The Washington times., 1904-03-23

ness women. regarding the lack or Orlgl-
nality and helpfulness with which they
have but recently been accused, and my
talk VIII be TO general women, since the
charge was made IN general IaShlon
by general man.
Originality is not given to everyone,
of course: II il were we would not no
tice the lack OF it: and il is so rare that
when it manifests itself ali the world
hears the tidings sooner or later, Tor
IL IS bound 70 be recognized some umes
from this we see that the great bulk
of humanity is unOriginal or mediocre.
so that really the lack Of originality Is
no great shame, after all
n-my day l have met many women
who go into the busy mart OF trade and
commercialism TO cast in their lot with
men and earn their own hVlng- 1ney
have their good points and tneir Dad
ones but I think in them, as In all A.
ture, the good far outweighs the bad
Taken as a whole. women in business
are invariably trustworthy, conscien-
tious. painstaking, and Industrious, I do
not say sober, for that goes without
saying. and. except in rare cases, think
they give general satisfaction IN the
positions they are called 70 nh
But. on the other hand the majority
tented 10 quietly IN whatever groove
they fEd themselves in without en-
deavoring TO do better things
Now. when a boy enters a concern as
an Office boy. II he is ambitious. he sees
no reason why in the years 10 come ne
should not be one OF the partners IN
the concern and thinking boy reefs
his responsibility immensely, as he
should.
efrI ~, tbo contrary I'm most cases.
has no outlook She studies stenogra-
phv. for Instance. and mayhap, knowing
IL indihereutly. she goes 10 business. As
soon as she has leaned the routine she
does her work well and faithfully. but
does she have any ambition 10 rise be-
yond ttl
A girl may be good stenographer.
she may transcTibc her notes correctly
and write a letter faultlesslv on the
typewriter. but az the same tine she
may not do any of-this understandinglv.
II she doesn't. she errs. And right there
Is where I, as a woman. have found
many Of my felloW-VrDmen lacking IT.
the business world
Suppose "a woman is n stenographer
IN "a brokers Office. To my mind IL IS
her business not only TO DO her routine
work well. but so to understand II that
she gets IN behind IL. as il were. and 80
famfliaTize herself with the quotations
that her mind knows when her hand
has jOttfd down wrong quotations. In
other W0TQi. she Snohl0 get INTO the
eifrit Of her work and do IL so under
s-andlngly that her employer may feel
h. is safe 81 leaving his letters unread,
81 ne IS hurfef
To be sure, "a great many women are
untitled for business careers These
then. should set about choosing some
work more htted for them as soon as
possible for everyone has some talent,
IN only one. and it is "a pity 20 waste
enerey OF a problem one can never
solve
will cite a case whore woman
who had "a head on her shoulders and
did her work undcrsta ndinRly made
herself useful to her employers, and in
cfdentaIly had her salary raised.
She was q stenOgraphcr IN a large
importing house. which dealt in dye
sfuns and drugs. and the junior part
uer ia debating letter To her made
rate on certain goods fraction below
the latest quotation. The stenOgrapher
remarked on the error. which elected
the fact that She read the market quo
tations weekly, as they appeared. and
this Incident saved the firm a tidy lit
NE sum and gained her promotion, and.
later q better position.
OF course she had been studying
these quotations for some time before
her knowledge was available. both for