Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-20
TYPEwRITING As A BUSINESS,
1t Has Grown to Great DfmeRsiOAs
Within q Few Years.

1t Has Grown to Great Dimensions
Within n Few Years.
From tie Boston Herald
Within the last ten years probably the
number of young women in the country
who have undertaken to obtain living,
by stenography and typewriting is not far
from 100000 This estimate is not accu-'
rate, and it is based upon no formal gath
ering of statistics, but it Is gathered from
a rough estimate of what is going on in all
the offices where typewriters are sold.
There is no kind Of office work that Is
cleaner or nicer. or more fitting for young
women to engage in, and perhaps no work
that is, on the whole. better adapted to
train women to business habits and TO
bring out their practical qualities OF life.
1t has been a great relief to young women,
who obtain such a ready and open oppor-
tunity to employ themselves to advantage
in Offices, and has made them very largely
independent of aid from others. The
wages which typewriters on the average
about $40 to $12 a week. and a larger sum
depends chiefly upon the efficiency of the
individual. If person Is very capable,
good speller, understands punctuation ana
ie acquainted with all the details Of good
writing, she is able to command much
larger wages, and II she has q knowledge
of bookkeeping, Of office routine, with all
these other qualifications. she can fire.
of these operatives is not impaired by their
work, and the number of persons who are
placed in the course of year In different
business offices Is far larger than any one
would believe.
The question of the service which these
typewriters can render is constantly re-
ceiving attention from the public schools.
and, aside from the help which this kind
of training gives to young persons who
have to earn their own living, 1t is of great
Importance that they should receive train
ing in the use of the typewriter and In
shorthand in the public schools. If we
were to mention the schools where the
typewriter Is in use we should have to
name nearly every important city and
town in the country. 1t Is an open ques-
ton In a growing number Of the public
schools whether instruction in shorthand
and in the typewriter should not be placed
on the same footing with the instruction In
English end other studies that are at once
practical and wide-reaching In their range.
The testimony Of many educators Is that
'as a teacher of English composition the
typewriter today stands without a peer"
One Of the great things about 1t is that 1t
exposes defects in writing. so that they are
without an equal. in every school where it
is placed, and 1t has gone everywhere
where civilization Is known. The type
writer is today universal traveller. 1t is
found in Central Africa, in the missionary
fields and at the ends Of the earth. and
there is nc place where 1t Is not used.
Like the bicycle, it is an universal favor
ite 1t has provided for young women an
honorable occupation, and helped them to
a new sphere of effort. 1t has placed them
in a position Of usefulness which is new
and much to be desired. and all young
women of character have found it q Won
derful help to them in earning living.
Aside from being an educator. 1t Is the
testimony Of those who place these wo-
men IN offices that they almost never VIC
late the proprieties, and that their conduct
is such that they give satisfaction in near
ly every instance, and find compa MONS for
life frequently among their employers.
The future of the typewriter and the
stenographer is well assured. They can
not be dispensed with, and where a per-
son Is able to do good and rapid work she
is sure TO be retained at rising salary as
long she wishes to work. The boon
which the public school can confer upon
its patrons through the training In short
hand and in typewriting is sufficient to
justify the attention which educators are
giving to this new department in the
school work. The relief which the type
writer gives to those who are engaged in
daily work of writing Is beyond express
sion, so great that 1t Is never likely to
be dispensed with. When one has once
learned how to dictate direct to the type
writer he will never go back to the
drudgery of the pen, and 1t Is an accom-
plishment which Is worth more to one
who, has to earn his own living than
words can express. To thousands of BRAIN
workers the typewriter has been a great
blessing. 1t has brought comfort rest
and peace In its train.