Our Factory.
THE accompanying cut is a correct representation of our factory at Bridgeport, Conn. It occupies a floor space of over two acres, is four stories high, and has a frontage on three streets of 536 feet. The upper part of the building overlooks Long Island Sound, which is less than half a mile distant. All the rooms are heated by steam, and are abundantly supplied with light and air. We employ in all about 1,200 hands, over four-fifths of whom are women. They are mostly New England girls, and very many of them know how to teach school as well as to stitch a corset. We find it is only by employing intelligent help that we can secure the superior quality of work which we demand.
The cloth which we cut into corsets in a single year, if drawn out in a continuous line, would more than extend from Boston to Chicago. The Coraline which we use in stiffening these corsets would extend over half way around the earth.
Every corset goes through the hands and under the eyes of four different inspectors before it goes into the packing-room, and any purchaser of our corsets will confer a favor by returning one which is discovered to be defective.
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