The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-08-02
FOUR WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Remarkable Instances Found at Biz
minqham, Alabama.

a news stand, are four remarkable in
stances in Birmingham, Alabama of
what woman can do when she tries.
They are all four Southern women too
born and bred" of the class which is
expected to know more about crochet
ing tnan checks, and fancy work than
| finances. In every one of the four
posts success has been signal so much
so that the positions now held are
those they have capably filled for sew.
eral years. and with no present inten-
: ton, barring the inevitable marriage,
of ever giving up their posts
AS far as know, Miss Ina Sheppard,
recently reelected for the third time,
is the only woman manager of a bank
ing clearing house in the world. Miss
Shephard's duties are to overlook the
clearance of checks for eight banks,
a duty which calls for the handling of
figures which daily exceed a quarter
of a million of dollars. Last year her
watchful eye ran over sums which
totaled more than $l00,000,000, with
never so much as / cent out of bal
lance. She has held her post for
more thon two years, and not once in
to snow up the same on either side of
the ledger Bankers of Birmingham
unite in declaring her work is won
derful, and there is never a moments
hesitation when the election of
clearing house manager comes up
once year. Miss Sheppard will have
the place just as long as she cares to
do tne work, and this, she declares.
VIII be always, for she says she loves
it.
Mathematics was her favorite study
at school, and when she became
stenographer in the office of the clear
ing house manager the details of the
business were mastered in q short
while. So familiar was she vita the
requirements of the place that soon
she was doing all the actual work. the
real manager merely supervising. 1t
naturally occurred, then that when
the manager took a vacation she was
lett In charge, an opportunity she
never failed to improve, then condi-
tons ordered a change in managers:
there was but one name before the
board meeting, and that was Miss Ina
Sheppard. Her record has justified
this confidence.
Most women have trouble in multi
plying eleven times thirteen, for ex-
ample and as for computing interest
on S342 at per cent for 1913 days
why, not one in a dozen could figure
1t out in week. II is easy work for
Miss Sheppard Aside from her f. |
nancial ability there is nothing pho |
nomenaf' about Miss Sheppard. Sac |
is a remarkably handsome young wo- !
man, fond of athletics. She enjoys |
the distinction of being one of the |
finest alto singers in the state. and a |
good portion of the congregation |
which every Sunday morning fills the |
church of the Advent, is drawn there |
as muca by her singing as by a sense |
Of duty.
Miss Louna Smith, over in the office |
Of the lord high sheriff" leads a life |
that few women would have the nerve |
to tackle. She carries no pistol and |
probably never fired a rifle in her life |
but every day she stands in the pres |
ence of men desperate enough to take |
any chance that might lead to free
dom. 1t may be something in her |
manner that makes the hardest ruff |
fan quiet in her presence. Miss
Smiths work is entirely in the office
just across the areaway from the
Jail, where an average OF 200 crim-
nails are always locked behind the
iron bars.
Almost always there are attaches of
the office about men who daily take
their lives into their own hands and
Enntr NJ tnrha e
One rule of the place is that no man
may enter without first dicarding his
weapons. A paper weight on the
desk of the woman deputy is a blue
barreled revolver, while in the draw
er, not far away. are a couple of six !
shooters. In this atmosphere Miss |
Smith finds her work agreeable. She |
declares she couldn't think of get
ting along without the excitement"
and the mere suggestion that she |
would enjoy work in a stuffy lawyers |
office makes her shudder.
Miss Rose Starr enjoys distinction |
that few men would fail to covet. In |
seven years she has tucked away safe |
~ in the bank $4,000, and every |
cent came from the sale of newspap- |
ers. Miss Starr is the sole owner and |
of the Second avenue news |
stand that chars her name-one of |
The most popular news stands in the |
city. Miss Starr has managed the |
business all alone; not one sugges-
ton from a masculine source has !
been put into practice. She keeps |
her stands crowded with newspapers
from every city of the United States |
until ii has gotten to be habit of in
luirers to go to STAIRS and avoid de- |
ay Miss Starr has several. times re-
moved to more spacious quarters, I'M
Ill tne store she now occupies, though |
small, is on one of the city's most |
populous streets, just few feet from |
the busiest corner in Birmingham.
Miss Josephine Chairsell is young |
woman who has taken charge of her |
fathers entire business, while Mr. |
Chairsell is on a three months trip |
through Europe Wnen discussion |
arose as to whom the care of the big
grain trade could be turned over dur
ing the absence of the owner his
young daughter was quick to ask for
the opportunity. She declared she
could run things as well as any man
and she has done even better.
The grain business mas been parti-
cularly lively of late but the cares
and affairs of the trade have found |
the young woman with an even tenn
permanent. Those who know declare |
Miss Chairsell will turn over to her |
father a snug bank account and a bet
tel business when he returns from his |
vacation