The times., 1897-07-04
OFFICE GIRLS.
A Chicago Innovation Which Has
Proved q success.

The rising generation Of femininity has
been invading fields hitherto regarded as
peculiarly those of the 10y, just as hes
older sister, the new woman, has been
accepJably filling positions, dtua lions and
professions Which Were formerly regarded
as suitable only for the male sex. The
office girl has appeared in Chicago the
last few months to take her place beside
tie army of women stet.5grapheTs and
typewTiters.
No one knows exactly who began the
innovation. Perhaps the idea was bor-
rowed from the big department stores,
which employ cash girls almost exclusively
A few years ago these stores used to emp ploy
boys and cash girls were seldom seen. But
in couIse OF time the cash girls became
more and more popular, until the cash
Toy is now the exception, while the casl
girl is tie rule.
Much the same transition is predicted
in the ranks OF office boys. The old
fashioned office boy, who swears, smokes
| cigarettes, and is impairment usually, and
loafs when he is sent upon some important
errand, is fast disappearing, and it is pre-
diCted that IN course of time the office Eirl
will have entirely taken his place
office girls are now employed in
number of offices III the big buildings
down town. The success of their sisters
has suggested the idea TO other girls OF
invading the field hitherto monopOliZed
by their brothers and earning more wages
| than are paid to the cash girl. Every now
| and then a man who has put an advertise
| ment for an office boy in the paper finds
| among the applicants a letter from a girl,
| OF, if he aaks that the boy apply in person,
| one or more girls are apt to be among the
| score OF youngsters who answer the adj
| vertisement At first Tn eman does not
take kindly to the idea, and the would-be
| office girl finds it difficult to secure 3
| place. The men are pre- judiced against
the idea OF employing women as stenog-
! raphers or typewriters.
| Those who have had office girls in their
employ are, however, very we'll pleased
| with them and most of them who have
tried office girls declare that never again
VIII they have an office boy around the
| premises.
Most OF the office girls are ambitious.
They are like the office boy of a genera
tion or two ago, who entered the employ
| of his master with a determination to
rise to the topmost notch. They realize
W
to them, and that they themselves ma"
| be lawyers, bankers, brokers, Insurance
agents or anything else, if they are able
| to master the details of the business
They therefore, keep their eyes open and
learn all that they can about the business,
that they may put the ideas so gained
into practice when there shall be an op-
portunity, some years in the future, fol
them to go into business of some sort for
| themselves
Most OF the office girls Immediately
begin to qualify themselves for promotion
They practice on the typewriter when
they have few moments to spare, and so
qualify themselves for situations as
Stenographers Some Of them have al
ready learned enough typewriting to gain
an Increase of salary and a position which
calls for more typewriting and less of the
office boys duties.-Boston Journal