Question

Probably more than half of all Bohemians in this city are cigarmakers, and it is the herding of these in great numbers in the so-called tenement factories, where the cheapest grade of work is done at the lowest wages, that constitutes at once their greatest hardship and the chief grudge of the other workmen against them. . . . Men, women and children work together seven days in the week in these cheerless tenements to make a living for the family, from the break of day till far into the night. Often the wife is the original cigarmaker from the old home, the husband having adopted her trade here as a matter of necessity, because, knowing no word of English, he could get no other work. . . . Take a row of houses in East Tenth Street as an instance. They contained thirty-five families of cigarmakers, with probably not half a dozen persons in the whole lot of them, outside of the children, who could speak a word of English, though many had been in the country half a lifetime. This room with two windows giving on the street, and a rear attachment without windows, called a bedroom by courtesy, is rented at $12.25 a month. In the front room man and wife work at the bench from six in the morning till nine at night. They make a team, stripping the tobacco leaves together; then he makes the filler, and she rolls the wrapper on and finishes the cigar. For a thousand they receive $3.75, and can turn out together three thousand cigars a week.

How much money did a Bohemian husband and wife earn in a week? Why do you think other workers in the city were not happy about what the Bohemians were earning?

Answer 1

A Bohemian husband and wife can earn money in cigarmaking factories. They can earn about $11.25 per week by producing three thousand cigars. Other workers in the city might not be happy about what the Bohemians are earning because it puts pressure on them to accept low wages and poor conditions.

Step-by-step explanation:

A Bohemian husband and wife can earn money by working in cigarmaking factories. In the example given, the husband and wife work in a tenement factory, making cigars. They work together from morning till night and can produce three thousand cigars a week. For this, they receive $3.75 per thousand cigars, which means they earn $11.25 per week.

The other workers in the city might not be happy about what the Bohemians are earning because the Bohemians are willing to work for low wages and in poor working conditions. This puts pressure on other workers to accept similar low wages and conditions in order to compete for jobs.