Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-03

many dollars. He was working faster than
the crack typewriter girl in the civil serv-
ice who writes $1,000 words day when L
handed him my card He showed the bonds
aside like SO much straw, and took 1t to
Mrs. Green. moment later he returned
with a reply that l should go into the
second Office at the right, and that Mrs.
Green would be with me in moment.
went and waited The office was not big
ger than a hall bed room, and its only fur
niture was a desk and two plain Brentwood
chairs worth a dollar apiece. / took one
of these, and within few minutes Mrs.
Green entered and, after shaking my hand.
took the other She began to talk at once,
and for hour, in answer to my questions,
chatted most interestingly about the buSf-
ness woman and women in business.
Hetty Green's Business Training.
The world has a wrong idea of Mrs.
Hetty Green. She has been represented
as ilIiterate. She is not. She comes of a
very rich family. Her father grandfather
and great grandfather were all among the
rich men of this country. She was raised
in the lap of luxury, her home had TWEEN
ty-two rooms and two bath rooms. She
was well educated and can speak several
languages. She got some of ner schooling
in Boston, where she was taught by
relative of James Russell Lowell. She was
a noted social figure during her young
ladyhood and was celebrated as dancer
and as a horseback rider. She had all
the athletic tendencies 1E fact, OF the pres
ent twentieth century girl. She Travelled
in Europe, and after her grandfather's
death lived for a half-doZen years in Lon
don, while her father was operating In
stocks and bonds of that country and this.
Indeed, Mrs. Green may be said to have
had the disadvantages of wealth toward
becoming a practical business woman.
What saved her was her grandfathers
poor health and poor eyesight. which were
cvccoaiad bV similar Weaknesses the
part of her father. She read the papers to
her grandfather and especially the finan-
cial news and the stock reports. She some
times acted his confidential clerk. writ
ing his letters for him and attending to
some of his bus ness. He was man of
nary investments and he told Hetty what
was good and why.
She learned tn fluctuations of the mar
kets and at fifteen knew all about bulls
and bears, and much better then, she
thinks, than many man who is operating
in Wall street today. She did the same
work for her father, both in this country
and Europe, so that when her father died
she was ready TO manage for herself the
property she inherited Her father left
altogether seven more millions, and of
this Miss Hetty received one million. There
was a law suit begun shortly after as to
the settlement of the estate. Hetty Green
thought then, and thinks still. that the law
yers and others have been trying to de-
fraud the heirs and she has been fighting
that suit from that day until now.
The Business Training of Girls.
During our talk I asked her whether she
thought that girls should have business
educations. She replied:
81 do. Every girl should be taught the
ordinary lines of business investment This
is especially so If she is likely to inherit
money. 1t is also the case If her parents
are poor, for no. one can tell what may be
her future through marriage or the
changes of fortune. She should be made
to understand what bank account is,
nwhat interest means and how it aceumu-
lates, the character of mortgages and
bonds and how to know whether they are
good or not. I think fathers should al
ways talk such things over with their
daughters, as well with their sons. II
they did so for short time each day the
girls would learn to think along business
lines, and they would not be at the mercy
of the money sharps who prey upon the
weaker sex.
How Widows Can Learn to Invest
But suppose woman has no such train
ing said T. Suppose her father or hus-
band dies leaving her something. more or
less, how can she go about to make the
most of It? Suppose 1t is only $500 or
so 900. or perhaps million. what can she
do?"
s.For large sum-" said Mrs. Green,
there is nothing better for such q woman
than government bonds. and after that