The sun., 1908-05-17

,ypLY To carries or THE FENE.
VENT HeUSE DEPARTMENT. "A

IN T1Ff n -st
Non ses A d ,nsssdyanaaas with Respees
= 20 mo EAsy Jsbs -'The Nuzpbcs o.
ws,yeM HtHeleyees Decreasin& .wesk
rnss weSssn no ssssss rsss ssss.
20 saY. 40 ID known tho rsnemsAs Houss
Department ID the only branch Of ths city
eAnssernment with q payroll Nhoes foros of
women employees has bssh decreasing IN
stead OF increAsins In tho last few ysars
Ten women inspectore four women cleries
and a woman reeistrar are now on the pay
roll Of the department, whereas Formerly
there were twenty women inspectors.
THIS shfinlxage In due not 10 q failure OF
, the women inspectors TO do good work,
but to the cire,inistanceS that otis yAnd
another Of thsm dropped out 10 engage In
other work, that the civil service Nat did not
h include women eligible to flll the vacsncIss
VI ..ad that men had the right Of way ON the
ist. II is denied \that the department
, disoriminates against either sex In favor Of
the other. - ''i3 't4
some Of the Offices now filed bytwouaen.
ssys Mr.. Darwin, First Deputy cotnmis-
aoner of the department, would have
bsen filled by men had the latter developed
the same qualities possessed by the women.
Take for instance the case Of tho registrar,
Mim Claghorn, who because she gets
1900 a year 10 frequently referred to a.
drawing the highest salary OF any woman
on the city's payroll. ~
"A man with famiiy TO support ought
70 have that job" grumbles moro than one
i1an. Why, they ask. was not the job
<Bven to family man? ~
When the vacancy occurred no man
qualified for it. and woman did qualify.
Mise Claghorns prefermsnt was not the
result Of pull or OF q personal preference
on the part Of the Tenement House Com
missioner. Neither was she as the result
Of wirepulling transferred from another
and different field OF work.
Back in 1892, when Robsrt W. dc Forest
headed the Tenement House Department.
rule was instituted that candidates for
the office OF registrar must take special
competitive examination. rule which
Of course wiped out any chance of show
iua favoritism. Until comparatively re-
Gently DR.. ". r. Patterson was registrar
and Miss Claghorn was his assistant When
he resigned his assistant was among the
candidates who took the examination,
which is exceptionally hard. Miss Clag-
horn won in the competition, and her pro-
motion to the post OF registrar has never
been regretted by any OF the heads OF the
kdepartment. Her assistant is q man.
Ia the case Of inspectors women and men
alike must talrsa civil service examination,
with which the ofioiafs OF the Tenement
House Department have nothing TO do.
in addition to passing the examination an
Inspector to hold her job must have work
l>l~ ~ 81 - NJ I,~s.ss
. codes Of etiquette prevailing In different
isses Of tenements; she must have Q large
mp Of common sense. q good temper weii
der control, an abundance Of tact, an
patiating manner, and no ncrvesS
LAST, but not isast, she must be endowed
tn some natural mechanical ability. Thus
uipped she gets at the start u 100 fyear.
ich may be inoreaAsd gradually TO the
,xmum gay Of $i.sOc. At present no
man inspector gets mara, than 81 $50.
lie pay of men and women IL the same.
Id Mr. Darwin s y q, $50 vah e
"A woman 10 never engaged as inspector
Simply because she,is woman, or for any
Eeason but that the particular woman who
ypplies is known to be. or seems TO be,
specially wen fitted for tho work. That
, all there is to it. although recent oEiticisms
have intimated that favoFitism was ut the
bottom of Svery feminine appointment,
hsre and that wonYen were practically hold
Ring down all tho best jobs ~
"As matter OF fact no women inspectors
Ror cierks have sbeen engaged for the last
Four years. Az an offset TO the ten women
inspectors and four women clerks, we en-
Zploy lsi men inspectors and ls3 oierks.
D The clerks, men and women. start In on
E'i.oso year! and il thsy prove competent
Eventually they may reosive ef.so0. At
present the highest salary paid TO any Of
the clerks = d, 80. ',.s''3
There y this TO be said: Taking The aver
@ nun Of candidates Of both ssHes for. the
Sts OF clerk and inspector, the women
. ahead in point Of education and eome
YER requirements. In some fespects
men make better inspection. than mon.
thing, when it 10 question Of invading
private premises and In nearly every case
q woman inspector placed over bunch
OF stenographers gets better results than
.But this 10 not al. Women inspeotors,
We have found, are absolutely honest and
dependable. When making their inspSc-
Hons they cannot be reached. Graft does
not enter into their calculations, or at least
we have yet 10 discover that 1t does -
whether In the review or the filipg. division.
10 really sort Of housekeeper's job certain
sta be handled better by woman than Q
NAN On one occasion, renaamber, things
In the Aling department were found TO be
10 an swfui mess. which ne man 70 charge
had to put woman there. TO olean things
up and she did the work admirably. -
But the force here 10 constantly chang
ing, and were ons u the women clerks or