Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-23
WEALTHY WOMEN REFoRMERs
FROM NEW YORK FIND EF-
FORTS MISPLACED.
MANNERS AND MORALITY
OF WASHINGTON GIRLS
spurn Offers of the "UpIifters" and
Go the Even Tenor of Their Ways
Without the EIevatins Influence and
Advice of Well -Meanins But lndis.
Greet Society Women of Metropolis.
Especial Correspondent

especial correspondent
Washington, April 2S.-The effort to
uplift the business women of Washing
ton, some $4,000 of whom earn their
livelihood at service in the government
departments, has received an awful
backset.
Some time ago it occurred to a group
of well-meaning society women in New
York that it would be nice to uplift all
these working women. They became
the National Civil Federation OF
Women. and shortly it was announced
that Miss Anne Morgan, one of the
leaders, daughter of ]. Pierpont Morg-
an, would open restaurant at the
Brooklyn navy yard. Miss Morgan got
permission from the department to OPP
crate the model establishment, for the
benefit of employees. About the same
time the federation began busying it
self with women in the Washington
departments. 1T took on the great bu
reau of engraving and printing, in
which over , o women are employed,
and proceeded to look for things that
needed to be improved.
Now, the bureau of engraving and
printing is the place where the money
in made; hundreds upon hundreds Of
millions of dollars worth of treasury
notes and bank notes are turned cut
there every year. 1t is a service which
has many times been pointed to as the
peculiar evidence of the superiority of
women to men. Requiring employees
IN whose absolute and incorruptible
honesty complete confidence may be
placed, this bureau has found in long
experience that women are better to
trust than men. They appear to have
less prediction for playing poker and
the races. So the women have largely
filled the establishment so far as con-
Germs the processes in which their
services can be utilized.
| The bureau women have beer proud
of this record, and when the Civil Fed
Grafton of Women sent a committee to
do some uplifting, these money-man-
ufacturing women doubted whether
they entirely appreciated the good in
tentions. They doubted if they needed
any charity They earn comfortable
livings. have their own places in 50.
ciety, go to the theaters, and had never
before thought of themselves as in
need of any uplift from the Manhattan
direction. They We're pleasant but
slightly chilly when the New York
ladies looked around for things to re-
form. The New York women, fearing
that the working women were over.
awed at the contemplation of such {
wonderous opportunity to be improved
and struck speeches. at the though,
of having such great ladies take an in.
terest in them, decided that it woulc
be necessary to give the bureau girl!
some especial opportunities to get uset
to the overpowering thought. So it wa.
proposed that some of the youn;
women should be invited to visit som.
of their benefactresses in the home
of the latter, and learn how 1t was al
done; observe the method of eatin.
ice cream with fork, and taking one
soup out of the side of the spoon, an,
such like correct little wrinkles.
Somehow this didn't much appeal t
the girls, either; they rather opine,
that their table manners were goo,
enough. and didn't feel the need of be
: ing further impressed with the splen
dor of being patronized by ladies VIII
used gold dinner services.
3 away earnestly, and finally the explo
sion came. The committee found tina
: there were a number of women in tn
1 bureau whose morals We're dubious ]
5 gave out, in fact, the assurance tina
some fifty of them would have to b
dropped out of the service before tn
moral average would be raised to tn
Z point where contact with the federate
benefactresses could be established a
Q all.
h That settled it. Every woman an
. girl in the bureau resolved herself int
: an indignation meeting. 1t was jul:
- about what they had been expectin
- all the time. they declared; those ST
- ciety women who wanted to CONVEX
y working women into butterflies
course couldn't understands; VIII
y should they be expected to? They ha
U meant we'll enough; but really the
= could hardly be commended for tar
and diplomacy.
The women employees held mas
talked about suing somebody-any
body-for almost anything; and tt
uplift movement has gone by tt
boards The young women who mai
the money will go on their own wa
and any uplifting for them will
done by the elevators hereafter. It
widely opined that the effort Of I'll
good and kind New York ladies to i
little sunshine into the lives Of Il
y, women employees Of the governmel
who, on from 5000 to $500 a yea
feel quite comfortable, thank you, W