El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-09
U. S. Hires 100, 900 Women
Miss Jennie Douglas, First Woman
Employed by the Government,
Trimmed Treasury Notes.
Frederic j. Hasf1iu-

NHE ASHINGTON, D. c, April s.
wv Nearly 100000 women are in
the services of the United
States government. some OF whom fiji
difficult offices which call for especial
attachments. About 5000 are serv-
ing under civil service appointments
following a competitive examination.
: Most Of the others are postmasters,
chiefly in small towns throughout the
country. Most of the postofflce post
tons filled by women are of the
Z fourth class. which pays an income Of
lless than $1,000 annually. Some OF them
are in isolated locations which render
| their management both irksome and
Few Breaches of Trust.
Despite the inSinuatlOn OF the pro-
I fessiOna1 humoriSt regarding the med
! dlesome faculties of the village post
master, few breaches Of public trust
! are recorded against her and many IN
/ stances of bravery and loyalty are IN
her favor Until recently no eXaml-
nation has been required for fourth
! class pOstOffices, but an order issued
| last year by president Taft required
/ that offices paying between $1,000 ana
1 $500 must be in charge Of someone VINO
! has passed an examination LOT thdt
purpose, while for those ofIlces pay
/ ing less than $500 an endorsement OF
| qualification must be secured from
| modified by the Wilson admlnlstEsl-
/ ton so as to require an examination
| to ascertain the efficiency OF every
Commerce board Bars Women.
It is true that there is growing
I feeling in several Of the government
| deDarfments against the employment OF
women, and within the last two years
! the percentage Of appointments OF WON
I en-. except for special classes OF
work, has been lowered The Inter
state commerce commission, for IN
stance. includes no women IN its StaIL
While many of the chiefs Of bureaus
K D
and faithfulnesS Of the women who
work under them, others claim that
women are more apt to be unwilling
10 work overtime than men and are
less willing TO make their own plans
sUbseryient TO the good Of the work
This statement undoubtedly apples
most to the women in the lower sal
Literary Talents Help.
The women OF special attachments
who are upon the government payroll
include literary and scientific women
OF numerous calllnSs. A large amount
of the editorial work connected with
the publication Of government reports
is done by women Miss Ethel smith
of the bureau of fisheries, while act
ing as secretary to the commissioner,
is recognized for her scientific know
ledge upon general plscatorIai matters
and also for an unusual amount OF
literary talent which helps her to place
this knowledge in a form which the
public can appreciate. Several OF the
special census reports. especially those
domestic conditions had descriptive
matter written by women writer's en-
ployed for that purpose
Active In Research " Ork.
The DEPARTMENTS OF commerce and
labor rely greatly upon the women
economists in their employ TO make
research upon industrial conditions.
One OF the best known of these is Miss
Marie J. Obenhauer who, as special
agent, has published reports upon
wage earning women in stores and fac
value because Of the detailed informa-
ton they give regarding al the con
ditions of these classes Of women
workers. Their wages, their living con
diriOns. social environment and posi-
bilities are all depicted in SO vivid a
manner as TO nave great influence IN
determining the needs to be relieved
Miss Obenhauer also has published
reports upon the conditions governing
child labor in several states and a
number of specified Industries She
has several assistants, all bright
young college women who have had
special training IN economies at Wen
known colleges TO qualify them for
Teachers In Indian school.
A number of women teachers are en-
ployed under the United states govern
ment in the indian schools here, in
Porto Rico, in the canal zone. IN the /
Philippines and in Alaska Each or
these required some specific quality
in addition to the established stand
ards Of pedagogical ability which
lie schools of the different states It
is commonly accepted that the Amer
lean public school must follow the flag
and wherever the pubic ScnOol De
comes established the need of the
American woman teacher is at once
recognized.
Frequently women are called upon
to render some special service to the
government. When the dissatisfaction
Of the employees OF the Panama canal
zone threatened the completion Of the
canal, president Taft appointed Miss
Helen Narlck Boswell to go down and
esta bliSh better social relations Miss
BOsWeIl's chief effort was the estab-
Hshment Of federation OF wOmen's
clubs, but her efforts were successful
IN qUelIing the discomfort and creating
a better social atmosphere Now Miss
j. Macklin Beate is retained upon the
canal zone payroll to still further en-
courage the social life upon the zone
as this helps to make the Americans Z
more contented during their exile from
their own land.
Valuable Work Among Indians.
WOmen's work IN the indian service
has been Of especial value. No man
had greater influence in esta bllshin.
peaceful relations than did Miss Is
telle Reel. who for a number of years
went freely among them, often sleep
ing at night in their Wigwamss Now
are employed by the American govern J
ment to aid in promoting better cOndi- (
tons among the indians.
Miss Angel De Cora, young indian /
ent and studied at Drexel institute in }
Philadelphia, in addition to being a I
pupil of the late Howard Pyle. is now !
teaching the indian women of Arizona 1
and New Mexico to improve their pot /
terry without detracting from its ma /
tive chara cteristics. In the indian de-
partment in Washington the daughter I
of an indian chief is an adjuster of !
claims and thereby has a great influ- /
ence in securing justice for her own i
people from the government, whose
wards they now are
First Employed During War.
The employment Of women by the
government began az the time Of the
civil war and was brought about BY
two conditions: One was that the en-
listme0t of so many men as soldiers
left vacancies in the clerical forces
which women were capable OF filling: (
the other was that the loss Of the
support of the men who were killed I
or wounded in battle rendered it neces-
sary for hundreds of women promptly
to seek some means of providing for
themselves and the families dependent ]
upon them.
The government. for which these men
had sacrificed their lives, naturally
1elt responsible for the care of their
families and was an1Jous to give en-
III, mt /