The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-03-23
WOMEN MORE TO Be
TRUSTED THAN MEN
First DetaIeation by Female
Employe of Postal
Department.
SHE DID &c FOR LOVE
Occasionally One Does Something
Wrong, but SteaIine Is Left for
the Male Employees
SHE DID &c FOR LOVE

William Il. Curtis writes hts paper.
the Chicago Record-Herald, as follows:
The defAlcation of Lulu Bowen, IL
clerk in the postal service in California.
suggests an inquiry of whether women
officials are more honest than men. The
late General Spinner, who is credited
with being the first to appoint wonleI.
to positions in the government SERVICE.
used to argue that they are. He fire.
quently asserted that ne had never
known q dishonest woman in govern
ment employment. Other officials of
long experience admit that cases of
dishonesty among women are very rare
but attribute 1t less to moral principles
and more to a lack of nerve, telnpta-
ton and opportunity.
Lulu Bower was in charge of a sub
station of the postoffice at Oakland,
CAL, where she sold stamps and money
She a a lover named l.. w. Baker.
a printer by trade n a married man.
He proves to nave been a gambler and
all-round sport and to have exercised
an almost hypnotic influence over her
He persuaded her to loan him money
from the government funds in her pos
session, and in order to make it good
she pocketed the proceeds of money or
ders n destroyed the duplicates.
Grew to $1,000.
/. This form Of embezzlement continued
until the defalcat!on amounted to near
tected. arrested, indicted and is now
awaiting trial. Baker is also under in
dictment, but out or bail.
Mr.. Vickery, chief Of inspectors OF
h postofice department. tells me that
this IS the only case of the kind with
in his recollection. Severe women.
have been detected and punished for
violations Of h postal laws n regu-.
lations, but he could not discover in,
the records any other cas- in which
q woman es.aploye OF the department
had stolen money intrusted to her
charge.
Within rea.e nt years there nave been.
two cases CT women clerks violating
the postal laws. Last September Mary
E. Cunniffe. who had Deer employed
Port Jervis, a small town in the state,
or New York, vas arrested for open
Ing a letter which did not belong To.
her. Her crime was not attributed to-.
dishonesty or avarice.
Society to Blame.
There are two social factions in that.
little town. and the rivalry between
them IS very keen. Miss Cunniffe. &c
tuated by curiosity and jealousy. tam
pered with letters addressed to the.
leader OF the set to which she did not
belong. She was arrested, made a con-
ASSoAOhb was AAIOACIcO, PledQGOE Ru1IIS
n was sentenced to one year in the,
penitentiary at Albany.
Maria Brau, clerk in the %postofice at.
Anasco, Porto Rico, stole a letter con-
tanning money from the mails on the
10th of January, 1906. She was ar,
rested, made a full confession, andt
when brought to trial pleaded guilty.
She was sentenced to one years im-I
prisonment, but the Judge suspended,
the penalty on the ground that there is
M p1oon nv, tL1 ,loa % ~
where a decent woman can be I'M
prisoned.
These are the, only cases of dis.
honesty among the women employees
OF the postoff1ce department for many
Not Disseminated Against.
Miss Alice B. Sanger of the office or
the chief clerk Of the department, who
has been making an Investigation, finds
that l8S women are acting as assistant
postmasters and 2,109 women are en-.
ployed in postoffices as stamp, delivery
or money order clerks. In the postofice,
department proper. out of 1863 clerks /
314 are m
The salaries of the employees Of the
postoffice department in Washington
range from $240 to ST. 800 a year, the
former being the compensation Of the.
charwomen. The average annual sal.
airy paid to all the employees is / ,21O.5 So
the average salary paid to men clerks
is $1,242.47; the average salary paid to-
women clerks is 81, 136. 80; thu average.
wages of employees under the grade OF
clerk, including laborers, messengers.
janitors, charwomen, etc. is $610.52; the.
average paid to men is $67S.O9, M to-.
women, 1881. so.
The following table gives the number.
OF women employed in the p%ostof1ce de
partment in the different grades and,
the salaries received by them:
2 at 81, 500 1850.
~ at Is, 60O'
20 at 1,400. 81 COO.
~ at Il, 2Ob
"a at 74,0s