304 REPORT — 1887. 



The man or woman who has charge of a mule is called the ' minder. 

 With mnles of a certain size one or two assistants are required. The 

 first assistant, whose age varies from fourteen to twenty years, is called 

 the ' big piecer ' ; the second assistant, whose age varies from ten to 

 fourteen years, is called the 'little piecer' or the ' creeler.' These 

 assistants may be regarded as apprentices, and in course of time the 

 ' little piecer ' is promoted to be a ' big piecer,' and the ' big piecer ' to 

 be a ' minder.' It must not be forgotten that the employer as regards 

 wages deals with the minder only, and does not directly pay the 

 assistants. They are paid by the minder, and, though as a rule the 

 assistants receive a certain definite proportion of the minder's wages, the 

 minder may have to pay more or less according to circumstances ; if, for 

 instance, there be a scarcity of hands, he will have to pay more than the 

 average. The new Bolton list stipulates that when spinning 30's or 

 below, the employer is, as a rule, to pay a creeler. 



The word ' price ' is used as the equivalent of ' rate of wages.' The 

 lists are called lists of prices. The word ' discount ' is used in the sense 

 of a reduction in the rate of wages. 



The normal duty of the minder is to watch the mule when actually in 

 motion, and to join all broken threads, but his duties are defined in- 

 directly by specifying the payments he is to receive for work incidental 

 to the normal duty of attending the mule when sjDinning. 



The chief function of the lists is to specify what he is to receive for 

 his normal duty, and to define the extra duties and the rate of payment. 



The chief extra duties are — 

 ■ ' Stripping ' or ' breaking out,' i.e., taking the bobbins ou which the 

 sliver or unspun cotton is wound off the mule. 



' Tubing,' or the inserting a small tube on the spindle with the 

 object of preventing the thread at the end becoming entangled. 



' Turning strings,' i.e., altering certain strings so as to spin in the 

 reverse direction. 



' Starching ' the end of the cop, so as to stiffen it, and thus prevent the 

 end becoming entangled. This is not always paid as an extra, e.g., in the 

 Oldham list. ' Carrying bobbins ' to and. from the mule where a special 

 carrier is not provided. 



Principles on which the Lists are Based. 



(1) The amount of the yarn aet^utUy spun. — In all the lists except the 

 Oldham and Bolton lists, this amount is estimated by weight, and the 

 wages are calculated at so much per 100 lbs. 



In Oldham the amount is calculated by length, and an indicator fixed 

 to the mule registers each yard of yarn spun. 



In Bolton the payment is per 1,000 hanks. 



Indirectly it may be said that payment by weight is the same thing 

 as payment by length, inasmuch as 100 lbs. of yarn of a given fineness 

 ought to be a fixed length. For instance, 100 lbs. of 30's means that in 

 the 100 lbs. there are 30 X 100 hanks or lengths of 840 yards. 



It has, however, been urged that actual measurement is the only true 

 test of length, and that under the Oldham system every yard spun is 

 registered, whereas under the other system a mistake may be made as to 

 the fineness, and therefore weight is not an accurate test of length. 



(2) The number of spindles on the mule. — As the number of spindles 

 increases the rate of wages per 100 lbs. of yarn spun decreases. This rule has 



