WOMAN'S WORLD.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12506, 19 May 1906, Page 7

WOMAN'S WORLD.

THE LADY CLERK,

(Br " Sheb.v " ix thk Melbocrnk

" Argcs.")

The first lady clerk interviewed « :v youthful typist, smart, eolf-reliant, tull of zest and " go." " Ours is a epflendid life," eho sijys emphatically. " Have you followed the calling far enough to reach the rough places? , ' " I've bocn at it a year." " Was your business training expensive?"

"I wae educated at the Seat© school. Tlion I went to a business college, and studied bookkeeping, typewriting, and shorthand. My only difficulty vaa changing my school-girlish writing into a clerkly, eloping hand. Mother paid £26 for my business course. Then 1 got this appointment at £1 per week. I expect to rise to £2 weekly."

" Docs not spright'y seventeen find it hard to settle down to dill routine ?"

" Don't call it 'dull!' Our work may bo worrying sometimes, but never Blow. Just at first nervousness made mo blunder shockingly in my ehorthand notes. The gentleman whoee business letters I stenographed from dictation, and then typed, was lenient, but it hurt my pride to seem euch a duffer, and when I got homo at nightI used to throw myself on mother's bed, and howl. That phase coon passed."

'• So you don't find your duties irksome?"

"No. On a fine morning I feel as if I could work for ever. I arrive at office and meet my three room-mates, nioe girls 'all of them, and especially nice when they first get to towai, wita 'shining morning faces' and spirits to match. We have a pleasant room, with a big window. Each girl has a thick mat under her foot, and there's an asbestos stove to be lighted if required. Each of us has a table, at which we sit comfortably with our shorthand ootes, carbons, etc., arranged round the typewruer. Sometimes a 6treet band playe gay aira in the street below, and as the music and sunshine flow in through the open winaow, my fingere fly over the keys. I just love my little machine, and would rather be a typist than a princess." "Doesn't the noise of four machines worry you P" " ■ "Wo never notice it, but gentlemen, when they come in with instructions, c!ap their hands to thoir ears, and complain of the 'deafening din. . There aro a dozen girls scattered through our chambers, and tte all type tot Bpeed,' so naturally there's a clatter." "I suppose euch well-to-do epinstere as you young k-dies seldom stoop to matrimony?" Tho typist laughs merrily "We all cay we'll die single," the replies, "but, to tell the truth, typiste are rather given to marrying. Even in the ehorfc time I've been in the business, I've heard of quite a number changing from Miss to Mrs." "Do they marry well ?" "They don't captivate their employers, if that's what you mean. I haven't heard of a single case of that kind outside novels. Just as well, perhaps ! Romance is a nuisance in officehoura. When love comes in at the door, business flies out of window. I speak from experience, for a girl at our place was encaged to one of the clerks. While the courtship lasted, there was no peace for anyone. She was in raptures—when she wasn't in the sulks, and we were dragged into every development, whether it was a row or a reconciliation. It wee a relief when she left to be married."

"You do not consider, then, that many typists meet their husbands-to-be in their daily work?" ' • ■ r "Not in my hrmble opinion. : Maybe the frequency of weddings, in par ranks is due to the fact that busrinees-girk are not too shy and scared to chat, laugh, and be themselves when they meet men at little gaieties such as Saturday afternoon picnics." "Are your hours long?" ,f We are at the office from 9 till 5, and get an hour for lunch. I always have a hot dinner, wliieh costs mc 6d. We never work overtime, ciTe free on Saturday afternoons, and get ell business holidays, Also, we are entitled to a fortnight's leave in the year." The nest lady-clerk, questioned, holds a rcisixmsible pest, with higher pay and larger authority than fell to the chare of most young women. Aβ is inevitable, she bears at times the "burden of a weight of care," and is in consequence- somewhat chary in her recommendation of an. office as a desirable- sphere for a gfrl. "I am content with my work," the says, "and thankful to be able to do it. It ie a dolightful reflection that so far from being a dependent dau?;ht«r, one is a prop and cbay. Nevertheless, I am sorry to see girls adopt a business.career, unSese it is absolutely unavoidable. I hope einoorely that my little nieces may'not find it necessary to follow in my steps. Of eoun=e, if the financial position of a giri'o parents penmite her to re** content with the pay and comparatively light work of a stenographer and typist, sho is not to be pitied. A typewriter ie not called upon to laco 'tho 'rude world's icer and joke.' She has only to satisfy her employer, and the average employer is gentle to his women workers, especially to three oal'ow fledglings, the typewriting girls. I remember when I was at. that stage. Everyone was indulgent to the nowlyemancipated schoolgirl, and at thp stroke of five the manager would say, 'Off you go, mieiie! Time little girk were at home I ,

"In my present jjoeiuon I como in contact, sometimes into coLMsion, with all sorts of men. They do not always meet mc on an amicable* footing, as 1 nave to voice my firm's view, not only to friend«, but to dinnt : ."fied clie-ite, debtors,, business rivafe, and w0u.~.-bo tricksters. Whatever they may cay in the heat of I must preserve ray womanly gentleness, wh3e stout'y maintaining the pcehion taken up by my employer*;. Were I a man, I might permit myself to ooil over ocoaek>nally, and give a blusterer a Rolsnd for his Oliver. As ... in, mv experience doesn't make mc any fonder of brother Man. That's why I think a business career not too desirable for a woman. It l«tsone h«r faith in human nature. I find myself inetinotively 'meairoriTig' every new acquaintance. There wae a time when

I took tho whole world on ***«*• ._£ used to be a horo-worehtpper, t«L w it'e part of my duty to dun e®** o ™} and no man is a hero to hu» c^" o **. 'Do superior womeu-derks.cosnmwa high salaries?" *«» "In Melbourne few dr»w over £3 per week. Women, in receipt of that amount work hard for their pay. One of them supervtiww a big firm's staff of typJlwe, and ail tire -work they turn. out. # Attothor, in the counso of her duties •• confidential clerk and sbenographer. daily translates French, German, and Italian cablegrams. A third Iβ reeppasiblo for tho heavy bookkeepweof .» business house, signs all t3» and virtually acts es manager. _ A visit is'row paid to » typiet WoXJCing for herself. , __ 'T!w rate w 3d per folio, i.e., 72 words." «iye this lady, and if one aa» friends in tho city with typing out. one makes a living. I used to work for a city firm." she oontinueei "but the chief" had a temper. One day. ivhen samsthint; vexed him, no thi-nv tho l.trera I 'nad just typed at my hoai!. -\rHhcut cren glancing at tn«n , to if they wen? correct. TJieo no sat waiting for mc to stoop down, pick up thf pnivrs, and 6link as formor victinw had dont , . Fortified by the p>s wion of a legal irncle wttn work in l\:.s p;ift. I <ut of the lCKim. leaving tho on the flixjr. I didn't wait to see if I ha:l li-st niv pine?, but put on my s»atj and hurried nft to sc<cure uncle's patronaiif. No competent typist nnd stenojrraplior p£>c:l submit to rudonieee. If ehe enurot got wnrk in Molbourne, there are positions to be had in West Australia. They hnve no hueiness collegee ovor there, *o tliat their own giHs, lacking efßcipnt trahting, are eupcreeded by out-iide-i-s." ,

"Do many employers bully woo»tt clerlrsP" .

"Very few. Americans male© the beet masters. There are quite a number of American business men in MeV> l»urn» now, eind they certainly understand how to treat women." '