The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-06-15

1t is pretty well known that Mrs. Reagan,
wife of the Texas Senator, is her husbands pri-
vate secretary, but it is not so well known that
the lady is stenographer and takes her hus-
bands correspondence down from his dictation
in shorthand.
"Ihere is an impression that our Southern
women are indolent,n said Mrs. Reagan the
other day. 81 was born and bred in the South,
and know many examples of spirited women
among us who have business talent, who man
age their domestic affairs without friction, con-
trolling number of servants, or even lending
hand in the domestic work of the household
when necessary. This was true to limited ex-
tent before the war when they had slaves. NY
personal feeling is that it were happy thing
If our young women generally could be trained
so as to have one accomplishment so thoroughly
learned as to make it dependence in case of
reverses, for the wheel of Fortune turns round
South as well as North. l think it degrading
when young woman is so situated that she
has to look to marriage as q resource or succor,
rather than free choice.
'For twenty years." Mrs. Reagan continued,
after pause, 81 have been acting as the Sena-
tors private secretary. did it simply because
he did not like to coni1e all his purely personal
correspondence to the eyes of comparative
stranger and, little by little, got to doing
more, until once the idea occurred to me that |,
like Others would get on faster if | learned
SuOTIuauu luc SENATOR generally Keeps TWO
men secretaries to attend to public business,
and at one time he had good stenographer,
who lent me books, and as had not much else
to do just then | looked into them and thought
it not too difficult for even me to learn; but on
contiding my views to a lady friend she declared
never could do it. Well, l did and it took me
just three months hard, painstaliing work to be
able to write at dictation. l never had a
teacher. [ dug it out myself. | have no idea
of my speed, nor do l ever expect to report but
find it very useful. The stenographer after
ward left the Senator's employ, and as tempo
rary eXpedient | offered my services, not for the
money, but to be of use to my husband But
he nor l cannot see why if | do the work rs
well as another should not have the pay.
| have no idea how long this arrangement will
last. The way we manage is this Right after
breakfast the Senator dictates a dozen or so
| letters to me; take it down, and he goes off
about his business, and then write them out
| and mail them at once, at least twenty four
| hours earlier than they would be under the old
way when he dictated to me for long hand 1t
seems to me that the dear public have mani
tested an unnecessary amount of interest in me
as being my husbands secretary. Why, there
are several ladies in the Congressional circle
who are doing as much for their husbands as
am for mine, and the only difference is that
chose to do what they might do if they wished
to- draw small salary as compensation due for
services rendered. | rather like politics. if
did not should not enjoy this kind of thing so
much. | think Southern women are all pretty
well acquainted with politics. was but twelve
years old when the Senator was Postmaster
General Of the Confederacy-I am his second
wife-but even the little girls heard SO much
political talk then that we could not help i'm
bibing the sentiments of our elders"
f. l.. S.