The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-03
MANY PROBLEMS OF THE GIRL IN BUSINESS

PW~HE first and last question which eonfronts a
girl who enters business life is sfHow much
hes daily effort for her livelihood she may need only
to mako her own pin money, or she may be working
merely to kill the monotony Of idle existence Still
the query remains the and the size of the weekly
salary Is the most emphatic if not the most important
phase Of her in the strenuous grind the
money making world
first know what her earning capacity is This in nine
cases out Of ten controls the amount Of salary and
ghe will never be sure Of the size Of her income
Understanding the extent Of her earning capacity how
over, it is undoubtedly true that she will be able to
turn her energies in Of at least three four dif
ferent directions and still procure the remunera
ton for her work
Three things determine girls ability to make
money The first and foundation of the three is health
The second is training, which Is positively essential
to obtaining any kind Of salary in the modern bust
moss world and the third is sprths interest feignea
Health Hes at the bottom Of all three and tho
amount Of money which girl can earn will always
be dependent upon her physical strength The girl
who is always sitting down to rest cannot hold her
position very long saleswoman in store. The girl
who is continually having headaches will not be re-
tanned many months typewriter bookkeeper, and
that girl has small chance of earning any kind Of
salary who spends month two Of every year in a
sick bed The holds true also Of work in the
field of art where vitality and strength are ndis-
.pensable to the girl from whom originality is con-
stantly demanded.
So whatever it may be at the beginning the ques-
ton Of salary resolves itself finally and often very
quickly into question Of red corpusces. girl may
have an ambition which leads her into the highest
field of active life, she may have mind capable Of
the most clever inventions she may have talent
which falls barely short Of genius and If she has not
the red blood corpuscles and endurance to Withstand
the round of daily difficulties and regular dayin and
dayout work. all her other qualifications will count
for nothing and she will have to drop out of the
entirely content herself with bare living wage
Given good health, however, and girl is always
assured Of her living expenses tho the amount Of her
income will depend very largely upon the second
gauge Of her earning capacity her business training
Only the girl who has tried to a living with
out a training in regular work realize the
difficulties Of finding opening in the up-to-date
business world when she has not knowledge of some
particular trade profession at her finger tips The
girl laden with letters of introduction and the girl
starting out singehanded and alone both meet with
the same catechising "What do you know how to
do?'' and the ''know'' implies that she must not
"think' she knows she must be sure Of it.
''What shall train myself in9' is the cry Of the
girl who is to venture into the money-making world.
Her question is Invariably answered by the query,
''How much money do you want need to earn9''
And it is fair reply to the girls question for lofty
as may be her ambitions, she is Obliged to take the
work which is open to her. and this seldom the work
which she most wants to do For there are but COM
parativey few fields of employment which assure
tain salaries, and these in 900 of every thousand
have to be used stepping stones to realizing
more exalted ambitions. t:. <
Among these assured salaries that Of the stem
ographer and bookkeeper, who need never earn less
than Sc to So week, and with fair amount Of ex-