Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-21
ONE KIND OF TYPEWRITER,
How the Family Gods Were Set Up In
Little Harlem Flat.

How the Family Gods Were Set Up In q
Little Harlem Flat.
Out on Broadway Just now l saw a little girl
that have a big respect for, says q writer in
the New York Herald She is a typewriter, but
she is not much like the kind the newspapers
are always telling stories about, though, like
them, she is pretty-as pretty as picture and
as good as if she were old and ugly. She is
twenty-five, and let me tell you what she has
done.
Six years ago she was the most ragged. friend
less, ignorant little orphan you would care to
hear of, and she had four younger sisters, each
more ragged and friendless and ignorant and
orphaned than the other. She went into q
tyPewriting copying Office to learn the business
IN return for her services as office girl. She
Was such bad speller that everybody said she
would never make a typewriter. She Set in to
learn to spell She was so shabby that the head
of the office said he was ashamed to send her on
errands, but she did her work so well that he
concluded it would pay to spend = couple of
dollars in fixing he- up.
She made herself skillful operator. although
to begin with she uncommonlv clumsy
The fact was she had some thing else ON her
mind than finding husband to support her.
She was thinking about those four little sisters.
They were living around with relatives most of
whom were very poor, and when they we're not
poor they were exceptionally cross and cruel to
wake up. This little woman, call her Annie if
you like. had ambition to be q mother to
those little sisters.
A mother? What she is now is mother, and
father, too!
The first money she could scrape together
from her typewriting she spent learning
stenography- She could not afford all the les
sons she needed, but she made it up in hard
work by herself. She was not gifted with the
quantities for making the best stenographer-
the best ones are born, not made-but she did
all she could and came out better THAI the
average that do Office work, and since that she
has had comparatively easy sailing
People had noticed her; she got a good posi-
ton; not much money, as You count money,
but enough to start her in executing a long
cherished plan.
She got together those four sisters She took
little hat up town. She gathered them all in
and told them they must live without furniture
until they could buy 1t. not on the insta!lment
plan. In the meanwhile they would all have
plenty of good food, such as they had not
had before, because furniture is a luxury.
but good food Is an investment for working
girls.
Two OF the girls were learning typewriting in
the same way she did. The two younger ones
were In school They camped along as best
they could and were happy. That was wear
and IA half ago. Now three of them are earning
good pay, as salaries go-there is a prejudice in
that big Office building where Annie is in fayo,
OF the family-one of the younger ones is learn.
ing the business in the old way. Their home is
as pretty little place in its modest way al
there Is in Harlem, and their relatives are more
he.pful and kind than ever before-becaust
nothing succeeds like success.
And l. call that young woman's u success
worth talking about.