The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-26
YE TYPEWRITER GIRL
SHE HAS BECOME A DISTINCT FEAT
URE IN INDIANAPOLIS LIFE.
A Position That Requires Tact = No
PrfnceIy Salaries Paid I'm
This City.

In the commercial world she is a staple.
In the professional world she is invaluable,
and in all branches or business she is being
appreciated more and more every day. In
Indianapolis there are seven or eight bust
ness colleges that teach stenography and
typewriting. Each OF these institutions has
it's full quota of pupils and every year hun
dreds of pupils are graduated from the de-
partment Of typewriting. The larger per
cent. of the members of these classes are
young women. They are turned out with
a testimonial from the college and an ar
dent desire to put their teaching to a prac-
teal use.
The fippant phrase OF typewriter girl
originated with the funny papers and be-
ing an apt term 1T was adopted by people
who don't employ a girl. To the business
men she Is never spoken of so lightly. 1t Is
'our stenographer," or ''our OPERATOR" or
some equally dignifed term. AS the pro-
prietor of a business college said: These
young ladies deserve better treatment than
they get from the world. We don't know
what typewriter girl means in our bust
ness. The calling is too honorable to be
ridiculed. A woman who has a grown up
family told me the other day that her three
daughters who learned stenography and
typewriting worked straight through the
last panic without the loss of a day. This
woman has sons, too, but they hadn't en-
ployment and the girls supported the family.
We have graduated hundreds of girls from
this school who are to-day supporting fami-
lies by the aid OF the typewriter. L know
of some who are educating brothers and
sisters because their parents are too poor
to do 1t themselves"
~, --x.l,at~1. a. ~~no1k &b1co Soxc
without a type-machine and the nimble I'm
gers of q quick-witted girl to operate II.
The average business man or lawyer awaits
the coming Of his stenographer in the MORN
ing as anxiously as he looks for his Jews
paper. If she falls him business goes wrong.
In fact, the typewriter girl is as essential
to the welfare of the firm as the office safe.
The proprietors of the business colleges say
the girl stenographer can find employment
where the man can't. One reason Is because
the man will demand higher wages for the
same work. Then the girl studies to please
her employer. She knows his little weak
nesses and his v~anities. She knows when
he's got the headache and don't talk to
him. If he has been out the night before
and comes down with q head she detects
1t, but she does not remark to the book
keeper about It. She keeps her peace and
Is appreciated for It.
III MUST HAVE TACT.
cit requires q lot of tact to hold a stem
~ographer's position with a good irn," said
q bright girl. 1.-THE typewriter girl must
be a diplomat and a politician. and she
must know how to hold her tongue. You
have no idea important secrets the
girl in a lawyers Office or a commercial
house gets hold OF, but she must bury them
or her position isn't. worth much to her.
As a general rule. the men In the Office
where q girl stenographer Is employed are
kind and courteous TO her. Sometimes
there are exceptions to the RUE. but II the
girl Is discreet and tactful she may keep
on without allowing her self-respect to suf-
fer, and at the same time keep On good
terms with the people around her. or
course. there are a lot OF things said about
an Office that the girl shouldn't hear. IL
she knows her business she will not hear
them. or at least she will not appear TO
know what Is going on around her. Men
sometimes forget that the typewriter girl
is not a mahogany desk. and say things
that they wouldn't say under other circum-
stances. On these occasions the girl can't
afford to take ofrense.
As a rule the typewriter girl Is pretty and
WIflSOIuc anu hNOWS nOW W wear V
clothes. She keeps up with the style In
dress, and will permit no woman to wear
q bigger sleeve than her own. The type
writer girl without her shirtwaist In sum-
mer is as bad off as a chorus girl without
her smile. Without II she Is not completely
dressed. One business college proprietor
says that the typewriter girl has figured
prominently in the matrimonial market in
this citv latalv RacanflV he WAS called
upon to supply four vacancies that had
been caused by the manipulations of Cupid.
A demure little thing who takes dictation
in a lawyers Office says this is incorrect.
There is no unusual demand In the mat
rimoniai market for s-tenographers," she
insisted. 1.-The market Is steady and 1t new
er fuctuates. AS a rule stenographers don't
marry. At least that has been my expert
ence. I don't know why they don't, unless
1t Is because they dislike to give UP a good
thing for an uncertainty"
NO PRINCELY SALARIES.
Stenographers are not paid princely sal
aries in indianapolis. Wages range from 50
a week to SIS. Some get as high as
SIS a week, but these cases are
rare and it is only where the girl is able
to assist in keeping the books that she re-
ceives the maximum of wages. 1t requires
from $50 to $50 to take a four-months' course
in a business college. and then If a girl has
attained a reasonable speed and is accurate
in her copy, she is not ordinarily long out
OF a position. . In the colleges they are
taught stenography, typewriting, grammar
and spelling. Bookkeeping may be taken If
desired. A majority of the girls who attend
the business colleges in this city come from
the country. They tire of the humdrum ex-
istence of home and want to live in the city.
T~ypewriting furnishes the best opportunf-
ties and they come to these commercial col
leges and learn IL.
Some of these girls" said the instructor.
attain an astonishing rate Of speed. The
average rate is from forty to fifty words a
minute, but some go as high as seventy
five. But it is not speed that counts. 1t is
accuracy and neatness. Typewriting is
gradually becoming the favorite occupation
for women who have to make a living for
themselves. 1t pays as well or better and is
lighter and ~pleasanter than most any occu-
patton a woman can take w. Then it has
a fascination about IL until the novelty