The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-10-29
WORK AND EQUALITY
BY GRACE HooE.

There goes Violal" the little stem
ographer whispered excitedly to her
visitor, ac she watched girl hurry
ing to the elevator. Every fond pa
rent with preconceived ideas as to the
way to bring up a family ought to
meet Violas father!
Viola is rather stylishly fixed up
| for business woman on Monday af-
ternoon, isn't she? Well, she's got a
! right to be, for she's her papa's secre'
tary, and she's going to be married
and is most sumptuously entertained
almost daily! Yes, I'll tell you about
her.
"You know Mr.. Gray. her father,
has been talking to me about his
daughter ever since | came to work
for this firm. He says | ought to feel
proud of my place-my work in the
world, and SO forth. Then he'd always
end up by declaring that Viola wasn't
to be a parasite and that she was a
child after his own heart. She be-
lieved In womans work and equality,
and all that, and when she'd finished
college she was going to do something
worth whilel
Finally Viola graduated. ! forget
how many years over and above the
first four It took her to get through,
but her father called them post-gradu-
ate years, and no one else cared.
when Viola failed to find a pub
Usher for her novel, which 1t took her
year to write, and when she didn't
take to social settlement work or
woman's movements, papa got nerv-
Gus for her to get into something, but
none of the ordinary pursuits, 1t
seemed, appealed to little Viola!
FINALLY l told him that | thought
she'd make good stenographer. ] as
sured him that it took brains and ed
ucation and capacity to compete with
most of us, and 1t was such fruitful
field-so few in IT. Well, he took II
all in-never suspected for a moment
that there was sarcasm in my sugges-
ton. SO Viola took the training!
"Mr. Gray was in the clouds during
those months. He devoted four-ifths
of his time to telling me what new ia
cilities for high-grade office work Viola
was going to bring when she arrived
for he would have her for his pri-
vate secretary. They planned things
at home, he said.
We'll, / got alarmed and began real
| ly to work to earn my salary, for I
didn't dare let Viola come into the Of
| flee and prove more satisfactory than
I!
| 20 10
not only /, but the whole office force
knew just how clever Viola was. We'd
all seen Viola when she had come to
call on papa, and Jimmy, the office
boy. who hadn't realized who she was,
discovered that he resembled nothing
else so much as just plain atmos-
phere! She sailed past us all into
his inner offlce-and then little later
she sailed right out again without
glancing around.
$50 when Mr.. Gray came in late
one morning with Viola and intro
duced her to us all before ushering
her into mis- private Office we were
prepared for the chilly reception we
got from her. We lost none of our
curiosity to see what happened.
"She relieved me of all her fathers
work, and | was rather glad, for he'd
been getting to be nuisance-keeping
me there hours over one letter talking
about Viola.
well, one night Jimmy called me
over and let me see letter he was
sealing. 1t was sort of kid finished
all over, from nearly every word hav-
ing been erased. and II was rather
n mussy affair for us to send out
but 1t had Viola's initials and her ia
TIERS signature at the foot.
"One morning Mr.. Gray came down
alone to the Office and he called me in
for dictation. He had a pile of letters
foot high, and we Just we're buried
in work. There were letters a week
old-important ones. Then could
see the connection between Mr.. Gray's
increasing crows feet and the light
mails he had been getting out. Viola
wasn't up to the work.
Things got worse and worse. Mr..
Gray got to calling me in for dlctation
oftener, and finally he confided to me
that Viola hadn't found her vocation
yet. But she was engaged to a nice
young man, and he thought marriage
would round her out and complete
her life.
Then last week I found him all
bumped up at his desk when | an
swered his bell. / asked him what
was the matter, and he couldn't con
ceal 1t any more. It's Viola, he said
she says she loves her work and she
isn't going to let marriage separate
her from it. She's made the young
man promise that he'll let her stay
and help me. She knows what / think
Of women's work in the world and she
refuses to disappoint me! All can
say only makes her think that I'm try
ing TO sacrifice myself for her-and
she's going TO stay!
so Viola still comes down TO the
Office. She has entirely given up her