The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-03-08
Bridgeport Census
 Figures Interesting


 Bureau has given an analysis of occu- pauona1 statistics for Bridgeport, from which many interesting deductions III reference to industrial conditions may be made. The most interesting figures are those showing the occupations in which women are engaged, and the numbers employed in each, as com pared with the figures for 1910, from which it would seem that as far as Bridgeport is cOnceuned, women are not competing with men in business life to any greater extent than they were ten years ago. The Connecticut city is apparently standing firm az ainst the blandishments of the "new woman," who seems to have made little progress in the period covered by the Census Bureau report.
 Under the 1920 census, Bridgeport is shown to have one woman in the classification of 'lawyers, judges and justices" which is one more than in 1910, but this gain is offset with a re- duction in the medical profession from nine women doctors 1910 to six in 1920. The number of women agents canvassers and collectors also was less in 1920 than in 1910, the reduc- tion being from seventeen to eleven. Another field in which women seem to have made no progress, and this is probab ply the most surprising of all is that of nanicuring. In 1910 Bridge port bOasted of 1 ? women who chased themselves as manicurists, hairdress-
 
 Der had shrIInk to 40. Whether this is due to the fact that the male pop- ulation of the city is no longer as fas- tfdious about it's finger nails as in the tourists have been depleted by mar riagtes with, millionaire war contrac- tors cannot be determined from the Census Bureaus analysis
 Decrease in DomeStics
 Another extremely interesting item m the bureaus statement is that in reference to servants and walters" The analysis shows that the number der this class dropped from 1,541 in 1910 to 951 in 1920. a reduction of 59O, the biggest and most striking re- fba duet1on shown. In the same period walters" increased only from 44O to 475, a. net gain of 35. The total loss In this class, both male and female was therefore 55', or more than 25 that if the decrease continues at this rate for a much longer period "sar- wants and waiters'' will soon be as much of a curiosity in Bridgeport as It might be wise for the Brfd geport Socielty if that city possesses such an institution, to cap ture male and female of this spe- cleS before 1t becomes extinct so that It may be vreserved for future gen erattons.
 Why the Decrease. .. What is the cause of this extraor- d1nary decrease in Bridgeport in a ti etass CT workers which has, from tune 1mmemoria1, been considered so necessary to the happiness and com tort or community? Is it that the people of MT, Barnum's town are no longer eating as regularly and heartiIy as in days before the United States began to experiment. with a Demo- tI ILaIrc tar1f' or has home brew made the , nome so attractive that the cit izenS of Connecticut's third citv for IS It the second) no longer go to the restaurants to seek good cheer? As Tar as the servant question is con- cerned, after reading these figures the Bridgeport householder who has a servant in his establishment may well feel proud of himself, for it is appar net that unless walters and wait resses" have become entirely extinct the number who can be classed as servants" must be so small that the employer of such a. person may feel reasonably certain that Glie or sha is in the 400" class. lT has been suggested that the re- ouCtion or the mum Der or walters and | waltresses is due to the popuIaritv or the serve-yourself'' type of Inncb room, which has unquestionalh1v had a, oad erect on the waiting profes- | the disappearance of 500 or more | waters, wattresseS and servants in ;s ;Srlagsport in period of ten years. | tention of these of a snecu1atiya tr-a or mind and it is to bee xpected that lnls question will arouse almost as .1, .hucn discuss1on and controversy as | the late 1amented MT PickwtclxsS fa nous ''Tfdd1ebat Theory"
 StenoSraphers on Increase
 1s Jar as the reduction of the num- per Of female walters and servants in Bridgeport is concerned. a resson may be found in an increesa ai,.oet as striking in the number of stenog raPhers and typists, which went iron, $40 a in IS1O to 1.259 in 1920, an in many cases, the tired Bridgeport bug- mess man is now dictatine his letters and telling his troubles in the of4ice . to the same young thing who half a | score Of years before did his cookjnr at nome or served his soup at ffs fa - Vor1te restaurant. In these days when aanythlng from public speaking to | ppxlng may be learned by mail. such | changes are not surprising. The field l or typewriting and stenosrsnT,v cer- talnly sens to be one in which women | are getting the best of men and a sim lLar nI gam for the women Is shown in l cierical work, the number of female In 1920 and the number of male clerks | T m :. the same period from 1869 to |
 Preaching Profession Grows.
 mere IS one field in which women | nave made great strides in the decade | covered by this comparison, that of | ore ppeachlng. In 1910 Bridgeport had | noI T single woman preacher, but in | l IS2O IL had three, a gain of one every , I-o years It may wei bs argued | that women have a natural bent for ms profession and that progress in this line Is likely to be rapid
 For all occupations the br1r>eau's analysis shows that women are ap- parenly not entering industry and l a T ,haE they did in 1910. The number of women in gainful occupations in | 1910 was 11.9S1, increasing to 15524 | IT 1920, a gain Of a little less than 1000, and in the same period the | number of men Gainfully occupied in creased from S7,937 in 1910 to 4S,369 n 1920, jump of less than II, 900. The gain in each case is about 27 per cent, so that the number of women in gainfuI work in 1920 was not greater in comparison than the | number SC engaged ten years pre- lious.
 The census figures show that gents