Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-10

real estate and legal firms and also do
business for themselves, but the bulk of
! the fraternity sign their names to federal
pay rolls.
Inc question of female typewriters was
unoer discussion up at the Stenographers'
Clup by a couple Of members recently. and
besides their numbers their characteristics
were also discussed. There seems to be a
widespread belief that the principal claim
ior recognition on the part of the female
typewriter is that she will do the work
eheaper IMAM the, supposed to be,
sterner sex. This belief is all wrong. as
far as the experts are concerned The nov
ices may, perhaps. underbid their more
competent sisters, but the quality of the
work done will soon drive customers away
unless 1t is certain work that requires no
accuracy or neat appearance. Considering
the hours the female typewriter's compen-
sation is far above the average They set
certain price upon their work and the
sterner sex would be surprised to see how
tenacfously they hold to 1t. 1t is not a
question of how much money they can
make inside Of twelve hours, but how much
work they can secure Many of the more
expert ladies have been known to go two
days without securing a single sheet of
typewriting to do and on the third day
turn out work that called for the payment
OF $40 thereon. As to getting married their
chances are almost equal to the female
telegrapher. II they have coupled to a
bright intellect a more than passing fair
face their chances of continuing In the
business are very slight.
Her Chances of Marriage.
Should their admirers be largely composed
of the younger. generation, they will find Il
hard road to travel in opposition to the
old saw. IAN old mans darling than a young
mans slave" Good common sense is one
Of the chief characteristics Of the female
typewriter, and how dear those words are to
the old bachelor or the widower of middle
age. The former has. perhaps. known little
coI..,au.onship OF the gentler sex owing to
business pursuits. and when thoughts OF love
enter his brain what is more likely than
that he should pick out his confidential type
writer? The widower has been through the
furnace Of first love and looks around for a
congenial companion. The little lady sitting
at his right elbow and hammering out his
thoughts in cold print at the rate of sixty
words minute, without a misspelt word or
ungrammatical phrase. strikes him as being
about the personifcation Of intellectual COM
partnership, and straightway a vacancy
occurs In the typewriters' ranks. 1t is a
strange coincidence. evolved from fully
dozen different sources, that where a man
marries his typewriter the person that takes
her place is always Of the sterner sex
Many lady stenographers are expert type
writers. but the majority of the fraternity
depend upon typewriting alone, and as be-
fore said IL they have the work a very
profitable income is sure to follow. An old
employee of one Of the uptown departments.
one OF the brightest women that sign their
names to federal pay roll. has an office
near the center Of the business portion of
the city. in which typewriting is done.
About seven bright girls are given employ
ment, and the office has quite a reputa-
ton for speed and accuracy. The propri-
etress furnishes the machines, paper and all
necessaries thereto and allows the gir1s one
cent page for letter-size PAPER and two
cents for legal size. This appears to be
sman compensation, but the lady carries a
dozen applicants on her books for positions
on her force when vacancies occur. One of
the employees of this lady said recently that
one cent seemed small for three hundred
OF work. II can't make fifteen dollars a
week at that rate. and take IL easy / want
to get out Of the typewriting business.
Advantages Over Her Brother Artfst.
The female typewriter enjoys an advan
tage over her brother artist in the same
line. inasmuch as she will be given the
preference when all things are even as to
quality and speed Of work done But this
has been the rule the wide world oyer--a
pretty face will bring customers where ad-
vertising has failed. II there is one thing
more than another in the way Of work that
the lady typewriter enjoys it is working the
machine from dictation. She will charge so
much hundred words for copying an arti-
Gle and the same prices rule when taking
dictation. Dictation is hard work for the
novice. but to the thoroughbred typewriter
fv,
over hard piece Of manuscript and tran
scribing IT on the machine. Take for in
stance, a seasoned newspaper man thst has
from column to half-page article 10
write. II he uses a pencil 1t will be labor
indeed. as 4.OOO-word article is no child's
task, and the time consumed will be some
thing dreadful to a hustlng man. on he
rushes to a first-class typewriter-it is said
and in two hours time at the very most
the work should be turned out In first-class
shape. The lady will soon master the gist
of his article and follow him as IL by intu-
ition.
1t was told up at the club the other night
that a young lady new to the Typewriter
ranks had been asked the nature of her
daily labors and had replied that she Was
punching holes in the English language
The narrator said that he had come across
some Of her work and that she was literally
speaking the truth. as the copy was more
holy than righteous. This joke is an old
one in a new dress and first saw the light
of day as applying to the perforators upon
the Wheatstone telegraph system
Physical Strain Upon Typewrttera
There is no denying that the physical
strain upon typewriters is something he
yond the ordinary, although many of the
older and experienced hands in the bust
ness claim that IL is only a case where
youthful impetuousness is to blame II tn.
work is taken easy and steady II can do no
harm, but II is the overwork strain that
tells The attention must be intensely con-
centrated on the work to catch without
mistake, what the person debating saws.
and at the same time the closest attention
must be given to the fingers SO that the
words or the strokes that represent the
words are put down correctly. This even
In man, will bring numerous dis
orders, SO the doctors say. and how much
more SO in the delicate. sensitive oryaniza-
ton of a young woman. In fact nervous
disorders among typewriters are exceeding
ly common. and no one but an experienced
person can say how exhaustive the tax is
upon the mind and nervous system
The STOPPING attitude at the typewriter
Is added to the mental concentration which
although not, perhaps as intense as iotting
down photographic notes, is still far too
much Tor young woman to be under con-
stantly for whole day, and day after day.
She has often to read poor copy, as this is
In itself strain, and she has to mind the
keyboard 50 that her fingers will not strike
the wrong letter. Her mind and eyes have
to be kept upon two things at the same
time, that Is, on the manuscript and on the