The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-25
TOWN TALES.

I have been bordering over the prob.
lem of feminine money making occupa-
tons, and among the UNEMPLOYED fields
believe piano tuning to be just the
thing for musical women, for it is gen
orally conceded that woman's ear is
finer than a mans, although one musi-
! clan or my acquaintance takes excep-
tlon to the statement. However, l say
10 him that fewer women than men
sing off the key and play out of tune.
Piano tuning is not hard work-that
is, IT does not require any amount OF
physical eXertion. 1t does require a
correct ear, knowledge of music and
degree of skill which can be acquired
from a teacher in the tuning line like
any other trade. There are many houses
where feminine tuner would be pre-
Ierred to man, and not the least rea-
fson why the compensation to both sexes
should not be equal. 1t is one of the
rev Fields where the competition is
even. 1t disturbs me greatly to note
the difference in salaries paid to men
fdnd women who do the same work.
OIten the woman has a family depend
eht upon her, and while the man has
nobody in the world on whom to spend
ms money, yet her sex, not her ability,
uepafS her from earning as much
money as the man whose desk adjoins
hers.
am rather lukewarm on the subject
OF Woman's rights because | believe
mat in the main the sex has a great
many privileges, more than is good for
10 spiletlmes. There are few things
III winch could wish an Improvement
ana the salary question is one of them
faithful, Industrious woman who
looks out for her employers interest
ouSnt TO receive the consideration gen
eIaily extended to male emnlovee
with those same excellent qualities. and
Il VIII hght for a reform in that direc-
Ilon with the full strength of NV voice
anu the entire force of my pen. That
Ieiorm would help US more than the
o"llot Dox privilege ten times over.
several years ago, on Christmas eve
II was my good fortune to be present
at the banquet of the Boston Press
GIup' among the guests was Beerbohm
Tree, the famous actor. He was called
upon Tor speech, and l shall never
quite forget his toast in closing. These
t we're MS words Il am reminded. gen
uenen, as l look around me, of the
very great power that you possess. In
sense, in your different capacities
you may bring about the raise or ruin
OF many men or institutions. 1 express
me nope that In your daily life it is
Always your earnest endeaVor to raise
Ldthef than to ruin. May YOU never
Iorset the very great strength that YOU
possess In either direction. propose
IN closing this toast, The giants of the
press. May they always be true to ius
uce and to rightn"
had the toast brought to my mind
very torcioiy yesterday by story told
me IN conversation with one of the
bank presidents of this city. Some wears
ago a certain bank in New York city,
bearing the name of a similar institu-
ton in this city, failed. In printing the
telegraph dispatch relative to the af-
Ialr In an afternoon paper, a blunder-
ing printer left off the date line. In less
than an hour following the appearance
of that paper upon the street the Wor-
cester bank was besietged by over a
half-hundred depositors. Each deposit
tor was paid the amount of his savings
up to the hour of closing that afternoon.
On the following morning a long line
OF depositors reached from the cashiers
desk to the sidewalk. The cashier him
self, who had given nearly 80 years of
service to that institution, came to the
desk at the opening hour, and, tapping
with his pencil upon the sill, said to
the depositors: MY friends, you all
know me. / have gone in and out
among you for many years. | hold in
by hands a copy of a Worcester paper
under date of yesterday 1t contains
the statement, through accidental
omission of the telegraph date line,
that this bank had failed. I say upon
my honor as a man and an official of
this institution, that it has not. We
stand ready to pay every depositor."
q m tIo
fire that had already started, and for
nearly two days the run was continued,
and it was met by the bank which at
that time was one of the most solid
financial repositories in the common
wealth. But the effect of that newspa-
per paragraph was made to reach far
Their and with much more fearful eff
feet than the ordinary mind was able
to conceive. In less than three months
the president of that bank, one of the
most honored citizens in Worcester a
potent influence in financial circles,
prominent in society and a great factor
in church circles was found hanging
from the transom in the doorway of
his own house. He had committed sui
eide through worriment brought about
by that small paragraph in that after
noon paper That is what brought to
my mind the memory of Beerbohm
Trees utterance, Giants OF the press.
May you never use that power but
for justice and for right"
The danger of getting ones face too
close to dogs teeth was illustrated
yesterday, when young man stopped
to pet a setter in the doorway of store
not far from The Spy office. He patted
the dog a few moments and as the ami
NAL did not seem to object to his caress-
es, the man leaned over still closer. In.
an instant the dog made spring for
the mans face and just grazed his
cheek. 1t was a narrow escape from
painful wound, and shows the folly of
trusting too much to any animal, par
ticularly if the creature is not well
known to the person.
The vaudeville habit is one of the
bad habits I have acquired since COM
ing to Worcester. Why, can not tell.
The inane vaporings of the German
comedian bore me beyond expression.
The coarse, fiat jokes of the Irish
comedian are WEAKNESS to me. l loathe
the cake walk. Because" and THE
girl I loved in sunny Tennessee" no
longer possess the charms of novelty.
The acrobat fails to thrill me. The one
a