The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-21
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
NUT CUPID CAUSES SOMETIMES UN-
EXPECTED AClNCTRe.

To- Reduction OF Salaries n Result
what One Woman Thinks About IL.
Now is the time when the teachers agencies
are crowded with nnxious-facod young women,
and any school that has advertised for n teacher
II besieged from morning until night. New
York privnte schools engage most OF their
teachers in tho spring, and the teacher OF es-
tablished position would be Mortified should
she have no engagement by the frst OF May;
but the horde Of tho unemployed hopes on
through the summer knowing that, ut the very
last, there will be many slips in carefully ar
ranged plans, and that n perplexed principal,
with the opening OF school looming mp before
her. will accept references she would have
scorned In April.
summer vacations play havoc with teachers
contracts. 30 much can happen In a summer
When. In April, u young woman confidently
agrees to spend the next winter teaching q pri-
mary Latin class to conjuRate dTno, she can't be
expected TO foresee that by the time October
rolls around she herself will be absorbed In a
postgraduate study OF the same verb; but that
thing happens with n frequency that drives
principals TO despair. It would be q profitable
and labor-savinR investment for the principal
OF a girls school to corral all her prospective
teachers the first OF June and take them to
some secludod spot where they would not have
even a glimpse Of q man during the summer.
and where correspondence would undergo
strict censorship. A syndicate OF employers
might operate the scheme at small expense and
save their moneys worth in nerve force.
or course, there are other contingencies
which interfere with the keeping OF teachers
engagements. Ill health. sickness In the fam
lily. the offer Of a better place. all threaten
the autumnal tranquility Of the principal;
but It is from the mnlady yclept love. which
>.o.,aiIa p,aak rvf1aIy In fha aaaann ~ moan.
light sails and hammocks and picnics. that she
receives her hardest blows. In one uptown
school there have already been two objections
from the ranks Of next seasons faculty, be-
cause OF the unforeseen interference OF two
young men with ideas OF their own about
woman's sphere. The dignitied principal has
FASTENED back to city heat from the noun
tains and, with bitterness OF soul. is inter-
viewing tho applicants who flock to her.
She did. in the FIRST flush and fun Of
her dismay. vow that she would never
engage another teacher under so years of age,
or blessed with even the smallest modicum Of
good looks, but she has repented OF that hasty
vow. The older order has yielded place to the
new more emphatically in teaching than In most
things. and, while experience counts for much.
many Of the older teachers have not kept
abreast OF the times. An infusion OF young
blood and brains and advanced pedagogical
methods is an essential in every faculty. and
the average age OF the women teachers in any
school is much less than 1t was formerly.
Perhaps. as a result OF this condition OF
things, the profession Is painfully o~vercrowded.
The idea of independence and wage earning Is
fast spreading. even among women who are not
compelled to depend upon their own efforts for
support, aud q largo majority Of the girls
turned out from the colleges for women each
year have q desire to put their education to
practical use and earn money until such q time
as they shall see 1T to marry and settle down.
Probably they do not state the case that way.
but that is what it amounts to. all the same. for
every girl OF twenty looks forward to marriage
as the ultimate solution Of her life problem.
though she may not be frank enough to admit
the fact. even TO herself.
There are innumerable fields Of work for
women. but most of them require q severe APP |
premiership before any success may be claimed
and o fair income assured. II a girl, has no
pronounced ability and is not exceedingly in
earnest she will not undertake such a career: |
but II what she wants Is a stop-gap. an emf
nently respectable way OF earning nm Income
for a period OF years. she turns her face toward
Teacliipg, is a glorious profession and de-
ceives In pedagogical conventions and normal
schools, but the TACT remains that In schools
lower in grade than colleges nine out OF ten
are following the profession, not out OF
love for II, not because moulding the youth. |
full Intelligence is the most beautiful mission"
&c., but because they couldn't see anything
This Is specially true Of women. The average
woTk %l ishs E Ee reaeh a eata mp@ q S 81 taH ness iass OF 81
caste, Teaching Is tremendously re:
spectacle and open to any meteorological girl Of
iSr e SSTEe1 post hS NeS ny yo sEafi@ IS q o. SaR sSecsa for
would be teachers In the first place. private
inexperienced teacher than are other ~instltu-
tIQns. and New York Is full OF private schools.
is the most desirable residence in the country,
andthe girls appreciate that fact. Earnest teach
ers, who depend entirely upon their work. and. in
other members Of their families. upon their
complain that good places are harder
lies in the fact that there are doz-
northumberland college girls who want ex-
ssske Of a Winter IN New YORK. are Wiling to
accept salaries absurdly small. They probably
have allowances from home. and the salary OF
They are bright. well-edqcated. agreeable, and
san MI many OF the private school places ac-
,eptably. so the principals. very naturally. en-
The girls talk l!eftily about their theories Of
should be able to support herself. no matter how
P1ch inc money Se1I her RRSre nnsr may aSy h rirt nh hhheiy sS Suri
use II, the world. 70 develop along liberal
phase OF the same restlessness that drives older
to clubs and charities. But, meanwhile.
.he women whose bread and butter depends on
heir EARNINGS. the girl who is willing to give
,very particle of force that is In her, not TO q
but to the struggle TO support herself
sadly from tho noble theories OF her
uckier sisters, Is Obliged to accept tho salary
which they can afford to accept, aud Is fro
luently crowded out altogether.
The subject came up at Il woman's club last
Agroup Of college girls were talking
lear one OF the windows, The Ave girls had
lot met since college days. and upon, compar-
ng notes found that out Of the 1--WE four were
eaehinE here In New York.
What in tho world made you think Of teach
ng 2 asked the unpedggogical nth OF . swell
"Oh. | couldn't bear to settle down and do
1t seemed q sin, after all the time
girlouGht to be of some use In the world.
think"
Why are you doing 1t. Margaret"
The pretty girl with dimples laughed,
Well, 70 toll the truth. HE In a little town
ear after 1 left college that 4 cOuldn't stand IL.