, 1918-10-03
Friend of
Errand Boys
By JANE OSBORN
1918. by the Mcclure Newsp
per ~Syndicate.)

When Alison Preston decided to get
n job for the duration of her first long
vacation from college she also made
up her mind that hat job should not
be of the sort that would confine her
within the four walls of an office. She
wanted an outdoor job and, after hav-
ing received stern parental objections
to taking n land army job where she
would be away from home for the va
cation, she scanned the 'want ads" in
the daily papers several days In vain.
Outdoor jobs for girls did not seem
plentiful. Then her eyes fell upon
that advertisement of Brown & Brown,
calling for messenger girls. The wage
offered was not very tempting, but as
the advertisement stated, the work
would be for the most part doing er-
rands in the busy downtown business
section.
Brown & Brown is a very large con-
Germ. with branches in cities In vari-
Gus parts of the country, and when
you Join their force of employees 1t is
like enlisting in an army-you have to
submit to considerable c%atechising
concerning your previous experience,
your %parentage and your place of resi-
dence; and all this is written down on
a formidable large white card hat is
kept in a filing case for future refer
ence.
There is just m thing I'll have to
ask you" said the young office man
ger who employed Alison Preston, "and
/ will ask you to keep this confiden-
tial. 1 don't want every one to know
that we are taking on girls for err
handsome person in particular
mustn't know. That's our vice presi-
dent, Mr.. Morgan Thorne. He's in
the Chicago office now and-well, to
make a long story short, he began as
a messenger himself and he's nuts
about them. He makes a hobby Of
giving every messenger that is en-
ployed what he calls a chance.
'-That means a lot of fatherly ad-
vice, which would be all right If the
boys had sense enough to profit by
It. he has made up his mind that
the future executives Of the concern
must be drawn, as he was, from the
ranks of those who began at the bot
tom rung. So whenever we get a new
messenger he takes no end of interest
in him. He 1t was who installed this
card system-wants to know all about
the life history of every one that is
taken into the concern. And now that
he is Off in Chicago he has left word
to send on records of any new mes
sengers. He wants to give them long
distance advice. So here is what I'm
going to ask you" said the young
clerk. coming back to his point after
his long explanation: you'll Just let
me put your name down here SO that
he won't know you're a girl. Alison,
you said 1t is. May 1 put 1t down as
Alecr"
"Why, certainly" faltered Alison
"only, won't he find out?"
HE won't be back for months, and
you say you can't stay later than the
middle of September. You'll escape
him completely. You see, we did our
best to get boys, but we couldn't get
any. He'd say we hadn't tried hard
enough. And, by the way. don't say
anything in that report about being in
college. 1t might interest him too
much and then he'd write to you and
the cat would be out of the bag"
So Alison reported the next day for
work and, provided with her pigskin
wallet that swung easily over her left
shoulder and rested on her right hip,
she started out on the rounds of the
day. carrying stocks and bonds about
to various Offices, reporting at the bank
and back to the office of Brown &
Brown. II she attracted any atten-
ton 1t was because she was so much
better dressed for her work than the
other girls who were beginning to take
the places of messengers and errand
boys In the downtown section. She
wore neatly polished shoes that had
served for country hikes the previous
winter In college. Her suit was plain
and Of khaki-such as had been chosen
by well-to-do college chums of hers
who had gone In" for motor messen-
ger service In the vacation.
The coat collar was neatly topped
by a mans soft pique collar and a
dark blue f~our-in-hand tie and a band
ed sailor of brown completed the
equipment.
Yes, Of course, she grew tired with
her many errands, but the fatigue vas
repaired by her healthy appetite and
by the soundness of the sleep that al
ways followed her days In the open.
The first letter to Alec Preston was
practically like the letter almost al
ways received by errand boys from the
vice president. Morgan Thorne. when
that young oficer of the concern was
mot present IN interview them person-