The People’s Employments, 1909
It will be very interesting to you, I am sure, to hear a little about the daily work of the people. No doubt you will be surprised to learn that…
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“The People’s Employments” from Peeps at Many Lands: Finland by M. Pearson Thomson, 1909
It will be very interesting to you, I am sure, to hear a little about the daily work of the people. No doubt you will be surprised to learn that we receive the most of Finland’s exports. Industry and the equality of the men and women as regards work are the most striking features in Finnish life.
You will always notice that where men are employed women are also—in the banks, architects’ offices, railway bureaux, and other business places, even in the Parliament itself, where men and women debate amicably together on affairs of State.
As I have told you a little about the three-quarters of the population who are agriculturists, I must now give you a brief sketch of other peasant employments. The tar-burner’s curious and primitive method of obtaining tar from pine-trees is very interesting. Up in the wild Northern interior this tar-extraction is the principal industry, but it is rather an extravagant process. The best trees being selected, all the bark is peeled off as high as a man can reach, except a narrow strip on the north side of the tree, which remains to preserve its life.
It is then left to Nature. A thick, resinous fluid soon exudes from the scarified trunk, congealing into a hoary crust. Next year the operation is repeated, higher up the tree, and so on for several years, as long as the tree will bear this system of vivisection without dying, the crust of resin growing richer every year. Then the trees are felled at the beginning of winter, and dragged over the snow to the tar-kilns. These ancient kilns are large saucer-shaped platforms, having a hole in the centre, through which the tar is drained into barrels. The resinous trunks are sawn into logs about 3 feet long, piled on to the kiln, and carefully turfed over. The pile is then lighted at various points, and under its thick blanket of turf it smoulders away for nearly a fortnight. As the heat increases the resin melts, pouring down the central funnel into the barrel below, which is waiting to receive it. The pine-trees used are about sixty years old, and one burning often produces a hundred barrels of tar.
Throughout the whole Northern Zone the manufacture of tar by this method is carried on. The barrels often weigh 400 pounds each, so you will see it is a toilsome task to move them without other means than hand-labour to the river-side. After that, as you know, the “rapids” help them to quickly reach the coast, which is 200 miles away. Other useful products are obtained from the charred wood, such as pitch, lamp-black, charcoal, and wood-oil. Though Finland is not rich in minerals, it is one of the best wooded countries in Europe, forestry being one of the chief industries of the land, and the principal factor in its wealth.
Large quantities of timber are exported at little cost, being floated down the waterways, which are the greatest source of the nation’s prosperity. Finland sends to us from her forests pit-props for our coal-mines, birch bobbins for our cotton factories, rafters, knees of fir-wood for keels of ships, and many other shipbuilding requisites. After the Crimean War steam-power was used at the saw-mills, which are placed generally at the mouths of big rivers, so that the timber may be floated down and “dressed” ready for export. From these mills comes wood-pulp, which makes the finest paper.
The manufactures of linen, cotton, and woollen goods at Tammerfors are very important industries, and some of the finest linen thread in the world comes from there. Koski means “waterfall,” and in Tammerfors, as well as in other places in Finland, the waterfalls are utilized (to the extent of 50,000 horse-power) in manufacturing. In these mills both boys and girls are employed, but they must be over twelve years of age, and have passed a certain standard of schooling. They can, however, be employed as long as seven hours a day between the ages of twelve and fifteen years, which appear to us long hours for little workers.
The girls are more frequently employed in the weaving-mills, the boys more often in the glass, china, and tile works. In Tammerfors, which, as I have explained before, is the Manchester of Finland, there are paper, felt, and celluloid factories, besides the others I have mentioned. The superintendents of these mills are generally either Yorkshire or Lancashire men, and they say the Finns are not as yet so clever with their hands as the English operatives, but they are more painstaking and industrious.
Tammerfors is a very pretty place, and quite unlike Manchester in any other way but its industries. Troops of mill-girls may be seen in the summer-time going to and from their work, through the forest or by the lake-side, dressed in bright-coloured prints, shawls over their heads, and with bare feet. It is due to two Scotsmen that these flourishing mills were started and became such a financial success. A large institution for these workers contains an excellent library, gymnasium, and recreation-hall, where musical entertainments are frequently given. Finland is divided into provinces, and in many of these the people keep to one particular trade, working in their homes, all the members of a family helping to turn out the finished articles. For instance, all waggons and light carts are entirely made in the district of Viborg; while rocking-chairs, spinning-wheels, and threshing-machines are made in Ostro-Bothnia and Tavastehus.
The Karelians, who belong to the province of Karelia, are the truest Finnish type in the land. These people are musical, bright, vivacious, and talkative. The women show great skill with their fingers. Charming in looks and manners, they are very fond of bright colours, their costumes being often a bright blue skirt, with coloured border, red or yellow jacket, while a white handkerchief or curious cap forms the head-dress. All of these are either heavily embroidered or finely wrought with needlework. The men are naturally artistic in their tastes, but they prefer earning their livelihood by horse-dealing, at which they prove very shrewd in making a bargain. They are, however, devoted to their horses. On Sunday evenings the Karelians assemble in the largest house in the village—men in one room, women in another—to gossip and amuse each other. Bears are often seen in this district, but quickly shuffle off at the sight of a man, cattle being the only “game” they are after.
Tavastland has a very different people — grave, stolid, enduring peasants these, faithful servants and plodding workers, whose employment is mainly agricultural. These provincial folk prefer black for their festive garb! An elk and her calf may sometimes be seen when driving through the country; but these handsome animals are becoming rare.
Very noticeable are the curious trade sign-boards hanging out over the shops in the villages and provincial towns. Each shop hangs out a picture-sign illustrative of what may be found within. Often a leather-seller will have a representation of a tanned skin painted in bright colours on his board. The pork-butcher will have sausages, bacon, and ham painted on his; so realistic are these as to be inviting! A butcher’s sign may have a leg of mutton, and the greengrocer’s sign exhibit a flourishing bunch of carrots, and perhaps a cauliflower. A roll twisted like a Staffordshire knot denotes the baker’s shop, or, if he is a confectioner as well, a dish of attractive cakes is painted in addition on his board.
The post-office may be easily found by its sign of a post-horn, and so on. These signs are most useful as guides to the foreigner, besides being a quaint addition to the appearance of the streets. At the corners of the streets a signpost is usually placed, on which the name of the street is given in three languages—Finnish, Swedish, and Russian. This is also the case at the railway-stations, where you may often observe the title of “porter” repeated in two languages on the man’s cap. The engines of the trains are rather curious, with their enormous V-shaped, lidded funnels. This peculiarity is due to the fact that wood only is used as fuel; consequently the speed is not very great, but it is apt to be deceptive. Once a foreigner, who was in a hurry, told his fellow-passengers he could walk quicker, so, getting down at a country station, he started off in advance of the train, but was soon overtaken and outdistanced. His only resource, therefore, was to retrace his steps and wait until next day for another “slow” locomotive! The railway-tracks in Finland are not enclosed, and when the train passes a small hamlet, the dogs fly out and accompany it, barking loudly for some distance.
These pages will only permit of my giving you a peep at Finland and its people, but should my youthful readers chance to visit this beautiful land of many interests, I am sure they will receive a very hearty and kindly welcome from the hospitable Finns.
Thomson, M. Pearson. Peeps at Many Lands: Finland. Adam & Charles Black, 1909.
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