The New York Herald Newspaper, December 22, 1867, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD; SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1867.—TRIPLE SHERT. BUSINESS IN NEW YORK. General Dulness in All Branches of Me- chanics—Hlow the Social Barometers Mark the Existing Condition of Things—Hard Times Among the Poor and Laboring Classes—Thousands of Mechanics Unem- ployed—The Future Prospect~A Wide Field \for Philanthropic Eodeavor. — ‘The advent of winter always brings with it an increase of want, suffering aud destitution among the laboring classes of this great metropolis, Not that New York is aa exceptional case in this re- neral rule holds good of all other 1 the chilling blasts and drifting son permeate their streets ry which during the warm ges to eke out a bare exist- now reduced to beggary, and, draped in y wardrobe, in @ weak and waning voice, eyeand pinched cheeks, stretches gard, for the 5 cities, that cold si its emaciated hand, craving charity— ‘for the of God enongh to buy bread for g children!’ To the ever- lasting ho: city be it said, this appeal, so far as the a; e poor are concsrned, does not go unhee and if accurate statistics could be kept of th unts disbursed in charity every winter on Manhattan Island, the result would as- tonish th more egotistical, but less actwe cities, whose theoretical philanthropy has given them a reputation of which more familiar knowledge of their omission to put their theory into practice would speedily deprive them. But if this be true of winter here in general—if misery and want in- variably accumulate as the ‘‘season of snows’’ nears its intensity, and if Charity be called upon to exercise its benignant sway in proportion as the winter is more or less severe—how much more deplorable must be the condition of the poor when to the rigors usually incident to this season are added inordinate prices for all the necessaries of life, and a scarcity almost amounting to the total absence of a demand for labor. And such is the precise state of things at this time. Not only have provisions, clothing, rents, fuel and all other incidentals necessary to even a moderate degree of comfortable living attained a monetary altitude almost beyond the reach of the labor- ing man who has work to do, but labor itself is, to @ very great extent, unable to find o market. ‘Trade is dull’ is the universal cry among all classes of traffickers. ‘‘Business is poor—very poor,” says the manufacturer. ‘‘Nothing to do” is echoed and re-echoed by the masses of mechanics and laboring men, whose humble and too-often poverty- stricken homes are found among us. At least sixty thousand working men and women are, evéh thus early in the season, without employment and without any immediate prospect of obtaining it. How many of this number are without bread, ex- cept so far as it is doled out to them by the hand of charity, God only knows. But if the events of the past few weeks, and the gloomy prospects now “looming in the future,” are faithful indices of the existing social status of the poor and of what is in store for them during the dreary winter on which we have entered, our wealthier and better-to-do classes must expect to open their hearts and purse, even more widely than at any time during the past seven years. Why business is so dull, why trade is so poor, and, asa sequitur, why indigence is proportiona- bly more extended now than in previous years, it is not the purport of this articie to demonstrate, It is designed here only to present a truthful pic- ture of the state of trade, leaving the qua causa to the reader. Some will doubtless find its solution in the unsettled state of our political affairs; in the unsatisfactory manner in which Congress has dealt with the question of reconstruction; in the gen- eral uncertainty which obtains among mercantile claases as to what will be the result of the contflict- ing political opinions in the Southern States. Others may throw the responsibility on our pre- seat mismanaged financial system—on the previous inflation, and now attempted reduction, of our currency, and trace the troubles and trials under which business is laboring directly to the door of the Treasury Department. Still others find the query fully answered in the lack of trade with the South; in the fact that the now free labor of that section is not utilized so as to effect the produc- tion of cotton and other staples to a degree sufficient to warrant a general exchange of commodities between the Southern and Northern States. Yet again others find these in- terrogatories answered in the decrease of onr com- merce; and with fine spun theories as to the “balance of exchanges,’ the “drain upon our specie,” and such like matters, which enter largely into the essays of the political economist, will endeavor to show the cause of, while they point a remedy for, the present depressed state of trade and manufactures. With none of these solutions have we at present anything to do. - The patent fact that the tradesman has small sale for his wares, that the mechanie and laboring man find a scant market for their exertions, is all that now concerns us. Suffice it to say that a financial crisis is not unexpected ; and it is this uncertainty as to what the future may bring forth that leads the capitalists of the country to risk no money ventures. They tighten thei? purse strings and repress their speculative desires, apparently de- termined that when the crash does come it will find that their prescience has not left them liable to any very great degree of injury from it. This feeling of riskiness with regard to the investment of capital necessarily affects both the tradesman and the laborer, and may be re- arded as the main cause of the present dulness of pusiness. While the war was in progress, although prices for everything ranged high, the army and navy demands gave employment to trades and ayo- cations of all kinds; and, in addition to this, specu- lative ventures were everywhere apparent. Money (paper money) was plenty, wages were high, and a desire for display, which seemed to have taken possession of all our people, kept the improvised currency moving from hand to hand, #0 that, although the country was passing through a terrific ordeal, the full force of which was hardly realized at the time, there was little xbject poverty to be observed, and severe winters passed over us without wpe to view any great amount of squalid poverty. ow, however, the demand for that labor which was incident to the carrying on of reat war has ceased, and thousands who lived posetvetabiy during the conflict of arms find themselves wholly unemployed. In order to ascertain how great may be the distress among the working classes in this city, there are several social barometers which may be consulted, And first us pay a visit here, through this swinging door, which opens with the slightest pressure. Those who enter it do so generally in haste and with downcast heads, as if seeking to avoid recognition. Itis A PAWNBROKER'S SHOP. The counter is fitted with a row of wooden stalla, and the atmosphere is impregnated with the odor of foul sme'ling clothing, as inseparably con- nected with such an establishment as is the scent of fresh sawdust with a circus ring. On going into one of these the murmuring sounds on the right and left inform you that somebody is there either for the purpose of “raising the wind” or “‘redeeming a pledge." minutes @ clerk appears, and is somewhat astonished on learning that you are not there for either of these pur- in ® few minutes To your surprise he com- ceivable out and pattern, all of which look as if they had been hung for forging their own new- ness. Not for any length of time can you stand contemplating the “loud” patterned pants or the gorgeously embossed velvet waistcoats, The pro- rietor sees you. He is six feet some odd inches a height, with a brimless fur cap on his closely cropped, bullet-sbaped head, enormously large spectacles astride of anose which for shape and size resembles a well grown beet; a short, mension looking pipe is in his mouth, and his parte: lips reveal a straggling array of worn, tobacco stained teeth; his portly form is encased in a tightly fitting, closely buttoned, freshly renovated brown coat, and to complete his resemblance to anything rather than a tradesman in a civilized community, his legs are encased in an immense pair of cavalry boots. ‘“ Vell, Captain, how does the cold veather agree vith you?’ says the out- landish looking storekeeper, ina wheedling tone, on coming forward, with a fascinating smile on his face. The tug of war immediately commences. The seller of second hand clothes thinks you will ultimately purchase something, leads you into the recesses of his establishment, and takes down gar- ment atter garment in the vain hope of inducing you to invest a trifling sum and becomo the possessor of @ coat ‘about four sizes too large and a pair or two of pants of a shape and pattern which, if worn, would render you the observed of all observers, Final- ly, you manage to convince him that it is not clothes, but information that you are in search of. He looks round on what he terms ‘the beautiful- est lot of clo’ as ever vas seen,” and heaving sigh confesses that “‘bishness is no goot, bishness is ver’ bat, monish is, ah! mo. is all gone.’? You gather from him and his sympathizing neigh- bors that their trade has fallen almost down to zero, and that those on whose custom they depend are now engaged in that bitterest of all strug- gles—the struggle for daily bread. Taking counsel of your own wit, you next re- solve to visit THE SAVINGS’ BANKS, and do so. In the atmosphere of these institutions there is @ financial gleam, as it were; for, under many bright green shades gas is burning, and you wonder what makes you compare them to bright golden eagles partially smothered in greenbacks. Being ushered into the presence of the President— @ gray-headed, keen-eyed, courtly gentleman— you find that he listens to you with patience; and mentally grasping your meaning with the same quickness with which he can carry on intricate calculations of percentages of interest and of dis- count, without rey to pencil and paper, he promises to give you full and reliable information on the subject you desire. le «soon informs you that so far citing. the present month there has been a falling off in the deposits as compared with the same period of last yea® In one of the oldest and most widely known savings banks of this city the de- posits for November, 1866, amounted to $457,063. For the same month of this year they amounted to $403,790, showing a decrease of $54,000 for one month of this year. In the same establishment the deposits for the first seventeen days of the present month amounted to $228,520, while for the same period of last year they amounted to $297,875, showing a decrease of $69,355. In other estab- lishments of a similar character the same state of things is said to prevail, although the bank officers state that many of their depositors do not come forward until the last few days of the month. Such is a brief resumé of what can be learned from three very sensitive barometers w tell with almost unerring accuracy of the condition of the working classes, and from the following sum- mary of the present condition of the different trades it will be found that their predictions are borne out very fully :-— BAKERS. The baking business is not as good as it was this time last year, anda large number of journeymen are now wandering about in search of employ- ment. A first class workman can, in good times, earn abuut $14 a week by making bread, while for wee cracker hands the remuneration is somewhat igher. BARBERS, Daring the winter months there is always a cer- tain falling off in the occupation of the kuights of the razor and scissors. This year, however, the dulness is more marked than usual, as is made ap- parent fromthe very large number of journeymen who are out of work and the numerous applica- tions which are constantly made at all the ge shops. At many old and well known establish- ments the number of vacant ‘‘chairs”’ is constantly increasing, and it is estimated that from the four or five hundred barber shops in this city a very large and unusually heavy percentage of em- ployés will be out of employment during the present season. BOOKBINDERS. This trade is unusually dull and a large number of first class journeymen are idle. The sales which were thade in the summer have not yet, in nost instances, been settled for, and an extemsion of time has to be given, At this, the holiday sea- son of the year, a brisk trade is purely done and large numbers of costly bound books are dis- pore of as presents on Christmas and New Year, ut it is found that buyers are now asking longer credit for goods already in their possession and are not inclined to make any additional purchases until they are able to pay up. A good bookbinder will generally average from $15 to $18 per week. Three-fourths of those engaged in this branch of industry are paid by the piece and a very large number of young girls are ey na in. folding, stitching and such like employments. The weekly earnings range ali the way from $2 to $10, according to the degree of proficiency they mani- fest. As already stated, the anticipated fall trade has not amounted to much, dealers being generally overstocked, and the prospect for the ensuing year is consequently exceedingly gloomy. BUILDING MATERIALS. Under this head are included doors, sashes and blinds. ome of the largest shops it is reported that business is ‘*fair,”’ although not equal to what it was at this time last year. There area number of men now out of employanent and those still at work are paid by the day, the general average rate of wages being ftom $3 to $3 50. BRICKLAYERS. From very authentic sources it has been ascer- tained that there are about fifteen hundred or two thousand bricklayers in the city of New York. Folly two-thirds of them are now without work, and the boss builders are unable to state at what time they are likely to be again employed. Dur- ing the winter season a large number of these me- chanics are idle ; but the number has never been so great during any previous year as it is at present. CARPRNTERS. The dulness in other branches of the building trade has thrown the majority of the carpenters in this city out of employment, and at almost every shop there are dozens of applicants every day who would accept a job on almost any termg; but the bosses are almost unable to find work for the few hands they still keep in their establishments. CARTMEN. With the falling off of the dry goods business the receipts of the cartmen have very perceptibl, diminished, and many of them are now industri- ously working out that painful problem of how to make both ends meet, No class of laboring men are more respectable or work harder for their money than do the cartmen of this city, and the present stagnation in business is eating up all their savings of the last twelve manths. COOPERS. The present is usually the dull season for coop- ers; but this year it is more so than usual, and « very large number of them are now without work, in consequence of the staggation of other branches of business on which theirsis dependent. If fully employed a good journeyman cooper ought to be able to earn about $3 per day. They are generally paid by the piece. In the large barrel making establishments where hundreds of hands are usually employed the dul- ness of trade is very perceptibly felt, and the; say that one person could be kept fully employes in ‘answering the applications of those who desire work, DRY GOODS CLERKS. Under this head the clerks who serve behind the counters of retail stores are the During the last weeks of the year @spasmodic revival of the retail di especially in the so-called “ fancy de; The present season is no exception to although the business done is by no the average. Notwithstanding the » that business is now the vocation of harness making {s one which brings but little money into the pockets of those who follow it. . MATTERS. The journeymen hatters are season of privation along with others of the work- ing classes, The business is exceedingly dull, and only the large, well-known, long established stores are doing even an ordinary amount of trade. If fully employed a good workman is able to earn very high wages; but at present even the most valued employé is working on short time, while the majority are without any work at all. There is falling off in the jewelry bo: ere is a great fallin; in the je usie Ress as compared with what was doing at this time Ans seat, and if there is not a sudden revival before New Year Day the season will have beea @n unusually dull one. Large numbers of work- men are seeking employment, and, instead of earv- ing from $15 to $40 per week, are wandering round from shop to shop in search of a stray job. JUNK DEALERS, ‘The junk dealers, although not properly belong- ing to what is usually natant as the working classes, are like them in one respect, suffering from a total collapse of their means of support. The business i: & standstill, and those engaged in it are of opinion that there will have tovbe a very fore reconstruction of commercial interes's efore their avocation regains its wonted activity. pier} the war the inflation of prices affected this as itdid all other branches of trade, and every- thing in which they deal attained a very high figure; but at the present time prices are down to waat they they were in ante bellum times, und consequently they are unable to realize even ordinary living profits, LABORERS. Under this head may be classed that very large and useful class of our fellow citizens who earn their living by Corry ing the hod, mixing mortar, excavating for building purposes, &c. By far the majority of these are now idle, and if the city authorities were to furnish them with shovels they could assist very materially in cleaning ‘the side- walks and at the sme time be providing for the subsistence of themselves and families. Asa class they are suffering more from a lack of employ- ment than any other body of our people, for dur- ing the busiest times their wages are not sufficiently remunerative to enable them to “‘lay up anything for a rainy day.” : LIVERY STABLE KEEPERS. © * No class of men are so despondent at the present time as the keepers of livery stables. They say the present season is one of unexampled and un- recedented dulness in their line of business. ery few persons, except regular customers, now patronize them, and the many odd jobs from which they have generally reaped go rich a harvest of dollars are now things of the past. Nobody cares for a hack; astage or a car is quite fred enough for them. It is also remarkably dull in another way—horseflesh is at a discount, and fine teams with which the owners wish to part have to be sold for prices very much lower than they would have commanded six or twelve months since. Pleasure riding is now looked upon as an expensive luxury that can be safely indulged in only by millionaires or by those who own “establishments.” ‘Lhe middling classes, from whom livery stable proprietors formerly de- rived a large income, do not think of expending their dollars in this manner any more. Purchas- ing the necessaries of life affords ample field and scope for the expenditure of their means, and oven in this respect frugality is the universal motto. through a ‘i MARBLE CUTTERS, It is a somewhat singular fact that one of the most active branches of business at the present time is that of cutting marble tombstones, monu- ments, mantlepieces, &c. In many of the yards a scarcity of labor exists, and the great want is not to find work, but skilled workmen to execute orders of long standing. Of all the branches of labor this, probably, is now the most brisk. MACHINISTS. Skilful workers in iron can generally command from $3 to $4 per day, and during ordinarily good times are always sure of steady employment. ‘The present paralysis of business has, however, thrown & large number out of employment, and the priaci- pu bosses are only keeping at work just the num- er of hands abso! Keone 3 required for the business which comes in from day to day. PACKING BOXES. A large number of men who provide food, cloth- ing, shelter and fire for themselves and families by making packing boxes are now devoid of em- ployment, and have no prospect of anything uatil other branches of t: revive. The bosses can get all the hands they require at almost any price, but they will not engage more than the mere necessities of the day demand. This is a branch of industry which instantly feels any fall- ing off in the dry goods and other similar trades, ‘and until they become brisk again it must languish. PAINTERS, The painters always e: t @ dull or slack sea- son during the winter months, and many of them, in fact the majority, are now comparatively idle. A good workman can generally earn $3 50 er day in winter and fall, when the lays are short, and $4 during the summer season. The past year has, generally speaking, been a bad one for the boss painters, for the rea- gon that it was the first during which they were required to pay the Internal Revenue tax of five per cent on their receipts for work done, after de- ducting the cost of labor and the price of the materials used. This tax, they say, has taken juite a large amount from their usual profits. The journeymen are now living on what they saved from their earnings during the summer season, and much distress, it is expected, will prevail among them during the next few months. PIANOFORTE MAKERS. The business of pianoforte making is carried on very extensively in this city, and a large number of men are engaged in it. At present it is in a somewhat singular state. e large manufactur- ers are doing quite as much, and some of them more, than they did at this time last year, while those of smaller means are almost at a standstill. In one case a large manufacturer has driven an immensely increased trade during the last twelve months, and his large workshops are now full of employés. This result is mainly due to his con- stant and persistent advertising, in which about $18,000 has been expended. Small establish- ments, on the contrary, are now suffering from the prevasling hard times, and it is not beyond the range of probability that pear more workmen willbe out of employment by .the end of the year than there are at the present time. PLASTRRERS. The same causes which have deprived of work so many bricklayers and carpenters have also op- erated unfavorably in the case of the plasterers. The dulness in this branch of trade is unprece- dented, and the majority of the men are now idle and wandering about in search of a job. . The al- most total stoppene that his been put to the erec- tion of new buildings, however, renders their chance of securing employment very pre PLUMBERS. The — business, like all others connect- ed with the building interest, is unusually dull, much more so than it was at this time last year, and ate numbers of journeymen are in search of something to do, even at very low wages. Those who are at work now are finishing up contracts entered into some time ago. Very few new con- tracts are being made, and the Foun are ve despondent as r future. Most of the large shops retain a few skilled and reliable work- men to meet emergencies, but in almost every instance the bulk of the employés have either been discharged or are working on short time. ROOFERS, Noman who gets his living by roofing expects to be fully employed during the winter season. There is, however, very much leas doing tn the trade than is usual, and many more men are with- out work than was the case at this time last year. . When times are brisk Sport hand can generally earn about $18 per week. Most of the work now being done is the repairing of oldroofs. Of course a slackness in building very perceptibly affects the trade of the roofer; and, judging from the views entertained by builders generally, the prospect for an early revi val of makers, and are affected ¥y lead to a depression ——_ of them are doing no work. Many of the shops, if not now 1d, will beso, it is said, ina short time, as the are of opinion that there is literally no ever this season. en work is to blame, as the strikes of the shipbuilders are alleged to have had the effect of driving a the from this to other ports where the work re- aired could be performed eompiiy. Boston ipwrights profited largely by the last strike among the caulkers, as many vessels that were lying at our wharves for repairs were taken thither when it became speerens that the work needed on them could not be done in this city, except at an enormous cost—the caulkers demanding not only an increase of wages, but also that eight hours’ labor be reckoned as a full day’s work. The effect of the present dulness among all the trades that have to do with shipbuilding is very visible and very distressing to these men and their families. It is to be hoped that a speedy revival of the shipbuilding interest at this port will re- lease them from their involuntary idleness. TWINK MAKERS. The business of twisting flax, hemp and cotton into twine ia in much the same state as it was at this time last year. In and around New York there are about forty Topewalks connected with the Twine Manufacturers’ Association, where the average number of men and boys employed ia ten, Most of the establishments are in the same con- dition as they were twelve months ago, workman cau generally eara on an uv per day. TAILORS. The dulness of trade and consequent scarcity of money affect very unfavorably the sales of the clothiers. As a natural consequence their em- ployés, the journeymen tailors, are suffer- ing from the prevailing “hard times.’? Those who have been in the business for the last twenty years declare that the present season is the dullest they have ever known. Trade, they say, is at a standstill, and out in the sub- urbs, where the journeymen reside, the noise of their sewing machines is hushed. Persons who, when travelling on the street cars, have been in the habit of seeing men corsying to the city large bundles of clothing, which they and their wives had just finished, will now see the same men carrying but one, or at most two garments. The dulness is very general, and on the journeymen es- ecially it presses with exceeding severity at this inclement season of the year. TRUNKMAKERS. Tho business of trunkmaking is not carried on as extensively in this city as itis in Newark, N. J., which may be denominated the headquarters of wh bag of ay, Tn ba city, however, ia id I @ languishing condition, and not w the average of ore peak ‘Maly AY out of employment, and the prospect of their soon O5= taining it is very slight, UPHOLSTRRERS. In this branch of business the winter season is always a dull one, and although many men are out of employment the number is said not to be greater than is usual at this time of the year. The out of town demand for furniture is said to be good, and large makers who supply such demands do not complain of apy very great falling off in their orders. WAITERS. There is now ® very large number of waiters who have go situations, a state of things which may in some measure be accounted for from the fact that newrly all the river steamboats have been laid up for the winter, and also that the watering place hotels are now closed. The number unem- ployed, however, is very much larger than usual at this season of the year, a result owing ina great degree to the fact that many of the large, first class city hotels have reduced the number of their employés, a step rendered necessary in con+ sequence of the falling off in travel. Waiters may, as arule, be divided into two classes, saloon men and hotel employés, The first named receive on the average about $7 or $3 per week, and the lat- ter about $25 per month. This difference in the ~~ of wages is to be Cipher aaa «pn nse on that eal; saitert oar’ ix days the week ta rated to pay for their own lodgings. Hotel waiters, on the contrary, are boarded all the week and most generally sleep in the establishments in which they are engaged. The majority of them are married men, and as a class are steady and industrious. Our Machine ps nad Ship Yards. There is probably no branch of industrial enter- prise which exhibits the effects of the depressing influences now operating so disastrously upon the trade and commerce of the country in a greater degree than the iron business, and that portion which derives its activity from its use in and adaptation to the purposes of navigation. The almost complete idleness prevailing at the various ship yards in and near this city, where the life and hum of business which used at one time to characterize them is now ‘‘conspicuous in ite absence,’ has operated with most injurious con- Sequences upon the great foundries and machine shops of this city. The almost universal answer to any inquiry respecting the condition of business is the response, ‘Dull, very dull,” and the erowds of hardy sons of Vulcan who daily congregate about the shops “seeking from their fellow man leave te work,” attest with sad emphasis the truth of this state- ment. Of the men connected with the shipbuild- ing trade of this city, which includes those en- gaged in the construction of machinery as well as the men employed on the hull and rigging, it may be stated as a rough estimate that twenty thou- sand are at present out of employment, while many others have engaged in other occupations, The causes which have produced so objectionable a state of affairs are numerous and not all local; that is, New York is not at this. sea- son of the year exceptionally dull, but, on the contrary, enjoys its feir proportion of what demand exists. Reports from England from the various iron districts show a corresponding depression there, while similar reports come in from all parts of this country. The proceedings of the Cleveland Convention, which met last week, are looked to with much interest in the hope that they may aid in the removal of ohe of the causes of stagnation, er which is so regarded by the manufacturers, in the establishment of ® more equable system of taxation. We ase, ay the iron founders, cramped by an unfair imposition upon us of the taxes of the country. The raw material which we use has first to contgibute ite Proportion towards internal revenue; articles used in working up this material, such as rivets, are taxed, and the government claims five per cent from us upon the gross amount of our contract, irrespective of its resulting profitably to us or otherwise, An a@ditional cause of depres- sion in this city is no doubt the disturbance pro- duced in the labor market by the combined strike of the shipjoiners, carpenters and caulkers some months eince. Much greater activity would doubtless prevail in the yards at the pros- ent time the delay in the execution of contracts thus occasioned, and the un- expected loss involved thereby, had not occurred. Notwithstanding all this, however, while it cannot {be denied that @ general dulness prevails among the foumdrymem and ship none of seem apprehensive of treater de ion _succecding, but are rather Boperal in anticipations of a renewal of trade after the first of the year. The best idea of the exact status at the present time of this branch of the iron trade will be gathered from » summary of what is doing a8 the various establishments of sg and | oppo At boone all of em & uniform paid, 1 fTom tre aad ons bat to ures and ond hal jollars per day, according chanic as @ frst clase, Seeut by “ene FY and has bee: or. precia e year, m act nied with @ partially corresponding decline ia Price of the manofactared article. States frigate k with the which he has just ted for her, and her ready for sea. About one hundred men are about the engaged in this an some other unfini we As many as twenty- five hundred have been employed here at one time. THE ETNA IRON WORKS. Between four hundred and four bundred and fifty men are now employed in this foundry, and @ general air of business activity prevails about the works. As compared with vies was doin; last year considerable improvement is experi enced, although with the trade of the year pre- vious work is &Mick. Some very large contracts are just approaching completion; among others three sets of government engines not yet assigned, and the engines and machinery of the Unit steamer Neshaming. Castings are also being made of three immense planing machines, the bedplate of each of which will weigh twenty-three tons. A splen- did specimen of casting has but recently been de- livered from these works, viz., a gas tank for the Brooklyn Gas Company, Tt is constructed of mammoth proportions, surrounded by ten Corin- thian columns, each sixty-five feet in height and four feet in diameter at the base, the Corinthian order of architecture being most closely observed throughout. Some idea of its size may be gathered from the fact that 600,000 pounds of iron were used in its construction. The engines of the Dakota, recently put on the line between New York and ‘Aspinwall by the North American Steamship Company were from this shop. Besides the work mentioned above, almost the usual number of miscellaneous jobs at this season of the year are on hand, but some reduc- tion of the force now employed at the works is looked for if new contracts of magnitude be not soon offered. THE QUINTARD IRON WORKS has now employed about three hundred men, two hundred and fifty of whom gre mechanics. The most enconra; report as to the condition of business is here given, it being stated that the propetetnrs have on hand all the work they can lo, and more. The principal work on hand here is the construction of patent articles, a brick machine, a dead-stroke power hammer (so called) and hop Feng.) An engine for the New Bedford Water Works, of about five hundred horse ower, similar in its construction to that at present operation in Chicago, is also being built here. THE FULTON IRON WORKS had employed during the summer months about two hundred and fifty men; but having completed the york these were en; | upon—a low sure boner for Be Seiel MM of Cuba botns a maching:y <2 erica, rigs the Poa and boiler gee East river ferryboat Columbia—most of these have been since discharged, @fty only being re- tained. A new engine, of twenty-five horse power, for the Me litan Job Print ice, hag likewise just been completed. is finely polished throughout and got up in the best style, forming a beautiful specimen of the combination of the useful and the ornamental. No new orders are on hand here, and the testimony of one of the J a al Age business is unusually dull. At ALLAIRR WORKS considerable activity prevails, and the comparison of business with this time last year is considered favorable. About three hundred and twent: men are now employed, although it is said facili- ties exist for turning out work which would give employment to at least one thousand mechanics. A air of boilers for the Alexander Pelion, a steamer elonging to the Haytien government, and at present in this port, are being built here, as also two beam engine: of thirty-six inch cylinder, and eight fuot stroke, for two terryboats now on the stocks at Si ‘s shipyard. “An engine is like- wise building & new vessel belonging to the Old Dominion Steamship Company, sixty-five inch cylinder, and eight foot stroke. This vessel will i vba Ra eae at these ee cake engines, apparatus, wor! pretty brisk here, but is generally so at this time of the year. Crossing to the west side of the city TH DELAMATER IRON WORKS, at the foot of West Thirteenth street, shows signs of the most activity. A new engine , 44x42, is now being built for W. F. Weld. &Co., of Boston, de- to replace the one in the steamer Sherman, runaing between this and New Orleans. Two boilers for the » Of the Providence an a — fas fhe two oilers for steamshi, usetta; belong- ing to & Co. of Boston, are also in hand, be. sides a hoi engine and boiler Le gr 4 the pionmaelp vador, of the Panama Rail Company. In addition to the above work, re are being done omsix , the whole giving employment at the works about 350 men. ‘Wages are lower here by about ten per cent than they were this time last year. THE NEW YORK IRON WORKS situate at the foot of Bethune street, North river, near the above, while not as extensive an estab- lishment as those mentioned above, is one of the neatest and best appointed in the city. With a running capacity to prs employment to about two hundred men, only ninety are, however, at resent engaged. The principal work in hand ere is building a locomotive engine and overhaul- ing the steamer City of Hartford. The sveam yacht What Cheer, recently launched, was fitted fareybous Hudson City, that boing tse prinelpal rr} wy, rinci| work done here this season. ad ie a! + OTHER MACHINE SHOPS. Atthe foundry of Messrs. Hoe & Co. alone is not observable @ partial suspension of the noise and hum of labor which dinned the ears of the visitor to any of our great iron works ‘‘in good times.” Here the report is that business is very active, and the demand for presses equal to that of any previous season. About four hondred men pebveme ag fg on full time and re- ceiving wages. The the various establishments where safes are le affords about as correct an indi- cation of the condition of general business as any branch of the iron trade, as if there be much pros- perity, any great expansion in business, new organizing, or old ones extending, the demand for safes immediately responds with thermometrical accuracy. There has been a decline from month to month in the call for counting room safes until November, when the sales reached the lowest point. Since then there has been an Sip: aus improvement in as December has siown an increase in the demand for this article. About one hundred and fifty workmen are now employed in their establiah- 3 mat the Albany Street Iron Works about: five men are employed on steamship repair work, being less than one-half the number formerly en- a Gurner Steam Boiler Company state that business never was more active. The general .report from other smaller co! js with the inference deducible from owe ints, THE SHIPYARDS indicate much leas activity than even the ma- chine shops. Some alight repair work is bein; done at each of them, but very few vessels are present om the stocks. At the of Jeremiah Simonson two hoses boats of 140 feet length of hull, 27 feet bread of beam and 10% feet depth of hold, length over all 150 feet, are being built. They are intended for the Alexandria and hohe. re ferry. About seventy-five men are employed here, but in « brisk season from one hundred and fift; to two hundred find work here. Ap cations for employment are numerous. At Greenpoint three veasels are on the stocks— @ steamer for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company of the class of the Japan, now on the line from Ban Francisco to China; Webb & Bell are build- ing a bark, the keel of which was laid about « month ago, and Lawrence & Folke have on stocks s large-sized sidewheel steamship for the F Old Dominion Steamship Company. Not more tham two hundred end fifty skilled artisans are en- gaged on these vessels. As com with this time last year there is very change, and wages are about the same. ALONG THE HUDSON. ‘There was consHterable excitement at Sing Sing Prisvm this morning over the escape of two coavicts therefrom. I | pee i at ual at i tf lc sc iE a ch ARS eA A ARTE RR PN hain OMREEBE 5 CHRISTMAS. . Holidaye—Articies de Paris, Martelle and Battle—Explorations in the Mimic World of Teydom. If the casual observer were to be told that New York annually expends one million of dollars for the small item of toys, the answer would probably be a smile of incredulity, which would be height- ened in degree by the assertion that not less than two millions capital is engaged and made to returm profit in the manufacture and sale of these arti- cles. Aside from articles de Paris, large numbers and several most noted designs of which are, though ostensibly foreign, of American manu- facture, in the article of toys alone probably the greater percentage offered for sale is of American invention, or of American imitation from designs of foreign patterns. Grotesques were first borrowed from Germany, as were dwarfs and harlequins, though Americans already exceed in subtlety of manufacture their German brethren, and this season the most elaborate harlequins in the market are of American fabrica- tion, the material being of India rubber, The swinging harlequin, with motion of the head only, has been superseded by the harlequin with simul- taneous motion of legs, arms, head and eyes. The grinning Mephistopheles smacks his mis- shapen jaws, rolls @ pair of Indian rubber eyes just halfway over in his head, and winks, shakes his curious cranium and dances a jig with legs and arms, all in the same breath and with a rythmical sort of unison only to paralleled by the members of a band of cork-blackened minstrels. The harlequin is, of course, of German sugges- tion—the German fancy even in the way of toys running in the direction of bizarrerie and ex- aggeration, of which the legendary lore of the race furnishes abundant examples; in fact, the greater portion of the more grotesque of the nursery tales extant gro {.Saras origin. The Paris toy, on the ot |, though often bizarre, is always piquantly so, and deals in graceful sur- prises and kinks and quirks and wanton wiles of, fancy. This same principle is carried out exten- sively in articles de Paris proper, in which the trade for the past two weeks has been remarkably heavy, being, as they are, simply toys for adults and answering every purpose as holiday presents of deft and piquant meaning. From the uplifted blade of a bronze soldier may be made to apring a slender thread of gaslight. Of an Apollo or an Adonis in verde antique or rouge antique one may remove the turban only to find that the bowels of the god have been hollowed into a re- cepticle for cigars. Off comes the uplifted hand at the wrist, and from wrist to elbow bend the hol- low bone holds some half a dozen lucifers. An Egyptian column (of Luxor) is topped with a rose of gaslight—the jets being so fashioned as to un- fold their separate leaves in crimson petals woven and inextoilably interwoven. A Mephistopheles in bronze, of which Gimbrede, the artist engraver, exhibits the only specimen, holds ink enough to supply a dozen und Kirkes ora dozen other ads of the pen with fluids for a week t. deing mecessary to dip one’s Be in. the magic cauldron, over. which ends Goethe’s demoniac crehtion. A brazen serpent coils on one’s paper as one writes, aud audwers the simple purpose of an ordinary weight to hold it in position. A fac simile of the engine, in silver, holds wine enough to supply e Bethe silyer buckets answering for glassesout of which to drink, A friend invites one to imbibe, shakes hands with 8 medixval Enight nt which ornaments the corner, back the stoi i 5 the maw of the scowling ancient is found to contain several decanters, a few glasses and @ box or two of excellent Havanas. Ofartictes \of this sort, enlivened with ev: imaginable de- any one of the leading jewelry houses in the city supplies dozens of illustrations, and few lead- ing ape . ste rice a Gated variety—t , perhay e few firms o! & Co, Ball, Blake & 00 Browne & Spalding, Haughwout & Co. few others on j viewetan dd Ale: 5 some “here and there, mo- aeons the trade in this direction, In his ape- cialty, Gimbrede deplays an exceedingly rare and curious variety; and, in respect to Geftness and rarity of articles, two or three further firms in the stat trade may be classed as leading in articles de Paris pertaining to their sj ty. In the way of India rubber fabrics some few novelties have been put on the market, & process of whitening the fabric by means of acids obviated the former necessity of using paint for the purpose of producing a groundwork of white. Other paints continue to be used, thus rendering dolls and other toys of this material a trifle ob- ee Of novelties of this material the is mostly limited to the perfection of dolls, harlequins and naturalness — in point of of motion. The Belecipel provements upenm the old-fashioned harleq we been offered by Messrs. Hungerbuhler & Linherr, 603 Broadway, who exhibit a single harlequin with simultaneorg movement of legs, srms, head, eyes and mouth, and all so natu done as to seem simply » Pigmy mimicry of life. Adoll which said *‘: ‘a was last season reckoned something of novel It bye by the addition of another valve a c ° of sy’ lables (‘‘Mamma’’) been added to doll’a dictionary. One novelty of this sort, of which few have found their way into the m: is ‘a doll which not only says ‘‘Papa’and “‘Mamma,’? but We ed yells upon proper vocation with lusty th to nature. novelt; be bought for the mild sum of 4 exactly new, but an American grotesque in eape- cial, is the contraband, moving only arms and head, which have been put upon the market in imitation of the colossal statues of the contraband now considerably in vogue as parlor ornaments. The introduction of the Geneva music boxes (of celestial voices), which made & sensation two or borg ears — has — “ascent me ably improved upon, col masquera of 4 promos figures, all keeping to the out of the music, are tem; tingly exhibited, command the supreme admiration of the little folks. The “‘bell "" is another automation of musical popularity; and as to the sheep and goats ina toy bazaar, bey | behave as and bleat as naturally as just from their native hills and crags. Some few further novelties com- plete the variety of curious inventions offered by this firm in their specialty—toys not novel being over, as of needless ‘tion. At the Indis rubber establishment of Shiffer & Go. some few novelties have been on exhibition mostly, however, in the way of imported toys of various descriptions. To the ‘magic wheel,” so a last season, @ dozen new scenes have been added, making in all hort Beg ae The basis of effect in thie toy is simply founded upon the illa- sion of colors passed before the eye and as suddenly ar Sy oo An unusual of in- genuity and optical knowledge has been G to bear the effectiveness of the in: which has been so perfected that a miss of the illusion is ible, no matter at what speed the motion wheel may be A boat ~~ winds up, fully equipped with oars and al! phernalia of a voyage, embodies revious efforts g£ can Not % advances upon i i ! 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