New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-10
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR JULY 10. ISAV

F. moved from the little shop to larger one.
and then to a better neighborhood. and Tor
the last five wears has had an imposing place
on the avenue, where during the busy season
she EMPLOYS sometimes as many as thI1'y
workwomen. Each year now she goes
abroad to get in touch with Paris styles we
live in an apartment that costs as much
wear as used to earn, and both our chiidren
are abroad being educated at European
boarding schools which are attended by the
children of those great folk whose names we
used to know only through the Sunday
| newspapers. It'll
And /, am still bookkeeper, middle
aged unsuccessful bookkeeper, sometimes
EMPLOYED, more often not! The last place
| held during the illness of its regular 1ncum-
bent, lasted three months; but IT paid nc
| only eighteen dollars a week, and that eur
ployment ended over month ago: let 1
| live in outward physical comfort, with thfee
excellent meals a dav. pensioner of my sue
cessful business wife, paying my own pei
sonal expenses when can-lettlng my VIE
paw them when l cannot.
| 7 OOKING at the situation from the Droao
II point of view, considering not only my
| own condition but that of the many tnou-
sands of Business Women's Husbands, am
! forced to the conclusion that modern busl-
ness conditions offer better opportunity lor
woman's success than for mans. ne lnVa-
sion of the trust in all lines Of men S occupa-
| lions has made the man employee lneie
machine, has eliminated the human reiati,I
between employer and employee, has gIeatiy
reduced the opportunities for man without
capital to advance and become independent
| On the other hand, the increase IN the huili-
| Der of wage earning women has gwen women
more money to spend for themselves and on
themselves than they ever had before .,
The result is that vast number OF small
businesses that cater to feminine needs and
fancies have sprung up. There are along the
principal avenues of all the big cities now
hat shops, tea rooms, art stores, Je"eiy
shops candy stores, gown ESTABLISHMENTS;
linen shops, and score OF other varieties an
run bv women and catering to women AS
vet no master of finance has undertaken to
combine them. 1t is open competltlon'
where any smart industrious woman, now
ever limited her capital, can have 1air pros
pect of success. Perhaps 1T VIII always De
so: for doubt if ever the masculine MINDS
that invent trusts can grasp the matter ..
supplying the feminine caprice as well as
women can.
The effect of this development OF business
on domestic life to my mind IS certain TO De
OcDIOrdDle. i KNOW tlldt IL DNOH III
own case. In the earlier days of my married
life, whileN was still the business head OF the
family, my wife took an interest, or at least
seemed to take an interest, IN my business
affairs, in the little matters OF office gossip
such as every man carries to his home We
seemed then to have many ideas and pleas
ures in common. 1t is not so nowadays. L
confess that | have no interest, and am not
even able to simulate interest, IN my wife
millinery shop. She has long ceased to at
tempt to discuss her affairs with me. Natu-
rally her busiaess takes up so much OF her
time that she has little leisure or desire to
read the books that in years gone by were
an important part of Our amusement.
Whatever sentiment there was IN our rela-
tons has long since vanished. l cannot help
but feel that She, glorying in her own success,
must despise me as failure, though L be-
leve she tries hard not to show it. On the
other hand, know that her contact with the
world has taken from her much OF the TENT
nine charm of manner that first attracted
me to her We spend as few of our evenings