The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-01-10
A BUSINESS. WOMAN.
LESSONS FOR YOUNG WOMEN FROM
THE LIFE OF MRS. HEARST.

Bent and Indulges IL.
Few women act more conscientiously
under the responsibility which immense
wealth imposes than does Mrs. George
Hearst, the wife of the late Senator Hearst
She devotes much Of her personal time and
large sums of money to charitable and
philanthropio movements. She has made
a thorough study OF the business interests
lntrusted to her m executrix at the death
Of her husband. She Is at the same time
fully informed In regard to the smallest
household item.
This necessarily involves an immense
amount Of real hard work, so that in this
instance tho life of rich woman Is not
the easy, rose padded existence which
many women OF limited means imagine.
Even In giving away her money Mrs.
Hearst regards 1t matter OF principal TO
investigate the appeals for aid, which
come Co her In vast numbers, lest by CIV
ing indiscriminately she may foster idle
ness and vice rather than relieve real need.
This, Of course, necessitates seeing great
many persons, writing letters Of inyesti-
cation and the granting or refusing Of the
various requests This latter duty draws
In no little degree upon Mrs. Hcarst's
strength, because her sympathies are easily
touched. She never refuses to see any one
who may call unless she Is actually indis-
posed. She also insists upon opening her
own letters, although she has two private
secretaries.
When her friends demonstrated with her
I'm regard to this, she replied: "It is duty
which i owe to my friends. How can /
tell what they may wish to write me Of
the grief and sorrow which may have crcpt
into their lives. and which they would not
have any one else see except myselfS No.
As long as can see shall read my own
letters"
Mrs. Hearst rs a business woman Is
naturally much interested In tho improve
ment Of the condition Of working women
In this country. When the subject was
brought up before her recently, she said:
II wish some one would impress upon the
minds of women who desire to or are
forced to earn their own living the neccs-
sity OF doing their work woll-of prepar-
ing themselves To render excellent service,
no matter where they are employed. be-
come very much discouraged sometimes In
trying to aid women who wish TO work
Not long ago young woman applied TO
me as u seamstress. told ber that / had
nothing except plain sewing but that
would pay her fair wages for that. When
the work came home, it was SO poorly done
that every Bit Of IL had to be ripped apart
) aud rernade Ia the house before it could
be used at all.
II had the same trouble IN finding q
good stenographer j tried l5 before /
could essd one who was really capable Of
filling the position of private secretary.
Young ladies wbu came To me with high
recommendations were unable to form com
plete sentences. In some cases their gram.
mar was exocrable and their spelling
worse. They may have considered their
deficiencies in those respects unimportant,
yet they cannot deny but that they are
cer<N.nly very noticeable.
"Then, again, ] receive q great many
letters which require substantially the
same form of answer wanted secre-
tary to whom could say, Answer this In
the negative or Affirmative, as the case
demanded They would either be brnsque
In saying 'No--a thing which will not
permit--or give wrong impressions as To
my intentions One young woman was
capable In every respect. hut she had one
fault which every business woman ought
to avoid. She talked about the business
transactions which took place ip the Office.
found that everybody else knew as much
or more about my business than did l
did succeed at last In finding . secretary
who understood her business and Is dis.
croet. She has been with me some time
now, and appreciate her ] do wish that
young women could be made to feel very
keenly that II they would succeed they
must learn their business thoroughly
Mrs Hearst believes In applying busi-
ness methods to housekeeping as well
Her house account books are ms carefully
kept as her ledgers In the Office. Every
piece of linen that goes to the laundry, ev
cry cent expended, Is carefully noted, so
that she knows exactly what she has In
the house. She experienced rs much diff
Guilty In securing n good housekeepor as In
finding a good secretary. She binds her
argument upon systematic housekeeping
with the remark, III you have good
things, you should take care of them"
She never asks from others what she
does not practice herself. AS business
woman she Is very nethodical and pains
taking In selecting the books for tho
libraries which she put in at Loads City,
S. d., ana at Anaconda she looked over
volume after volume. spending hours at
the book stores
mo matter how much or how little a
book costs. she said, IL is important TO
know that tho print Is good and that the
book Is complete "
She had helped her husband In his bust
ness correspondence, So that at his death
shn had general knowledge of his affairs,
That, however, did not satisfy her. She
felt that she must become conversapt with
oil the details. She spent certain mum
ber Of hours each day in the office receiv.
ing instructions from her business man
ager and her lawyer. Then she visited the
different parts OF her vast estate She spent
days going through the great mines at
Anaconda descending TO the thousand
foot level, passing through tunnels, visit.
ing the stamp mills, the smolters. learn.
ing the different terms used In mining. SO
that she could understand the reports
which were sent In. She did the same
thing at the other mines, especially her
gold mines In the Black Hills She went
TO her fruit ranch and her great dairy
farm, where she controls seven dalrics