Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-09-30

piled by the census bureau. According 70
the statistics there were $4,000 women
engaged in various employments In 1900.
an Increase OF 20 per cent in the decade
from 1890 to 1900. In that period the total
number Of women increased only u per
cent. In other words. the number OF
women at work increased half again as
fast as the total number OF oil the women
in the country. Roughly speaking, II may
be said that while In 1890 one woman In
every six went 70 work, in 1900 the pro-
portion had increased to one in every Ave.
Among the significant facts adduced from
the statistics the writer cites the follow
ingi Out Of the 3o5 gainful occupations
enumerated by the census OF the United
States there are only eight In which women
do not appear In all the other 2T there
are accredited representatives OF the COM
ing sex in numbers ranging from two to
100000.
The eight occupations in which women
do not appear fall into two classes:
In the FIRST OF these classes the absence
Of woman is due to the tyranny Of man.
There are no women soldiers in the United
States army. There are no women sailors
in the United States navy. There are no
women marines in that navy. And there
are no women fremen in the municipal IRE
simply because women have been ruled out.
with different regulations there might be
different results. In Sweden there is fire
department in which women are frequently
enrolled. And the fighting done by women
at the siege Of Sarasossa In Spain during
the Napoleonio wars has always stood as a
spectacular and sufficient proof Of feminine
valor
In the remaining four of the eight
wofnanIess occupations In this country the
absence Of women cannot be so readily ex-
planned away. II must be simply due TO
feminine neglect that at the time of the
last census there were no women appren-
tees and helpers to roofers and skaters,
no women helpers to brass workers, no
women helpers TO steam boiler makers and
no women street car drivers. The next
census will probably repair this defect.
There is no reason why women should not
enter these four trades. Already they can
be found in trades which similar, but
more dificult. Already there are Women
roofers and skaters, women brass workers.
and women steam boiler makers. II IL
hard to see why they shouldn't be helpers
in these trades II they can be full-hedged
mechanics. And IT, as Is the case, there
were two women motormen IN 1900. there
is no reason why there should not be
women street drivers In 1910 in cities
where horses are still used for local trans
portation.
Only four occupations, therefore, are to-
day beyond the reach of women in the
United States. They cannot be federal
soldiers, federal sailors, federal marines
or municipal hremen. Everywhere else they
have knocked and they have been ad-
mitted. 81.
Just about 100000 of Americas 100000
gainful women in 1900 were engaged in
what the census calls agricultural pur-
suits. Among these 100000 women agri-
culturlsts there were 665,791 farm iaborers
and 307,7SS farmers. planters and overseers
There were also 100 women lumbermen and
raftsmen and 11s women woodchoppers
In the professions women are accepted
more as matter Of course than they are
In agricultural pursuits. And among all
the professions that of teaching Is the
most thoroughly feminized 1t is not sur
prising, therefore. to learn that in the
United States In 1900 there were more than
$4,000 teachers, 1t is decidedly surprising,
however. to wake up to the fact that there
were only 64S actresses. II Is clear that
IL takes about 1000 teachers to make as
much stir and get as much space In the
newspapers as one stage woman. And who
would suppose from the relative amounts
OF comment made upon actresses and
women clergymen that the latter are more
than half as numerous as the former? Yet
there were S,4o6 women clergyfffen in the
United States in 1900 and they were ac-
lively engaged in the religious life of
many different denominations
Engineering is properly regarded as the
most difficult profession for women. The
engineer has to do rough work In educating
himself. and he has to do still rougher
work when he begins to practice Never
theless, In 1900. there were forty women
civil engineers, thirty women mechanical
and electrical engineers and three women
mining engineers.
Incidentally, there were fourteen women
veterinary surgeons.
And women should not forget that mod
ern library science, with its intricate TECH
nique. is providing them with a new and
expanding field of professional Effort. In
100 there We're SIPS women librarians in
the United States.
There were also 20Se saloon keeners ana
40 women bartenders
Coming down from the professions of cat
alosulng books and Of mixing drinks. Il is
observable In persual Of the census sta
tistics that man who wanted a new resi-
denoe might oonceivably have all the worl,
done by the women who have gone into
the mechanical trades. In 1900 besldea the
100 women architects. who come more prom
erly under the professions there were ia
women builders and contractors In the
United States. 1e7 women masons b46
women carpenters. forty-five women plas-
terers, l2S women plumbers. pa women pa
perhangers and two women skaters ana
roofers. complete structure In honor
of the sex might be erected by these rep
resentatives Of its modern ingenuity and
activity
The most notable advance made by
women in the decade from 1890 TO 1900 was
In stenography, In 1890 there were q Y7t
stenographers and typewrlters. In 1901
there were Ss,iis. This was an increase OF
more than 800 per cent
The only occupations ia which women
are going backward compared with mer
are those in which they might be expectes
TO go forward-nameiy, sewing, tailorins
and dressmaking. There were fewer seam.
stresses. tailoresses and dressmakers A.
proportion to the number OF men IN thes,
occupations In 1900 than there were n
1880 Work with the needle seems to b,
becoming too feminine for women.
-
what IL Costs TO Live
An interesting series OF articles on tn,
actual cost OF living has been inaugural ted