The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-14


pencils tho Business a Good One
for Women7
Copyright securely
New YORK, July ia tiny little offi,e,
front room and back. Over the doorway
between them a portiere Of deep red.
Pretty curtains at the windows, a carpet on
/ the floor and rugs everywhere. Tiny
clocks ticking away here and there, en-
broidered chairs and bisque dog with
ribbon about his neck perchsd upon the top
of big desk behind which pretty girl
with brown hair sits writing. A business
like looking safe with feminine knickkuacks
upon the top and big fat books tucked
away unobtrusively beneath the desk.
Such is a hasty descrip tio1 of Miss Agnes
X. Murphy'S real estate and insurance
| office in fremont, New York CITY. aud the
brown haired young lady is Miss Murphy
assistant She is as handy with weapons
feminine as masculine and dusts the top of
| the safe and the desk with q soft cloth while
you wait, though dust there is none in the
neat little room Me and the ways of m n
are tabooed in that off1ce, and the assist
ance of the sterner sex is not called in. Yet
Miss Murphy is the best known real estate
! agent north of the Harlem, and does n
tidy sum of $1,000 a year or moro and
which is growing larger all the time.
This phenomenon among brokers invited
me into her inner otfics and busted her
fingers fixing..a yellow silk curtain with tas-
sells to hang up somewhere while she told
ms how she happened TO be in the real es
tate business and how she liked it, Her
father was Capt. William Jay Murphy, a
bluff old seadog of pilot, who won fame by
| bringing the Great Eastern from the Hook
to her moorings off Harrison rect on her
first voyage When he redred from the sea
Capt. Murphy b ught home in fremont
| where he bee me a bit of pol tcian aud
got the good will of every one there IN
eide tally to other callings he carried on a
| small but solid real estate business i'll an
Office where there were no busters and no
| carpets and no concessions to good taste of
any sort. When the captain, stricken in
years, took to his bed for his fatal il ness
tne real estate business began t. languish
under the care of a saiftlesS clerk until his
daughter Agnes, just home from scho j,
began to keep an eye upon it. Little by
little as her fathers strength failed she re-
lieved him of the Durden of thou Tht about
his affairs At first he gave her oral direc-
tiOnS, and when his voice failed he used to
write his advice on slate and 50 by the
time he had to give up even that show of
doing business Miss Agnes knew pretty well
|
father by night aud did her work by day
until he died little over year ago. Since
then she has been entirely alone in the
business as she was practically for a ysar or
more fore And the business ms cad of
going to the dogs when the Old cap'n took to
his bed, has doubled in value
1.-The first thing did " said Miss Murphy,
who is slender and modest young woman
of "a rather above the medium hight aud
with pleasant Intelligent face, was to
build tbs tile Office, put in the telephone
and make it as attrac i've as possible rLau
was ju't before fathers death. Everyb ldY
about hare knew him and knows me, and
the frie IDS and acquaintance whom l nave
made it ea,ier for me. W hen met Strangers
it was my years more than my sex thai in
terfered at first wi h my success. When
negotiate the transfer of Sos, 900 worth Of
property, my biggest sale, the gentleman to
whom 1 applied treated me with positive
rudeness almost. He couldn't believe that
a raw girl like that actually meant bust
ness, but | convinced him OF that and was
very kindly treated by him afterward.
Since / have been attending auction sales
at the exchange all the dealers have treated
me very kindly indeed, and | cannot see how
a man could have got along any tet-er.
"A girl must be very sedate I'd cautious.
It won't do for her TO be too familiar With
men in the same business or to accept invi-
1
way upon the fact that she is a WON IN. |
have had no critici ms passed upon me be-
cause everyone here knows me so we'll"
Then Il woman wouldn't do as we'll in
your business as a man. if she had to start
IN where she was strangers"
mo indeed. She would not do nearly so
we'll. But be- inning with an excellent
reputation among people who knew her
we'll, do not SEQ why she could not do so
well as man or better know that great
many women who so househunting ike to
deal with a woman agent. But my buslne
isn't so much renting as Sc lag. Renting
hardly pays. We have TO keep lists as
matter of accommodate n, but the fees are
comparatively small and it's great deal Of
trouble, so l make little effort to increase
my renting, but do as much as can buying
and selling lots for spectators and blllu-
ers They are nearly always men, of
course though some shrewd Spectators are
| women, but none of them object t dealing
with me. and a good many have told me
that they prefer it. Excuse M"
Miss Murphy lodged inside IA little box in
the corner of the room in response to the
juggling of tho telephone bell
'Het a Ii tie farther away from the phone
please. VIVA o., I'll be here till 10
O'clock tonight"
Yes, stick pretty steadily to business,
but do hate" resumed Miss Murphy, ito
| have folks hunt me up on Sunday and want
to talk business. l like to have one day
for myself. Health9 Yes, l am mucn
healthier, suppo g. being cut of dools So
much and living au active life than would
be cooped up in the house Yet | enjoy
homework and always did as girl a great
deal of it. By the way, am an insu ance
agent also, and l can write policy right
here in my Office, which a good many
agents cannot do. Usually they take a
risk and send it to the headquarters of the
company to be reported uoon, and the
policy comes back in two or three days, but
I get my blank policies and write them here
so that a customer can get risk covered
with only few minutes delay. I am
rather proud of this practical proof of
confidence in nv judgment.
"Tlouble7 Yes, l have had little
trouble twice, but probably not more than
a man would have. Once l had to sue a
man for a commission due me. He tried to
evade payment on the ground that the
properly belonged TO some one else and
that he had no authority to allow ma to SELL
but he had TO admit on the witAess stand
that be had an interest II the property
Then he undertook to deny that had found
a purchas at the figure named in my
power of attorney--S35, GOD it was--b1tt
bank president who wanted to buy at that
price sat III court two weeks waiting to res
tify for me and Jury before judge Van