Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-07-27

WOMEN m OFFICE
hat Members of the Geatler sex DO In
the service OF Uncle sam.

government positions there In twenty
five years lit is more than a quarter 81
a century since women were first taken
into the employ Of the government, bnt
within twenty-five years after they were
first employed in the Washington de-
partments they were holding one-fourth
and to-day they hold a little more than
that proportion Of the appointive posi-
tions in the departments.
They have not risen to the highest
places yet but that is probably due as
much 70 prejudice against their sex as
to lack of executive capacity They
drew the highest pay as clerks. which
IS sufficient evidence that their work is
equal TO that of men in clerical posi-
tions. Doubtless when their sex is
further emancipated they win be found
among the chiefs of division and posi-
bly, the assistants to the members of
the presidents cabinet
There is a dispute about the question
Of Who first employed women in the
public service. The friends of the late
Gen. Spinner claim the credit for him,
while others dispute this point and as
sert that women were employed in the
mint at Philadelphia and in other gov
eminent institutions before they were
employed at Washington. However,
that may be, certainly the general en-
ployment of women in the government
service must be credited TO Gen.
Spinner.
When the famous author of the fy-
track signature was treasurer of the
United States he found during the late
civil war that the call to arms had so
depleted the available clerical force at
the capital that there threatened to be
a famine of government employees
something never known before or since
in the history of office-holding. He
suggested to Secretary Chase in this
emergency the ACCESSIBILITY of employ
ing women to count the currency in the
redemption division of the treasury de-
partment and to do the work Of copy
lists The suggestion was accepted and
with the most gratifying results
There is greater proportion Of wom-
en- employed in the government print
ing office than in any other department
of the government. The printing office
is an independent bureau which is not
only free from the authority of any of
the heads of the eight great depart
ments, but not within the jurisdiction
of the civil service commission. OF
course the positions of the greatest re-
sponsibility in the government printing
office are held by men. The business
of the office is technical and is much
more easily comprehended and much
more naturally sought by men than by
women. The principal positions i'll the
government printing office held by
women are feeders, folders and clean
ers. The women who feed the press
earn twenty-one cents an hour.
In the interior department more than
one-third of the employees are women,
and here their duties are varied, inter-
esting and important. Among the
clerks in the pension Office, Miss Sallie
f. Chandler, of Virginia, draws l,S0O
a year, and Miss Ada Tanner drew a
like amount when her father, "Corpo-
raj Tanner, was commissioner of pen
sions After the removal of Commits
sioner Tanner his daughter was trans
ferred to the Office of the treasurer of
the United States where she drew
81, 500 year as private secretary to
Treasurer Huston. Miss Tanner is now
a 81, 400 clerk in the treasurer's Office.
Miss Nettie L. White, of New York,
draws 81 500 year in the pension Office
as a stenographer, and Miss Annie j..
Shirley, of West Virginia, earns 81, 500 as
a clerk. There are great number of
81, 400 clerks in the pension office,
among them Miss Emily Browne, of
New Jersey; Miss Clara o. Brawley, of
Indiana; Miss Lizzie E. Brown, of
Pennsylvania: Mrs Mary E. Coleman,
of Oregon; Miss Sarah Culbertson, of
Indiana: Miss Medora Fuller, of Rhode
Island. and Mrs. Alice NJ. Goodwin, of
Illinois The highest salary ever drawn
in connection with the pension Office
was that of pension agent at Chicago.
Mrs. Marian A. Mulligan drew "a, 600 a
year in that position.
In the land office, Miss Lucy NJ
Strong, of Vermont, draws $1,000 as a
clerk and there is quite large number
of women among the 81, 400 clerks. On
the payroll of the offices of the sur
veyors general are number of women
draughtsmen Tor perhaps they would
prefer to be called draughtswomen)
who draw from SO to IS a day in the
Colorado Office and the chief clerk of
the Nevada office, who is woman, re-
ceives 81, 400 salary. In the United
States land Offices are quite number
of women clerks whose salaries range
from 5000 to 81, 200.
The most conspicuous of the women
employed in the Indian Office is the
wife of the Indian commissioner, Mrs.
Morgan. She acts as the commissioner 5
private secretary and draws salary of
81, 900. DIR. Dorchester. the superinten-
dent of Indian schools, has Mrs. Dor
chester on the rolls as a special agent
One of the special agents in the field for
the Indian Office is Miss Alice c.
Fletcher, who draws IS a day. Secre-
tary Charles Foster, of the treasury de-
partment, when he was member of the
Sioux commission, three years ago, re-
ceived only $40 day. and his associate,
Mai. VIM. Warner, who has just con-
cluded an Intellectual canvass for gov