The tribune. (Rich Hill, Mo.) 1900-1902, 1902-11-27
IF SHE WOULD SUCCEED.
Tho Attributes a Woman Needs fos
Earning q Good Salary.


-
Unless a woman il willing TO put her
whole heart into her work she had bet.
ter not undertake Il; dilly-dAllying ac-
complishes nothing" said a woman
yesterday who has won success as .
public stenogrHphee She was one Of
The nrst OF her sex TO invade this field.
and the yearly income from her work
Is said 70 aoar wen into the thousands.
There are plenty OF girls" she CON
tnued. who are hooking for a big sal
airy and little to do. and any number OF
employers who expect three times the
reasonable amount OF work for one
nalf the right salary. Many Eteno-
grapher should be doing mechanical
work Large numbers OF the applicants
for positions are daughters OF foreign
born parents and inherit q talent for
handicraftR. But there is a lAmentable
sentiment In the air that 10 work with
ones hands h degrading, and 30. as the
girls issue In droVes from the grammar
and high schools. their one aim Is 70
get an oniee position. however poorly
the, may be endowed By nature or edu-
cation for such work.
English Is sadly neglected In the
schools. IL the Kind OF language used
and written by girls looking for work
Is = criterion. 10 ind a Girl who ean
write an intelligent, Noll-constructed
letter. with spelling, punctuation and
arrangement correct. IL too infreQuent
For such a girl. II sue has tho rarest OF
qualities. common sense. there Il work.
Once In a while one OF the easy going.
happy-Eo-lucky sort, whose shirt waist
and skirt are Incompatible and whose
finger nails and hair are Indicative Of
the ~slovenly work OF which she Il cap
able. develops a conscience and be-
comes a valuable assistant Home
training and hsredity r often reapon-
slble for q lack OF appreciation Of hon
est work. Conscience can DO develop
cd. But II Isn't pleasant 20 eontem-
plate the end OF the great host Of In
cOmpetents who drop by The wayside
The hele Of stenography ls ~ wide
open 70 women as men. In fact J
think the women have the advantage,
and many lawyers and other profes
sional men prefer TO have their work
done By q uOman One a for this
ia that a man OF much ambition takes
q ~stenographie position 10 tide him
over the period between leaving school
and entering some profession or bust
ness. On the other hand. an Intelligent
capable W~ide-aWake woman 10 satisfied
with = salary ranging from tis 10 t25
q week. aud only in exceptional cases
has a higher aspiration
twenty-five dollar salaries. how
ever. are becoming less frequent than
OF Old. The conditions have changed
materially Ia the last few years. before
.tyEaWritins and s~tenographie schools
turned girls into the Deld By the thou
sands every year. Then there wa pro-
"a ia ODcainE an office and taking In
work Now almost every Onice 10 pro
tidsd With ia own stenoEfaDher and
typewriter, and the days Of the free
lance are over. Unless a uoman had
aa assured beginning. l should be
loath 10 advise her opening an Office.
The speaker began her work In this
city Ia 1874. AZ that time only one
other woman was known a. = public
aten0grapher. Her notes, taken Nefba-
Il la court and from speakers Of all
sorts. we're dictated - another sten.
ographer. who IN turn transcribed
them with a pen. Typewriter had not
thea come into common use, n were
regarded With suspicion. The ant one
used By her worked with q f0oto trade
like q sewing machine.-Nes York 1rt'
PeAA 1890