The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-09-24
By Edith Mortarty

The business career Of Sally, chris
tened Sarah, Sprague started many
years before many young girls know
what the business world is. While
most young girls are considered flap
pers and nuisances and the like Sally
was considered one Of the most Inn
portant members Of her household be-
cause she was bringing in one-fourth
Of the twenty-eight dollars, which was
handed to Mrs. Sprague every Satur-
day night. Sally was only sixteen
years old but that did not keep her
from getting, a permit to stop school
and go to work. She was doing gener-
a. office work in large department
store and getting the munif1cent sum
Of seven dollars a week for it.
After few months at the store she
saw an advertisement in the paper
which said ten dollars a week would
be paid for a filing clerk and exper-
fence was not required Sally applied
and started in to work the next day
in the filing department Of a large
construction company. It was her
daily task to file blue prints of the
different jobs the concern was hand
ing.
The blue prints fascinated Sally and
she soon grew to know the meanings
Of all the lines and symbols and to
visualize the completed job. She re-
NAMED in the file room about a year
and then because of her interest in
the drafting end of the work she
asked to be given a chance at the
drawing board. Her request was not
seriously considered at first, but after
che persisted in her efforts she was
H. rrtxv 81 e.
department.
Was Made Assistant.
She progressed rapidly and worked
on the board for about a year and a
half. At the end of that time she had
proved to all Of the ''doubting Thorn
asses" that she was a successful drafts
man or, to be literal, drafts-woman
and the firm, to show that they real
lied her worth, made her assistant to
the head craftsman. Sally, of course,
was pleased with herself, but she was
not satisfied.
Her next step in the construction
company was taken up Turing, her
spare time. She used every minute
she had making estimates. 1t was not
long before the firm needed her in this
capacity and she was allowed to make
estimates for small orders at first, and
later this twenty-year-old miss was
making most of the estimates, even for
the most important contracts which
came into the office.
She became very competent in this
branch of the work and was not only
accurate but she was quick.
Made Head Estimator.
Then the head estimator left and
Sally was taken from the rather medic
ere job of assistant in the drafting
room and made head estimator. She
was the only girl holding such a posi-
ton it was claimed by her firm and
they we're positive that she was the
youngest.
OF course Sally's rise was not due
to a mere haphazard completion of
her allotted work in the regulation
eight hours. She spent many nights
laboring over drawings with the T
square and the compass before she
mastered the technical points of draft
ing and she spent hours in the library
studying up on drafting and other
subjects connected with her work.
She read up about steel, lumber, and
plate glass and the like and she spent
many extra hours studying the work
ings Of her own plant and out on jobs
with the construction men. She took
ner work seriously and she found that
she enjoyed it MANIFOLD after she real
ly understood it all.
At the Top at 25.
Her climb to the top was not halted
by the position Of head estimator. 1t
seems that the chief engineer was
impressed with her and when he
needed an assistant in his department
he asked to have Miss Sally Sprague
give it try.
Sally, Of course. was always cage:
for new things and each new thing
meant a step upwards in her case. She
was only too glad to accept his offer