San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-06-28
Female CO-labOrers.
,he time has passed for men to

The time mas passeo ior men TO
,0eer at women having place in the
whiting Offices, as reporters, as edit
prs and all various branches of liter
atm In all they prove their fit
Usss and usefulness, and one by one
t a bars of OPPOSITION have been lev
"lea and their talent and qualifca-
lions recognized. That there may be
york their finer mental organization
lenders chem unqualified to perform,
;s true, and the same objection may
he urged against many of the other
eek. for all are not gifted with the
form of Hercules or the muscle of
a Sullivan. But this does not hold
GOOD against women as compositors.
fThe setting Of type is light work, and
should be swiftly done, and the more
slender and deft fingers of women
Oughj 10 give them an advantage,
even as they possess great skill with
the needle. In many an Office they
carr as much when working by the
thousand as their more sturdy COM
petitors, and as feeders" folders, I"
and "stitchers," excel them. If they
do not set as clean proofs, the fault
lies in the want of training and craft
education not in the ability. For
years the doors of printing office
were virtually closed against women,
and even if they had desired they
were ctpermitted to learn the trade.
Now, in the better enlightenment
and broader philanthrpphy, entrance
is free and ali may enter.
We have mentioned the more deli
cate physical organization, and this
has been and 1--WE regret 70 say is
urged against the sex in their efforts
not only to be selfs-supporting, but to
contribute to the family, to give ma
terial aid to Woodworking father and
mother, and educate younger broth
ers and sisters. The numerous fac
tories and mills scattered through the
land, where women operatives per-
form the bulk of labor, should be a
sufficient answer to this. And the work
of printing office isnot more severe,in
many respects it is lighter, and there
is no such long continued bodily strain
or long hours as behind a counter; is
much restricted in movement; has no
law against sitting and, as a rule, the
surroundings are healthy, and the
mind furnished with food, is educa-
ted and knows nothing Of the weary
hssitude and morbid sensation of
languor that is the case with the
"shop girls"
Given the same apprenticeship, and
women have proven as good compos-
itors as men, are as swift at the case,
as correct education being equaD,
and to their praise be it spoken, as
prompt, willing, faithful, easily guided
and-shall we write it?-not inclined
to good times" "a questionable
movement, we are happy to believe,
rather of the past than the present.
Were statistics necessary to prove
the entire practicability of female la
Dor, they could easily be gathered.
In thu West alone over three hundred
are employed as editors and reporters,
according to the best figures at hand.
In large cities they can be found reg
istered as members of typographical
unions; country Offices contain their
quota; some of the best papers in the
land owe their brilliantletters to female
correspondents. Could absolute data
be secured, the result would be a sur
prise, so many women have in the
last decade become associated with
the craft, taken to the pen and rem
dered their names world-famous.
From the one to the other is an easy
step, and there could be no better
school for authorship than a printing
Office. In literature, women have
crowded their way to the very first
rank, and the armament glitters with
as many JUNos as JUpIrERs. She has
reached very far beyond the Della
CiuScan love- sickishness, and grappled
successfully with all the great prob
lens of life, of mind, of matter, OF the
finite and infinite; has won the bright
est crown of poesy; disputed the palm
of superiority in history; is second to
none in romance; has solved the hid
den in nature; touched the finer chords
of our being, and read as none OF the
opposite sex could do, the secret work
ings of the feminine heart.
But putting aside all of sympathy
and natural gallantry and looking at
the matter simply from practical
and business standpoint, women are