The Washington herald., 1915-05-05
BY MARY MARSHALL.

| Here is one of the most maligned o
all occupations, but for the woman wht
| Is willing to overlook time-worn preju
| dices and go into the work of sales agen
with determination and pluck 1t holG:
out the opportunity Of large earnings
In fact, in the list of possible vocation:
for women that of sales agent ranks
way up toward the top as far as re
muneration goes.
Probably YOU hold up your hands il
alarm at the mere mention of the woro
agent" More than likely you have
visions of the bedrassled. worn-faced
women who come around selling flavor
ing extracts, apple corers, can openers
or sewing machines-the sort of women
the dogs bark at and your maid knows
enough. to shut the door on. This is one
kind OF agent to be sure, but 1t Is not
the only kind. In fact. the only kind
that ever makes a money success of II
is the kind the dog can't spot and who
somehow overcomes peoples prejudice
against as9ts in general.
The trouble with the whole agent busi-
ness-that is. as a profession for women
is that as a usual thing women don't
30 at 1t with deliberate notion that it
is a profession just as much as opera
singing or dressmaking or school teach
ing. and that 1t needs definite sort of
ability and definite sort of training to
begin with.
Too often women become agents only
after they ahve failed to win out at so
many other occupations that they haven't
spark of enthusiasm-the touch-stone
of success for the agent, by the way
left in their makeup. They per-
haps try in vain to do housekeeping.
stenography. or to teach school. and as
they look day after day at the help
wanted advertisements in search of a
job they think they could fill. their
weary eyes finally rest on the agents
wanted" advertisements-for there are
always many advertisements for agents
in every list of help wanted-and they
decide a last resort to try the agent
business. Needless to say. these women
are just the sort that usually make a
dreary failure and not at all the kind
that big publishing houses and manu-
facturers of enviablc reputation are will
ing TO pay large salaries.
When you see an advertisement for
bright, attractive. well dressed
saleswoman willing to travel; one
able TO earn s25 a week besides her
expenses" you may he sure that the
down -and-outer who takes up agent
work a last resort is not the wo-
man who is going to get the job. The
successful applicant will be the girl
who is cut out to do such work and
likes it. the girl with good health.
good sense. and enthusiasm.
a few years ago brightfaced
young woman of about twenty-five
finally made her way to large city
from the country town where she
had been raised with the intent of
making her living with her brush
She had received no end of encour-
agement AT home. In fact. il was
on the savings of the money she had
made selling her water color land
scapes that she went to the city. She
had no doubt of her success-that is,
not until she had been in the city
a bout a month. had used up her last
dollar. and had accepted as way
to ward off starvation a position at
SO a week in the Office of a large
advertising concern. Here she was
employed from morning till night
filling in the details of drawings that
other people mapped out in cata-
logues and circulars. There were
positions for better paid artists in
the office. to be sure, but they were
all filled.
In the sales end of the concern there
were young men-,Scn three or four
years younger than she was and not
haIr so CleNer-whO were getting
from s25 to $50 week in commiss-
ions on orders for circulars, cata-
logues and other advertising media.
There were no women employed in
This department of the business, but
one day the country girl. who kept
her nerve keyed up and her eyes
open, offered her services to the head
IF the concern as a sales agent. She
vas accepted on a commission basis.
The concern could not possibly lose
L cent on the experiment and the
,rt department could easily dispense
With her services.
The venture proved a success. for In
he first month the young woman re-
,eived $50 as her share of the orders
he received. Her duties in this position
we're not of the sort she had dreamed
# before she came to the city. It meant
from one business headquarters
o another taking snubs with a smile
,ersisting with a pleasant. business-like
manner. and finally by dint of much tact
md good sense, getting an interview
With the man or woman she wanted to