The Iola register., 1888-08-17
WoMANs DEPARTMENT.
FRESH FIELDS. /,

FRESH YIELDS
Increasing Opporsunltiss Fer women -
Earn Their Living---"What to DO with
Our Girls" NO Longsr-s Paxzle.
In how many families every year in
this city does the difficult question arise
-''what shall this daughter Of ours doa
Shall we keep her at home with no
other prospect before her but . posi-
BILE marriage, which may not come at
all, and may be unfortunate anyway;
or shall We teach her some independ-
ent method Of gaining her livelihood.
which should not of itself, in the pres
ent state Of popular opinion. prevent
her from marrying any right-thinking
man; and II 90. what avocation Is the
best of those open to herr" This ques-
ton is being rendered more easy Of So
luton every year. not so much by any
change in the abilities or disposition Of
the girls Of this generation from those
Of the last, as by the overwhelming
field Of wage-earning which now pre-
sents itself to womankind.
Some Of these new paths are curious
ones. too, as a Tribune reporter discov-
cred the other day. "Who's the Co
in your firm?" he asked of q real
estate agent, an old acquaintance, on
whose sign he noticed the recent addi-
tion. why" was the laughing reply.
II don't think I've told anybody yet,
but there's no reason why l shouldn't
The Co. is no other than my wife. It's
her own idea and scoffed at it at first,
but she really has brought in some
good business and has shown more apt
itude than I for some parts Of my old
business. am coming to think that q
clever woman is especially fitted to let
out or secure desirable tenants for fur
nished fats or houses. It is the woman,
you know, nine times out Of ten, who
rents the house anyway, and the best
person to bring out the advantages Of q
house, or to size up desirable ten
ant. Is q clever woman. Then again,
If she has an extended acquaintance,
she can find out long In advance what
families intend to move, and when, and
by keeping her ears and eyes open, can
turn the dreary round of social calling
to great pecuniary advantage"
Another portal that is being opened
to girls is the door of the drugstore.
'.If 1 had an application for an appren-
ticeship from smart, neat young wO-
man, whose parents / knew" said an
Eighth avenue druggist to the reporter.
in answer to q leading question, II
should be glad to take her behind my
counter and teach her the business. l
am sure she would do better than plenty
of the young fellows we have to take.
and she would find the preparation Of
doctors prescriptions exactly suited to
her abilities. Such work requires deft-
ness and carefulness, and has as little Of
the disagreeable about it as any other
business, and is fairly remunerative.
Her good taste would have plenty Of
scope in arranging the pretty things we
sell in addition to drugs, and plenty Of
our female customers, am sure, would
often prefer women to wait upon them :"
For girls who aspire higher than this,
medicine presents q more and more at
tractive field. Twenty-Five years ago
woman doctor was stared at as some
abnormal growth of civilization, not one
male physician in five hundred would
consult with her. no medical society ad-
mitted her to membership; but since
DR.. Elizabeth Blackwell opened her
Office in New York in 1851. the path has
grown steadily more smooth and
straight, till now there are more than
one hundred practicing female physi-
clans in New York and the adjacent
cities. Some Of the best medical schools
are open to her, her worth is recog-
nized, and the profession offers, per-
haps. the best opportunity Of any to an
educated woman for usefulness and
money-making. For others who can
not compass the expense incident on
attaining degree in medicine, there is
that beautiful profession, not yet filed,
though many are already in it, Of the
trained nurse. Two or three years Of
study and training and hard work will
establish for q sensible, healthy girl
in this line a regular clientage that will
insure her respectable living, with
less anxiety, hard work and privation
than falls to the lot Of thousands Of
actresses.
Speaking Of actresses, the wonder
never ceases that 50 many girls stand
continually and beg before the locked
doors of this profession. Not that the
doors are locked in any but a meta
phorical sense. Almost any girl can
get q chance to try her hand at the
stage in one capacity or another, but 20
many and so great are the obstacles in
the way Of any success when on it, that
much Of their honest but misguided Of
fort would be ludicrous II it were not 90
pathetic. 1t is the same way with liter
ature. Numbers Of women waste time.
money and the brains they have. writ
ing stories and poems Of perhaps me-
dunn merit. but absolutely worthless
from q marketable point of view, and
think themselves unjustly treated be-
cause publishers will not pay for them,
when like perseverance and energy in q
more prosaic but less crowded calling
would insure them satisfactory re-
turns.
For the less ambitious class Of women
who must be self-sustaining, sewing has
long been the old standby, but the
slavish toll and pitiful pay in connec-