Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/148

122 the hair into the several qualities recognised in the trade and deliver it to the merchant at 5 s 10 d, 16 s 8 d to 41 s 8 d per kilogram. The merchant then has the hair assorted according to length, colour, and softness, and sells it to the hair-workers at from 13 s 4 d to 51 s 2 d per kilogram. Before being used, the hair is thoroughly disinfected with sulphur, then it is washed in a solution of sal amoniac to extract the natural colour after which it is dried and artificially coloured. Next, it is submitted to a second washing, dried, combed and sorted in lengths.

The pay for making hair-nets varies according to the closeness of the meshes from 1—12½ d to 1 s 2 d per doz. A steady expert worker can earn 3 d, 4 d and at the most 6 d for a day’s labour, the payment is not always in cash, but frequently in kind.

The earnings of the curl-makers amount to about the same as those in the net branch, which is certainly not sufficient to enable the humble village workers to enjoy many of the luxuries of life.

In 1880, the glass-making trade was established in Jablonec (Gablonz) and its vicinity. From the first start, until the present time, the business has grown steadily and now the industry is recognised as one of considerable importance.

The rings are made of colowredcoloured [sic] glass and ornamented in a variety of ways to suit the taste prevailing in such distant markets as India, Egypt, Syria and N. Africa. The polishing process is performed in the districts of Semil and Turnov. Glass buttons are also manufactured in large quantities.

About thirty dealers employ in the aggregate, about a thousand „hands“, some as „outworkers“ and others in the employer’s workshops. The value of a year’s production averages ₤ 83.000.

In making the rings, the polisher takes a large glass tube („pot“) which he cuts into rings on a special cutting lathe, the rough surface pattern be required, it is first rough-cut on the wheel and polished on a fine sandstone wheel.