One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

Chapter LIV: Appendix: On Forestry Schools and Courses (7)

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Qualifications include high-grade intelligence and a knowledge of drafting. Although designing is a question largely of artistic sense, the designer should have had some experience in connection with the making of garments, and especially with the laying out of patterns and the cutting of cloth.

PLAN No. 1240. CUTTING

In all of these industries cutting is done almost exclusively by men, and consists of marking, laying up, and cutting textiles in accordance with specific patterns. It is the most skillful and responsible of all the occupations for the reason that upon the quality of the cutting depends not only the appearance of the garment, but also, to a considerable extent, its cost, inasmuch as the ability of the cutter to lay out economically his pattern determines the amount of cloth that is consumed. Cutting is the only occupation of the garment trades in which an apprenticeship is required.

Considerable intelligence, accuracy, and a steady hand, with ordinary strength is required for the work.

PLAN No. 1241. SAMPLE MAKING

Sample making is done by _men_ and _women_, and consists of making samples of new garments from models furnished by the designer. This work calls for tailors (males, usually, in the cloak and suit industry) and operators (usually females, in the other industries) of rather exceptional ability and skill. Sample making occupies a small number of workers for a short time at the beginning of each season, the makers of samples being recruited temporarily from among the more expert tailors and operators.

The sample maker must have ordinary strength and ability, and must be an all-round tailor.

PLAN No. 1242. OPERATING

Operating is done by _men_ and _women_, and consists of sewing the parts of a garment together, by machine, as they come from the cutting department. In most instances it is one of the least-skilled occupations, manned to a considerable extent by inexperienced, recently-arrived immigrants. Except in the cloak and suit industry, where the greater part of the operating is done by men, the operators in these industries are predominantly female.

Speed and manual dexterity are essential. The operator must be able to stand the nervous strain of the noisy machine and of intense application to rapid work.

PLAN No. 1243. BASTING

In the cloak, suit, and skirt industry, and in the dress and waist industry, basting is done mostly by _females_, and consists of roughly sewing together by hand (“basting”) the partly finished garment, for the purpose of placing it, at times, on a dummy figure or living model, so that careful examination may be made by the tailor or sample maker of the character of the work at various stages of manufacture. In the cloak and suit industry approximately two-thirds and in the other industries almost all of these workers are women.

PLAN No. 1244. PRESSING

Pressing is done by _males_ and _females_ and consists of pressing out with a hot press or iron the seams and various parts of a garment after they have been put together by the operators--except in the case of the part presser, who is required to press out pieces, such as sleeves, pockets, collars, cuffs, and belts. The under presser presses the garment before it is lined, and the upper presser, the most skilled of the three, presses the finished garment, shaping and molding it, to some extent, into the finished product. In the cloak and suit industry, where the irons used, as well as the textiles, are rather heavy, pressing is done almost exclusively by men.

More than average strength is required for pressing and ability to stand while at work; also ability to handle a pressing machine.

EXAMINING

The examiner looks over the garment in the process of manufacturing or when it is completed, to discover defects and ascertain whether the shape is correct. This is an important position, as it entails considerable responsibility for the quality of the garments manufactured. _Men_ and _women_ both are employed.

The examiner must be an experienced operator on the garments, and should have had enough experience at examining to know the various styles and designs.

HOW MEN ARE PAID

In the clothing industries men are paid either by time or by piece. The difference in these two systems of payment amounts to very little. Under the time system wages remain unchanged from day to day even though the product varies, and under the piece system as the product increases wages increase proportionally. But the minimum and maximum amount of work insisted upon in one instance by the employees and in the other by the employers make the actual difference in wages received under the two systems almost negligible. The tendency is to base all wages upon time, as this does away in some degree with the dangers of speeding up and with the difficulties of adjustment.

The quantity and quality of the work is so important in the garment trades that it is characterized by a range of wages rather than by a fixed rate. The highest paid men are the designers, who make from $50 a week in the smaller shops to $12,000 a year in the shops of custom tailors. Foremen are paid $25 to $75 a week. Cutters receive wages ranging from $20 to $50 a week. The average cutter receives $35 a week. Pressers make about $33 a week, and machine operators $25, though some shops report wages up to $60 a week for some of their operators, which means much speeding up and overtime work.

Workers on women’s clothes are better paid than those who work on men’s.

HOW MEN ARE TRAINED

Not much attention has been given to the training of garment workers, though many employers are realizing the necessity for the workers to have a knowledge of English, an understanding of the fundamental principles of arithmetic, and some industrial information.

Factory schools have been organized in some instances and workers are allowed to take some of their working time to attend the classes.

Adaptability, general intelligence, skill, precision, and speed are important in the making of a good workman.

The designers, who have been called the “autocrats of the trade,” need, in addition to a native gift of creative art, some knowledge of the technical processes of cutting and sewing, and a course in drafting. Schools of design give courses, but the majority of designers are foreigners, and but few Americans enter this trade.

Cutters are sometimes trained in schools organized for the purpose, though often they learn as apprentices, paying from $50 to $150 for the instruction. From 6 to 20 weeks is the time usually required to learn the trade.

Pressers work a few weeks on seams, and after about a year become responsible pressers on high-grade garments.

The only training necessary for a machine operator in factory work is instruction in power sewing-machine operating. Training for the majority of the processes is given in the shop, and the length of time required depends in a great measure upon the ability of the worker to learn.

The requirements for acceptable workers in the clothing industries may be summed up as follows: Ability to run a power sewing machine, general intelligence sufficient to understand simple directions, and health and strength to work full time for six days a week.

CONDITIONS OF WORK

Overcrowding, overwork, and underfeeding are often evidenced by the pallor of the operatives; and the undue prevalence of tuberculosis, neurasthenia, and anemia among them clearly show that the constrained position, exposure to dust and fumes from leaky gas tubing, insufficient lighting facilities and ventilation found in many of the smaller shops are conditions yet to be remedied before the garment industries can receive an unqualified recommendation as suitable for a disabled man.

However, men in the clothing industry work under more favorable conditions than formerly. The “sweat shop” is a thing of the past. The efforts of joint boards of sanitary control in New York City have, by educating both employers and employees, done much toward mitigating the intolerable conditions which existed in the early days. Tenement-house regulations and State laws of inspection have proved beneficial and have abolished many evils of the old shop. Laws prohibiting isolated home work have forced the contractors to secure better outside shops. Home shops now must not be connected with living quarters, and consequently they are often found in the upper floors of warehouses or factories, roomy and well ventilated. Factories where the better grade of work is done have their own “inside shops” built for the purpose and therefore more satisfactory. The workers themselves are often to blame for the bad air in their workroom, because of their careless waste of gas from the pressing iron or their fear of open windows.

The shortening of the working day also signifies progress in the clothing industries, and the welfare of the worker is now given fair consideration in many instances. Some factories plan the routing of work with a view to relaxation of the worker, and some require operators to get materials from a near-by table, or to go to the supply room for such things as thread, buttons, and trimmings. Even these small practices give relief from the fatigue of sitting constantly at a machine.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DISABLED

Occupations in garment making are largely nonhazardous. Handling heavy rolls of material, climbing ladders to hang shrunken goods to dry, testing heating apparatus for pressing irons, managing the knives of cutting machines, are all accompanied by some danger, but accidents as serious may occur in the daily occupations of any home.

Yet it may fairly be said that the clothing industries offer only small inducements to the handicapped. The man who has lost a leg would hardly choose to be a cutter, a presser, or an examiner, since much standing is required of these workers. Nevertheless, a well-fitting artificial leg might enable him to do any of this work successfully. Machine operating, a sitting-down job, might appeal to him. A man with both legs amputated could run a power machine. A man with an arm gone or with eyesight impaired would not find employment in the clothing industries suitable, for the use of both hands and good eyesight are essentials in the trades generally.

The lint which constantly flies in the air of the shop is bad for the lungs, and catarrhal conditions of the nose and throat, as well as tuberculosis, are prevalent among the workers. Nevertheless, one who understands the difficulties and the drawbacks of the garment trades, as well as its advantages, makes the following statement:

“I do not think that the clothing trade per se is injurious except for the possible slight dust and the stooping posture. I have also no doubt that the trade could be made so hygienic as to enable a post-tuberculous person to work a limited number of hours. There are, of course, some processes, like pressing, which it may not be advisable for post-tuberculous persons to engage in. Most of the work in clothing shops consists in the operator guiding various clothing material under the needle of the machine. This by itself should not be injurious. There are also other processes, like sewing on buttons, either by machine or by hand, which have very few harmful features in them.

“I should say that soldiers whose legs are not functioning could well be taught to work on electrically-driven machines with benefit to themselves and to the industry.”

Neurasthenics should avoid employment in these trades, as nervous disorders are intensified by the noise, close confinement, and intense application which the work involves. Pressers suffer from flat foot because of their constant standing, but otherwise they are quite robust, which is an indication that this work is not too severe for men who are physically below par.

GOOD FARMERS SHOULD NOT TRY TO BECOME TAILORS

In most cases the returned soldier whose disability necessitates a change of employment will, in choosing a new occupation, turn from the clothing industries as unsuitable for him. The needle is not an attractive tool to men unless they have been raised in the atmosphere of the tailor shop. It is with no desire to make tailors of farmers, sewing-machine operators of truck drivers, that opportunities in the clothing industries are here described. If a man has other talents, by all means let him cultivate them and leave the garment trades to those qualified for those trades by experience and aptitude.

There has been improvement in working conditions in recent years. This has resulted in part from superior organization within the industries themselves, better adjustment, increase in product, and improved machinery and skill, all of which have led to increased wages and better living conditions for the workers.

The small amount of capital required to organize the business attracts many, but success can come only if good judgment is exercised.

As has been noted, these industries attract the immigrant worker largely, and the Jew looks upon entrance into some one of the garment trades as a first step on the way to managing a small shop of his own.

For the unskilled worker the garment trades offer fair wages, though wages are not quite as high as in other similar trades. Chance of promotion is small, and the working week is 44 hours. Serious disabilities are great handicaps in the garment trades.

Previous experience, a working knowledge of the trade, and skill in some of the better processes would be the only legitimate reasons for offering the opportunities of the garment-making industries to a returned disabled soldier.

PLAN No. 1245. PODIATRY AS A VOCATION

The wise man will not come to a hurried conclusion in deciding his life work. A false start in life is frequently the undoing of an individual because misapplied ambition often eventuates in indifference. Therefore, it is well to weigh the pros and cons of so momentous a consideration, and the following is presented in the hope that it may prove of service in studying one phase of activities in that connection:

WHAT IS PODIATRY?

Podiatry means the care of the human foot in health and in disease. The intelligent practice of podiatry constitutes the practitioner a specialist in this branch of medicine.

SPECIALISTS IN MEDICINE

In recent years those educated and equipped as doctors of medicine, in many instances, particularly in the larger cities, have devoted themselves to some special branch, and so it is that we have laryngologists (throat), otologists (ear), urologists (male organs of generation), gynaecologists (female organs of generation), oculists (eye), orthopaedists (deformities), odontologists (teeth), and many others who specialize in some one particular field of medicine. Strange as it may seem, physicians, other than orthopædists, have never specialized in foot lesions, and the work of the latter in that field has been merely incidental.

THE GENESIS OF CHIROPODY

In consequence, a group of non-medical practitioners, styling themselves chiropodists, assumed to care for the foot woes of the public. They claimed no scientific knowledge of the feet, but announced their ability, acquired in the school of experience, to care for the minor foot-ills of the public which were largely induced by the wearing of badly constructed foot-gear. These practitioners were primarily usually itinerants. They went about from town to town carrying their kits, which contained knives and medications which they and their predecessors had found useful in plying their craft. They flourished in England in the eighteenth and in the nineteenth centuries, and soon after our government was founded they began to appear in the larger centers of the United States.

The knowledge which they acquired was imparted to their apprentices, who were usually their offspring, and so this practice was largely handed down from father to son.

CHIROPODY DEVELOPMENT

In 1895 they had grown so numerous in New York City that they organized a State Society and the State legislature chartered their organization and gave them power to license others who wished to practice similarly. Many other states gradually enacted like laws.

In 1912 the Pedic Society of the State of New York again went to the legislature and secured the passage of a law which required academic qualifications of students of chiropody and established a standard for chiropody teaching institutions.

The law also provided that no person should practice chiropody after that date, unless previously licensed, who failed to pass a state chiropody licensing examination conducted by the State Board of Medical Examiners. Since then twenty-three other commonwealths in the United States have passed similar laws.

Recently the term podiatry was made synonymous with chiropody in several states. Thus, from a trade, chiropody has been transformed into a scientific branch of medicine.

SCHOOLS AND THEIR CURRICULA

The teaching schools have faculties made up of doctors of medicine, chemists and podiatrists. The outlined courses of study include instruction in the following topics: Anatomy, Histology, Chemistry, Physiology, Hygiene, Materia Medica, Therapeutics, Pharmacy, Surgery, Bacteriology, Pathology, Dermatology, The Principles of Medicine, Ethics, The History of Podiatry, Foot-Gear, Orthopedics, Massage, Electro-Therapeutics, Posture Studies and X-Ray work.

No man should take up a career in podiatry unless he is prepared to devote all of his energy to his studies because the work accomplished in the course, as it is at present carried on, crowds the equivalent of two years at a medical school into the one year of podiatry. This means unusual application because the work must be accomplished or the student fails to graduate.

STUDENTS

There are three classes of students: Regular, Special and Post-graduate.

_Regular Students_ must have academic qualifications in keeping with the standards adopted by the various state education authorities. In most of the states two years of high school work, or its equivalent in academic counts, are pre-requisites. This standard is being advanced each year until all regular students in all schools will have to have a minimum education of graduation from a high school or its equivalent in academic counts.

_Special Students_ are admitted to these teaching schools without academic qualifications. They may take the full course, but cannot graduate from the schools which they attend, nor can they practice in any state where laws regulating the practise of chiropody are on the Statute books. Provision has been made to educate these special students so that those contemplating practice in the states and countries where there are at present no laws governing chiropody may secure the knowledge imparted in the schools. It is fair to assume that within the next five years every state in the United States will have a law governing chiropody practice whereupon those from foreign countries only will be admitted to the course as special students.

_Post-graduate Students._ Practitioners of medicine or of chiropody, who have been reputably engaged as such for at least six months, and who wish to acquire the knowledge imparted to the regular students so that they may become better fitted for their vocations, are eligible as post-graduate students.

DURATION OF COURSE

In most of the established schools of chiropody the day course is of from eight to nine months’ duration. The hours are as follows: from 9 A. M. to 12, from 1 to 5 P. M., and during the last three months of the course, additionally, from 7:30 to 10 P. M.

The night course is of two years’ duration, three hours each night for eight months in each year.

DEGREES

Graduates of the various schools receive titles and degrees. Some of the schools give the degree of D.S.C. (Doctor of Surgical Chiropody); others the title of M.Cp. (Master of Chiropody).

LICENSE TO PRACTICE

Before admission to practice, graduates must pass an examination conducted by the State Board of Medical Examiners in the state in which they desire to engage in practice. The conditions as to admission for licensing examination vary in the different states, as there is at present no reciprocity in chiropody licensure.

REQUISITES FOR SUCCESS

The requisites for success in podiatry study and practice are not trifling. Primarily the student should have the feeling that he is engaging in a calling in which he can be of service to his fellowman. The draft and the war itself have proved that the foot has been a very much neglected factor in the physical care of humankind. Draft statistics show a large percentage of rejections because of foot defects, and the casual lists in actual warfare are filled with the names of those who have fallen out of the ranks because of impaired locomotion.

A large part of podiatry instruction is devoted to the prevention of foot lesions, so that the child from its first step will be safeguarded against the conditions which have led to the creation of such a large percentage of foot cripples. This in itself is a humanitarian task and those contemplating entering upon a career in podiatry should be sympathetic with that particular and all-important phase of the work. Again, the podiatrist in his daily practice is called upon to relieve suffering and that aspect of his activities should be a heartening influence to the developing practitioner as it will prove a consolation to him when once he is licensed to pursue his calling.

DESIRABILITY OF MECHANICAL KNOWLEDGE

As much of the actual practice, both preventive and curative, has to do with surgical endeavors, the prospective student should have an aptitude for mechanics.

PHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS

The practice of medicine presumes a vigorous body as well as a virile mind, and it is best for every man in every life engagement to be so equipped; but those whose physical condition is impaired so that locomotion and other normal functions are impeded can readily engage in podiatry because most of the work is carried on in the office and can be done while seated and during limited hours.

POSSIBLE ASSETS

Those who have studied chemistry or pharmacy or have been associated with hospital work will find themselves possessing valuable assets in the study and in the practice of podiatry.

CHOICE OF LOCATION

There are failures and successes in every field, professional and otherwise. It is, however, axiomatic that a podiatrist who knows his work and applies himself in the proper field will succeed as a breadwinner. The selection of a location is of the greatest importance. Graduates of the various schools, in the main, have located in the larger cities. This is frequently an error because competition with those already engaged in practice who have a standing and a following is thus inevitable and the advance of the younger practitioner is consequently curtailed.

Those graduates who have located in cities of from 25,000 to 100,000 inhabitants have invariably succeeded from the start. The most successful of these have been those who have sought out the practicing physicians and have convinced them that they are not mere “corn cutters,” but scientific practitioners of a legitimate branch of medicine.

THE INCOME FROM PODIATRY PRACTICE

It is current belief that the average podiatrist enjoys a greater income than the average physician. There are no statistics available to confirm or to disprove this conclusion. In order that some idea on this point may be gained, the incomes of some of the members of the first graduating class of one of the podiatry schools of prominence are here given:

1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year
No. 1 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $4,000 $5,000
2 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000
3 1,300 1,800 2,500 4,000 4,800
4 800 2,000 3,000 4,000 4,700
5 1,200 1,800 2,000 3,000 3,400
[44]6 800 1,200 1,700 2,300 2,800
[44]7 800 1,000 1,400 1,800 2,800

[44] A woman graduate.

PHYSICIANS’ CO-OPERATION

Once the co-operation of the physician is secured, success is assured. Some practitioners in towns of from 15,000 to 35,000 have in three years gained sufficient practise through the aid of medical practitioners to make their incomes from $2,000 to $5,000.

THE PERSONAL EQUATION

The personal equation is a great factor in this as in all other life spheres. The likeable man or woman with a modicum of other attributes will invariably succeed. When such a person possesses qualities which, when applied, prove helpful to his fellows, the limit of his earning capacity can only be measured by the hours he can serve and the population of the center in which he carries on his practice.

PODIATRY IS ETHICAL

Podiatry, as taught to-day, frowns down upon all unethical methods and disavows the charlatan. Its exponents and its loyal followers are keen as to the need for scrupulous care in the education of its students and the conduct of its practitioners. It strives to be classified as a dignified branch of medicine and fosters a literature that is strictly scientific.

PODIATRY ORGANIZATIONS

Podiatry has a national organization whose purposes are for the benefit of the profession, based upon the good which they can accomplish in serving the public. It has a state society in almost every commonwealth in the United States, and local societies flourish in every populous city.

PROFESSIONAL ADVANCEMENT

The scope of the podiatrists’ professional labors is continuously being enlarged by legal enactments and, where deserved, medical practitioners recommend them to their patients as foot specialists. In a number of well-known hospitals, podiatrists are attached to the medical staff, thus proving that physicians in groups are beginning to recognize the need for the services which these practitioners supply. In another year the course of study in most of the schools will be prolonged to two years and ultimately the specialist in foot lesions will be a licensed practitioner of medicine, equipped as is every other specialist in medicine.

IS THERE A DEMAND FOR PODIATRISTS?

In all of the large cities of the United States and of Europe chiropodists have been in demand for the past century. The need for foot-care is daily becoming more pronounced. Now that physicians can and do recommend their patients to chiropodists who have been scientifically trained in their calling, the need for such practitioners is rapidly growing.

The public is growing to recognize the need of both preventive care and curative treatment of the minor ills of this part of the anatomy and the properly educated, well equipped, efficient podiatrist is in great demand.

There is no scientific school for educating such practitioners in the world outside the United States.[45] In consequence, hundreds of such practitioners would also find need for their services along the lane of European travel, once it is restored. South American capitals, with large populations of foreigners, would likewise prove splendid fields for podiatrists.

[45] English practitioners laid the foundation for a School of
Podiatry in 1914, but owing to the war with the Central powers, their
efforts have been temporarily checked.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO ESTABLISH A PRACTICE?

The answer to this natural inquiry depends largely upon the place of location, the experience and the personality of the practitioner. If one locates in a city where he is the only scientifically equipped podiatrist, assuming that he is properly equipped, recognition by both medical men and by the laity should promptly be accorded and that in turn would mean success.

If a graduate locates in a metropolitan city unheralded and unsung, his advance may be exceedingly slow and like the general practitioner of medicine, similarly situated, it may take considerable time for him to make a name and a career for himself.

If the experience of the new podiatrist has been augmented by application in a clinic or in the service of an older practitioner as an assistant (and such assistants earn from $25 to $50 per week in wages), such experience is largely helpful, not only in inspiring confidence, but in securing results. If the personality of a practitioner is such as to prove repellent to his patients, his path will be a difficult one. If, on the other hand, he is of pleasing personality, he will make friends and will increase his list of patients.

WHERE PODIATRY (CHIROPODY) IS REGULATED BY LAW?

The following commonwealths have passed laws regulating the practice of chiropody (podiatry) and those desiring specific information as to the details of the same in any given state should address the person whose name follows the state, as here recorded:

California--Chas. B. Pinkham, M.D., 125 Stockton St., San Francisco.

Colorado--David A. Strickley, M.D., 612 Empire Bldg., Denver.

Connecticut--Chas. A. Tuttle, M.D., New Haven.

District of Columbia--Commissioner of Education.

Illinois--C. St. Clair Drake, M.D., Springfield.

Louisiana--E. L. Leckert, M.D., 716 Macheca Bldg., New Orleans.

Maryland--J. P. McScott, M.D., Hagerstown.

Massachusetts--Walter P. Bowers, State House, Boston.

Michigan--B. D. Harrison, M.D., Detroit.

Minnesota--Thomas McDavitt, M.D., St. Paul.

Nebraska--H. B. Cummings, M.D., State Board of Health, Seward.

New Hampshire--Henry C. Morrison, M.D., Concord.

New Jersey--Alex. McAllister, Trenton.

New York--State Education Dept., Albany.

North Carolina--B. K. Hayes, M.D., Oxford.

Ohio--George H. Matson, M.D., Columbus.

Pennsylvania--N. C. Shaeffer, M.D., Harrisburg.

Rhode Island--Gardner T. Swarts, M.D., State House, Providence.

Vermont--W. Scott Nay, M.D., Underhill.

Virginia--J. N. Barney, M.D., Fredericksburg.

Washington--C. N. Suttner, M.D., Walla Walla.

West Virginia--S. L. Jeptson, M.D., Wheeling.

Wisconsin--J. M. Beffel, M.D., Milwaukee.

PODIATRY TEACHING INSTITUTIONS

The following are the Schools of Chiropody (Podiatry), in the order of their creation:

The First Institute of Podiatry--213-17 W. 125th St., New York City.

Chiropody Dept., Temple University--18 Buttonwood St., Philadelphia,
Pa.

California College of Chiropody--908 McAllister St., San Francisco.

Illinois College of Chiropody--1321 N. Clark St., Chicago, Ill.

Ohio College of Chiropody--Cleveland, O.

Chiropody Dept., University of Massachusetts--Fourth and Otis Sts.,
Cambridge, Mass.

Catalogs of each of the above can be had on writing to the addresses given.

The Minnesota College of Chiropody is making ready to open up its doors October next. Information as to its plans and purposes can be secured by addressing Ralph St. John Perry, M.D., Pilsbury Bldg., Minneapolis, Minn.

PLAN No. 1246. FLOUR MILLING

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This monograph was prepared by J. A. LeClerc, chemist in charge of the laboratory of plant chemistry, Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture. Acknowledgment is due M. A. Gray, chemist of the Pillsbury Flour Co., Minneapolis, and Prof. C. H. Bailey, of the University of Minnesota, for assistance in the preparation of this article.

Modern flour milling dates back to the early eighties of the last century. Before that time, a good white flour was indeed made, but the machinery used consisted generally of two grooved stones, between which the wheat was crushed and the flour extracted. To-day in all mills of this country, except in some of the backwoods, and in some of the small mills, flour is made by the so-called gradual reduction process which consists in the use of an elaborate system or steel rolls and of an equally complicated system of purifiers and bolting machines. The flour made to-day is whiter and much freer from the bran and fibrous material than was the flour made with burr stones. While milling relates to the production of flour from all kinds of grains, flour milling, unless so stated, means wheat milling and it is wheat flour milling that is meant throughout this monograph, when milling is mentioned. If you are interested in milling you may want to know the answers to the following questions:

1. What is milling, and what kind of work is carried on in a flour mill?

2. What physical disabilities will bar one from successfully pursuing any one of the various occupations connected with milling; what handicaps are serious?

3. What education and apprentice training are required, and where to get training?

4. What salaries or wages are generally paid, and what are the chances for promotion?

5. How many hours per day do millers work?

6. What personal characteristics and qualifications should be possessed?

7. Where do millers work, and in what section of the country is milling mostly done?

8. What need is there for millers, i. e., is there a large open field in this occupation?

In the United States there are about 7,000 merchant mills grinding wheat flour. Their total output is about 120,000,000 barrels per year. They require about 550,000,000 bushels of wheat. Thus it is seen that to produce 1 barrel of flour about 4.7 bushels of wheat must be milled. Milling may be quite simple or most complicated, depending upon the kind and size of mill operated and the quality of the flour to be made. A good sized mill will require men to perform the following kinds of work here described.

It should be stated, right here, that several of these occupations may be carried on by one and the same man, especially in the smaller mills.

UNLOADER[46]

_Description_: The unloader unloads the wheat or other flour products from the cars by use of the power scoop, shovel, or other means.

_Qualifications_: He must be physically strong and have good lungs.

[46] These descriptions are taken from the pamphlet entitled
“Descriptions of Occupations in Flour Milling,” published by the
Department of Labor.

UNLOADER FOREMAN

_Description_: The foreman unloader directs the work of the gang which unloads the wheat from the cars. He must plan their work according to the number of cars and keep records of the car numbers.

_Qualifications_: Ordinary strength and ability. He should have worked as unloader.

_Schooling_: He must have education enough to keep simple records.

LOADER

_Kindred occupation_: Unloader.

_Description_: The loader, under the direction of the loader foreman, loads bags, boxes, and barrels of the finished products into cars.

_Qualifications_: He should be able to load cars so that goods will not be damaged in transit. He must be physically strong and have good lungs.

LOADER FOREMAN

_Description_: The loader foreman directs the work of the loading gang. He plans his work according to the size and capacity of the cars, sees that the cars are properly loaded, and keeps such records as are necessary.

_Qualifications_: He should have worked as a loader and should have executive ability sufficient to direct a gang of laborers.

_Schooling_: Common school.

ELEVATOR MAN

_Description_: The elevator man carries out the instructions of the foreman, seeing that wheat flows through the proper spouts into proper bins for storage. He keeps a record of the wheat stored and delivered, and is responsible for delivering and reporting all the trouble with elevator machinery or spouts. This latter is his chief responsibility.

_Qualifications_: Should have had previous milling experience. Ordinary ability. Strong lungs to withstand the dust.

_Schooling_: Common school.

ELEVATOR FOREMAN

_Description_: The elevator foreman is responsible for and is in charge of taking the wheat into the elevator. He inspects the wheat for correct dockage and directs the storage of the wheat according to the grade or quality. He keeps a record of receipts of wheat, of the tests, the weights, and of the disposition of the various lots. Where dockage is necessary he holds the cars for adjustment. This position is one of the most responsible in the flour mill.

_Qualifications_: Executive ability; knowledge of weights and measures. He must be a skilled grader of wheat by sight and feel. Must be able to keep records and figures and percentages. Should have a thorough knowledge of the Federal and State grades.

_Schooling_: Common school; preferably high school.

BLENDER

_Description_: The blender mixes different grades of wheat flour, or wheat flour and coarse-grain flour in designated proportions.

_Qualifications_: He must understand the character of the different grades of wheat flour and coarse-grain flours, and must know how to combine the various grades of flour in proper proportions.

_Schooling_: Common school; preferably high school.

ROLL TENDER--CLEANING MACHINE TENDERS

_Kindred Occupation_: Oiler.

_Description_: The roll tender must see that all oil and grease cups about the milling rolls are filled and that all the bearings and boltings are properly lubricated. He keeps his machinery wiped clean of dust and grease and reports any mechanical trouble to the miller or the millwright. Men are always employed.

_Qualifications_: He must be intelligent and active and have some mechanical ability.

_Schooling_: Common school.

OILER

_Kindred occupation_: Roll tender.

_Description_: The oiler must see that all oil and grease cups about the shafting and milling machinery are filled and that all bearings are being properly lubricated. He keeps his machinery wiped clean of dust and grease, and reports any mechanical trouble to the miller or millwright. Calls for considerable climbing overhead.

_Qualifications_: He must be active and have some mechanical ability.

_Schooling_: Common school.

SWEEPER

_Description_: The sweeper keeps the floors clean of flour, wheat, and dust and keeps the machines clean. This necessitates climbing on ladders and running boards.

_Qualifications_: Ordinary ability and strong lungs to withstand the large amount of dust.

SMUTTER

_Description_: The smutter prepares the wheat for grinding into flour by running it over separators to screen out foreign matter. He must examine the stock for dirt, determine whether the screening is resulting in waste of wheat, and make adjustments in his machine to secure the proper screening. He also supervises the work of the sweepers, oilers, and helpers on his floor.

_Qualifications_: He should have strong lungs to withstand dust. Should have mechanical ability and must understand the screening of wheat and adjusting of the machines.

_Schooling_: Common school.

GRINDER

_Description_: The grinder has charge of the milling rolls. He sets his machine or adjusts the rolls for grinding, watches the process to see that proper operation goes on, and tests the stock occasionally to make sure that it is being ground properly. This work is done practically on one floor, with very little climbing.

_Qualifications_: Must have strong lungs to withstand the dust. He must be an experienced grinder of wheat. Must know how to set his machine and know by testing when the grinding is being properly done.

_Schooling_: Common school.

BOLTER AND PURIFIER

_Description_: The bolter sifts the wheat stock in the sifting machines, tests the broken wheat stock as it comes from the grinder, and adjusts the feed slides and keeps the machines in proper operation so that they will take in only as much stock as it can properly sift. He must sometimes inform the grinder as to the proper fineness of the stock. He does not fix or oil his machine, but must understand its mechanism. The work is dusty. Mostly floor work, but some climbing on ladders and running boards.

_Qualifications_: Ordinary ability. Strong lungs. He must be experienced in operating the bolting machine; must understand the testing of the broken wheat stock and the adjustment of slides controlling the feed.

MILLER, SECOND OR TRICK MILLER

_Description_: The second miller acts for the miller in overseeing all of the processes in cleaning, grinding, and bolting. He plans the work and teaches new men. He is required to figure and keep a record of the yield of flour and feed. He has full charge during the absence of the head miller.

_Qualifications_: Should have strong lungs to withstand the dust. Since he is in line for promotion to head miller, he should have the same qualifications. The loss of one or more limbs or an eye, or being afflicted with rheumatism would prove a serious handicap to an operative miller, particularly while in training, as an apprentice is required to do considerable climbing. No tubercular person should try to become a miller.

_Schooling_: Common school; preferably high school.

MILLER, HEAD

_Kindred occupations_: Second miller.

_Description_: The head miller is responsible for all the processes of milling, for the output, and for the grade of flour produced. He must have a thorough knowledge of all processes of milling and of wheat grading.

_Qualifications_: He must have a thorough knowledge of all milling machinery and of the “flow” of the mill. He should have worked as second miller for several years. This is a very highly skilled occupation, and requires a great deal of trade knowledge, mechanical ability, and executive ability. Good strong lungs. See disqualifications for second miller.

_Schooling_: Common school; preferably high school.

SPOUTER

_Description_: The spouter is responsible for the uninterrupted flow of flour and feed stock through the spouts, and it is his duty to see that all valves, slides, etc., are in their proper position.

_Qualifications_: He should have a thorough knowledge of the flow of the mill and be able to remedy choke-ups or spouting troubles with the quickest possible dispatch. The work requires skill and mechanical ability, and requires a man who has worked in other milling positions. He should be intelligent, active, a good observer, and should have good lungs.

_Schooling_: Common school.

PACKER

_Description_: The packer tends the machine which fills the bag, packages, and barrels with the finished product. Men are employed when the product is packed into large bags and barrels. Women are employed when the small packages and cartons are filled.

_Qualifications_: He must be able to weigh skillfully and rapidly and when filling bags he must be able to use the bag needle with skill and be able to operate a bag-closing machine. He should also be able to insert barrel heads quickly when filling barrels. He should be able to make minor repairs and adjustments. He should be able to keep records and make simple computations of the stock packed. He must be intelligent and strong physically.

_Schooling_: Common school.

PACKER FOREMAN

_Kindred occupation_: Packer.

_Description_: The packer foreman has charge of the work of the packers. He is responsible for the proper packing of the product and the proper weight of the bags, packages, and barrels.

_Qualifications_: Ordinary strength. He should have had experience as a packer. He must be able to figure and render accurate account of the output of the machine under his supervision. He must have the ability to make adjustments and repairs on the machines.

_Schooling_: Common school.

TRUCKER

_Description_: The trucker pushes or pulls trucks of flour or feed from the packers to the warehouse or to the cars, or from the warehouse to the cars; also performs other general labor about the warehouse or cars as directed by the warehouse foreman.

_Qualifications_: Good physical strength.

MILLWRIGHT

_Kindred occupations_: Spouter.

_Description_: The millwright is responsible for the upkeep of the mill in general and for all trouble with the spouting, milling machinery, and equipment. He repairs, installs, or takes out machinery, equipment, or spouting under direction of the head miller.

_Qualifications_: He must be a highly skilled wood and sheet metal worker, and must have a general knowledge of all the milling processes. He should have had experience as carpenter, metal worker, and spouter, also knowledge of belting, and machine repairing. He should have good lungs.

_Schooling_: Common school.

SACK MAN

_Description_: The sack man has complete charge of the stock of unfilled flour and feed sacks, bags, cartons, and barrels. It is his duty to keep the packers supplied with the proper kind and number of sacks, bags, cartons, and barrels.

_Qualifications_: He must be able to render reports of the supplies received and used, and to render accurate inventory of the supplies on hand. He must be intelligent, accurate, and attentive to duty.

_Schooling_: Common school.

SACK SEWER

_Description_: The sack sewer repairs sacks by hand or on a sewing machine, and does other required sewing.

_Qualifications_: He must be able to do plain hand sewing or use a sewing machine.

WAREHOUSE FOREMAN

_Kindred occupation_: Packer foreman.

_Description_: The warehouse foreman has charge of the warehouse and has general supervision of all truckers and packers. He superintends the loading of all cars, and issues packing instructions to the packer foreman. He must keep strict account of all cars placed at the warehouse for loading and unloading, and must be able to make out various reports, such as those relating to the loading of cars, the delivery of goods, and the inventory of stock.

_Qualifications_: This position is one of responsibility and requires a responsible man who has executive ability and who has had previous high-grade warehouse experience. He must have a high degree of intelligence and be physically strong.

_Schooling_: Common school; preferably high school.

TRICK MILLER, OR SECOND MILLER

_Description_: Supervises the mill on a particular watch; responsible to the head miller; takes the lead in adjusting trouble at any particular point; presence required in all parts of the mill.

_Qualifications_: Like those for miller.

_Schooling_: Common school.

The following occupations--unloader, loader, elevator man, sweeper, smutter, sack man, trucker--may be classified as unskilled, and the men who work in these occupations work under immediate direction of their foreman.

The following occupations--unloader foreman, loader foreman, elevator foreman, warehouse foreman--may also be considered unskilled, but they are filled by men who are able to direct operations of the first group.

The oiler, roll tender, blender, grinder, bolter, spouter, packer, packer foreman, sack sewer, and millwright work under the immediate direction of the second miller in mills of 500 to 1,000 barrel capacity. In smaller mills, however, much of the work listed under these various occupations is done by the miller himself. Mills of less than 500 barrels per day have no second miller, and in that case much of the actual work described in the above occupations is done by the head miller. Wherever there is a second miller, as in the case of the very large mills, he generally takes direction of the mill during the night shift.

Men interested in milling should start preferably in small mills of about 300 barrels’ capacity, or less, and work in such mills for one to two years in order to become fully acquainted with each of the processes listed in the various occupations. If employment is secured in a large mill there will be very little opportunity to do any of the diversified work as in all such mills the work is more highly specialized.

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

The description of the various occupations given above answers several questions regarding the schooling and necessary qualifications. Milling is entirely an indoors occupation and one which should not be undertaken by any person affected with tuberculosis. A miller should be agile and capable of endurance. Many of the occupations in the mill require considerable climbing and walking, making it a serious handicap for a person who has lost a limb (unless he has become expert in the use of an artificial leg) or for one who is afflicted with rheumatism.

Generally speaking, the loss of an eye would not interfere, nor would dullness of hearing. The loss of an arm would only interfere in certain occupations and not in all. This is true especially if the person has an artificial hand provided with a hook or other holding device and for the more simple occupations and manipulations. Stiffness of the arm and incomplete movements of the joints of the arm or fingers would, if considerable, disqualify a man for general employment in the milling industry. Men affected with shell shock might be able to do good work in a mill. Minor injuries, such us the loss of a finger or toe, or facial injuries, need not interfere with a man’s ability to do any kind of work in a flour mill. When a person has mastered the milling business he may be a successful miller, even though he has lost an arm. One of the best millers in this country has only one arm.

_What training and education are required and what may reasonably be expected in the form of wages or salary?_--A portion of this question has already been answered. A high-school training is the most that is essential, although many of our best millers have far less education than that. As for the other occupations in the mill a common-school education will, for the most part, suffice for all necessary purposes. The training, however, depends necessarily upon the nature of the position and the responsibility which a man must assume. To become a good head miller a man should have some theoretical training for a year or two and then an opportunity for practice. To take charge of the flour packer no great amount of training is essential. Practically no education is necessary for many of the occupations found in a mill. To be a second miller, from three to nine months’ training in a trade school followed by experience as an apprentice are required. The man with a good training would certainly have an advantage especially when qualifying for the position of head miller in a large mill.

WHERE TO GET TRAINING IN MILLING

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One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make MoneyChapter LIV: Appendix: On Forestry Schools and Courses (7)

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