The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-11-12

| MISS MABEL CHRISTENSEN
| If somebody should hunt up hal
a dozen of the most successful anl
highest salaried business girls ii
Bingham county, two of the sil
would be found in the Republican
office, and both of them would BIZ
accredited with rising steadily in &
short time from mere beginners JUS
our of school. ~
/ When boys or girls just ont O
school undertake making places fol
themselves in the Republican office
they have usually started at $500
a week unless they had some specia
preparation and they are taught
carefully with the understanding
that they are to stay long time tc
fill the position being made TO.
them and by them. 1t is also under
stood that they must be progressive
enough to receive steady advances In
salary or they are not wanted
make a marked success or get out
is the precept laid down to work by
and nobody holds a place long in the
Republican office unless absolutely
reliable.
Miss Christensen and Miss Jones
began working in the Republican Of
fee at about the same time just two
years ago. At the end of one year
We gave our readers an account of
what they had accomplished from
their modest beginning, and now we
are reporting upon the second year
with considerable interest, because,
unlike most girls in work or bust
ness they have added as much to
their salaries the second year as they
increased them the first twelve
months. The great trouble with
girls in most positions is that they
settle into routine work and cease
to make any improvement in their
work and service and are worth lit
tie If any more the second year than
they were after the first few months.
BY the third year she settles in a
rut and never improves at all. That
is an unfortunate predicament for
any one to get into, and it is easier
for a girl to take that course than
for a boy, because a boy expects to
go on working at something, while
the natural sphere for the girl is to
become house keeper. But on the
other hand, boy very easily be-
comes a rover, while girl sticks to
one town and does not squander her
earnings and her time seeing the
world. These statements apply to
the average boy and the average girl,
but the half-dOzen best business girls
in Bingham county are not average
girls; they are above the average or
they have had better than average
training in the positions or both.
Miss Christensen has made two
ventures getting into business and
chose work in the Republican office
because she thought it afforded the
best training and the best opportun-
ity for advancement. She has charge
of the business office, and from the
first, she has always been given
charge of work and business in vary
ing degrees according to her ability
to take care of it and have it stand
the test of time. In small business
one person has to act in several ca
pacities, and Miss Christensen's work
includes such work as would be
done in a large business by several
persons designated as bookkeeper,
saleslady, cashier ,stenographer, pri-
vate secretary and assistant man
ager. 1t takes broader prepare
ton for all these lines Of activity
than part of them, and it takes a
thoro knowledge of an office and all
the problems flowing into 1t, to fit
person to manage it. :
When Miss Jones started working
in the Republican office she first had
to learn to set type and then go thru
the slow process of learning to apply
the art in combination with the me-
chanical work. She had good
teacher. e. j. Potter, who was care
full to keep her progressing as rapidly
as possible. Her salary rose accord
ing to her progress, and she trebled
it in the first twelve months. In the
second year she took up the study of
the linotype with Wesley Lantis as
instructor and became what is called
a student-operator, then an operator,
and now is in the stage Of becoming
a neutrality-suspicious..
A student-operator is one who has
learned the keyboard and is able to
set type, but who needs practice to
acquire speed. An operator is one
who has acquired speed, but does not
know the machine well enough to
take it apart and rebuild it or to
take q machine that is out of order
and get it to working. A machinist-
operator is one who can take ma
chine apart and pile it up, with all
the 5000 pieces in a pile, and then
build a machine of it and have it
work perfectly. The average person
cannot become neutrality-suspicious.
for want of mechanical ability. Miss
Jones is now filling the position of
operator without mechinist in the
shop whom she can call to her aid IL
the machine balks. But she has a
fine new machine, and 1t is not likely
to get out of order in any serious de-
gree. She has ideal conditions sur
rounding her work. ami she is max.
Ing good. When she walks into tine
office in the morning, the machine
is ready for her to sit down and begin
lingering the keyboard. The ma
chine is warm, the keys are warm,
the light II perfect and the heating