Smyrna times., 1869-02-10
WOMEN AZ PRgNTEfss.

An effort, headed by Mrs Susan Il. Anthony
and others, is being made in New York city to
teach women the art Of type-sct,ing. There
are thousands Of young girls in that as well rs
other cities who are thrown upon their own re
sources and are anxious TO learn the art, re-
garding it as more respectable than most
of the other branches OF industry now open to
females, and far more lucrative Since the war
many ladies Of atlucncc in the South WHO
were reduced in circumstances thereby have
resorted to printing as livelihood. The n.
\. Tribune, in commenting on the subject says: :
We like Miss AnthOny's suggestion. One
trouble about the Woman Question Is the
few methods by which dependent woman
may earn her living There are many forms
of labor denied to the sex by their severity or
unsuitaLleneas. 1t would be impossible lOc a
woman to become bricklaycr, or a sailor, or
laborer upon the highway; and there are
many other departments which men have alb
sOrbed to their disadvantage and the injury Of
the other SEX This is so much the case that
when woman is thrown upon the world, She
finds herself compelled either to teach school
or to sew. If very fortunate, she becomes an
attendant in dry goods store. In New York,
however, the prcpondtrancc OF male clerks
over female clerks in the delicate millinery and
dry goods business is overwhelming. Woman
is virtually excluded from the stores Of the
the city.
There is no occupation which seems so recu-
liarly adapted to woman as setting type. 1t Is
in many respects mental labor. 1t requires
little bodily effort 1t is peculiarly sclentary,
aud needs no more eXcrton than the sewing
machine or the piano. The mcu who set type,
| n ri a q /.
| telligencc. We presume that more men nave
risen to distinction from the printing office than
| from any single occupation; and If nne-tCnthS
of the printers in New York were thrown up IN
their own resources, and sent out from this
great city into the new countries which yearn
! for their industry and ability, it would be bet
ter for them and better for the Republic
! They are in many cases fitted to be the leaders
of men, to rise in the professions, to perform
the highest duties Of society. Nothing but the
natural dislike toward taking what seems to be
risk keeps so many men in this dense and
thankless city till they waste their years over
the printing case, aud become prcmaturely old
and poor.
We should like to see type setting generally
abandoned to woman. 1t is her work, and i'll
this work she has succeeded Women are
naturally as quick and Intelligent as men, AM
will make quite as good printers. We trust
that Miss Anthony will persist in this new et
fort, and that she will receive encouragement
from those who hire printers labor. There ar(
some departments i'll printing in which, per
haps, it would not be well for woman to assist
In morning newspapers, where the wurl, l.
thrown mainly into the middle hours of The
night, and is accompanied by the unpleasant
necessity of being away from home at unwcl
come hours, we do not think it would be az
advantage for women to be employed. Still
it might be done. We trust to see thorough
trial made.