Evening star., 1937-04-18

nne sympathy ana UNDERSTANDABLE
The Dean of Women in
Appointive Government Positions.
And now Miss Mary Anderson, di-
rector of the Women's Bureau of the
United States Department Of Labor
and dean of women in appointive
positions in the Government, can look
back on those girlish dreams and feel
that there has been an abundant
fruition of those early visions. All
has not been accomplished, but she
is on her way, and the important queS-
ton of fair pay for women, minimum
wage legislation, short working hours,
health and safety measures, occupa-
tional opportunity for women workers
and their share in family support ad-
justment Is being gradually accom-
plished. Encouragement is not a
word in her vocabular.- and her tao
tics are that retreat is an impossi-
bility.
The Eternal Feminine in
Women Workers
Whether women work in factories,
sweat shops, stores or in high execu-
tive positions, the eternal feminine is
always there, cropping out in the
most obscure and sordid surround
ings, as well as in the luxurious of1ces
of highly paid executive. So when
one enters Miss Anderson's Office he
has more of the feeling of the at
mosphere of spacious drawing room
done in soft shades Of green, with
comfortable divans and chairs, little
feminine gadgets on the desk, and
that Spring day last week there were
punches of gloriously yellow jonquils
Haunting their fresh Spring beauty
on desk and low tabourets. Miss An
derson, in gay print frock and the
most Illuminating smile, was in a par
ticularly happy mood, notwithstand-
ing she had not gained all that she
had hoped for in the conference that
morning of textual delegates, where
she was acting as one of the techni-
cal advisers for the Government.
Miss Anderson wears her whitening
hair gracefully of her face and her ex-
pressive blue eyes, so typical of the
people of her native country, will make
her face eternally young. She likes
housekeeping, dogs-those Spits Of the
Far North appeal to her-the climate
Is in her blood. When entertaining she
serves the most delectable "smorgas-
bord"-those Swedish hors d'oeuvres
that make one want more. She likes
the embroideries, the weavings and the
handiwork she knew so we'll as child.
And she likes children, one can tell
as she recalls those far off days on the
farm at Linkoping, Sweden, where she
was born and where she went to the
village school. There were seven chill
dren in her fathers family and she
sometimes reminisces about the long
tWilights when her mother, a woman
OF strong intellect and deep thinker,
read to them tales of their Viking an
cestors, their seafaring life and bold
adventures. There were golden days OF
skiing-she becomes animated when
she tells of those adventures, and then
the chores around the farm and
watching the weaving and the spinning
the last two particularly appealed
to her for it meant visits from the
dressmaker and tailor who would
come to make up the family wardrobe.
Miss Anderson Among Americas
Ten Outstanding Women.
Mrs Carrie Chapman Gait named
Miss Anderson as one Of the 10 most
outstanding women of America. When
Miss Mary. van Kleeck, the first head
of the Women's Bureau in the Labor
Department, was leaving, in those hec-
tic days of the World War, back in
1917, Miss Anderson was out in Chi
cago, helping with strike. She was
sent for to come to Washington to
take charge of the bureau Ever loyal
to what she considers her duty, she
refused to come East until some one
was willing to take up her position
there and carry on. AS member OF
the Boot and Shoe Workers Union
she operated a shoe machine for 18
years in the West. She has expert
enced many of the hardships she has
worked so valiantly to correct. She has
never belonged to a parlor group OF
reformers, but has known the sweat
and toll which it is her cherished de-
sire to lessen by shorter hours, better
wages, better living conditions, the
abolition of dire poverty among many
Industrial women, which she knows
ends only in making them and their
children charges of the State.
Princeton Alumni
Rich In Literati.
Princeton University alumni have
been gloating over an exhibition of
writings by their fellow graduates
which covers period of over ITS
years and which was assembled for
the Midwinter meeting of the Ma
tional Alumni Association.
The exhibition included manu-
scripts, letters, pictures and other