Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1913-03-13

ll4I4lfl1llGHnIlflHfHtf rspItrs anu b 'yp
clerks and copy
lists, bookkeepers
and accountants.
In this year of grace 1918 an official
Of one of the big typewrlting concerns
hazards the opinion that there are or
stenographers and typewriters alone.
in the city of New York at least 1907
600 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 50 per cent. of all CONNER
cial typewriting done in this country
is done by women, and economists,
in taking account of the movement Of
women into industry, date from the
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 al
the head of the employing depart
ment of a typewriter company brings
him into direct relation with an end
less line of women, filing and defling
through the department, seeking the
elusive job They don't see in type
writing a stepping stone to something
bigger They see in it just the chance
to earn a living until they can mar
ry."
1t is a frequently heard accusation.
Some people read in 1t the salvation
Of the nation, and jubilate because the
marrying instinct is so strong In wom-
en- that it can be relied on to survive
all phases Of industrial readjustment
Others wiring their hands over tho
waste of material and opportunity
involved in the girls attitude Of in
difference. 1t is a 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 It's 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 a showing that one
wonders II. after all, a sanguine view
is not unacceptable. There Is the
women who, entering the employ of
a typewriter company as demonstra-
tor, has risen to be its 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 salary of $4,000 a year-the case
repeats itself hundreds of times in
this one city.
And in the rank and file there IL i'm
provement and promise of greater i'm
provement. For one thing, the re-
quirements in the matter of general
education are going higher. Stenos-
raphy and typewriting are taught In
the high schools of today 80 that the
technical education may be inter-as-
ISOLATED with the general education.