THE HA T IND USTR V, 145 



that they own. The people of Danbury are 

 not more iconoclastic than the Bostonians. 



Mr. Hull, a merchant of the town, kindly 

 piloted me into one of the large hat factories, 

 where some idea might be obtained of the pre- 

 vailing local industry. In this one alone 300 

 men and women are employed. Altogether, 

 out of a population of 18,000, 3,500 men and 

 1,500 women are engaged in the various proc- 

 esses of making hats, in the twenty-four fac- 

 tories. They earn large wages, but the busi- 

 ness is not regular and steady. In the latter 

 part of the winter, and in early spring, " times 

 are lively" in meeting the demand for summer 

 fashions, and at the close of summer and the 

 commencement of autumn the workmen are 

 called upon to prepare for the requirements of 

 winter. Six months' work in the year is 

 about all that can be counted on. Although 

 in " slack times " there is a scattering for a 

 while into the country, and into the city of 

 New York, there is necessarily a great deal of 

 lamentable idleness. But tjiere are always 

 bright days for the rumsellers. They ''toil 

 not, neither do they spin." Others have done 

 that for them, and they live much better than 



liHes of the field. In some of the streets al- 

 io 



