Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-02-03
new Yoax,s womlm WORKERS.
How Hard it is for Them to Strike
the proper Demeanor- Working
for Commercial Firms
New york Cor. Milwaukee sentinel.l

New York Cor. Milwaukee sentincll
s'Upon my word." said young lady
| in the position Of receiving clerk in the
main Office Of the Western Union
| telegraph office, cit doesn't seem to
me that the men who do business
| have brains enough to keep them out OF
| the poorhouse If they had to work for
other people. You've no idea how difficult
| it is to strike just the right sort of de-
meanor in a place like this. The mana
gertell tells us that we must be nice and
amiable, and never curt or saucy. That's
all very well, but we find that it won't
| do to obey these orders too fully. 1t
don't take more than half smile, or
more than o word sweetly spoken, to
excite insulting familiarity in a good
many customers. l get mad enough
twenty times day to strike my fist
right through that wicket, into their
silly, aggravating, mawkish faces.
Notwithstanding the sentimental dis
abilities which masculine idiocy thus i'm
poses on women, they are getting along
| first rate in New York in making their
way into good employment. Ten years
ago the needle and sewing machine pro-
vided the only work for them above men
tai positions. Clerkships in stores were
opened more and more to them, until at
present they outnumber men ten to one
behind our retail counters. But it re-
mains for the type writer, by its intro
duction generally into mercantile and
professional Offices, to provide wages
for women Of education and natur.
ally bright intellects. The differ
ent makes of these machines are
clicking by the Thousand in this
city. The operators commonly attain
speed Of 1000 words an hour, which is
about as fast as the merchant, the law
yer or the journalist cares to dictate let
ters, documents or articles. Scarcely
brokers office in Wall street is withouta
female amanuensis. There is reason,
aside from the fact that these women are
glad to work for less pay than men Of
equal attainments would accept, for pre-.
fering them as private secretaries. The
person in such position necessarily gets
at the secrets Of his employer. 1t is no.
torious. for instance, that men acting in
this capacity for Jay Gould have en-
riehed themselves by making use Of
knowledge obtained in the course Of
thrir duty.
Now, it may be that women are worse
than men at keeping secrets, but it is
also true that they are not so ready to
use them for mercinery purposes. In
the copying Of legal papers and other
manuscripts, these nimble. fingered ma.
chinists find an extensive industry; and
here the requirements are ofa lower order
than for writing for dictation, since the
latter necessitates expertness in orthog-
raphy. In one of the commercial agen-
cies, where the business consists largely in
furnishing reports to subscribers, made
up OF quotations. from the recorded
ratings, | saw over 200 girls at work in
a single room. 1t may be long time
before women will be permitted to vote
or will have any desire to, but the
means Of independent and pleasant live
lihood are rapidly opening to her in va
rious sections. The hardest obstacle
which she encounters is the one / have
already described. Too many men have
yet to learn to treat her respectfully in
business life.