The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-12-07
WOMEN WHO TELEGRAPH.
Alr Ladies Whose Fingers Toy With
Lightning.
ao" THEY WORK AND ARE PAIp-THErR
INFLUENCE ON THE WAGES or u.yp
oPERATTvEs-A BLUE OUTLOOK.
New York Sunday News 7


Il hef window at the News reporter an,
# smoothed her blond bangs with one han,
) ~htle she reached for his message. Tbe1
e she counted the words, tapping eacl
S one with the handle of pen gnaweC
e ragged between her white teeth. Then
/ she nlbbled her pen refectivelv. survey
= ing the reporter furtively under he,
e long iashes. Finally she said, Twenty
e eight cents" and silver dollar. with
+ out thlrty-iye-cent hole in it. having
t oeen passed over, small boy was dis
4 patched in search of change.
= Il have quite run of messages this
: morning" said the operator, "and
e there's nothing in the drawer but bills
a II seems to me | have been doing moth
D ing but changing since eight O'clock.
and only a minute ago | found myself
} looking in the glass to see if l was re-
| cognizable yet"
: do you commence toying with the
: lightning as early as that p asked the
reporter.
"From eight to eight are my hours.
f Long, you say? Indeed they are, and
dull enough, too, sometimes. | have
read novels till | hate the sight of them.
Now l'm studying French, for change. F"
The reporter inquired how she liked
her profession. She liked it we'll enough
How well was that? Well, it was
great deal better than tending coun-
ter, and that is what she used to do be-
fore she learned to master the electric
spark at the night classes of a telegraph
lie college. Even if l didn't like it
would stick to it" she said, with de-
termined flash in the blue eyes, "For
when commenced four years ago was
sneered at by the men for daring to
think could do the work, and I'd sub
NIT to any Inconvenience to prove that
| can. Do women make good operators
as rule? Quite as good ones as men,
when they attend to their business,
which reminds me that am neglecting
mine, Seventy-two cents, sir. Count
yourself, please. Thank you"
An official of the Western Union
company, speaking of men as telegraph
ers, said to the reporter: "The general
public has a very insufficient idea of
what it owes to female operators. Lit.
tie more than five years ago we were
the slaves of our men. They formed a
high-priced, a thoroughly Independent
body. They made money and spent it.
Telegraph operators are as Bohemian in
their instincts as actors and newspaper
men. They never work while they
have cash or credit to play on. Their
pay days fall bi-monthly, and every pay
day left US crippled for operators till the
registering absentees had run their
money through. If we ventured to ex-
postulate they would refuse to work at |
all If we expressed disapprobation at
at any thing they did they would let
messages accumulate till there would
be half days and even longer delay
in the most important business. There
was no actual trades union among them,
but they stuck together and had things |
pretty much their own way.
"Then the suggestion was made that
we should employ women as operators.
The late President Orton was the orig |
inator of this idea. His friends would /
frequently send young ladies, who had .
learned telegraphy in private schools, to
him for employment, and he knew that
a number whom he had found positions
in business houses for were capable
of excellent work. Finally we employed
a few on the short and easy lines They
did their work admirably. They were
not as fast as the men, and could not .
work the heavy distance wires. But
for all ordinary work they were quite
capable and satisfactory.
"The male operators made vigorous
kick, and distinguished themselves by
no little boorishness toward their sister
professors, but they had to cave in,
They made strike of it and held out
for week, when the usual breakup
occurred, and they staggered in till all
were forced to terms. From that time
forth the public were better served than
it had been before. The old rule or
ruin reign of the dandy operator was
over But the greatest convenience the /
employment of women rendered possi-
bic was the establishment of the small
local offices in hotels and the uptown
districts, where it would never have
paid to keep high-toned male opera
tor at salary of almost as much as the
Office brought in. Many of our local
Offices were at the start attended to /
bv Young women who took COM 1
mission on their returns as pay. Now, !
however, we have them all under salary. !
Out of town we have hundreds, / was
going to say, of offices in the care OF
female operators. They are small oth- !
ces, at places where a man would not
STAY For instance, at a village of a
couple Of houses we could not afford to 4
keep an operator at city salary. But
by paying some young girl who lives
there S25 or $50 a month, whichi Is more
than she could earn in such place at
much harder labor, we are able to keep
the line open to furnish facilities which |
the residents find frequent need OF. The
same romarks apply to many branch
offices here and IN other cities where
business is light, but there is still de
mapd for local service. If it was not
for our women operators these places
would not be supplied with telegraphic
service at all.
IF the public have been benefited by /
the introduction of female operatives
into telegraphy, the male operatives
certainly have not, There has been a
marked decline in salaries since the wo-
men entered the business. The best
operators, giants in their line, who send
md take messages with Incredible speed,
still make handsome salaries enough, as
salaries in telegraphy 60, and less able
operators, by doing extra work, earn
good livings. But among the mass of
operators salaries have been seriously /:
.nt into. Women are doing for from
s25 to $50 a month now what ten years
4go men got from $50 to $50 and 500
or doing. The pay of operators out
ide has similarly suffered. Many manu-
actories and large business houses en-
OF private telegraph lines. These used
o employ men. Now women do the
ervice at nearly all of them. In the
anne way, at hundreds of minor coun-
nv stations, where man by combining
he wretched salaries Of station-agent
Or the railroad and operator for the
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