St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-15
SAINT PAUL.
THE PERT TYPEWRITER.

n h.
''She has the stenographic craze"
said the mother OF young lady of my
acquaintance the other day, in response
to an inquiry anent her daughters alb
Sence from her old place in the home
circle. ''She caught it about three
months ago." continued the lady,
Learned shorthand at college down
town and then took position in law
yer's office. All the girls seem to be
getting it nowadays; it's a regular
mania with them"
1t needed but moments reflection to
convince me of the truth of the state
ment. Nothing seems to suit those
girls who find it necessary to WORK for
living but a Stenographer'S position.
Clerkships are not to be thought OF Tor
moment; looking after domestic affairs
is all too tame for the modern girl of
from seventeen to twenty-five, and in
fact there is nothing quite so thoroughly
genteel as stenography. Only a few
years ago the lady stenographer was a
rara avis, positions of the kind were
chiefly held by members of the male
population. and salaries were so per
cent higher than now. With the march
of the girl stenographer, how
ever, retreat of the male con-
tingent was inaugurated, and now
the clicking of the typewriters i'll the
offices about the city is produced by the
deft fingers of those maidens who have
driven their brothers to other pursuits
and appropriated the positions they
formerly held. The name Of the girl
typewriter in st. Paul is legion. She is
found everywhere, from the state cap
itol to the hotel lobby, and everywhere
she is the most important person about
the premises by odds of about ten to one.
The girl Stenographer has demonstrated
many truths and exploded many falla-
ciouS notions which have existed
regarding her sex. Who dared say that
woman cannot keep secret. Is she
not in her capacity as stenographer
made the cOnfidante of her employer to
greater extent in many cases than
even his wife. Are not the most secret
of his business transactions and affairs
made known to her as she jOtS down in
shorthand a dictated letter asking for
sixty days extension of a note which, l.
pressed, will perhaps bring the mer-
chants business about his ears in a
choas of ruin. Does she not receive
information in her capacity which
might, did she choose to employ the
knowledge for her own advantage, be
made to yield her goodly profit, and
can a case be cited III this vicinity
wherein one of the feminine army OF
stenographers has violated the trust
reposed in her, and yet there are those
who will continue to assert in the face
of these facts that women cannot KEEP
secret.
There are distinct varieties of the fe-
male stenographer, and most OF these
varieties are represented in st. Paul
There is the middle-aged lady, whose
hair is thin at the top, and who brushes
the remnants of former hirstute glory
into a fluffy mass of confusion which
beWilders the spectator and gives the
Wearer a rakiSh appearance abSurdly
ont of keeping with her evident years
She takes dictated letter without once
glancing at the paper on which she is
writing, never asks for the repetition OF
a sentence, and utters no comment
Having reached the yours, ETC., stage
of the epistle, she yanks her chair into
place, yanks the typewriter couple OF
times, gives the keys three OF
four preliminary digs for the adj
dress and date line, and then
Tattles off that letter like a flash.
She never makes mistake, Is 1nvarl-
ably on time to a second in opening her
days work, and closes it just as
promptly. She usually draws a good
salary, as stenographerS' salaries go
NOWADAYS. end never marries her en-
ployer.
Again, there is the nervous young
person, who has just completed her
term in business college and knows
absolutely nothing of practical value to
the firm she is to serve. In taking down
shorthand letter she uses three pages
of foolScap, upsets the ink bottle, asks a
thousand explanations, doesn't under
stand them when given, and ends up III
blots and tears. If a man committed
half of the above list of indiscretions he
would in all probability be given an i'll
definite leave Of absence, but not SO
with this pretty little maid from
school. Of course she is an unutterable
nuisance and all that, but then she has
such wonderful complexion, such a
wealth of autumn glory surrounding it,
such a reproachful pair of brown eyes,
and is such a dear little creature all
round, that the man whopays her salary
calls himself brute for having brought
tears to those eyes and cloud across
that sunny face; and he takes his letters
off somewhere else to be copied unit
u
self. which isn't long. After awhile
the sylph-like figure of the girl
he paws $40 a month for sitting in his
office all day becomes necessary to the
peace of mind of the young merchant
or lawyer, and he conceives the brilliant
idea that she will make a greater hit az
wife than as a typewriter. He ask:
her about it, and she is generally OF the
same opinion, and it may be added tina
several of these experiments OF recen
date have as yet been productive Of NJ
disastrous result.
Another variety still is the sad-face(
young woman of patrician feature ant
reserved demeanOr, who is invariably ;
good operator but will work for small
salary. She is civil to those with whom
she is associated in business, bows tx
them on the street perhaps, but is neYe
cordial. OF her one says inStinctively
that she is in false position; that she is
in fact, one who has seen better days
and who feels keenly the neceSSit.
which compels her to manipulate the
keys of typewriter for a living. Sh'
has no chosen friend among tn
members of the craft, she il
ostracised by her occupation from
the circle in which she wa
formerly WelcoLne, anu BIC CARES HoS "
mingle too freely with persons she ha
been taught to regard as beneath he
notice socially. She is an unhappy
woman.
There are dozens of varieties of tn
genus typewriter. There is the cir
who faints in her chair three times
week regularly and has to be carried
into the open air, where three or fou
men clerks fan her with day book
and ledgers, and the affairs o