Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-08-13

bookkeeper or clerk who makes mistakes.
or Ia tardy. when her employer dismlsses
her he washes his hands OF the whole fe-
male sex. and declares that women are
no good in business. and haven't enough
sense to understand business proposi-
ton, and are unreliable and he will have
no more OF them. so the giri who fails
not only loses her own Job, but she keops
other women out OF good jobs.
That's the reason / do more work
than / have to. and fail to take advan-
tage Of privileges that are really my
due, / am trying to keep the dor Of OPP
portunity for women proped open by
standing with my back squarely against
It. Sometimes | am very, very tired and
would like to take a rest
'Then / remember that one Of tho
eternal objections that arc always put
forward against women in business ~
that they lack physical strength and en-
durance and realize that ! must dis
prove this by going on with my work.
even though the mon all around me are
lndulging themselves in nervous prostra-
tlon. They can afford 20 be sick. A
woman can't, for the sake of other
women.
II am called on to do many things per-
sonally distasteful to me I'm my work.
The men who work with me kick when
they have TO do things that are OBJ
noxious 10 their tastes. I don't because
women are supposed to be finicky and
whimsical and 'choosey about their
work, and / must break down this super
stition by showing. as far as l can. that
tho woman in business can put aside her
own preferences and be az impersonal a
worker as any machine.
The men with whom work have
nerves and tempers that get the better
OF them at times. but keep my temper
and nerve under an iron control, for. II
should suddenly blaze out In an emo
tional outburst every man about would
call Il hystericR, and say. What else
can you expect OF woman
II believe that the greatest thing that
has happened for humanity In thousands
OF years 10 the financial emancipation OF
woman which II beginning 70 take place
now. IL means a new heaven and a new
earth for wcmen. II means Independence
instead of dependence for them. X means
hope instead OF despair. II mean new
interest and JOY In life. II means even
a right to their own bodies ana souls.
for. Tor tho first time in the history OF
the world no woman needs marry for
support.
but women can only come into this
new freedom through the help OF other
women, and this Is why every working
woman not only owes Il 10 herself. but
to her sex. to do superlativeiy- good work.
Every time woman fails she makes Il
harder for the sister woman who comes
after her. One foolish. frivolous girl who
spends her time powderlng her nose In
stead Of doing her work. can close the
doors OF a big office TO dozens Of cspa-
bio young women who might be earning
good salaries In II.
And, on the other hand, one extra
competent. level-headed, agreeable
woman employe can convince any man
for whom she works that women are a
necessity and an ornament in any well
regulated business house ami thus Sc
cure opportunities TO other women
80 you see" added the business
woman. with a smile. I'VE women who
are leading In the feminine commercial
invasion are not working for ourselves
alone. We are working for all the other
women who would never be able TO get
foothold in the business world II We
hadn't nnde good"