The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1905-05-05

A. A RULE FINDS youRNALfsM
A DESIRABLE PROFESSION.

By MARGARET /. sANosrER

N,'EAfAhhNa NV " sNN'lh - RN"H'ef
A new profession has opened Inviting.
ly before ambitious girls, who do not
wish TO be tied fast to the schoolroom,
or obliged to earn their living In any Of
the old peculiarly feminine ways.
Thousands OF girls hnd occupation still
In what may he called womanly handi-
crafts OF one or another variety, but
there are girls who do not wish to cook,
To sew. 10 embroidcr. TO design fashions,
or make pictures. and to them Journal
Ism ia especially tempting.
What are the real needs OF the news
paper woman7 How ls she TO 1T herself
for her work? Whore shall she lud an
open DOOR What price shall she pay for
her technique? As compared with music
or medicine or Illustrative art. how long
a nOvit.atc must she serve before She
can reach an onyiabie p%osltiong What
IL the limit OF advancement to which she
may aspireg These questions are per-
tinont. They are asked by city giris and
country girls. by girls on the farm and
girls who have grown up In thriving
communities where nine omo GU, OF
ton expect TO be self supporting
In the INST place, the girl who would
becom n newspaper woman must not
bo afraid OF hard work. She must pos
sess good health, good temper and good
spirits. In beginning. her foot will be
on the lowest round Of the ladder. II
accepted as a reporter her hours will be
irregular. ana her pay at first Will be
ANAL. She will probably write at space
rates. and these are regulated by The
locality aud the paper on which she IN
employed
! might say. too. that ability to write
Il essential, and that she who can see
quickly what Is interesting about her.
who can describe II accurately. with u
piquant flavor OF a dash of hunor, aud
above all she who can~writc good, brief.
telling paragraphs. will lind herself
among the wanted.
\ trustworthy memory Is indlspons.
able, aud as well good manner are mover
thrown away, since they give a woman
access and ingress where otherwise she
would be denied. Because the hours are
long and Irregular. aud because a nom-
al must have courage enough 10 80
wherever the Is sent, health. ! repeat Is
arcquIsitc. The ne aspapor woman asks
nothing by way VI special courtesy for
her rex. though she need fear no rude
ness on the part OF editors OF fellow re-
portcrs, mon In newspaper work being
almost uniformly courteous and consid-
crate In their treatment VI IN. women
VINO serve on the stan with them.
i woman reporter must DO lmpcr-
soual. Her dress should By no means be
manuish, but Il should be trim. neat and
unobtrusiye. In the streets Of a great
city she Is safe by nigh, or by day. quite
rs safe In the hours between midnight
and dawn rs at high noon, II she simply
goes about her work without
thought VI herself or the anticipation
OF insult.
\ prominent newspaper woman has
said; Men like womanly women, but
still they don't want any clinging.ylne
business about a newspaper Office. II
n Will only be natural aud use
common sense, she will get along all
right, but II she does otherwise. she may
complain as some would-bc newspaper
women do. that newspaper men treat
them badly"
Just as a soldier Is Obliged To obey or
ders. 80 the successful newspaper WON
au must be willing to do what she Is told.
, 30 where she Is sent, brave all kinds OF
weather, and make light OF every triillng
Inconvenience. by way Of preparation.
she will need a good common school
. education. the ability to write a logib.e
hand. to punctuato properly, TO spell
correctly, and 10 oxpresa herself in
good English. This last Is absolutely
imperative. DO not for a moment under
rate English grammar and good SPELL
Ing. II you aspire to earning u living as
y newspaper woman
The price 10 be paid for a place at the
top In this profession, as In any other,
Is the price Of personal conservation.
before social engagements, before WIS.,
its to dear ones at household ami.
versaries. A great deal OF ones self, OF
ones vitality must be lavlshly given IL
one would earn more than q very SUBJ
ordinate place In ones profession. II
assigned to ONCE work, Office hours must
be strictly observed, and nothing In the
days routine must be considered I'M
important. Take, for example, the
never-ccasing food OF correspondence
that comes to the woman's department
Of a newspaper. In two instances re-
Gently. ! have known young women to
be dismissed from very attractive desks,
where they received q generous weekly
wage, because they did not and would
not understand that every letter and
scrap Of paper which passed Into their
hands was valuable. One OF these girls
p%pologized for tearing up and waste
bssketing letters which II was her duty
TO acknowledge, on the ground that they
were nothing but rubbish. The other,
equally unaware Of the value OF the in
divldual subscriber, pigeon-holed letters
for weeks. and then declared that she