The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-14
WOMEN AS EMPLOYERS.
Some of Their Faults and Their Petit
ness Described by Employees.
New York Tribune


New York Tribune.
I'D rather work for the cranliest man
that ever cranked than any woman 1
know exclaimed a harassed looking
young girl the other day as, without
moving her hat, she sank down on a has
sock in an ante-room of her employers Office
and began munching a sandwich luncheon
from a paper bag.
me, too" chimed in a worker.
You're never through, and the lowdowner
they are themselves the harder they'll be
on you,' which, being translated, meant
that the less important the official position
the feminine employer filled the more Sc
we're she was likeiy TO be with her sub
ordinates.
The eavesdropper in this instance was
sufficiently interested to gather a little data
ON the subject. A large proportion of women
and a minority of men have women
bosses" In three instances out of four
where men were questioned they made re-
marks relative to his Satanic Majesty.
She's so fussy," was the plant of the
fourth. I'm details that have no more to
do with the output OF work than the band
on my old hat, she's particular as she
liking and respecting her, she's conscien-
tious and hard worker herself. but she
lacks all sense of proportion. If I'd known
her anywhere but in the business world
I'd like her very much. In the workroom,
though, she's prickly, to say the least of
1t. But, then, what can you expect? A
business life is an entirely unnatural one for
a woman, and, of course, she is not her
natural, affable self when in it. 1 never
saw one yet who could carry an extra pound
of steam without showing it in her temper"
And yet is was universally agreed that
the women referred to were nicer to the
men in their employ than to the women.
That's natural, too commented one of the
former. 'She doesn'e mean to do it. She S
as just as judge in essentials, but it's In
little things you notice it, and you know
they're what count in the daily grind"
Out of thirteen women questioned, twelve
agreed in saying that women were more
difficult to work for than men. This was
insisted upon with variations, which, how
ever, only seem to emphasize the ingenuity
of women in the number of ways discov-
thirteenth worker questioned was news
paper woman of certain age. "Of all the
editors and would-be editors I've worked
for she said, mo one ever treated me
squarely, or ever gave me half a chance,
except a woman editor. She was the first
| one that ever seemed to care whether were
alive or dead, just so the copy rolled Off i
didn't know what to make of it at first,
when she actually noticed that 1 was pale.
let me wait till after the storm was over
| before going out on assignment and
passed an occasional oversight without an
explosion"
"But you must have found men whose
amiability reached at least that point?"
mo. / never did. and I've worked for
| dozens of them. / never had a woman en-
| ployer before. and now l hope I'll never
| have any other"
| The majority or women questioned COM
| planned that the chief aim of a woman en-
| ployer was to stand we'll in the eyes of the
IMAM higher up. and to this end she would
| be perfectly merciless toward her subor-
| dinates.
Personality" is the verdict, ''enters far
| ployer than those of man. Little
| spiteful actions, small grudges. things a
| man would have long ago forgotten, direct
| the policy of tie woman boss, especially
| the one lately risen from the ranks
So much for employer and employe. AS
| sister workers, the criticism is that jeal-
| ousy and disloyalty mark the path OF the
| ployment with the idea of making name
| for herself because of the excellence of her
| work. Women trust almost entirely &c
personal pull and getting the better
| of the worker at their side, and to this end
| they do not hesitate to backbite and pre-
varicate. The desire to "stand in with
| the powers that be prevents anything like
| low-strivers who are sorry that they
| spelled the word and hate to go above
| another, largely creatures of n poet s
| brain, say numbers who have spent years
| in the business world under and side by side
with women.
| 1t is said that women's aim in business
| is generally to get out OF ii. that they have
| and that they rarely consider the making OF
such a thing as a business reputation. II
| seems impossible for them to break away
| from the everlasting personal.