction.
42S05#—Bull. 109—17----- 13

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BULLETIN 01’ THE BUREAU OiT LABOR STATISTICS.

SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
In the opinion of the survey committee a general apprentice course for
the apprentices in all the different lines in the mechanical depart
ment would enable the company to produce both better workers and
better foremen for the future. All apprentices need a general train
ing in such matters as shop mathematics, shop drawing, the estimat
ing of quantities and the elements of mechanics and electricity, as
directly connected with the work in the shops. This course could best
be conducted right in the shops for two or three hour periods.
This department might also absorb yearly a few boys who had
received, either in the Dunwoody Institute or in the technical course
of the high school, two or four years’ instruction in shop mathe
matics, drawing and blue-print instruction, the elements of me
chanics and electricity, and enough machine and wood shop instruc
tion and practice to make them familiar with the machines found
in the shops of the company. Boys of superior ability and willing
ness, who bring to the work such a technical equipment from the
school, should find desirable opportunities of advancement in this
department.
For the men in the mechanical department looking to advance
ment in wages, courses should be made available in mechanical draw
ing, involving shopwork and calculations in electrical trade science,
with particular reference to street-car apparatus, such as motors, con
trollers, fuses, electric air brakes, etc.
In a department employing foremen along so many different lines,
who must not only meet common problems in shop organization and
management, but cooperate with each in their work to the best ad
vantage, it would seem highly desirable that a foremen’s class be
held at least once a week by the employing company for the sys
tematic study and discussion of shop problems, and the hiring, re
taining, and promotion of workmen.
The fact that these men work 10 hours a day is somewhat un
favorable to attendance in evening classes; hence it would be bet
ter to establish classes right in the shop, say, in two or three 1-hour
periods a week.
In the maintenanee-of-way department opportunity for the attend
ance of ambitious young men upon evening classes in mechanical
drawing should be provided. In the interest of efficiency, instruction
in such technical subjects as street paving, track construction, pole
line and conduit work, welding, rail connection, and electrolysis,
should be provided by the employing industry.
In the power department courses for those aspiring to engineers’
positions should bo offered in electrical trade science, as suggested,
differentiating in the direction of generators, converters, motor con

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struction, arrangement of switchboard and operation of synchro
nizing apparatus, etc. For the men in this department this in
struction could be given in two or three 1-liour periods a week,
in the evening for daymen, and in the daytime for nightmen.
The work might also be prepared in correspondence form, since the
operators could do a great deal of work while right on the job.
The foremen in the overhead and underground line work carry
out instructions as laid down in plans and specifications, and men
aiming at such positions need first of all the ability to read plans
' and make estimates. They would also be benefited, particularly as
to chances of advancement, by evening classes in electrical science.
In the transportation department the men could advantageously
receive instruction in the stations to which they report. The motormen should receive courses in the construction and operation of
motors, controllers, electric air brakes, trolleys, etc., and also
some more general work in electricity and magnetism as applied
to their work. The conductors might receive instructions in cour
tesy, handling complaints which come to them concerning their own
work or the service in general, the general policy and welfare of
the company, and the like. Also instruction might be given as to
the layout of the system of lines and streets, as based upon the geog
raphy of the Twin Cities. The work could be required of all train
men during their training period, and also be offered in evening or
day classes once or twice a week.
While it is clear that most of the courses suggested for men in the
power and transportation departments should be given by the em
ploying company, certain of the more technical courses which offer
the greatest chances of conversion into wage assets could best be given
in part-time or evening classes at Dunwoody Institute.
PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC HEAT, POWER, A N D LIGHT.

The Minneapolis General Electric Co., which supplies nearly all
electric heat and power service other than that manufactured by
private concerns for their own use, has three hydroelectric stations,
two steam stations, and a direct-current station. In 1914,110,000.000
kilowatt hours of power were produced, the output having trebled
in four years. In addition there are two distributing substations
with attendants and nine transfer stations. In all 600 workers are
employed, 400 males and 200 females.
The demand for labor is steadily on the increase. Competent men are
hard to obtain, as the industry must train its own help entirely by
experience. There is no systematic plan of training. New em
ployees enter at 18 entirely untrained: older men are taken on if
they have had experience elsewhere. Usually new men come from

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BULLETIN OF T11E BUREAU OK LABOR STATISTICS.

Minneapolis and surrounding country, but occasionally from other
cities.
The inside work of electricians does not rank as a hazardous occu
pation, being rated by casualty companies with plumbers and paint
ers as sixteenth among the 19 men’s trades studied, only printing
making a better showing. Workers are at their best between 25 and
40 years old. There is no labor organization among them. Most of
the men work eight hours a day, as departments requiring continuous
service work three shifts.
There are five departments in the company—office, manufacturing,
meter, sales, and line. The work of the linemen will be considered
under “ Overhead and underground construction.” Only the manu
facturing department will be considered here.
MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT.

Of 54 men in the manufacturing department, 18 are firemen, 5
oilers, 6 watch engineers, 6 assistant operators, 15 operators, and 4
chief operators. The fireman may be promoted to boiler-room fore
man or to oiler, oiler to watch engineer, watch engineer to chief
engineer, assistant operator to chief operator, while the chief oper
ator may reach chief engineer.
The fireman is from 18 to 40 years old and is paid $2.25 a day. lie
attends to fires, removes ashes, cleans the boiler room, and does other
work required by the engineer in charge of the plant industry re
pairs. He should be athletic, able to stand heat, sober, and reliable.
He should have practical knowledge of strength of materials and
how to use the steam gauge, water gauge, and all kinds of valves.
To judge the condition of a fire requires considerable knowledge of
various grades of coal and how to fire each most economically.
Practically all the skill lies in judging the condition of the fire and
throwing the coal where needed. Skill in repair work is desirable,
but not so important. Practically all the knowledge and skill neces
sary can be acquired in the work, although school instruction would
make for more rapid promotion.
The industry is not hampered by lack of knowledge on the part of
beginners as firemen, as many can be hired who have had experience
on railroad jobs, farms, mills, or construction work. New firemen
are selected for previous experience as well as physique. New men
are often “ broken in ” by the boiler-room foreman. Superior ability
and efficiency are recognized by increased wage and promotion.
Instruction in combustion of materials and construction of a boiler
as to draft, combustion, and water circulation would increase the
efficiency of firemen, save fuel, and aid in smoke prevention.
The oiler ranges in age from 21 to 45 years and receives $2.25 to
$3.25 a day. He cleans and oils machines, clears the engine room, and

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does repair work in the engine or pump room. He should be neat
in habits, clear-headed, and quick to act in emergencies, as he must be
continuously on the lookout for trouble and able to apply the remedy
before damage is done.
A practical knowledge of strength of materials, some acquaintance
with the machinist’s work, and a rudimentary technical knowledge
would be valuable to the oiler. The arrangement of the plant and
details of procedure in starting and stopping the plant and its va
rious groups of machines must be memorized, so that necessary
operations will be understood in case of emergency. Considerable
skill is required in starting the machines and cutting them off. Prac
tically all the knowledge and skill are acquired by experience.
Among the deficiencies of oilers are carelessness, clumsiness, un
tidiness, and talking too much with fellow workers while on duty.
New oilers are taken from among firemen or are hired from other
steam plants, railroads, and mills. It takes at least a month to
become competent and four months to be able to handle the plant.
Preliminary technical training in the theory of the generation of
electricity, operation of the switchboard, and causes of and remedies
for trouble would be helpful to the oiler, and night school, in the
opinion of the trade, offers a valuable opportunity to those already,
employed.
The watch engineer has charge of the pump room and engine room
during the eight-hour shift. He must do the repair maintenance
work, such as sanding brushes, turning commutators, repairing pump
valves, and packing stuffing boxes, and tend the machinery while in
operation. His age ranges from 21 to 65 years, and his pay from
$70 to $95 a month. To keep the machines in running condition he
needs the knowledge of the oiler and must know how to dismantle
and reassemble the machinery.
Problems in strength of materials and plant performance as
measured by fuel consumption must be solved. The boiler plant is
supervised by the watch engineer, who must make all necessary per
formance reports. The work requires a man thoroughly skilled in
handling electrical machinery and generating power.
The most common fault seems to be the inability of the watch en
gineer to change methods with the progress of the trade. There is
no plan of instruction. New workers are obtained by promotion or
from other plants by “ trial and error.” The chief engineer selects
men and gives preliminary instructions. Technical knowledge of
the theory of generation of electricity, operation of the switchboard,
and causes of and remedies for trouble, with a special course in
power-plant operation, would be valuable to the watch engineer.
The assistant operator cleans the electric apparatus and the room,
operates arc rectifiers and small apparatus, and helps the operator

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BULLETIN OF TIIE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

at the board. lie is from 21 to 45 years old, and gets $50 to $65
a month. He must understand the electrical layout and connec
tions, and have an elementary knowledge of electricity, an intimate
acquaintance with all apparatus in his care, and some skill in
handling wiring of all kinds. Practically all this can be acquired
on the job, but the industry is hampered by lack of knowledge among
beginners.
New workers usually come from wiring firms, smaller plants, and
mercantile establishments with their own lighting system. The chief
electrician selects them by a verbal examination; they are “ broken
in ” by the operators. Promotion and increased 'wages come rapidly
for superior ability and efficiency. Technical training in switch
board operation and repair, care of electrical apparatus, and safety
precautions would be most valuable, in the opinion of the industry,
and could be given both before and after entering the industry.
The operator has charge of the electrical side of the generating
station during an eight-hour shift. lie must watch the variation in
load and so adjust the number of machines as to gain the maximum
efficiency. He also directs the assistant operator, who assists him
at the board. The age ranges from 24 to 45 years and from $60
to $90 a month, according to efficiency.
The operator needs the same knowledge of electricity as his as
sistant, but he must know more about the wThole system, as satis
factory operation of the electrical side depends largely upon him.
Skill consists in remembering what to do and when to do it. He
should be able also to turn out small jobs in the machine shop. The
most common deficiency is lack of knowledge in common branches.
Operators “ fall down ” in making reports as to plant performance,
particularly in the arithmetical work—a Aery detrimental thing to
the business.
New operators, who are selected from the assistant operators
and given preliminary instructions by the chief, require about three
months to become thoroughly at home on the job. In the opinion of
the industry, technical training in methods of generation, handling
electricity, or safety precautions would greatly benefit those intend
ing to enter and those now* in the industry.
The chief operator has complete charge of the plant during his eighthour shift. He must keep the plant going and maintain its ef
ficiency. One wrong order might shut down the entire plant and do
thousands of dollars of damage. His age is from 25 to 60 years, his
wages $85 to $95.
He needs more technical knowledge than all the men under him
and at least a common-school education, though more would be
highly desirable. He must be able to do anything about the plant,
inspect the work, and handle men. Common difficulties are inability

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to get the best service from men and lack of clear expression in
issuing orders and making reports. Chief operators are always ob
tained from the ranks of the operators, as they need familiarity
with the plant. The technical knowledge just suggested for the
operators would also fit the chief operator's case.
SUMMARY OP THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The boys who have had the two-year course of study in electrical
work at the Dunwoody Institute before entering the production end
of the business should find, in the opinion of the officials of the
company, ready entrance and rapid promotion in proportion to
their energy and ability.
In the opinion of the survey committee evening classes in electrical
trade science, as already noted, differentiated in the direction of
power-station needs, such as the study of dynamo construction and
principles of operation, layout, and operation of switchboard, practi
cal problems of power-plant operation, with particular regard to
maintenance of service during varying loads, would give oppor
tunities for those already employed to improve themselves in position
and wage return, and would probably attract some of the more am
bitious workers.
M AN UFACTURE OF ELECTRICAL A PP A R A TU S.

Three establishments, employing about 60 male workers, make
telephone and switchboard apparatus. While only a small portion
of new apparatus is actually manufactured, all the repair work and
all the switchboard work of one telephone company and the construc
tion of numerous local boards for city firms and country towns
are done in the city.
There is practically no risk to workers in this work, which is carried
on in well-lighted quarters. They work eight hours, are not or
ganized, may enter the industry at any time after 16, and are at their
best between 20 and 40 years of age. Rapid progress in telephone
apparatus in the last 10 years has increased the demand for skilled
workers. Boys between 16 and 18, with an eighth-grade education,
are preferred, and new workers are trained in the shops, as this is
the only way they can be obtained.
No regular system of apprenticeship is employed, as worker? receive
increase in pay and promotion as soon as they are fitted. No particu
lar rules are followed in hiring. Young employees are preferred, as
they are more easily trained and, in the case of the American Tele
phone & Telegraph Company, on account of the system of insurance
in force. After two years a man receives the benefit of this protec
tion, and at 60 is retired on half his average pay while with the

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BULLETIN OF TIIK BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

company, provided he has been in its employ constantly for 20
years prior to retirement.
The largest telephone manufacturing company in the Northwest
is organized into three departments—telephone, installation and of
fice. Attention is here given only to the telephone department, which
is divided into four branches—miscellaneous repairs, telephone re
pairs, switchboard repairs, and telephone inspection. The workers
in the order of wage and line of promotion are: Wrapper, miscel
laneous repair man, telephone repair man, telephone inspection man,
switchboard repair man, and switchboard inspector.
The wrapper wraps bundles, puts them in packages, marks with code
numbers, checks with the delivery ticket, and draws stock from other
departments on shop orders. While only three or four are required
in a plant, promotion is rapid, as about 20 are taken on each year,
nearly all of whom are promoted into the miscellaneous repairs
branch. The wrapper should have good eyesight and be a good
penman. Knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, especially
fractions and percentage, is necessary. To advance he must have
an eighth-grade standing. No skill or technical knowledge are re
quired for the beginner, but both are necessary for promotion, and
should be acquired through day classes before coming into the busi
ness or through evening classes. The courses suggested for other
workers in this line would apply to the wrapper.
The miscellaneous repair man repairs such parts of telephone ap
paratus as fuses, lightning arresters, ringers, and coils, and adjusts
and tests parts. Some coil winding is done when necessary to make
over a defective coiL These men, about 15 in number with the largest
company, are 18 to 23 years old and receive $12 to $16 a week. About
40 per cent of the work is piecework, with no bonus. Promotion,
usually to the telephone repair branch, is rapid.
The miscellaneous repair man should have nimble fingers, be quick
in his motions, systematic in laying out work, intelligent in following
directions, and neat in his work. He should have at least an eighthgrade education, know something about electricity, particularly cir
cuits and Ohm’s law, be able to read detail drawings, and know how
to adjust apparatus. About six to eight weeks are required to learn
to make a quick diagnosis of trouble and to locate and repair it
promptly.
At least 95 per cent of new men have been wrappers, others come
from the city and surrounding country. The practical worker has
about one month’s start over a beginner, and knows the names of
parts, the location of stock and the system of getting it The worker
needs, in the opinion of the trade, more knowledge of electricity and
circuits, blue-print reading, and specifications. Night-school courses

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

201

would meet this need, though such information would be moi*e valu
able to a worker if acquired before entering the business.
The telephone repair man assembles coils, condensers, transmitters,
and receivers and connects them up in the proper order. Nearly
all connections are soldered, so it is necessary to know how to handle
soldering iron, screw driver, and pliers. Ages are from 19 to 25
years. Ninety per cent of the work is piecework and wages are
from $14 to $20 a week. No bonus system is used.
Ability to systematize work and some mechanical skill are required,
also a good memory, as five or six sets of connections must be kept
in mind. At least an eighth-grade education is necessary. The
worker must be able to read prints and understand the fundamental
principles of alternating and direct current, and the use and adjust
ment of every part of the telephone. Two to four months are required
to become skillful on ordinary straight work, but special apparatus
requires longer. Practically everything can be learned on the job
except knowledge of alternating and direct currents and circuits.
No special training is given the promoted worker or the beginner,
who requires at least six months to learn the work. Nearly all new
workers are promoted from the miscellaneous repair branch and
need the same training in electricity, telephony, alternating and
direct currents and circuits, and plan reading and specifications.
The telephone inspector tests all apparatus for telephone wall
set, desk set, intercommunicating sets, giving special attention to
appearance of the work. Wages run from 24 to 30 cents an hour.
Besides the qualifications of repair men, from whose ranks inspectors
are promoted, good judgment is necessary to pass on work quickly.
Skill consists principally in quickly locating faults and giving direc
tions for the remedy.
No one without training as a repair man could handle this work.
No special training is attempted, and about six months is required
to reach efficiency. Systematic instruction in electricity, especially
Ohm’s law, circuits and the use of testing instruments, and insulating
and conducting materials with resistance measurements would help
greatly.
The switchboard repair man assembles on the board and makes the
proper connections to coils, jacks, drops, and cables. As small parts
must be handled, he must have nimble fingers and steady nerves. A
color scheme is used in making connections, requiring ability to
read colors. Ages are from 24 to 30 years and pay from 28 to 36
cents an hour.
An eighth-grade education is necessary, also knowledge of the
apparatus and color scheme, and ability to read prints and trace
circuits, both on the print and on the board. The men receive no
special training, though some have taken correspondence courses.

202

BULLETIN OF THK BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Systematic instruction in electrical theory, reading blue prints, and
drawing circuit would greatly help.
The switchboard inspector inspects all switchboard apparatus and
locates faults in equipment and cable. He must understand iron
and wood work, the finishing of materials, and reading blue prints
and specifications of all kinds. The pay is 35 to 45 ccnts an hour
and the ages 30 to 32 years.
A certain amount of all-round knowledge is necessary for this
man, whose training has been in lower positions. To the experience
and knowledge gained in the ranks he should add better technical
knowledge, especially along electrical lines.
IN STA LLA TIO N O P SW ITCHBOARD A PP A R A TU S.

Rapid expansion of the telephone industry has made necessary a
large volume of switchboard work, at least 300 workers being em
ployed by a few companies. This work is light, clean, and not
dangerous. The usual day’s work is eight hours.
As soon as a switchboard is installed in one town, which requires
from one to six months or longer, the men are moved and a new job
is begun in another. The demand for workers is increasing and the
supply of competent ones is inadequate. Practically all the men are
trained on the job, but a few come from telephone companies and
repair shops. No apprenticeship is required, as workers are pro
moted when capable of advancement. A permanent record from
report cards made out by foremen is kept of each man on every job.
This enables the company to check up the foreman, keep track of
desirable men, and assign the right men to the different jobs.
The force is divided into five classes: E, the lowest, consists of com
mon laborers, 25 in number; D, the second, do some of the simple
work and number about 200; C, the third, do any kind of switch
board work and number about 25; B, the assistant foreman; and A,
the foreman. Promotion follows in this sequence.
E, the common laborers, are helpers to Class D. They average in age
about 25 years and are paid 24 ccnts an hour for an eight-hour day.
They set up ironwork, paint frames, pack and unpack materials, put
terminal blocks on the frame, stencil equipment, wax and sew cable
on straight, and run temporary lighting circuits. In this work a
man learns the apparatus and its place in reference to other equip
ment.
While Class E men need little education, they ought to have an
eighth-grade education to get ahead. No previous knowledge about
the work is required, as a man, if handy with tools, can leam any
thing he needs to know in a month on the installation work. Most
new men are hired locally by the foremen, as this saves transporta
tion; their only training is that gained by assisting Class D.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUKVEV 01* MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

203

Promotion of these men is particularly advantageous to the com
pany, as they are the only source of supply for the higher positions.
Superior ability and efficiency lead to promotion and higher wages.
If they could get instruction on the construction and use of the vari
ous apparatus and some technical knowledge of element, many would
be advanced more rapidly; special night courses seem to offer about
the only opportunity for this.
Class D forms the largest body in the installation work. In a busy
year 200 are employed in the Minneapolis section and from 60 to 70
new men are taken on each year. Many are often transported by
big companies to other districts. Their ages run from 20 to 25
years, and their wages average about 28 cents an hour.
The Class D man is required to do any work done by Class E and
also must be able to connect cables to the terminal blocks and do a
presentable job. He must know the apparatus, where it goes, the
cable code, and how to fan cable and solder connections. This re
quires about six months’ time on the job.
Slowness and awkwardness with tools and lack of comprehensive
knowledge are the most common defects. Most of the men are pro
moted from Class E. No particular attention is given to training,
but the E man’s knowledge enables him to become efficient about half
as soon as a beginner. An evening course in the winter months in
theory of electricity, blue-print reading, and electrical currents
would greatly aid these men.
Class C men are the highest grade on switchboard work. From C
they may be promoted to B and A, or transferred to some telephone
company desiring an all-round manager or maintenance man. In
dull seasons they are retained to do Class D work, as the company
can not afford to lose track of them. They are 26 to 40 years old
and receive 28 to 36 cents an hour, in addition to the bonus described
at the close of this section.
The Class C man takes measurements for additional cable racks
and supervises D men working under him. He must be able to do any
kind of switchboard work and explain plans and specifications. In
addition to being active and systematic, he needs executive ability
and tact. He needs a common-school education, a full knowledge of
switchboards, and ability to read blue prints and specifications. He
gains on the lower jobs the skill and the little tricks to save time, and
these he must teach the men under him. There seems to be great
need in his case of evening class instruction in theory of electricity,
magnetism, and different kinds of circuits.
Class B and Class A men are considered together, as the B man is
assistant to the A man on large jobs. They are from 25 to 40 years
old and their wages from $21 to $28 a week. B men supervise C
men and assist the foremen to inspect. They are seldom needed

204

BULLETIN OK I11B BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

when high grade C men are available.. The A man or foreman
keeps notes and makes and posts progress reports each week. He
must report errors of the engineering department, send in connec
tions for approval and changes, keep cost records on stock equip
ment and materials, and supervise the entire job.
A common-school education is absolutely necessary, as is execu
tive ability in handling men and laying out work. Only men of
superior equipment are promoted to these positions, and all have
come up through the ranks. Practically all need training in reading
plans and specifications and in the theoretical and technical side of
electricity.
A bonus system is used to increase working efficiency of employees.
To illustrate, a contract is taken to install, for $4,000, a complete
switchboard. The cost of material may be $1,500 and the estimated
cost of labor $1,500, which leaves $1,000. After allowing, say, $600
for profit $400 is left for bonus. The different classes of work are
given a rate or an estimate by the foreman, and all the men save on
the cost of installation is divided among those who work on any par
ticular rate, each receiving an amount depending on his hourly wage
and the length of time he put in at this rate. Fewer men are needed
on a job under this plan, as those already on it do their best to keep
the number small so as to increase their share of bonus. They also
do more work than on a straight salary. If the cost runs over that
allowed, the men receive a straight salary anyhow.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
Boys who have had the two-year day course in telephony at'the
Dunwoody Institute should find, in the opinion of the trade, a ready
entrance and quick advancement in this branch of the electrical and
telephone business. In the opinion of the committee, men already in
the work should find courses meeting all their needs and helping
toward promotion in the evening courses previously suggested for
other electrical workers, particularly in the courses for telephone
workers.
TH E ARM A TU RE W IN DER.

About 70 men are employed in this branch in Minneapolis. While
the business is growing rapidly, improvement in protective devices
for motors and generators has decreased the proportion of trouble,
so as to keep the amount of work to be done fairly stationary. No
trade organization exists among the workers, who may enter at 16,
and are at their best when 25 to 45 years old. The work is clean
and safe, but somewhat confining. There is no systematic method
of employing and promoting men.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

205

The men are of three grades: The apprentice, who is learning; the
field winder, who can wind coils, but does not know how to put them
on the armature; and the armature winder, who does all the real
work of placing coils, making connections, and testing the finished
job. The three represent the usual line of promotion.
The apprentice does different things in different shops. Usually he
assists the field winder and makes himself useful around the shop.
He winds coils, ties them, shapes and dips them in insulating com
pound, dips them for baking and finally bakes them ready for the
armature. Before the coil is put on the machine he cuts sleevings
and slides them over the leads. There are 24 of these apprentices
from 16 to 20 years old, who are paid from 75 cents a day to 14 cents
an hour.
A strong, healthy boy, who understands English and has average
intelligence, is required. He can become proficient in neatness and
speed in a month or so. The usual deficiencies are lack of interest
and ambition, and of sufficient education or understanding to get
ahead.
Practically all new apprentices are boys from the city or surround
ing country. Their only instruction is what they “ pick up” as a
helper. Better positions and better pay are certain for the promising
boy. To make this work such as to insure a career the apprentice
should have courses in elementary electricity, magnetism, and electro^
magnetos. This he could get before he takes lip the work or from
evening classes.
The field winder operates machines for winding field coils of both
wire and copper fits, cuts paper insulation for the strips, cuts insula
tion to fit pole pieces and assists the armature winder. There are
about 35 field winders, who get from $1.50 a day to 20 cents an hour,
and are from 17 to 21 years old.
A field winder must know something of coils, conductors, and in
sulators, where much insulation is needed, and how to handle in
sulated wire without injury. About a year is required to gain the
trick of forming coils and getting them properly insulated from the
frame, all of which can be acquired under a good foreman. The
winder is usually a promoted apprentice and gets no help or instruc
tion other than that received as assistant to armature winders. The
training suggested for the apprentice would benefit him.
The armatnre 'winder must be able to do all the field winder does, and
also put coils on the armatures, test and pick out leads in circuits,
and find open and short-circuited coils. He receives from $2 a day
to 63 cents an hour, and varies in age from 21 to 40 years, the average
being about 35 years. Seven out of 10 new men are obtained from
field winders; three from other companies. The nature of the work
requires most careful attention to detail, otherwise trouble will re
sult. Carelessness is the most serious fault.

20G

BULLETIN

TILE BUREAU 01? LABOR STATISTICS.

New men arc supposed to do the work without special training.
About two years are required for a “ green man” to learn it. There
is practically no chance for armature winders to advance unless they
go into business for themselves or go to larger manufacturing estab
lishments in other cities. While there is no promotion, efficiency is
recognized by a larger wage.
Armature winders should have the training suggested for appren
tices and field winders and, in addition, should know howr to make
and work out winding diagrams. This training is also advisable for
the apprentices and field winders as preparation for later duties as
armature winders.
OVERHEAD AN D UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION.

Originally overhead construction was the sole concern of the
“ lineman,” but underground cables are now increasingly used in
both power and telephone work. When the work on lines is in man
holes instead of on poles, the man is called a cable splicer. About
400 men are regularly employed in line work in and about Minne
apolis, though after a storm or during a busy season many more are
needed.
The sequence of promotion in most cases is as follows: The worker
starts as groundman, then becomes a helper on overhead or under
ground work; if on overhead work, he becomes a lineman; if on
underground, a cable splicer. He may become assistant foreman,
foreman, trouble man, and finally superintendent in his department.
Employment is very irregular. Probably as many new men are
taken on every year as there are men permanently employed. Em
ployment is seasonal, the dull season being from December to April,
and work varies spasmodically on account of storms. The regular
workers in construction work are about as follows: Groundmen, 1*25;
helpers, 20; linemen, 200; cable splicers. 50.
The groundman is the common laborer who digs ditches, carries
loads, and does rough work, which he learns in about three months.
His age is 17 to 60 years and his hourly wage 30 to 35 cents. There
is no training for this work. Evening-class instruction in construc
tion work and theory of electric currents would tend to interest him
and help him to advance.
The helper is really a groundman who also does some splicing and
climbing. He is 21 to 45 years old, and his wage 25 to 30 cents an
hour. Helpers are selected from the best groundmen, and training
suggested for the latter applies as well to the former.
The lineman climbs poles, puts on cross wires, guys, braces, brackets,
pins, and insulators, strings wires, and ties wires to insulators. On
power work lie hangs transformers and arc-lam;> masts, and makes
necessary connections. Probably 25 linemen are made foremen or

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Sl'KVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN. 2 0 7

trouble men each year. Their ages vary from 20 to 45 years, their
pay from 271 to 44| cents an hour, and when in camp $40 to $45 a
month and board.
A lineman must know something of the system of circuits where
the work is located, and be able to plan his work with skill and get
it done quickly. While most of the knowledge and skill required
can be obtained in one to three years, much time could be saved by
evening-class instruction in blue-print reading, theory and use of
electrical currents, and the actual practice to get greater manipulative
skill.
The trouble man attends to transmission lines, repail's insulators,
takes care of broken wires, and replaces transformer fuses and lamps.
On telephone lines he locates faults and sends linemen to do the
repairing. Employment is steady. The men’s ages range from 27
to 43 years, their pay from $70 to $95 a month. It is possible for a
studious lineman to work up into this position.
Tact and thoroughness are indispensable to the trouble man. He
must know the city and the line on which he works, how to test all
kinds of power equipment and use all methods of locating trouble.
Most trouble men are first employed as assistants or short-term ap
prentices. Practically all lack technical instruction in the theory
of electrical currents and in methods of locating trouble.
The foreman lays out the work, supervises construction, and reports
to the superintendent. There is little chance of promotion. ITis age
varies from 27 to 45 years and wages from $55 to $85 a month, with
board, or $85 to $100 without expense money.
A foreman should be at least an eighth-grade graduate, should
know the system and its circuits, and be able to read blue prints and
follow specifications. Usually he is a promoted lineman of special
ability in handling men and work. No special training is provided,
as he is expected to leam by experience. A promoted man can be
come proficient in about six months; a beginner requires four or
five years. A special course for foremen should include technical
instruction in electricity and magnetism and training in drawings
and blue prints with specifications.
SUMMARY OP SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.

Probably the ranks of the linemen will continue to be recruited
from the group of vigorous untrained workers of the community.
Out of their number the best will find opportunities to get the tech
nical instruction necessary to advancement up the line in the evening
courses previously noted. Trouble men and foremen will find in
these evening classes the technical information needed for the better
equipment required for advancement.

CHAPTER Yin.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
METAL TRADES?
The metal trades are the largest and, excepting flour and grist
milling, the most important lines of industry in Minneapolis. The
five principal branches of the work are: Foundry and machine prod
ucts; car repairing and construction; copper, tin, and sheet-metal
products; electrical machinery and supplies; and automobile repair
and construction. These trades ranked first in 1914 in number of
employees and establishments, and second only to flour milling in
total value of output.
The most important branches of the metal trades in the city are
foundry and machine-shop products and car repair and construc
tion. The former ranked first in number of employees, third in
number of establishments, and third in value of product; the latter
ranked fifth in number of employees and fifth in value of the prod
uct. Car repair and construction, it must be pointed out, however,
includes not only metal work, but also a wide variety of wood and
electric work, in which more than half of the men are employed.
The metal trades, with the exception of car repair and construc
tion, are growing more rapidly than most other industries of the
city. In the five years, 1910 to 1914, inclusive, employees in foundry
and machine shops increased, according to the industrial survey for
1914 by the Civic and Commerce Association, from 3,254 to 5,124,
a gain of 57 per cent; those making copper and sheet-metal products
from 472 to 689, a gain of 46 per cent; those in electrical machinery
and supplies, a comparatively new business in Minneapolis, from
149 to 276, a gain of 85 per cent; while those in car construction and
repair increased from 2,683 to 2,723, a gain of only 2 per cent. The
last, however, is a somewhat fixed industry, confined to the needs of
local street railways and steam railroads.
Like practically every other industry in Minneapolis except flour
and grist milling, the metal trades are carried on in many small
shops. The average number of employees in foundry and machine
shops is about 50; in copper and sheet-metal shops, 9; in electrical
machinery and supply shops, 21; in automobile repair and construc
tion shops, 11; and in car repair and construction shops, 454. There
42805°— Bull. 109—17------ 14

209

210

BULLETIN OF TITK BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

are, however, a number of large establishments making foundry and
machinery products.
The distribution of the metal workers among the different lines is
shown by the following table, made from the tables prepared by the
Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association Survey for 1014:
T able 1 0 .— DISTRIBUTION OF FIRMS AND OF EMPLOYEES OF KETAL TRADES ACCORD.

IXG TO KIND OF PRODUCT.
Product.
Agricultural implements........................................................................................
Automobile Darts...................................................................................................
Babbitt type metal slider......................................................................................
Bicycle, motor cycle parts......................................................................................
Brass and bronze products....................................................................................
Car manuiacturing and repairs—steam..................................................................
Car factory..............................................................................................................
Electrical machinery..............................................................................................
Fire extinguishers..................................................................................................
Foundries and machine shops................................................................................
Gas and electric fixtures........................................................................................
Iron and steel, doors and shutters..........................................................................
Iron and steel forgery.............................................................................................
Models and patterns......................................, .......................................................
Safes and vaults.....................................................................................................
Scientific instruments............................................................................................
Stove pads and repairs...........................................................................................
Street and railway shops........................................................................................
Wire goods.............................................................................................................
Employees not itemized........................................................................................
Total.............................................................................................................

Firms.

Employees.

17
3

248
502
15

4
G

46
2,923

1
13
1
102
9
3

27(i
o, i24
74

122

7
4

55
90

77
1*4
51
203

192

10,070

1
4
2

It was impossible to cover all lines and all shops in the metal trades
for this report. In Chapter VII a description is given of the organi
zation of the car shops of the street-railway system, but no special
study of metal work done there was made, as its problems and de
mands upon the worker are practically the same as in other metal
shops of the city. In the same chapter consideration is given to
manufacturing, repair and construction work in electricity. This
chapter will consider only the machine, boiler, automobile, and sheetmetal shops and the foundry.
THE MACHINE SHOP.
THE RAILROAD SHOP.

About 2,723 workers are employed in all the railroad shops in
Minneapolis. In the plant described in this section there are 400
men in the standard organization of the machine shop proper, but *
in the last year this was reduced at one time to about 300.
To the foreman of the machine-side shop an assistant, several gang
foremen, and the foreman of the tool room report. The floor-side
foreman has an assistant and a number of gang foremen. Actual
work is supervised by the gang foremen, who are specialists in the
work. They are practical workers and able to teach men under them.
The assistants order repail's, inspect, and meet datings for delivery

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

211

of work. Planning work and hiring are clone by foremen, who also
are practical men in their line.
The casualty-insurance rate for machinists is 88 cents per $100 of
pay roll. From the safety standpoint this compares favorably with
structural-iron workers at $8.98, bricklayers at $3.99, and flour
workers at $1.68. The State factory inspectors are receiving the
cooperation of the railroads in a safety campaign, which is growing
larger and better each year. This is helping to create a demand for
a class of specialized workers.
There is no fixed line of promotion among the workers, with the
exception of apprentices, who are sons of employees or are known to
some member of the organization. They must be not under 16 or
over 21 years old and are paid 12, 16, 18, and 24 cents an hour for
the first, second, third, and fourth years, respectively. At present
24 are employed. Last year four were promoted to machinists, four
left, and four were hired. The company furnishes an instructor to
supervise them during a service of 48 months.
Physically the apprentice must be of good appearance, have good
eyesight, and no tubercular, epileptic or rheumatic tendencies, or
defective fingers. He should be obedient to authority, mentally alert,
and ambitious. Ability to imitate will enable him to become a firstclass workman on repeat jobs, but to be a high-grade artisan he
should love machinery and have native ability. An eightlx-grade
education will enable him to do the actual work. Knowledge and
skill are acquired by experience. Lack of ability to apply their
academic education is a common deficiency. Many applicants are
hired by the superintendent of shops. The part-time school for ap
prentices and special classes in night schools for journeymen are fa
vored by this plant.
The machinists in this plant are about 97 per cent organized. When
the shop is running full, approximately 210 are employed. Of these,
the roundhouse uses 15; the floor side, 109; the machine side, 80, and
the tool room, 8. Last year as low as 66 have been on the floor and
65 on the machine side. Three were promoted to assistant foremen,
and 58 left, of whom two died. No new workers were hired. The
ages vary from 21 to 58, with an average of 35 years, and the wage
rate is 44 cents an hour.
The term “ machinist” in railroad work really covers distinct
types of workers. By “ type ” grade is not meant, as a worker may
be a high-grade roundhouse, floor, or tool-room machinist or machine
operator. Few workers are first class in more than one kind of
work, but exceptional combinations, such as roundhouse and floor
machinist, or tool room and machine operators, occur. The latter is
not a natural combination of late years, as speeding up for produc

212

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

tion on the machine is not conductive to precision work—an absolute
essential in the tool room.
The Roundhouse Machinist.

The roundhouse machinist is required to make “ running repairs.”
These, in many cases, are temporary repairs necessary to keep a
locomotive in service during a rush or perhaps during one trip only.
As wear on different parts is not uniform, it frequently happens that
just before a general overhauling in the back shop temporary repairs
may be made on the worst worn parts to get the maximum out of
the better wearing ones. The time allowed is, in most cases, limited
and the grade of work, while good for a roundhouse job, might not
pass in a back shop.
The roundhouse machinist meets practically all repairs on loco
motives and cars without many facilities. He must have consider
able native ability, ingenuity, and patience, and good knowledge of
a locomotive and the conditions under which it operates. Few blue
prints are used in roundhouse work. The roundhouse machinist must
be skilled in the use of hand tools, as few machine tools are used, and
he must be conscientious. It is impossible for a foreman to watch
the work closely. Carelessness may cost anything from dollars to
life. Good roundhouse machinists are the most difficult to hire or to
train, ordinarily. The roundhouse machinist will succeed on the
floor oftener than the back-shop floor machinist in the roundhouse.
Roundhouse work includes making and replacing worn or defec
tive gaskets in joints; repairing or replacing piston rods, valve
stem, and other packings; regrinding check, globe, pop, and other
valves; relieving guides, truing up pins, closing brasses, replacing
broken or worn rings in cylinder and valve pistons; intercepting
valves, pinioning worn rings, shining and adjusting shoes and
wedges, repairing and adjusting air pumps and parts; and other
parts of the locomotive except the boiler and tender.
The Back-shop Floor Machinist.

The back-shop floor machinist docs the stripping, bench work,
erecting, and adjusting of the overhauled locomotive. The work is
of a better grade than is done in the roundhouse, higher standards of
workmanship are demanded, and the work is largely specialized. By
specialized machinist jobs is meant not that the worker can do only
the job at which he works, but has developed skill at some particular
work and is left at it. The shop described in this study has spe
cialized its work on both the floor and the machine sides. Some rail
roads do not specialize these shops.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP M INNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

213

The Machine Operator.

The work is graded on many of the machines, making it similar
to a manufacturing proposition, thus enabling the man from a con
tract or job shop outside to succeed from the start; while on a floor
job he would have to be taught most of the work, and it would be
much more difficult to do roundhouse work.
Railroad work is not more difficult nor held to closer limits than
work in many contract shops, but the limits are made to fit a machine
working under conditions so different from almost any other that
much of the work must be learned on the job. For instance, on a
crank-pin bearing of a 150-horsepower stationary engine, an ^-inch
lateral would be considered ample, while on the corresponding bear
ing on a locomotive a ^Vmch lateral is standard on many roads.
This enables a locomotive to take a curve without heating the pins.
There are many other differences.
less native ability is required of machine operators than of other
machinists, because of the repetition of a comparatively few opera
tions. Some operators get work requiring high skill and consider
able knowledge, both of railroad and general work, as experimental
and development work with machines is done largely by them.
Two operators of this kind turn the armature shafts for headlight
and corner lighting equipment, and do such work as making long,
straight, finished holes without tool marks. This requires fine
grinding and close measuring. It also requires clever manipulative
skill in using the cross feed to overcome taper tendencies.
Some pieces are light and require skill in chucking or anchoring
on the machine so they will not be sprung out of shape. The oper
ator must know how to take rough cuts and relieve strains before
taking finishing cuts.
Machines on this work may be used for shaper, drill-press, and
milling-machine work, as well as lathe work. Some work is close
enough to take into consideration even a small heat factor when
finishing. Consequently, the work is of high grade and requires ex
perience, skill, an appreciation of close limits, and native ability.
It is done from sketches and blue prints. A worker to hold a job of
this kind must have considerable mechanical knowledge of a practical
but seldom of a technical character. Of 80 machine operators only
2 have positions of this kind.
The Tool-room Machinist.

Tool-room machinists do the more difficult repair work required
on the plant equipment, keep small tools in repair and make new
tools, jogs, and fixtures used in this plant and others on the system.
Repair work consists of making new centers, screws, operating nuts,

214

BULLETIN Ok’ THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

and oilier wearing parts of latlies; replacing broken teetli in gears
and making new gears; truing up work rails and ways; bushing
worn pulley holes; making handles, cranks and operating levers, tool
posts and clamps, tool-post and tool-clamp screws and arbors of all
kinds. This work is largely duplicating samples, although in some
cases changes are made to increase strength or. wearing qualities.
Tool-room machinists also keep in repair air motors, hammers,
jacks, and other portable tools. This includes mostly replacing de
fective parts supplied by the manufacturers of the tools. Some of
the portable equipment is designed and made in the plant. Other
repairs are in connection with rollers and pins for flue welders,
special dies and punches, air, steam, and spring hammers, boltheader dies and shear blades. Drills, reamers, taps, and cutters of
all kinds are ground in the tool room. Few blue prints are used on
this work.
All the taps, milling cutters, and solid reamers used (Hi the rail
road system are made in the tool room, but this is very unusual.
The jigs and fixtures run from a simple plate jig with one or two
holes to special machines, of which there are quite a number.
Good workmanship and a high degree of skill are necessary, as
this work is often far removed from standards and it requires great
native ability and ingenuity to do “ nonstandard” work on standard
equipment.
Further description of work by machines is unnecessary, as a
tool-room machinist, in most cases, is able to operate a drill press,
shaper, milling machine, lathe, grinder, and mill in a first-class
manner. He must be highly skilled in the use of such hand tools as
hammer, chisel, file, broach, and scraper. A knowledge of steel and
its treatment is an asset. Keen appreciation of precision work is
the largest mental factor, and patience is a necessity. Good eyesight
and steady nerves are needed more than in any other branch of the
trade.
THE CONTRACT SHOP.

Most of the machine-shop work of Minneapolis is done by con
tract shops, only about 80 per cent of the workers in the business
being found in the railroad shop. A contract shop contracts to do
work of every kind, as contrasted with the railroad shop, where only
repairs are made.
Space available for describing the machine-shop work of Minne
apolis will not permit extensive treatment of the railroad or contract
machine shop. The foregoing account of the railroad shop and the
machines and processes used in it applies in most particulars to the
contract shop. It remains to point out certain additional facts about
the contract shop.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY O f MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 2 1 5

The hiring of men for the contract shop is done in various ways.
Usually superintendents or foremen employ new workers. In only
one shop was there a labor agent or employment manager. This
shop was the only contract machine shop where the survey found a
medical and physical examination used as part of the employment
scheme. This shop also maintains its own liability insurance. All
the other shops carrying insurance receive their protection from
some casualty company.
The contract shop employs practically the same tools and macliincs
used in the repair work of the railroad shop already considered. In
addition, it uses many machines either rarely used in railroad
machine shops or entirely foreign to them.
Milling machines are seldom used outside tool rooms in railroad
shops. They are extensively used as production machines for flat
work in contract shops. Designs of fixtures or set-ups for machines
are usually made by machinists, while the machines are usually
operated by a specialist who may know only the operations he is
instructed to perform. There are, however, all grades of men con
cerned with milling-machine work, varying from the operator with
manipulative skill, who merely does what he is told, to the man who
makes his own set-ups for cutting bevel and spur gears and makes
dies. Ordinary milling-machine work is paid as piece or day work,
but high-grade work is all paid for by the day. Wages range from
20 cents an hour for ordinary operators to 60 cents for exceptional
men of the experimental shop.
Gear cutters are extensively used in contract shops, but practically
never in railroad shops. Here again the skilled machinist makes
the set-up for a number of different machines known as a bat
tery. operated by a specialist who may be able only to follow
explicit directions. The work is less skilled than that of the milling
machine. Wages range from 15 cents an hour for the ordinary
operator to 40 cents for the machinist able to set up or run the
machines on better work.
Hobbing machine and gear shapers are even more rarely used in rail
road shops. In the contract shop they are classed about as gear
cutters as regards skill and wages.
Gear planers require a higher grade of workman than the other ma
chines, as knowledge of mathematics and ability to read blue prints
are necessary. Wages are from 35 to 40 cents an hour. These
machines are practically never used in the railroad shop.
The broaching machine, while not demanding high skill, requires an
operator careful and painstaking in planning work. The wages run
from 30 to 45 cents an hour. These machines are almost unknown in
ordinary railroad shops.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

The cylindrical and surface grinders are becoming popular in con
tract shops for taking finishing cuts on cylindrical and flat 'work,
because it can be done more quickly and precisely than by the oldfashioned method of the file and emery cloth. Few of these machines
are used in railroad shops, because case-hardened and alloy steels
upon which grinders are most effective are not popular in railroad
machine construction. Being less susceptible to the crystallizing
effects of weather conditions, these machines are largely used wher
ever possible. In most cases operators are paid from 20 cents an
hour for the ordinary operator to 45 cents for the operator of the
heavy crank grinder.
Precision lathes are practically never found in railroad shops and
seldom in general contract shops. They are most frequently used in
the experimental shop where careful work is done in the construc
tion of models and trial machines. Strictly high-grade men receiv
ing wages of 45 to 60 cents an hour are employed.
Automatic bar and chucking machines are usually operated by men
able to make set-ups on the machine and operate it, though in some
cases the machinist may make the set-up for an ordinary generator.
Wages aie from 20 to 60 cents an" hour. These machines are almost
never used in the railroad shops.
The die maker is used only in the making of bolt headers, hammer
and bulldozers. The machinist has no opportunity to treat or harden
the steel, as that is considered blacksmith work. At least 25 are
employed in the contract shops of Minneapolis. As a class they rank
even higher than tool makers and are paid 40 to 65 cents an hour.
They must be able to read blue prints and make drawings. Great
precision is required. They must have knowledge of the properties
of metal, particularly iron and steel, worked under different con
ditions.
The machinist of the contract shop, who might be called the “ all
round man,” can do floor work, bench work, or machine work. He
should be able to make and treat his own cutting tools and have a
working knowledge, gained by experience, of the general lines of
machines manufactured, including farm implements, flour and saw
mill machinery, gas and steam engines, and of the requirements as to
closeness of fillings and adjustment required in the different parts of
such machines. He should know how to read drawings. Wages
range from 27-1 to 45 cents an hour.
The greatest difference between the railroad and large contract shops
lies in the fact that the work in the latter is more highly specialized,
both in men and equipment.
Building in large quantities, they can afford to use more single
purpose machines and break in operators of very limited initiative.
The set-ups on the machines are planned and made by machinists.

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217

By machinists is meant all-rotind men; single-machine operators or
“ workers” on one class of bench or erecting work are classed as
specialists.
A few specialists’ jobs require considerable skill and native ability.
The work is close, in some cases done from blue prints, and requires
accuracy with hand tools or measuring instruments. Most of the
work is done in jigs and fixtures so designed that the piece to be
machined can be placed only the correct way. The cutting tools are
sized in the tool room and checked to the worker, who often is not
held responsible for the sizes, the company having inspectors, head
operators, or a machinist for this purpose.
There are a few first-class machinists outside of the tool room for
doing experimental and special jobs too small to specialize or jig.
Most tool-room workers are good machinists. The smaller the plant
the larger the per cent of high-grade men used.
As contract shops do many classes of work, ranging from farm
implements to high-grade motors, jig fixtures, and testing and meas
uring devices, the contract machinist acquires a more varied knowl
edge than the railroad machinist, whose work is confined to locomo
tive, steam shovel, derrick, water pump, gas and steam stationary
engines, and a limited amount of electrical machinery repair work.
The locomotive excepted, work on these machines is done by a few
specialists.
Most tool-room workers in railroad shops are trained in contract
shops. A very few shops are devoted almost entirely to experi
mental work, and the workers are the highest class and highest paid
machinists in the city. Their work ranges from a broom holder
to a type-molding machine. They work according to anything from
verbal instructions to blue prints.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The conferences held by the survey with employers and employees
for the machinist trades recognized the very great need for the
thorough training of promising workers, ambitious for advance
ment to positions of greater responsibility and better income. While
the trade understandings established for the other trades, as de
scribed in various chapters of this report, were not completed with
the machine shops, there was a common agreement in the conferences
as to the demand for training and the courses needed.
For the worker in the railroad and other machine shops, whether
helper or special tool hand, an evening course, in the judgment of
the survey committee, giving practical shop instruction in the opera
tion of modern machine tools would give breadth of equipment not
usually gained in the regular shop experience. In connection with

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BULLKTIN OF T LI K

BUREAU

Or LABOR STATISTICS.

sucli a course, instruction should be given in the calculations required
for the setting up and operation of the various machine tools, the
methods of laying out templates for jigs and dies, the properties of
metals dealt with in machine work, and experience should be afforded
in the use of different types of high-speed cutting tools.
Such workers also need opportunities to attend classes in mechani
cal drawing, and finally a very profitable course in what may be
called the trade science of the metal worker might be developed.
Such a course would deal with instruction through simple apparatus
in the strength of materials and the mechanical principles involved
in tool and machine operation, and might well be open to the entire
group of the metal trades.
For the journeyman wishing to qualify for foremanship, in addi
tion to the foregoing, a course should be provided giving advanced
work in the more complicated tools, such as universal milling and
grinding machines, vertical and horizontal boring mills; practice in
the design and construction of jigs and fixtures for the rapid produc
tion of interchangeable parts, and other instruction in modern
methods of manufacture.
For the apprentice already employed part-time courses, which take
a part of the working time of the youth for helpful instruction,
were approved. For the boy desiring to enter the trade, two-year
courses at the Dunwoody Institute, which prepare the boy for
advanced standing as an apprentice when he enters the shop as a
commercial worker, were approved both by the conferences and by
the survey committee.
TH E BOILER SHOP.

The United States Census on Occupations for 1910 reported 304
boiler makers for Minneapolis. In 1915 there were 15 shops. In this
study a shop which is a part of the general shops of one of the rail
roads was used, because it was typical in its processes and presented
a unique plan for the classification and promotion of workers.
In this boiler shop the worker is first hired as a helper or appren
tice and may be promoted through two classes of handy men and 13
of boiler makers, including the layer-out, the best and highest paid
class. Any helper with capacity has opportunity to go to the top,
which at all times offers the incentive of better pay.
The man with physical but not mental ability to advance is given
opportunity after reaching the ninth or eighth class to go to the flue
gang. The work of this gang is a matter of physical endurance
and manipulative skill. By constant repetition the worker acquires
an efficiency which enables him to make, by a premium plan, up to
the rate of a third or second class boiler maker.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF 51! NNEAFOLIS, M INN.

219

From any position a worker may go to the machine jobs—thread
ing machine, drill press, shears, punches, and flue welders. There
are two classes of drill press and shear men and three of flue welders.
The classes pay different rates. The workers are eligible to exami
nation for locomotive firemen. There ara no cases on record of
examinations having been taken.
Machine operators may lack either mental capacity or application.
In many cases they have to take the position yielding the most in the
shortest time. The line of promotion is definite and progressive.
As there is always a demand for layers-out at good pay, the oppor
tunities are good.
A bonus or premium plan is employed. The worker is guaranteed an
hourly rate and a bonus for extra production. The foreman is,
nominally, director of the instruction. The worker in any class is
instructor for his helper, who, in turn, teaches the worker following
him. The example set by the foreman in “ giving up ’* his knowl
edge results in a noticeable absence of secrecy among the men as to
tricks of the trade.
Only 7 men beyond the grade of first-class handy man left during
the past year. Of these 1 was discharged and 2 died. Twice the
company has provided an instructor for mechanical drawing, but the
men have not taken advantage of the opportunity to any great extent.
Beginners average about 23 years old. They are mostly men who
have had no opportunity to learn a trade, or have just learned to
appreciate a steady job and an opportunity to earn more than a com
mon laborer. Workers in any class can, and do, “ make into the
bonus ” during ordinary times. They have a pride in their work and
the product is high grade.
The helper or lowest paid man—there are 39 in the station force—1
trucks material about the department; “ bucks up” by holding a
“ bucking bar” on rivets being driven or “ headed” ; uses hammer
and chisel to split nuts riveted or rusted on bolts so tightly they can
not be wrenched off; wrenches off nuts or holds bolts from turning;
and strikes with a sledge when metal is to be punched or cut with a
cold cut. He ranges from 21 to 26 years old, averaging about 23.
All nationalities are employed. Some can not speak English and
are placed in gangs where their countrymen can teach them. The
man in the class above is generally boss and instructor. The pay is
23 cents an hour and the helper is paid a bonus based on the propor
tion of his hourly rate to that of the worker he helps.
The helper must be robust, “ rough and ready,” and not minus even
a finger. He must be alert and have imitative ability. Good eye
sight is necessary to advance to “ layer-out.” No education or knowl
edge of a general kind is necessary, and no special training is given
until ability to read blue prints is required. Superior ability is recog

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

nized by promotion and increased wages. Of 34 men last year, 14
left during the probationary period, 5 were promoted to second-class
handy men, and 20 new men were hired.
The first-class handy man and the second-class handy man, the latter
a helper for the former,-strip ash pans and front ends of boilers; take
out and replace bolts; cut pieces of sheet steel to replace defective
parts, and do most of the rough work around boilers. In most cases
the defective piece is used for a template with which to lay out the
new piece. There are 11 handy men in the plant studied. Five were
promoted to thirteenth-class boiler makers and two left. The pre
vailing age is 24 years and the pay from 25 to 25J cents an hour, with
a bonus. As the handy man puts up the required parts he accumu
lates some knowledge of the construction of different kinds of boilers.
He seldom lias to use a rule. Skill is a matter of the use of hammer
and chisel, punch, wrench, and sledges.
The thirteenth and twelfth classes of boiler makers strip fire boxes,
cut off heads of rivets with cold cut, punch rivets out of round ring,
and drill out stay bolts and radial stays with a pneumatic drill. A
drill of approximately one-eighth inch diameter, smaller than the
bolt’s diameter, is chucked in an air motor which furnishes the rotary
power. To feed the drill into the metal a screw is provided on the
motor opposite the drill. The outer end of this screw is pointed and
hardened to bear on the arm of a device known as an “ old man.”
This device consists of an upright shaft anchored to a foot and sup
porting at right angles an arm which can be adjusted at any place
along or around the shaft. To set the drill the “ old man” is
clamped by its foot to the sheet and the arm is adjusted and anchored
to a position in line with the bolt to be drilled out, so that the point
of the drill rests on the head of the bolt and the point of the feed
screw bears against the arm. The power is then applied and a hole
approximately three-quarters of an inch deep is drilled. There are
several hundred of these holes to be drilled in any fire box requiring
new wrapper sheets. The prevailing age of the worker is 25 years
and the wage rate 27£ to 28 cents an hour, with a bonus. A knowl
edge of fire-box construction is gained in the work which is of value
later.
The eleventh and tenth classes of boiler makers do “ low-pressure
work.” They thread stay bolts and radial stay holes wTith a tap used
in the air motor; screw in the bolt with motor and cut to proper
length for driving or riveting; repair and patch tanks, laying out
a new piece of metal for the patch, drilling holes in defective sheets,
and driving rivets; and make replacements of broken stay bolts in
locomotives in service by riveting the ends of the stay bolts. The
use of an air hammer or 44gun ” and construction of tanks and rear

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221

ends of boilers are learned. Eight men are employed, the prevailing
age being 34 years and the pay 30 to 30J cents an hour.
The ninth and eighth classes of boiler makers drive or rivet 'with the
“ air gun ” the head of the stay bolts or radial stays of the boiler.
They drill the sheet for the arch tubes and cut them to length, and
roll or expand them until they are light in the sheet, after which
the ends of the tubes on the sheet are beaded. Workers who have
not the desire or ability to go on with the trade are put in the flue
gang. The prevailing age of these two classes is 28 years and the
hourly rate 32$ to 33$ cents. The worker should be able to read
figures and count, as he here, for the first time, uses a rule. Begin
ning here, he must also increase his knowledge of boiler construction
and erection.
The seventh and sixth classes of workers do their first high-pressure
work with rivets, which they drive in the mud rings, the smoke
arches, new tanks, stationary smokestacks, breechings, and structiiral-ironwork. The assembling of the work is not difficult. Strength
and endurance are required, and the general tendency is to increase
the workers’ speed and efficiency. There were only three workers
in this class, whose prevailing age was 30 years and rate of pay 34
to 35 cents an hour.
The fifth, fourth, and third classes of workers rivet the straight course
of the boiler to the front flue sheet and to the dome course; the
dome to the dome course; the dome course to the taper course; the
taper course to the throat sheet and outside wrapper; the throat
sheet to the outside wrapper; the outside wrapper to the back head;
and the inside wrapper to the rear flue sheet and the door sheet.
They put in and work all the radial stays; chip and calk with
“ gum” ; apply with rivets all boiler brass, crowbars, crowbar brasses,
and flexible stay bolts; lay out but do not cut or drill patches for
boilers and fire boxes when they rivet and calk; and shape, fit up and
rivet new tanks.
The nine workers in these classes receive 25-J to 45 cents an hour.
They are given opportunity to lay out work which requires apprecia
tion of close dimensions. They must use dividers, rule, scale and
trams for layout work and measure the thickness of the sheet from
which patches or new sheets are made. In some cases the drilled
patch may be used for a template to locate holes to be drilled in the
cracked or burned sheet, in others trams and dividers must be used
to locate holes in the patch to correspond with those in the defective
sheet.
The layer-out or first-class boiler maker lays out coal buckets, ash
pans, petticoat pipes, boxes for racks, stationary smokestacks, and
breechings which he must fit up and shape. He also lays out new

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

tanks, smoke arches, straight courses, dome courses, front flue
sheet, taper courses, inside and outside wrappers, back flue sheet,
door sheets, back heads, and throat sheets. The six men employed
average about 40 years old and receive 44£ cents an hour.
The worker must be accurate and know the practical work to get
the best results. He must understand boiler construction and erec
tion. His knowledge of arithmetic must include mensuration. The
men would profit by a short-iuiit course in descriptive geometry,
treating of the intersection of curved surfaces, and in mechanical
drawing and free-hand sketching.
The apprentice to the boiler maker begins as an errand boy, is then
put at heating rivets and passing them to the riveters, and from this is
advanced to the thirteenth class of boiler makers. Usually he is a soil
of an employee, or, in organized trades, of some one known personally
by some member.
On entrance, he must be not under 10 nor over 21 years old, the
prevailing age being 18. He must have good health, not tubercular
or epileptic, have good eyesight, and be without physical defects,
such as stiff joints. Physical alertness and endurance are required.
The five apprentices of this shop were paid 12 cents an hour at the
start and a bonus in the proportion which their rate of pay bore
to that of the boiler makers with whom they worked.
He should have ambition and high ideals of skill and workman
ship. He should have patience and respect for authority, mental
capacity to absorb the many “ tricks of the trade,” and ability to use
them. At least an eighth-grade education is necessary.
Flue men and machine workers are men shifted from the regular line
of promotion to first-class boiler maker because they lacked ability
or desire to pursue the trade further. The limits of this treatment
of the boiler shop prevents detailed consideration of their work.
The foreman of the boiler shop is always a man who has served his
time as boiler maker and had a 44boomer” experience for several
years. In addition to his duties as head of the department, he is an
adviser to the chief engineer and has charge of all experimental work
relating to sheet metal. He must have theoretical and practical
knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of iron and steel,
the action of waters and acids on them, and the effect of different
kinds of service on the boiler and parts of it, and should know how to
read blue prints and make free-hand sketches and simple drawings.
An assistant to the foreman who has active charge of the work
supervises and inspects it and instructs the men under him. He
plans the work to meet datings set for new and repair work, must
have complete practical knowledge of the construction of a boiler, and
must be able to set the pace. He comes from the ranks, is in line of

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

223

promotion to foreman, and should possess the same qualifications and
knowledge.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
It seems to be a universally accepted opinion that so far as the
practical side of his work is concerned, the boiler maker must be
trained on the job and not in a school. In fact, there is no school
anywhere which attempts to teach this trade. The nature of the
work is such as to make it impossible, even if it were advisable, for
the school to give instruction in the actual process of making boilers.
Furthermore, the apprentice or the helper system used in most
shops seems to meet in a satisfactory way the demands of the trade
as to mechanical skill in the tools, machines, and processes employed.
In the foregoing description of one extensive and highly organ
ized boiler shop, all the men beginning with the fifth class and run
ning up through the first-class boiler makers and foremen need a
knowledge of mensuration and drawing which the shop can not give
and which, in the opinion of the trade, should be taught by a school.
This same need exists among all the boiler makers whose work is
less specialized in the smaller shops. When such courses are given,
they should be open to all men in line of promotion, including
helpers, apprentices, and boiler makers of different classes.
In general, the boiler maker, if he expects to advance to work
of the first class, should know how to draw and lay out the sheets of
metal for any boiler or tank job and to calculate the dimensions,
sizes, and forms of sheet metal as they are involved in the con
struction of coal buckets, ash pans, petticoat pipes, boxes of vari
ous kinds and sizes for racks, stationary smokestacks and breechings, tanks, smoke arches, straight dome and taper courses, inside
and outside wrappers and back flue, door back head, and throat
sheets.
Whenever possible, in the opinion of the trade and the survey
committee, a special evening class should be formed to give this in
struction to boiler makers. Where the number of applicants does
not justify the establishment of such a class, the boiler makers might
well attend such a course as that provided for sheet-metal workers.
It is probable that a few exceptional men in the boiler shops would
desire to attend practical classes in forging and general machine
work, to give them practical skill not obtainable in the shop and
needed by the all-round high-grade boiler workers.
The rapid introduction of autogenous welding by the use of the
acetylene and oxyhvdrogen blowpipes which weld metal that was
formerly pressed or expanded and riveted, not only decreases the
number of boiler makers needed in the shop but makes it necessary

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

for some of them to learn the new process. Courses in autogenous
welding in evening classes would open this opportunity to those
already experienced in other parts of the trade.
AUTOMOBILE IN DUSTRY.

Minneapolis is the largest distributing point for automobiles north
west of Chicago, serving Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, and a part of Wisconsin. It has in use about 12,000
automobiles, or one out of every seven in the State, the gain for
1915 over 1914 being over 22 per cent.
The report of the Civic and Commerce Association for 1914 shows
135 automobile establishments, employing about 1,500 wage earners,
in Minneapolis. Of these establishments about 50 were those of
retail and wholesale dealers, usually with repair shops and garages
attached; about 40 were repair shops; 11 shops of dealers in acces
sories; and 6 plants of manufacturers. The gain in number of cars
in 1915 over 1914 would indicate approximately 335 new workers
in the last year, making the total for 1915 about 1,835.
The total volume of business in 1914 was about $40,000,000. This
includes the output of the Minneapolis branch of the Ford Motor
Co., which turns out from 50 to 90 cars a day in the busy season,
and the sales of a number of large distributing plants which ship
cars directly from the factory to points in six States. It is evident
that the business shows an increasing demand for workers.
Only the work of the large automobile establishment is treated here,
but every feature to be found in the small garage and service station
is included. No attempt has been made to deal with the manufactur
ing of cars, which in Minneapolis consists either of the assembling of
parts shipped from central factories in other cities or of local manu
facturing. The latter has been considered elsewhere. A large auto
mobile establishment is usually a plant operated by a concern that
sells one or more standard cars and also carries on a storage garage
and repair service.
There is no particular physical or nervous strain on the worker. The
work changes frequently from one kind of car to another. This
makes tasks more interesting and gives the worker a rest. In the.
service and testing departments the gasoline motors sometimes miss
fire and the unburned or partly burned gases are exhausted into the
room, sometimes causing severe headache, which fresh air or sleep
will cure. Most large shops have an exhaust fan to carry off this gas.
The number of accidents is small and the casualty rate for auto
mobile mechanics less than that of most workers in the building
trades, foimdries, and flour mills, but more than that of wood
workers, bakers, machinists, and painters.

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Nine hours is the usual working-day, which begins at 8 a. xn. and
closes at 6 p. m., with an hour for lunch. In a few firms the worker
has Saturday afternoon off. Only the better class of workers is in
demand in the winter season, when the overhauling of cars is done.
The rush season, which is controlled entirely by the weather, begins
with spring and lasts until bad weather in the fall. There is no
organization among the workers. Employees enter from 16 to 40
years old. A man is considered at his best between 25 and 35.
Probably 400 new workers were needed last year to take care of the
2,000 additional cars in Minneapolis. First-class mechanics are few
and hard to get. Many mechanics are poorly trained. They usually
start as helpers and are promoted to different departments and posi
tions. The average wage of a good mechanic runs from 40 to 50
cents an hour. Promotion is rapid and many young men are look
ing forward to this work.
The old-time first-class mechanic is not a first-class man in the
automobile business unless he reads, studies, and keeps up with the
times. Most of such men lack the technical knowledge to meet the
growing demands of the many improvements, such as electric starters
and lighting systems, and electric gear shifts.
Many young men are specializing in this new class of work, and
the demand for them is increasing. Foremen and superintendents
often are imported from other cities or taken from other firms in
the city. They, are usually 25 to 35 years old, and have come up
through the ranks and become leaders. Even these men often lack
technical knowledge.
There is no system of selecting workers. They are usually hired by
the head of each department with the approval of the superintendent.
Few firms have application blanks. When used, they usually call for
little more than a list of references. If a man makes a good impres
sion, he is given a position and is tried out by the foreman. No
special training is given. A beginner who shows an interest in his
work is promoted rapidly. There is no special line of promotion.
The five departments of an automobile garage and repair plant are
the garage, service, parts, loading, and testing departments. As
only the service department has to do with the mechanical and re
pair end of the business, only this work is here treated.
SERVICE DEPARTMENT.

Workers in the service department include tool men, helpers,
battery men, magneto and self-starter men, blacksmiths, machin
ists, mechanics, assistant foremen, job clerk, and superintendent or
foreman. The line of promotion varies, as the tool men, blacksmiths,
machinists, and job clerks usually stay in their respective positions.
Helpers are promoted to battery men, self-starter men to mechanics,
42805°—Bull. 199—17------ 15

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BULLETIN OF TICE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

and some mechanics to assistant foremen. All the men work the
same horn’s, usually nine, though some plants arrange for a 54-hour
week with only a half day on Saturday.
Tool men, from one to three in number, are employed where a firm
has a tool room. They issue tools, supplies, oil, waste, grease, and
bolts to the workers on order from the job clerk or foreman. The
tool man is 18 to 25 years old, usually about 20, and must be able to
read and write. He usually has a fair education. His wage ranges
from $10 to $15 a week. He may become a helper in some depart
ment and be promoted up the line.
The helper does all kinds of work in the repair department, cleaning
parts, running errands, and helping tear down motors, transmissions,
and axles. He works with a mechanic and may be promoted to be
a mechanic. Usually he is 20 to 25 years old, has a fair education,
and is paid 10 to 25 cents an hour. The best helpers soon learn the
construction of an automobile. From two to three years of appren
ticeship must be served before the helper can become a mechanic.
The battery man does nothing but battery work, such as repairing
broken batteries, putting in new parts, rebuilding, and charging.
He is 20 to 35 years old, and is paid $15 to $25 a week, according to
his ability. Usually he has a fair education but no technical train
ing and has learned the business by working at it. He is seldom
promoted, as his work is a trade in itself. Many battery men are
employed by electric garages. As the number of storage batteries
used on automobiles is increasing rapidly, the demand for battery
men is also increasing and good men are scarce.
The magneto and self-starter man is a specialist who overhauls,
repairs, and adjusts all kinds of coils, magnetos, starting motors,
and generators, and does electric wiring on automobiles. Such men
are 23 to 40 years old and their pay ranges from 30 to 50 cents an
hour. This job requires intelligence, as some parts of the work are
very complicated. Many of the men lack practical experience and
t<n even larger number technical knowledge of electricity. Some of
the best workers have been electricians with telephone companies
and thoroughly understand electricity. Some magneto men want
to be mechanics, as they do not like the specialty work. As more
and more electrical equipment is being put on automobiles the de
mand for good men is increasing rapidly.
The blacksmith is found only in large establishments where some of
the parts are made and where both general blacksmith work and
drop forging are done. He is 25 to 40 years old and is paid 30 to 38
cents an hour. Most blacksmiths are without special training. They
are seldom promoted, but, in exceptional cases, may become me
chanics.

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The machinist does work similar to that done in any general machine
shop. He works to micrometer and fits and makes automobile parts.
Usually his experience is gained in a regular machine shop, and he
lacks training and technical knowledge of mathematics and drawing.
What has been said in this chapter as to the need of special 00111*868
for machinists applies to him. The machinist generally remains as
such, but a few are promoted to be mechanics.
The mechanic does the general repair work on automobiles. He
overhauls motors, clutches, transmissions, rear axles, and all other
parts of the car. Usually he is 20 to 45 years old and receives 30 to
COcents an hour. The mechanics come from all parts of the United
States. Some are “ floaters ” and some steady men. Many are not
good mechanics, as they lack training in mechanical skill and tech
nical knowledge of the automobile. Employers often are com
pelled to hire low-grade men and try them out. Some prove to be
good men and are promoted. Automobile mechanics generally lack
knowledge of new construction of cars, most of them not “ reading
up ” on new parts of later models. There is a great demand for good
mechanics and great opportunity for advancement to the man who
is ambitious and will study.
The assistant foreman takes care of the work when the foreman is
busy or not on duly. What applies to the mechanics, as just stated,
also applies to him.
The foreman usually has been promoted through the ranks and
should have the knowledge and skill of all the men under him. He
is 25 to 40 years old, works as many hours as he sees fit to make his
shop pay, and is paid $25 to $40 a week. Some keep up with the
times on new construction, but most do not. All, in general, need
more technical knowledge. The foreman must be able to handle
men, estimate jobs, and keep customers satisfied. The industry is
hampered for the want of good foremen.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
Employers and employees engaged in the automobile-repair busi- '
ness are agreed that the following statements are true:
1. The repair business of Minneapolis not only is extensive, but
is growing so rapidly as to insure a promising field of employment
for an increasing number of new workers each year.
2. The wages paid to workmen in the business and the oppor
tunities presented for advancement into desirable and permanent
positions at a high wage make automobile repairing one of the best
lines of employment in the city to which the attention of first-class
men should be directed and for which training should be given.

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BULLETIN OP TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

3. The automobile-repair business is of such recent development)
and changes and improvements in machines and devices are being
made so rapidly, that only comparatively few of the workers in this
business have either the long experience or the technical knowledge
which the highest success of this important business demands.
4. What seems to be needed are courses giving young men who
desire to enter the automobile-repair business a chance to get some
preliminary experience in this work and training in the technical
subjects bearing on it; evening courses which will give the auto
mobile mechanic an opportunity for further practical instruction in
the repair and operation of automobiles, together with an under
standing of the theories lying back of their operation. Such courses
would also be of value to the skilled mechanic desiring to enter the
business. Part-time and evening classes dealing with the theoretical
side of automobile work should also be provided for those already
employed in the business.
As a result of the survey both day and evening courses for the train
ing of workers for the automobile industry were approved by 34 of the
largest employers, who agreed to employ the students coming out of
the two-year day course in repair and construction at the Dunwoody
Institute at an initial salary of not less than $2.25 a day. A descrip
tion of this understanding is to be found in Chapter XXIII.
Courses of study for both evening and day classes were drawn up,
approved by the trade, and are now being taught in the Dunwoody
Institute.
SHEET-M ETAL IN DUSTRY.

The sheet-metal industry is increasing rapidly in Minneapolis.
While the United States Census of Occupations for 1910 reported
47 firms in the manufacture of copper, tin, iron, and steel sheet-metal
products, the industrial survey made by the Minneapolis Civic and
Commerce Association in 1914 showed a total of 64 firms, the number
of workers rising in the five years from 472 to 689, a gain of 46
per cent. Of the 64 firms, 21 manufacture copper, tin, and other
sheet-metal products; 5 do blowpiping and ventilating work; 6 make
corrugated culverts; 19, cornices, steel ceilings, and skylights; and
3, iron and steel doors and shutters.
Most of the firms specialize in some class, and no one firm does all
or even very many different classes of sheet-metal work.
There is no particular risk or strain on the inside sheet-metal worker.
The usual precautions are used in safeguarding machines and the
worker is not exposed to dangerous parts. While some machines,
like the cutting and rolling machines, are open, the men soon become
accustomed to them and few accidents occur. The outside sheetmetal worker is in more danger, as he works on scaffolds and roofs.

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229

The casualty rate is 88 cents per $100 of pay roll for inside workers,
which is the same as that for machinists, and the trade ranks eleventh
from the highest in risk. For the outside sheet-metal worker the
rate is $3.99, and the trade ranks third from the highest in risk.
This chapter deals only with the inside man.
The hours of work for the inside sheet-metal trade range from 8 to
10 a day. A few firms arrange for Saturday afternoons off. The
trade is not well organized. Boys enter as apprentices from 16 to
18 years old. Some men 60 to 70 years old are found, but a man is
at his best at 35 to 40 years.
The demand for skilled workers is increasing each year. When a man
becomes proficient he is usually hired by some other firm or opens
a place of his own. Layers-out are hard to get. Most firms take the
best man in the shop and help him until he can lay out work alone.
The supply of trained workers at present is not sufficient to meet
the demand, and the foremen have difficulty in obtaining the right
kind of workers.
New workers come from all parts of the United States. Some are
foreigners who have been in the United States from 5 to 10 years.
Many of these become steady workers. Promotion is slow for most
men. It is quite a jump from sheet-metal man to layer-out and a
layer-out job is considered the best.
Apprentices are fonnd in some of the firms, but there is no general line
of promotion for them. In union shops, the union has one appren
tice to five journeymen. They enter as helpers at 16 and four years
are required to learn the trade, three as helpers and one as appren
tices. They are paid 30 cents an hour for the fourth year.
Apprentices are used in the unorganized shops and are paid $7
to $14 a week. They work the regular hours, remain as appren
tices for about two years and are then promoted to sheet-metal
workers. Their wages are increased in the two years, at the end of
which, with some exceptions, they draw the same hourly wage as
sheet-metal workers.
The common deficiencies of workers are lack of general educa
tion, shop training, drawing, mathematics, blue-print reading, and
speed.
The method of hiring and basis of retaining workers varies with
different firms. Some have employment bureaus, but usually a man
is hired or rejected because of his appearance. The man for outside
work must be able to climb about on roofs. All men are hired by
the try-out plan. There is no regular line of promotion.
A helper may be promoted to machine man, a machine man to sheetmetal man, and a sheet-metal man to layer-out, depending on the firm
in which employed.

230

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF J.AUOK STATISTICS.

Host sheet-metal plants are divided into a number of departments.
These vary according to kind of sheet-metal work done, and include
the blacksmith and machine, door, window, sheet-metal, welding,
corrugated culvert, and radiator departments. Only the sheet-metal
and welding departments are considered here.
SHEET-METAL DEPARTMENT.

In this department all kinds of sheet-metal work are done, includ
ing general repairs, cornice work, and work on automobile fenders,
pipes, and tanks. Apprentices, helpers, sheet-metal workers, automobile-lamp repair men, and a foreman are found here.
There are from one to five apprentices in each sheet-metal department,
depending upon the size of the plant. They go in when 16 or 17
years old and are paid about 20 cents an hour. The longer they stay
and the more willing they are to learn, the higher their wages. In
two or three years they receive journeyman’s wages, or 40 to 50 cents
an hour, and are then termed sheet-metal workers. They do general
helping, such as handing tools to the sheet-metal worker and helping
on the machines. A good, active body, common sense, and a fair
education are required. Knowledge and skill come with experience.
Many apprentices lack common education and are poor in arith
metic. They are usually sons of sheet-metal workers or their friend3.
They are selected by the foreman and given a trial. No special train
ing is given the apprentice.
From 5 to 15 helpers are employed in the sheet-metal depart
ment. They are general helpers, who hold sheets of metal at machines
and help assemble and rivet. An active body and common sense are
all that is required. The helper usually lacks general education in
drawing and mathematics, without which chance for promotion is
slight. Helpers may be promoted to sheet-metal workers. They are
usually 19 to 40 years old and at their best at about 35. They are
paid 25 to 35 cents an hour and are given no special training.
Each plant employs from 6 to 20 sheet-metal workers, depending on
size of plant. Not many are promoted. The next jobs in line are
layer-out or foreman, of which there are only one or two in each
plant. In one plant studied six men were dropped and six hired
in one year, no promotions being made. These men are 21 to 60 years
old and are paid 35 to 50 cents an hour. They do the forming of all
kinds of sheet-metal work. In some shops they assemble parts.
They make automobile fenders, hoods and elevator pipes, and venti
lating pipes for mill elevators. This requires cutting and bending.
The foreman is usually a better class of worker than the machine man
or helper. He has probably been a sheet-metal worker. He does the
figuring of the metal and sets the machines to make proper size pipes.

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231

He has to read blue prints and lay out work and must be active and
willing to wovk. He usually is 35 to 45 years old and is paid 42 to
55 cents an hour, or works on piecework as machine man and helper.
His deficiency is lack of training in blue-print reading and mathe
matics and of ability to handle men and plan woi*k.
WELDING DEPARTMENT.

Where a sheet-metal firm is large and does much specializing or
specialty work, it usually has a welding department. The welding is
done here by the oxyaeetylene process, which is used more each year.
Many water tanks for tractor machines and gasoline tanks are now
welded instead of riveted and soldered as formerly. Helpers and
welders are found in this department.
From one to four helpers are employed in each plant where the
welder’s outfit is used. The helper may be promoted to welder, but
promotion is slow, as it takes some time to become a good welder.
Helpers are usually 21 to 30 years old and are paid 25 to 35 cents
an hour. Activity and common sense are the requirements. Men
come and go, probably 15 or 20 men being hired in a year in each
plant. Some good workers stay and are promoted.
From two to six welders are found in each department. Few are
dropped and one to three are added each year. They are 25 to 38
years old, and are paid 40 to 60 cents an hour. They weld gasoline,
water, and oil tanks with acetylene gas and oxygen. A strong body,
good eyes to stand the bright light, and common sense are needed.
A good welder must know how to read and write and 60111*6 ma
terial. Much skill is required in handling the torch, as metal can
be burned easily and crystallized if not properly handled.
Much could be done for these men by giving them theoretical in
struction and practice in welding different metals. New workers
are selected by the foreman and tried out. They are not given any
special training.
A fair education is required, as the sheet-metal worker must read,
write, and figure and be able to read blue prints. Some are unable
to read detail drawings. Much knowledge about forming and han
dling sheet metal is necessary. All first-class sheet-metal workers
are able to draft their work to some extent.
Considerable skill is required to produce neat, clean work. Mathe
matics and blue-print reading can not be acquired on the job, and
some have been unable to get this outside the shop.
Sheet-metal men are hired from other shops, some from small
shops in country towns making the best workers. They are selected
and tried out by the foreman or superintendent. No special training
is given them.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Some sheet-metal firms have an automobile-lamp repair man, a sheetmetal worker who has specialized in this line. What is said of a
sheet-metal worker applies to this man also. When not at work on
automobile lamps he works on sheet metal.
A foreman in a sheet-metal department is usually an advanced sheetmetal worker of the more progressive type. In addition to a superior
education, he is able to read blue prints and figure the job. He di
rects all the work in this department and is general foreman. He
usually has natural ability to handle men. and the knowledge and
skill of the men under him. He is 35 or 40 years old and is paid
50 to 60 cents an hour. Some are paid by the week at the rate of
$25 to $50.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The survey held a number of conferences with an advisory com
mittee for the sheet-metal trades. The employers and employees
on this committee represented, as a whole, both the inside and out
side work for these trades. Attention is here called to the treatment
of sheet-metal work as it is given in Chapter VI on the building
trades. At these conferences there was practically unanimous agree
ment on these statements:
1. The sheet-metal business is growing very rapidly in M i n n e a p
olis and the demand for workers, particularly for lavers-out, is on
the increase.
2. Apprenticeship has failed as a means of preparing new workers
for the trade. There are only 10 apprentices with all the shops and
building contractors of the city.
3. At present most of the really skilled workers in the business
come from outside the city.
4. Sheet-metal work, particularly as it is carried on as a part of
a manufacturing business, has become highly specialized.
5. Most of the workers in sheet metal perform some one or, at the
most, a few simple hand tasks; or, as is much more frequently the
case, operate some special machine which does the work formerly
done by hand.
6. In either case, the task which these workers are to perform
has been carefully laid out in advance by the layer-out or sheet-metal
draftsman and by the foreman. So far as their present work is
concerned, there seems to be but little which the school could teach
them. This is probably true of most, if not all, of the workers
employed as helpers of all kinds—cleaners, doormen, machine men,
window workers, and so on.
7. The actual manipulative skill required in the use of tools by
the sheet-metal worker does not, in most instances, at least, rank

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233

very high as compared with that demanded for some of the other
skilled trades, such as in the case of the machinist, carpenter, and
cabinetmaker. This skill can readily be acquired in course of time
through the routine of the shop.
8. The trade does make very high demands as to technical knowl
edge, however, upon the apprentice or any other worker who expects
to rise to the better positions in the business; upon the sheet-metal
worker in the small shop who must do all his own figuring, laying
out, and planning, such as the automobile-radiator repair man, the
journeyman in the small business, the cutter in the window depart
ment, and the sheet-metal worker in the general repair shop; upon
the sheet-metal journeyman in the large shop, particularly where all
kinds of work are done; upon the layer-out, who is really in a sense
the designer of work, as he lays out in detail for different jobs the
way in which the metal is to be cut, shaped, and assembled; and upon
the foreman of the plant.
9. Every worker in the sheet-metal business who expects to draw
the wage of a first-clans man or rise to a responsible position must
have a fair knowledge of geometry and drawing, as they are indis
pensable aids in the trade. Yet, at present, many of the journeymen
in the trade are unable to read blue prints, either as to general direc
tions or as to taking off the quantities, represented on detached draw
ings. They are entirely dependent upon the foreman and the
layer out for the “ headwork.”
10. The mathematics and drawing for the sheet-metal worker are
so closely related and so dependent one upon the other, that a course
in either subject must necessarily involve instruction in the other
subject at the same time. So far as evening classes for those already
in the trade are concerned, instruction in sheet-metal drafting seems
to be the course which will best meet the situation. Such a course
makes large demands both upon the previous experience and the
ability of the worker student. The basis of such a course is pattern
drafting or development of surfaces represented first by the various
geometric solids, both alone and in intersections, followed by various
practical examples of such problems as represented by actual com
mercial forms.
11. Both employers and employees recognized that the failure of
apprenticeship either to supply promising new workers or properly
to train them makes desirable not only part-time and evening classes
for those already employed, but also day classes for those desiring to
enter the trade. The same general plan for these day classes worked
out with other trades for a two-year course of training, including
placement in the trade at the wage paid to apprentices in their third
year, was tentatively approved. Inasmuch as the Dunwoody Insti
tute was unable, because of the lack of facilities at present, to estab

234

BULLETIN OF TIIE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

lish such day classes, no arrangements for such classes have as yet
been developed.
TH E FOUNDRY.

Because of the wide variety of work, no one foundry in Minne
apolis can be said to be typical in organization and methods. As only
one plant could be studied, one of the most progressive and pros
perous shops in the Northwest was taken, which, though larger than
ihe usual foundry and therefore not typical as to size, does a wide
variety of the work commonly turned out in the city.
The foundry stands as to risk from accident midway among the 10
men’s trades studied. The casualty rate is $1.76 for $100 of payroll,
the business ranking in risk just below steam fitter and ornamentaliron erector ($2.63) and above the workers in flour mills ($1.08).
All the workers in the plant studied are hired by a labor agent
after examination by a physician and approval by the foreman of
the department.
The organization of this fonndry, which is only one division of the
concern, consists of a foreman, assistant foreman, time and material
clerks, boss of machine molding and workers under him, boss of
scrap molding and workers under him, boss of machinery molding
and workers under him, and boss of ornamental molding and workers
under him.
In this report the work will be described under three general
heads: Molding, the preparation of the mold for pouring the metal
into it; casting, preparation and pouring of the metal; and cleaning,
preparation of the casting for market.
MOLDING.

In molding are employed helpers, core makers, machine, snapflask machinery and ornamental molders, apprentices, and bosses for
each group.
The helper carries floor boards and flasks between the foundry and
storage yard; helps close molds and weigh molds; helps the molder
pour molten iron into the mold; and sweeps and cleans up after each
casting. The worker must be a large, able-bodied man, who can
stand the heat. He must have initiative to advance. No knowledge
of a general kind or about the job is necessary.
Willingness to obey orders and instructions are the most desired
requisites. Workers are hired by a labor agent who keeps in touch
with local workers. They are subject to a physician’s examination.
On account of the danger all workers in the structural-iron depart
ment are required to speak English, but this does not obtain in other
departments. No special training is given helpers until they are to
be made snap-flask or machine molders. Ability and efficiency

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235

always bring promotion with better pay. Wages vary from 15 to 25
cents an hour.
The core maker makes cores out of “ core sand.” Core sand is a
mixture of sand, flour, and molasses. A core is a separate part of the
mold inserted to shape some part of the casting. After being pre
pared by the core maker the core is first baked in an oven to make
it hard and then turned over to a machinery, machine, or ornamental
molder for use as a part of the mold he is preparing. Some core
makers become molders. The wage rate is about 22 cents an hour.
Cores are of different sizes and shapes, such as slabs, cylinders,
cones, frustrum of cones, and various crooked and intricate figures.
Boxes are provided to produce the desired shape. The worker packs
the core box with the core sand. With a straight stick he strikes off
all the sand above the edges of the box, then lays a baking plate of
steel or cast iron across the top of the core, which is held tight to the
box. The whole is turned over and the bottom plate lifted, leaving
the core ready for the oven. Complicated and intricate cores are
made by pasting together cores of different sha])e. The core maker
uses a molder’s trowel to “ smooth ” and “ patch ” the cores. A nar
row piece of steel with one end bent the flat way to form a foot and
called a “ lifter ” is used to patch places which can not be reached
with a trowel.
The refinements of molding are developed only by months of prac
tical experience. This can best be gained on the job.
The machine molder is the leader of a gang of four workers who
operate a molding machine. Two of these work on the machine; the
third does the finishing. All of the gang, including the molder, have
been promoted from foundry helpers. The molder is paid 22£ to 45
cents and his helpers 15 to 25 cents an hour. The work of the machine
molder is learned more easily than that of any other molder and calls
for less initiative and skill.
The molder uses compressed air from a hose to blow any sand from
the pattern, then dashes parting sand over it. The helpers place a
“ drag ” upside down over the pattern, the drag pins entering holes
provided in the machine table. This drag is a flask or box of wood,
cast or wrought iron, with sides only. The molder riddles sand while
helpers shovel in enough to cover the pattern. After this the helpers
heap the flask with sand, which the molder tucks and spreads with
his hand, then moves a lever, causing the sand to be “ jolt rammed.”
The sand is swept off; a little soft sand is scattered over the sur
face; “ floor boards” are placed on the bottom and top of the drag;
and clamps extending over the machine table, drag, and floor board
are applied. The molder by another lever raises the table high
enough to turn half over, the helpers pull an extension of a work
table under the drag, which is lowered upon it. The clamps are

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

removed and the drag moved clear of the machine to a long table
holding a number of molds for the worker. He finishes them by
patching any defects, then attaches a bale from a traveling crane and
directs the crane man where to place the mold on the floor.
The snap-flask molder should be strong and quick. The necessary
skill and knowledge is acquired in as little time as a month on the
job. The workers are selected from helpers by the foreman, who
turns them over to the snap-flask molder boss for instruction. The
snap-flask molder is paid on the piecework basis, his wage varying
from 22£ to 30 cents an hour.
The operation in snap-flask work is nearly the same for all work,
as in machine molding. As the worker puts up for many days only
one pattern, he can become very efficient. All he needs to know is
how hard to ram the sand. Manipulative skill is acquired by repe
tition, thus requiring only imitative ability.
The machinery molder’s work consists of molding and pouring odd
jobs not large enough to put on the machine or to specialize.
He also does experimental and development work, such as jigs and
fixtures castings, patterns for which are often merely an outline.
The molder “ cuts ” or “ sweeps ” the balance in the sand. The wage
rate is 25 to 30 cents an hour.
Pieces of odd patterns may be used to form a few parts of the
mold, while the balance is cut out of the sand. The molder also
makes crank cases for motors from a two-cylinder opposed to a
six-cylinder vertical type, steam engine bases, fly wheels, gas-engine
cylinders, and all the small parts of a steam or gas engine.
A molder should have good health and generally does. The “ all
round ” machinery molder should have native ability, patience, and
pride in his work, thorough knowledge of molding methods, and
ability to work out the refinements of his art. Skill may be anything
from manipulating tools to overcoming in the mold defects in the
casting and in the pattern. Knowledge and skill are in 99 out of 100
cases acquired in the shop.
Many machinery molders have been helpers, and the rest appren
tices who have served their time in smaller shops. The machinery
molders are given no special training. Superior ability and efficiency
are rewarded with better jobs, more money, or both.
The ornamental molder makes ornamental ironwork, including stair
treads, stringers, newel posts, sash, mullions, brackets, sills, balusters,
grills, clusters, and faciers. This is mostly light-finished work and
is in some ways the most difficult of all molding work. Like highgrade machinery castings, it requires a smooth, clean surface and
correct temperatures of iron for different kinds and weights of cast
ings and different methods of pouring. Constant practice and long
experience alone bring efficiency. Wages are 35 to 40 cents an hour.

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The apprentice is seldom found in Minneapolis foundries, only one
being in the plant studied. Sons of employees are given pi'eference.
In general the period of apprenticeship is four years and the pay
10 cents an hour for the first year, 15 for the second, 20 for the
third, and 25 for the fourth.
The work of the apprentice starts with the core room, where he is
engaged for about a year with the core maker in making and baking
cores. He then goes to the molding floor to work for the rest of his
apprenticeship under a machinery molder. He first learns to cut
over or prepare sand previously used; to temper it by adding new
sand to give it strength to stand up or support itself; and to mix a
scavenger or cleaner, called facing, with “ molding” or “ green
sand” in proper proportion for different sizes and classes of work.
He then helps the molder to “ put up ” or prepare all the different
kinds of molds and thus gains knowledge and skill.
The bosses and foreman for the molding department are men of long
practical experience who have risen through the ranks. In this and
most other plants in the city these supervisors have considerable
practical knowledge as to foundry processes. What seems to be most
lacking is familiarity with the best principles and practices in sys
tematizing foundry work and an acquaintanccship with the construc
tion, operation, and adaptation of various types of foundry appa
ratus. Not more skill in shaping molds but more business and tech
nical knowledge is the greatest need of foremen and supervisors.
CASTING.

In the casting work, helpers, crane-ladle men, cupola chargers,
cupola tenders, a cupola-tender boss, and a chemist are employed,
their wage and importance being in the order given.
The helpers in the cupola gang shovel slag and cinders from beneath
the cupola and wheel them to the iron washer where the iron and
cinders are separated and then wheeled from the washer. . The
helpers also sift cinders and do general helping. The wage rates are
20 to 25 cents an hour. The work requires no education or training.
The crane-ladle men are taken from the helpers. They sweep gang
ways and keep them clear; shovel sand in a powder riddle; mix fac
ing with molding sand; carry flasks to and from the yard; carry
cores from the core room to the molders; and operate the crane ladle.
A ladle is an iron kettle lined with clay, used to carry melted iron
from the cupola to the mold. Ladles hold from 80 to 200 pounds
of metal, according as they are used by one or two men: and up to
50 tons when carried by a crane or on a track. The large ladles are
tilted for pouring by a geared mechanism operated by the craneladle man. The iron is poured directly into the mold if it is large
enough. Otherwise it is first poured from the by-ladle into a hand

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ladle and then repoured by the molder, who always pours on his own
work. The wage rate is 20 to 25 cents an hour. No qualifications
are required other than strength and extreme carefulness.
The cupola chargers load, weigh, and deliver to the charging floor
the different “ charges” of coke, pig scrap iron, and other materials
used for the “ heat.” A “ heat ” is either the total act of charging,
heating, and drawing the metal from the cupola or the total quantity
of heated metal drawn after one charging. First a fire is built of
wood, then a charge of coke is forked through the charging door,
followed alternately by charges of iron and coke, those of coke be
coming smaller as those of iron become larger. A chemist specifies
the quantities for each charge. The rate of wages is 20 to 25 cents
an hour. The cupola charger must be strong and know how to
read and write; must understand figures well enough to read them
pn a scale, and be able to add up to forty or fifty thousand. His
work requires no other training.
The cupola tenders are recruited from helpers, ladle men, and
chargers. With a pick they remove iron slag and mud from the fire
brick lining of the cupola and cover thin spots of the lining with
thick, stiff clay mud. They also mud up all the ladles and dry them
out with a light, slow wood fire. They put up the bottom cupola
doors, put in a bottom for the cupola made of dry sand and drysifted cinders which tapers slightly from the back to the spout in
front, lay the fire, and put in the “ breast.” The breast is an oblong
opening in the shell of the cupola extending from the spout upward
which is mudded up after the fire is laid.
The tapping hole in the lower part of the breast is formed with
a bar which is removed when the breast is set. The melted iron
runs out of this hole, which is stopped between pourings by thick
clay stuck on a disk at the end of a stopping bar. The mud is pushed
into the hole and held until it hardens. A pointed bar is used for
reopening or “ tapping ” out the hole. The cupola tender must re
port all iron and coke used. Wages are 25 to 30 cents an hour. The
only special qualification for this worker is that he must be careful
and painstaking.
The cupola-tender boss comes out of the ranks below him. He
directs the work, instructs the men, and helps them when necessary.
When the cupola is relined he lays the fire brick. The wage rate is
30 to 35 cents an hour. He must have ability to direct men and make
economical repairs. His chief skill consists, however, in laying the
fire brick. This can be learned only on the job.
The chemist makes chemical and physical tests of the product from
test bars cast with regular castings. From the results he specifies
the cupola charges. He also analyzes the coke, iron, and alloys
before they are ordered and after delivery. He must have technical

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training. Only the larger foundries employ chemists, others work
by the “ method of trial and error.”
CLEANING.

In the cleaning department are employed helpers, chippers, a
sand-blast man, a crane man, and a gang boss.
The helpers in the cleaning department are recruited from foundry
helpers. The wage rate is *20 to 25 cents an hour. They knock cores
out of the casting by jarring it with a hammer. Sometimes they
drive a. bar into the core to make a hole through the casting, then
worry the balance out and scrape the hole clean with a bar or file.
They brush the sand from the casting with wire brushes, grind the
castings on an emery wheel, and help load and unload rattlers.
A rattler is an iron box or barrel, with a hinge or bolted plate for
a door and an axle or shaft in the center of each head on which it
revolves. "When filled or “ loaded,” the castings rattle against one
another, thereby cleaning the sand from them.
Helpers also carry and truck castings. They must be husky,
willing workers and have respect for authority. The work is easy
to learn.
The chipper lifts castings to a bench, chips off the rough places
with a hammer and chisel or with a pneumatic chisel, and loads
them on a truck or car. The wages are 22$ to 25 cents an hour.
The work requires strength and patience, but no particular knowl
edge or skill except to handle a hammer or chisel, which can be
acquired in 5 to 15 days.
The sand-blast man is taken from the helpers and is paid 2~> to 30
cents an hour. He rolls castings into position and cleans them with
a sand blast. Clothed in a dust-proof suit, he holds a nozzle which
emits sand, impelled by air at about 80 pounds pressure, both air and
sand being controlled by the worker. The sand deans the casting.
The sand blast is used only on heavy castings or those difficult to
clean. It is a hot, dirty job, but requires no educational qualifica
tion.
The crane man is also taken from the helpers and receives 25 to 30
cents an hour. He operates a lever which, pushed from a central
position in one direction, causes the crane to move on a track. When
moved past the central position in the opposite direction, it reverses
the movement of the crane. Another lever operated in the same
manner causes the carriage to travel lengthwise of the crane. Still
another lever causes a block from which ladles or castings are
hung to move up and down. The crane man also operates a brake
by foot levers.
He does no repair work, and takes orders from the man on the
floor. He oils all the machinery of the crane. Great strength is not

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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

needed, but lie should have good health and not be subject to any
disease which might cause him to lose control of the machine. He
should be alert and have good eyesight, and must obey orders exactly.
A few days only are required to learn to operate a crane.
The gang boss comes from the helpers and is paid 30 to 35 cents an
hour. He supervises the work and teaches the workers. With the
crane he moves the castings about the department. A chain or a rope
sling is attached to the casting and then attached to the crane hook.
The gang boss then signals the crane man where and when to move.
He is usually a rough boss carrying out the orders of a foreman.
Only a general knowledge of the workings of the shop and ability
to handle laborers are required.
SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
No conferences with employers or employees in the foundry busi
ness were held by the survey. It was felt that a foundry equip
ment would be necessary to teach either the practical or the theoreti
cal side of the business, and there was none available at that time
nor was there any prospect of obtaining such facilities. The general
opinion of the trade seemed to be that it would probably be better to
let the whole question rest, at least until the plans of the Dunwoody
Institute for its own shops had been matured.
The foundries need the aid of trade and technical education very
much. This applies to almost every class of worker and every phase
of the business. In fact, it is openly admitted by practically all
those in the business.
Very few foundries have their materials analyzed before going
into the cupolas, and many never have any tests of the finished
product made unless so required by a customer as a condition of
contract or of purchase.
Owing to a lack of knowledge on the part of superintendents and
foremen, defective scales, careless and ignorant workers, and lack
of proper systems of cost estimating and cost accounting, many foun
dries can not tell within 5 to 15 per cent the cost of taking off a heat.
The only method of guessing is to add up all the money spent in a
given period and compare the sum with the total amount received
for the work.
Some of the foundrymen, though they are very much in the minor
ity, are openly opposed to the idea of education for the worker,
holding that molding, after all, is a matter of shoveling and pound
ing sand and that special training will put “ kid glove ideas ” into
the heads of the workers. Others scorn the idea that efficiency can
be taught by any other than thoroughly practical workers. While
this is very largely true, the trade as a whole is agreed that the

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chance for improvement is so great in this industry that an expert
in cost accounting or foundry management or metallurgy could
make some really big improvements. One of the most striking evi
dences of the present conditions is the practically universal state
ment of the trade that there are very few men in Minneapolis with
the knowledge necessary to teach a class of foundry foremen.
The foregoing description shows that foundry work, like all the
other trades studied by the survey, has been changed, so far as con
ditions would permit, from hand to machine processes, though,
because of the very nature of the trade, the molder still performs
more tasks by hand than most other tradesmen. Along with this
change has come the inevitable corresponding change in the organi
zation of the foundry, whereby the great body of the workers of all
kinds, from helper to molder and cupola tender, have been organized
into groups performing set tasks where manipulative skill is required,
and directed by foremen and bosses who are supposed to train the
men in their work, direct their labor, systematize the processes of
the plant, and furnish the expert technical knowledge so much needed.
The unfortunate thing is that, due to lack of training, many of these
leaders are not able to measure up to their responsibility. As a result
the business and everyone concerned with it suffers.
These conditions, which are typical in a large sense, together with
the recent rapid growth of the industry, indicate that the foundry
business not only offers opportunities, but needs the provision for
an all-day course carried on in conjunction with a typical foundry
equipment. The combination should provide opportunities for the
more ambitious and far-sighted workers in the business to obtain
the scientific and technical instruction involved in efficient cupola
practice, as well as understanding and familiarity with the con
struction, operation, and adaptation of the various types of appa
ratus used in machine molding. Such a course, which might be
limited in time to one year, would in all probability draw from the
State as well as from the city of Minneapolis.
42805°— Bull. 199— 17-- 16

CHAPTER IX.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
WOOD TRADES?

The woodworking industry of Minneapolis comprises many small
plants, classified as follows: (a) Lumber: (b) house furniture; (c)
sectional furniture: (d) office, school, and church furniture; (e)
furniture frames; (f) store and office fixtures; (g) office desks; (h)
interior cabinetwork; (i) show cases; (j) bank and bar fixtures:
(k) refrigerators; (1) sash, doors, frames; (m) boards, ladders, step*
ladders, and various other wood specialties; (n) cigar boxes; (o)
burial cases; (p) boats; (q) barrels, tubs, and pails; (r) farm
wagons; (s) carriage bodies; (t) wheelbarrows and farm machinery;
(u) bookkeepers’ supplies; (v) hardwood flooring, moldings, and
tanks; (w) weatherstrips; (x) artificial limbs; (y) pattern making.
The foregoing represent 109 establishments and 5,233 workers.1
Several establishments produce only one or two standard articles,
while some of the larger ones produce a number of lines.
In the manufacture of lumber, Minneapolis has lost its former po
sition of first rank 25 years ago. On the other hand, the use of lum
ber in various lines of manufacture is on the increase, especially in
office furnishings, store fixtures, sash, doors, and frames, and in
terior cabinetwork for houses.
There is very little physical or nervous strain involved in the industry,
and if a man’s health is normal on entering no detrimental effects
are likely. Liability to serious accident is not great, as woodwork
ing is ranked by the casualty companies twelfth from the lowest risk
among the trades studied by the survey.
Foremen are usually employed on the weekly basis of 58 hours,
and most other workmen on the hourly basis of nine to ten hours
for inside work and eight hours for outside. Wage rates range
from 10 cents an hour for boys beginning as helpers to 50 cents for
expert machine operators and high-class cabinetmakers. The pre
vailing rate for machine operators is $2.75 to $3 a day of 10 hours,
and for cabinetmakers (working inside) $3 to $3.25. There are two
slack seasons, one in January and February and another in June
and July, during which much of the cheaper help is laid off.
The large majority of cabinetmakers are foreign trained, aver
aging in age about 45 years. The machine hands are most Ameri1 Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association's Industrial Survey, 1014.

243

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BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

can born and have picked up their trade in the mills, and average
considerably younger than the cabinetmakers. The age of entrance
is 18 to 22 years, though a few boys 15 and 16 years are employed
on light work, such as clamping and nailing frames in sash and door
factories. These boys are said to learn easily and turn out work
more quickly than older men. The age of maximum productivity
is between 30 and 50 years.
The demand for labor is increasing and at some seasons the sup
ply is inadequate. Establishments increased from 101 in 1909 to 109
in 1914, and workers decreased from 7,053 to 5,233.
In the 17 establishments visited no real apprenticeship system is main
tained. Usually new workers are obtained through “ try-out ”
methods.
Occasionally boys are employed as machine helpers and through
personal initiative become machine operators, and sometimes fore
men. This process is, however, too slow for most boys and after a
short time as helpers many quit and present themselves at some other
establishment as full-fledged machine operators. Such boys are
usually tried out and if fairly successful and promising are retained.
By moving from one plant to another, the bright boy is enabled, in
a few years, to familiarize himself with several different machines
and become somewhat expert.
It is not possible to describe here the manufacture of each wood
article produced in Minneapolis and as only one line could be presented, furniture was chosen because it covers practically all pro
cesses and occupations found in all the lines.
In the usual furniture factory there are five well-defined depart
ments: Lumberyard (including the dry kiln), machine, cabinet,
finishing, and shipping.
LUMBERYARD.

Yardmen are rated as common laborers and, excepting the fore
man, require no training other than experience gained in regular
routine. The foreman must be able to read and write, handle simple
figures accurately, and have long experience in handling and judging
lumber. He receives lumber at the yard, sees that it is up to grade,
puts it through the dry kiln, and delivers it to the millmen. Though
usually an expert in his line, he is rated as a common laborer and
receives only about the maximum wage paid for common labor.
MACHINE DEPARTM ENT.

In the larger factories there is, with a few exceptions, a man for
each machine and each machine represents a distinct job.
For convenience in this report, machines are divided into two
classes, general-purpose and special. Crosscut saws and ripsaws,

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245

planers, and jointers belong to the former and are used to prepare
stock for special machines. Saw operators are known as cutters and
usually work in units of three, a crosscutter, a ripsawyer, and a
helper.
The crosscutter receives the lumber from the yardman, cuts it into
lengths, and passes it on to the ripsaw. In some cases he is regarded
as the most important factor in the plant, especially in the manu
facture of furniture frames. He must be a good judge of lumber
and be able to cut his stock with the least possible waste.
To become a cutter a man must first master the ripsaw. From
ripsawyer to cutter is regarded as a promotion, but there is no par
ticular way for a man to reach the ripsaw. In this type of plant
machine jobs in order of wages are: Sand drums, planer, ripsaw,
variety saw, polisher-multiple drum sander, boring machines, shaper,
and cutter. The last three pay the same wages. Except for the case
mentioned, there is no system of promotion from one machine or job
to another.
The ripsawyer receives short-length stock from the crosscutter and
lips it to desired widths. He is usually of fair natural ability, but
needs no special training other than that readily gained through
practice on his machine.
The helper receives the pieces of stock as they come from the
ripsaw, arranges them in order on a truck, and passes them on to the
jointers. He also carts away the waste material.
Any boy of normal mind can readily become a good helper, but
the job appeals so little to his intelligence that the bright, ambitious
boy will not stay long. For this reason helpers are often boys of
the subnormal class, or men too old for more responsible positions.
The planers and glue jointers each require a chief operator and a
helper. The operator must understand his machine, be able to adjust
the knives properly, and keep all parts in running order. He must
also know his material and how to put it through the machine to get
best surface results.
The helpers for these machines are of about the same type as those
in the sawyer group, and the planer helper’s duties are exactly
similar. The glue jointer’s helper has a slightly different but no more
difficult job. He sits or stands at the tail of the machine, receives
the pieces of lumber as they come through one side, turns them over
and feeds them back through the other side, a sort of automatic
process requiring little mental or physical ability.
A complicated type of machine known as the Linderman dovetail
glue jointer is found in a few factories. This usually requires a crew
of four men, a chief operator, two feeders, and a sawyer. The
operator must be something of a mechanician to get the best results.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

He must keep the machine in good working condition, start and
stop it, and as the joined pieces are automatically ejected catch and
pass them to the sawyer.
The sawyer trims these pieces to the desired width, piles finished
parts on a truck, and passes back to the feeders all scraps worth
saving. His job is about on a par with that of the general ripsawyer. The feeders sit, one at each end, and feed the pieces into
the machine. The physical and mental requirements are very slight.
The main responsibility of these men lies in attention to business.
The molders, shapers, scroll and dado men, operators of tenon
ing and mortising machines, sanders, and polishers are men of
larger experience and greater skill than those already dealt with.
Most machines of this highly specialized group are capable of very
delicate adjustment, and the man who can keep all the parts in
perfect working order gets the best surface results, and effects the
greatest saving in labor and material.
One of the greatest shortcomings of the machine man is his lack
of general knowledge of processes in the manufacture of a complete
article. Knowing only the one or two processes assigned to him, he
is likely to leave much to be done by the slow process of hand scrap
ing and sanding in the finishing department, which might have been
done more easily on the machine.
CABINET DEPARTM ENT.

The cabinetmaker’s trade has changed greatly with the develop
ment of machinery. Most of the work formerly done by hand is
now done by machinery, and the cabinetmaker in the average fac
tory is little more than an assembler of parts. The work is so thor
oughly subdivided and specialized that no man completes anything.
For example, in building a chiffonier, one man does nothing but
assemble ends, the parts of which have been finished by the machine
men, another sets up the framework, another assembles drawers, and
another fits drawers. Such workers can hardly be called cabinctmakers, as it takes a number to make a piece of furniture.
A much higher type of cabinetmaker than the one just men
tioned is engaged in building and erecting high-class cabinetwork
in churches, offices, stores, banks, and dwellings. Because they con
struct complete units from special designs, they must have greater
skill and intelligence than the class first mentioned. This work is
largely done by foreign-trained workers who learned their trade by
the old-time apprenticeship method and are highly skilled through
years of practice. The supply of these workers is rapidly falling
behind the demand and must continue to do so until better training
is provided for native-born workmen.

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It is generally conceded by manufacturers that the situation is
becoming serious, but so far they have made no noteworthy effort
to discover and apply a remedy. The apprenticeship system, they
say, is no longer practicable, because the American boy will not work
three or four years for his board, or less, while learning his trade.
To get wages from the start employers insist that he must earn
them. He is, therefore, put directly on a job with no help, except
an occasional suggestion from the foreman. No time is set aside
for special instruction and no one is responsible for giving it. As a
result, the industry is being filled with untrained workers, few of
whom rise above mediocrity.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
A general view of the woodworking industry of Minneapolis seems
to indicate that there is very little demand for training of either
general or special character for young workers because the number
of workers needed for skilled positions is small. Employers say
that the more “ schooling ” a boy has the less desirable he is as a
factory hand because he is less likely to stay with the job.
The average high school boy, they say, places too high a value on his
ability and is not satisfied with the low initial wage offered to be
ginners in this line of work. Consequently he does not stay long
enough to become of any value to the establishment. For this
reason they look to the grade schools rather than the high schools
for recruits when in need of cheap labor.
. As regards special training of a character designed to prepare the
boy for his job, some employers are doubtful as to whether such
training can be given successfully anywhere outside the factory
itself. On the other hand, no establishment in this city has made any
adequate provision for giving such training. The general policy has
been to rely upon the foreign-trained workmen for practically all
the expert service, leaving the less desirable jobs to the home-trained,
or rather, untrained workers.
To one who has taken some pains to observe present-day tend
encies in industry, such a policy brings forward serious questions.
It does not require an expert to see the probability that the supply
of foreign-trained skilled labor will very soon be far short of meet
ing the demands of the industry. In this event it would seem that
the only possible source from which to draw recruits to meet this
deficiency would be from among the less-skilled workers already
employed in the factories. This fact, serious enough in itself, be
comes still more serious when one considers that these men, as
pointed out, come from the ranks of the grade schools—and not only

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

that, but from among those of comparatively low mentality. If a
boy remains in the grades until he is of lawful age for work, it is
because he is at least two years below normal.
The inevitable results of a long-continued pursuit of this policy
are not difficult to imagine, and unless some effective remedy is ap
plied soon, one may expect to see in the immediate future a marked
lowering of general intelligence and skill among workmen and a
corresponding drop in the quality of the output.
Hie fault seems to be nobody’s in particular and everybody’s in gen
eral. The trouble lies in the fact that the interests of the two domi
nant forces among the people of every community, the public schools
and industry, have become divorced, if indeed they were ever
united. The schools have been slow to recognize the requirements
of industry and, on the other hand, industry has failed to ac
quaint the schools with its needs and demand that they be ade
quately met. The woodworking industry of Minneapolis appar
ently has long since concluded that the schools could do nothing for
it, and now it appears to be rapidly approaching the stage where it
can do little or nothing for itself. With the increasing demands for
its product and the rapidly decreasing supply of skilled labor
the situation promises to become acute, and the more thoughtful and
farseeing employers are beginning to look seriously for a remedy.
The remedy seems to be in the bringing together of these two forces
and welding them, as it were, so as to make the heretofore separate
interests of each the common interest of both. The schools, on the
one hand, must study the industry and find out its needs. Industry,
on the other hand, must make clear to the schools what its needs are
and cooperate with them in devising definite plans to meet them.
This will involve a radical change in the policy of the schools and
definite provision for putting this policy into effect. It will also
mean an entire change of front on the part of the industry. It is an
interesting sign of the times that this very change, in large measure,
has already been realized in Minneapolis, and the schools and the
industry seem destined to work hand in hand, making a common
cause from this time forward of the interests of both the worker and
the employer.
In conditions such as stated, instruction outside the factory can
offer to those already in industry opportunities only to the relatively
few stronger and more ambitious workers for improving their con
dition by evening courses in drawing, with special reference to
cabinet projection and blue-print reading, together with the calcula
tion and practice in detailing shop orders from drawings and specifi
cations and making out bills of material for them.
As a result of conferences with the trades held during the survey,
arrangements have been made, in order to develop a supply of

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superior trained workers for entrance into the industry, for the
training of boys in the mill room and cabinet shop of the Dnnwoody Institute. In this arrangement, which is. practically the
same as arrangements made for other trades previously described,
boys are to be given a three-months’ trial in the mill-room and
cabinet-working courses to test their interest and fitness. After this
they will give the rest of two years of 10 months each to instruc
tion in academic and trade subjects, one-half of each school day to
be devoted to trade processes. As the class of the second year they
will be placed in the woodworking plants of the city at a beginning
wage rate of not less than $2.75 a day; the diploma of the schools is
to be withheld for one year until proof of satisfactory service in the
business is presented. The advisory committee of employers and
employees is to aid the school in making the training thoroughgoing
and successful.
The arrangement has been approved by the employers in the wood
trade and by the union. A description of the understanding for all
the trades is given in Chapter X X III (see p. 529).
The above plan seems to the survey committee worth an experi
ment. Whether any considerable number of boys of the kind that
desire to enter the woodworking mills will give up two years to
school can only be ascertained by trial.

CHAPTER X.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
PRINTING TRADES?

Improvement in workmanship rather than increase in business has
marked the printing industry during the last five years. In 1909
there were 1,378 male and 307 female wage earners over 16 years, and
including officers and clerks, 3,160 persons were engaged in the in
dustry. In 1914 there was an increase of only 153, the rate of
increase, 5 per cent, being the smallest of any industry studied,
except the lumber industry. The number of shops increased during
the same period from 216 to 253.
The cause of this relatively small increase among printers may be
that many large book and catalogue jobs formerly done in Minne
apolis are now done in the larger shops in St. Paul. One wholesale
firm alone has printed in St. Paul a quarterly catalogue that keeps
25 compositors busy all year, and the two telephone directories are
printed in that city. Little of the St. Paul business comes to Min
neapolis.
Minneapolis, in contrast with St. Paul, has comparatively small
printing plants, no commercial shop employing over 75 persons.
The typical large shop employs from 40 to 60, and most of the small
shops from 2 to 10, usually about five. The absence of large plants
is due partly to the general character of the printing done—there
being practically no specialty houses—and partly to the close busi
ness relations between some of the larger plants in Minneapolis and
the big establishments in St. Paul.
The marked contrast between the two cities in the growth of the
printing industry is shown by the following table:
T a b l e U . — RELATIVE

GROWTH OF PRINTING INDUSTRY IN MINNEAPOLIS AND ST
PAUL.

Number of establishments.
Year.

1899..................
1904..................
1900..................
1914..................

Persons engaged in the
industry.

Wage earners.

Per
Per Min Per
Per Min Per
Per
Min cent
St. ' cent neap
cent
St.
cent neap
St.
cent
cent
neap of
in
of
in
of
in
of
in
Paul.
Paul.
of
in
Paul.
of
in
olis. crease.
crease. olis. crease.
crease. olis. crease.
crease.
163
185
216
253

12.1
16.6
17.1

98
114
113
(*)

16.3 2*597
3,160
3.313
0)

1No figures available.

2,206
2,216
21.7 3,098
4.8
0)

«.

1,410
1,338
1,501 "*i2.*2* 1,523
39.8 1,755 16.9 2,085
2,083 18.2
0)
0)
2 Loss.

251

8.0
36.9
0)

252

m .'L L E T ix o r

t irI-: b u r e a i :

labor

s t a t is t ic s .

It will bo noted t-liat. with practically the same number in the
industry in the two cities, Minneapolis has nearly twice as many
establishments as St. Paul, and that in 1909 there were 330 more
wage earners in St. Paul, indicating numerous small shops in Minne
apolis, operated in person by the proprietors. In spite of an actual
decrease in establishments in 1909, St. Paul showed an increase of
39.8 per cent in number engaged in the industry.
Progress in this industry in Minneapolis seems, therefore, to call
for higher standards of workmanship, making training for both
present and prospective workers particularly necessary.
The annual volume of business in 1909 was $0,478,000, printing
ranking fourth among the industries studied, it being preceded by
the flour, lumber, and metal-working industries.
The conditions of employment are above the average, having greatly
improved in the last five years. This is due partly to trade organiza
tion and partly to the general movement for better working condi
tions. Shops are better lighted and ventilated, and more attention
given to sanitation. That there is still a health risk, however, is
indicated by the fact that seven out of the eight deaths among com
positors in the last two years were due to tuberculosis.
The presence of type and paper dust, fumes of molten metal, and
odor of chemicals and acids make strong lungs essential for the good
health of all entering the trade. Good eyesight and steady nerves are
needed by the compositor and pressman, as the work occasions more
than ordinary strain. The pressroom is often overheated. There is
little hazard, the casualty insurance rate being 63 cents, the lowest for
any trade studied, except some of the women's trades.
All the organized and many of the unorganized shops have an
eight-hour day. Some of the unorganized shops work 9 hours, and
a very few, only four in 1910, 10 hours. In general, the eight-hour
day prevails. Workers in daily newspaper shops are limited to 48
hours a week, a “ sub ” being called in for the seventh day. The work
is not seasonal, about 70 per cent being steadily employed through
out the year. The slack season is from June through August.
Workers on the “ sub ” list in newspaper shops work only from two
to four days a week, according to “ priority.”
The supply of trained workers has been kept equal to the demand
by the moderate increase in the business and a continuous flow of
country printers to the city. It has never been difficult to secure
workers since the general strike of the typographical union in 1905,
which, however, introduced many green hands into the trades and
lowered standards of workmanship. There is always a dearth of
job compositors and cylinder pressmen who can do high-class work.
Good stonemen are in great demand, owing to lack of promotional

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

253

capacity among compositors, due to insufficient trade experience and
no adequate system of apprenticeship.
The country printing office supplies this need best at present.
Pressmen capable of doing the best grade of work are much sought
after. Employers and workers agree that some radically different
system of trade training is needed for all who enter the industry if
shops are to compete for the better grades of work. The high wages
paid in newspaper shops keep the supply of workers considerably
ahead of the demand.
The printing trades are generally well organized. The compositors’
organization, which includes machine men, proof readers, and fore
men, contains 85 per cent of the workers. The newspaper com
posing rooms are 100 per cent organized, pressmen in job houses 95
per cent, and pressmen’s assistants 97 per cent. Newspaper press
rooms are only 50 per cent organized. Although* proportionately
better organized, the pressmen have no written trade agreement with
each shop, as have the compositors. In the matter of wages this is
probably due to the greater scarcity of good pressmen, which keeps
the average paid considerably above the union scale. The more
definite character of apprenticeship possible in the pressroom, prac
tically the helper system, makes it seem less necessary to attempt to
chart out and demand a specific course of training.
There are about 65 apprentice compositors, 40 in union shops, with
which there are separate agreements governing apprenticeship. Con
tracts of indenture are not in use. Apprentice compositors enter at
16 and, after six months’ trying out, if approved by a board of
examiners composed of the foreman of the office, chairman of the
chapel, and president of the typographical union, continue through
a term of four years, divided, in a job shop, as follows: One year
on cases exclusively; two years on stonework; last year on cases
exclusively.
Apprentices must take the correspondence course offered by the
International Typographical Union during the last year of their
apprenticeship and are forbidden to practice on linotype or mono
type machines until the last six months. The wages are $6 to $8 a
week the first year, $8 to $10 the second, $10 to $12 the third, and $12
to $15 the fourth. There is no apprenticeship scale in the job shop.
The quota allowed in the job shop is one for every five journey
men. Many shops do not maintain their quota because it is not
profitable. Apprenticeship in open shops is left to custom, dictated,
in the absence of a trade agreement, almost entirely by commercial
demands. Such shops often have more apprentices than journeymen.
Apprentice compositors in newspaper offices, where the proportion
is one to eight, must “ be given an opportunity to work in every
department of the composing room, and must be employed the last

254

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

two and a half years of their apprenticeship on the case and at other
intricate work, excepting the last six months of said apprenticeship,
which time may be devoted exclusively to work on the linotype or
typesetting devices in use in the office.” (Agreement expiring May 1,
1918.) “Apprentices shall receive in their third year 40 per cent of
journeyman’s wages and in their fourth year 60 per cent or until
in possession of a journeyman’s card.” The quota is filled more often
in the newspaper than in the job shop.
As pointed out in the analysis of the apprentice compositor’s
deficiencies and needed training, the apprenticeship system for train
ing compositors has broken down completely, owing to inability of
commercial institutions to perform educational service. As one
employer says, “ We are running a business, not a school.”
There are about 20 pressmen’s assistants, who are practically ap
prentices. Eighteen is the age of entrance, and four or five years
are required to learn the trade. Wages are $10 to $15 a week, the
increase being about $1 a week during apprenticeship. There is no
organized system of apprenticeship. The Pressmen’s Union admits
assistants to apprentice membership after four years in a pressroom
and 90 days under “ instructions.” Full membership is attained
when the worker is deemed competent. It means ability to “ draw the
scale.” This overlapping of membership indicates the sharp distinc
tion drawn between those assistants, feeders, who after a 90-day trial
demonstrate their fitness to become pressmen and those lacking
native ability and mechanical knowledge to become journeymen.
Possibility for spoiling an entire job, and consequent responsibility
of a pressman in charge of one or more presses, makes more definite
the minimum degree of knowledge and skill required of journeymen
compositor?.
Two apprentices are allowed for four journeymen, and three for
seven. Shops generally maintain their quota. The pressmanls
Assistsmt receives more definite training than the apprentice com
positor and is under more direct supervision. He can not help learn
ing something about pressworlc. The great drawback is the amount
of time he is kept feeding when he should be learning “ make-ready.”
Printing and publishing includes book and job houses, mechanical
departments of newspapers, plate making, and lithographing. The
mechanical department of a newspaper is sufficiently distinct from
the commercial shop in organization and trade practice to attract
and retain a different type of workers. It is therefore given separate
consideration. Plate making and lithographing are distinct branches
of the trade.
The book and job houses of Minneapolis do general commercial
printing, such as books, catalogues, advertising folders, blank books,
and office stationery, practically all being separate jobs done to order.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVKY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

255

There is little specialty work—that is, printing in stock quantities
such things as single-line calendars, match boxes, caps, horse blankets,
post cards, posters, and law books. The market is local, with the
exception of bank stationery and some linotype composition for
country papers.
A complete book and job plant consists of a composing room, job and
cylinder press rooms, a bindery, and a stock and shipping room.
After the job has been contracted for the copy goes to the composing
room to be set up and made into forms. The made-up form consists
of plates (half-tones, zinc etchings, electrotypes), and of matter set
by hand or by the linotype or monotype machines. The form then
goes to the pressroom, where the press is “ made ready ” and the job
run through. I f stitching, folding, perforating, scoring, or bind
ing is to be done, it is sent to the bindery. The shipping room packs
and delivers the completed job.
This process is subject to many modifications, according to the job
and the organization of the plant. For example, a blank-book job
goes to the bindery for ruling and perforation before the presswork
is done and returns for the folding, stitching, or finishing. If the
shop is unable to handle a rush of business, the composition work
may be sent to another plant. Plate work is sent out to photo
engravers or electrotypers.
BOOK AND JOB COMPOSING BOOK.

The composing room employs errand boys, apprentices, composi
tors. stonemen, linotype-machine operators, monotype-keyboard oper
ators and caster men, and a foreman. A staff of copyholders and
proof readers is essential. In the pressrooms are folding-machine
operators, press feeders, apprentices, job and cylinder pressmen, all
under a foreman. A bindery employs “ bindery girls,” stock cutters,
apprentices, finishers, forwarders, ruling-machine feeders, rulers,
and a foreman. A shipping clerk and helpers pack and deliver the
job to the customer.
The composing room in an up-to-date book and job office presents
unfamiliar conditions to one who has in mind the old-time printing
office, with its many cases of type, the old-time printer, and the
printer’s devil. Linotype and monotype machines have reduced type
cases to a minimum and seriously curtailed the opportunities for
developing “ all-round ” workmen. The introduction of the machines
and a long dispute between employers and workers in 1905 resulted in
many new workers entering the trade with little or no previous trade
training.
If it were not for workers from small country shops where com
plete trade experience is afforded, the supply of trained compositors
would be confined to the older men. Specialization, machine meth

256

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF I.ABOB STATISTICS.

ods, ancl inability of a commercial institution to cope with educa
tional problems have created new conditions which must be met.
Throughout all the changes and improvements three distinct em
ployments have remained in the composing room—setting up the
job, reading proof, and making up forms, minor workers in each
case acting as helpers and serving an apprenticeship.. Errand boys
become apprentices and finally compositors, either hand or machine,
and copyholders become proof readers; compositors become stonemen and later foremen.
The greatest need is for compositors with trade experience and
education to do the better class of work and take charge of the com
posing room. The country shop continues to afford a limited supply
of this class, but if workmanship is to be materially improved, im
portant changes in trade training are necessary. A description of
the duties, qualifications, and educational requirements of each job
follows:
Errand boys between 16 and 18 years old are employed in the various
departments. They pick type off the floor, put away leads and
slugs, wrap packages, and wash rules. There are about 40 in the
printing shops of the city. They are used by various departments
as required, thus receiving training which serves as a trying-out
process. These boys work for about a year at $6 a week, when they
either become apprentices or leave the trade. Ordinary intelligence,
ability to read and write, and enough arithmetic to make change
and collect, is all they need to know, so far as their job is concerned.
To be promoted to an apprenticeship the boy should have com
pleted the sixth grade to be a successful pressman, and the eighth
grade to become a successful compositor. A large majority are not'
settled as to what they want to do, and after several weeks or days
on a job, drift off to another, or try a new occupation. It is the
experience of one employer that only 1 boy in 12 makes good. A
small wage increase is sufficient to attract him elsewhere.
This is not entirely the boy’s fault. The school has given little or
no opportunity to find out what is needed for success in the industry
and the organization of the average shop places a handicap on his
favorable entrance as a learner. The commercial atmosphere into
which he is thrown places a premium on ability to obtain a slight
wage increase and discounts time taken from his duties for trade
training, which would lead to a much greater income. All the facts
point toward the need for prevocational courses for boys about to
leave common schools and for opportunity to get the first period of
training, preferably two years, in a day trade school where commer
cial necessities do not interfere with systematic training in the funda
mental operations of the trade, and further general education in
allied branches.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N.

257

The apprentice compositors, of whom there are 50, are recruited from
promising errand boys. They receive $8 to $15 a week during the
four years or more of apprenticeship. Promotion to journeymen
comes as soon as the apprentice can “ draw the scale.” Although in
theory the apprentice is supposed to serve in all departments and
have a well-rounded training under the chairman of the chapel or
the foreman of the room, commercial demands make this imprac
ticable. Employers and tradesmen agree that the duties of the ap
prentice are assigned to increase the immediate productivity of the
shop rather than provide complete trade experience according to a
systematic plan.
Although the duties cf apprentices cover a wide range, such as
sorting leads and slugs, distributing type, making galley correc
tions, and helping stoneman, each apprentice is kept at tasks he does
best or at work that needs to be done, and has to “ pick up ” rather
than learn the trade. In large shops he learns little about the press
room or binding. He can supplement shop experience through corre
spondence courses offered by the I. T. U., and in union shops is
assessed 50 cents a week for a year to pay for this course, and is
supposed to complete it before a union card is given him. In open
shops it depends entirely on his own initiative. Experience shows
that for most men the correspondence method does not work.
The apprentice should have distinct literary rather than mechani
cal bent and a good, general education. In the first year he should
learn the printer’s scale of the point system and know how to dis
tribute type and other materials. In the second year he should
learn enough about locking up and killing of forms to be of con
siderable assistance at the stone, and be able to lock up forms for
plate or job presses. In his third year he should be able to set reprint
work and “ new” work under supervision. In his fourth year he
does the lighter work of a compositor and is known as a “ twothirder.” Many stick at this point.
The average apprentice lacks education and is indifferent to the
demands of the job. The cause and remedy for this indifference has
been dealt with in connection with the errand boy’s job.
The compositors and stonemen number about 400, including one-man
si]ops. These two jobs are so closely related that in most shops some
duties of stonemen are expected of every compositor. A compositor
works nine hours a day, eight hours in union shops, at $15 to $25
a week. The union scale is $21 for day and $24 for nightwork.
He is usually 21 to 50 years old, having become a journeyman after
four years of apprenticeship or, as often happens in getting a new
job, when able to “ make the scale.” A compositor is the fundamental
42805°— P.ull. 109—57------17

258

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

productive worker in the room. The better workman he is, the
more profitable the job.
He sets up the job from the copy, corrects proof returned from
proof reader, and, after approval by the author, turns it over to the
stoneman. If the shop is small, he performs the duty of stoneman
himself. In jobs set partially by machine, he sets the rest of the
lines, throws space between lines, puts in cuts, and makes up pages.
Some time is taken in distributing type and material, although the
increased use of the monotype has lessened this item. In some plants
he reads proof, orders stock, and performs other duties. In general,
the smaller the job the greater the responsibility.
Promotion is toward make-up work as a stone hand, machine
operator, or expert proof reader. The real tradesman regards the
first as the only true promotion. The higher wages paid machine
operators and a mechanical or literary bent cause some compositors,
however, to regard the other jobs as worth seeking.
Many compositors go into business for themselves. This is made
easy b}r manufacturers of printing machinery and supplies who
extend credit beyond the point warranted by prospects for business
success. Employers complain that this overcrowds the market,
stimulates undesirable competition, and demoralizes trade. Many
such establishments go out of business every year because of lack
of capital and because of inexperience in business principles.
A compositor should have good eyesight, deft fingers, and steady
nerves. He must be patient, painstaking, and accurate, and should
be systematic, orderly, and neat in order to keep his cases in good
condition, and not lose track of jobs, copy, or proof. Color sense
is needed to set jobs in the best taste.
He can not have too broad an education, for he must deal with a
wide range of subject matter. Many jobs require a sympathetic and
intelligent attitude on the part of the compositor to express ade
quately the author’s ideas. A compositor competent to show this
attitude is always in demand.
Thorough knowledge of English, spelling, punctuation, capitaliza
tion, division of words, grammar, and paragraphing is essential.
Weakness in any point leads to inaccuracy. A good compositor can
correct manifest errors in copy. Knowledge of arithmetic through
mensuration and compound numbers is necessary in order to estimate
in both point and inch systems and monotype unit system.
The best compositors know enough of printing design to sketch
roughly the layout of a page, and understand enough about weights
and kinds of paper to select the kind suitable for the job. In small
shops, the compositor needs to know the principles of imposition to
do the work at the stone, and this in a large shop enables him to

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEV OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN. 2 5 9

take the place of the stoneman, thus improving his chances for
promotion.
The skill required consists in picking up and manipulating type,
“ dumping” the stick, making up and justifying pages, inking gal
leys for proof, and handling single lines of type. This comes only
from long experience. Proficiency in common-school branches, gen
eral information and acquaintance 'with literary standards, technical
application of the principles of design, color harmony, and lettering,
and knowledge of paper can not be attained while working on
the job.
The common deficiencies are lack of general education, weakness
in English, and ignorance of design and color harmony. The
younger men arc deficient in the fundamentals of other branches of
the trade, such as binding, presswork, and stonework.
During the last few years the advertising man has taken from
the compositor a large part of the responsibility for the artistic
appearance of the job, by making rigid specifications as to every
detail, from which he may not deviate. There will always be jobs,
however, on which he must exercise taste and artistic skill. This
makes training in this line necessary. Evening courses in applied
design as well as apprentices’ courses in the fundamentals—straight
and job composition, stonework and proof reading—should be offered.
The linotype operators, numbering about 72, receive copy from the
foreman just as do hand compositors. The linotype man sets bodytype matter-and small display lines, places the cast slugs (lines of
type) on the galley, and makes corrections in the galley by reset
ting lines containing errors. In many shops he must keep the
machine adjusted properly and make some repairs. Large shops
and newspaper offices employ linotype machinists for this work.
Operators are from 30 to 50 years old, and are paid $*24 to $30 a
week for the usual eight-hour da}’. The union scale is $24 and $27.
Many operators were formerly hand compositors. Some have '
had little experience as compositors. There is no line of promotion,
the only advancement being increased wages with improvement in
accuracy and speed.
The machine operator should have nimble fingers to operate the
keyboard and be a quick thinker to acquire speed and accuracy in
performing the many details of his work. He must be able to
concentrate his mind on the copy and still carry the measurement
of the line he is setting, in order to obtain correct spacing.
These qualifications call for mental ability different from that of
the hand compositor. With less variety of detail to interest the
worker, greater capacity for sustained mental effort and nervous
strain is required. However, the work is performed while seated,
permitting a lame or otherwise physically deformed workman to

260

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

be a satisfactory machine operator. He needs even better eyesight
than the hand compositor to endure steady work on bad copy.
He should have the same educational qualifications and technical
knowledge as the hand compositor and also understand the machine
thoroughly and know the proper temperature of metal necessary
to get good type face of slugs. He does not need all the technical
skill required by the hand compositor. His efficiency depends rather
upon ability to read manuscript rapidly and operate keys simul
taneously. He should be able to make adjustments or minor repairs
on his machine.
All these qualifications can be developed on the job, but some
men go to machine schools. The best operators are hand composi
tors who have gone over to the machine. It takes about a year to
develop an operator in this manner. Common deficiencies of ma
chine operators are the same as those of hand compositors.
Little training is to be had for this position outside the routine.
The great need is for the broad fundamental training of the hand
compositor. It is not enough to learn the keyboard. Improvement,
in printing standards will come only as previous training and experi
ence in hand composition is required of all who expect to be machine
operators. Some instruction in construction of the machine would
be valuable.
Monotype keyboard operators, of whom there are about eight, differ
from linotype operators in that they perform only one part of the
process, that is, operate the keyboard. Casting the type is not done at
the same time or even in the same room, as in linotype work. The
monotype operator, by a keyboard, perforates rolls of paper, which
control through pneumatic process the operation of the caster
machine.
He must care for this keyboard and make minor repairs. He puts
in new rolls and takes out perforated rolls, changes the machine for
different sizes of type and width of composition, which require
changes of drum scales and keyboard, sets the em rack to different
measures and casts up copy if the form is tabular. He must figure
various columns of picas, and allow for rules or other material to be
inserted by hand. His responsibility ends when he turns over the
perforated rolls to the caster man.
Monotype operators range from 30 to 50 years old, and are paid
$20 to $27 a week, working eight hours a day. Like linotype opera
tors, they come from the composing room or a monotype school. The
statements as to the linotype operator regarding preference for the
former training and the difference between machine and hand com
position in their demands on the nervous system, apply equally to
the monotype operator.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

261

Greater facility in mathematical calculation is required of the
monotype operator than of the linotype man, inasmuch as he must
make constant mathematical calculations in operating the drum scale,
and in estimating space rules and other material in the completed
form. He needs thorough knowledge of the compositor’s art but
does not need the skill of a hand compositor.
The peculiar qualification of .a monotype operator is thorough ac
quaintance with his keyboard and the general mechanism of the
machine. He must understand the relation of the keyboard to the
caster machine, to keep the caster going properly when it receives
the roll. He needs to know something of the construction of the
caster, have a thorough knowledge of the drum scales for different
sizes of type, and know howTto reduce picas to set ems in order to set
the em rack on his machine. He must know how to cast up copy,
and make allowance for cuts and rules.
Some operators are trained at monotype schools. First-class hand
compositors make the best operators, learning to operate the machine
in about one year. Five or six years of training would be necessary
to make an experienced monotype man out of a green workman.
Comments on the deficiencies of linotype men apply also to monotype
men.
The caster men, about four in number, operate the caster machine
and air compressor. Receiving the perforated roll from the key
board operator, the caster man adjusts it to the caster machine which
automatically casts single pieces of type. He is essentially a ma
chinist and needs to know practically nothing of the printer’s trade.
Caster men range from 25 to 85 years in age, and are paid $24 to $27
a week on an eight-hour day. Most of them come from monotype
schools, where they have been thoroughly trained to operate and re
pair the machine. Few compositors take it up. These practically
shift from the occupation of printer to mechanic.
Caster men obtain their positions through the manufacturers of
the machine. It requires four or five years for a. green hand to ac
quire efficiency. A machinist can learn to operate the caster in less
than a year, three months of which must be spent in a monotype
.school.
The number employed as stonemen can not readily be separated from
those employed strictly as compositors. A good compositor is usually
a fair stoneman. If the work in the shop is sufficient to occupy one
man’s time, the stoneman is important in maintaining an efficient flow
of work. He is the connecting medium for the composing, stock, and
press rooms. He receives the job from the compositor and locks it
into forms prepared for the press. This consists of placing the job
on the “ stone.” He sometimes makes author’s final corrections, regu
lates forms on the press and makes press corrections. His direct

262

BULLETI2T OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

responsibility ends, however, with delivering the forms to the press
room.
He is usually an older man than the average compositor, is paid
about $25 a week, and works nine hours a day. In contrast with the
compositor, he does not come direct from the country shop. Some
experience as helper is necessary before he can take charge of make
up of forms. After long experience on the stone, if competent, he is
advanced to the position of foreman. In many shops one person is
both stoneman and foreman.
He must be larger and heavier than a compositor in order to
handle the heavy forms. His general education should equal that
of a good compositor, witli additional proficiency in arithmetic to
figure margins, trims, and stock cuts. He needs all the trade knowl
edge necessary to a first-class compositor, and must understand
thoroughly the principles of imposition; that is, laying out various
book forms to suit folds and various machine folds. Imposition is
the art of arranging type pages on the imposing stone so as to cause
them to appear in their proper places on the folded sheet. He mustknow how to figure margins, trims, and stock cuts, sizes and kinds of
stock, so as to reduce waste in trimming; and must understand size,
speed, and efficiency of presses so as to insure the most economical
work.
The skill, acquired only through long experience in the routine,
lies in handling and manipulating type pages, adjusting pages and
arranging the distance between pages, “ squaring up ” forms that
pages may be properly registered when printed, and registering
forms on the press. All this additional knowledge and skill must be
obtained in the shop, except the principles of composition and the
study of paper, which can best be obtained in outside classes.
The copyholders, 10 in all, read copy and watch copy while the proof
is being read back for comparison with the copy. About onehalf of them are women. Good sight and steady nerves are neces
sary. A copyholder should be intelligent, well read, quick to detect
errors, conscientious, attentive, and able to concentrate on copy
because of the importance of the work. She should, if possible, have
a high school education, with emphasis on English.
No particular skill is required for this job. A few days’ experi
ence enables the workers to give satisfaction. Promotion depends
on ability to learn proof reading, and on accuracy and speed.
Many fail to become proof readers because of weakness in English;
others fail to realize the relative importance of the position or are
inattentive. Wages are $10 to $16 a week.
When the copyholder is sufficiently acquainted with the general
routine of proof reading, she is given proofs which the compositor
has corrected, to compare with the original proof. If O. K., they

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 2 6 3

are so marked and sent to the author; if not, they are returned to
the compositor. This is called revising. It requires more general
knowledge than holding copy, also a knowledge of proof reader’s
marks. This serves as apprentice training for full-fledged proof
readers, though the job is not always clearly defined. A copyholder
who can revise is known as a proof reader.
The proof readers, of whom there are 15, have been compositors in
some cases and in others have served apprenticeship as copyholders
and revisers. Many are women. A compositor with pronounced
literary taste and mediocre mechanical skill is likely to drift into the
proof-reading room where his knowledge of composition proves valu
able. If he has an acquaintance with literature and a large fund of
general information, his usefulness secures him a much higher wage
than he could earn as compositor. In the small shop, a compositor
reads his own proof. Proof readers are paid $12 to $20 a week,
according to speed and accuracy.
The duties of the proof reader are evident enough to make extended
detail unnecessary. A good proof reader makes grammatical correc
tions and calls the author’s attention to other manifest inaccuracies.
Good eyesight, ordinarily good hearing, power of concentration,
appreciation of the importance of details, an<J systematic habits are
prime requisites.
lie should maintain an even disposition and not be easily irritated,
as he is constantly called upon to deal with foremen and compositors
during a rush of business. To be successful he must have a thorough
knowledge of English, and be well read. Acquaintance with a for
eign language is a valuable asset.
The only technical knowledge needed is acquaintance with proof
reader’s marks. It is desirable, however, to know the various char
acters found in the compositor’s case, understand the point system
in order to mark proof intelligently, and know the names and uses
of the materials in the composing room.
The skill involved consists in accuracy in detecting errors, rapidity
in marking proofs, and a knack for reading poor copy. The dif
ference between the ordinary and the excellent proof reader usually
lies in their general education. Advancement in wages can best be
gained by constant reading and study along general cultural lines.
The evening university and high school classes afford such oppor
tunity.
The foremen are the most important productive units in composing
rooms. Upon the foreman rests the responsibility for turning out
the grade of work demanded. He usually has full authority to hire.
He receives the job from the office, assigns work to the various em
ployees, supervises the work, and cooperates with the foremen of
other departments until the job is delivered to the author. His

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immediate responsibility continues until the job receives his O. K.
for the pressroom. He and other department foremen constitute the
trade cabinet on which the success of the house absolutely depends.
None of the commercial shops employs a superintendent of the me
chanical department as distinct from the commercial management.
This throws additional responsibility on the foremen. The fore
man of the composing room is usually about 40 years old and is paid
$30 to $35 a week. His position represents the end of the line of
promotion.
He should have all the qualifications necessary for any position in
the room. lie must have executive ability to control his men sys
tematically, plan the general routine of the shop, and direct the work
of all so that a minimum of time is lost. He should be level headed
and able to think clearly in rush of business. He should have
accurate color sense.
In general education he should be better equipped than any other
in the room, know what to expect from men, and correct any defi
ciency in the work. He must know all the compositor knows about
the trade and as much of the stoneman’s duties as possible. He
should know enough about other departments to cooperate in making
the job a success; for example, speed, size, and kind of presses, size
and kinds of paper, various folds of machine folders, and the plating
process. Skill in judging quality of work, in handling men, in keep
ing the work moving systematically and economically, and in har
monizing difficulties between office and men are the characteristics of
successful foremen.
While many foremen possess inherent leadership not to be obtained
by any system of education, many journeymen compositors are with
out capacity for promotion not because they lack executive ability
but because they lack trade knowledge or skill. For example, a com
positor who does not know the principles of imposition can never
expect to become a foreman. The ambitions compositor, by taking
evening courses to correct his deficiencies, can greatly improve his
prospects.
NEWSPAPER COMPOSING ROOM.

Job and newspaper composing rooms differ in their organization
and in the character, quality, and speed of work required. The news
paper employs proof boys, hand compositors, linotype operators,
copy cutter, “ dump man,” wmake-up men,” proof readers, and a
foreman in each end of the room. The work is of two kinds, display
ads and straight composition, the former done by hand and the latter,
including want ads, single lines in advertising matter, and headlines,
by machine. The time element is predominant, quality of work
manship secondary. All are impressed with the importance of speed.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN. 2 6 5

To “ miss a mail ’’ is the one thing to be avoided. As the newspaper
man puts it, “ pep ” is the first qualification necessary to continued
employment.
This characteristic tends to separate workers in the newspaper shop
from successful job compositors. While there is considerable shifting
back and forth, the indifferent standards of workmanship in the news
paper composing room irritate the slower, more methodical, and
painstaking worker in the book and job houses, while the highly
developed team work in the newspaper office attracts those of opposite
temperament. The best newspaper men are those with preliminary
training in a commercial shop. Long service is more common in a
newspaper than in a job composing room.
Proof boys, of whom there are five, are between 16 and 18 years old.
The proof boy spends most of his time doing one thing—taking proof
at the “ dump ” as fast as the various “ takes ” are brought by the
machine operators. He does this for about a year, and is then pro
moted to be compositor’s apprentice. Scarcity of linotype operators
formerly furnished a short line of promotion for bright errand boys,
who, after a short time on the “ make-up,” were put on the machine.
Union regulations now require that all machine operators serve the
regular compositor’s apprenticeship, the last six months of which
may be spent in learning to operate the machine.
The proof-boy job does not afford as good an opportunity to learn
the printer’s trade as that of errand boy in a commercial shop, be
cause of the narrow range of trade experience in a newspaper shop
and because a boy is kept longer at one job. His chances for a trade
education as a newspaper printer during apprenticeship are superior,
however, to the opportunity offered by the commercial shop for
adequate, well-rounded training as a job compositor.
The apprentice compositors, numbering about 10, have about the same
duties, regulations, and wages as apprentices to the book or job house.
After a year working the proof press at the “ dump,” the apprentice
compositor assists on “ make-up ” for a few months and then goes to
the ad composing room, where he learns to prove up ads, care for
rollers, and set ads.
Upon completion of his apprenticeship he becomes a journeyman
and stays in the ad room, goes into make-up, or learns the machine.
Under the trade agreement he is entitled to a regular “ situation,”
however, only if the office will create one for him. Otherwise he
takes his place at the foot of the “ sub ” list. His greatest deficiency
is lack of general education. Because of the mediocre standard of
workmanship required and the fairly satisfactory apprentice train
ing there is no serious technical educational problem.
Ad compositors, numbering 170, are regularly employed in news
paper ad composing rooms, with a waiting list of about 35 “ subs.”

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BULLETIN OF T ill: BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

A £! subdoes not hold a regular situation, but works as a substitute.
Each compositor obtains his own substitute. When the office wishes
to add a man the first name on the list must be taken. Buies regard
ing “ priority” on the “ sub” list regulate the entire matter and
protect the journeyman desirous of a position in a certain office and
department. Entrance as journeyman in any department is limited
almost entirely to those who have first substituted. This means a
period of from two to four years as “ sub.”
All that has been stated about the substitute list applies to ad men
(hand compositors), machine operators, machinists, and proof
readers, separately. All workers in composing rooms receive the
union scale, $25.92 a week of 48 hours for day and $28.80 for night
work. For machine operators there is a piece scale.
The duties of the hand compositor differ from those of job com
positor principally in being connected with only one line of work,
namely, setting of display ads and head lines.
Newspaper compositors are older than job men and remain longer
in the same shop. This is due to higher wages, less seasonal char
acter of work, influence of trade organization, and a certain fascina
tion similar to that in railroad service. Promotions are slow, but
there is no scarcity of men with promotional capacity.
A wide knowledge of commercial terms is of great value to the
compositor. One foreman suggests the constant study of catalogues,
particularly those of dry-goods houses. Speed rather than technical
skill is looked for in a newspaper job. It is doubtful whether any
outside training can be had that would improve this worker’s pros
pects. Continuation courses in the printing trade are intended chiefly
to improve workmanship and artistic taste and skill. Speed comes
only with practice.
The linotype operators, of whom there are 91, have duties no differ
ent from those of the job shop, except that more speed is required.
A linotype operator works six hours a day and is paid by the piece.
The average operator is paid $25 to $28 a week, although a good
machine man gets about $35 for a week of 36 hours, and on night
shifts, $3 more. Usually he is older than the job man, and has been
in the office several years. Not many linotype operators have come
from the country. The drift is the other way, the country shop
looking for men doing both hand and machine work. Many machine
operators have learned the machine directly with a very short
apprenticeship in “ make-up” work and at the dump. A regular
apprenticeship is now required.
In one respect, in particular, a machine operator in a newspaper
office can be very useful—in detecting evident mistakes that have
slipped by the editorial room. Much newspaper copy is prepared in

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267

great haste, and, in spite of the greatest care, mistakes occur. If the
linotype man knows, for example, that a certain address should read
Sixth Avenue North instead of Sixth Avenue South, or that Mr. A
is holding a certain office instead of Mr. B, he calls it to the attention
of the foreman, thus increasing his value to the newpaper. This, of
course, shows the value of a general education and an alert attitude
toward men and measures.
The dump man, whose job is peculiar to the newspaper office, has
general supervision of the “ takes ” brought by machine operators to
the “ dump.” He supervises the work of the proof boy and keeps
general track of the material. He does not have to be a compositor,
but usually is. He is likely to be elderly, skilled in handling type and
galleys, and orderly and systematic. No other special qualifications
distinguish him from the ordinary compositor.
The copy man, sometimes the foreman, receives copy as it comes
from the editorial rooms, and assigns it to various departments. He
handles everything except display ads, which go directly to the
foreman of the ad composing room. He receives the regular scale
of wages, sometimes one or two dollars more. He must keep track of
many pieces of work in different parts of the room, and needs to know
the proficiency of different operators in order to assign copy. He is
usually an experienced make-up man. His peculiar duties can be
learned only in the routine.
It is difficult to get the exact number of make-up or stone men,
as their work is done by the foreman or his assistant with the helpers
needed. On a 32-page paper it takes much help to keep things mov
ing and finish this work in the two hours usually allotted. Making
up forms in a newspaper shop differs from stonework in a job shop
largely by the characteristics referred to in the case of various
employees. The page-form trucks on which the make-up takes place
occupy the center of the composing room. After the various “ takes ”
have been proof read they are worked into page forms with skill and
speed born of long practice.
The make-up man must know where to place certain advertising,
what reading matter is coming, and where to place it. When he gets
it all in order, the entire arrangement may be changed at the last
minute, and yet the page must be sent to the stereotyping room on
the minute. He must be cool-headed, ingenious, and discreet in
classifying news and work in harmony with the editorial room.
During the last few minutes of make-up he works with representa
tives of the editorial rooms in eliminating and rearranging matter.
Skill comes with long practice. Make-up men have always been
hand compositors, are 25 to 45 years old, and are paid the scale. The
line of promotion is to assistant foreman.

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BULLETIN OF THE B17HEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

Two assistant foremen have charge of the ad room and the “ news
end,” respectively. They usually have come up through promotion
in the same plant. They are 10 to 55 years old and receive from $30
to $35 a week. The line of promotion is to foreman.
The .duties in the ad room are like those of foreman in the job
shop, with more emphasis on speed. The assistant foreman is in
charge of the news and of the make-up, spending most of his time
in supervising helpers and apprentices. The last hour before press
time he personally makes up the last pages, working finally in
consultation with the editors. Education equivalent to a high school
course is necessary. A most important factor in making each daily
issue of a newspaper effective is discretion in arrangement of news
and advertising matter. This requires news sense and knowledge
of the general policy of the paper. The training necessary can be
acquired only on the job.
The proof readers, 18 in number, receive copy and proof, read and
mark it for errors, and return it to the machine operators for correc
tion. More than half are women. The proof reader in a newspaper
office lias more responsibility than the proof reader in job shops, who
is expected to follow copy, except in case of manifest errors. He
always questions the copy, but makes no changes without first sub
mitting it to the editorial rooms, unless in case of a rank blunder.
He must watch for undesirable sentences and advertising, and may
thus save a newspaper from a costly libel suit. The foreman of a
newspaper composing room does not have to O. K. the copy before
the forms are finally locked up and sent to the pressroom, as is done
in the commercial shop. This places additional responsibility on
the proof reader, and requires more mature judgment and general
education and culture than is required by the commercial shop.
One person, usually an experienced printer, has general super
vision of all proof reading. He should be the best informed person
in the room, as he is the responsible connection between the editorial,
advertising, and mechanical departments. He receives about $27
a week, and is 35 to 50 years old. Vacancies are few and the job
hard to fill.
The foreman of a newspaper composing room is usually a man between
40 and 55 years old, who not only has the qualifications required of
assistant foreman but also has those of an effective leader. In
some shops he performs such duties of mechanical superintendent
as he can. He receives $35 to $15 a week. The newspaper printer
is a better informed man by virtue of his daily work than the average
tradesman. The nature of the business requires a high degree of
organization and system in the mechanical department and a har
monious cooperation among workers, especially in the composing
room, to issue an edition in two or three hours. The foreman is

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269

caught between the two forces—the most effectively organized of
trade organizations and the demands of the job. This pressure is
always great, and when the “ news” is late and the paper a large
one only a real leader of men can effect the teamwork and speed
required.
He should have business capacity to operate the composing room
economically. This room has always been a source of great waste,
due to traditional disregard of business principles. A foreman who
can organize his workers so as to reduce labor cost, buy materials
to advantage, eliminate wasteful methods, and keep the good will
of workers is very valuable. In many cities there are constant
vacancies in this position, owing to scarcity of men possessing these
qualifications. Locally there have been few changes. This posi
tion is the highest to which the proof boy may aspire. The position
of mechanical superintendent, which is not yet fully developed,
requires broader general education than can be obtained by the
worker leaving school at 16.
The mechanical superintendent holds the highest technical position
on a newspaper. This position varies in duties, qualifications, and
salary. Two types appear in the various newspaper plants in large
cities and both exist in Minneapolis.
If the plant is not too large, the foreman of the composing or
press room may act as mechanical superintendent. His duty is to
coordinate the departments, buy equipment, presses, and machines,
and assume as much responsibility for the technical work as his
ability and duties permit. He is always promoted from the ranks.
His salary is $35 to $45 a week. In addition to his qualifications
as foreman he needs to be well informed on mechanical and scientific
subjects. This type is what might be styled a self-made man. He
lacks general knowledge of the theories underlying the duties of
his position as much as he excels in practical experience.
With the passing of this type the newer kind of mechanical super
intendent is beginning to appear, who is expected to assume entire
responsibility for the mechanical department. He manages the up
keep of the building, prospects and contracts for construction work,
superintends the buying of equipment and materials, and directs,
through foremen, the operation of departments. The latter duty does
not appear until the circulation of the paper becomes large enough
to require one man’s entire time in superintendence. At present no
Minneapolis paper has reached this point.
These duties require broad university education, including courses
in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, and enough actual ex
perience on the job to equip him to direct the work. His technical
equipment, for example, should enable him to make architect’s plans

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BULLETIN OF fiTE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

for alterations in building arrangements, contract economically for
paper and other supplies, and confer intelligently with the manufac
turer and make suggestions.
Men competent to fill this position are very scarce. (The me
chanical superintendent of a large Chicago paper receives $15,000 a
year.) They have to be individually trained. One Minneapolis
paper has sent its superintendent to the Government Printing Office
at Washington to study the analysis of inks and to Chicago to study
the electrotyping process. This position in Minneapolis now pays
about $50 a week.
PRESSROOM OF BOOK AND JOB HOUSES.

The appearance of linotypes and monotypes in the composing
room has been paralleled by a corresponding improvement and
specialization of machinery in the pressroom. The effect on the
workers has been quite different. In the former case it has interfered
with and even threatened the extinction of a time-honored hand
trade; in the latter it has opened up greater possibilities for work
manship. In the one case the educational problem is to resist the
influence of machine methods on the worker long enough to give
him sufficient trade knowledge, and in some cases train him for the
higher grades of hand composition. In the other it is to keep pace
with the development of the machine.
A marked characteristic of the average pressman is self-satisfac
tion. This is unfortunate because of the wide gap between his gen
eral information and the increasing demands made on him.
The pressroom of a large shop contains job and cylinder presses
of various kinds, the tendency being tow'ard greater specialization.
This will increase the educational importance of a carefully planned
preliminary training of apprentices. For the one job of pressman,
apprentices, press feeders, and errand boys are all in line of promo
tion.
The foreman has general supervision of the room. Large shops
have both job and cylinder pressrooms, with separate organization
and different foremen. There is a scarcity of workers equipped to be
high-class pressmen and many shops go outside in filling vacancies.
Practically no pressmen come directly from country shops.
The errand boy in a pressroom is usually 15 to 18 years old. He
should be strong, on account of heavy forms and piles of stock to be
handled and should weigh at least 125 pounds. He does not need as
much intelligence as the composing room errand boy, nor school edu
cation beyond the sixth grade so far as his duties now require. All
that was said about the deficiencies of errand boys in the composing
room applies to him. If he is efficient lie works into a job as a press

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271

feeder. While in the pressroom, he gets no opportunity to try his
hand in the composing room.
The press feeders number about 200, including all assistants. They
oil and clean the press, assist in placing forms on the press, assist
in “ make-ready,” feed stock through the press, pile stock and “ fly ”
stock, which consists of lifting printed matter from the jogger board
and placing it on trucks or the table. Press feeders are 18 to 50
years old and are paid $12 to $15 a week. They are recruited from
errand boys and from outside, in the proportion of about 1 to 5.
If ambitious, their prospects for an apprenticeship are good.
A press feeder should have nimble fingers and good sight to feed
rapidly and accurately and should not be nervous. The constant
liability of the stock to back- up while running through the press
requires alertness and coolness in case of emergencies. He should
have a good memory to follow instructions and carry messages back
and forth to the composing room. He must know enough arith
metic to set the counting machine.
A good feeder is familiar with the machine and its oiling, and
acquires facility in assisting the pressman. He should know how to
adjust automatic feeders. He should understand the care of inks
and rollers, and know how to wash up for color. The more he
learns about “ make-ready,” the greater assistance he renders and
the greater his prospects of promotion. He ought to know enough
about paper stock to follow instructions on the job ticket.
Skill in feeding consists in facility in packing the press for differ
ent grades of work, handling paper so as to avoid waste, feeding
stock so as to obtain exact register, and feeding rapidly on cheaper
work. There is little knowledge that can not be acquired on the
job, and skill is attained after a few months’ work. It is entirely
possible to qualify for promotion, however, by attending continua
tion courses in applied mechanics and chemistry.
The apprentice pressmen, numbering about 20, have the same duties
as pressmen, except that they work on cheaper jobs and smaller
presses under the nearest pressman or foreman. The first part of
the apprenticeship is spent in feeding; other duties are taught as
the work permits and as the apprentice shows ability. Apprentices
come from the feeders and become pressmen in about four years,
although some are content to remain as “ two-tliirders.”
The pressman’s apprentice comes nearer to getting an adequate
training than the apprentice compositor. This is due to difference
in organization and the simpler nature of the work. A 90-day
trial determines his promotion from feeder. He works under closer
supervision and has a better opportunity to learn than the appren
tice compositor. It is harder for him to enter a journeyman’s
position.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

His deficiencies are usually lack of general education and failure
to appreciate the possibilities offered by the trade. This is not
entirely his fault, but is rather due to the rapid development of the
trade and the absence of suitable continuation courses.
A further deficiency, if he is in a large shop, is unfamiliarity with
other departments. This can be met only by affording early oppor
tunity to become acquainted with the fundamentals of the entire
trade. The commercial organization of the institution forbids such
experience. The all-day trade school for beginners and evening
courses for those already at work afford the best solution of the
educational problem.
Of cylinder or job pressmen there are about 90 in the city. This
worker receives the copy and job ticket from the composing room
or the foreman, makes ready the press, runs the job, and super
vises the feeders and apprentice pressmen. One pressman super
vises two cylinder presses. The “ make-ready” is perhaps his most
important technical duty. This consists of two parts—after pre
liminary gauging of the form on the press, the cylinder is packed
with paper, to furnish a proper printing surface; after setting
the guide for feeding, he pulls a proof for the final O. K. from the
composing room. This completes the preliminary “ make-ready.”
While proof is being read in the composing room, he planes cuts
to make them type-high, or underlays them. Some shops gauge cuts
type-high before forms are made up. After receiving the final O. K.
from the composing room, he pulls proof for use in his final “ makereadv.” This consists of “ marking out the sheet ” (indicating where
the impression is too faint or too heavy), “ spotting up” the weak
parts (pasting paper of proper thickness on the “ make-ready ” sheet
later placed on the cylinder), and “ cutting out the high spots” which
print too heavy. In half-tone work special and hand-cut overlays
are made. In some shops mechanical overlays are preferred in
certain work. Ages are 25 to 50 years and wages $'22 to $40 a week,
the average being about $30. Job pressmen earn $12 to $20.
It takes 6 to 10 years to develop a first-class pressman. Deftness
and delicacy of touch in the “ make-ready ” process, physical strength
and vigor, good eyesight, and a fine color sense are the physical
characteristics demanded. He should be free from throat and lung
trouble, because of the inks and acids used. Good hearing enables
him to detect loose parts of the press, quoins, etc. The job pressman
has similar duties and requirements, except that the work is on a
smaller scale.
The pressman should be mentally alert, cool-headed to meet emer
gencies, possessed of executive ability to work with and handle press
feeders, and systematic in his work so that presses will be in opera-

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273

tion the greatest possible time. He should be a mechanic and yet
have artistic sense.
His general education should include arithmetic, through mensura
tion and compound numbers, so that he can figure weights, sizes of
papers, and pounds of ink to the job. He should know English
well enough to recognize errors that have escaped the composing
room; should know the simple principles of chemistry, for use in
handling inks, and something about physics, especially principles of
mechanics and atmospheric conditions to which rollers, inks, and
papers are susceptible, and some of the simpler principles of elec
tricity to guide him in making minor repairs. A knowledge of the
principles of light and shade for use in the “ make-ready,” of half
tones, of color harmony, and of hygiene and shop sanitation, is con
sidered a desirable qualification by progressive pressmen.
The work requires sufficient knowledge of machinery to make
necessary adjustments, a thorough knowledge of “ make-ready ” and
an acquaintance with the sizes of presses used, and something about
papers and inks. It is desirable that he know something about sizes
and styles of type, and understand the rules of imposition, as some
jobs are all plate work and require no hand or machine composition.
If he can size up the commercial importance of each job, so as to
gauge and plan the time necessary for its completion and delivery in
accordance with the cost estimate made by the office, he is much more
valuable.
The skill of the pressman consists in handling paper so as to avoid
soiling and tearing, mixing inks so as to achieve color harmony,
cutting and making mechanical overlays to bring out the artistic
effect, handling the press so as to regulate correctly the flow and
distribution of the inks, and obtaining proper cooperation from
press feeders.
The common deficiency of the pressman is lack of general educa
tion and failure to realize the importance of scientific knowledge.
The rapid development of presswork has left behind trade stand
ards of 10 years ago, without providing instruction for beginners, or
affording opportunity for workers to keep abreast of modem
methods. The average pressman would be far more valuable if he
knew something of chemistry, physics and hygiene, and industrial
art. Such knowledge can not be acquired on the job. Workers
should be encouraged to seek supplementary training in evening
courses.
The foremen of pressrooms, of whom there are about 65, including 20
job press foremen, have about the same duties as the foreman of the
composing room. The pressroom foreman receives tickets and forms
from the composing room or office, lays out work for the different
42805°—Bull. 199—17-----18

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BULLETIN OK THE BUBEAU OP I.ABOR STATISTICS.

men and is responsible for the economical handling of the room, men,
and machines. He cooperates with other departments and buys some
supplies, inks, and oil. He is usually about 35 years old, and has
worked his way «p.
He needs more executive ability than the foreman of the com
posing room, as he deals with men of a different type. He must
have an excellent memory to carry in mind the specifications of vari
ous jobs running at one time, as he does not have the job ticket in
his immediate possession.
All that was stated regarding the better education needed by
pressmen applies with added force to the foreman, and he should
have special knowledge of English. He must be able to estimate the
use of materials, speed, cost of presswork, and have a working
knowledge of mechanics, chemistry, electricity, and hygiene as ap
plied to presswork. He must have a thorough knowledge of paper
and inks, and of capacity, speed, and quality of work of all kinds of
presses. Long experience in managing presswork and skill in han
dling men, judging quality of work, and keeping the w'ork moving
economically and in a workmanlike manner are the most important
characteristics of a successful foreman. He is especially valuable if
he can effect proper cooperation by the employees, the office, and
other departments. He should have nerve and ability to command
respect.
NEWSPAPER PRESSROOM.

The newspaper pressroom differs from the commercial plant in
organization, quality of work and kind of product. It resembles a
factory with its single type of high speed, intricate machinery,
lack of variety in raw materials, and its single product, a newspaper.
The work is heavy and requires speed and alertness, with the skill
of the mechanic as well as of the printer. Not so high a grade of
technical skill and knowledge is required in any of the positions in
a newspaper pressroom, and employment therein does not train a
workman to be an all-round pressman. Very few newspaper press
men become commercial pressmen. Some commercial pressmen be
come newspaper pressmen, attracted by the higher wages. Each
web press is manned by a crew of four, the head pressman and
his assistants, an oiler, a tension man, and a first assistant. A fore
man has general supervision over the entire room.
The third assistant pressman, the “ oiler,*’ oils and wipes up, washes
rolls, and assists to put on and take off plates. He also helps put
the large paper rolls on the press. He should have more than
usual strength and vigor and no tendency to lung trouble, as the
work is confining and the temperature high. He should have good

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M INN.

275

hearing and sight. He must give close attention co his work and be
quick and alert to detect anything wrong in the operation of the
press. Little schooling is necessary. Knowledge and skill include
knowing location of oil holes, locating hot journals quickly, watch
ing the press for hot boxes, and keeping it clean of oil.
The common deficiencies of pressmen are those of the commercial
shop, only to a greater extent While it is doubtful whether any
job in the newspaper pressroom requires extended technical train
ing, the limited general education of most pressmen makes it neces
sary, in order to advance, for beginners to have more general school
ing. Some knowledge of mechanics and trade hygiene would be of
definite assistance. An oiler receives $12 for a week of 48 hours.
After two years’ experience the oiler is promoted, if there is a
vacancy, to tension man with the duty of seeing that the paper
runs through the press properly. He also puts on plates for one
side of the press. lie must know how to lay the plates so that pages
will appear in their proper place, and how to assist in putting the
blanket or tympan on the press. (This is the only “ make-ready ”
necessary in the newspaper pressroom.)
He is responsible for the condition of the press before it starts.
He acquires skill in handling the tension, adjusting it so that the
paper piles evenly, and avoiding any slack. He is paid $18 a week.
Promotion to the position of first pressman comes after four years
in the preceding jobs. This worker places plates on one side of the
press, and watches the tension and the press to see that everything
runs smoothly. He must be more of a mechanic than the tension
man, as he has to set the machine for different sizes of paper. He
must know the layout of the paper, and how to set rolls and operate
the machine for different sizes. It takes about four years to acquire
sufficient knowledge and skill for this job. He receives $22 a week.
The foreman is recruited from pressmen and is usually about 40
years old. Wages are $25 to $35 a week. It is his duty to receive
instructions from the managing editor, lay out the work for each
press, and supervise the room. He must have an unusually keen
mind and a gift of leadership.
The character of the work and the type of men in a newspaper
pressroom demand qualifications on the part of the foreman similar
to those of a successful military leader. He must have the respect
and good will of his men to secure loyal support in emergencies.
The general demand for speed reaches its climax in the pressroom.
The foreman many times must make up time unavoidably lost in
the editorial or composing room. He needs more general education
than other workers in the room, and if possible, a high school train
ing. He must make calculations in connection with papers and inks,

276

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

and should know all makes of presses and the best oil, inks, and
papers for his work. In one shop in Minneapolis he is also the
mechanical superintendent.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
The .principal defects in such vocational training for the printing
industry as now exists are four in number:
1. For the boy who will some day enter the industry: There is no
adequate system of preliminary experimentation by which he may
discover his aptitude for the printing (or other) trades and be
informed of the qualifications essential to success.
2. For tiie boy at the time he seeks entrance to the industry: Insuffi
cient supervision of the transition from school to job. The school’s
acquaintance with the boy is not made to serve in any organized
fashion in assisting boys, parents, and employers in determining the
wisdom of attempting an entry into the printing trade.
3. For the beginner who is learning any of the printing trades:
There is no adequate system of apprenticeship, a complete round of
trade training along carefully charted courses evidently not being
given in the modern printing office.
4. For the journeymen in the trade: Insufficient opportunity to cor
rect serious defects in trade knowledge and skill, and to become ac
quainted with new methods and processes. The commercial demands
of the shop and the growing tendency toward specialization makes
continued vocational training in the routine of the job increasingly
difficult, but also necessary.
All this points to the need of trade extension work in part-time
and evening classes for those already engaged in the industry.
As a result of the above facts the following recommendations and
plans have grown out of the survey:
1. The present prevocational courses in woodworking only, found
in the elementary schools, should be extended to include printing
for those who have finished the sixth or seventh grade, and shown
any aptitude or desire for the work. This should be carried on
under conditions as nearly commercial as possible. The academic
work should be related to this shopwork as closely as the organiza
tion of the school will permit.
While working as an embryo printer there is excellent opportunity
for extension of the training in English. A suggestive course of
study for a general scheme of prevocational training will be found
in Chapter X X III (see p. §26).
2. Since 1914 a two-year course for the purpose of supplying the
needed instruction for beginners has been offered at the Dunwoody

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN X .

277

Institute. This includes instruction in composition, presswork, pa
per stock, and related academic subjects. During the progress of
the survey an advisory committee made up of two employers, two
workers (a compositor and a pressman), and a representative of the
school, was formed to aid in shaping the content and method of the
work. As a result of this arrangement, employers have agreed to
accept graduates as their preferred source of supply for new workers
at an initial wage of not less than $12 a week, and to permit them to
pursue part-time courses either at the school or in the shop for five
hours a week throughout 10 months of the probationary year.
As a further result of the survey, there have been organized at the
Dunwoody Institute for apprentices and journeymen now in the
trade, unit evening courses in straight and job composition, stone
work, applied design, “make-ready” for pressmen, inks, papers,
etc. A lecture course for journeymen and foremen given by experts
on such subjects as inks, papers, rollers, humidity, electricity, etc.,
is also planned.

CHAPTER XL
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
FLOUR MILL?
A large flour mill plant consists of a number of “mills,” each
having an elevator and machines for storing, cleaning, grinding,
purifying and packing the wheat stock and flour, and each usually
an independent productive unit. A “mill” is organized into wheat
storage, cleaning, grinding and bolting, or “purifying,” and pack
ing and shipping departments.
The wheat storage department receives and stores the wheat in
the elevator; the cleaning department removes dirt and chaff and
washes the wheat stock; the grinding and bolting room is known
as the “purifying” department; it breaks the wheat berry and
separates the wheat from the bran by roller-sifting. In the pack
ing and loading departments flour is prepared for shipment and
placed on the cars.
For every mill, or “ two or three mills,” there is a head miller and
a second miller. The storage department employs sweepers, load
ers, an elevator man, a loader foreman, and an elevator foreman, in
the order of wages paid, the last being responsible for all the work.
In the cleaning department are sweepers, oilers, a helper, and a
smutter, the last in charge of the work. Sweepers, oilers, helpers, a
grinder and bolter work in the purifying department. In the pack
ing department, packers and sewers prepare the flour for shipment
by loaders in the loading department.
For the whole group of mills, there is an office and sales force,
and testing, power, and maintenance and repair departments. Flour
testers, chemists, a baker and a head chemist test the flour to keep
it up to standard.
Power is supplied- by water and by steam and electricity. Coal
passers, firemen, engineers, and electricians are employed. Main
tenance and repair work is done by millwrights, helpers, carpenters,
and general laborers, plumbers and steam fitters, machinists and mill
wrights.
The estimated distribution in each occupation in the flour-mill
industry was obtained as follows: First, the rate of increase of total
employees in distribution and production was obtained by using the
rate of increase of total employees in flour and grist mill manufac279

280

B l ’ L L K T lX

01'

THE BUREAU OF LA BOB STATISTICS.

turing shown by the Civic and Commerce Association’s census of
manufactures for 1913 and the United States.census of manufactures
for 1909. This rate of increase was applied to the number reported
engaged in production by the United States Census on Occupations
for 1910, in order to estimate the number engaged in production in
1914. Taking the number thus obtained, 1,948, the proportionate
distribution for each occupation within a standard type of organiza
tion studied was computed and applied to it.
Tabi.E 18.— DISTRIBUTION OF OCCUPATIONS IX FLOUR-MILL INDUSTRY.

Standard organiza
tion.

Esti
mated
distribu
tion in
cent whole
Number. Per
of total. industry.

Occupation.

Roustabout or wheat loader........................................................................
Head miller..................................................................................................
Second miller.................................................................................................... i

Oiler...................................................................................................................i ;
Grinder and bolter...................................................................................... j
l
i
Coal passer...................................................................................................!!
Fireman.......................................................................................................
Engineer......................................................................................................
Electrician...................................................................................................
Baker...........................................................................................................
Chemist.............................................................. r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flour tester.................................................................................................
Plumber and steam fitter............................................................................
Millwright helper.........................................................................................
Millwright....................................................................................................
Machinist.....................................................................................................
Elevator foreman.........................................................................................
Carpenter and general................................................................................
Elevator men.............................................................................................
Total...................................................................................................

190
7
6
15
50
74
58
210
21
29
15
7
1
4
3
10
24
5
8
24
25
8

23.93
.88
.76
1.89
6.30
9.32
7.31
26.45
2.65
3.65
1.89
.88
.13
.50
.38
1.26
3.02
.63
1.00

466
17
15
37
123
182
142
515
52
71
37
17
3
10
7
25
59
12
19
59
61
19

794 | 100.00

1.948

1.00

3.02
3.15

FLOUR AN D GRIST MILL PRODUCTS.

Minneapolis is the largest producer of flour and grist mill products
in the world. In 1914 their value, was over $78,000,000. a little less
than one-half of all goods of every kind made in the city. The busi
ness employed over 4,200 wage earners, and stood second only to'the
number in foundry and machine shops. The value of output per capita
is more than 13 times that in foundries and machine shops. This is
due to high cost of raw material and to improved processes of
manufacturing.
The business of making flour and grists has grown rapidly, and
shows a rising demand for workers. In the last five years the num
ber of plants has increased from 13 to 22, or about 70 per cent, and
of workers from 3,600 to over 4,200, or more than 16 per cent.
Most of the workers are employed in flour and feed mills. Of 22
plants, only three are cereal factories, employing 274 persons, and
grist mills employ only about 700. As these represent such a small

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN X .

281

part of the business, and what is true of the flour mills is largely true
of them also, they are not given separate consideration.
There is no particular physical or nervous strain on the workers.
The machines feed themselves automatically. The worker adjusts
the machine and controls the flow of the wheat stock. The ma
chinery is noisy in some departments, but the men soon get used
to it. In the wheat storage and cleaning departments there are
flying particles of dust and chaff, and only those with sound lungs
should be employed. Most of the men who have been years in the
business appear sturdy and rugged. The mills are striving, in some
cases by medical examination, to avoid employing those to whom
the dust would be dangerous. In numbers of accidents, according to
the reports of the Minnesota Department of Labor, the flour industry
of the State shows better for the last five years than most other
industries employing large numbers.
The flour mills have an 8-hour day for all workers except sweepers,
loaders, and packers, who are employed for a 10-hour day. There
is no trade-union organization. Three shifts are operated in each
mill. The first works from 4 p. m. to midnight; the second from mid
night to 8 a. m., and the third from 8 a. m. to 4 p. m. Flour making
is not a seasonal occupation, but slack months are May, August,
January, and February. The custom is to lay off in the dull period
many unskilled laborers, such as coal passers, firemen, packers, and
loaders, and to retain the remaining force. In the last three years
the mills have run to full capacity for eight to nine months, and
to about 75 per cent capacity for about three months of the year.
SUPPLY AN D DEMAND FOR TRAIN ED W ORKERS.

All productive workers of the mill, except grinders and bolters and
heads of departments and their assistants, can be trained in a very
short while. A few instructions when they are employed and while
becoming experienced in the routine seem sufficient. The men most
lacking are competent head millers, second millers, grinders, and
bolters. Nearly all have had years of experience in milling and have
acquired a working knowledge of the process of milling as now
carried on which makes them much in demand. Almost all are
lacking in training, either in theory of milling or in technical or
mechanical knowledge. The mills would like to produce, and do
in some cases by promotion, their own grinders and bolters and
millers, but frequently are compelled to go outside for them.
In one of the largest mills in the city last year the only promo
tions to desirable positions were one bolter to become a second miller
and one oiler to succeed him. The wage of the grinder and bolter
(about 42 cents an hour) is not sufficiently attractive to hold young

282

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

fellows of mechanical ability. As a result, sweepers are mostly
adult foreigners, and oilers men without native ability to be anything
more. It is becoming more difficult each year to obtain competent
grinders and bolters, either by promotion or by transfer.
The second miller must know as much as the grinder and bolter
and in addition be able to manage and teach other men. Few have
these qualities.
The head miller is really the superintendent. He must be the best
man who has come up through the ranks. The gap between his
salary, $2,000 to $6,000 a year, and that of his assistant, $4.50 to $8
a day, emphasizes his importance. It is significant that in most cases
head millers come from other and smaller mills. They lack at first
the knowledge of the workings of the plant.
The superintendent, who is over the head millers of the various
mills of a large concern, usualty has had superior technical prepara
tion. While the head miller lacks this, he has the actual experience
impossible to get without years of service in a subordinate position.
The superintendent’s time is largely occupied in planning and
directing work. Special training would make skilled workers like
the grinder and bolter more competent and prepare them for promo
tion. If technical and mechanical preparation were given to promis
ing workmen, improvements in construction and operations of the
machines would undoubtedly result.
Workers are lacking in promotional capacity. This is the common
deficiency. Unskilled positions are filled more and more with for
eigners. About 75 per cent of the desirable positions are filled from
outside the plant. These in turn are frequently not fitted for further
advancement. The long wait for promotion does not attract and
the nightwork required is unattractive. Few with mechanical train
ing enter the production side of the mill. Boys with training finish
the schools at from 16 to 17 years, while the flour mill takes, in gen
eral, no one under 20. By the time the boys are 20 they have gained
a good start in other work. At present smaller mills in other cities
are serving as training schools for new workers, who bring experi
ence, but not technical and mechanical knowledge, to the mills of
Minneapolis.
New workers are selected by department heads with approval of the
superintendent. Outside the testing department, they fill an appli
cation blank and undergo no tests. Choice is usually made by per
sonal interviews. New workers in the testing department fill out
the same application blank used for employees in the main office.
This blank, in addition to customary personal questions, asks
whether the applicant or his relatives have ever had tubercular
trouble. Space is provided for information as to school or college

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 2 8 3

attended, occupation during summer vacations, various positions
held since leaving school, names of employers, salary, and reason for
leaving positions.
There are no entrance tests save this written statement and in
quiries sometimes sent by the head chemist to previous employers.
No special training is given. For positions below grinder and
bolter, simple instructions start the men on unskilled work, which
they soon learn to do well. Men who show interest and promise
are quickly discovered and advanced, but not until the mill is able
to obtain more capable men to learn the business by entering the
lower positions will any systematic system of promotion be either
possible or advantageous.
There are eight departments in a flour mill, excluding office and
clerical force: Wheat storage, wheat cleaning, grinding and bolting,
testing, packing, loading, power, and maintenance and repair.
W H E AT STORAGE DEPARTMENT.

Here are employed sweepers, wheat loaders, oilers, an elevator
man, a loader foreman, and an elevator foreman, in the order of
wage paid. In theory this is also the line of promotion, but few of
the sweepers, and practically no loaders, are ever advanced. They
are mostly Russians and Poles over 40, content to stay where they
are, and not adapted to better positions. Some sweepers are also
old men from other positions in the mill who are taken care of in
this way.
What is said about sweepers holds true for the same work in
every department. The loader foreman always has been a wheat
loader. Oilers usually get promotion by transfer to more desirable
departments to do the same work. Wheat loaders seldom become
oilers or oilers wheat loaders; an exceptional loader would probably
become either a loader or elevator man. Usually the elevator fore
man comes from other and smaller plants or is assigned from other
departments because of his knowledge of wheat. Sweepers, loaders,
oilers, and elevator men are paid about the same wage.
The ordinary worker has little incentive to change from sweeper
or loader to oiler. Sometimes an ambitious oiler in a large mill
may shift from the wheat cleaning department to the same work in
the grinding or bolting rooms, where positions ahead of him are
more desirable.
Men holding the top positions of loader foreman and elevator
man seldom change their work; in fact the employment of all work
ers in this department is practically fixed. Only three promotions
took place last year, two loaders to loader foremen and one oiler to
bolter.

284

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
SWEEPER.

About 14*2 sweepers are employed in all the flour mills of the city.
They use brooms and brushes to clean up the scattered wheat in
every department. What is said of the sweeper in the wheat storage
department is true of him everywhere. He is usually 45 to 50 years
of age, works 10 hours, and receives $2.20 a day. Usually of foreign
birth, he has no prospect of advancement and is content with his
job, which he seldom leaves. He should have good health and strong
lungs and be quick and active. Sometimes men over 60 do the work.
Ordinary common sense is required, but no special knowledge or
skill. The work can be learned in a few days. Practically none of
the sweepers can do the work of a better job.
LOADING DEPARTM ENT.

About 466 men are employed to unload wheat and load flour. The
wheat loader sinks a heavy wooden scoop into the wheat at the far
end of a loaded car. Automatic cables draw the scoop toward the
door of the car, the loader returning it empty for another load. He
is usually under 30, works 8 hours a day, and receives 24 to 27£
cents an hour. There is scarcely any chance of advancement. Last
year two wheat loaders became assistant foremen in one mill.
The loader should be heavy and strong to handle the heavy scoop
while wading through the grain. A new hand can be “ broken in ”
in a day. No knowledge of any mechanism is required. In three
or four weeks he becomes expert in handling the scoop, but while
he may meet well the limited demands of his job, only rarely does
he show ability to become loader foreman.
OILER.

Approximately 123 oilers are employed in all the mills. They
work in all departments. The speed of the machines necessitates
frequent oiling. With many machines to serve and hot boxes to be
prevented, the oiler must move rapidly. He is 24 to 65 years of age,
usually about 40. On an eight-hour basis he receives about $2.40 a
day. Chances of promotion are slight; only one oiler in the largest
mill was promoted last year to be a bolter.
The oiler should be able to climb about quickly, and unless he is
intelligent, observing, and careful his chance of advancement is poor.
There is no need of any education for the work. He can learn in a
week the locating of all bearings. Skill which he gains by experi
ence consists in using the least oil and keeping bearings in firstclass condition with the least effort. Not many oilers are capable
of promotion.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF M INNEAPOLIS, M I N N .

285

ELEVATOR MAN.

About- 25 elevator men are employed. This man is really an in
spector of the elevator legs and spouts and the machinery at work
in the elevator. He makes no repairs, but if something goes wrong,
calls for the millwright. He must see that the different grades of
wheat are handled to their proper bins. The wage for eight hours
is $2.50 to $3.50. He is in line for promotion if he can do the work
of elevator foreman. Few display promotional capacity. He should
be able to follow instructions about guiding the wheat from the
spouts to the right bin, and not get different grades mixed, and
must know how to read, write, and figure, so as to keep simple rec
ords of where he puts the wheat. No technical knowledge is needed.
A man with ordinary intelligence can learn in a week on the job
all he needs to know. The skill required is ability to detect trouble
in the machinery and shunt the wheat quickly.
LOADER FOREMAN.

There is one loader foreman at each elevator who’has charge of
unloading wheat from cars. The movement of the cars must be
planned and a gang of men directed in the work of unloading and
cleaning them. The foreman takes the car numbers and makes a
report. He usually is about 40 years of age, receives $2.75 to $3
for eight hours’ work, and has come from the ranks of the loaders.
Physically and mentally he should be the best man of his gang. He
must be able to boss a gang of 6 to 10 men, and plan their day’s
work. To keep the records and make simple reports about cars re
quired, he must know how to read, write, and count. There is no
need of any knowledge of wheat, or of technical or mechanical knowl
edge, as he is not responsible for the machinery. Skill lies en
tirely in getting work out of the men.
ELEVATOR FOREMAN.

There is one elevator foreman for each elevator. He gets a sample
of wheat from each incoming car, inspects it, and sifts it to see if the
dockage corresponds to the dockage, or deduction from total weight
for chaff and dirt, allowed by the State inspector. He reports the
results and stops unsatisfactory cars until proper adjustment is made,
gives the order for grading wheat, and for its storage in different
bins, according to quality; has general supervision over the elevator,
and keeps records of the receipts, tests, and disposition of each
lot. In this most important position, executive ability is necessary.
A knowledge of weights and measures, ability to figure percentages,
and keep general records are indispensable. More important still,
he must know by sight and feel the different grades and qualities

286

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

of wheat. Skill lies in grading the wheat; this can be gained only
bv experience in the elevator.
W H E A T C LEAN IN G DEPAR TM EN T.

In the wheat cleaning department are sweepers, oilers, helpers,
and wheat cleaners or smutters, in the order of their wage and
theoretical line of promotion. Sweepers seldom become oilers. In
small mills the oiler and helper is one person. The helper is an
assistant to the smutter. All that was said about the sweeper and
the oiler under “ Wheat storage department ” is equally true here.
Usually the helper is promoted to smutter.
About 37 smutters are employed in the Minneapolis mills. The
smutter cleans wheat by running it over separators. The wheat
passes automatically through a series of screens in machines of
different construction to remove the foreign matter. The smutter
inspects the stock at the different machines and makes various ad
justments. For serious trouble the millwright is called. In some
mills the smutter also has charge of the sweepers, oilers, and helpers
on his floor but does not hire or discharge them. He has need for
sound lungs because his room has the most dust. Mechanical sense of
an elementary kind is necessary; also judgment to tell whether the
machine for removing a particular element, such as corn or wheat
chaff, is taking out the screenings too little or too much. He has no
instructions to read, no writing or figuring to do. All he needs to
know about the machinery he learns while working with it. It takes
about two weeks to learn to judge the screenings and make adjust
ments. He is practically never shifted to grinding or bolting work.
GRINDING AN D BOLTING DEPARTM ENT.

The positions in order of wages and theoretical line of promotion
are sweeper, oiler, helper, grinder, bolter, second miller and head
miller. Sweepers are seldom promoted to oilers. Oilers from other
departments seek promotion to this department as oilers because the
flying dust is much lessened and the positions above more attractive.
Most helpers have been oilers. Some come from outside as green
hands. Grinders come most frequently from other and smaller mills,
or are promoted helpers or transferred bolters. Grinders and bolters
usually receive the same wage. Bolters come from other mills or
from positions as helpers or grinders. The second miller must have
been a grinder or bolter. Usually the head miller comes from a
smaller mill where he had been both. The difficulty is to obtain com
petent grinders and bolters, second millers, and head millers who are
skilled in their work and have the knowledge and ability necessary
for higher positions.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNKAPOLIS, M IN N .

287

What was said of sweepers under “ Wheat storage department ”
will apply throughout in this departm ent.
Some helpers work with grinders and some with bolters. In small
mills they assist both. Previous statements about the oiler hold good
with the helper. He must be very promising to become a grinder
or a bolter; usually he lacks the ability.
There are about 181 grinders and bolters in the city. They hold
the most important productive positions in the mill. The grinder
has charge of the five sets of rolls by which the berry of the wheat
is broken and then refined. The most important is known as the
“ first break,” which crushes the berry so as to admit of proper sepa
ration of the different sizes of particles in the sifting and bolting
room above. The grinder sets the rolls so as to keep them the same
distance apart at each end, and prevent the breaks being too high or
too low. If he gets the rolls too close, the wheat is ruined. If he
gets them too far apart the grind is too coarse; and while he does
not ruin anything, a loss is caused because the material has to be
reworked. After the material has been bolted so as to separate the
different sizes of particles, the coarser ones are returned four times
from the bolting room to the grinding room and back again until
the grain is reduced to commercial flour. Each time they are refined
by being passed between rolls set closer together, and are then re
turned for further sifting. The grinder must see that the “ head of
wheat ” is kept such as to give an even flow through the machine. He
must be able to take the stock from his rolls, particularly that from
the first break, and by inspecting it with eye and hand, tell whether
the work is all right. If not, he must quickly adjust'his rolls to cor
rect any trouble.
Grinders in Minneapolis range from 24 to 81 years old, most of
them between 40 and 60. Paid on an hourly basis, they make about
$3.36 for eight hours’ work. The grinder must be alert and quick
to detect and fix anything which goes wrong. The mill, running at
tremendous speed, is turning out large quantities of valuable material
requiring careful oversight, accurate testing, and prompt action.
There is no figuring, reading, or writing involved, as the second
miller keeps the records. Hardly any of the grinders have had any
training in the theory of milling, or in technical and mechanical
knowledge of their machines. They learn by experience all that pres
ent standards of efficiency require. The survey found millers, how
ever, who believed that even for their present work grinders should
know the mechanism of their machines.
A bolter has charge of the bolting or sifting machines. These
machines contain gyrating or revolving cylinders covered with silk
cloth having different sized meshes. These cylinders contain the
wheat stock which, after each excursion to the grinding room, is

288

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

returned to the bolter for passing through the silk cloth to separate
the flour. The bolter must test the broken wheat stock, see that it
comes from the grinder in proper condition and notify the grinder
when it does not. Sometimes the bolting machines take in too much
stock at one time. This must be corrected by adjusting the slides
which admit the wheat to the cylinders.
In small mills the bolter and the grinder is the same man. All that
has been said concerning the grinder is equally true of the bolter.
In Minneapolis there are about 15 second millers. They oversee
all the men engaged in wheat cleaning, grinding, or bolting. They
are 32 to 71 years old, and work 8 to 10 hours daily. For an 8-hour
day they receive $3.36 to $4.50. In some mills the second miller
makes $6 to $8 a day of 10 hours.
The second miller must be able to plan ahead, manage men, and
teach other men, and should have a fairly good common-school educa
tion. In smaller mills a record of the day’s run must be kept. In all
mills he must figure up the yield of flour in terms of the amount of
wheat used.
He should be the best practical man in the plant outside of the
head miller. To a thorough knowledge of all processes he must add
skill in giving instructions to other people. Apparently he learns
less of the whole business in a big mill than in a smaller one.
There are about 17 head millers in the city. This is the position
for which ambitious men should aspire and for which they should be
trained. It is commonly said in the flour business that “ head millers
are born and not made.” They are undoubtedly picked men with
exceptional native qualities of leadership, control over men, and
executive ability, along with knowledge gained by years of experience.
Probably no other business in the country is confronted with such
a lack of men capable of promotion.
TESTING DEPARTM ENT.

In the testing department the flour from each day’s run is tested
and special problems as to quality of product are investigated. In
addition, the miller makes every hour the “ pelcar test,” by which
he can tell whether the mills run up to the standard set by the test
ing department for each grade of flour. There are only three occu
pations here—flour tester, chemist, and baker. These are so entirely
different that there is no promotion or interchange of workers among
them, and very few are employed. A head chemist and only three
or four assistants are required for the chemical testing and research
work of a large establishment; only three at most are needed for
flour testing, and one baker is able to bake enough bread from the
day’s run of flour to test the millers’ work.

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There are about seven flour testers in the business in Minneapolis.
They are 19 to 50 years old. The usual force consists of flour
tester, assistant, and sample carrier. Pay is from $10 weekly for
the beginner to $28 for the head tester. He tests the flour as to
color, doughing properties, texture, volume, and absorption, and
compares it with the best standards for the previous week, recording
his findings. He needs good eyesight.
Most of those employed in this work have only a common-school
education. The head chemists believe that the standard should be
raised so as to obtain as beginners high school graduates with an
elementary knowledge of chemistry. At present no technical knowl
edge is required from the beginner. He should know how to use
delicate scales accurately, and be versed in the metric system and
know the chemical composition of flour.
The testing room is used most frequently to train .young men
in a knowledge of flour so that they may be transferred to other
departments. Skill in the work itself lies in ability to detect with
the eye shades of color and to see by experiments whether the flour
has the right elasticity, texture, smoothness, and absorbing power.
This skill is acquired on the job. From chemists with whom he is
associated the flour tester learns some elementary things about flour
chemistry, but no systematic effort is made to instruct him.
Flour testers lack elementary education and “ fall down ” in arith
metic, computation of weights, making comparisons, and keeping
records. The business of testing apparently does not suffer from
lack of knowledge or skill on the part of beginners. The loss lies
rather in the failure of the young man to apply himself with the
interest and intelligence which elementary technical knowledge of
testing would give. The largest gain would come from the increased
knowledge and grasp of these men when they go to other depart
ments of the plant or become salesmen on the road.
Some beginners in flour testing come from the packing depart
ment and others from the outside. No special training is given
save occasional instructions in ways of doing work. There seems
to be no advantage in promoting from the mill to the testing room,
save as the mill can be used as a training school in knowledge of
flour. Superior ability is quickly recognized by promotion.
About 19 chemists are employed in testing flour. The usual staff
consists of a head chemist with two or three assistants, receiving $10
to $35 a week, and 25 to 40 years old. Each day the run of flour is
tested for ash and protein, and research work is constantly being
done.
The chemist should be an independent investigator. He must
have an A.B. or a B.S. degree, the latter preferred, and should
42806°—Bull. 199—17----- 19

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

have pursued chemistry as a major subject in college. While there
are some routine tasks, skill lies in taking a new problem and ap
plying to it old and new tests. The new man must have adequate
technical knowledge and must adapt it to the business by constant
practice in routine and research work. These men do not lack
scientific knowledge, but rather originality. Superior work is recog
nized by promotion in wage.
Only one baker is employed in the testing department of a flour
plant. Bakers are considered separately elsewhere.
M AINTEN AN CE AND R EPAIR DEPARTM ENT.

Millwright helpers, millwrights, carpenters, and general laborers,
including plasterers, machinists, plumbers, and steam fitters, do the
construction and repair work. Because they lack the ability, only
about two per cent of the millwright helpers ever become millwrights.
A number of carpenters, however, become millwrights. About 75
per cent of the millwrights are brought up in the mill, serving in
one position or another before promotion. Most of the carpenters
are “ picked up” from the outside. There is practically no inter
change among the machinists, plumbers, and steam fitters, nor be
tween any of them and the occupations just described. Some
machinists are hired from outside, but the force is largely made up
by promotion of helpers and laborers inside. Probably 25 per cent
of the plumbers and steam fitters are helpers who have been pro
moted ; the rest come from outside.
The millwright’s helper in some plants is just a common laborer,
who must be strong, have good lungs, and follow as one of a gang
the directions of the millwright. In other plants he is considered
an apprentice. He gets 25 cents a hour for an eight-hour day and is
30 to 40 years of age. In some plants as he progresses he receives 27
to 30 cents. He does rough work and does not need to know how to
read, write, or add. In some plants he is promoted to be millwright
because he is husky; in others, as millwright’s apprentice, he may
succeed to the millwright’s position in time.
CARPENTERS AND GENERAL LABORERS, INCLUDING PLASTERERS.

About 61 men are employed under this classification. They are
mostly young men receiving 25 to 35 cents an hour for an eight-hour
day. The carpenter does rough work, repairing floors and windows.
The plasterer repairs old ceilings and walls. Both are ordinary
workmen, usually employed from outside.
The millwrights number about 12. They are 26 to 53 years of age
and make 35 to 40 cents an hour for an eight-hour day. They set
up and repair all shafting and machinery, and must, therefore, know
how to work in both wood and iron. They must have good health.

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291

Next to the miller, the millwright should be the keenest man in the
mill. He must be able to meet quickly emergency repairs, plan his
work, and direct a gang of men. Usually he is without a complete
common-school education and has had no training in free-hand
sketches, mechanical drawing, and mechanics. In three out of four
cases he has grown up in the mill and learned every comer of it.
His largest skill is ability to erect spouting, because of the peculiar
angles at which the wheat stock must run. This requires an applica
tion of elementary geometry which he uses in practice, but of which
he is probably ignorant in theory. All he needs to know to meet
demands of the mill he learns on the job. Superior efficiency is
recognized by increased wages.
MACHINISTS, PLUMBERS, AND STEAM FITTERS.

In the flour mills of the city about 20 machinists and 24 plumbers
and steam fitters are employed. The former are about 30 years old
and earn 38 cents an hour, and the latter about 32 years old and earn
about 25 cents an hour. They are considered in the general study of
their trades.
POW ER DEPARTMENT.

Coal passers, firemen, engineers, and electricians work here. The
flour mills of the city employ about 51 coal passers, 70 firemen, 37
engineers, and 17 electricians. The coal passer is usually young and
strong, the fireman somewhat older, while the engineers are 30 to 50
years old. Usually the coal passer succeeds to the fireman’s job, and
the latter to the engineer’s. The work of electrician is a distinct
employment. The requirements in this occupation do not vary from
those of similar ones in steam and electric power plants.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
These things are recognized by the milling industry as true of the
business in Minneapolis at least:
(1) The standard organization of a plant or “ mill” within a
modern flour mill consists of about 10 unskilled or low-grade skill
positions for every skilled position or desirable one from the stand
point of wage.
(2) Vacancies seldom occur in these better positions and oppor
tunities of advancement are few.
(3) For reasons already given, comparatively few men who are
capable of any considerable advancement are employed in the lower
positions.
(4) This has led to the policy of looking almost entirely to the
smaller mills in other cities for new grinders, bolters, and millers.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU Oi’ LABOR STATISTICS.

(o) These smaller mills select and train for the larger concerns
new workers, who bring to the new position a practical knowledge
of milling but who are as deficient as their new associates in any
understanding either of the theory of milling or of the technical
and mechanical knowledge in which the industry offers such a rich
program of instruction.
(6) By practical experience a few men gain the efficiency neces
sary to meet present standards, at least in grinding and bolting and
mill supervision.
(7) As the result of the absence of technical and mechanical
preparation for these productive workers, the industry is to-day
being improved not from within but from without, and “ good ” head
millers and assistants not only are difficult to get but are lacking in
the knowledge relating to the processes and the mechanism of the
plant which is to-day regarded as necessary in positions of similar
responsibility in other industries.
(8) The will creating the William Hood Dunwoody Industrial
Institute provides a fund for use in giving “ free instruction in the
industrial and mechanical arts, with special emphasis on milling and
the construction of milling machinery.” The board of trustees of
the fund in the discharge of its responsibilities is giving careful
consideration to the question of what training might be offered for
the flour and grist mill business, but so far no very definite plans
have been formulated. No instruction of this kind for workers in the
business has as yet been established in the United States, although
such training is given in a number of schools in Europe. The only
education for the milling business in the United States is that given
in technical courses of college grade by a few agricultural colleges
to small groups of young men preparing for technical leadership.
The general survey committee recognizes its inability in these
circumstances to offer any definite recommendations as to the method
of dealing with the situation in Minneapolis or as to what should
be taught It has, however, deemed it advisable to present in Ap
pendix C of this report a somewhat elaborate memorandum of
suggestions and possibilities as to what might be done, gathered
from numerous sources during the progress of the survey.

CHAPTER XII.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
BAKING BUSINESS?
Bakeries rank sixth among Minneapolis industries. According
to the census by the Civic and Commerce Association in 1914, the
number of employees has risen since 1909 from 1,156 to 1,818, and
the number of bread, cake, and cracker bakeries from 100 to 153.
The demand for labor is increasing about 12 per cent a year.
The busy season is from May to November. Where five men are
needed then, four are required during the dull season. The large
bakery usually has a 10-hour schedule and operates two shifts, the
small bakeries only one shift and longer hours.
The sources of new workers are numerous and varied. Many are
foreigners and some come from the yeast companies. Formerly
bakers were well organized, but now only 10 out of 153 shops recog
nize the union.
The baker’s work is not hazardous, the trade ranking as one of
the lowest in rates charged by casualty companies. There is con
siderable physical strain in some occupations and practically every
position requires strong men. Oven men have to work near hot fires.
Mixers should have strong lungs because of the flour dust. Rapidity
of movement is required of all of them.
Well-trained men are scarce and the demand far exceeds the supply.
In the small shop it is difficult to get a man who knows even the
elementary things about testing raw material or the proper handling
of dough. Lack of general knowledge and technical skill prevents
advancement to better positions. The industry is greatly hampered
by lack of knowledge or training of beginners. This is especially
true in the mixing, dough-kneading, and baking departments. Most
well-trained men are foreigners who have served their apprentice
ship abroad. Unfortunately many of these are unable to adapt
themselves to the American machinery of the plant. Many drift to
small towns where they establish small shops in which they can best
use their former training. Most American boys will not undergo
the hard work necessary in learning the baker’s trade.
There are comparatively few good positions in the bakeshop. The
most important ones are foreman, assistant foreman, and head
mixer. Of each of these there usually is only one to an establish
ment. Promotions are infrequent. The highest paid men, whose

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

number is small, earn $960 to $1,200 a year, while the foreman’s
salary is $1,800 to $5,000 a year. The wages of ordinary workers
are $10 to $20 a week. There is no systematic line of promotion.
Promising men are advanced to better openings without much regard
to previous work.
Very little knowledge is needed to do the work of all save the fore
man and head mixer. Strength, endurance, and obedience are suffi
cient in most positions. The head mixer should know the practical
chemistry of bread mixing; the foreman also should know this and
be a capable executive, but frequently lacks these qualities. Few
foremen and mixers have been technically trained. The foreman
is usually from the ranks of benchmen, ovenmen, and head mixers,
the mixers from benchmen and ovenmen. The big gap between the
untrained laborer and the head mixer or foreman must in some way
be bridged over in the future if baking is to attain its possibilities
as a scientific industry.
The small shop differs from the large plant in that one man must be
able to perform all the operations, while in a large factory the work
is highly specialized. In the small shop practically everything is
done by hand; in the larger shop machinery is used wherever possible.
Most workmen in a large factory need no special training. In
general the larger bakeries provide direction by a few experts for
the work of the men who have no technical training. The problem
of the baking business is to develop out of this situation men
equipped for leadership for the large shop and men who know the
technology of baking for the small shop.
A full description of the baking business in Minneapolis and its
needs as to vocational education requires consideration of four kinds
of shops—the large bread bakery, the small bread bakery, the cake
shop, and the cracker factory.
TH E LARGE BAKERY.

The five departments of a large bakery include the storage, mixing
and dough, kneading, baking, and packing and shipping depart
ments. The mixing and dough department mixes the raw materials
such as flour, sugar, lard, and salt according to formulas adopted by
the shop. The dough is prepared in the kneading department, baked
in the oven department, and shipped from the packing and shipping
rooms. The mixing and dough, kneading, and baking departments
are in charge of the plant foreman; the storage room, of the store
keeper; the packing and shipping rooms, of the head packer and
shipping clerk.
The storage department employs helpers and stock keepers. The
former number about 12. The helper assists the stock keeper in tak

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 2 9 5

ing care of raw material, and his responsibility ends with the taking
of orders. In age he is 21 to 45 years and earns about $13 a week.
He should be strong and know enough of arithmetic and reading to
understand bills of lading and shipping tickets. In one week he can
learn all that is necessary about the work.
The stock keepers, about 24 in number, do the same manual labor as
helpers, and keep a record of all material going in or out. The stock
keeper is usually of mature age and receives about $18 a week. He
must be able to write, read, add and suotract. With this excep
tion, all he must know may be learned in routine. While drivers
and helpers are often promoted to this position, as a rule an outside
man is engaged. Men from the storage department are seldom trans
ferred to other departments.
The dough department employs assistants and head mixers. The
assistants, numbering 50, are usually “ picked up” from the street.
They sometimes become head mixers, from whose ranks foremen are
usually taken. More frequently head mixers come from other plants.
The assistant mixer is 22 to 46 years old and gets $16 to $22 a week.
He gathers and weighs materials, starts the mixing machinery and
dumps the dough from the dough machine into the trough, which is
then pushed into the fermentation room. He keeps the mixing ma
chine and trough clean and watches the temperature and time of the
dough. He should have good lungs and be accurate in weighing
material.
In taking dough from the mixer, one must be quick and careful.
To understand orders and record results of weighing and tempera
ture, one must be able to read, write, and figure. Since foremen are
recruited from mixers, it is important for the latter to acquire knowl
edge of baking, chemistry, accounting, and bookkeeping. Skill,
which consists in accurate weighing and careful watching of tem
perature, is gained by an ordinary man in one week’s service under a
trained mixer.
The head mixer does work similar to that of the assistant mixer,
whose work he oversees, and his age and wage are about the same.
There are about 40 head mixers, usually promoted from the ranks
and given a week of special instruction by the foreman. The head
mixer’s general knowledge should be about the same as the assistant’s
and his skill consists in keen observation of mistakes in the mixing.
It takes him about a year to become thoroughly acquainted with the
job. Chances for promotion are good and usually lead to foremanship. Superior ability is recognized by increased wage. The head
mixer needs instruction in chemistry of baking, principles of account
ing, business systems, and management.
The kneading department employs pan cleaners and sifters, machine
tenders and bench hands. Pan cleaners and sifters, as a rule, become

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

machine tenders, who seldom become bench hands. The latter often
become foremen.
The pan cleaners, of whom there are 50, keep a supply of pans at
their machines, sweep the floors, and clean the pans by holding them
over revolving greased brushes. Usually the pan cleaner is about
18 years old and receives $12 a week. He must have endurance
and quickness of motion. No general education is necessary. Speed
and cleanliness are demanded. New workers serve with old ones
a while before assignment to different operations. It takes six months
to learn the work and chances of promotion are good. While no
knowledge of the chemistry of baking is necessary, the pan cleaner
needs it for the highest efficiency in advanced positions to which he
is eligible.
The machine tenders, numbering about 65, operate the dough
dividers, check accuracy of scales, and “ pan ” the bread. Ages are
18 to 24 years and wages $10 to $15 a week. The machine tender must
be quick and active. Skill consists in speed and good judgment of
proportions, since “ a pound of dough must make a pound of bread.”
He needs elementary knowledge of weights, and ability to read figures
and count loaves rapidly and accurately. Other knowledge required
must be learned at the job. After serving with older hands from
a week to a month, machine tenders are able to do the work. A
general knowledge of the baking business would fit these men for
more responsible positions.
The bench hands, who number about 150, cut the dough to the
right size, roll it by hand into the desired shape, and place it in pans
for baking. The average wage is $16 a week, and the age 21 to 40
years. Rapidity and judgment in rolling out loaves to proper size are
important. No general knowledge is required, but training in chem
istry and business system would fit for promotion. These men usually
gain experience in a small shop and are sometimes promoted to oven
tenders.
The baking department employs practically only oven men, of whom
there are about 40. These put dough into the oven by means of a
“ peal ” and a long wooden shovel, watch the temperature, and take
out the bread when done. Ages are 25 to 40 years. Wages average
$18 a week. The oven man must be able to endure great heat, and be
systematic and careful in handling the long peal. Skill consists in
speed of handling the peal. Most of the men have worked in other
bakeries. While no education is required for present work, the
oven man may become foreman and a course in baking, chemistry,
and business system would be of great value.
The foremen, numbering about 45, manage the production of the
bakeries. They have charge of the three departments, mixing and

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297

(lough, kneading, and baking, directly concerned with making bread.
AVhile usually he can not be promoted, the salary of the foreman is
raised in proportion to the value of his services. He hires, retains,
and promotes men, tests raw materials, keeps a record of production,
and looks after the machinery. His most important work is care of
the fermentation room and management of the men. His age is 32 to
55 years, and his salary $30 to $50 a week. Bakeries prosper largely
in proportion as the foreman is able to organize and systematize the
daily work and look ahead for new ideas.
Aside from the value of a knowledge of mechanics and machinery,
he should have, in addition to a good general education, practical
training in chemistry of baking and in business system and manage
ment, and he should be thoroughly acquainted with every step in
the manufacture of bread, not only in his own shop but in other
shops. To-day the baking industry is not producing foremen who
combine technical knowledge with adequate practical experience.
The new foremen are usually outsiders and are not brought up
through the plant. Some maintain that “ new blood” can accom
plish things more efficiently than one who has been in the same plant
for years. Foremen are usually selected for ability and trained in a
six months’ course by outside efficiency men. Only through oppor
tunities to learn the technique of the baking industry can men with
practical experience be able to meet the growing scientific and busi
ness demands.
THE SM ALL BAK ERY.

The small bakery, usually connected with a grocery store, pro
duces cakes, pies, and breads for sale at retail. Only one or two
men are employed, and the proprietor is often both baker and sales
man. His problems as a foreman are in many respects like those of
the foreman of the larger plant. In addition, he has to buy raw ma
terials, sell his goods, keep books, and, in many cases, be his own
driver. There are many differences in the method of operating a
large and a small bakery.
The hand-trained man is especially valuable because every opera
tion is done by hand. Consequently, the man in the small shop is
really better trained and more competent than the usual benchman
or oven man in a large plant; and the small bakery affords a better
opportunity to learn all the operations of the industry.
Promotions are comparatively few and usually consist in getting a
job in a larger bakery or in starting a shop. Wages are $16 to $25
a week. Night men get higher wages and competent men are in
great demand. All that was said about the need of training for
the large bakeries applies with equal force here.

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BULLETIN Ob’ T1IK BLTRKAl’ OF LABOR. STATISTICS.

THE SPECIAL CAKE SHOPS.

Special cake shops are connected with the larger grocery and
department stores, and the work, both mixing and baking, is usually
done in one large room. Four men are usually employed—foreman,
first man, second man, and helper. The foreman’s duties are like
those in the large bakery, except that he does more manual work.
The other men perform all the duties of a bakeshop carried on by
hand. The first man must be able to do the foreman’s work when
he is absent. The second man follows the lead of the first man,
while the helper, who is really an apprentice, must help wherever
needed and has opportunity to learn every operation in the shop.
The cake shop is practically a duplicate of the small bakery; in both
all the work is done by hand. The helper problem is the same be
cause both must take on inexperienced men, although, as a rule,
the workman in the cake shop seems to be a higher type. The
helper gets $8 to $10 a week; the first and second men $15 to $18,
the foreman $25 to $40. Promotions are usually from helper to
second man, second man to first man, and first man to foreman.
There is the same need of special technical training as in bread
bakeries of every kind.
THE CRACKER FACTORY.

There are three large factories making crackers and cookies.
They are organized into the same departments as the large bakeries
and their work makes the same demand for better knowledge and
training.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
For the year 1915-1G, the Dunwoody Institute is conducting two
classes in bakers’ chemistry for benchmen, oven men, head mixers,
and foremen. One of these classes meets Monday and Tuesday
nights and the other from 10 a. m. to 12 m. Tuesdays and Fridays.
The course, which was recommended by the trade, includes labora
tory and lecture work on the following subjects:
Baker’s chemistry: Structure of wheat and other grains, examina
tion of flour for quality and quantity of gluten, color, absorption,
moisture, stability, ash for impurities, baking tests for flour, blend
ing of various kinds of flour.
Yeast—nature, structure and life of yeast cells, fermentation of
dough, gradual changes in dough, by-products of fermentation;
lactic acid and other acid-producing bacteria and their by-products.
Baking powder, malt and malt extracts—the function of malt
extract in dough. Patented preparation and compounds; pure

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUHVKV OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN X . 2 9 9

and impure salt; bread improvers; fresh milk; condensed milk.
Fats: Lard and lard compounds. Temperature in dough making.
Changes in dough during fermentation. Effect of “ punching*’
dough. Proper and improper molding of bread, changes in dough
while baking, steam in bake ovens, pressure of steam, study of va
rious bread-making systems.
As a result of the survey it seems certain the Dunwoody Institute
will at no very distant date establish a school for bakers as one of the
important parts of its work. The trustees of the school are now con
sidering the advisability of establishing a day school of technology of
baking. Minneapolis presents a promising field for this enterprise.
Baking stands second in the number of manufacturing establish
ments in the city, sixth in the number of employees, and sixth in
the value of the annual output. The presence of the flour industry
on such a large and prosperous scale gives opportunity for coopera
tion of the mills and the bakeries with the school, which not only
will provide hearty moral support to this work but will furnish
an opportunity in the mills and in the bakery shops for the students
of the school to get a type of training in addition to their technical
instruction in the classroom which few, if any, other cities in the
country could provide.
The survey committee believes there is an opportunity in Min
neapolis, through the Dunwoody Institute, to establish a national
school of technology in baking, free to the youth of Minnesota, and
open, at a very small cost, to the youth of the whole country who
desire to be trained in technical leadership in the industry. The
National Association of Master Bakers can render a great service
to the craft and to the country by giving whatever support may lie
in its power to the enterprise.

CHAPTER Xm .
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
LAUNDRIES?
Like other large cities, Minneapolis employs many girls and women
in its industries. Since all children under 16 must attend school
unless they have finished the* eighth grade, and since the State labor
law forbids the employment of girls under 16 in most industries,
practically no such girls are engaged in the productive industries of
this city.
The number of women employed as wage earners in the manufacturing
and mechanical industries, as reported by the United States Census
of Occupations, 1910, was 8,000, or 15 per cent of the 53,250 wage
earners in the city. At that time Minneapolis stood thirty-fourth
among 50 cities having a population of over 100,000 in the per cent
of women among the wage earners, Fall River first with 39.45 per
cent, and Birmingham last with 7.45 per cent.
The survey was able to make a study of only a few of the many indus
tries shown in the table. In some cases the employments are fol
lowed by men as well as women; in others they are carried on in
connection with the occupations of men in the same plant. Wherever
men and women were engaged in the same industry and men predomi
nated, no attempt was made to study it separately for women. Many
employments shown in the table, such as those connected with bread
and bakery products, printing and publishing, flour and grist mills,
furniture and refrigerators, photo-engraving, electrical machinery
and supplies, are given consideration in the chapters which describe
the situation without regard to the sex of wage earners.
In this and succeeding chapters attention is given to industries
which employ women in large numbers and seem to offer profitable
study because of the nature of the work and the opportunities pre
sented to women workers.
Much of the employment of women is in processes automatic and
easily learned, where the wage is comparatively low, and opportuni
ties for advancement practically absent.
Believing that the first need was to get the real facts in employ
ments having opportunities for both training and advancement,
the survey selected for special investigation dressmaking, millinery,
manufacture of clothing (including knitted underwear), department
stores, and office work. Laundries were added because of the large
number of women employed.

301

302

B l'L I .E T I X

OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The difficulty always encountered in the study of women’s occupa
tions, that of getting satisfactory wage data, should be men
tioned. The wages reported for the various occupations for women
are approximated in this report and such factors as short days and
short seasons are not taken into consideration, hence they can not
be looked upon as standard rates such as are reported in the build
ing, metal, and printing trades, in which, to a very great extent,
a regular wage scale exists.
The accompanying' table shows practically all the employment of women
in manufacturing and mechanical industries in Minneapolis as re
ported by the Industrial Survey of the Minneapolis Civic and Com
merce Association in 1914. This table concerns only manufacturing
and mechanical industries as carried on in workshops and factories,
but not laundry workers, milliners, dressmakers nor departmentstore workers, who are considered in this and following chapters.
Table 13.—EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN MINNEAPOLIS INDUSTRIES.
[From Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association Industrial Survey.]

Industry.

Hosiery and knit goods.........................
Bread and bakery products..................
Printing and publishing........................
Clothing, men’s, including shirts..........
Flour and grist mill products................
Bags, other than paper.........................
Paper goods, not elsewhere specified....
Confectionery........................................
Hats, straw...........................................
Fur goods..............................................
Worsted, felt goods, and wool hats.......
Clothing, women’s................................
Boots and shoes.....................................
Food preparations.................................
Patent medicines and druggists’ compounds.
Leather goods........................................
Boxes,fancy and paper........................
Mattresses and bed springs...................
Tobacco manufactures..........................
Fancy articles, not elsewhere specified..
Butter, cheese, and condensed milk___
Needles, hooks, eyes, pins.....................
JIats, other than felt, straw, or wool...
Furniture and refrigerators...................
Boxes, cigar...........................................
Awnings, tents, sails.............................
Photo-engraving...................................
Belting, leather, and hose.....................
Coffee, spices, roasting....................................
Blacking, cleaning, and polishing compounds.
Coffins and undertakers* goods.............
Flavoring extracts................................
Optical goods........................................
Flags, banners, emblems......................
Oil, not otherwise specified...................
Electrical machinery and supplies........
Buttons.................................................
House-furnishinggoods,not elsewherespecified.
Sporting and athletic goods..................
Paint and varnish.................................
Mineral and soda water.........................
Drug grinding.......................................
Pulp goods............................................
Looking-glasses and picture frames.......

Num
ber of
estab
lish
ments.

Employees.

Salaried em
ployees and Wage earners.
firm members.

1
Fe- 1
Fe
Fe
male, j Male. Total. male. Male. male. Male.

7 1,995 i 357 2,352
851
153
967 1,818
253
671 2,642 3,313
640
20
407 1,047
607 3,657 4,264
22
343
582
239
5
252
175
427
G
446
250
196
19
200
325
1
125
93
17
201
294
120
172
292
4
110
120
10
6
76
276
352
4
73
263
336
19
63
356
293
62
60
462
522
29
56
3
22
78
55
395
5
340
48
348
300
52
76
5
47
99
43
14
506
463
43
90
2
47
32
6
7
38
31
21
946
977
2
29
20
49
29
75
104
7
25
10
189
214
3
24
455
479
23
7
82
59
21
3
177
198
19
1
128
147
4
19
66
47
5
19
50
69
3
18
8
26
18
5
165
183
16
13
276
260
1
14
3
17
14
34
7
48
2
12
10
22
11
88
99
7
12
11
181
170
1
11
18
29
2
10
177
187
12
10
65
75

69
119
305
13
201
8
16
22
18
9
18
14
6
31
7
5
4
3
2
33
3
7
27
2
15
22
4
21
3
3
18
15
11
1
4
7
5
3
9

207 1,926
732
150
366
925
627
89
406
496
335
29
236
38
228
61
200
25
75
15
111
5
92
5
51
62
67
67
32
130
53
94
51
6
51
72
45
43
45
12
31
10
3
40
25
2
94
4
4
29
21
27
10
10
259
2
28
19
85
19
16
16
13
1
16
3
18
59
3
5
90
13
2
10
7
1
12
33
4
6
19
4
8
10
17
1
20

150
817
1,717
318
3,161
210
137
135
100
186
167
5
225
196
163
368
16
268
257
17
432
44
4
852
16
54
179
196
31
92
109
34
34
5
106
230
1
27
9
55
151
14
160
45

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

303

The United States Census of Occupations in 1910 reported for
Minneapolis 934 women employed as laundry operatives in laundries
and 735 employed as such elsewhere, 2,999 dressmakers and seam
stresses, 1,834 milliners, and 1,397 saleswomen.
Accurate wage reports for women’s employment can not be made with
out an exhaustive census of workers or a study of pay rolls. There
are many reasons for this, largely characteristic of women’s trades.
Among these are the seasonal character of work and constant fluctua
tion of earnings because of interrupted work, varying amount earned
by the piecework system in the factory industries, absence of stand
ard wage scales for store employment and the millinery and dress
making trades, and lack of trade organization through which state
ments of wages might be obtained.
Since a census of workers and a pay-roll study are time consum
ing and expensive, this report had to rely upon approximations
as to wages, based upon statements from a wide variety of sources.
The laundry industry in Minneapolis probably does not differ
materially from the same industry elsewhere. According to the
United States Census there were 1,214 men and women employed
as launderers and laundresses in 1900 and 1,669 in 1910, an increase
of 37 per cent. The city directory for 1914 lists 112 laundries of all
kinds, of which 35 are hand laundries operated by Chinese and the
majority of the others power laundries.
Laundry work is not confined to any particular district. Though
the larger establishments are somewhat centralized in the down
town district, there are hand laundries in all parts of the city.
Much of the active antagonism among competitors is giving way to
business cooperation, and the so-called trade secrets are disappearing
with the growing application of scientific methods. Laundry men
are beginning to realize that their most effective competitors are
their own patrons. This competition, however, grows less as the
tendency to'substitute machine for hand work increases and large
scale production takes the place of the home industry.
The material of this chapter leading up to conclusions of the
survey committee is presented under the main heads of (1) build
ings, (2) physical condition, (3) hours, (4) organization, and (5)
selection and promotion of workers.
BUILDINGS.

The laundry industry requires buildings with: (1) Construction
which will bear the weight and vibration of high-power machinery,
(2) ventilation which will carry off excess humidity and heat and
feed in sufficient fresh air to keep the room comfortable and healthful,
(3) floors from which water will drain readily, and (4) natural light,
which is essential to acceptable and uniform production.

304

BULLETIN OF TJIE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Laundry buildings in the city vary considerably in type. In many
the necessary stability has been acquired by putting the mangle and
washing machines in the basement, at the expense of light and venti
lation, essential to good labor conditions. There are still in use many
old, poorly constructed, badly ventilated buildings which can never
be adapted to this industry.
Forced ventilation is the only adequate plan to carry off the vapor
from washing machines and mangles. Most of the workrooms in
Minneapolis are not so ventilated, and the heat is intense. Basement
rooms are almost unbearable on a hot day. In cooler weather girls
suffer from frequent colds, not so much from the heat in the room
as because they go into the open air overheated and without taking
time to change their clothing. Dressing rooms should be provided;
at present they are rare.
The older buildings are frequently very poorly drained. The floors
have not the necessary slope to carry off the water, nor are they so
constructed as to dry quickly.
To obtain adequate light, some laundries have plate-glass windows
on the street side of the workroom, which also serve as a means of
advertising. When the show window is used the machinery is placed
so that the operators may work without having their attention dis
tracted by things outside and thus may avoid mistakes or injury.
Laundrymen are recognizing the importance of space, light, and
ventilation, as is shown by the newer type of buildings which is
replacing the old. Modern buildings equipped with modern ma
chinery make possible better sanitary conditions, greater economy
of human energy, and a more satisfactory product.
PH YSICAL CONDITIONS.

Besides the conditions affecting the health of workers, which vary
with the character of the building, light, and ventilation, there are
important factors inherent in the laundry industry itself. These are
(1) handling soiled and infected clothing, (2) back strain from
operating the treadle of heavy machines and lifting wet clothing,
(3) overheating of the hands in ironing, (4) disease from hand
starching, (5) risk from indiscriminate use of chemicals, and (6)
danger from unguarded machinery.
This survey has not attempted to study scientifically the occupa
tional risks in the laundry industry nor to check up conditions in
Minneapolis laundries with those of other cities.
The lister and the marker are the only workers who come in contact
with the soiled clothes to any extent. Laundries refuse to take
clothing from placarded houses, but some dangerous diseases are
not placarded. Clothing that is unusually soiled or suspected of

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

305

being insanitary is washed without being marked and listed. Band
aging all skin abrasions, washing the hands thoroughly before eating,
and changing all clothing at the end of the day would reduce danger
of infection to a minimum. It will be only a matter of time before
laundrymen come to realize the danger of infection and insist on
safeguarding their employees. The white uniforms provided for
employees by some laundries are particularly desirable for the listers
and markers.
All press machines are operated by treadle. Many are of the older
type, requiring the operative to put nearly her whole weight on the
treadle. In the newer machines the power is supplied by compressed
air and only a few pounds of pressure is necessary. Many girls push
the treadle down with a kick, which is as bad for machine as for
operator. The use of the treadle in ironing and the extra pressure
which the hand ironer exerts by throwing her weight on the iron
add to the back strain from continuous standing. Muscular strain
experienced by new girls in the mangle department passes away as
the muscles become accustomed to this work.
Overheating of the hands due to constant holding of the iron has
been somewhat reduced by modern types of irons. The disease
from hand starching and risk from indiscriminate use of chemicals
are discussed in Federal reports.1 There are safety appliances
which materially lessen the danger from machinery. Extractors
should have lids which can not be opened when the machine is in
motion, but very few so equipped are found. Mangles should have
guards so adjusted that the fingers of the feeder can not be drawn
under the rolls. Body and sleeve ironers and collar machines
should be guarded in the same way. Heat deflectors should be put
on the body ironers. Electric fans help to purify the air and cool
the worker.
It is evident that there are few bad conditions inherent in the
industry which ,can not be overcome, and the criticism to which
laundry work has been subjected can be lived down as employers
come to realize the value of healthful conditions and have regard
for “ safety first.”
HOURS.

The regular working-day is 9 or 9 J hours and the week 51 to 54
hours. There is little seasonal variation, but there is some varia
tion at both ends of the week. The hours are from 7.30 or 7.45
a. m. to 5 or 6 p. m., with half an hour or an hour at noon. Work
for listers and sorters is slack on Monday morning till delivery
1 Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States, Vol.
X I I : Employment o f Women in Laundries, pp. 25-37. Employment of Women in Power
Laundries in Milwaukee, Bui. 122, U. S. Bureau o f Labor Statistics, p. 16.

42805°— Bull. 199— 17-- 20

306

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

boys bring in the laundry collected. Starchers and ironers begin
still later in the day.
Another general collection is made about the middle of the week
and hotel and restaurant collections are made daily. This means
a rush on Friday and Saturday, as all work must be finished and
delivered by Saturday night, which frequently necessitates over
time for ironers, sorters, and delivery boys. Washers and starchers
frequently finish by 2 or 3 p. m. Saturday. There is no difficulty
in the hours of work as estimated weekly, but they may vary from
7 at the beginning of the week to 10 or more for the four middle
days. This is more of a strain on the worker than the regular
eight or nine hours throughout the week. Laundry men and fac
tory inspectors are trying to do away with this condition.
ORGANIZATION.

The power laundry has four main departments: Office, engine
room, laundry proper, and delivery department. In the office the
amounts due on each list are computed and the bookkeeping is done.
The engine room, as its name implies, is where the power is gen
erated; some laundries buy their power and have no such depart
ment. The laundry proper is made up of the listing, marking, and
sorting, machine and hand washing, starching, and the mangling,
machine and hand ironing departments.
Office employments are dealt with under commercial work. En
gine-room work falls under the machinist’s trade, also considered
elsewhere. This study, therefore, discusses only the laundry proper
and the delivery department.
LISTING, MARKING, AMD SORTING DEPARTMENT.

The listing, marking, and sorting department is somewhat anal
ogous to the receiving and shipping department of a factory. The
girls, working as a crew, receive, list, and mark soiled clothes and
sort and assemble laundered clothing. The division of work varies
somewhat, but is done, in the main, in the following way:
The lister opens the bundle of soiled clothes and lists the articles
on different colored, printed blanks used to indicate different classes
of work. In some laundries an inspector verifies this list.
The bundle and list are passed on to the marker, who sees that
every article is marked with the proper symbols. She marks wear
ing apparel by hand with pen and indelible ink, and flat work on
a marking machine resembling an adding machine, operated by
lever and treadle. Hosiery is marked by affixing a tin marker or
by pinning together with a safety pin. The marks must be placed
uniformly so as to facilitate the work of sorting. Handkerchiefs
and napkins may be placed in a marked net bag. When all the

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

307

pieces are marked they are thrown into bundles according to the
classification, and the completed list is sent to the office to have
prices inserted and costs computed.
Hotel work is listed separately and, as the quantity is usually large
enough to fill one washing machine, it is put through in separate lots,
a slip of paper bearing the owner’s name going with the lot through
each process.
The sorter assembles the laundered articles by the original lists,
placed in alphabetical order in large pigeonholes as soon as received
from the office. She puts them into the pigeonhole bearing the
owner’s list much as a mail clerk sorts letters. A checker goes over
the list to be sure that all the things are there, and the bundle girl
ties them up with the list outside ready for delivery.
The same general requirements apply to these three occupations.
The girls must know how to read, write, and count. They must
know the marking system in use, be able to recognize the symbols
quickly, and place each article where it belongs. Accuracy, a good
memory, and ability to think and act quickly are necessary. Good
judgment is necessary for the lister, who must decide upon the classi
fication of pieces not specified on the regular form. Much less than
100 per cent efficiency can not be tolerated, since the laundry can not
afford to lose the confidence of patrons by the loss or misplacement
of articles. The work can be learned in a few weeks. Young women
with tendency to anemia or with poor lungs should not attempt the
work of listing and marking, which involves risk in handling soiled
clothing.
MACHINE AND HAND WASHING DEPARTMENT.

The machine washer, usually a man, loads into the washing ma
chine the proper amount of clothing of similar kind, color, and degree
of cleanliness and puts it through the washing and rinsing pro
cesses, usually five in number. For each process he measures the
water, usually by automatic gauge, drains out each bath, and pre
pares the next. He measures the soap, regulates the temperature
of the water, determines the amount of steam for the type of clothing
he is washing, and measures the bleach and bluing. He starts and
stops the machine, removes the washed clothes, and places them in
a conveyer. For each process the standard formula worked out by the
laundry is used and must be followed accurately. One washer may
attend four or more machines.
The washer must know the formula for each type of wash; when to
use alkali soap and when neutral; must add soap to the wash when
the suds die down; and know to what extent steam should be
reduced and the boiling time increased for badly soiled clothing.
He must know when to avoid the use of bleach and bluing fluids.

308

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

lie must be accurate in measurements, to avoid waste of soap and
chemicals, or injury to the clothes.
He must have enough knowledge of the machine to use the gauge,
start and stop it, and detect any irregularity which may injure
the machine or contents. Ability to make simple adjustments or
repairs is desirable and sometimes required.
The minimum educational requirements are ability to read and write
simple English, follow oral and written directions, and speak intel
ligently, and a sufficient knowledge of arithmetic through fractions
to be able to check up and account for work. The washer must be
able to read the water and steam gauges and the thermometer. A
working knowledge of simple chemistry is desirable, but only head
washers have this, and they have acquired it by long experience.
Aside from putting the clothing into the machine and lifting
it out again, the work is not heavy. The washer is liable to get
wet, but well-equipped laundries avoid the danger of wet feet by
using a skeleton superfloor. Men washers should have good health
and strength and women more than average strength.
It requires six months9to two years’ experience to become a good
head washer. Workers begin with one type of wash, usually hotel
work, and gradually take up other types. Only fairly mature per
sons are employed, the work demanding stability, judgment, physi
cal strength, and ability to attend strictly to business.
In a laundry employing about 100 persons, there are about five
machine washers and two hand washers. Head washmen are paid
$20 to $30 a week; the few women employed, $14. Assistant washmen
receive $12 to $15 a week, and women assistants $10 to $12.
To some extent, delicate fabrics and silk garments liable to injury
by the machine are washed by the old-fashioned rubbing-board
method, though a small machine built for fine work, or a tun with
a revolving brush which gently rubs off surface dirt, may be used.
The hand washers are usually women who have acquired some skill
in their own homes, who know how to handle delicate fabrics and
to wash and remove stains from fabrics of different kinds and colors.
These women sort the clothes, look for and remove spots, and wash,
rinse, and starch the clothes by hand. Less attention is paid to
formulas for this than for machine work, though the general rules
regarding soaps, bleaches, etc., apply here when fibers and colors are
the same. Hand washing will be used only until a satisfactory ma
chine has been invented for delicate fabrics.
There are no special qualifications for this work beyond physical
strength and endurance and experience which may be gained at
home. Middle-aged women are employed, at about $8 a week.
Extracting is taking surplus water out of clothing after washing.
It is done in a machine, consisting of an upright, perforated cylinder,

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUKVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IX N\

309

which revolves inside a solid case that catches and drains off the
water. The extractor boy takes the dripping clothes from the con
veyor as they come from the wash and packs them evenly in the
cylinder. He closes the lid, presses a foot lever, and starts the
cylinder, which revolves with such speed that the water is driven
through the perforations by centrifugal force. He times each
machineful as each kind of clothing requires a different time, ac
cording to thickness of material and degree of dryness desired.
The extractor boy frequently operates the tumbler, a perforated
cylinder in which flat work that has become tightly packed in
washing is shaken about until separated. This precedes the man
gling and is sometimes done by one of the mangling crew. The
operator of the tumbler loads into it a given amount of wet wadi,
closes the cylinder, turns on the power, usually by a foot lever,
times the process, stops the machine, unloads it, and sorts the con
tents.
Bough-dry work is shaken out in the same way but the tumbler
is inclosed in a cylinder into which sufficient heat is turned to dry
the clothes. The extractor boy takes care of two to five machines,
remembering what each contains so as to secure the right degrees of
dryness. The hardest part of the work is lifting the dripping wash
into the machine, especially such pieces as sheets and bed spreads.
The extractor boy must know the amount of wet wash that can
be put into the extractor, and how to pack it. so that the water will
be removed without injuring the garments. He must know how to
time and watch his machine and when to avoid touching it, although
a safety guard in use in most laundries practically eliminates danger.
He should have some knowledge of machinery, be able to read and
write, and have sufficient knowledge of arithmetic to account for
his work. He must be able to take and follow directions.
Wages average about $8 a week. This position is usually filled
by men 18 to 20 years old, as it is considered a step toward the more
responsible and remunerative position of washer.
STARCHING DEPARTMENT.

There are three grades of starching—light, medium, and heavy—
determined by the kind, amount, and thickness of the starch and the
type of garment and fabric. Fine work is done by hand: collars
and cuffs and shirts, for which there is a formula, are as a rule done
by machine.
Starchers usually work in crews, each girl doing a special part of
the work. The head starcher is the all-round worker and as a rule
works with the girls she directs. She makes the starch according to
the formulas prescribed, measures the ingredients, and attends to the
cooking. She dips the garments requiring light starch and wrings

310

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

them out, usually by hand, without rubbing. She works in the
medium starch by grasping the garment and rubbing it back and
forth over the base of the thumbs. In heavy starching she lays the
garment on a board and rubs the starch into the fabric with the
finger tips, first on one side and then on the other, removing the
surplus with a damp cloth.
Articles to be starched by machine are immersed in hot starch and
fed into rollers resembling a wringer. The starcher stirs the article
in the starch until thoroughly wet, removes it, smooths it out, and
feeds it into the rollers which squeeze the starch into the fabric some
what as it is rubbed in by hand, though less satisfactorily. The girl
on the opposite side of the rollers hangs the pieces one by one on
a moving line or puts a number into a receptacle, carries them to the
drying room, and hangs them on the racks there.
The starcher must know how to follow formulas accurately and
cook different kinds of starch satisfactorily. She must know the
kind and amount of starch for each type of work and be able to
determine when clothes are sufficiently starched. If overstarched,
she must know how to remove the surplus.
This work requires good health, average physical strength, and deft
hands. The head starcher must be capable of taking responsibility
and managing people. No reading, writing, nor use of figures is
required, except the reading of formulas by the head starcher.
Starching is simple and can be learned in a few days.
In large laundries about 15 per cent of the force are starchers.
The wages are about $7.50 a week.
IRONING DEPARTMENT—MANGLING.

Flat work such as bed and table linen is dried and ironed by a
machine process called mangling. The machines are a succession of
padded rolls, revolving in concave chests heated by steam or against
steam-heated cylinders, between which the articles are run. The
work is done by a crew of three or more workers known as shakers,
feeders, and folders.
The shaker’s work is to prepare the clothes for the feeder. She
straightens each piece and hangs it right side up over a pole, pillow
slips in one group, towels in another, and so on. Two girls shake
out large pieces, which they fold lengthwise and hang over the pole
with the hem always in the same direction. This work is tiring to
the arms and shoulders, and many girls suffer from stiffness during
the first week. The work can be learned in a few hours. Ordinary
intelligence, willingness to work, strength, and endurance are the
qualities necessary.
The girls who start the clothes through the rolls are called feeders.
They hang a pole piled with clothes on a standard between themselves

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MTNXEAPOl.TS, M IN X .

311

and the machine. Each takes one piece and, stretching it tight across
the top, lays it on the feeding apron, keeping it smooth by pulling
as it is drawn through her fingers. For large pieces like sheets, two
girls work together. They draw the sheet tight across the top, push
the sides outward as it goes through, smooth the bottom edge to
remove wrinkles, and keep the hem straight so that the corners do not
run out into “ ears.” Lists of hotel work are fed through before each
bundle, and time must be taken between lots to feed over any pieces
needing a second ironing.
This work requires almost constant standing, lifting, reaching, and
stretching. New workers find it very fatiguing. No particular
mental qualifications are necessary, as there is no accounting to be
done.
The girls who take the pieces from the mangle and fold and sort
them are called folders. The work requires less skill than feeding,
but the folders must inspect each piece and hold over for reironing
any piece that needs it. Frequently the head of the department is
employed as a folder so that she may be finally responsible for the
work. Some laundries employ an extra girl as table folder for the
large pieces which come through too fast for the girls at the machine
to fold neatly.
This work is less taxing than feeding, as the girls may sit at their
work. In some laundries the feeders and folders work as a crow
and change work, so that all are seated part of the time. The only
skill required is neatness and speed. When workers acquire ability
to keep the apron of the mangle filled to capacity, their speed becomes
practically uniform.
Some of the larger laundries have a sma*. mangle, called a handker
chief mangle for fine flat work, which can be better ironed in the
mangle than by hand if not hurried through and pulled out of shape.
It requires considerable care to keep large round doilies in perfect
shape, especially when lace trimmed. Heavy linen pieces must be
put through several times to dry them perfectly. The purpose of
this mangle is to insure a high quality of work.
Since the girls in the mangle department work as a crew, prac
tically the same qualifications are required for all. Although the
shakers have little responsibility and their work makes few demands
upon intelligence and skill, they should measure up to about the
same standard as the others, for they are, as a rule, rapidly promoted.
Physical vigor is the most important qualification, and some skill in
handling the pieces is necessary.
The head girl or forewoman must have also the ability to take
responsibility and manage girls. There are no definite educational
requirements, but she must know how to account for work and take
care of irregularities such as reironing pieces not satisfactorily done.

312

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Frequently this department is managed by a foreman, who keeps the
machinery in order.
About one-fourth of the force in a large laundry is in the
mangling department. For regular work the wages are $6.50 to $7
a wTeek. The head girl receives $7.50 and men in charge $14 to $18
a week.
MACHINE IRONING.

Machine ironing is divided into three departments, collars, shirts,
and ladies’ wear, each having a special type of machine.
Collar ironing involves a series of machine processes and is done by
a crew, one worker to each process, except dampening.
Dampening is an extremely simple process. One girl feeds the
collars, as fast as she can handle them, into dampened padded rolls.
Another girl receives them from the opposite side of the machine,
puts them into a press box in even piles, and fastens the lid down
with a hand press. They are left in this box for a half hour or more,
to distribute the dampness evenly.
A third girl takes the collars from the box and feeds them into the
flat ironer, a pair of rollers heated and padded, taking care to keep
the collar in shape. This operative sits most of the time and can
feed in as many as six collars side by side. The collars fall into a
tray, and a fourth girl, usually the head worker, inspects them.
Defective collars are sponged and smoothed by hand and reironed.
The fifth operative lays the collars one by one on a feeding trough
which carries them between heated irons where the edges are
sprinkled and ironed. The sixth girl takes the collars from the tray
of the edging machine and feeds them one by one into the seam
dampener in preparation for folding. The seventh girl folds the
collar over a mold the shape of the neck. The machine has four of
these molds. By the time the operative has placed two collars on
the forms, the standard turns automatically and raises the collars
against a heated press. The other two molds are thus exposed, and
she fills them wrhile the first twTo are being pressed. The eighth girl
places the collar on a similar mold and by means of a crank runs
a hot iron over the folded edge.
The last four operations may be done on a recently invented ma
chine which molds, finishes, and rounds the collar in a single opera
tion. The number and division of processes may vary in different
laundries. For hand-ironed collars the work is all done by one
person.
Collar ironers are usually promoted from the mangle depart
ment. As a rule, all can run the machines, and they frequently
exchange places. There are no specific requirements for the work.
In a plant with about 100 persons there are five collar ironers.
The w7ages are about $7 a week, the head girl receiving $8.50.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

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Shirt ironing employs two distinct types of workers—machine oper
atives and hand finishers. The work of the former comprises yoke,
cuff, neckband, bosom, sleeve, and body ironing. The subdivision into
processes is determined by the complexity of the garment and the
various types of machines which the laundry may have.
The yoke presser fits the yoke of the shirt on a shaped padded press
bed and by means of a foot or pneumatic treadle raises the press bed
and clamps it to the steam-heated metal plate which fits over it.
She leaves the machine while she prepares another shirt, opens the
machine with the treadle and repeats the operation.
The cuff presser lays the cuff straight on the press bed, so that the
machine will iron exactly to the edge of the cuff. She closes the
press, opens it almost immediately, turns the cuff, closes the press
again, and leaves it while she performs the same operation with two
other machines.
The neckband presser fits the neckband on the press bed so as to iron
exactly to its edge, closes the press, opens it almost immediately,
turns the band, inserts a thin metal plate under the buttonhole in
the back and closes the press again. She removes the shirt from the
press and inserts a collar button. She operates two machines.
The bosom presser draws the shirt over the press bed, fastens the
collar band around a metal neck form, puts a metal strip over the
buttons and under the buttonholes, clamps the bosom tight over the
board, and smoothes it, brushing it with a damp cloth; then closes
the press by a hand or foot lever, and leaves it while she prepares
another shirt She removes the clamp, buttons the shirt and, if the
bosom is pleated, runs a bone instrument under each pleat.
The sleeve ironer draws the sleeve over a stationary padded roll
which she raises against a revolving heated cylinder, and continues
the pressure by a foot treadle until the sleeve is sufficiently ironed.
The process is reversed by means of a second treadle, the girl ironing
each sleeve forward and back two or three times. As it requires only
a few moments to iron a sleeve, the treadle action is continuous and
is relieved only during the short interval for adjusting another
sleeve.
Body ironing is practically the same as sleeve ironin'*, except that
the rolls are larger, and as the garment requires more manipulation
the treadle action is even more nearly continuous, and the rest periods,
while garments are being changed, are less frequent.
On the whole, machine shirt ironing requires more strength than
any other laundry work. Excepting some bosom presses, the ma
chines are operated by foot treadles and require constant standing.
In the newer laundries they are equipped with pneumatic treadles,
the pressure required is very little, and there seems to be no good
reason why the girls should not sit at their work. Most laundries.

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BULLETIN OP THE BIJBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

however, are not so equipped, and the operative must throw consid
erable weight on the treadle.
In the case of the presses, one pedal clamps the press bed against
the ironing plate, and it remains closed until opened by the second
pedal. In the ironing machines the padded roll is held against the
ironing shoe or cylinder by continued pressure on the treadle. In
other words, the operator gets the garment smooth by a hot-iron pres
sure as great as or greater than that exerted by the hand ironer, but
in the case of the machine operation the exertion is transferred from
the arms and shoulders to the legs and hips. Where the pneumatic
treadle is used the roll is held against the ironing shoe or cylinder by
compressed air, and the treadle action is by no means so exhausting.
In fact, these machines, when not equipped with the pneumatic
treadle, are said to be the most exhausting to the operator of all the
machines regarded as trouble makers in the matter of health.1
Hand finishing in this department is the ironing of parts not satis
factorily finished by machine. The hand finisher takes the shirt after
it passes through all the machine processes, inspects it, dampens and
irons rough spots, and presses over the entire front. French cuffs,
which are unstarched, are ironed by the hand finisher. This is fairly
light work, as the garment is already dried and does not need heavy
pressure. Folding the shirt ready for delivery frequently is done by
the hand finisher. She lays the shirt, front down, on a table, lays a
pasteboard on it, and folds sleeves and body over the pasteboard,
turning in the edges and pinning all in place.
Ladies’ wear is the third class of machine ironing. This work lacks
the uniformity of shirt ironing, owing to greater diversity in the
garments. Machines similar to those for body ironing are used, and
some laundries have a machine built especially for skirts. Although
not so specialized as.the work of the shirt department, the ironers as
a rule do only one or two types of clothing. The subdivision is deter
mined by the number of workers and of machines and by the type
of garment. The pieces are finished by hand and folded in much
the same way as shirts. Owing to the variety of work, probably more
judgment and greater concentration are required than in shirt iron
ing. Otherwise requirements are much the same, though the workers
are generally a little more mature.
The wages for ladies’ wear ironing are from $8 to $10 a week on
a piecework basis.
HAND IRONING.

The work in this department is divided into two classes—ladies’
wear, including a large variety of garments, and men’s starched shirts.
The workers on ladies’ wear iron all garments not suited to machine
i Employment of Women in Power Laundries in Milwaukee, Bui. 122, U. S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, p. 21.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

315

work, including babies’ clothes and men’s silk and flannel shirts and
neckties. Middle-aged women who have gained skill at home are
considered desirable by some laundries, as their judgment is good and
their work uniform.
The work requires considerable skill, which can be acquired only
by long experience. The great variety in shape and texture of the
garment makes it impossible to formulate rules of much value. How
ever, ironers tend to specialize, one doing silk shirts, another shirt
waists, and so on. Concentration, neatness, and speed are the princi
pal requirements, and the ironer must be reliable in the matter of
not trying to hide imperfections. She must be strong in the back
and shoulders. There are practically no young hand ironers. The
age ranges from 20 to 40 years.
The head of this department may be an ironer or merely an in
spector and sorter. Obviously her duties and responsibilities would
be different in the two cases, but in either case she must sort the
clothes for the ironers according to their specialties and inspect the
work before it goes out. All poorly ironed garments must be done
over. When the head of the department does no ironing, she sorts,
wraps all special handwork, and at the beginning also lists special
work. The requirements are the same as for the listing and sorting
department, with the tact necessary to manage people.
Hand ironing of starched shirts requires more skill than any other
laundry work. It used to be taught by an apprentice system,
but with the coming of steam presses handwork was almost driven
out of the industry, though it has had considerable revival. The
life of a hand-ironed shirt is said to be about three times that of one
ironed by machine. When the bosom or cuff is in the press, no air can
strike it while drying, and the heat cooks the fabric. Moreover, the
shirt looks like new after being ironed by hand, and is not pulled out
of shape as happens if put carelessly into the press. In laundries
maintaining hand shirt-ironing departments full-dress and fancy
shirts are so ironed. Ordinary shirts are ironed by hand only at the
owner’s request.
Workers often are selected from hand ironers of ladies’ wear or
are experienced shirt ironers from outside. This is the hardest kind
of hand ironing, as the irons used are very heavy, and it requires
heavy pressure to give finish to shirts. Hand ironers must know how
to keep the iron at the right temperature, and when the garments are
damp enough and how to dampen dry spots. It takes from six weeks
to three months for promoted workers to become skilled. The women
doing this work are 20 to 40 years old. No young girls are hired, as
they are not ready to take responsibility and are not strong enough.
The head ironer sees that lots are finished on time. He dampens
all shirts by hand, as the machine sprinklers make them too wet. He

316

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

dips the body of the shirt into water, wrings it out, and folds the
shirt so that all starched parts lie on the wet part. The shirts are
piled in the press box and the lid fastened down by hand press.
They are left from 2 to 15 hours, so that the moisture may penetrate
every part. The head ironer opens the press and apportions the
work. He rubs and wrings the starched parts to soften them; this
is called breading. He irons all the full-dress and tuxedo shirts.
The method of ironing shirts by hand is much the same as that of
machine ironing, though the order of processes is practically reversed,
the body being ironed first. The head ironer teaches the new girls,
helps all with their difficulties, and inspects practically all the work.
The irons used vary from the best electric to rough-bottomed irons
heated on gas burners.
Hand shirt ironers are employed in the ratio of 5 to 100 employees,
and rates are about $10 a week.
Knit underwear, also ironed by hand, requires very simple work.
The garment is laid on the table and the iron pulled around on it
without pressure or lifting. It is then buttoned and folded. Hose
are ironed in the same way, or by being drawn over a heated metal
form. The top edge is rolled back over the fingers to protect them.
Beyond knowing how to keep the garments in shape and care in get
ting the iron over every part of them, there are no special require
ments, and the work can be learned in a few hours. Weekly wages
are $8 or, on a piecework basis, a little more.
MENDING DEPARTMENT.

Mending is not, strictly speaking, a part of the laundry business,
but is done in a number of Minneapolis laundries. Wages are $7.50
to $9 a week. The work may be done by machine or by hand. Neat
and skillful mending is as much of an art as plain sewing: it requires
skill, experience, and natural aptitude. There are only one or two
menders in each establishment, and it is easy to find girls for the
places. Frequently there is available some one who has worked in
a garment factory or dressmaking shop. If there does not happen to
be such a girl, one is selected who has done sewing at home.
FOREMAN AND SPECIAL WORKER.

The position of foreman or superintendent demands technical
knowledge, executive ability, and business experience. In the smaller
concerns the superintendent is the owner; in the larger, he is the
most responsible employee. The wages are from $30 to $60 a week.
He must know every piece of machinery in the plant, its operation,
and its productive value. He oversees all work and usually works
out the formulas for the starch and soap and for the washing

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317

processes. He decides what softeners, bleaches, blues, and starches
to use; this involves knowledge of chemistry and textile manufacture.
He must decide whether time-saving methods produce fine work, and
whether they will be profitable. He must be able to compute costs
of machine and hand work and fix rates for piecework.
He has charge of hiring, training, retaining, and promoting work
ers, must have patience and firmness, and be able to inspire workers
to put forth their best efforts.
As any serious dissatisfaction of customers is referred to him, he
must be pleasing in manner and speech. He should read the laundry
magazines and study machinery catalogues. Many capable foremen
have worked their way up with only a common-school education.
However, as laundry work becomes more complex, the advantages of
special training are manifest. Courses in business and in laundry
chemistry are generally desired for foremen by laundry owners.
Practically all large laundries have at least one worker who has
no regular job but fills in where another worker is absent. She must
therefore know all the machines and processes. Often she shows new
girls their work.
Sometimes she is also a welfare worker among the girls. She listens
to their troubles, helps them, and cares for them if they are sick or
injured. The position is really that of assistant foreman, and in the
foreman’s absence she may hire workers. This position is a stepping
stone to forewoman for girls with ambition, self-confidence, and some
training. It is one of the best paid laundry positions open to women,
the rate being $14 a week. The “ utility ” worker usually has worked
up in the laundry and is a little older than most of the girls because
of her longer years of service. Little education is required, but she
should be tactful, self-controlled, and skilled in different kinds of
work.
DELIVERY DEPARTMENT.

The delivery boy is the salesman of the business. He deals
directly with patrons and is therefore largely responsible for hold
ing and extending trade. He must make the customer satisfied and
meet criticism tactfully. This requires little knowledge of the busi
ness, but much of human nature. The usual routine is as follows:
He takes a bundle of slips marked with his number or letter, and
as each parcel is collected he puts a slip with it bearing the owner’s
address and notes of any special instructions. When laundry is de
livered he collects the bill. He may be given some discretion in
extending credit, but he is usually held responsible therefor.
It is impossible to present an accurate statement of the wages or
earnings of the delivery boy. In some laundries he must pay all
accounts not paid in two weeks. Also fines may be exacted for lost

818

BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

articles. On the other hand, he may get a bonus for collection or
his wages may be entirely on a commission or piecework basis.
Usually the city is divided into districts and a driver’s work is only
in one section. He must know this section so well that no time is
lost in hunting addresses. He must keep simple accounts, make
change, and compute percentages if his laundry discounts for cash
payment. He must be able to drive a horse or a machine.
Boys employed in this work may have begun with no previous
experience or may have been drivers of grocery wagons. A pleasing
appearance is a distinct asset, and honesty a strict requirement.
Only a common-school education is needed at the beginning, but
much can be learned in routine work, and each year’s experience
adds to his efficiency; that is, he becomes acquainted with the cus
tomers, knows their peculiarities, and can tell the foreman just
how they want their work done. As he becomes better acquainted
with the district, he may extend trade.
SELECTION A N D PROMOTION O F W ORKERS.

New workers are employed by the foreman, who “ sizes them up ”
on the grounds of general intelligence, experience, and character.
Before taking in workers from other laundries, it is customary to
confer with the previous employer. Some are taken on the recom
mendation of friends or relatives already employed.
Practically all workers are taken on trial. The first job depends
upon age, strength, and experience. Girls under 16 are employed oc
casionally on special permits. According to public-scliool statistics,
3 or 4 per cent of employment certificates granted to girls under
16 are for laundry work. They are employed at shaking clothes for
the mangle, as they are not permitted by law to operate a machine,
and their skill and reliability is not sufficient for hand ironing.
Laundrymen do not like to take girls under 18. They are not
strong enough to work in the better paid departments of washing
and hand ironing; nor are they physically fitted to Work steadily
even at the simpler operations of machine ironing and starching.
They also lack the poise necessary in minor executive positions.
Ordinarily, they have not the power of concentration and applica
tion necessary to do marking and sorting.
There are three general types of workers in a laundry: Young girls
who go into the mangle and machine collar-ironing department; girls
who enter the listing, marking, and sorting department; and older
workers who go into the hand washing and hand ironing. These
types tend to gravitate to certain occupations and reduce to a mini
mum the interchange of workers. This r: ay be partly due to the

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319

fact that there is little difference in the wages of the various de
partments.
It is reported that 7 girls out of 10 in the mangle depart
ment drop out the first week, largely because of the monotonous
work and the soreness from using muscles unaccustomed to such
vigorous exercise. In this department most laundry workers are
tried out; hence promotions to machine collar ironing are fre
quent. Older women rarely are employed for this work. The girls
who enter as listers, markers, or sorters are generally the better
educated and more intelligent. There is practically no promotion
for these except to the office, and that is unusual. Older women
are taken in as hand washers and machine hand ironers, because of
their home experience.
Promotion from the mangle department to the machine collarironing department is common. Promotion from collar ironing to
machine shirt ironing and other machine work is quite incidental,
depending upon personal fitness. Such promotion brings a marked
change in work, and as previous occupations have contributed little
preparation, some training is necessary.
Promotion from machine ironing and hand ironing is infrequent,
though hand finishers in the machine department may be promoted
to hand ironing. This work is much more difficult and requires
experience which even the hand finisher must work months to acquire,
and as this work is paid for on a piecework basis it is difficult to
induce finishers to make the change.
It is reported that girls do not care to be promoted to positions
requiring more responsibility and skill. This is partly due to the
fact that the increase in pay seldom equals the increase in responsi
bility. Girls go home when they are through early, instead of staying
to learn other machines and prepare for promotion. As a whole,
they expect to stay in the laundry only a few years. Laundrymen,
like other employers, complain of inefficiency and lack of ambition,
which affect more or less any scheme of promotion.
Examination of the demands made on hand ironers and on machine
ironers shows that much more is demanded of the former than of
the latter. It seems, therefore, that the most desirable positions
are those of head worker of a crew or department and special worker
of the plant. These involve sufficient responsibility to make them
attractive to workers desiring executive positions.
The difference in wTages, however, between the regular and the
head worker is not enough to induce many girls to make special effort
to qualify. On the other hand, the head worker in the mangle or
machine collar-ironing department may earn more by going into
the hand-ironing department, but as the work there is on the piece
basis, she would lose the prestige gained as head worker.

320

BULLETIN OP THE BCBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY STUDY, AND CONCLUSIONS
OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
All the findings of the surrey as to the laundries seem to point
to the conclusion that it is neither desirable nor possible to give
special training for laundry workers in the public school. All the
employers and employees in the business with whom the matter
was discussed are strongly of the same opinion. Indeed the Laundrymen’s Club of the city, after some consideration of the matter,
has practically gone on record as being opposed to any attempt to
give special instruction for laundry work, either before or after
workers enter employment.
The reasons back of this practically unanimous conclusion are
many. Most of the work is performed by women and much of it
is hard manual labor, although some knowledge and a kind of skill
which no one has yet learned to describe is required in some of the
operations. The chances for promotion in the business above the
position of the skilled pieceworker are very few and the induce
ment in wages for even the best positions does not encourage many
workers to make any special effort outside the laundry to obtain
additional knowledge about the business.
It is, to a great extent, middle-aged women and untrained girls
who leave the public schools as soon as they can that furnish the
source of supply of laundry workers, and not promising young
women who have given some time to vocational preparation because
they find they can use the knowledge gained in more attractive fields.
In these circumstances, trade preparatory or part-time courses for
laundry operators are not feasible in the public schools.
It seems evident, however, from the study that there are some
things to be taught about laundry work which would be helpful
both to the worker and to the business. The knowledge which the
laundry business so much needs and of which the laundry worker
is usually so ignorant consists more especially of information as to
the nature of textiles and fabrics and the best way to treat them in
the laundry, and the practical chemistry involved in the handling
of waters, soaps, bleaches, stains, and adulterations in the cloth.
The steam laundry which does its work on a large scale, in much
the same way as other factories do their work, is an institution of
very recent origin. So the laundry has learned to do its work almost
entirely as a result of experience and by the use of rule-of-thumb
methods, and it has not as yet given very much attention to the
training of either its operatives or its foremen and forewomen.
Laundrymen realize, however, that in order to promote the growth
of the business much beyond its present state they must, to an in

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321

creasing degree, do work which so far excels that done in the
home laundry as to make all housewives their patrons. For this
reason they are now giving greater attention to improving their
processes than ever before.
The survey is strongly of the opinion that for the present, at least,
the power laundry must undertake the training of its own operatives.
To do this it will be necessary for the foremen and forewomen of the
laundries to be able to serve as instructors of helpers and apprentices.
At present very few of the men and women in these directive posi
tions are qualified for the task.
The school could probably best render service, if at all, by the
establishment of unit courses in evening school for the instruction of
foremen and forewomen on the technical side of the business, so as
to equip them to be better directors, not only of processes, but of the
proper selection and training of the workers who perform them.
42805°— Bull. 199—17------ 21

CHAPTER XIV.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
GARMENT TRADES?
Excepting knit goods, the manufacture of clothing in Minneapolis
has grown but little in the. past few years. In men’s clothing the
number of establishments in 1909, as reported by the United States
Census, was 17, while in 1914 the Civic and Commerce Association
reported 20. There were 924 workers in 1910, and 1,047 in 1914.
There are no figures showing increase in value of product. From a
table prepared by the Civic and Commerce Association in 1914 the
following data are taken:
T a b le 1 4 .— INDUSTRIES IN WHICH MACHINE OPERATION IS CARRIED ON IN MIN

NEAPOLIS AND NUMBER OF WAGE EARNERS, BY SEX.

Industry.

Bags, other than paper................................................................
Hen’s clothing, including shirts..................................................
Women’s clothing. . ....................................................................
Fur goods........ ...........................................................................
Hats, other
felt...................................................................
Straw hats..................................................................................
Hosiery and knit goods...............................................................
Furnishing goods.........................................................................

Number
of estab
lish
ments.
5
20

>79
1
7
2

Number of wage earners.
Male.

Female.

210
318
5
186
4

100
150
9

Total.

325
627
92
75
25
200
1,926

535
945
97
261
29
300
2,076
9

The industries thus roughly grouped for census purposes may be
reclassified as follows: (1) stock and custom-made shirts; (2) work
ingmen’s clothing, which includes overalls, pants, jackets, macki
naws, and fur-lined duck coats; (3) women’s wear; (4) corsets;
(5) hats and caps; (6) cravats; and (7) bags. Fur garments are
made extensively, but the industry was not studied for this survey.
These industries have developed in Minneapolis during the past
10 years. Statistical information about them is meager, as it is only
within recent years that they have been recognized as differing from
other sewing trades; the United States Census and Labor reports
have not treated them as a separate group, and until recently there
was no organization of manufacturers to obtain data.
Seasonal characteristics are much the same as in other cities. With
the exception of women’s wear-and mackinaws, a standard product
is made for which the demand is practically constant, yet the yearly

323

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

fluctuation in number of employees parallels, as far as can be deter
mined, the fluctuation elsewhere.
As compared with the same industry in other cities, the shirt
industry is relatively small, though a number of shops do high-grade
custom work, chiefly for the local trade. The largest single industry
is workingmen’s clothing, this city being a distributing point for a
large farming and lumber region. There is a large and increasing
demand for mackinaws and fur-lined duck coats used by lumbermen
and other workers. The manufacture of women’s shirt waists, skirts,
and dresses is scattered, there being no large factories and none
making any but the cheaper lines. The corset, hat, cap, and cravat
industries are recent developments. The manufacture of cotton and
jute bags, which supplies the large milling industry of the city, is an
important industry.
Factory industries use practically the same scheme of organization,
which falls under (1) office, including accounting and correspond
ence; (2) production, or the factory proper; and (3) sales, including
advertising. This study deals exclusively with production and the
possibility of training workers for occupations within that branch.
Hence office work and sales are not here included.
There is a similarity in the subdivision of the work throughout the
branches of the industry, but although all use electric-power sewing
machines and, to some extent, the same methods of cutting and sew
ing, they differ greatly in materials handled, in types of processes,
to some extent in machines used, and in character of the product.
These points as to machines and product are the largest factors in
the differentiation, and so important that not more than one or two
lines are found in the same factory. When carried on under the
same management, different lines are made in different departments,
which in reality are separate factories.
Other points of difference little known by the layman are the dif
ferent types of mechanical ability, manipulative skill, and use and
control of machines required for the materials used in the various
lines. The person skilled in handling heavy materials which require
a firm touch rarely becomes skilled in handling finer or more elastic
materials, while one accustomed to handling the lighter fabrics
handles heavy materials with difficulty.
The product of all the garment industries is made of textile fabrics,
which go through somewhat similar processes. Every industry has a
cutting and a sewing department. The latter is subdivided into ma
chine and hand sewing departments, and nonoperating departments
for such work as examining the finished product, and pressing,
folding, and packing. Since there are recognized differences in the
various branches and workers go from one to another only inci
dentally, each industry is discussed separately.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

325

OCCUPATIONS COMMON TO A L L GARM ENT-M AKING INDUSTRIES.

There are. however, certain occupations common to all, which vary
in the amount of responsibility, the bulk of work handled, and the
time spent on each piece rather than in actual duties and operations
performed. These are cutting, buttonhole making, button sewing,
examining, pressing, and packing.
The demands upon these workers are practically the same in all
lines. Though important factors in each industry, their similarity
warrants separate discussion preceding the analysis of the seven
lines of the garment trades included in this report.
CUTTING.

Cutting is the most important and responsible work in the manu
facture of ready-made clothing. It demands accuracy in measure
ments and ability to lay out different garments so as to save ma
terial, for an inch saved on each one of the hundreds of garments
turned out represents much money. As the head cutter is usually
a designer, a thorough knowledge of style and of the lines of the
garment, and planning the garment to suit the cloth are important,
demanding training and long experience.
Cutting comprises designing, spreading, marking, and actual cut
ting. These are done by separate workers, the cutter doing them
all only in shops which handle small quantities of work.
The spreader lays the cloth in piles ready for the cutter. He is
usually a learner or apprentice, acting as assistant to the cutter.
He spreads the cloth on the table, layer after layer of the same
length, according to estimates worked out by the designer or head
cutter, until as many as needed have been piled up. Sometimes only
one kind of cloth is used, but frequently the spreads are of differ
ent colors or kinds of material. The spreader smoothes out the
wrinkles, keeps the stretch of all piles uniform, and sees that edges
are carefully laid together.
Spreads that are laid too loosely can not be cut satisfactorily and
the garments will vary, while those stretched too much tend to be
undersized when made up. One spread may contain several gar
ments, determined largely by the length of the table and the num
ber of garments to be cut. Factories as a rule prefer a long table
so that many garments may be cut from one spread, thus reducing
waste.
When the spreading is done, an assistant lays the pattern on the
cloth as diagramed by the head cutter. He marks around each
piece with chalk or pencil and repeats the process till the entire
surface of the top spread has been used. The pattern is then
removed and the work is ready for the cutter. Marking is less

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responsible than designing or spreading, for the worker handles only
the top piece of cloth and if not properly done, the chalk may be
brushed off. The same assistant may assemble the parts of the
garments after cutting and put them in bundles ready for the work
room. The young man wishing to become a skilled cutter gets his
first idea of the requirements through this work.
The cutter, who is a full-fledged mechanic, does the actual work
of cutting. He uses a hand knife or the electric cutting .knife and
follows the chalk or pencil lines closely. To cut a number of layers
requires strength, a steady hand, a good eye, and knowledge of all
parts of a garment. It involves considerable responsibility, as
careless or inefficient work may mean the loss of large quantities
of valuable cloth.
The cutter must know the kinds, qualities, and variations of
goods, and width and shrinkage. He must be able to design pat
terns, plan the layout on the cloth, draw a diagram of the same
for reference, and figure estimates so as to get the greatest number
of garments out of the cloth. These estimates, as a rule, are care
fully checked before a style is decided upon. He must know how
to lay the spread, mark the cloth, match stripes or designs, use the
hand and electric cutting knife skillfully, and grade patterns to
stock sizes.
The educational requirements are a fair knowledge of reading,
writing, and arithmetic through fractions, sufficient to figure yard
age and estimates dealing with both length and width of cloth, and
a knowledge of drafting, involving some mathematical principles.
Since the spreader and marker are in a sense apprentices to the
cutter, they should have capacity to learn the cutter’s work. The
requirements, therefore, differ in degree rather than in kind. The
marker and spreader may be 18 to 20 years old. They rarely be
come head cutters under at least four or five years’ experience,
though two years is considered the term of apprenticeship.
Since the cutter stands practically all the time and bends over his
work, he should have good health and endurance. He should have
good eyesight and a steady hand in the use of the knife.
BUTTONHOLE MAKING.

Buttonhole making is practically the same in all branches of the
industry except for the adjustment of stitches, regulated by the ma
chinist who looks after repairs. Two types of machines are com
monly used, one operated by hand and the other by treadle. On some
products the worker spaces the buttonholes as she operates the
machine, but on the more expensive work the spaces are marked by
an assistant. The operator places the cloth under the presser foot,

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327

starts the machine, which makes the number of stitches required, and
stops automatically, and takes out the finished work.
The worker must know how to set the buttonholes parallel in the
cloth and, although the stitches are made and placed automatically,
she must watch the operation and stop the action of the knife which
cuts the buttonhole if the thread breaks or stitches do not fall in
line. As buttonholes are not easily mended, the work requires con
stant attention. In some lines the operator may have to handle each
style of garment, and, therefore, must read directions, but when only
one kind of work is handled, no reading is required. She accounts
for her work with a coupon which involves little or no writing. She
should understand English well enough to follow directions. The
work requires steady nerves because of the chopping sound of the
knife in the cloth.
Hand-made buttonholes are used only on exclusive products.
BUTTON SEWING.

Buttons are spaced by the machine operative or an assistant,
usually the former, since she is guided by the buttonholes already
made. She inserts a button in a slot in the presser foot of the ma
chine, places the garment in position under the foot and starts the
machine, which puts in the desired number of stitches, ties and cuts
the thread, and stops automatically. A good operative can sew on
about 390 dozen buttons a day.
Buttons are clamped into working clothes and overalls. The
worker puts the garment under the foot and starts the machine, which
places the button, pushes it through, and clamps it to the cloth.
Buckles or large snappers are put on in the same way. For the better
grades of clothing the work is done by hand.
The requirements are practically the same as for buttonhole mak
ing, but the responsibility is not so great.
EXAMINING.

In every industry the finished product is examined before it is
pressed and packed. This consists in looking for imperfections and
clipping off loose threads. It requires a knowledge of how the gar
ment should look when completed, the department to which imperfect
work should be returned, and the skillful use of scissors in clipping
ends quickly and closely without injuring the garment.
The examiner sits at her work, as a rule, and therefore needs only
average strength. She must have good eyesight and skillful fingers.
The work is done by girls just entering the industry or by older
women who can not stand the strain of sewing or pressing. Although
it dogs not prepare for other occupations in the factory, the experi

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

ence is valuable, and an observing girl may pick up considerable
knowledge. The requirements vary in the different industries largely
with the value of the product rather than as to specific demands on
the worker. There is little need for reading, writing, and arithmetic,
except where examiners must keep a record of the work. In modem
factories the coupon system is used.
PRESSING.

Pressing is done by hand and by machine. On light fabrics, used
for women's wear, cravats, and, to some extent, shirts, a hand iron
is used, though frequently shirts are put through the processes used
in the laundry.1 Much light ironing is done by women. Duck coats,
mackinaws, caps, and overalls require less careful pressing, but the
work is heavier. Some are folded and pressed on the steam pressing
machine, others by hand. Pressing custom clothing is the most
highly skilled, and specialized pressing. Pockets, flaps, collars,
sleeves, and so forth, are pressed before the coat is put together;
all seams and second pressing, called under pressing, are done after
the assembling; and a third pressing, called over or top pressing,
after all sewing is completed.
The pressing on hats and caps also is specialized, a steam-heated
block and iron being used.
Clothing and hats are pressed by men who serve an apprenticeship
in each line before becoming top pressers. For these jobs there is a
recognized scale of rates, ranging from $8 to $12 a week for the
part presser. Work may be done on a piecework basis or by the
week.
Strength and endurance are necessary, especially on treadle ma
chines. Workers must know how the finished garment should look
and how to press it so as to keep its shape and freshness. In
custom work pressing is an important factor in shaping the gar
ment.
PACKING.

Packing, though relatively unskilled, is an important part of every
garment industry. It consists in folding and laying the garments
in boxes according to size and style, tying them in place with tapes,
inserting paper covers or advertising matter, and closing the box.
In some factories the number and size must be stamped on the box.
The workers are responsible for packing only perfect products, being
expected to discard or send for repairs any not perfect, and for
the condition of the finished package, but the product has already
been so carefully checked lip that the responsibility is slight.

» See Chapter X III.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 2 9

Girls stand at this work, as a rule, so it requires a fair degree of
strength and endurance. In most factories they move back and
forth, which gives variety and relieves the strain. An elementary
knowledge of reading and writing is required and sufficient knowl
edge of arithmetic to account for the garments they handle. The
work can be learned in a few days. Personal neatness and care in
handling the garments are required. The lighter product is lacked
in cardboard boxes, usually by girls 16 to 20 years of age, though
some older women are employed. The boxes are packed in heavy
cases by men and boys in the shipping department.
The executive positions in all lines of the garment trades demand
practically the same types of ability, the difference being in the size
of the plant and the complexities of the problems. These positions
are manager or superintendent and foremen and forewomen. In
small factories the head man may be superintendent and manager;
in large plants these may be two persons—a manager and a superin
tendent—responsible for the management of workrooms, produc
tion, and business methods.
SUPERINTENDENT OR MANAGER.

The superintendent or manager has charge of the larger details
of production. He is responsible for the use of raw materials,
quality and quantity of output, production methods and costs, and
policy of the factory in employing and dealing with labor. In
some factories he employs and dismisses workers, though in large
factories this is delegated to foremen or forewomen.
He must have: (1) Knowledge of the details of manufacture,
for which reason managers are men who have “ grown up in the
trade; ” (2) ability to arrange and manage a building so that space
may be used to the best advantage and the convenience of workers;
(3) knowledge of cost estimating of materials, labor, and production
and of elimination of waste; (4) ability to get along with people
through factory discipline without coercion.
He is responsible, as a rule, for reports of all departments to the
office. His position demands a knowledge of fundamental business
transactions and sufficient general education to keep up with the
demands of the industry and understand trade conditions. When
style is a factor in the product, he must keep in touch with the
fashions.
FOREMAN OR FOREWOMAN.

The foreman shares the responsibility of the superintendent and
usually has charge of a department. His largest responsibility is
looking after the progress of the work as it passes through the
department. He is responsible for the quality and quantity of

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BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

work turned out, and, as a rule, the personnel of the workers. In
large factories the work of the foreman or forewoman is clearly
defined, but in small factories the duties may be many and varied.
The forewoman teaches beginners, frequently works at a machine,
and assists in or directs the inspection. Foremen, as a rule, delegate
these details to an assistant. The forewoman is, generally, a worker
who has had long experience in the rank and file and has acquired
thorough knowledge of the product. She knows the processes and
can pass judgment on all work turned out. In some factories she
helps to determine the type and grade of product.
The person in this position should know how to get along with
people, how to keep work moving without delay or confusion, and
how to keep workers busy without waiting for rush periods. A fair
education is necessary, although many have picked it up while work
ing in the trade.
SHIRT-M AKING IN DUSTRY.

In Minneapolis there are shirt factories, which in the majority
of cases are stock factories also, and which employ approximately
200 workers. This does not include the office and shipping force,
nor traveling salesmen. The industry has not increased noticeably
in the past 10 years, but manufacturers say that it has more than
held its own. Stock factories supply the wholesale trade, while in
the custom-shirt industry traveling salesmen solicit trade and the
garments are made to order.
The custom-shirt factories are small, the owner being invariably
the manager and often the designer and hand cutter. Larger fac
tories have a general superintendent, whose duties are mainly ex
ecutive, and a foreman who usually acts as designer. The greater
part of shirt making is machine work, though on custom shirts a
few workers are employed for embroidered initials, eyelets, and
hand-made buttonholes. The bulk of the employees are cutters and
machine operators.
Though the processes are not classified in the factory, and division
of the work is made on the basis of convenience in getting it through,
the processes fall under two general heads: Construction of the gar
ment, and mechanical operations contributing chiefly to the fin
ishing. The constructive processes are yoke and sleeve setting,
seaming or joining, and putting on the collar band. The mechanical
processes are front and sleeve facing, bosom and cuff making, and
attaching and hemming.
Collar making is very exact work, but mechanical rather than con
structive. Processes in collar making are seaming, stitching, and
collar setting or stitching to the neckband when the collar is made

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331

separate from the shirt.1 The number of processes is sometimes re
duced by omitting one row of stitching.
Yoke setting is stitching the two parts of the yoke to the back of the
shirt. It is done in one operation. The back of the shirt is laid
under the presser foot between the parts of the yoke and a plain
seam is stitched across—joining the three together and distributing
the gathers. The operative may or may not turn the yoke into
position after the seam is stitched and run a row of stitching along
the seam for finish and strength. She must know how to lay the
parts together, and the amount and place of the gathers, though
the work is sometimes done on a machine which scatters the gathers
automatically. She must be able to read the tickets and the cou
pons which she cuts from the tag. Practically no other demands
are made upon her. Although fairly ample, this work is seldom
intrusted to the younger workers. Aside from knowing how to con
trol the power and thread and take care of the machine, the opera
tion can be learned in a few days.
Shoulder joining is relatively simple. It consists of joining the
front and back of the shirt with a flat-fell seam. The worker in
serts the front between the two parts of the yoke at the shoulder,
matching stripes when necessary, and stitches it in a two-needle ma
chine which turns the cloth in as it passes. She must know how to
hold the parts so that the edges may not fray out or stretch. There
are no requirements but a fair degree of alertness, intelligence, and
speed.
Sleeve setting is considered an important and difficult process. In
shirt making the work isdone on a flat-bed,two-needle machine which
turns in the edges of the cloth and puts in the two rows of stitching
in one operation. The operator takes the shirt after the shoulder
seams are stitched, lays it over the top edge of the sleeve, lapping
the two just enough for the seam and turn in, inserts the edges in the
attachments which turn them in, and guides them under the needle.
As the armhole is nearly straight and the sleeve somewhat sloped,
the two edges do not feed in evenly, hence the process requires
manipulative skill and judgment, as too much cloth plaits in and
too little frays out. It requires higher intelligence than the fore
going operations, as the skill required varies with the material
handled and the process never becomes so mechanical as to be done
without judgment and thought. Educational requirements are prob
ably a little higher for this occupation; physical requirements are
the same.
1 This division applies to small custom factories. When collars are made in great quan
tities, as in some of the custom factories, the processes or operations may number as high
as twenty-five.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

For convenience and speed, as many operations as possible are done
while the garment may be laid flat on the machine. In shirt making,
the yoke and front facing are put on, shoulder seams sewed, and
sleeves set in before the underarm seam is joined. Joining is done
on %two-needle, cylinder-bed machine which closes body and sleeve
in a single flat-fell seam. The operative laps the two edges about
a half inch, inserts them in the double feller attached to the presser
foot, slips body and sleeve over the.cylinder extending in front, and
guides the work so as to keep the turn in even.
The operation is simple or difficult according to the cloth used,
firm cotton cloth being easy to handle and silk and light-weight
madras requiring considerable skill. The garment is only slightly
shaped, so this seam has less effect on the shape than in shirtwaists,
coats, and dresses.
Putting on the collar band is probably the most difficult operation.
The worker sews the band to the shirt with a plain seam or, when
the lower edges of the band have been turned in by another operative,
in one stitching. She must keep the seam of uniform depth, and
stretch or hold in the curved part of the neck. The distance from
center to shoulder seam must be the same on both sides to insure the
right set of the finished garment.
This worker must know how the finished shirt should look and
how to correct imperfect work, such as unequal spacing or seams
of too great depth. Depth of seams is sometimes regulated by a
gauge, relieving the worker of that responsibility.
Front facing is putting the box plait on the front opening of the
shirt, and hemming or facing the edge which goes under. The
worker stitches on the strip that forms the box plait, turns it back,
turns in the edge, and sews a row of stitching a quarter of an inch
from each edge, finishing the bottom with a row or two of stitching.
On cheaper shirts the plait is put on by a special two-needle banding
machine which does it in one process. This worker may finish the
underside of the front, or that may be done before the garment is
given to her.
The operative must know which side the plait should be on and
feed the work into the machine so that it will be of uniform width.
Some shirts have a tucked or plain bosom made and set into the
body of the shirt. The material is tucked in lengths. The bosoms
are cut out and are set into the shirts with a flat-fell seam on the
side and a facing across the bottom. The same worker may make
the front plait and facing. Seams are straight; there is no shaping,
but stripes, plaids, or figures must be matched.
The sleeve placket or opening is made before the seam is joined.
The worker hems the under edge, sews, turns, and faces down the

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333

placket strip, and finishes the top with a triangle of stitching for
strength. It is a simple process and is given to beginners. The
worker must put on the placket so as to have sleeves in pairs when
finished.
Caffs are made of two outer plies and an interlining of shrunken
muslin. The worker stitches these together on the wrong side, turns
the cuff, stitches it to the sleeve, distributing the gathers, turns in
the edge and stitches it down, and puts a row of stitching for finish
and firmness around the cuff about a quarter of an inch from the edge.
The bottom of the shirt is hemmed by an ordinary hemmer attach
ment. The worker puts in a narrow hem and inserts with it the
gusset used to strengthen the ends of underarm seams. The work
requires considerable skill in making a narrow hem on a curved line.
W ORKINGM EN’S CLOTHING.
OVERALLS, PANTS. AND JACKETS.

Minneapolis has approximately 300 persons in seven establish
ments making overalls, pants, and jackets, the remainder of the 1,047
workers reported by the Civic and Commerce Association in 1914
being scattered about in small clothing factories which help to supply
the local clothing houses. In most of these factories the same work
ers make all three garments. In one a separate group makes pants,
as this work is considered more particular and requires more skill.
These are the “ jeans” for workingmen and are but one grade removed
from common overalls.
Overalls are of several grades, from boys’ brownie overalls, the
cheapest and simplest, to a high-grade bib overall of the best material
and having more trimming. Overall making is less specialized than
other garment industries and takes less skill than is required to make
shirts and women’s wear.
The work in this industry requires considerable strength, as the
garments are heavy and cumbersome and the machines cause vibra
tion. The principal occupations are seaming, pocket making, joining,
sleeve setting, closing, hemming, collar and cuff setting, and the
making of trimmings such as patch pockets, straps, bibs, flaps, collars,
and cuffs.
The greater part of the operation of seaming is done on a cylinder
two-needle machine. It consists of sewing together the inner seams
of overalls and pants and usually follows the setting of the pocket,
done while the garment can be laid flat. It is practically the same
as shirt seaming, the difference being in handling heavier material.
Both patch pockets and set-in pockets are used in overalls, pants, and
jackets. Patch pockets are made and set on by a worker using, as a
rule, a two-needle flat-bed machine. Set-in pockets are made as fol

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

lows: The sewers seam the pieces and turn the raw edges in. They
insert the top edges of the pocket through the slit, stitching slit and
pocket together on the wrong side, pull the pocket through the open
ing so that the raw edges are on the wrong side of the garment, and
stitch around the opening on the right side to give it firmness. This
is the most skilled operation on these garments.
When the pockets have been made, leg seams stitched, and flies put
on, the two parts are joined. This is usually done on the two-needle
machine, which fells -the two bias or shaped edges and makes two
rows of stitching in one operation.
Sleeve setting is done on a two-needle machine and is practically the
same as in shirt making except in the weight of the cloth.
Closing is sewing the underarm seam of coat and sleeve in one
operation on the two-needle cylinder machine, as in shirt making.
Hemming, usually done by an attachment to regulate the width,
requires less skill than in shirt making. The hems are short.
In cuff setting the sleeve seam is partly closed, then the cuff is
stitched to the edge, the lining turned in, and the second row of
stitching made. This is usually done on the cylinder machine, and
may be done*by the person who joins the underarm seam.
The making of trimmings is the simplest work. It is usually given
to beginners, who make the parts for the other workers.
MACKINAWS.

These garments are made of coarse, thick, woolen cloth, and take
the place of an overcoat. They are not lined, so the pieces are bound
with bias cotton cloth. The collar is semitailored, and pockets may
be either patch or set in. The principal occupations other than
those common to all the industries are binding, yoke stitching, body
making, sleeve making, and pocket making.
In binding, the cloth and binding are placed under the presser foot,
the binding through an attachment which folds it the exact width,
and the worker guides the cloth so that the binding will be stitched
over the edge. The work varies with the shape of the piece, the bias
and irregular edges being the more difficult.
Yokes are stitched to the backs and sometimes the fronts before the
garments are assembled. A single-needle machine is used.
Body making is assembling the parts of the garment. This worker
puts on the pockets, stitches on the yokes, sets in the sleeves, sews
on straps, and stitches the outside facing. The processes may be
given to different workers. Body making requires mechanical ability,
for the operative must know how to put the parts together. The
setting of the sleeves and collar requires the most skill.

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In sleeve making after the parts have been bound the operative
puts on an imitation cuff and sews up the seams. The sleeve is blindstitched at the wrist with a special blind-stitching machine, which is
also used for padding the collar.
FUR-LINED DUCK COATS.

These consist of a heavy duck outer coat called the “ shell ” and
a lining of sheared or beaverized sheepskin. They may have a fur
collar, made of wombat or river muskrat. The outer and inner parts
of the coats are made separately and by different operatives.
Operations on the duck coats are similar to those on underjackets.
The fur linings are made by fur operatives on special fur-stitching
machines and the two are put together by workers who understand
how to handle both textile fabrics and fur.
Requirements are very much the same as in the various lines of
workingmen’s clothing with the exception of fur sewers and cutters.
Workers should have good health and the strength and endurance
to handle large quantities of rattier heavy work. The sewing is
simple and coarse and does not demand much finish. The reading,
writing, and arithmetic actually required is very slight.
W OM EN'S W E AR .

This branch of the industry is small, there being at the time of the
survey only from 50 to 70 workers in the factories making women’s
ready-to-wear clothing. The product is confined to house dresses,
aprons, kimonos, bathrobes, nightgowns, shirt waists, bloomers, mid
dies, and bathing suits. It may be termed a “ filling-in” industry,
supplementing rather than supplying the city’s trade. Practically
no two factories make the same line. The operations are much the
same as in shirt making, and requirements for the most part are
similar, but there are special operations, such as rick-rack sewing,
hemstitching, and tucking, not used in any other line.
The work involves variations in construction and processes, which
demand greater adaptability on the part of the worker than in the
branches making a standard garment with few changes from season
to season. Even sleeve setting and collar setting, which are paral
leled in shirt making, show differences involving more responsibility
for the shape of the garment. For some of these operations such as
seaming or joining the overlock stitch is used, which makes the opera
tion different from seaming a shirt. Seams are made also by use of a
hemmer presser foot, a differer j operation from the plain, fiat-felled
seams in other garments.
Hemstitching is done on a machine built for the process. It has two
needles and puts a row of stitching on either side of the hole made

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

bv the plungers. The work is usually done by a specialist. The
machine is complicated and the work must be carefully guided, the
machine giving little assistance in carrying the work along. The
process is slow as compared with plain stitching, as several stitches
are taken in each hole.
The operative puts the cloth under the presser foot, stretches and
holds it under the foot, and guides it so as to have the hemstitching
fall in the line required. The operation is not very difficult when
done on muslin or lawn, but on cotton voiles, chiffon, and lace ma
terials, that stretch or pucker if not properly managed, it requires
a great deal of skill.
The ability to handle different materials and to keep the work
in line are the main requirements. There is no constructive work
except where the garment is put together by hemstitching, and
even then the parts usually are joined first by a plain seam. The
machine is complicated but not more difficult to manage than other
two-needle machines.
Educational and health requirements are the same as for the other
occupations in the industry.
Tucking is done on a single-needle machine by means of a special
attachment called an arm, which folds the goods, measures the width
of the tuck, and marks the edge of the next. The work is almost
entirely manipulative, and presents the same problems in handling
materials as does hemstitching. The chief requirements are close
attention and ability to manage difficult fabrics in the machine.
Tucking and hemstitching fluctuate in popularity and are too
specialized for any but those who care for manipulative work.
CORSETS.

From 25 to 50 persons are engaged in corset work in Minneapolis.
Most of them are in factories, but a number do fitting or altering in
department and other stores. Both standard stock and custom cor
sets are made.
Difference in size and shape is slight, though so important in the
finished garment, and small errors are serious. Some of the work de
mands, therefore, a high degree of accuracy. Ability to handle
work without stretching the cloth applies in corset making to an
even greater extent than in the other garment trades, except some
parts of shirt and collar making, chiefly because of the importance
of accuracy in sizes.
The main operations are designing and cutting, done by men as a
rule, one-needle or two-needle joining, putting on backs, bone tacking,
binding, and putting in eyelets. Among the minor operations are
boning, trimming, and tacking on belts.

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Designing corsets differs from designing other garments, requiring
a more thorough knowledge of the human figure. The recognition
of the corset as being conducive to health, comfort, and good ap
pearance, and the demands of short and tall, stout and slender,
long-waisted and short-waisted figures, have made corset designing
of considerable importance. In some cases there is cooperation with
physicians and nurses in constructing corsets on hygienic lines.
Corsets do, however, conform more or less to the demands of styles
for outer clothing, hence the designer must be informed on the
season’s styles. The designer tests the styles, grades, and sizes, and
makes the patterns. The spreading, marking, and cutting are done
as for other garments.
Joining is the process by which the garment is put together. It
determines its shape, and is done by the most skilled workers. A
two-needle or single-needle flat-bed machine is used, as described
under shirt making.1 Usually one piece of cloth is cut on the bias
or shaped and the other is cut straight, but sometimes both pieces
are somewhat shaped. The edges do not feed in at the same rate unless
carefully regulated by the operator, who stretches or holds the cloth
in place, which helps in the “ set” of the garment. The operative
must keep the parts in pairs so as to have a right and left for each
garment. This involves reversing the work under the presser foot,
which frequently is quite difficult.
Putting on backs is stitching on the back strip which holds the bones
and eyelet strip. Aside from using a four-needle machine, and watch
ing that the eight threads run without breaking, the process is sim
ple. Guiding the work is easy, as the garment is straight and the
material is sufficiently stiff to feed under the presser foot without
the assistance of the operative.
Stripping consists of putting on the casing for the bones. The
strips are put on the wrong side after the parts have been joined.
The strip and an interlining are carried from a roll hung over the
machine through guides to an attachment on the presser foot. The
worker places the strip and guides the work slightly as it passes
under the foot, cuts the strip when the stitching is done, and repeats
the process. She has four threads to watch and occasionally puts’
new rolls on the holder. Although done on the two-needle machine,
it involves much less skill than two-needle joining in which the
amount of cloth fed in determines the finish of the seam.
Binding also is somewhat automatic. The binding is fed.under the
presser foot through an attachment, and the worker inserts the
edge of the corset in the folded binding and must keep the edge
in the binding and under the needle at uniform depth.
2See
42805°—Bull. 199—17------22

p. 332.

338

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

Putting in eyelets is a machine process that may be considered auto
matic with the exception of moving the part along under the attach
ment which punches the hole and clamps the eyelet in place. A
guide on the machine assists the worker in spacing. The machine,
started by a treadle, puts in the eyelets at short intervals until the
required number are in place. It is a simple process, but is intrusted
only to responsible workers, as the eyelets must be evenly spaced
and once put in can not be removed without spoiling the strip and
involving considerable repair work, if not loss.
Boning is putting the bones into the casings made by the strips.
The work is done by hand by young girls and requires no skill.
Bone tacking is stitching across the strips after the bones are in
place. It is done on a single-needle machine and is simple though
tedious because of the short rows of stitching and the constant turn
ing of the garment. The skill lies in stopping the machine when
only a few stitches have been made, which is considered by operatives
to be more difficult than stitching long seams.
Tacking belts, sewing on lace, and running ribbons are hand processes.
The belt on the inside of the corset is tacked in place. Lace usually
is sewed on with long running stitches. Except for keeping the
work fresh and clean and getting it done speedily, the work has no
specific demands.
The requirements for all operations are practically the same ex
cept for designing, cutting and joining, which require intelligence,
judgment and skill. The operations are not complicated and the
materials used are light and easy to handle. There is little demand
for reading or the use of figures except in measuring the garment
from time to time to see if it is being kept to size.
As for all machine sewing, which requires long hours of sitting,
corset workers should be strong and free from tendency to stooped
shoulders and narrow chest. Good eyesight is necessary, especially
in operations that must be watched during their progress.
CAPS.

The cap industry in Minneapolis employs about 80 workers. The
majority of places listed as hat and cap manufacturers resew the
straw, renovate and reblack old hats.
Cap workers are almost exclusively foreigners who have learned
the trade in Europe. The industry is handicapped by lack of
trained workers; as one worker makes practically the entire cap,
inexperienced workers can not be used to any great extent.
The processes are relatively few. Cutting is done in much the
same way as in the other industries, though planning layouts and
figuring estimates is simpler. Making and assembling the visor,
crown, and lining are the machine-sewing processes. Sewing on but

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 3 9

tons, putting in labels, and sewing in sweatbands are done by hand
and are little more than basting processes. The hand sewing is done
by the examiners, who inspect the work, check up sizes, and insert the
label giving the size. All caps are blocked or pressed.
The operative makes the entire cap, usually by the single-needle
machine. He joins the crown pieces, seams the visor pieces, inserts
the stiffening and stitches it in place, sews visor to crown, makes the
lining, puts it in, and stitches it in place around the edge. When caps
are not lined the edges of the cloth are bound or taped, usually by the
aid of an attachment which carries the tape and holds it in placd
while the stitching is being done.
In the blocking and pressing the cap is steamed and pressed over
a block to give it a finished appearance and to shape it.
CRAVATS.

The cravat industry is small, and the persons employed are very
few. The work is light and the operations are simple. The fabrics
used are chiefly silk, which require careful handling and must not
be wasted. The main operations are designing and cutting, hemming,
joining of pieces when cut in two parts, inserting the interlining,
stitching the back, and pressing. Designing and cutting present the
same problems as in the other industries discussed.
Hemming’, done on a chain-stitch machine by means of a hemmer
foot, is the most difficult operation. Much of the work is bias, re
quiring considerable skill. Materials vary so much that the operative
must learn continually how to handle them well.
Seaming is sewing the edges of the tie together in the form of a
tube. This work requires stretching the tie so that when turned it
will be the right length. As ties are made to standard neck measures,
this requires accuracy and considerable judgment, for the materials
used vary in weave and stretching qualities.
Joining or making the short seam is plain stitching. Inserting the
canton-flannel interlining is done with a steel rod which has a pointed
end to hold the flannel as it passes through the tie. When this is
done, an operative puts two rows of stitching across the back of the
tie to hold interlining and label. These processes are simple and
may be learned in a few days when the worker has learned to control
the machine.
Pressing is done by hand with a light iron. Girls may be seated.
BAGS.

In numbers employed, bag making is one of the most important of
the sewing industries. It furnishes bags to the flour mills of the city
and employs about 700 men and women, chiefly foreigners who have

340

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

been in other sewing industries. The present number is less than
average because of business depression.
Burlap, jute, and cotton cloth are used. Although sewing is done,
the industry does not belong to the needle trades, but is more nearly
allied to shoe stitching.
Cutting is done by men. The rolls of cloth are spread by a carrier
and the electric cutting knife is used. Layouts are estimated as in
garment making, but are much simpler, as all pieces are rectangular.
Kapid work is a large factor in this type of cutting.
Bags are seamed on a bag-stitching machine, which makes a locked
chain stitch. The bags are run through in rapid succession, as little
effort is required to guide them. Seams must be well made, as the
bags are for flour, bran, etc., which may sift out of imperfect seams.
The stitching is practically continuous, and the worker handles a
great number of bags in the course of a day.
The wages of workers in the garment industries are not standardized
as are those of carpenters, electricians, or machinists, and wage re
ports are difficult to obtain. Several important factors affect earn
ings, making accurate data practically impossible, except in two
ways—gathering reports from a representative number of individual
workers, which presents serious difficulties, as few keep a weekly
record, and studying the pay rolls of firms.
These factors are: (1) the unstandardized system of allotting
work, known as the section system; (2) the piecework method of
payment for practically all operations which lack uniformity and
standardization; (3) varying hourly rates for work that can not be
measured by each separate task or volume of work; (4) seasonal
demand for product, which affects the hours per day and weeks
per year employment may be depended upon.
Weekly wages of garment workers in other cities,1 as far as can
be determined, parallel wages in this industry in Minneapolis. The
following table shows the wage rates in this city as reported through
interviews held during the survey:
T able 15.—WEEKLY WAGES OF PIECEWORKERS IN GARMENT INDUSTRIES,

MINNEAPOLIS.
Weekly wages of pieceworkers.
Industry.

Shirts........................................................
Workingmen’s clothing...........................
Mackinaws and fur-lined jackets..............
Women’s wear..........................................
Corsets......................................................
Cravats.....................................................
Bags.........................................................

Range of wages.

Average wage.

$5.00 to $12.00
9.00 to 15.00
8.00to 23.00
6.00 to 10.00
5.00 to 8.00
6.00 to 12.00
6.50 to 13.50

$8.00 to $10.00
8.00 to 10.00
12.00 to 14.00
7.50 to 8.00
6.50 to 7.00
7.00 to 8.00
8.00 to 9.00

1 Soo Bulletins 135. 145, 146, and 147 of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics,
nnd Report on Conditions of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States,
Vol. II.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N .

341

"Wages of cutters are practically standardized; apprentices get
$10 to $15 a week and cutters $18 to $25. Most foremen are paid
$15 to $25 and forewomen $10 to $18. Variations in the wages
of foremen and forewomen are marked; there is no standard scale,
rates being determined by individual bargain.1
Earnings are further affected by fines imposed for bad work,
but no factories, so far as could be learned, pay a bonus for good
work or recognize in any way high-grade or uniformly good work.
Unlimited piecework encourages overspeeding, yet more work a day
is the only way the worker may increase her earnings or her value
to the employer.
The garment industries, like all others, build up a reliable busi
ness by making a good product of uniform quality for which they
must depend to a large extent upon the individual worker. Much
has been done to improve machines, but the fact remains that gar
ments can not be made without skilled hands and, in many instances,
intelligent thought and technical knowledge. Furthermore, a prod
uct which is uniformly good, which includes no discards and no
pieces to be repaired, has commercial value over and above the regu
lar piece rates. Workers able to produce such must have not only
a high degree of skill, but the ability to detect imperfections in the
fabric or the work as it passes through their hands. Experience
in other cities shows that giving of special rewards for the best
work is a good business proposition. Managers and foremen admit
this, and the fining system further verifies it, but thus far little
thought has been given to the developing of a system that will en
courage workers so to qualify.
SELECTION AND PROMOTION OF W ORKERS.

Workers are hired and dismissed by the manager, though this
may be delegated to foremen and forewomen. The age of young
applicants is usually verified by a written statement from parents
or the school attendance office. Questions are asked about earlier
employment and reasons for leaving it, family responsibilities, and,
in the case of older workers, previous experience. Frequently, how
ever, the one question is, “ Can you run an electric-power machine? ”
In times of stress, workers who can run a foot-power machine are
employed.
Alertness, intelligence, neatness, good health, and reliability are
the main things kept in mind when taking on workers. Nervous
girls are not employed if it can be avoided. Experienced hands
are given work which they have done before, but untrained boys
and girls are placed at random (except in positions demanding

1 Highest rates are for fur work.

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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

strength and vigor, for which only the more robust are selected)
and given barely enough instruction to enable them to undertake
one simple operation. In a few days, or weeks at most, they are
expected to shift for themselves. Practically no thought is given,
so far as can be learned, to ascertaining what jobs beginners should
be assigned in order to get the rudiments of running a machine,
handling fabrics, or putting the garment together, or to a rotation
of work which would give a knowledge of several operations.
The number of workers so selected and placed who stick to the
work and make good is variously estimated as 1 in 5, 2 in 7, 1 in
10, 1 in 2. In spite of this tremendous waste of workers’ time
and employers’ money, few managers study this problem, attrib
uting it to carelessness and indifference.
The shifting of workers is credited to restlessness and worth
lessness. This may apply to older persons who have acquired the
habit of not sticking to a job, but can not justly be made to char
acterize young people who have not been long at work. Employers
have made practically no attempt to compare the facts as to the
shifting and failure of workers in the various occupations with the
specific demands upon their skill and intelligence.
Every employer knows that he employs during the year many
more workers than he needs at any one time. Thus far, how
ever, he seems to have thought of this problem only in the aggre
gate. Closer study of the demands of the various occupations upon
the workers’ skill, intelligence, and energy would throw considerable
light on the need for training workers for the more difficult processes
as well as on the vexed question of obtaining for the various lines
of work persons fitted for their jobs and willing to stick to them.
Promotions in the garment industries are incidental. Foremen and
forewomen, as a rule, have served at the bench, but promotions in
the lesser positions are infrequent. Indeed, piece rates are so regu
lated that weekly earnings are about the same for all processes;
hence, little inducement to change is held out to the workers and
many managers believe that it makes for greater skill not to trans
fer them from one process or operation to another.
No garment factories in Minneapolis have a system of training, but
new workers are “taught ” by a forewoman until one process is fairly
well understood. There is some incidental shifting within the de
partment if they fail to make good on the first operation, but prac
tically no interdepartmental shifting. Some managers think it
wasteful to let workers go when other departments might provide
work they can do well; others think that to shift workers from
one department to another “ tends to breed dissatisfaction,” since
gossip is carried and may be misinterpreted.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OP MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 4 3

The section system prevails in all except tlie small custom-shirt fac
tories employing only a few workers. When work is sent from
the cutting table to the workroom, the parts of the garments may
be put into separate bundles, the sleeves, body, and collar of a shirt
being made in three different sections of the factory and later as
sembled. Another way is to wrap several garments in a bundle,
which is sent from section to section, each worker in a section doing
her part on each garment. So the work proceeds from group to
group, the garment being assembled as it goes along.
While the section system insures the largest output and, some man
agers think, the most uniform product, it limits each worker to a
narrow task unless she is shrewd enough to realize its limitations and
seeks to broaden her work. In a very few instances this is done
within the factory, but generally the ambitious workers go from place
to place seeking work of a different and, if possible, a more highly
skilled type. Foremen complain that girls do not care to change
from one operation to another, but a study of seven branches of the
industry fails to show any incentive for change beyond a weekly rate
based upon past earnings in the work already mastered and bringing the
same return on the piecework system. With little hope of increased
earnings and no assurance that they will make good at the new
operation, girls naturally do not care to take the risk, especially
as wages are so low that any falling off means serious loss.
The piecework system is used extensively. Bates for the different
processes are based on the amount of stitching to be done and the
time required, though some account is taken of such factors as start
ing and stopping the machine at short intervals. Practically no
manufacturers, as far as can be determined, take into consideration
the greater skill and intelligence required in putting the parts
together, which is clearly constructive work. As these processes
determine to a large extent the shape and set of the garment, it
would seem fair that they be considered on a different bads from
those more mechanical.
Inquiry into the difficulties met in obtaining workers shows that
the positions requiring construction are the most difficult to fill, and
the workers have the most trouble in making good; yet these fre
quently command lower piece rates than the more mechanical and
less responsible processes. Nearly all managers and foremen say
that the best section workers, excepting very simple work, are those
who can put the entire garment together, their knowledge of the way
a finished garment should appear being a great help. Such workers
also are more willing to shift from one operation to another and have
a greater chance to succeed.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

In spite of the fact that all-round workers are rapidly diminishing
in number, not one employer in Minneapolis attempts to train any.
It may be profitable to make the product only by the section system,
but the admission that all-round workers are needed in the factory
opens up questions as to the training of workers for such positions,
if not for the lesser jobs.
SUMMARY OP CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OP THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY COMMITTEE.
In the foregoing pages of this chapter a line of distinction was
drawn between the constructive process of garment making where
the worker has an opportunity to affect the form and shape of the
garment by the quality of her work, as in the case of cutting, seam
ing, and sleeve setting, and the finishing processes where the worker
adds to the finish of the garment, as in the case of seam covering,
binding, and stripping by machine—operations which are easily
learned and at which speed is gained in a short while in the per
formance of the task. When a girl enters the garment factory she
usually is assigned to a process of one or the other of these two
kinds.
The assignment is more or less accidental, as very few factories
recognize the difference in the character of the two classes of proc
esses, with the resulting difference in the opportunities and demands
upon workers. The constructive processes call for thought, judg
ment, knowledge of the mechanism and use of the machine in carry
ing out these processes, and a higher order of skill than is required
of the worker in finished processes.
While in general it might be said that in the case of most of the
finishing processes no special training by a school seems to be
necessary or advisable, there are some finishing processes of a high
grade, such as buttonholing, hemming, and tucking, where previous
experience gained in the school would undoubtedly be of large ad
vantage to the girl in gaining proper entrance to the factory and the
best opportunities for wage and advancement in her employment.
The work of these finished processes when taught by a school could
very readily be combined with instruction in the constructive proc
esses. In this way the pupil could be doubly equipped as a wage
earner.
All those engaged in the garment trades in any way with whom
the matter was discussed believed that there was a need for a school
to give training in the constructive processes of garment making.
They were all of the opinion that under present conditions this train
ing should be given to the girls before they entered the industry.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N , 3 4 5

Xone of the employers was seriously interested in part-time day
classes for employees.
The reasons for their attitude are not peculiar, but are, on the
whole, the same as those reported in other cities. It was recognized
by the better employers at least that training of their workers by
the part-time school probably would not and should not result in an
increased output by the worker. These employers recognized that
results came rather in such other and more important things as
keener interest in work, greater understanding of trade processes,
better methods of performing operations, an improved product, and
larger adaptability of the employees. Most employers are, however,
not sufficiently convinced of the value of the school training for the
garment industries to be willing to go to very much trouble or ex
pense in cooperating with the part-time class.
Such a class would mean that the employer must pa3r for the time
spent at the school, as the worker could ill afford a cut in wage.
There are also problems of organization and administration to be
solved where workers are sent from a plant to a school for instruc
tion. These problems are peculiarly hard to solve in industries like
the garment trades, where the piecework system is employed as the
basis for the assignment of work and the pay of the worker. Fur
thermore, the section system is probably carried further in the gar
ment industry than in any other. The garment, or parts of it, is
passed along from one worker to another, each of whom does some
one thing upon it which is necessary to the finished article.
The absence of the worker from the machine must either halt the
process or require the temporary employment of a substitute to keep
the work moving.
Many persons conferred with were doubtful whether very many
workers would see opportunities for wage advancements in evening
classes in trade processes, though they favored such classes and
believed they should be tried as a means of reaching those already
engaged in the industry.
As a result of conferences held during the survey, a trade under
standing was arrived at similar to those understandings worked out
for the other trades of the city. According to this plan, girls are to
spend the first three months in the course in machine operating at
the Girls’ Vocational High School as a probationary period, so as
to find out whether they have interest and fitness for the work.
Those thus selected are to be given the remainder of two years’
instruction in academic and trade subjects, half the time to actual
practice in trade processes. After this the girl is to be placed in the
trade at a beginning wage of not less than $8 a week, and the diploma
is to be withheld for one year until she has presented proof of satis
factory service to the trade.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The plan contemplates an advisory committee made up of em
ployers and employees in the trades to aid the school authorities to
make this course thoroughly practical and successful.
The Garment Workers’ Union has approved this arrangement
and the association of employers in the garment trades, which was
organized as a result of survey conferences, has also approved of
the plan and its members have individually agreed to use the school
•as a source of supply for their workers.
The board of education has approved of the arrangements as
described, and has appointed an advisory committee to assist the
Girls’ Vocational High School in this work.

CHAPTER XV.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR DRESS
MAKING AND MILLINERY?
DRESSMAKING.

Minneapolis has about 200 dressmakers engaged in custom work.
Approximately 15 per cent do exclusive custom dressmaking, and
the rest are in smaller neighborhood establishments or are seam
stresses. A branch of the trade which has grown very much in the
past 10 years is the altering of ready-to-wear dresses and suits.
Although the number of workers employed is difficult to determine
statistically, it is undoubtedly true that it has increased materially
in the past few years. Several things point to this conclusion:
(1) Dressmakers report that they make one to two more gowns
each season for many of their permanent customers; (2) many per
sons who a few years ago considered the homemade dress satisfactory
are now regular patrons of the custom dressmaker; (3) increased
sale of ready-to-wear dresses and suits calls for many more workers
in this line of work.
Dressmaking establishments are found in all parts of the city, though
the larger shops are somewhat centralized. Those which cater to a
rich and ultrafashionable clientele are found in private houses, the
parlors being used for display and fitting rooms. Large numbers of
others are in the business blocks of the city, with attractive display,
fitting, and work rooms. A few are in department stores, and still
others cooperate with millinery stores, where display rooms are
used for exhibiting hats as well as gowns and wraps.
Smaller shops in the outlying neighborhoods are for the most
part in the owners’ homes. As a rule these cater to women who dress
conservatively and spend considerably less for their clothes than the
women who patronize the more fashionable shops. Seamstresses rep
resent still another type. They are employed by the day in the homes
of their patrons, where their work supplements that of the dress
maker, usually in the way of remodeling dresses that have been worn.
They may do all the dressmaking for families of conservative tastes
and moderate incomes. Departments in which ready-to-wear dresses
are altered to fit the buyer are found in practically all stores selling
ready-made apparel.

347

348

BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The small dressmaking establishment in which the dressmaker with
one or two assistants carries on a small business is rapidly passing
out of existence. The dressmaker who docs business on a large scale
has taken the customers who must have clothes to suit their indi
vidual tastes and figures, and the factory has taken those who find
in the great variety of ready-to-wear garments release from the timeconsuming problem of having them made.
Exclusive custom work thus has increased in the past 10 years, and
the enormous sale of ready-to-wear dresses, waists, and suits has
greatly increased alteration work. Since the smaller establishments
have been, to a great extent, training schools for the so-called appren
tices. their passing is of considerable importance to the trade as a
whole.
Apprenticeship training in the dressmaking trade practically no longer
exists, due partly to pressure of competition and partly to the expense
of wages during the period when the learner gives little or no return.
The demand for experienced finishers, skilled fitters, and drapers,
therefore, far exceeds the supply. Learners who know nothing about
sewing are employed only as a last resort, and dressmakers report
that not more than one in six to eight shows sufficient ability to
justify the time and money required for training.
Another factor which affects the employer’s attitude toward
apprentice training without indenture is that it does not really
lessen her problems. The demand for workers is such that a second
season the partly trained workers may find better wages in another
shop or in alteration workrooms, and she is again short of help.
The women employed in custom dressmaking came into it in various
ways. Some were errand girls, stock keepers, and shoppers who
gradually gained a knowledge of fabrics, colors, and styles. As time
.permitted, they picked up sufficient knowledge of sewing and the
putting together of parts to enable them to become finishers or
lining makers, and so fell in line for promotion to other work.
Many women in the dressmaking trade have learned hand sewing and
machine sewing, and tc some extent dressmaking, in their homes.
These are considered very desirable employees. They are, in many
instances, the real students of the trade, and frequently develop the
iirtistic ability which is so large a factor in success. Others have
had experience in the small shops, but these shops may no longer
be depended upon as training places. The uncertainty of obtaining
positions under present conditions still further emphasizes the view
that experience and training are necessary for workers who wish to
enter the sewing trades.
The women employed in the alteration departments in stores have
been home dressmakers and assistants in establishments. Occa
sionally a woman who has been in factory work is employed. As

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 4 9

this work has less to do with style than the custom trade, few
drapers and designers are employed. Finishers for hand sewing
and machine sewing constitute the greater proportion of the workers.
Promotion from one position to another of higher rank or rate of wage
is provided for in some establishments, but, owing to the fact that
there is no system of apprenticeship or training, it is incidental and
perhaps too infrequent. The majority of workers secure it by shifting
from one establishment to another so as to vary experience and
learn new methods. In this way a number of workers have acquired
experience and training which have placed them in the foremost
ranks. However, this method is difficult and uncertain. It con
sumes too much time and energy and may be used with any degree
of certainty only by those, with few exceptions, who are not de
pendent upon their earnings or have unusual courage and foresight.
The line of promotion from lining maker to waist or skirt maker
or draper is well defined. The difficulty lies below the position of
lining maker and above that of draper. In the lower positions
promotion is almost wholly a matter of training; in the higher it
is first a matter of artistic talent and second a matter of the develop
ment of this talent through experience and training.
Honrs of work in dressmaking establishments are the same as in
factories—54 a week and not more than 9 in any one day.1 Dress
making and altering in stores conform to the regular store hours,
which are from 51 to 52 a week. Employment is practically con
stant for most workers in the trade, though there is a short lull at
Christmas and a longer vacation in August. The seasonal fluctuation
is felt most keenly in the great pressure which comes at the beginning
of the fall season, in January in preparation for the southern
season, and in March and April in preparation for the Easter and
spring seasons. At these times the rush is very great and extra
workers are employed when they can be had. For the rest of the
year, with the exceptions noted, the work keeps the dressmakers
and employees busy but not rushed.
The great majority of employees are women. Tailors and tailors’
helpers are men, and there are a few men designers.
There is no physical strain or danger to the health if proper work
room conditions are provided. Remaining in one position, as for
hand sewing, may be fatiguing, but the work, as a rule, is sufficiently
varied to minimize this. Right habits of sitting and standing go far
to counteract any tendencies to overfatigue, stooped shoulders, or
narrow chest. Persons having a tendency -toward anemia, narrow
chest, or defective vision not readily improved by glasses, should
not be encouraged to enter the trade.
1Unless to provide a shorter day, etc.

General Laws of Minnesota, 1913, chapter 581.

350

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

The majority of the custom workrooms in the city are good.
Many are unusually good as compared with those in other cities.
Qualifications of workers vary according to (1) ability and skill in
performing the mechanical part of the work, and (2) artistic ability,
as in planning and arranging trimmings and designing garments.
The person who can plan artistic gowns may not be at all successful
in the sewing, and she who excels in handwork on chiffon, silk, or
other fine material may have no talent for artistic trimmings or
designs. On the whole, however, the designer has a working knowl
edge and frequently skill in the mechanical part of dressmaking.
Ability to sew neatly and to handle skillfully fine fabrics is essen
tial. Much attention has been given to the kinds of stitches, seams,
and hems to be used. This is important, but of more importance
is the ability to handle fabrics so as to keep the grain running in
the right direction. This requires knowledge of fabrics, good judg
ment, good eyesight—the grain being determined by the warp or
woof threads—and a fine sense of touch. A tendency to moist hands
which can not be corrected will disqualify even a skillful worker,
as the moisture is likely to spoil delicate fabrics.
Ability to measure accurately is necessary. Measurements may be
made with the tape measure, by matching the two sides of
the garment, or merely by judging the length or size. The last
named is called eye measurement, and is very important. It comes
from long and careful practice in the use of the tape measure.
Many workers do only hand sewing, but the greater number do
machine sewing as well, and are expected to know how to handle the
various fabrics in both types of sewing.
The essential educational qualifications are practically the same for
all occupations, though artistic qualifications may vary. One should
know the fundamental processes of arithmetic, decimal fractions,
and simple percentage; speak and write clearly; be able to spell
words in common use and the names of materials used in the trade;
and understand bills, receipts, checks, and money orders, and how to
indorse the two last named.
Many women in the trade have not this education, but they do not
encourage young people to enter the work without it. Dressmakers
wTho have given consideration to the question hold that less than an
elementary education is not sufficient, and that secondary education is,
to some extent, desirable. Several dressmakers, when asked how
much education a girl should have, said in substance: “ As much as
they can get. The girl who lacks education can not get ahead.”
Only one was indifferent. Her reply was, “ I don’t care anything
about her education so long as she can sew.” Several expressed them
selves as much in favor of vocational training in sewing and dress
making and of such instruction in art as might be correlated thereto.

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351

Ability to take directions readily and carry them out accurately,
initiative, alertness, promptness, and willingness are among the quali
ties necessary if a worker is to rise to the higher occupations. Power
to observe and to visualize, a quality which helps to develop artistic
ability, is necessary for success. All workers should have a knowl
edge of colors, and good taste in the arrangement of colors, trim
mings, and lines. Creative ability, as in the planning of gowns to
suit individuals, is a high order of art which relatively few persons
acquire.
Workers are not selected for the trade in the sense that their
fitness or their ability to develop skill and artistic ability is seriously
considered. Dressmakers choose from the applicants those who can
sew and those who have had experience in dressmaking shops.
Experienced workers are retained year after year, but no serious
or united effort to train workers is made. This is due in a measure
to the press of competition and to the fact that dressmakers have
as yet no business organization in which they may cooperate to solve
the problems of their trade.
Wages paid to workers in this trade are difficult to determine. There
seem to be no standards even in shops commercially in the same rank.
As nearly as can be ascertained without searching inquiry, rates range
as follows: Helpers, $2 to $6 a week, a few receiving possibly $8;
shoppers, $6 to $10; finishers, $6 to $10; lining makers, $8 to $10;
waist drapers and skirt drapers, $8 to $15; fitters, $10 to $18, a few
skilled fitters receiving $20 to $25 or more. Most of those receiving
the higher wages in each department or section are skillful workers
who have ability to direct a number of assistants. The wage rate
is determined largely by the number of assistants and by the amount
of work director and assistants can turn out.
As in all other lines of employment, wages vary according to the
skill required and the available supply of workers. Thus an oversupply of skirt makers may decrease their wage rates, while an under
supply raises the rates.
Custom dressmaking represents the craft of the trade. It retains
practically all the skilled needle arts and within recent years has
made great advance in the use of machine hemstitching, braiding,
and embroidery. Designing has become a great art of which the
successful dressmaker must have considerable knowledge. Like the
milliner she must be able to reproduce models seen in the fashion
centers and must have creative ability in adapting dresses to design,
arranging trimmings, and combining colors. This applies more or
less to every worker in any way responsible for the appearance of
the dress.

352

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Alteration work is not, strictly speaking, a branch of the dressmaking
trade, but since it is done according to the dressmaker’s method, and
the workers are recruited largely from dressmaking establishments,
it was studied in connection therewith. The work is limited for the
most part to the more mechanical processes of readjusting belts,
refitting and hemming skirts, and refitting sleeves and waists.
OCCUPATIONS IN THE DRESSMAKING TRADE.

The organization of the workrooms varies in the different types of
shops. The dressmaker who conducts a large business frequently
has a designing, a sewing or making, and a tailoring department.
Although each of these has its work arranged as a unit, they must of
necessity work in cooperation. The smaller establishment rarely has
more than a single workroom, where the designing, such as there is,
is done as the work progresses. In all shops where helpers are
employed, the sewing or making department is divided into two 01*
three divisions or sections, for waists, skirts, and, when they are
included, coats. In each of these the work is again divided. In the
waist section there are lining makers, drapers, fitters, trimmers,
sleeve makers, and finishers. In the skirt section there are lining
makers, drapers, fitters, and finishers. In the coat section there are
the tailor, one or two men apprentices who assist him, and hand
finishers, who make buttonholes, put in linings, and do any fine hand
work there may be.
The helpers are the younger workers who sew on hooks and eyes and
help with other less important work. If they sew very neatly they
are allowed to assist in the important parts of finishing. The}7may
do fine hemming or run tucks. Such girls have had no training in
dressmaking, as a rule, but have been taught sewing in school or at
home. They are the learners in the trade, and observant girls may
pick up considerable knowledge. The number employed is very
small, as dressmakers say they can not afford to give time to training
learners for the more important work.
Many girls who enter establishments as helpers become finishers,
and, if good hand sewers, remain in that position. Occasionally
talent for draping or fitting is recognized and the worker is pushed
ahead, but training for such promotion is not to any extent regularly
provided for.
The shopper makes the incidental purchases for the establishment.
She matches fabrics with threads, linings, and trimmings. She is
frequently called upon to buy material to match a sample; this re
quires ability to match color, weave, and texture. She must use her
judgment in selecting linings or velvet that do not exactly match
a sample of cloth. She must be able to take directions and carry

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 5 3

them out accurately. She must know where articles may be found
and must be able to quote prices. She must be observant so as to
report on new articles in the stores that may be useful in dress
making.
Shopping is considered good beginning work for a young person.
It requires memory, ability to match colors and fabrics, power to
observe, alertness, and good judgment. It is an excellent opportunity
to learn costs, amounts of materials needed, and business methods.
A girl looking forward to doing business on her own account may
get valuable experience and training. A pleasant but dignified man
ner, good taste, and quiet but attractive dress are important points
to be observed.
The waist-lining maker prepares linings for the draper and fitter.
She cuts the waist lining to measure, bastes the parts together with
seams of equal depth, making both sides of the garment alike, fits
it over a dress form, and sews on the hooks and eyes, or, in the larger
establishments, gives that work to an assistant. She bastes in place
the interlining if one is used, and she cuts, bones, and sews hooks
and eyes upon the belt or fitted girdle. She makes any alterations
necessary after the first fitting, and bastes lining to belt ready for
the draper.
She must know how to make linings or silk, batiste, net, and
chiffon; how the grain of the material must run to make the lining
fit the figure well; and the different methods for boning waists and
girdles. She should have a knowledge of slender and stout, longwaisted and short-waisted figures, and those having other irregu
larities. She must know that' holding and sewing a seam on one
side of the garment in one way and not reversing the work exactly will
throw the waist out of shape, and that hooks and eyes not carefully
matched may interfere seriously with its appearance. A skillful
worker makes linings that are accurate to the fraction of an inch,
and so fresh and clean that they look as if they had not been handled.
Although one of the minor occupations, this work requires con
siderable knowledge of garment making, ability to sew neatly, and
accuracy in measurement and in making seams.
The waist draper arranges the fabric on the fitted lining. She puts
the lining on the dress form padded to suit the size of the customer,
and arranges the cloth on fronts and back according to the model
or the directions of the designer. To do this successfully she must
know how to use the grain of the cloth to get the desired result; how
to work in the cloth at the seams to make the garment fit the body;
where to allow fullness and how the grain should run so as to make
fullness effective; and how to keep both sides alike, or make thorn
appear alike, unless a difference is desired. The draper may use one
42805°—Bill!. 390—17-----23

354

BULLETIN' OP TH E BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

material or combine several kinds. She directs the placing of
gathers, tucks, or sewing that may be done while the draping is in
progress, and directs the sewing of the seams when it is completed.
A knowledge of fabrics is essential. It is required quite as much
for the waist of plain material and simple design—which frequently
calls for the highest degree of skill—as elaborate effects. Garments
are, to a great extent, good or bad, according to the skill with which
the grain of the cloth has been used to produce graceful lines. The
skillful dressmaker considers trimming much less needful to the
beauty of a garment than the careful use of material in effecting
lines in the garment itself.
Good judgment, good eyesight, an accurate sense of line, propor
tion and space, and good taste are essential. Neatness in handling
fabrics is necessary. In many establishments the designer is the
draper. Designing is open to drapers showing talent therefor and
neatness in handling the fabrics. Practically all drapers and de
signers have served as lining makers.
The waist fitter does all the fitting on linings and waists of dresses
as well as separate waists. She takes the measurements which she
and the lining maker use. She inspects the garment as it comes from
the draper, puts it on the customer and fits it to suit her figure. She
must know the effects of lifting or shifting seams, altering fullness,
and making other adjustments. She must know how much fullness
to allow in the outer part of the garment, when to use straight and
when cross lines, and how to work in the cloth in the fitting so as to
suit the garment to the figure of the wearer.
As even slight changes have great effect on the appearance of the
garment, the work is exacting. It calls for knowledge of fabrics, of
the figure, of individual variations and characteristics in persons.
It requires some knowledge of designing, as the fitter carries out the
plans of the designer. In many of the smaller establishments the
fitter and draper design the waist, so must have a knowledge of color
and color harmony, combinations of materials, and arrangement of
trimmings.
Accuracy in measurement and good taste are important qualifica
tions. The fitter must understand making linings as well as con
structing the outer part of the garment, as she frequently directs both
lining maker and draper. Waist making is a trade and many work
ers remain waist makers. Others who wish to become dressmakers
may leam to drape, fit, and make skirts.
The sleeve maker designs and makes the sleeves for all waists and
gowns. This work is so important that all larger establishments
have one or more sleeve makers and employ helpers for them. The
sleeve must be designed to correspond to the style of the dress. This
design may be in the pattern used; in the combination of materials;

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N . 3 5 5

in the use of tucks, gathers, or crosslines; in the way the grain of
the cloth is used; in accessories such as cuffs or undersleeves. It may
be a combination of several of these, and the successful sleeve maker
must know them all and be able to use them in a variety of ways.
The sleeve maker should have much the same sort of knowledge of
fabrics, color, the figure, and good style as the waist draper. As a
rule, sleeve makers are waist makers who showed ability in designing
and making sleeves and so became specialists.
The dressmaker is the designer and business head of the establish
ment. As an artist in her trade she knows the fashion centers; styles
and how to use them to suit different types of persons; fabrics and
how to use them to obtain artistic effects; various types of figures and
the lines in garments and trimmings that best suit them; how to
make dress minimize or accentuate personal characteristics so as to
get effective results. Her highest art is displayed when she can
make the dress express the individuality of the wearer.
As a dressmaker skilled in sewing and garment construction she
knows the methods and processes of putting together fabrics of all
kinds.
As supervisor of her workrooms she knows her trade, knows how
to plan and direct the work of a number of persons, and has the
ability to manage people.
If she owns and manages her establishment, her art in producing
gowns becomes a part of the selling of them. She interests her
customer, makes suggestions, and assists her to make a decision in
much the same manner as the sales person in the store.
As the business manager she knows the markets, both exclusive
and jobbers’ ; prices and values; the available supply of workers;
the range of wages to be paid; what prices to ask for the product
of her establishment; and methods of accounting, banking, and
carrying on the business, which she may do herself or delegate to
an assistant.
In some establishments the so-called dressmaker is the business
manager, who employs a skilled dressmaker-designer to carry on the
manufacturing of the garments. When this method is used, the
designer must have the knowledge detailed in the preceding para
graphs with the exception of financial management.
Alteration of ready-to-wear garments is confined largely to fitting and
finishing. The fitter adjusts the garment to suit the wearer and
usually does any redraping necessary. She decides what alterations
are to be made; directs the ripping, basting, and preparation for
the second fitting which is frequently given; marks the garment
for further alteration, if necessary; and directs the work of finish
ing. Fitters in these workrooms may fit dresses and waists, or coats
and suits, or both types of garments.

356

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

The finishers are divided into two groups, hand and machine.
Hand finishers do such work as basting, sewing on hooks and eyes
or snappers, hand hemming, tacking, and binding. Machine
finishers do seaming, machine binding, and putting in rows
of finishing stitching, as on the edge of coats or the tops of
seams. Alteration workrooms are using both dressmaking and fac
tory methods on ready-to-wear garments. Electi*ic-power sewing
machines are replacing those run by foot power. The fitter’s,
draper’s, and designer’s arts are being used to make ready-to-wear
garments of silk, chiffon, net, broadcloth, and the like, fit well and
appear artistic, and touches of embroidery and other hand sewing
are used to give the work the appearance of custom-made garments.
The skirt-lining maker cuts and makes the drop skirts in use at the
time of this survey. She cuts the lining to measurements taken by the
fitter; bastes the parts together with seams of equal depth and so as
to make both sides of the garment alike; makes the placket; adjusts
the skirt to measurements on the figure, and makes the belt. The gar
ment is then ready for fitting. When it has been fitted and the length
determined, she makes any alterations necessary, sews the seams
and turns the hem ready for the finishers, who finish the bottom and
seams. She also presses the lining and sews on, or directs the work
of sewing on, the fasteners.
The maker of skirt linings must cut the cloth with the gi*ain run
ning in the right direction; must use cloth to the best advantage;
and must make allowance in length to allow for fitting and finish
ing. In making alterations she must know how to make the two
sides of the skirt alike, or appear alike on the figure.
She must be able to read and to follow measurements accurately,
to handle taffetas, messalines, nets, and batistes, and to place the
seams in the lining to make the garment fit well and to suit the
outer part of the dress. She is, in a sense, the assistant to the skirt
maker, whom she may help in making the outer skirt. Thus she
may learn to be a skirt draper if she is observant and shows talent,
and eventually may be promoted to that position.
Dressmaking establishments that are succeeding in spite of competi
tion are those that combine with the old handicraft methods the
processes of the modern factory. This is done by the use of up-todate machines and, to some extent, a corresponding division of work
between skilled and inexperienced workers.
A number of dressmakers use the modem power hemstitching
machines for trimming and finishing. Braiding, embroidery, and
cording machines also are found. These replace handwork accept
ably and reduce the cost of labor materially. Operating these ma
chines on the various fabrics used requires a high degree of skill.
The art involved is changed in kind rather than degree, since the

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357

operations depend upon the accuracy of the operative and his skill
in finish, and the machine in no way controls the combination of
colors or the design. Some dressmakers compromise by sending this
work out to a shop which specializes in these lines.
Although the work is divided among a number of persons, the
specialization is desirable—except in cases where the employer insists
upon keeping a worker indefinitely at one process—as it gives oppor
tunity for the development of many grades of skill and ability. If
it were not for this method, there would be practically no oppor
tunity for the draper and designer to develop the skill and the talent
which has brought dressmaking to its present standard of technical
efficiency and artistic expression.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
There are at present two general types of dressmaking: (1) Cus
tom dressmaking and (2) alteration work on ready-to-wear clothing.
The custom dressmaking is more specialized than the ready-to-wear
work. It has three rather distinct divisions or phases: (1) Fashion
able dressmaking; (2) making of children’s and infants’ wear; and
(3) semitailored dresses and shirt waists. Custom dressmaking calls
for a higher order of workmanship and taste than alteration work,
and, therefore, for more artistic and creative ability; consequently,
it furnishes the largest demand for the trained dressmaker having
these qualities.
The small dressmaking establishment with one or two employees is
passing out of existence. This is probably true also of the house-tohouse seamstress. The tendency of the trade seems to be that of cen
tering ready-to-wear garments in the department and specialty stores,
and of the custom dressmaking in large dressmaking establishments
where a division of labor and specialization of tasks is going on
similar to that in practically all the other trades studied by the
survey.
Apprenticeship training for the dressmaking trade, if it ever did exist
in Minneapolis to any extent, has practically disappeared. The trade
recognizes that if competent dressmakers and dressmakers’ assistants
are to be trained in the future the services of the school will be
required.
The present source of supply for new workers in the dressmaking
business are, on the one hand, women who have learned hand sewing
and machine sewing, and, to some extent, dressmaking as well, in their
own homes; and, on the other hand, a shifting crowd of dressmakers,
good, bad, and indifferent, who shift from shop to shop, gaining some
new asset of skill or knowledge from each, but who constitute an

358

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

uncertain and, on the whole, a somewhat undesirable group from the
standpoint of permanent employment and service to the trade. The
experience which these workers gain by shifting from shop to shop is
not systematically organized, and, as in the case of the workers in so
many other lines, is too much dependent upon chance to furnish
adequate preparation in any but unusual cases.
Two general groups of workers are found in both the custom dress
making and ready-to-wear alteration work—those having ability for
and skill in performing the mechanical part of the work and those
having artistic ability in planning and arranging trimmings, and de
signing dresses, waists, and gowns. While both mechanics and artists
are needed for custom and alteration work, the custom work fur
nishes the largest demand for those with artistic ability, because
more taste and creative effort are required. Any scheme of train
ing for dressmaking work should recognize this difference in kind
of workers. While all need a basic training in the mechanics of
sewing and garment construction, at the same time a distinction
should be made in the course between those who give promise of
artistic ability and those destined for mechanical work alone, so that
proper training may be given to each.
Dressmakers who have given any thought to the question believe
that less thaji a full elementary school education is not sufficient for
workers in the trade, and that secondary education is, to some extent
at least, desirable.
Training in sewing and garment making opens up a number of
avenues of employment to girls in spite of specialization. Probably
no other one type of training opens up so many avenues of employ
ment. Though dressmaking is mentioned in an inclusive way as
being one trade, it is in reality many trades, just as the term “ metal
trades” includes the machinist trade, the tool-making trade, and
various other distinct trades.
In addition to the high-grade custom-dressmaking trade, which
makes fashionable gowns for all occasions, there are other trades in
dressmaking that are recognized in the business world as separate
trades. It is true that the ultra-fashionable gown represents the
highest art and the greatest skill in the dressmaking trades, but other
lines of dressmaking are rapidly being recognized as having distinct
places of their own.
The making of shirt waists is a trade. The making of infants9and
children’s clothing is a trade. The making of semitailored dresses of
linen, cotton, wool, and silk fabrics is a trade. The alteration of
ready-to-wear dresses is fast becoming a trade. Remodeling and
repairing worn clothing is, to a limited extent, a trade. Seamstress
work of the sort that enables a worker to do such all-round sewing
and dressmaking as may be done in the home of customers is a trade.

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359

The mother’s helper who can assist in the household mending and
sewing is another possibility for the girl who can sew.
Not all types of sewing and dressmaking call for the same kind of
training. Elementary courses for the teaching of stitches, seams,
hems, facings, and the construction of plain garments may be the
same for all pupils. The basis of specialization, after fundamental
courses have been given, will be determined in most cases by two fac
tors: (1) Artistic talent and (2) ability to handle fabrics of different
kinds and textures. These two abilities may find expression in differ
ent ways. A girl may show a talent in designing simple tailor-made
gowns or in designing the more elaborate dresses of soft or sheer
materials. In any case it will be greatly to her advantage to learn
designing early in her career. Through this she may be able to build
up a trade in the making of nurses’ and waitresses’ uniforms. On
the other hand, if she succeeds best in the soft, sheer materials, she
may develop both artistic ability and mechanical skill in the ultra
fashionable type of dressmaking. Children’s clothing calls for still
another type of ability and training. The making of simple tailormade clothes for children has become a recognized trade, for which
special artistic ability, combined with a knowledge of the hygiene of
dress and its relation to health, is demanded. This type of dressmak
ing is of sufficient importance in a city like Minneapolis to be worthy
of the consideration of young women who are.preparing for the
sewing trades.
Therefore, to prepare better for entrance to the trade, it would be
desirable to provide in the public vocational schools such courses as
the following:
A. Daywork.
I. Elementary hand and machine work; principles and
application.
I I . Regular shopwork.
(Distinguish the mechanical workers
from the artistic and train accordingly.)
First.—Hand and machine for new principles and repetition
of old on orders in undergarments, children’s clothing,
kimonos, and so forth.
Second.—Rapid machine work on ready-to-wear clothing, such
as uniforms, gymnasium suits, ample gowns of varied ma
terials, and the like.
Third.—White work; infants’ and children’s clothing; lin
gerie requiring fine sewing and neat machine work.
Fourth.—Elementary dressmaking and children’s tailored
clothing.
Fifth.—Higher class dressmaking. (Room subdivided as in
trade according to various parts of garments.)
Sixth.—Alteration and seamstress work.

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BULLETIN OP THE BUBEAU OP LABOB STATISTICS.

B. Xightv.'ork.
Brief courses; designing on cloth, costume modeling, fitting,
draping, drafting, and the like. Two groups—mechanical and
artistic workers. Some sleeve, waist, and skirt work would be
needed. Probably alteration work could be added.
As the result of the work of the survey, a trade understanding
for the dressmaking work at the Girls’ Vocational High School
tvas made with the leading dressmakers of the city. No arrange
ment was made with employees, as the trade is not organized. A
full description of this trade understanding will.be found in Chapter
X X III on “ Cooperation between the schools and the trades.” It
is enough to point out here that the trade is to aid the school in
standardizing its work and to employ the girls who have finished
the two-year course in dressmaking as the preferred source of supply
in taking on new workers.
As a further result of the work of the survey, courses of study
for the dressmaking trade were worked out in conference with
the trade, and are now being put into effect in the Girls’ Voca
tional High School.
M ILLINERY.

Minneapolis is one of the most important centers in the North
west for the millinery trade, particularly the better grade of goods,
as it is the distributing center for four States. The United States
Census reported for 1910 a total of 914 persons employed as mil
liners, 884 of whom were women. This does not include saleswomen
in stores, of whom there were about 221, making a total of 1,135
persons in the business in 1910. From 1910 to 1914 the estimated
increase of population was 13.9 per cent. If one assume the same
rate of increase for the millinery business there are now about 1,300
persons engaged therein. There are 128 establishments, 121 of which
are retail shops, including the millinery departments in stores, 5
are wholesale establishments dealing in hats, and 2 are wholesale
trimming houses. Parlor milliners are not included.
The millinery shop of a decade or more ago was a factory. Practically
all hats and many trimmings were made by hand. The shop of to
day is a display and sales room. The hand-made hat and hand-made
trimming, except for a small part of the business, have given place
to the machine-made hat and factory-made trimming. The retail
milliner sells five so-called tailor-made hats, largely factory made,
to one made entirely by hand. Owing to the increased popularity of
the tailor-made hat, retail milliners employ fewer preparers, makers,
and trimmers than formerly in proportion to the business done.
Wholesale and factory millinery has increased proportionately.
A few differences between the large and small retail shops should be
pointed out. Exclusive shops, or those dealing only in trimmed hats

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361

and millinery novelties, show little variation in division of labor and
methods of work. The shop catering to an ultrafashionable clientele
employs a trained designer and handles expensive and exclusive mate
rial, whereas the less fashionable shop rarely employs a designer and
deals with a cheaper grade of merchandise. In a city as large as
Minneapolis there is undoubtedly room for both types, and the ex
clusive shop will probably continue, as there will always be a class
of trade that prefers the service which these shops give.
The millinery department of the department store has increased its
business more than has the separate shop. Women are used to the
department store and find it convenient to shop there. The large
variety of popular-priced hats is an inducement, and stock well sup
plied with hats both in and out of season always offers attraction.
Millinery is almost exclusively a woman’s trade. Men are employed
in wholesale houses as salesmen and occasionally a man is manager
or buyer in the retail business, but they are seldom in the workroom
or selling on the floor. This is probably because seasons are short
and financial inducements not great. Women are strongly attracted
to the trade because it appeals to their artistic sense and the at
tractive surroundings appear to give to the work social distinction.
The short season appeals to women who prefer to work only part
of the year. On the other hand, the short season is a great hardship
to talented women who prefer millinery to any other line of work
but must have steady employment.
There is no physical strain or danger to the health peculiar to the
industry. There may be eye strain from improper and in
sufficient light, especially when dark-colored materials are handled.
The back strain and fatigue reported by a number of persons inter
viewed are largely due to the height of tables and chairs, the latter
almost invariably being too high. Conditions as to light, space, and
ventilation are, on the whole, good. The legal working period for
women in mercantile establishments is a maximum of 10 hours a
day. or 58 a week. In some shops it is much shorter, and in all it
varies greatly.
Millinery is more subject to seasonal fluctuation than most industries,
though between-season and outing hats help to carry the trade along.
The seasons are confined approximately to three months in the spring
and three in the fall. The department stores and some of the smaller
shops employ millinery workers as sales persons, but this gives allyear employment to not more than one out of every three, which
means a long period of unemployment for many. Though the re
quirements of the wholesale trade are practically those of the retail
the seasons do not alternate definitely enough to allow any con
siderable number of workers to find employment in both.
Certain personal and artistic qualifications are essential to success.
A flexible point of view with regard to methods of work and chang

362

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

ing standards of fashion is especially important, since the trade so
largely depends upon style. The power to observe and visualize is
probably equally important, since much creative power is the result
of ability to use details with originality. Adaptability is largely a
matter of temperament, but the power to observe and visualize,
though somewhat innate, may be developed by experience and
training.
The essential educational qualifications in all occupations in the trade
are: Evnowledge of arithmetic through fractions and simple per
centage, sufficient English to speak and write clearly, ability to spell
words in common use and names of materials used, and knowledge
of business forms. The difference in the requirements in the various
occupations is the degree to which this knowledge is applied and the
readiness with which it is used.
The demand for young untrained workers is not great. Girls having
no preparation are taken as apprentices during the busy period, and
if they show skill with the needle and talent for the work are per
haps reemployed the next season. Many act as errand girls, how
ever, and are given little opportunity to discover their talent or
improve their skill. Personal neatness, attractiveness in dress and
manner, initiative and alertness are important qualifications. A few
employers say they find these in the high school girl, but usually
education is not taken into account in employing girls for the work
room.
Trained workers with real skill and artistic talent are always in
demand. These may have been trained in the workroom and pro
moted to higher positions as talent and ability justified, but their
promotion is preeminently dependent on the personal and artistic
qualifications described.
It is the custom to send promising workers so promoted to trade
and fashion centers to supplement their training and experience.
Another common method of recruiting workers is to employ trim
mers and designers who have had experience in other cities, and this
is one way in which workers may secure promotion.
The millinery business is carried on in two departments, the work and
sales departments. In shops which make hats to order it is necessary
for the two forces to cooperate closely in order to meet the demands
of trade. The workroom employs, broadly speaking, apprentices,
makers, trimmers and designers, and the salesroom, millinery sales
women.
The apprentice is the untried worker who is taken in to help during
the busy season. For the first few days she is required only to watch
an experienced worker. To test her ability to sew and to handle
materials she is then given some simple work, such as making a
lining or sewing on pieces of silk, chiffon, and velvet. If she shows
interest and ability, she is given more difficult work, such as putting

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SUBVEY OF MINNEAPOLIS, M IN N. 3 6 3

in linings, wiring frames, and making bandeaus. Thus she learns the
millinery stitches, how to measure wires, how to use pliers in cutting
and bending, and how to lap and tie wires.
The very apt apprentice during her first season may learn to
alter and make frames under direction and to assist in covering
hats, particularly the crown. During her second season she is
expected to complete her knowledge of frame making and covering,
including acceptable work on edge finishing, which requires blind
and back stitching. She is also given such work as cutting bias
strips to measure, fine hemming on velvet, silk, or chiffon, making
ornaments for trimming, and pressing in renovating. Six months,
representing two seasons, is required to complete this preliminary
training.
Apprentices are young girls, usually from 16 to 20 years old. Fre
quently they receive no wage the first season, their work being con
sidered payment for their training; sometimes they are given $1 to
$1.50 a week for car fare and lunches. From 50 cents to $1 more
is paid during the second season if their value warrants it. Ex
clusive shops have from two to four apprentices a year, but the
department stores do not like to take them, as too much time is
required to teach them and materials are spoiled.
The maker makes frames of wire, buckram, willow, and rice net,
remodels and alters ready-made frames of all kinds, and prepares
them for covering. She is the skilled mechanic who plans the
cutting of all materials used. To do this, she must know the use
of the grain of the cloth and the right way to use materials having
a nap and those having a figure or design. She must know how to
cut materials economically, and be able to cover all types of hats
and to finish the edges with equal skill in all of the several ways,
which often requires learning new methods each season. She pre
pares such trimmings as folds, rosettes, and buckles, and renovates
hats and trimmings. In addition, she directs and inspects the work
of apprentices in her charge.
Accuracy in measurement and uniform neatness in handling
fabrics and in workmanship are essential. Although expected to
follow the plan of the designer, the maker may be called upon to
use her own ingenuity and judgment in making a hat.
An apprentice may become a maker in two seasons, but it re
quires twice that to acquire the skill of a full-fledged maker. These
workers are the largest group in the trade, there being from two to
four makers to each trimmer or designer during the busy season.
There are approximately 500 in Minneapolis. They are paid $5 to
$15 a week, and are employed at least 26 weeks in the year. A
maker of unusual ability sometimes is employed the year round.
The trimmer may be an order trimmer or a copyist. She plans and
trims hats for special orders. For this she may carry out details

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furnished by the saleswomen, or, with the customer’s preference in
mind and some directions to guide her, she may plan the hat. She
copies pattern hats, following the model exactly or adapting it to
others. The trimmer's art is her ability to choose and combine colors
and materials and arrange them so as to meet individual char
acteristics and tastes and still conform to fashion. Her skill is in
her ability to sew trimmings in place in such a way as to preserve
the style of the hat. She is valued according to her ability and
originality in adapting the features of a good model to the require
ments of her own trade.
There is little pure trade technique which the trimmer can be
taught, although ability to make a hat throughout is considered
necessary. As a rule the trimmer has served two or more seasons as
a maker. She has a thorough knowledge of all types of fabrics and
trimmings and knows how to handle them so as to get the best
effects. This knowledge is best acquired in the workroom. A
knowledge of color harmony, line and proportion, as related to
headdress, whether learned by handling many hats and dealing
with many customers or through instruction in the principles of art,
is the largest factor in her training.
There are approximately 100 trimmers in Minneapolis. Wages
are $15 to $40 a week for 26 working weeks. The trimmer in small
shops may assist in selling and thus prolong the season.
The designer is the creative artist of the trade, but this term is
often a misnomer, since most so-called designers are merely clever
copyists. America is said to have practically no real designers, but
considerable interest is being shown in the development of a national
school of art in dress. The designer goes to New York or European
openings, which precede the retail openings by several weeks, studies
the season’s fashions, copies pattern hats, and selects merchandise for
the season. She studies dresses, suits, and coats also, for she must
make hats to be worn with all types of clothing.
When she returns to her shop, she plans the making of hats for
her local trade, adapting the season’s style to the taste and means of
her patrons. In exclusive shops where the same customers come
year after year she anticipates their desires as far as possible. She
is responsible for the work of her makers and trimmers and, as a
rule, directs the work on all hats. In the small establishments she
may at times do some of the making and trimming, for she is skilled
in all the work of the shop.
It is practically impossible for a woman to hold the position of
designer unless she has the personal and artistic qualifications speci
fied. If she reaches a point when she no longer takes new ideas
readily and her methods become so rigid as to stamp her product
with sameness, her value as a designer is gone. A woman may keep

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365

this freshness of viewpoint for many years or she may lose it after a
few years in trade. The demand for designers has increased greatly
in recent years, and practically every shop must employ at least one
person having talent in this direction. Although the designer does
not necessarily meet the trade, she must have some of the qualifica
tions of the saleswoman, as her product must please the customers
that come to the store.
It is difficult to estimate the number of designers, as many are really
copyists and trimmers. Wages are $25 to $50 a week. Designers are
employed 30 to 40 weeks in the year.
The millinery saleswoman is, as a rule, a trained milliner. In the
larger establishments she devotes all her time to waiting on customers,
but in the small shops she trims as well as sells the hats. She studies
such personal characteristics as size, build, features, and color of eyes
and hair, and the shapes of hats, colors, and styles of trimmings
suited to the various types. The skill of a saleswoman lies in her
ability to recognize type readily, to choose models suited to individual
requirements, and to try them on her customers in such a way as to
display their best points. She must be able to suggest styles of hats,
suitable colors and trimmings, and frequently must take orders for
hats to be made up.
Good appearance and attention to prevailing fashions in dress are
necessary, these points contributing materially to the satisfactory
display of hats. Owing to the increase in factory-made hats of all
kinds, the popularity of the tailor-made hat and the tendency to buy
several hats each season, there is a greater demand proportionately
for saleswomen than for makers and trimmers.
There are estimated to be at least 300 millinery saleswomen in
Minneapolis. In the large establishments employment is practically
constant for a large number of workers, but some are employed for
the season only. Wages are from $5 to $25 a week.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE SUR
VEY, AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SURVEY COMMITTEE.
1. A trade understanding was reached with the employing milliners
of the city as the result of various conferences held by the survey.
This was similar to those arranged for the other trades taught in
the Girls’ Vocational High School. A three months’ probationary
period in the schools is to determine the pupils’ interest and fitness for
the millinery work. After two years of training in the schools, the
girls of the class in millinery are to be placed in the millinery shops
of the city at a beginning wage of not less than $8 a week. The
diploma of the school is to be withheld until proof of satisfactory
work in the trade is furnished at the close of one year. An advisory
committee of employers and employees is to aid the school authori

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ties in standardizing the work of the school; Whenever the condi
tions seem practicable, part-time classes are to be formed for girls
already employed in the business. In Appendix C a more detailed de
scription of these trade agreements is given.
2. In planning preparatory courses and trade extension courses for
millinery, the survey committee believe that the following points
should be kept in mind:
1. The seasonal character of the milliner’s trade, offering for the
ordinary worker only about six months’ employment, is of first im
portance. While it is not yet clear for what other lines of employ
ment girls taking the millinery course should also be prepared in
order that they may have an opportunity for continuous work, the
problem is one toward which the school authorities must be con
stantly awake. Girls who need continuous employment should,
under the present circumstances, be fully informed as to the sea
sonal character of the trade before they enter it or take preparation
for it. It would seem that the largest opportunity for the school
would be to fit girls for rapid advancement into the salesmanship
side of the business, where practically continuous employment can
be had by girls with ability.
2. Since rather definite artistic ability and personal qualifications
are necessary for the greater proportion of millinery workers, the
course should deal with a carefully selected group.
3. During the probationary period the work should be planned
to test artistic appreciation and creative ability in order to discover
pupils showing promise as trimmers or designers.
4. Pupils giving promise only of mechanical skill in making hats
and preparing trimmings should constitute the smaller proportion
of the group.
5. Mechanical workers should be interested in and trained for
factory and wholesale trades in which there is a demand for greater
speed and skill.
6. Training in salesmanship might well be given in connection
with the course in millinery, as many of the workers are called upon
to sell hats.
7. Art courses correlated with millinery should provide for
sketching from models seen in shop windows, designing hats for
various types of dresses and suits, and teachers of both subjects
should cooperate in giving pupils opportunity to design and drape
in fabrics and trimmings.
A course of stndy in millinery was drawn up in conferences by the
survey and has been approved by the trade. This course not only
covers the things which the pupils of the Girls’ Vocational High
School should, in the opinion of the trade, be taught, but offers a
series of short-unit courses which the evening public school classes
might give to those already in the trade.

CHAPTER XVI.
WHAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED FOR THE
KNITTING MILL?

Knitting is one of the largest factory industries in Minneapolis.
The United State Census for 1910 reports 1,926 women and 150 men
employed, more than 60 per cent of whom were in one mill, the larg
est of its kind in the world. Since 1910 the industry has grown ma
terially, especially in two of the larger factories, and one additional
small factory has been established. The greater part of the product
is knitted underwear, though sweaters and hosiery are made.
The demand for workers in all departments of the underwear indus
try has increased greatly in the past five years, and the demand for
experienced workers is greater than available statistics show.
Honrs of work in the knitting industry, as in all factory industries,
are limited to 54 a week. Work begins at 7.30 a. m. and continues
until 6 p. m., with half an hour at noon. By this plan workers have
a half holiday on Saturday, when the factory closes at 12 m. No
overtime is reported; sometimes work is not enough to keep the em
ployees busy the entire day and they go home as soon as their work
is done. These short days affect wages of all pieceworkers and those
on an hourly bads, for they are paid only for work turned in or
hours spent at work.
The underwear industry is less influenced by seasonal demands than
some other branches of the garment industry, though it has slack
seasons when not all workers may be employed full time. The busy
season for winter underwear is the spring and summer, and for sum
mer underwear the fall and winter. As in other garment industries,
employers are trying to distribute work throughout the year so as to
eliminate the slack-season period. This has been accomplished to
a considerable extent by making a greater variety of goods than
formerly.
Most factories close for two weeks in August for the annual va
cation. At this time general repairs are made. Inventory or a
marked change in the management of a department may demand
closing the department for a day or two. Otherwise, employment
is fairly steady throughout the year for most of the workers.
Nearly all wages for knitting, cutting, sewing, pressing, examining,
and boxing is paid for on the piecework basis. Hence earnings vary
according to the skill and speed of the worker. Employees whose

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

work can not be measured by the piece are paid an hourly rate.
Operations which pay much below the average are considered to give
insufficient return to the worker in wages and to the industry in work.
An effort is made to shift misfits among the workers to departments
where there may be a chance to make good.
A system of fines to guard against imperfect work is used in some
factories, a predetermined margin being allowed, but the operator
who turns out uniformly good work gets only the regular rate. To
meet the serious problem of irregular attendance, one firm pays a
semimonthly premium of 5 per cent on the earnings of each employee
who has lost no time in that period. Time lost because of the closing
of the factory is counted against the factory and regular wages are
paid employees for time so lost. Increase in wages is gained, there
fore, through increased amount of piecework and regular attendance
for practically all who work under the piecework system. Hour
rates for others increase in about the same proportion as the earnings
of pieceworkers advance, and in some cases by promotion to a weekly
wage as teacher, forewoman, inspector, or mender.
No organization of manufacturers or employees exists in the knitting
industry in Minneapolis; hence there is no means of collective bar
gaining, though there is some cooperation in setting piecework
prices. Employees are taken into some factories under agreement
binding them to a six days’ notice of intention to leave or forfeiture
of wages for that time. This is held to be justified on the ground
that skill necessary for the performance of the difficult operations
requires a period of learning of from two weeks to two or three
months, according to the type of work. For this the industry pays
the employee 10 cents an hour, though in most cases she earns much
less. Notice of the intention to leave gives the employer time to fill
the place; if such notice is not given, the employer gets small return
on the investment made in the training.
No regular apprenticeship system is used, though an indefinite period
of learning is provided for at a minimum hourly wage of 10 cents, as
stated. Learners in the knitting, cutting, sewing, and pressing de
partments are taught by instructors selected from the most skillful
operators, and further assistance is given, if necessary, by the fore
woman or operator beside whom the worker is placed. None of the
garment factories has a room set apart for training learners. The
short period of instruction and trial on piecework is the only method
for placing them. Attention is also given the size, health, and alert
ness of workers chosen.
Native and European bom persons constitute a very large proportion
of the workers. Many are from the country districts of the State.
There are very few girls just out of school or young employees of any
kind. Practically all the work requires willingness to work steadily,

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369

a quality young people have not, as a rule, during the school age. In
the opinion of some executives, girls under 18, unless strong, active,
and alert, are not desirable workers, and boys under 16 are not suffi
ciently well developed and self-reliant. If this is true, practically
all the preparation for skilled operations will eventually be provided
before regular employment begins. Young men and women who
have accepted the idea of responsibility are given the preference when
new workers are engaged.
Minneapolis employers have given much attention to making their
factories light, comfortable, and well ventilated. Air-washing sys
tems are used in some mills. The overcrowding found in factories in
other large cities is absent here.
In all work where the health might be affected by conditions pecu
liar to the industry, precautions are taken to guard the workers. In
washing and bleaching, and to some extent drying, dampness is unavoidable, though well-drained floors and ventilation to carry off
the moisture are provided. Cloth for boiling is placed in kiers by a
man, who lays it in folds so that space may be well utilized and water
and steam evenly distributed during the process. Men also lay the
wet fabric in folds or piles in other parts of the bleaching. Special
shoes are provided for these employees. It is essential that men em
ployed here should be in good physical condition.
Women who tend the drying machines are somewhat exposed to
dampness, though the fabric is handled almost entirely by machinery.
They are exposed to excessive heat when they enter the machines
for short intervals to straighten out loops of fabric that have become
tangled. Solis of cloth weighing about 35 pounds are handled by the
women in the drying and knitting departments and, although they
are moved only short distances, the 70 to 80 rolls a day represent con
siderable weight. Particles of wool and cotton fiber accumulate to
some extent on the operatives in the knitting departments. It is
l>elieved that these fibers are too large to be inhaled, and hence are
merely unpleasant. The fact that there is less labor “ turnover ” and
a larger proportion of long service in this department tends to verify
this.
There is little ground for the statement frequently made that sew
ing on electric-power machines is necessarily nerve racking or injur
ious. It seems to be so only in overspeeding, something not found in
Minneapolis knitting mills. Opinions among operatives as to the
extent the noises “ get on their nerves” vary, as far as can be deter
mined without tests, according to temperament.
Some workers are temperamentally nervous and jerky in their
movements, and as far as possible these are placed in jobs which affect
this tendency less. Some workers stand constantly, some sit con428050— Bull. 199— 17-- 2 4 .

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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

stantlv, and others sit and stand intermittently. It is impossible
to ascertain without tests the length of time a worker should remain
without interruption in one position. More and more attention is
being given to these problems, and employers are realizing the im
portance of eliminating any excess of effort which tends to impair the
worker’s present physical condition or risk her health for the future.
The knitting industry presents no problems materially different
from those in other employment involving similar conditions. A bet
ter knowledge as to the demands which occupations may make upon
them is greatly needed by workers. Sight habits of sitting and stand
ing and adherence to simple rules of diet and hygiene would go far
to help workers in the knitting mills, as well as others