Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/281

Rh “Do you not get tired of always doing the same work?” I inquired from some of them.

“Oh, no!” replied they, and showed me that each little dial had to pass through fifty different operations before it was finished. This kept the attention awake, and prevented any sense of monotony. They work here from eight o'clock in the morning, till six or seven in the evening, and thus earn about fifty francs a month.

“Are you able to lay by any thing for old age, or in case of sickness?" I inquired from a mother who had worked there with her daughter, side by side, for ten years.

“Oh, no!” they replied, “we have no longer been able to do that, since provisions have been so dear.”

“Nor yet for a little journey of pleasure, or holiday the summer?”

“We never think of such a thing. We should by that means lose, not only money, but also our time, and possibly our place.”

“Is not such a life as this heavy and void of interest?”

“We have Sundays for rest and refreshment, and the evenings for reading, or occupation of another kind. Besides which, we need not during our work be continually thinking about it!”

They seemed perfectly satisfied.

The workwomen who are able to execute certain more difficult parts of the watch, get higher wages, and can earn from five to ten francs a day.

In the mean time, this great division of labor causes