Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-08-22
THE DEPARTMENT GIRL.
WISE OLD UNCLE SAM HAS MANY
PRETTY HELPERS.

The Women Who Work for the Govern
ment at Washington Are Both Good
Looking and Good-Solncthing About
the Drives Near the Capital City.
Especial Correspondence
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1.-The wife of a
prominent official, who has had much ex-
perience in Washington society, where one
sees all sorts of people, said to me the other
day: "The brightest and most interesting
women in Washington are the department
girls. 1 have often thought that if I were
g man, and were going to pick out a wife,
I would want n of these women who
have worked for a few years for Uncle
Sam. They are women whose characters
ave become settled, who are practical
without being sordid, and whose minds
have some solid, enduring cultivation.
Contrast these working women with the
mere devotees of society, the idle women
who are supported by their husbands in
such luxury that even common household
cares are not theirs, and it is the working
woman who profits by the comparison. To
my mind the face of a society woman in
time begins to reflect her mode of life. It
lacks character, repose, definiteness of en-
preston, becomes doll-like and dull. The
department woman has rubbed enough
against the world to lave the Stiffness
taken out of her. She is no longer romantic,
foolishly sentimental. At the same time she
preserves all her refinement and womanly
softness, for the work is not hard and the
associations are pleasant. To my notion the
departments in Washington make the ideal
place for a woman to work in. It does me
rnnI RI we u ~ D,,f %l@ ,.o,A Is11:.-.
and see such a large number of bright and
happy young women earning their own
living and helping their families along.
They dress we'll, behave well and look like
women who know how to take care of
themselves, qualified to assume almost any
responsibility in life. Some of these
women are old, and not a few of them
are maidens Of such few charms and so
many years that they will never marry,
but l challenge you to find a greater num-
Der of really pretty women out of u like
number in any walk of life than l can
show you in the treasury or the interior
department, or any other of u big hives
of governmental industry. Step into the
corridors of the treasury department, for
instance, at luncheon time, and note the
women who pass you by. Nearly all are
simply bu sweetly dressed, and make a
kaleidoscope of pretty pictures in their
light summer fabrics. Nearly all wear
flowers, too, indicative of home life and of
the country. AS a matter of fact" this
observing society woman went on, "a large
number Of our department people are
moving out to the suburbs of the city and
acquiring little homes of their own. They
are saving from their meager salaries, and
the hours which they are required to keep
at their work, 9 in the morning till 4 in the
afternoon, give them abundant leisure for
going and coming.
"Whenever l hear OF a man picking q
wife from the department 1 feel like con-
graduating him. Now, there is Mr.. Jones,
of The St. Louis Republic. He has Just
married and gone away to Europe with
Mrs. Parsons, one of the pretticst women
of the census bureau. Mr.. Jones has made
a great success of his paper. de came
north from Florida u few years ago, and
has won both fame and fortune. l hear
that some of his friends here, senator's and
members of the house, endeavored to dis
suade him from marrying Mrs. Parsons
because she was a department woman.
They thought she was not good enough
for him, did not nave a social station equal
to his. AS q woman who admires the de-
partment girls and believes in them I am
glad Col. Jones was not influenced by his
friends. l we'll remember when Senator
Mcdonald, of Indiana, married q clerk in
one of the departments. His friends made
an effort to interfere, just as Col. Jones
friends did. But Ill venture that Mr.. Nc
Donald has never been sorry that he put
all the advice of his would be friends be-
hind him. Mrs. Mcdonald was and still
is one of the l~oveliest women il America.
I visited her not long ago in her Indianapo-
lis home, and she is perfectly happy. She
and her husband are still the lovers they
were when married. At first Indianapolis
society was inclined to turn up it's nose at
Mrs. Mcdonald because she had been a
department clerk, but she went along in
her sweet, dignitied way, asking no fuvors
Of any one, and now she is one of the most
popular women of the Hoosier capital.
"Of course you cannot expect every mar.
riage of Il prominent man with IL depart
mcnt beauty to turn out we'll" concluded
my lady, "fOr human nature is human
nature wherever you find it. Once in a
while there will be u case like that of en-
Senator Christiancy, who married only to
get a divorce. but in tine long run l am
willing to back the department girl for
OcauUy auu CudraCCer ana WOmanllneSS
against all comers."
For my part, am glad always to see
love level ranks in this democratic coun-
try. Therefore it is a pleasure to see the
department girl, whom my society friend
has praised so highly, catching on. The
loveliest woman 1 have seen in Washing
ton, e to Matte Mitchell, the queen of
beauty, is Rose Alexander, a department
clerk. There is Mrs. Senator Davis, her
self once u milliner, who has about her in
the social season a bevy of the prettiest
girls to be found in the capital. Many Of
them are from the departments, and just
as nice and sweet and well behaved as if
they were the daughters of m~illionaires.
Go out to the country club house, or the
new Glen Echo cafe, or along the delight
full drives which surround Washington,
and you will see the department girl at
her best. She is out, singly, by couples
and quartets, with senators, members Of
congress and promising aud important
men in general US escort The department.
girl is always good company, ~vivacious.
not too prudish, and with wit native or
acquired by contact with the world. And
she is nearly always u lady. No wonder
she catches q good husband. -. ~
Probably there is no city in the country
more given to driving and riding than the
CAPITAL. In these Sultry DAYS the charm