davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

she doubled all the requests made by
her husband to the other heirs.
Homes for Working Girls
The problem of comfortable and
pleasant-Iooking homes for working
people is one in which Mrs. Sage is es-
pecially interested Her men Of affairs
are now at work on plan for estab-
fishing model tenements in New York
City. Furthermore, she has bought so
acres of ground near Jamaica, where
she is spending $4,000 in experiments
for this same cause. Some illustrations
on this page show a portion of the
progress that is being made in this
quarter. Her ten million dollar gift to
the Russell Sage Foundation has been
invested so as to yield an annual income
of 100000. A large proportion of this
is being spent in the Anti Tuberculosis
campaign. The National Playground
Association also is being helped and the
various institutions for the blind get
tive head of the Foundation, while the
School Hygiene Department is under
the direction of Luther Fl. Gulick.
Mrs. Harriman's most notable gift so
far has been the Palisades Park, follow
ing the wel1-known intention of her hus-
band. The State of New York not only
has been presented with magnificent
tract of land, but with sufficient money
to enable it to buy up as much more as
is necessary to make the finest inter-
state forest reserve II, the country
right on the Hudson River. Mrs. Har-
rir1an has thus preserved Tor the use of
the people what is perhaps the most
gorgeous scenic territory in the East
although it is rather large order to
make comparisons. She is also carry
ing out Mr.. Harriman's wishes with re-
gard to the Industrial School which he
had established on the East Side of
New York.
Helen Gou1d's Philanthropy
The phi1anthropic activities of Helen
Miller Gould have been well known for
some time. The greater part of the
good done by this woman will never be
known-probably not even by the peo-
pie benefited. ALI her life she has de-
voted both time and energy towards
spending her share of the money left
by Jay Gould in caring for the poor and
suffering. Her greatest individual gift
was to the University of the City of
New York, to which she presented Ii
brary building at cost of $3Io,ooo. Of
the 100000 she sent the United States
Government when the Spanish war
broke out and how she equipped hos
pital camp and went right to the scene
and nursed the wounded herself every
body knows. Miss Gould is not so much
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

they were respectively interested. OF
these the least one can say is that the
high standard of education in California
is due to Mrs. Hearst and Mrs. Leland
Stanford. Being State university, of
course, the school at Berkeley would
exist without Mrs. Hearst, although it
could not pretend to anything like its
present prosperity and an efficiency that
is recognized all over the country On
the other hand, Leland Stanford Jun
ior University owes its existence to the
mother of the boy to whom it is me-
mortal. She has practically done every
thing for the Palo Alto school, while
Mrs. Hearst has We'd with her in build
ing up the one at Berkeley. Here arc
some of the things the latter has done
for the University of California: she >es-
tablished, built and endowed the school
of mines, gave Hearst Hall, the assem-
bly, building in which meetings and con-
certs are held, built the famous Greek
Theatre and, whenever funds are need
ed for any new academic departure,
President Benjamin Ide Wheeler gen.
orally knows where he can get them
without going outside the board of
regents. Mrs. Hearst is member of
the board of regents.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

der she was school teacher in an ex-
cessively Puritan community. AS re-
suit, she approaches her task entirely
from a scientific standpoint. But Mrs.
Hartman has more of the qualities of
the mother and the housekeeper than
of the school teacher and the methodi-
cal philanthropy. She has naturally be-
come strongly imbued with the view
point of her late husband-and it, is
known that Mr.. Hartman was no be-
lever in institutional charity. He did
not approve of giving money! to the
poor, but of giving them opportunities
to make money. Consequently, when he
started the work on his estate at Arden,
he hired exclusively local labor, al
though he could have got the job fin
ished in half the time by giving out the
contract elsewhere. AS it is, it has
lasted FIVE years already, and probably
will take five years more before it is
completed.
Helping the poor does not mean Civ
ing them money. In most cases that
would be the worst possible thing to do, !"
says Mrs. Sage. And her views are
further expressed in the charter of the
Russell Sage Foundation: mot to re-
lieve individual or family need, but to
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
DEPARTMENT STORES OFFER
STEADY CAREER FOR GIRLS
Excellent Chances of Advancement to Well Paid Positions
for Industrious and Intelligent Persons
By LAURA A. SMITH

question asked the girl applying for a
position as clerk is: What expert
ence have you had?" Therefore, if
you live in a small town and have
ambitions toward going to a larger
city, / advise you to work in your
home shops for few weeks or
months, so that you may truthfully
say you have had experience. Clerk
ing in small general store is fine
experience, for you are not confined
to one counter, but learn many diff
ferent kinds of goods and prices. In
a country store you come into closer
touch with your employer, are called
into consultation when he deals with
buyers, and thus you increase your
own knowledge of buying, ordering,
Judging materials and what a good
store needs in the way of variety. Be-
cause you have this general knowl-
edge you may advance more quickly
in the city. You can fill a vacancy in
any department better than the girl
trained to sell just one kind of goods
Yo experience will stand you in
good stead, too, If the time arrives
when you can set up your own little
shop.
In your own town you come in con-
tact with different type of custom
ers from those in the large cities.
The persons who come to you are not
professional shoppers, but friends
who have faith in your judgment and
who ask you to decide for them. Thus
you learn to "size-up" customers and
study how to please them. Merchants
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
STORY OF ONE SUCCESSFUL
YOUNG WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE
Hours Are Long and Pay is Small For Beginners But Good
Qualities Are Rewarded benefit Funds

selling French underwear and bIouses.
During the first six months my salary
was $40, and from the next year I
have been receiving $12 a week.
When l am experienced enough to sell
the handsome French lingerie robes
my salary may reach $50 week.
The Hours.
"I am here at 7:45 A. M. They take
our time, and if we come later than
$3.50 we are fined. 1t is my duty to
dust the cases and decorate the tables
of the room with the underwear and
robes. Each morning we get the adj
vertisement for that day and read it
thoroughly. The buyer for this de-
partment gets up the advertisement.
Each clerk has stock to take care
of, to clean, brush and put away care
fully. This occupies at least an hour
and half of time, as we have to keep
leaving the stock to wait on custom
ers. We are not allowed to have any
visitors, nor are the girls allowed to
talk with each other. This is just
rule, think, as we need all our time
and attention for our work. Monday,
for example, sold forty customers
different garments, my sales amount
ing to 1855. The girls who go ahead
in clerking run good book. The
sales depend largely on the girl.
when it is time to close, we I'M
dress the lay figures, put the stock
away and cover it. We keep an in
ventory of stock. this work being di-
vided among three clerks and a stock
girl The work in my department is
very fascinating. 1t is pleasant to
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
HOW AMERICAS COLOSSAL
FORTUNES ARE BEING SPENT
Mrs. Stanford Pounds University Hearst the Anger
of Berkeley-Mrs. Hartman Gives Huge
Park to TIE People

have the millions been spent so scier-
tifcally.
1t would seem as if some of the most
prominent men who have made America
proverbial for Swollen fortunes" have
waited until after their death to reply
to the accusations ofl"predatory finance"
that were hurled at them all their life
long. Hardly had the country overcome
it's surprise at the Russell Sage will and
its feeling almost akin to sympathy at
the magnitude of the task before Rus
sell Sage's widow, when the news was
published of the testament of E. HI.
Hartman, supposed to be the shortest
document of its kind on record. 1t GER
tainly is the briefest possible disposal of
$I4o,ooo.ooo. But for many years before
the dynamic railroad man ever thought
of dying and while Sage's misery fingers
were still clutching at the boards he was
pilng up, the bulk of two of the most
famous California fortunes were being
spent by the women whose names are
inseparably associated with philanthropy
on the Pacific coast-Phoebe Apperson
Hearst and the late Jane Lathrop STAN
ford.
Gifts to Universities
The manifold and diverse bene6cence
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

to this country, by the way, as many un-
fortunates on the other side of the At
lantic have found out
Mrs Oliver H. p Belmont is such a
versatile parsonage and has been SO
prominent lately in her fight for Woman
Suffrage that her philanthropic actiw-
ties have been lost sight OF. Neverthe-
less, they have always been in evidence.
The Children's Hospital that she recent
1y built and endowed, at Hampstead, L.
l., is perhaps the most notable of her
achievements, or at least the most last
ing. But the notwithstanding girls
found her help indispensable in enabling
them to win their strike.
This same strike, by the way, brought
forward the personality of one woman
never before heard of in this field :
Anne Tracy Morgan, daughter of ].
Pierpont Morgan. Like all the others
who try to help people with their money,
Miss Morgan has avoided publicity. as
much as possible. It is not always pos
sible, but it is only fair to say that the
majority of such women try to avoid
advertising their charitable propensi-
ties: if for no other reason, at least be-
cause such advertisement makes them a
mark for hordes of begging letter
writer's and other importunate persons.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

and efficient young woman in one OF
the large department stores tell her
story as she told it to me. Bessie is
neat, pretty and refined. Her en-
ployers call her a model clerk, for she
is not only quick, obliging and popu-
lar with customers, but she has brains
and wit enough to advance. Her ex-
perience is the experience Of the sue
cessful girl in general.
Bessie says: when first went into
the store I started as wrapper of pack
ages and cashier for the counter.
Soon was made inspector Of wrap
pers and packages and received four
dollars week. / boarded with my
married sister and paid her three dol
lars a week. Most of the girls board
at home. They could not pay board
outside and have enough left for car
fare, lunches and clothes. In three
months time / was transferred to SELL
ing boys blouses. tell you / felt
proud when I stood behind the coun-
ter and sold goods. / had to attend
the school in the store where sales
people are instructed how to sell, how
to address customer pleasantly and
to be willing and courteous. My sal
airy at the blouse counter was SIS a
week. took the place in June and in
December was given charge of the
counter, taking the place of a girl
who had been there fifteen years. My
hours were from 8 A. M. to $3.50 P. M.
Here I learned how to wait on GUS
toners and to fill in sizes by ordering
from the manufacturer. After selling
blouses two years they put me in the
transfer department for one month.
My salary was then So week. Here
T fro elf ryho
ers had finished shopping, and gave
shipping directions. had to be quick
at figures, adding amounts from diff
ferent bills and to know the different
express companies and railroad
routes. Next I went to the handker-
chief department for one year, then
to the misses suits, where my salary
was increased to So. Then ] came to
where am now, the French room,
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

poor. She was largely instrumental in
getting such legislation as the Mercan-
tile bill, the new Tombs bill, the Public
School, Prison and Anti-sweating bills
through the New York Legislature.
Then, too, there is, Helen Clay Prick,
daughter of Henry c. Prick, the million
aire banker She does not have to wait
for anybody's death in order to spend
vast sums in social service work, as she
has already given them, and is doing it
all the time. Recreation parks for tho
people is her favorite hobby.
In Chicago there are many women
who spend not only money but brains
and energy in their philanthropic enter
prises. Mrs. ]. Ogden Armour, Miss
Higgenbotham and almost score Of
others, who are generally supposed to
be frittering their time away solely in
social diversions are, as Q matter of FACT
extremely busy and capable women.
who look upon their wealth as a respon-l
sibi1ty which they try to discharge in
diligently. In fact, persons of this type
can be found in every city throughouc
the United States.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

handle the pretty garments, and We
get the best class of customers. Those
who insist on having something enc
tire1y different from anything we can
show them are trying on the nerves.
but we learn to throw on the unpleas-
ant effects.
s'In our store there is q benefit fund.-
to which all must belong. We are
taxed ten cents each for the funeral
of an employee. After we have been
in the store two years we are allowed
two weeks vacation with pay. Every
one is expected to take vacation in
summer, as trade is dull then. Most
of the girls go to the country and q
few to the seashore. Many stay right
at home, resting and getting their
winter clothes in order.
s'This is my allowance: Board, $5 q
week; carfare, so cents; washing, rs
cents a Dozen; lunches, go cents:
clothes, average SO a week. Salary
$12, expenses 1895, save $2.05."
Any girl who wishes to clerk may
take this girls experience as typical
of what she will have to learn and to
do in the average big store.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
r N nothing do American women OF

IT nothing do American women of
to-day more clearly reveal the
active presence in themselves of
a spirit which was, at most, DOR
mant IN the American woman of yes
terday. than in the character and quail
ity and magnitude of their efforts in the
direction of caring for others"
Such is the summary of Elizabeth
MacCracken's judgment in her book
about the American woman Super
fcially this may sound like a. very par
tial statement of rhapsodically pa
triotic person. The Lady Bountiful"
is supposed to have existed even in the
semi-barbarism of the Middle Ages.
The males of past generations pro-
verbally boosted of leaving charity en-
tirely to their women folk And no in
telligent person for minute supposes
that the woman who tcares for others"
the word charity" with its invidious
meaning seems fortunately to be pass
ing from the language-nobodyl sup
poses that she is to be found only in
this country.
The millionaire female philan-
thropist, however, is peculiar to America.
Nowhere else have SO many tremendous
fortunes fallen, almost simultaneously,
~oAer the unrestricted administration
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

In addition to this, Mrs. Hearst has
established and endowed FIVE kindergar-
ten classes for the children Of the poor
in San Francisco. The manual training
school in the Golden Gate city owes its
existence to her. She has established
kindergartens and kindergarten train
ing school in Washington, D. c., and
has donated hundreds of thousands to
the American University. She gave
100000 for the erection and main
tenance of the National Cathedral
School for girls. She keeps UP several
working girls clubs in San Francisco
which she has founded. Mrs. Stanford,
while she was alive, was also keenly in
terested in the kindergarten schools of
the same city, and her gifts in that di-
rection amounted to upwards of $780,
ooo She also built the Children's Hos
pital at Albany, N. Y, at cost of $780,.
600, and then endowed it with like
sum for its maintenance. And these
are merely some of the best-known in
stances of the philanthropy of Mrs.
Hearst and Mrs. Stanford.
Mrs. Sage's Training
The fortunes of Russell Sage and Ed
ward H. Hartman, on the other hand,
will be spent in more widely differing
ways Mrs. Sage and Mrs. Hartman
are far more dissimilar in their person.
alities and ideas than were Mrs. Hearst
and Mrs. Stanford. 1t would seem as
if the formers entire life and training
were intended to equip her for the task
with which she was confronted in her
eighty-frst year Mrs. Sage has always
been interested in philanthropic and
educational work: before she married
the remarkable Wall Street money len
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

in smaller towns cannot depend on
tourists and surrounding towns to re-
lieve them of old stock, but expect
their clerks to sell the old stock be-
fore the time comes to lay in new
supply. Now, though it is not gen.
orally admitted, clerks duty is just
as much to get rid Of slow-s6lers as
it is to sell out fresh, desirable goods.
The more practice and success you
have in selling the former, the more
valuable you will be to your employer.
Anyone can sell a customer the
thing he Wishes" said a merchant. 81
expect my clerks to sell him the
things we wish sold"
In Smaller Towns.
The life of girl clerk in a smaller
town is a pleasant one. There is the
daily visiting with friends who come
to the store and the making of new
acquaintance. AS the townspeople
are her relatives and friends, she en-.
joys more social life in the evenings
than the city clerk does generally.
Because the girl in the small town
knows her customers personal affairs
it is difficult for her not to bring per.
sonal likes and dislikes into her work
She needs must make new friends
and forgive old enemies, lest they
take their spite out on her and buy
elsewhere. No clerk receives munif
icent salary; but the girl in the small
town who has from $3.50 to 81 a week
lives at home, knows how to sew, and
can make her money go much further
than the girl in the city who earns
twice as much. Take all these things
into consideration, especially the loss
of home and personal friends, when
you wish to go to a larger city be.
cause of bigger salary"
In the large shops, applying for q
position Is very cut-and-dried affair
You generally go to shop because
you know some of the clerks or it has
been recommended to you. You are
told the way to the desk where appli
cants are interviewed, and you are
taken on at once or your name is put
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

on the waiting-list. You are but a unit
in vast system in big department
store. Consider how little time your
employer can give you when there
are from one to two, thousand en-
ployes. Your style of dress will be
regulated, so will your time, your
lunches and perhaps your recreations.
Most OF the big stores have their
clubs and dancing classes for clerks.
They also have rest-parlors, sick
rooms and roof gardens and libraries
for their employees. Many have day
schools for the cash boys and girls
and the wrappers, and night schools
for older clerks. You will be under
rigid inspection every moment of the
day. You must keep your hair sham
pooed and becomingly arranged, your
complexion healthy and your hands in
good condition. Your gown must be
neat and well-brushed, and your neck
wear spotless. Get into the conf
dence of girl clerk and you will find
that her evenings are generally spent
in washing and ironing neckwear and
white waists and in attending to her
hair, hands and feet. The continual
standing is hard on the feet, so you
must patronize good bootmaker and
must use every means of keeping your
feet from getting tender and sore.
There are two classes of clerks-the
impertinent, gum-chewing class, mem
bers of which gather in groups behind
the counter and chat while the Gus
TONER waits, who use slang and who
ridicule customer openly; and the
dignif1ed class, whose members are
noted for quiet, refined, courteous
manners, who do not gossip or f1irt,
md s~~I
to heads of departments or foreign
buyers. The best way to Judge the
kind of clerk you wish to be is to
think, What kind of girl do prefer
to have wait on me?" Try to be that
kind and you will not go amiss.
How Progress is Made.
/ cannot better describe a clerks
progress than to let most lovable
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

no popular is clerking as an occu-
patton for women that we speak
of the army of women clerks"
- Watch the big city shops at
closing time and you will realize how
immense Is this body of women en-
gagged In selling goods. Formerly we
thought of a woman clerk as one en-
ployed in a dry-goods shop only: but
now the saleswoman greets you from
behind the counter of almost every
kind of shop.
As in other lines of work. the first
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
IN to move quickly and

Learn to move quickly and
quietly.
Cultivate q pleasant, obliging
manner.
Be loyal to your firm.
Never discuss a customer with
outsiders.
Have a definite ambition to climb
upwards.
Try to gain and keep the good
will of fellow employees.
Avoid gum chewing, exaggerated
couture and cheap jewelry.
Treat all men customers with dig
nifty and reserve.
Never accept invitations from
strangers.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
Toasted Cheese.

Cut some Parmesan or American
cheese into very thin slices or shreds.
Put into tin dish and set in the oven,
or before the fire, to toast, and when
thoroughly dissolved pour into 1t one
heaping tablespoonful Of butter, o
little made mustard and a pinch OF
white pepper. Serve 1t In the dish az
hot as possible with pulled bread, o..
placed on toast.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

eradicate the causes of poverty and ig..
norance." Within two years and a half
after the death of her husband, she had
given away twenty of the seventy mill.
Sage sag Foundation. $4,000 &c to e eduea
ton, $4,000, 900 to religious institutions,
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
MRS. RUSSELL SAGE GIVES
$40, 900 IN TWO YEARS
Miss Helen c1ay Frck and Recreation Parks Pierpont
Morgan's Daughter and the Shrwaist Makers Strike
Helen Gou1d's Work for the Poor

Sage, she is able to give more individ-
ual attention to the charitable gifts she
makes. They are by no means confined
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

Mrs. Edward Lauterbach Is another
wealthy New Yorker who gives both
time and money for the benefit of the
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05

in favor of institutional philanthropy as
her friend Mrs. Sage-Miss Gould is
one of the directors of the Russell Sage
Foundation. This does not mean that
she is addicted TO indiscriminate giving
to SUM hs no9 s as su Mrs.
The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-05
How Progress ia Made.

l cannot better describe a clerks
progress than to let most lovable