The Colorado statesman., 1913-02-15


In this year of grace 1913 an official
of one of the big typewriting concerns
hazards the opinion that there are of
stenographers and typewriters alone.
in the city of New York, at least 100,-
900 women.
To any one familiar with office
New York" the estimate seems con-
servative. The women typist has en-
tered into the Office work of the city.
as in Lucy Yarcom's day she invaded
the mill and factory work of Lowell.
She has dispossessed men almost
completely
1t is estimated that 80 per cent.
perhaps So per cent, of all CONNER
cial typewriting done in this country
is done by women. and economists.
in taking account of the movement of
invention Of the typewriter. much as
they date from the Introduction OF
the power loom.
Although a machine for the i'm
pressing or transcribing letters singly
or progressively" was patented in
England in 1714, the subsequent his
tory of typewriter invention is one
of long gaps, and it was not until 1874
that the working typewriter was put
on the market, and its story as an in
fluential economic factor is packed in
to the last thirty years. Women had
been in offices in clerical capacity be-
fore the evolution of the typewriter.
They fairly poured in afterward. But
though the number has kept increas-
ing, it is questionable If the women
themselves have even yet fully rec
ognized how wide is the door into the
business world which the little bell
on the typewriter may be said to have
rung open for them.
Women still lack vision in busi-
ness,". declares one whose work as
the head of the employing depart
met of a typewriter company brings
him into direct relation with an end
less line of women. filing and defiling
through the department, seeking the
elusive job. "They don't see in type
writing stepping stone to something
bigger They see in it just the chance
to earn living until they can mar
ry."'
It Is a frequently heard accusation.
Some people read in it the salvation
of the nation, and jubilate because the
marrying instinct is SO strong in wom-
en- that 1t can be relied on to survive
all phases of industrial readjustment.
Others wiring their hands over the
waste of material and opportunity
involved in the girls attitude Of in
difference. 1t Is knotty problem,
and the watcher at the threshold
hardly knows whether to jubilate or
wiring hands.
why, Just look at some of them" "
say the men who are trying to bring
the raw material up to its highest de-
gree of efficiency for the good OF
business" Then they cite case after
case to show what women have done.
1t is SO imposing showing that one
wonders If, after all, sanguine view
| is not unacceptable. There is the
women who, entering the employ OF
a typewriter company as demonstra
tor. has risen to be it's acting treas
urer: there is the woman who, enter
ing an architects office as a stenog
rapher, has become office manager;
there is the woman who, entering the
office of one of the down town finan
ciers to take letters from a subordi
nate official has become the confiden
tial secretary of the financier himself
at a salary of $4,000 year-the case
repeats itself hundreds of times IL
this one city.
And In tho rank and file there is i'm
provement and promise of greater i'm
provement For one thing, the re
ouirements in the matter OF genera
education are going higher. Stenog
raphy and typewriting are taught II
the high schools of today. SO that thu
technical education may be inter-as
sociated with the general education.