The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-12-14
The Most Fatal Gift Of Beauty.

10 woman WIN hao w
lug?
Ten years ago such question
would have been regarded as joke
In those days beauty aud lot OF II
was the motto. But times have
changed, and, strange and irrational
as it may seem, good looks are not
only at discount in the modern bus
mess world, but positive ugliness is
enjoying boom. ;,
Nowadays the "fatal gift OF beauty
is particularly fatal to job. "Yes'
sir, there is "a growing prejudice
against employing very handsome wo-
men, said a big retailer. "lt's no
joke, and here's no sentiment about
it. 1t is just cold-drawn matter OF
business. 1 don't care how compe-
tent strikipgly handsome woman
may be, or how discreet and quiet and
Industrious she is-she is bound to
demoralize the force. She makes the
women jealous and the men absent
minded, and it: tells: :on their work. VI
course, she can help it, but that sno
affair OF mine.
.'I've made study of the subject, :
bo oon,;nued nand T know what | m
talking about. A real beauty in a
store will reduce the working capacity
of its employees about twenty per
cent. If she happens to be OF very
uousual type-a blonde, for instance,
with dark eyes-the reduction will be
fully twenty-five per cent. Suppose
the pay roll is $3.50 a week-you d
have to make an entry every Saturday
like this: 'To depreciation on ac-
count of blonde, dark eyes, sl87 30.
| That is enough to break Wander
bilt.
"I'm talking from experience. We
had young lady clerk here once who
had everything in the world to recon-
mend her except homeliness. She was
beautiful, poor child, and what made
it worse, she had that hopeless, ine-
radicable kind of beauty that doesn t
outgrow, like warts and freckles, and
is always the same no matter what
happens. [ believe that girl could
have fallen into hogshead of black
molasses and come out still radiantly
lovely. Well, she went to work, and
| [ never had better or more faithful
employee, but the deadly demcraliza-
tion began the moment she stepped
behind the counter. Everybody felt
it. The bookkeeper was surly
Scotchman, and about as emotional
as fried oyster. In less than week
he was raising mustache, and max
about forty errors day on his ledger.
The correspondence clerk started half
his letters Dear Annie instead OF
"Dear Sir" and the cashier was short
every night through trying to make
change with one eye on the lady. And
that wasn't all. The foorwalker and
head salesman became rivals-in their
minds. because she never as much as
looked at either one Of them-and had
| it out while the store was full of Gus
toners. They spattered gore all over
the ribbon department and finally roll
ed through an open hatchway and
were both laid up for month. And
now, by George, they are threaten
ing me with a damage suit. l am
only mentioning few of the worst
cases.
II thought the head porter would
escape because he was such disa-
greeable old rascal, and besides he
had family as big as kindergarten
but he didn't. He primped himself
up until he looked like shaved ape,
and when he realized that he WASH t
in the running he got even by beating
his wife. She had him arrested and
meanwhile the elevator man nearly
murdered several of our best patrons
by stopping the elevator between
floors to feast his eyes on the charm
er. By that time | thought the
thing had gone far enough, and | let
the girl go. l advised her to get job
in the telephone exchange, where folks
couldn't see her.
But I thought handsome clerks were
considered valuable for drawing GUS
tomers?" said the reporter.
THAT used to be the theory, but
it's exploded. Years ago big con-
dictionary shop became famous all
over the country for it's beautiful
Salesladies. The result Of the expert
ment was this: The place lost all the
women customers, and the trade of
the men proved worthless. a young
chappic would drop in, buy stick Of